IOSH October 2019

Working overseas

IOSH 2019

Competency framework

Steps to ensure employee safety, security and medical support

Refining leadership and soft skills

Keeping pace in the fourth industrial revolution

Safety, health and wellbeing in the world of work

October 2019

ioshmagazine.com

ACOUSTIC SHOCK Defining the distinction between an opera house orchestra and a factory

Cover_October 2019_IOSH Cov1

25/09/2019 10:25

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Comment Working overseas

IOSH 2019

Competency framework

Steps to ensure employee safety, security and medical support

=PʭYTYR WPLOP]^ST[ and soft skills

6PP[TYR [LNP TY _SP QZ`]_S industrial revolution

Safety, health and wellbeing in the world of work

October 2019

ioshmagazine.com

ACOUSTIC SHOCK Defining the distinction between an opera house orchestra and a factory

Official magazine of

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) is the world’s leading professional body for people responsible for safety and health in the workplace.

O

n 17 September, at IOSH’s AGM, I had the great pleasure of taking over from Vincent Ho as IOSH president.

It’s going to be an exciting year.

Published by Redactive Publishing Ltd Level 5, 78 Chamber Street, London E1 8BL +44 (0) 20 7880 6200 Acting editor Nick Warburton +44 (0) 20 7324 2725 nick.warburton@redactive.co.uk Advertising Display sales +44 (0) 20 7880 7613 ioshdisplay@redactive.co.uk Recruitment sales +44 (0) 20 7880 7662 ioshjobs@redactive.co.uk Advertisement production Rachel Young +44 (0) 20 7880 6209 rachel.young@redactive.co.uk Publishing director Aaron Nicholls Redactive aims to provide authoritative and accurate information at all times. Its publications are, however, for guidance only and are not an official information source. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher and editor.

For changes to your address, please contact IOSH membership team on membership@iosh.com or 0116 257 3198.

Cover: Sim Canetty-Clarke

ISSN 2396-7447

© IOSH 2019

IOSH Magazine is printed by ISO 14001 certified printers and despatched in oxo-degradable polywrap. Printed by Warners Midlands plc, The Maltings, Manor Lane, Bourne, PE10 9PH

The president is an ambassador for our members and our profession, and I am being ably supported by Vincent, as immediate past president, James Quinn as president-elect and an excellent team of six vice-presidents.

IOSH is becoming more global and more connected. We are now in regular contact with like-minded organisations in more countries than ever before, and I want us to become even more successful at establishing our internationally influential voice.

We have much to do to ensure that workers go home without harm every day.

I feel that now is a time we’ll look back on in future years and reflect how practitioners around the world really made a step-change in workplace safety.

I want to work for continued change of perspectives about our profession. For far too long, it has been blighted by negative media attention and even ridicule. Our members have been standing strong against this and forward-thinking organisations are appreciating the valuable contribution investments in safety and health bring to their business and their people.

As a result, perspectives are changing steadily. I’m determined that this continues to happen. Health and safety is not about rules and bureaucracy and creating burdens.

The work we do enables success and builds future resilience.

I want us to champion IOSH’s drive to support people and organisations in developing OSH practitioners to become professionals with the cultural, behavioural and leadership skills that add even more to their organisations and value chains. Our profession needs to lead change – in strategy and in culture – so practitioners need to move from the backroom to the boardroom.

We need to think about the inputs required for great workplace health and safety and look at those elements that shape cultures and drive behaviours. What we do

is never simply about preventing accidents, but rather creating safety through improved teamwork, enhanced understanding, increased morale and engagement and better leadership. When we focus on getting the inputs right, the right outputs will follow.

The same is true of what we all invest in our professional body.

Members who volunteer for IOSH really are our life blood as a professional body and charity. Not only do we initiate and co-ordinate lots of vital engagement work, strengthening and improving networks in regions and sectors, volunteers also add experience and expertise, alerts to current or emerging challenges, and new thinking to improve the work we do.

I have been consciously “giving back to pay it forward” through volunteering for two decades now. I began on the Edinburgh Branch committee, became vice-chair, then chair, served on committees, on IOSH Council and as vice-chair of the Board of Trustees.

I urge you to get more involved. We have much to do, and we need every member to add their weight. Being a member of IOSH is eloquent testimony of what you offer as a safety and health professional. But being an active member, giving time to fellow professionals – by joining your IOSH branch or group committee, mentoring, peerreviewing or putting yourself forward to serve on the IOSH Council – demonstrates a resolve to make a difference to those around you and to your professional body.

I feel so deeply honoured to represent our global institution – and optimistic as we look ahead to 2020 – IOSH’s 75th anniversary and my 21st year as an IOSH volunteer.

Andrew Sharman IOSH president

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Contents October 2019 In focus

p5 pXX

News 4

Australia finalises new code to eliminate silicosis risk

Flagship campaign to XXX reverse funding cuts XXX Key regulators are, on average, operating with 50% less funding than ten years ago, according to the UK Enforcement Gap

pXX

Dacorum Borough Council fined £100k over seven hand-arm vibration injuries 5

Campaign urges U-turn on funding cuts to narrow UK’s widening ‘enforcement gap’

XXX XXX

p6

Unison’s gig economy pXX guide XXX launched

Health and safety and the gig economy offers XXX advice to support particular groups

BP Exploration fined £400k after admitting uncontrolled crude oil spill 6

pXX p17

Waste sector shaping research to evaluate rough sleeping in bins 7

The book offers a quick practical guide to health and safety and environmental regulatory law

IOSH 2019

Slips, trips and falls account for almost 30% of Singapore workplace injuries

Unison launches guide to protect gig economy workers

7

XXX HSE and Environment XXX Agency Prosecution

p12

6

Groundworks co’s £10k fine for security guard’s serious hand injuries Wooden board sent flying by pipe struck workman on head

IOSH News 8

Journalist and author Frank Gardner’s keynote speech on the second day described his recovery from a near-fatal shooting

9

New president calls for continued change in perspectives around profession James Quinn becomes president-elect Future Leaders Community launched for new and aspiring professionals

9

UK government and businesses urged to tackle modern slavery Modern slavery poll results

10 High-rise construction workers ‘risk their lives’ by ignoring evacuation alarms Research funding call

8

11 VR helps to predict worker behaviour during emergency evacuations South Korea looks to address working at height fatalities Tech innovations create safer environments

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18 COVER STORY

Features

Regulars

12 IOSH 2019 report

Columns 7 Duncan Spencer

Topics at the conference included human capital and sustainability and mental health

16 Events 17 Reviews

18 Arias for improvement

HSE and Environment Agency Prosecution

London’s Royal Opera House overhauls its safety and health procedures

51 Lexicon S is for SRK

25 Changing landscape IOSH’s new competency framework will help OSH professionals keep pace in the fourth industrial revolution

52 Off duty Stuart Morris, health and safety manager at Lancashire County Council and parachutist

26 Pathways to smooth landings Heathrow focuses on sustaining resilience at work with its health and wellbeing strategy

53 Recruitment

34

26

34 Safe travels How organisations that send employees abroad can take steps to ensure their safety and security

41 Healthy thinking Correcting for the bias that creates greater awareness of safety risks than health ones

46 Gaps in the guideline Legal courts need more guidance on risk assessment cases

46

52

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News

For the latest IOSH news and views, visit ioshmagazine.co.uk

Australia finalises new code to eliminate silicosis risk Queensland plans to introduce Australia’s first code of practice for the stone benchtop industry, both natural and artificial.

It will apply to all fabrication or processing, including installation, maintenance and removal, of engineered and natural stone benchtops.

Minimum, enforceable standards will aim to ensure silica dust is managed safely and workers are protected.

The managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in the stone benchtop industry code of practice 2019 will be published on 31 October, the state’s industrial relations minister, Grace Grace, announced.

Silicosis was more common in Australia in the 1940s to 1960s, particularly in construction and demolition workers.

Growing awareness of the disease and the importance of reducing exposure to dust – for instance, the wearing of masks, wetting the dust and other safe work practices – did reduce the number of cases. However, there has been a worrying

resurgence of incidents developed with 23 recently. organisations, including The code focuses on: industry associations, trade unions, medical and technical dust control methods to experts, and stone fabrication eliminate respirable businesses, and has received crystalline silica dust during broad-ranging support. mechanical processing, “This code goes a long way including water suppression to ensuring long-term and on tool dust extraction; behavioural change in an the use of respirable industry that, until recently, protective equipment to has not put worker safety safeguard workers; first,” Grace said. air and health monitoring to “[It] will be a continuation check dust controls are of the work being done in effective and there are no ushering in a safer chapter in changes to workers’ health; the history for the stone safe onsite installation benchtop industry.” methods, The minister including confirmed that audits installation in of engineered stone homes; and fabrication worker Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in the stone benchtop industry workplaces would consultation, Code of Practice 2019 ensure the code was as well as being adhered to. She training, also announced work education, would start on a instruction and similar code of supervision. practice for the construction industry.

The code was

Dacorum Borough Council fined £100k over seven hand-arm vibration injuries A local authority has been fined £100,000 for failing to protect its employees from hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) after seven cases were reported to the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in a year.

The cases related to seven employees in the grounds maintenance and street care team at Dacorum Borough Council in Hertfordshire. An HSE investigation was sparked after the cases were reported under RIDDOR. HAVS can be caused by overuse of hand-held power tools. The vibrations can lead to neurological, vascular and musculoskeletal damage,

resulting in conditions such as Raynaud’s syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis (bit.ly/2kRU94j).

The HSE estimates there are two million workers at risk and 288,000 with a HAVS-related condition in the UK. Luton Magistrates’ Court was told that the council had reported seven cases of HAVS to the HSE between May 2015 and June 2016.

The HSE found that Dacorum had failed to plan its working methods to prevent HAVS and had not told employees of the potential risks.

It had no system in place to identify problems early and had failed to limit employee

exposure to the duration and magnitude of vibrations.

The council pleaded guilty to breaching reg 5 of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005. It was ordered to pay £28,673 costs.

HSE inspector Rubeena Surnam said after sentencing: “This was a case of the council failing to identify the risk from hand-arm vibration which is a recognised health risk with potentially disabling consequences.

“Unless vibration is identified and properly assessed, an employer won’t know the level of risk and whether action is needed to protect workers.”

In Short NZ concrete co penalty Shannon Thomson Concrete Pumps was fined NZ$500,000 (£260,000) over the “total lack of regard” it showed for its role in the death of a 77-year-old man who fell from his mobility scooter. A damaged footpath near a Papatoetoe housing development in south Auckland led to the fatality. However, the concrete firm both obstructed the investigation and failed to turn up in court. There were no applicable mitigating factors so the starting point for the fine was $500,000. bit.ly/2kJ8oZm

Ireland’s biggest workplace killer

Although workplace fatalities fell by almost 20% between 2017 and 2018, 17 of the 39 work-related deaths reported to the Republic of Ireland’s safety regulator, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), last year were caused by vehicles, latest figures have revealed.

Tractors were involved in most incidents, but cars, refuse trucks and forklifts were also responsible for deaths. bit.ly/2kK5Iuv

US suicide risk study Men who sustain a serious workplace accident are 72% more likely to die as a result of suicide and 29% more likely to die from drug-related causes, research by Boston University’s School of Public Health has found. The study of 100,000 workers in New Mexico also found that women were 92% more likely to die from suicide and 200% more likely to die due to a drug-related death after a lost-time injury. bit.ly/2koia2E

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News

Campaign urges U-turn on funding cuts to narrow UK’s widening ‘enforcement gap’ A flagship campaign to reverse funding cuts to enforcement agencies has been launched, arguing that local and national safety enforcement teams have been “slowly eroded”.

The UK’s Enforcement Gap campaign contends that the principal regulators are, on average, operating with 50% less funding than ten years ago.

These include the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Food Standards Agency and the Environment Agency.

Twenty organisations backed the initiative by writing to The Times in August warning about the destructive nature of these cuts to enforcement agencies.

The campaign, led by Unchecked.uk and co-ordinated by the Ecology Trust, looks at the UK’s enforcement record in six areas of public protection:

safety, a growing food, environmental, threat in the UK’s workers’ rights, increasingly serviceconsumer safety, local based, road-mobile spaces, and health and economy. The wider safety. health and wellbeing For health and safety, agenda was underUnchecked.uk calculated addressed too. there was a 53% cut in Unchecked.uk funding for the HSE pointed out that between 2009-10 and investment in a 2016-17. Over the same strong, effective HSE period, the number of was of fundamental prosecutions brought by importance to UK the regulator in England The campaign warns about major cuts to enforcement agencies growth and and Wales fell by 25%. competitiveness, yet the Though Rose said reportable Unannounced inspections were agency’s budget has been work-related fatal and serious down by 40% between 2010-11 slashed over the past ten years. injuries had reduced in recent and 2016-17.

“What’s more, to relieve years, there were still high “We have launched pressure on the Exchequer, the injury rates in the agriculture, Unchecked.uk to show that vital government has forced the HSE waste and construction sectors protections can no longer be to pursue a ‘fee-forand among small and mediumtaken for granted,” said intervention’ cost-recovery sized enterprises. Occupational spokesperson Emma Rose. approach which many say has diseases, such as asbestos and “Despite major progress, altered its working relationship occupational cancer, needed to be Britain still faces stiff health with business,” it added. tackled, as did work-related road and safety challenges.”

BP Exploration fined £400k after admitting uncontrolled crude oil spill Energy giant BP must pay £400,000 after it failed to prevent the release of almost 4 tonnes of crude oil in Shetland nearly seven years ago.

Lerwick Sheriff Court was told that, on 13 December 2012, employees drained a surge relief line connected to the Ninian pipeline system in the Sullom Voe Terminal complex at Mossbank on Shetland.

While doing so, a hose was connected to a single valve on the pipe and dropped, unfixed into a manhole.

After draining out the water, unstabilised crude oil at high pressure flowed through the hose and came out of a manhole resulting in a “loss of containment”.

The court was told that nobody noticed this was happening for about 30-40 minutes.

Around 3.8 tonnes of the highly flammable crude oil spilled on to the ground.

A UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that BP Exploration had failed to take measures to prevent major accidents and to limit the consequences to the environment and human life.

The company failed to identify and assess the hazards and risks that could have arisen from this non-routine job, in which water was drained from a valve on a surge relief line.

BP Exploration, of Chertsey Road, Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, pleaded guilty to breaching reg 4 of the Control of Major Accidents Hazards Regulations 1999 and s 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. A spokesperson for BP told Energy Voice (bit.ly/2lLdJzj): “Our

operations are underpinned by a relentless focus on safety and risk management. Regrettably, on this occasion in 2012, we fell short of these high standards.

“While there was no injury to people or impact on the environment, this incident should not have happened.”

BP added: “We carried out a thorough investigation and applied lessons learned up until December 2017 when operatorship of Sullom Voe Terminal transferred to EnQuest.

“During that transition, we ensured all safety practices BP had built up at the terminal over the years were transferred effectively to EnQuest.

“BP remains ever-committed to safe operations across our operations.”

To read the full story: bit.ly/2kTBx3V

In Short NI mini digger crush fine A County Antrim, Northern Ireland recycling firm has been fined £25,000 after an employee was injured in a crush accident. Grzegorz Mucha sustained serious internal injuries after being caught between a refuse collection vehicle and a mini digger during a night shift on 3 October 2017. bit.ly/2m3mqoC

Jersey enforcements rise A thriving building industry has led to an increase in prohibition notices issued this year, Jersey’s Health and Safety Inspectorate has reported.

It is finding multiple issues with work at height which is “difficult to explain”, although one possible reason is a dearth of qualified subcontractors to carry out the work. bit.ly/2mkLtnj

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News

Unison launches guide to protect gig economy workers Public service union Unison has published a guide for its health and safety representatives to explain how the gig economy affects members and the support they can receive.

Health and safety and the gig economy (bit.ly/2ksDh43) offers advice to support particular groups or tackle a specific health and safety issue. It covers workers who are considered to be at greater risk of physical attack, verbal abuse or injury, including care workers, security staff, maintenance workers and community nurses.

There is guidance too on protecting construction workers on short-term or zero-hours

support from colleagues and it’s contracts and on projects with more difficult for them to get multiple dutyholders. help if something goes wrong.

“Working alone is inherently As the number of lone workers more hazardous than working increases, employers with the support of must put safety above colleagues,” said profit and put UNISON acting head measures in place to of health and safety Health and safety and the GIG economy protect workers.”

Robert Baughan.

The union warns “Public sector that regulatory bodies workers often visit and government have people in their homes, failed to keep pace which brings a unique with the growth of set of risks. Lone zero-contracts and in workers get less Organising for Health & Safety

A guide for UNISON health and safety representatives

Slips, trips and falls account for almost 30% of Singapore workplace injuries Nearly one-third of workplace injuries in Singapore are caused by slips, trips and falls (bit.ly/2L402Wv). Government figures show that in the first six months of 2019 they accounted for more than 1,800 injuries, up 6% on last year. Since 2015, the figure has been more than 3,000 a year.

Manpower and development minister Zaqy Mohamed revealed the figures at a workplace safety forum on kitchens in August.

In response, his department had undertaken 500 inspections in the worst affected sectors, he said, including construction, hospitality and manufacturing.

This had led to almost 900 enforcement actions against more than 430 companies, including four that were issued with stop-work orders. Fines totalled more than S$164,000 (£96,933).

Nearly half of the slips, trips and falls in hospitality and entertainment had taken place

in the kitchen, he said, with four cases in five occurring at the busiest periods when safety was often overlooked.

To reduce the toll, the ministry has set up a Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSH) in association with the Singapore National Employers Federation and trade unions.

The WSH aims to hold a safety week in partnership with the Singapore Hotel Association to promote best practice such as ensuring floors are clean and dry, products are properly stored and pathways are kept clear.

WSH’s hospitality and entertainment industries committee is also partnering with social media companies to produce awareness-raising videos on the potential hazards and injuries faced by kitchen staff.

To read the full story: bit.ly/2kUqszC

particular the changing status of home care workers.

The guide encourages employers to minimise lone working where possible and explains the importance of good health and safety management to reduce risks if workers have to operate alone.

The document calls on employers to identify the times when workers may be most at risk, so that help and support can be better targeted.

Procedures should be in place if workers fail to make contact or cannot be contacted. Staff should also always know where colleagues are.

Lone workers should be provided with names and details of colleagues they can contact outside normal working hours, the guide adds.

To read the full story: bit.ly/2lYOGcg

Waste sector shaping research to evaluate rough sleeping in bins The waste industry is aiding a study to measure the extent of rough sleeping in bins and skips and suggest preventive measures.

Figures from the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that three people died sleeping in waste containers in the 2017-18 financial year.

The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), Biffa and the Open University have launched a survey, requesting contributions from the sector (bit.ly/2My2tT8).

The questionnaire builds on work undertaken in 2014 when a study was conducted with rough sleeping service StreetLink. According to industry news service Let’s Recycle (bit.ly/2Zo9hEB), one-fifth of the 176 respondents reported finding people sheltering in their bins.

Dr Toni Gladding, secretary of the Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum and chair of the CIWM health and safety

special interest group, is leading the research at the Open University.

She told Let’s Recycle: “There is anecdotal evidence to suggest this is a problem that continues to challenge the industry, and we are seeking new responses from as many companies as possible so that we can investigate the scale of the issue.”

Paul Wright, group health and safety director at Biffa (bit.ly/2NP4ydK), said the new research would provide “fresh insights” into the issues and challenges of preventing people sleeping in bins.”

Respondents are asked to provide details of their policies in terms of the number of people sleeping in bins or other waste containers and share incident details. A report will be published later this year.

To read the full story: bit.ly/2kKjOvW

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Column

News

Duncan Spencer CFIOSH IOSH head of advice and practice

Groundworks co’s £10k fine for security guard’s serious hand injuries A groundworks company has appeared in court after a security guard sustained serious hand injuries while helping a plant driver at a site in Avonmouth, Bristol.

On 17 November 2017, an APK Earthmoving employee asked a site security guard working for another company for help to unhitch a trailer from a bulldozer while he was operating the machine.

While the guard did so, his hand became trapped between a metal post and the bulldozer.

This resulted in the amputation of his middle and ring fingers and the loss of movement in the index finger on his right hand.

APK of Carterton, Oxfordshire pleaded guilty to breaching s 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The company was fined £10,000 at Bristol Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay costs of £1,297.

Health and Safety Executive

The security guard sustained hand injuries

inspector Berenice Ray said after the hearing: “This injury could have been easily prevented if a safe system of work had been followed, with the bulldozer ignition turned off before anyone was allowed close to remove the trailer.

“Employers should make sure they properly assess risks and apply effective control measures to minimise the risk from their machinery operations.”

The injury resulted in the security guard being off work for seven months while suffering pain and having to adapt to the disability.

Wooden board sent flying by pipe struck workman on head An engineering company in Scotland has been fined after an employee died from injuries caused by a wooden bearer that struck his head.

James Longair, 52, was helping a forklift truck driver to move pipes from one part of IODS Pipe Clad’s yard to another on Kelvin Industrial Estate, East Kilbride, Lankarshire, in September 2017.

They were using a side loader to lift a long pipe when it “rolled off” the forks. The steel tube hit Longair’s leg, and his feet became trapped by other pipes.

The pipe they were repositioning fell on to a wooden support, sending it flying into the air and striking Longair on the head.

CCTV footage showed the wooden board moved with such force that it was catapulted over a high fence after hitting him.

The system for moving pipes

had been in place since 2009, in which time there had been 12,320 movements without incident, the defence told Hamilton Sheriff Court.

The company, which supplies pipes to the oil industry, pleaded guilty to breaching s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act in that its system of work relating to the movement of pipes within the yard was unsafe. IODS – part of the Glen Almond Group – was fined £60,000 last month at Hamilton Sheriff Court.

Health and Safety Executive inspector Martin McMahon said after the hearing: “This tragic incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices.

To read the full story: bit.ly/2mjD7fI

I have always been sceptical about the implementation of systems for meeting ISO or British Standards. It often seems that the focus is on compliance with the system and the generation of paper rather than developing true safety standards on the ground.

I am mindful of a story I once read of a company that had embarked on the road to compliance with BS 8800. The company had two sites with about 300 people working on each. It spent tens of thousands of pounds on external pre-audits and formal audits, consultancy advice, buying document management software to handle the burgeoning paperwork, and training 30 internal auditors and 30 risk assessors. It recognised that the system had grown so large that it had to audit half of it one year and the other half the next. When asked for an example of how its investment had improved safety the answer was that oxyacetylene bottles had been fitted more securely to workshop benches. It makes you wonder whether for only the price of a cup of tea and a biscuit with the technicians, Suddenly managers the same result could have knew from their local been realised. risk registers which Why can our profession be risks to focus on so reticent to keep it simple? In my experience, too much paper does have an adverse effect on safety standards.

When I worked for a leading housing association there were more than 30 policies relating to safety and health. The responsibility information was so complex that managers in the satellite units could not make sense of it all. So what did they do? What any busy manager would do: apply their own judgement and hope for the best! In real terms the policies became useless.

When I arrived at Waitrose I inherited a risk assessment system that generated more than 750 risk assessments for a typical supermarket. If the hazard could be conceived, or if a local authority enforcement officer thought it was a good idea, new risk assessments were added to the list. In relative terms supermarkets are not dangerous places.

There are some hazardous operations of course, but once you get past workplace transport, manual handling and slips and trips, operationally there isn’t much to worry about. A new risk assessment process was introduced that slashed the number of risk assessments to around 50 (initially). They were rated to allow prioritisation. This had a dramatic effect.

Suddenly managers knew from their local risk registers which risks to focus on. The result was that public and employee litigation claims were reduced by one-third in less than a year, saving the business millions.

In a climate where our operational colleagues are wrestling with constant market change and strong competition, OSH professionals need to think carefully about the bureaucracy they create. If it is complex, if it is unwieldy and difficult to understand, the needs of the operation will always prevail. If OSH is to achieve true operational integration and not be seen as a burdensome extra, the profession needs to keep it simple, flexible and agile. The OSH professional needs to build a greater affinity with the pressures that their managers and employees face.

Thank goodness the guidance for ISO 45001 suggests that continuous improvement includes simplification.

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IOSH News New IOSH President calls for continued change in perspectives around profession Experienced global safety consultant Professor Andrew Sharman has become IOSH President and has immediately called on fellow members to “challenge rules and remove bureaucracy”.

By doing so, Prof Sharman believes perspectives on health and safety can continue to change and more businesses will see the “true value of what the profession can offer”.

He said: “For far too long, our profession has been blighted by negative media attention and even ridicule. Our members have been standing strong against this, and forward-thinking organisations are becoming wise to the valuable contribution the very best practitioners can bring to their business.

“As a result, perspectives are steadily changing. I’m determined that this continues to happen. Health and safety

Professor Andrew Sharman has become IOSH President

isn’t about bureaucracy and rules and creating a burden. We need to challenge this perception and demonstrate the true value of what we offer.”

The chief executive of RMS, a global health and safety

James Quinn becomes IOSH President-Elect James Quinn has been chosen as IOSH’s President-Elect for 2019–20 by the Institution’s Council.

After a very successful 24-year career in the British Army, James attained the rank of Warrant Officer.

He left the army in 2011. In his final six years of army service, he began to appreciate the benefits of health and safety as a second career. While he was still in the army, he started to

consultancy which supports organisations in high-risk sectors such as mining, construction and oil and gas, Prof Sharman officially took over as President at its AGM on 17 September, succeeding

train as a Health and Safety Advisor/ Trainer in 2006.

Five years later, having worked on many army health and safety projects, he joined Babcock International PLC as HSE Trainer, then Advisor, before becoming a Health and Safety Manager for a large Middle East transport group. He then became Area OHS Manager, Abu Dhabi, for Multiplex, and is now Health, Safety and Environment Manager for Multiplex’s Chelsea Barracks construction project in London.

A Chartered member of IOSH and CIOB, James is also a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and part of IOSH Construction Group.

The nomination was made by Council when it met in early September. During that meeting, Council also nominated three IOSH members to become Vice-Presidents.

They are Stuart Hughes, David Gold and Kayode Fowode. They join existing VPs Tim Eldridge, Jonathan Hughes and Louise Hosking.

All appointments were due to be ratified at IOSH’s Annual General Meeting, held immediately following the close of IOSH 2019 on Tuesday 17 September.

Professor Vincent Ho. He has been heavily involved with IOSH, chairing its Edinburgh Branch and holding positions on its Board of Trustees and Presidential team.

He has vast experience in the profession, working with big-name brands around the world, including Apple, L’Oréal and Mercedes-Benz.

He is also Chair of the Board of the Institute of Leadership and Management and Professor of leadership and safety culture at the European Centre for Executive Development on the INSEAD campus in Paris.

He added: “We have much to do to ensure that workers go home without harm every day.

I feel that now is the time that we’ll look back on in future years and reflect about how practitioners around the world really made a step-change in workplace safety.”

Future Leaders Community launched for new and aspiring professionals IOSH has launched its new Future Leaders Community, which has been created to support new and aspiring professionals working in occupational safety and health.

Future Leaders include IOSH Student Members, members under 35 years old and members who have been in the profession for no more than five years.

Members of the Community will receive a range of specialised support to enhance their career and help them to form new connections in the industry, including access to a brand-new online forum and opportunities to interact with peers and share personal experiences.

The Community will be celebrated during IOSH’s first Future Leaders Conference, taking place on 5 November 2019 at the Crowne Plaza, Birmingham NEC. IOSH worked closely with a steering group of new and aspiring professionals to develop the conference programme, ensuring it covers a wide range of themes and reflects what attendees will benefit from most.

The day will be made up of a combination of presentations, workshops and panel discussions as well as networking opportunities.

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UK Government and businesses are urged to step up to tackle “insidious” modern slavery IOSH has urged the Government and businesses to do more to tackle the “growing global scourge” of modern slavery as a new poll indicates the strength of public opinion against it.

With an estimated 40.3 million victims worldwide, 63% of people in the UK are concerned modern slavery is involved in the products or services they use while 76% believe all businesses should be legally required to make statements on how they tackle it.

On the first day of IOSH 2019, IOSH launched a white paper, Tackling modern slavery together. It calls on the Government to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act by urgently implementing recommendations from a review carried out last year.

It also urges further strengthening the Act, by lowering the threshold which requires businesses with a turnover of £36m or more to report how they combat modern slavery and to remove the option for businesses to say they haven’t taken any steps to tackle it.

There are a number of calls for businesses: to create a “race to the top” by reporting on how they tackle modern slavery, regardless of whether they are required to by law; to provide more training for employees on how to spot

A multi-faceted approach is needed to combat modern slavery

the signs of modern slavery and what actions they should take; and to ensure they support suppliers.

Health and safety professionals and consultants who advise businesses are encouraged to ensure they are aware of the risks of modern slavery, and there is a call for a labelling system to demonstrate if products and services have been created in good working conditions.

Richard Jones, Head of Policy and Regulatory Engagement at IOSH, said: “We abhor modern slavery and more must be done to tackle this growing global scourge.

“We need a multi-faceted approach to fighting these insidious crimes. We believe transparency and high-quality reporting are essential tools and that standardising and harmonising them enables better benchmarking and comparability. They can

Modern slavery poll results IOSH commissioned YouGov to ask people a series of questions around modern slavery. Fieldwork was undertaken on 21 and 22 August. The survey was carried out online and 2,071 adults responded. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

63% are concerned modern slavery might be involved in the products and services they use or may use in the future 84% believe there should be national awareness campaigns in the UK on tackling modern slavery

87% believe major retailers and manufacturers should help their suppliers prevent modern slavery at work 81% would welcome a labelling system to indicate products and services have been produced by workers in

help customers and investors to make informed choices and can help drive improvement on corporate action to prevent modern slavery.”

Victims of modern slavery include women forced into prostitution, men forced to work in agriculture or construction, children working in sweatshops and girls forced to marry older men.

Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey OBE, who has campaigned against modern slavery and set up the Let’s Make It Work campaign group, said: “It is vital that the UK Government – local and central – businesses, NGOs, civil society and the general public, all step up our efforts to make this legislation really effective in the long overdue elimination of all forms of enslavement.” www.iosh.com/modernslaverywhitepaper

good working conditions 83% believe employers should ensure workers have training on how to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains 73% believe large public sector bodies, such as NHS Trusts, local authorities and Government departments, should be required to publish statements about how they are tackling modern slavery 88% believe all professionals, including consultants, who

advise businesses and employers should understand the risks of modern slavery 75% believe certain standard topics must be required in all organisations’ statements about tackling modern slavery so their performance can be compared 76% believe, in the UK, all organisations legally required to make public statements on modern slavery, must say how they tackle it, and not simply state that they’ve taken no action.

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IOSH News

High-rise construction site workers “risking their lives” by ignoring evacuation alarms, research finds

Workers should evacuate immediately when they hear an alarm: every second counts

High-rise construction site workers aren’t treating evacuation alarms seriously enough and are “risking their lives” by not responding immediately, new research has revealed.

Rather than head straight for the emergency exit, a third of workers who took part in evacuation trials spent more than a minute finishing a task, with the longest time to respond to an alarm being almost six minutes.

And once they completed their task, a quarter undertook four or more other activities, such as collecting tools, prior to starting to evacuate – decisions which can waste critical seconds in a real-life emergency.

IOSH-funded researchers from the University of Greenwich also found that more than two in five needed their supervisors to instruct them to leave the site, while many believed their employers viewed it more important than they did to complete tasks before evacuating.

Two London construction sites took part in the research, Construction site evacuation safety: evacuation strategies for tall construction sites.

Responses to a questionnaire distributed among workers also highlighted some other concerns. While 82% knew that an evacuation alarm meant they had to leave immediately, only 49% said their first action is to do so. Four in five said

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IOSH is inviting researchers and experts worldwide to submit proposals that address non-health related fatalities and work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

The call closes on 18 November.

Full details are here: bit.ly/2kKp5Ue

they were prompted by an alarm, but video evidence taken during trial evacuations at the site suggested 43% required supervisor intervention.

In their report, the researchers speculate that workers may not be reacting quickly enough because they aren’t clear what is meant by “evacuate immediately”. They recommend enhanced training and greater enforcement of evacuation policies to remedy this.

Duncan Spencer, Head of Advice and Practice at IOSH, said: “The outcomes from the research will help to improve the safety of construction workers in emergency evacuation when operating in tall building construction environments, by providing a series of suggested improvements and recommendations to be followed by businesses.

“It is clear that these improvements are needed, considering that this is one of the most challenging scenarios – particularly given the ever-changing nature of the construction site. Response times are slow in many cases. Workers should be evacuating immediately when they hear an alarm, rather than wasting precious seconds on finishing a task. If they don’t do so, they are risking their lives because every second counts in an emergency.” bit.ly/2ktCwHJ

42

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www.iosh.com/constructionevacuation * HOC-L = Height of construction levels

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Tech innovations creating safer environments for construction workers During UK Construction Week (9–11 Oct), IOSH Head of Product Jonathan Nobbs and Category Manager Victoria Cook will give presentations to delegates and industry representatives on the importance of good mental health and wellbeing in the construction sector and of building a sustainable business that invests in and looks after its workers.

IOSH will also showcase its new training courses, Safety, Health and Environment for Construction Workers and Safety, Health and Environment for Construction Managers, which provide workers and managers with the core knowledge they need to keep themselves and others safe and healthy on construction sites.

IOSH is playing a leading role in helping to create safer and healthier working environments in the construction sector through the innovative research it funds.

Much of this research showcases how technology can play a significant role in improving workers’ awareness of occupational risks and hazards: Heriot-Watt University researchers assessed the effectiveness of using a mobile app to encourage workers to adopt sun-safety behaviours when working outdoors Glasgow Caledonian University researchers showed that using a digital app can improve designers’ awareness of hazards and boost safety standards University of Greenwich researchers used specialised modelling software to analyse data showing how workers respond to emergency evacuation alarms and where gaps in knowledge may exist University of Nottingham researchers investigated how virtual reality can provide valuable insights into workers’ behaviour during emergency evacuations and may improve safety awareness.

Virtual reality can help predict workers’ behaviour during emergency evacuations Virtual reality (VR) can provide valuable insights into workers’ behaviour during emergency evacuations and may improve safety awareness, new research funded by IOSH has shown.

Previous research on human behaviour during real-world fire incidents has shown that a lack of knowledge relating to the spread and movement of fire often means that occupants are unprepared and misjudge appropriate actions.

Researchers from the University of Nottingham developed a multi-sensory virtual environment to see how workers respond in evacuation scenarios and if sensory stimuli, such as smell and touch, can help to improve safety outcomes.

As part of the research, response actions were analysed for two scenarios: evacuating from a building fire and a fluid leak during an engine disassembly task. As participants using the software approached a virtual fire, they felt heat simulated by three 2kW heaters and smelt smoke from a scent diffuser.

The research findings show workers felt more immersed in the multi-sensory virtual environment than those in a comparable audio-visual virtual environment. The results can help to provide valuable insights into how workers act during emergency evacuations and where gaps in knowledge might exist.

“Health and safety training can fail to motivate and engage employees and can lack relevance to real-life contexts,” says Dr Glyn Lawson from the University of Nottingham’s Faculty of Engineering. “Our research suggests that virtual environments can help address these issues by increasing trainees’ engagement and willingness to participate in further training. There are also business benefits associated with the use of virtual environment training, such as the ability to

deliver training at or near the workplace and at a time that is convenient to the employee.”

The team conducted meetings with partners at Jaguar Land Rover and RollsRoyce to understand better how the training may be implemented in industry.

The research suggests VR can offer a range of benefits for business, including increasing engagement and attitudes towards OSH training and improved retention of knowledge.

“Technology is continuously advancing and in many cases becoming more affordable, so this study gives us a taste of what’s to come,” says Mary Ogungbeje, IOSH Research Manager.

“By improving training strategies with the use of technology and simulated sensory experiences, we are heading in a direction where the workforce will not just enjoy a more immersive and interesting training course but also participate in an effective learning experience, so they are better prepared and equipped to stay safe, healthy and well at work.”

Read more iosh.com/multisensoryVE

South Korea looks to address working at height fatalities Last month IOSH was visited by a journalist from Seoul News in South Korea to exchange knowledge and expertise around safety on construction sites and working at height.

The visit to IOSH was arranged with support by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA),

building on our collaborative work with them. IOSH signed a memorandum of understanding with KOSHA earlier this year to share knowledge and expertise in occupational safety and health to protect workers and prevent workplace fatalities.

At least 60% of all workplace fatalities in South

Korea are related to working at height, mainly in the construction industry.

IOSH provided insights into UK legislation and prevention systems during the journalist’s visit and, thanks to President-Elect James Quinn, facilitated a site visit to Chelsea Barracks in Westminster, London, to see examples of

good practice in falls protection, safe working at height and high standards of construction site safety in the UK. KOSHA is also a supporter of IOSH’s global No Time to Lose campaign, which explains the leading causes of occupational cancer and helps businesses take action.

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IOSH 2019 Mental health promotion, leading sustainability and human capital, refining leadership and soft skills, and risk profiling were among the standouts at this year’s conference Words: KELLIE MUNDELL, NICK WARBURTON Pictures: STEVE BURDEN

Cathy Newman, conference chair

From left: Mike Wallace, ERM and chair; Bastian Buck, Global Reporting Initiative; Malc Staves, L’Oréal; Derran Williams, European Bank for Reconstruction; and Andrew Sharman, IOSH president

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A

Harwood-Whitcher said IOSH had s the subtitle of this year’s undertaken extensive research to map conference, “Take the next step”, out the competencies of the future OSH implied, IOSH 2019 was focused professional. In a more competitive and on arming the OSH professional complex world in which risk is changing with new skills to extend their influence in and business expects greater value, an an increasingly dynamic and fast-changing enhanced skill-set was indispensable. world of work.

“We found that the balance between the Attracting 725 delegates to technical and the leadership and soft skills Birmingham’s International Convention had changed since the last time we’d asked Centre on 16-17 September, the 44 sessions employers these questions,” she said. showcased presentations on issues such “It’s shifted from 60% of the as technological innovations, behavioural competencies being around management safety, professional development and a and leadership and soft skills and 40% greater onus on responding effectively to being technical. It’s almost as if the occupational health burdens. employers are saying, ‘The technical is In his opening address on the first a given. I can see that you’ve got your morning, Martin Temple, chair of the Martin Temple, Health and Safety Executive chair qualification and I can see that you’ve got Health and Safety Executive (HSE), your experience but what really matters is reiterated the importance of looking how you drive value in our organisation.’” forward and adapting, telling delegates: “We don’t She added that IOSH was planning to announce have the luxury of choosing to stay in the past.” mandatory changes to its continuing professional He added: “Are you aware, for example, that reports development (CPD) scheme in early 2020, among them are suggesting 65% of children entering primary school a new career hub to help members to upskill. Designed are expected to work in jobs that do not exist yet and in partnership with careers specialist Abintegro, the 35% of the skills necessary to thrive in a job will be hub will host more than 10,000 resources. different five years from now?”

Abintegro account manager Joe Chambers said: “There Temple asked how ready organisations were to take will be elements that fit into the CPD but ideally the on new challenges, whether they were physical safety, navigation will be something you can dip into and get an ageing workforce or health issues arising from new something from in an informal environment as well.” technologies and ways of working.

Opening one of the parallel sessions on the first Adapting and responding effectively to these afternoon, Joshua Rice, corporate lead of conventional growing demands ran through many of the conference health and safety at nuclear site Sellafield, outlined presentations, including one of the morning’s how mapping risk profiling data created a picture parallel sessions. that could identify opportunities and areas for Vanessa Harwood-Whitcher, director of professional improvement, and also target limited resources services at IOSH, chaired a debate on whether OSH (see box p 14). professionals should be pushing their skills beyond their technical competencies and developing effective business skills and the right behaviours to wield more influence.

Wake up, smell the coffee On a lighter note, John Briffa, a doctor of medicine, shared some unconventional tips on how individuals Professional influence can function better in the workplace, in particular in On leadership in his own company, Gary Latta, the morning. His six strategies included advice on environmental health and safety lead at PepsiCo breakfast habits, the importance of exposure to natural UK and Northern Ireland, said: “What they look for light and cultivating a positive mindset. is people who want to make themselves a bit more “A lot of people who are very productive tend to do embedded in the larger organisation. We’ve recently things in the morning and get the day off to very good changed our chief executive and he talks a lot about start,” he said. “They have a forward momentum that ‘PepsiCo is an organisation where we don’t hear the they take throughout the day. There’s this idea that if term that’s not my job’.” you win the morning, you win the day’.”

The former soldier explained he was about to take To foster mental resilience, he recommended part in a Lean Six Sigma session at PepsiCo to discuss routinely taking a cold morning shower. “When we get next year’s budget. “That’s not health and safety cold, brown fat is activated to stimulate the metabolism but I have to get the different skills to allow me as a practitioner to be a part of the larger organisation.”

Latta emphasised the importance of having the skills-set to participate in strategic discussions in the wider business and why it was critical to improving the profession’s status among its peers.

“All of us have fought for years to move away from the perception of ‘I appear with a clipboard every day walking around telling people what they should be doing rather than what they are doing’, and some people still see that,” he said.

He explained that by working at a strategic level, OSH professionals could demonstrate to executives that they were adding value and helping the wider business.

“If the business grows, it can then invest more in health and safety,” he said.

The balance between the technical and the leadership and soft skills has changed since the last time we’d asked employers

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Conference report

to create heat and we do want a stimulated metabolism because to a certain degree it helps with energy production.”

Cold-water exposure had a positive impact on neural transmitters (brain chemicals), he continued, and people who took cold showers regularly “are buzzing for several hours afterwards. They definitely feel a boost in their mental and physical energy”.

Conference chair and Channel 4 journalist Cathy Newman led an afternoon panel session debate on how OSH professionals can excel at cross-functional collaboration.

Asked to share a key point that delegates could take away to give them more influence in the boardroom, Adam Sewell-Jones, improvement adviser at the UK National Health Service, said it was important to use data to tell a story around the financial cost of getting health and safety wrong and the benefit of getting it right.

The starting point, said IOSH’s head of health and safety, Ruth Wilkinson, was to align the OSH professionals’ competencies and skills-sets with the company strategy. She echoed the need to show the business benefits that OSH could bring: “Look at those proactive leading indicators and the outcomes that you can give back the organisation.”

Global reach In one of the sessions closing the first day, Jonathan Nobbs, head of customer engagement at IOSH, outlined how OSH professionals could create and implement a strategy that protected staff and ensured suppliers met safety standards.

He referred to IOSH’s thought-leadership report The Healthy Profit (bit.ly/2ImrA65), which outlines how investments in safety, health and wellbeing are helping businesses to drive improvements in reputation, resilience and productivity.

He said: “Review your current safety, health and wellbeing strategy in consultation with your employees, focused on the three areas of governance, culture and systems.”

He advised that safety and health procedures and programmes should be proactive as well as reactive and that delegates should decide key performance indicators for measuring and reporting to stakeholders.

“We are suggesting that if you are not looking at the new Global Reporting Initiative standards then you should focus on that.”

Day two examined the latest insights into leadership, strategy and Journalist Frank Gardner innovation. Rethinking the leader-centric approach to improving OSH performance, Dr Shaun Lundy, visiting scholar at the University of Greenwich and technical director at 4site, and Toby Williams, health and safety manager at lift engineering firm Schindler, discussed the concept of “followership” – an emerging area that helps to explain outcomes.

The duo shared a video of one man dancing in a field, who was gradually joined by others to form a crowd that created a “movement” – illustrating the important roles followers play in

Risk profiling Referencing Health and Safety Executive chair Martin Temple’s opening address, Joshua Rice, corporate lead of conventional health and safety at nuclear site Sellafield, said: “The HSE sell [risk profiling] as a fundamental cornerstone to successful health and safety management.”

Built into the HSE’s planning phase of the plan-do-act cycle, it was a “really powerful tool” that helped organisations to focus on the correct hazards and risks.

Joshua Rice, Sellafield The problem, Rice added, was that many tended to focus on Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) events through standard company performance measures and data.

“These tend to identify high-frequency, low-hazard events – cuts, injuries, losttime accidents. Organisations fall into a trap of focusing their improvements and priorities, assurance and activities around these but they need to fundamentally look at their low-frequency but high-hazard potential events.”

Rice warned that, if employers became “distracted by the noise of the day-to-day data, they won’t protect their organisation”, which is why the HSE recommends considering those risks at the planning phase.

Sellafield had devised a tool that an organisation of any size could apply to determine where it needed to prioritise its safety controls. The model includes scenarios for both managed and unmanaged hazards.

“It’s been a useful tool for us to understand what contribution our management system is playing in preventing and reducing hazards,” he said.

“Also, if you do this on an annual basis, it helps you understand how your improvements are reducing hazards and therefore trying to quantify some benefit back to the business.”

The risk profile that the tool creates was particularly beneficial for fast-paced industries, Rice said.

“A lot of businesses are dynamic. They grow through acquisitions or new contracts and they bring risks and hazards with them. This is a tool to understand what those hazards are and how you as an organisation need to change to adopt or assimilate those and make sure they are effectively managed.”

organisational failures and successes, which in turn fashion a blueprint to improve OSH performance.

“Leadership is over-glorified,” said Lundy.

“Without followers, there is no movement, there is no leader.”

Story of survival The second day’s keynote was delivered by journalist and author Frank Gardner, who is paralysed after being shot six times at point-blank range by terrorists while reporting in Saudi Arabia in 2004.

His inspirational speech described his recovery, a key part of which was returning to work. When his employers visited him in hospital, he asked for a letter guaranteeing that he still had a job when he wanted to go back.

“When I got this, it was a huge incentive to get better and get up and out,” he told the hall.

Continuing the theme of survival, outgoing IOSH president Vincent Ho shared a video featuring Mavis and Ray Nye to underline the importance of IOSH’s No Time To Lose campaign. In 2009, Mavis was diagnosed with mesothelioma after spending years washing her husband’s asbestos-covered clothes.

Ray worked in a dockyard and the couple had

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Gary Latta, PepsiCo UK and NI

Dr John Briffa

no idea about the damage that was being caused to Mavis’s health by doing such a simple household chore.

Their story inspired delegates to send them a message of support.

A brighter future With one of the seven conference topics being “healthier workplaces”, the issue of mental health and wellbeing was prominent and was the focus of a debate featuring Duncan Spencer, head of advice and practice at IOSH, Fionuala Bonnar of Mental Health First Aid England, the HSE’s Peter Kelly, and chartered psychologist Roxane Gervais.

Visibly shocked at learning that two construction workers take their own lives each day on average [in the UK], Newman asked what more could be done.

“It needs to come from the leaders,” said Kelly. “If people in leadership positions said, ‘This is how I’m feeling, let’s talk about it’, it would certainly help.”

The panel discussed the benefits and pitfalls of appointing mental health first aiders, and the research that supports the intervention (bit.ly/2E31LrR).

Asked by a delegate whether mental health first aid is “just a fad”, Bonnar responded: “We’re not saying it’s the solution by itself. MHFA was originally designed for the public; it wasn’t designed for workplaces. But what we’ve recognised is that the public is in work.”

Using artificial intelligence (AI) to save lives was the topic of a presentation given by machine learning innovator Roy Daya. He works with global organisations to implement proactive “just in time” alerts to their technologies to analyse unsafe behaviours in order to avoid near-misses or directly shut down machinery when an unsafe act is identified.

“If you have three safety managers and 300 security cameras in a factory, we can give you 303 safety managers,” he said, highlighting the drive towards immersive technology.

Global investors are increasingly interested in human capital metrics – after all, a sustainable workforce is critical to a company’s success, including its bottom line. But “human capital” proved a controversial term during a panel debate held on the final afternoon, chaired by sustainability expert Mike Wallace.

L’Oréal’s health and safety director, Malc Staves, described the term as “cold and sterile”, explaining that he doesn’t like the words and what they represent.

“I’m always interacting with other departments,

Vincent Ho, former IOSH president

including HR and finance, and I adapt my language according to whose behaviours I am trying to improve.

That said, human capital is fine to use in a board meeting – if I have to use those words to keep my people safe I will.”

IOSH’s new president, Andrew Sharman, agreed: “We don’t want to start a revolution here, we want to continue the evolution of OSH. Human capital management might help with the stigma from which health and safety still suffers.”

What good looks like One of the final sessions was given over to learnings from London’s super sewer, Tideway (bit.ly/2Gc80aw).

Achieving parity between health and safety is a strategic objective for the project and understanding the specific challenges emerging during construction is imperative to its future direction.

The programme’s head of occupational health, safety and wellbeing, Jennie Armstrong, was joined

by Loughborough University’s Professor Alistair Gibb and Malcolm Shiels, who heads specialist CDM for construction consultancy Summers-Inman. Armstrong led delegates through a whistle-stop tour of how Tideway measures “what good looks like” by sharing its occupational health index (OHI) dashboard.

“We look for things we should be doing, but we also look for things we are doing right,” she told delegates.

“The next step is to upskill managers and use the OHI as a coaching tool rather than a measure of performance.”

Gibb agreed: “Thirty-five years ago you didn’t see guys walking around site with hi-vis jackets on. Look how much that’s changed. It’s the norm. We have to do that with health – it’s simply not acceptable to be in pain after a week’s work.”

As in previous years, the conference coincided with IOSH’s annual general meeting, in which Sharman was elected president. He immediately urged health and safety practitioners to ensure they respond to new risks created by the changing world of work and new technologies. By doing so, he said perspectives on health and safety could continue to change and more businesses will see the “true value of what the profession offers”.

Sharman said: “Working globally, I see significant variation in how health and safety is approached. I’d like to explore how we can raise the bar across the planet, leveraging IOSH resources and networks, and member knowledge and expertise.” ●

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Events For IOSH group and branch events visit www.iosh.com October 15

Working Environment; Anna-Maria Teperi from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health; and Mikko Välimaa of Konecranes. www.ttl.fi/visionzero19

Lone Worker Safety Expo The King’s Fund, central London £175 (IOSH members); £205 (non-members) Confirmed speakers include Sean Elson, Pinsent Masons; Louise Ward, Siemens Mobility; Duncan Spencer, IOSH; Barbara Hockey, head of the HSE’s vulnerable workers team; and Patrick Holdaway, chief inspector, National Business Crime Centre. www.loneworkersafetyexpo.com

13

November 5

IOSH Future Leaders Conference Crowne Plaza, Birmingham £60 (IOSH members); £40 (IOSH student members) This combination of presentations, workshops and panel discussions with leaders from Sainsbury’s, the Football Association and Arriva Group is designed for early career professionals in OSH to meet and learn from one another and share knowledge and expertise. bit.ly/2mnVxME

5-8

14

A+A Düsseldorf, Germany £260 approx Ticket price includes entry to the trade fair and congress, the main programme topics of which are technology and labour laws, structuring work and working time, and new tools and working methods. www.aplusa-online.com

12-14 Vision Zero Summit Clarion Hotel, Helsinki, Finland £800 approx exc VAT The first summit will hear from speakers, including Pete Kines from the National Research Centre for the

Logistics and Retail Conference 2019 The Derby Conference Centre, Derbyshire £48 inc VAT (IOSH members); £54 inc VAT (non-members) With a focus on providing key information on the hazards that affect those working in the logistics and retail industries, as well as the food and drink sector, delegates will learn about behavioural safety in the workplace, the prevention of slips, trips and falls as well as transport and driving for better business. bit.ly/2mos3OJ

19

Trust have already been confirmed. bit.ly/2ESi7Dd

19-20 Asbestos 2019 Conference Crowne Plaza Hotel, Nottingham £400 exc VAT Organised by the British Occupational Hygiene Society in conjunction with the Faculty of Asbestos Assessment and Management (FAAM), the event brings together researchers, academics, occupational hygienists and regulators to consider today’s global asbestos problem. bit.ly/2XgkPcQ

AIF National Work at Height Conference AJ Bell Stadium, Salford, Greater Manchester £195 exc VAT The Access Industry Forum’s second national conference will address the issues and topics set to shape the future of access and height safety in a sector that had 40 fatalities in 2018-19. Speakers include Jason Anker MBE and Dylan Skelhorn of the No Falls Foundation. bit.ly/2miV8uE

21

Rail Industry Conference

27

IOSH Scotland Conference Perth Racecourse, Perth, Scotland £66 inc VAT (IOSH members); £84 inc VAT (non-members) On the agenda is workplace mental health, human behaviour and the HSE strategy for 2019-2020. Delegates will have the opportunity to quiz experts, including HSE Scotland’s Iain Brodie as well as those in the field of human behaviour. bit.ly/2lUAXDi

Science and Industry Museum, Manchester £120 inc VAT (IOSH members); £150 (non-members) Bookings are now open for the IOSH Railway Group’s annual conference. Speakers from the Office of Rail and Road, the Rail Safety and Standards Board, Network Rail, Volker Rail, the European Union Agency for Railways, HS2 and the Railway Heritage

Utility Week Health, Safety and Wellbeing Conference BCEC Birmingham £549 (standard) Speakers from E.ON, Thames Water, Northern Gas Networks, EDF Energy, Skanska, and the Industrial Noise and Vibration Centre will present at this year’s event for the utilities sector. event.utilityweek.co.uk/hs

THE UK’S FASTEST GROWING EVENT FOR HEALTH & SAFETY 400+ EXHIBITORS • 16,000+ VISITORS • 150+ SPEAKERS

SAVE THE DATE

WWW.HEALTHANDSAFETYEVENTS.CO.UK

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Reviews HSE and Environment Agency Prosecution: the new climate Charlotte Waters, Mike Appleby and Louise Smail Bloomsbury Professional (bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk), £95, paperback The overlap between two distinct areas of regulatory law – health and safety and environmental – can be strewn with complications. It follows, therefore, that explaining how to overcome these, and communicating solutions to lawyer and non-lawyer alike, would be a testing challenge. But it is one that the authors of HSE and Environment Agency Prosecution have risen to.

Their book is split into four dedicated sections, so that a busy professional can dip in and out. A userfriendly presentation helps the reader to ascertain a synopsis of a specific topic, but the book is also suitable for those who want more insight.

The first section deals with managing risk and offers guidance on corporate governance, risk management techniques and business continuity.

The second addresses the law and deals with the most serious criminal offences of corporate and gross negligence manslaughter. It explains the range of legal implications for organisations and individuals when allegations are made of health and safety and environmental offences.

Next comes the investigation, enforcement and sentencing process. The initial incident reporting procedures are charted, with commentary on interviews under caution and explanation of the

Here are all the books we’ve reviewed to date ioshmagazine.com/type/reviews

prosecution process. The way the book deals with the sentencing guidelines, and a court’s approach to arriving at a sentence, will benefit professionals and advisers who work within organisations and need to understand how penalties are determined.

Finally, the authors address inquests, public inquiries and civil claims. Again, they explain the evidential requirements and main procedural rules and practical considerations. They have included a chapter on the insurance framework, giving the reader a snapshot of the types of policies available for businesses and individuals.

The book offers clear and straightforward explanations and guidance on both the legal and practical implications that businesses and individuals may face. I am sure that lawyers, or indeed anyone working in the health and safety and environmental fields, as well as in-house professionals, will find this book an invaluable addition to the office. One feature that impressed me was the compendium of case summaries at the back. The authors have taken the time to provide succinct commentary on the findings of the most important cases they have cited, and which affect all persons working in the health and safety and environmental sectors.

Overall, this book is a perfect resource offering an effective, quick practical guide of the salient issues, and is well worth the purchase price.

GARY RUBIN, PARTNER AND HEAD OF THE REGULATORY DEPARTMENT, BLACKFORDS LLP

Logistics and Retail Conference 2019 Safety leadership, commitment, engagement and cooperation Wednesday 13 November 2019 The Derby Conference Centre, London Road, Alvaston, Derby, DE24 8UX

Member full pass: £48.00 inc. VAT Non-member full pass: £54.00 inc. VAT

The IOSH Logistics and Retail Group’s new conference focuses on the hazards that affect the logistics, retail and food and drinks industries. Delegates can learn about workplace behavioural safety, preventing slips, trips and falls and transport and driving for better business.

Book your place online now by visiting bit.ly/2lOgFev

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Arias for improvement The case of a viola player whose loss of hearing was deemed a workplace-related injury has prompted the Royal Opera House to review its safety and health processes Words: TINA WEADICK

Photography: SIM CANETTY-CLARKE

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performances, and creatives will always try to push things to the max,” she says.

“Designers, for instance, don’t always get the importance of the health and safety aspects but, at the same time, they cannot design with only health and safety in mind – that would be horrible.”

Perrissin-Fabert admits that she does sometimes have to argue with the opera or ballet director over how things could be done versus how they should be done, but usually they can compromise. As an example, she tells the story of a performance that involved a duel on one of the six lifts that can descend 9 m below the main stage and rise 6 m above it.

“The lift was raised up a couple of metres and there was no edge protection, even though the performers had to run and jump around quite a bit. So we hired a fight director to train the performers to do it safely – this is called ‘rehearsed competency’. Also, we marked the platform with lines that only the performers, not the audience, could see, indicating the safe areas for them to remain within. I do often have to ask for specific training for the performers and I will overrule the creative director in these instances if necessary.”

The particular show’s stage or production manager tends to carry out the risk assessments, but risk management support will be called upon for specialised activities, such as the use of lasers and ‘flying’ equipment. There is also a full-time team dedicated to fire risk and control at the venue.

“You can’t curtail creativity, just control it,” says Perrissin-Fabert. “If we want to be a successful entertainment company, we have to be on the edge. We can’t play it safe. How much risk do we accept? That is the question. I don’t believe in zero risk.”

N

essun dorma is, arguably, the most famous aria in the whole of opera, thanks to the spine-tingling performances of the late Luciano Pavarotti. It means “none shall sleep” – and that was a fitting description of life for many of the staff at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, during August (see box, p 22).

While most people were enjoying the summer, the team at the 160-year-old listed building was busier than ever – checking, logging and cleaning thousands of pieces of equipment, upgrading and refurbishing crucial systems and set-ups, and generally ensuring that, when the curtain rose again at the start of performance season, there would be no bum notes.

Ensuring all this activity was performed safely was the company’s health and safety manager, Dominique Perrissin-Fabert, who has been in the role for fourand-a-half years. Before joining the Royal Opera House, she spent 15 years as an environmental health officer at Westminster City Council, where she was a member of the team responsible for inspection and enforcement in the entertainment sector, covering nightclubs, theatres and concert venues.

As a result, she has the breadth of experience to cope with a workplace where, at any one time – and sometimes all at once – there may be work at height, hazardous substances, electricity, noise, lasers, slips and trips, confined spaces, stress, members of the public and fire risks to contend with.

“And those are the straightforward issues,” says Perrissin-Fabert, laughing. “We also ‘hang’ people, ‘shoot’ people, throw them from windows – all the time. This can make applying the ‘as low as reasonably practicable’ (ALARP) principle rather challenging.”

Of course, she is talking about events during performances – operas and ballets – of which more than 300 are staged a year, attracting around 620,000 spectators to the venue. “Risk is part of the

Claim for damages Unfortunately, this view was not entirely shared by the courts, before which the Royal Opera House found itself last year to answer claims of breach of duty and causation of injury to a member of its orchestra.

In 2012, viola player Christopher Goldscheider, while rehearsing Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, sustained a hearing injury that ended his professional career.

After an eight-day hearing in the High Court, his claim for damages for personal injury against the Royal Opera House was granted.

Mrs Justice Nicola Davies found that Goldscheider had sustained acoustic shock and that it should have been compulsory for all orchestra musicians to wear protection all of the time during rehearsals and performances. She added there could be no

Above After the court ruling, the Royal Opera House looked at the layout of the orchestra pit Right Health and safety manager Dominique Perrissin-Fabert

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interpretation of this by the musicians themselves.

Since parts of the rehearsal and performance would exceed the exposure action value (85 dBA) set out in the Noise at Work Regulations 2005, the orchestra pit had to be a compulsory hearing protection area at all times.

The judge then made a statement that PerrissinFabert shudders to repeat: “In this regard, there is no distinction between an opera house and a factory.”

Perrissin-Fabert says: “This ruling was disastrous for us, as the majority of an orchestra’s work is above 85 dBA. Also, orchestra members play by listening to each other. You can’t do that if you are wearing hearing protection. In fact, both Mr Goldscheider and his witness – a fellow musician who also suffered from tinnitus – said they wouldn’t be able to play with hearing protection all the time.”

The Royal Opera House appealed. However, Lords Justices Leveson, McCombe and Bean, sitting in the Court of Appeal in April 2019, agreed with the conclusions of the original judge on the medical outcome of the sound exposure and upheld her order in Goldscheider’s favour. Crucially, though, they accepted the Royal Opera House’s case that it was not reasonably practicable for players in its orchestra pit to perform if they were required to wear hearing protection at all times. They set aside the original judge’s findings in that regard, stating that musicians should wear protection when they can.

In a statement issued after the appeal decision, the Royal Opera House expressed its “disappointment” at aspects of the ruling but saw it as an opportunity for improvement.

Perrissin-Fabert says: “We needed to be humble and look at our assumptions to determine where we went wrong, so that we could figure out how to do better.

It’s about seizing the opportunity to improve. After the case and the judgments, we realised there was no point in being defensive. We needed to be dispassionate and take the emotion out of it. At the end of the day, we injured somebody, so how could we make something positive out of that?”

The opera house in numbers The Royal Opera House has 1,200 full-time employees: one-third are artistes (such as musicians, singers and dancers), one-third are technical staff (responsible for lighting, costumes and set- and prop-making) and the rest are support staff.

The organisation has a giant workshop in Thurrock, Essex, for metal-working, carpentry tasks and costume-making, as well as a “Wembley-sized” storage warehouse in Aberdare, south Wales.

The grid – the system of hydraulic “bars” that rise and descend above and behind the stage and which support the electrics, backdrops and flying harnesses for performers – features 108 bars, making it the largest in the UK. There are 12,000 electrical items to be coded, tested and dusted during the August shutdown. Two teams work a rotation of 24-hour shifts to complete the task.

The company’s annual budget for ballet shoes alone is £500,000.

Hearing protection In fact, the organisation hit all the right notes in the way it responded to the incident. After the initial court case, it drew up a long list of strands of work to be explored, including orchestra pit layout, dosimetry, hearing conservation plans, and collaborating with conductors and musicians. “We absolutely wanted to make a difference to protecting the hearing of our musicians,” says Perrissin-Fabert.

A new post was created to manage all of these efforts, but with one particular caveat. “We didn’t want

Orchestra members play by listening to each other, which you can’t do if you’re wearing hearing protection

a purely health and safety person,” she says. “A lot of the work focused on engagement with musicians, so we wanted someone who knew music and who had a scientific or research background. Luckily, we managed to find a singing, trumpet-playing researcher, so we hired him on a two-year contract.”

The experience has been “wonderful”, says Perrissin-Fabert, with myriad projects arising as a result. For example, a PhD student was brought onboard to research acoustic material, analysing diffusion and reflection of sound in the orchestra pit.

The Royal Opera House carried out a study of the size of the pit to determine whether changing the layout would vary the sound and, if so, how feasible such a change would be. Not very, as it turned out.

“It would have cost us millions to maybe reduce exposure by 1-1.5 dBA for only some of the musicians,” she explains.

She and her team also conducted trials with dosimeters. The results were explored with a leading acoustics and noise consultancy, whose portfolio includes sound monitoring for the Glastonbury Festival.

The Royal Opera House has also partnered with Middlesex University to redesign its risk assessments to take into account artistic benefits. Perrissin-Fabert says: “Risk assessments determine only the risk, not the benefit, and it was crucial for us to be able to document the benefit of the way we work. We are one of only two organisations in the UK to offer performers full-time work, so the benefit in this case is huge.”

But even before the incident involving Goldscheider, the organisation was taking a keen interest in its employees. It has been running health surveillance programmes since 2008, so it now has 11 years of data with which to work. One of the pertinent findings has been that, rather than solely losing hearing, musicians tend to suffer tinnitus and hyperacusis – a condition that affects how people perceive sounds, causing them to be more sensitive to those that are not usually a problem for others.

Perrissin-Fabert says: “It’s interesting in terms of the Noise at Work Regulations, in which the exposure limits set – the lower and upper action values – are very much geared towards protecting against longterm, noise-induced hearing loss and acoustic trauma.

We know that the mechanism of injury and the onset of hearing damage, such as acoustic shock, tinnitus or hyperacusis, are not directly related to those exposure

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limits, which add difficulties when checking the efficiency of our control measures.”

In terms of audiometry, the organisation is looking into using otoacoustic emissions as well as the standard pure-tone tests used by the NHS. Pure tone relies on patient responses to stimuli, so it is used only on adults and children old enough to co-operate with the test procedure. Otoacoustic emissions are used to test the hearing of new-born babies, and are being developed to provide audiologists with an additional way of screening the hearing of all adults – not just musicians.

“We are interested in trying it at the Royal Opera House to make our audiometry even more comprehensive,” says Perrissin-Fabert. “It is a passive test, not reliant on a considered human response, is quick to carry out, and doesn’t require a soundproof environment. The major advantage, however, is that it is proactive. It can detect hearing damage before the person can actually notice it, whereas pure tone only measures the damage once it has happened and the person is already aware of it. So this test allows better hearing protection management. We believe it would be a useful motivational tool for encouraging players in our industry to wear hearing protection.”

Aside from hearing and noise-related issues, the control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH) is a key focus area for Perrissin-Fabert and her team (see box, right).

Evacuation drills Another major consideration for the organisation, in terms of health and safety management, is the public. The Royal Opera House has two auditoriums, numerous bars and cafés, and, on performance days, can have up to 3,500 visitors and staff in the building.

Above On performance days, there can be up to 3,500 visitors and staff at the Royal Opera House

Unsurprisingly, it has carefully thought-out evacuation plans for all potential scenarios.

“We do hold some planned evacuation drills for employees and the public every year,” Perrissin-Fabert says. “However, last season, we tested the evacuation in a ‘real’ scenario. No fire had broken out, but the alarms were triggered unexpectedly during a full house.

On this occasion, the technical department was testing some pyrotechnics in a rehearsal room and, while the local fire heads had been isolated to avoid a false alarm, unexpectedly the thick smoke travelled three floors up and triggered two heads. As a result, the whole building had to be evacuated. Luckily, the audience took it quite well, and all our front-of-house staff are trained to handle such an evacuation.”

She points out that it is easier to manage an evacuation for an opera than for a ballet. “Ballet dancers need to keep warm to perform so, to restart a ballet performance after an evacuation, we need to allow at least 20 minutes for the dancers to warm up again. It’s even worse in the winter. As part of our evacuation procedure, therefore, we have special blankets to keep artistes warm.”

Perhaps surprisingly, given the perceived elite nature of opera and ballet, violence and aggression are as much an issue for the Royal Opera House as they are for other entertainment venues. Consequently, it worked with SOLT – the Society of London Theatre – on the introduction of a body-camera system, whereby security and some front-of-house staff wear the devices.

Perrissin-Fabert explains: “They are quick to deploy by staff, and help to defuse tense situations. Basically, they act like a mirror, with the aggressor able to see themselves on the screen. That’s often enough to make them stop their behaviour.”

But most of the drama at the Royal Opera House takes place on the stage, to the delight of more than 2,000 audience members a night at this iconic London venue. Thanks to the efforts of Perrissin-Fabert and her team to ensure harmony between creativity and health and safety, and the organisation’s careful choreography of staff and spectator wellbeing, the audience can be sure of an amazing performance.

Now that really is something to make a song and dance about. ●

Improved COSHH credentials Many chemicals are used at the Royal Opera House: in prop-making and dyeing, in oils and gases for engineering and welding tasks, in the paint shop, and for prosthesis manufacture (where latex is used).

In this area, too, the organisation has sought help from outside to improve and inform its health and safety procedures.

Within the framework of IOSH’s PIPER initiative – Partnership for Innovative Practitioner Engagement in Research – two students undertaking master’s degrees (a medical doctor who wanted to obtain further qualifications in occupational health, and an insurance risk manager) helped health and safety manager Dominique Perrissin-Fabert and her team to widen their knowledge of the control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH).

The students also helped to change attitudes, she says. “For example, the art of dyeing hasn’t changed in 40 years [at the opera house]. By the students questioning why the dye team did things the way they did, they got the team to do things differently and more safely.”

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Enhancing careers

Changing landscape Safety and health professionals must develop non-technical skills to keep pace in the fourth industrial revolution – and IOSH’s new competency framework will be key to this Words: DUNCAN SPENCER

D

uring a recent focus group at IOSH, with leading OSH professionals, a member explained that she wished to recruit two people. Her first problem was filtering applicants – everyone had the same qualifications and professed to have experience of conducting risk assessment, writing policy and procedures and so on. This raised an important question: how do you differentiate when everyone, on paper, looks the same?

Her second problem was that, despite reducing the applications to a manageable number of interviews, she did not appoint any of the candidates. Why? Because none of them could show that they had the skills to influence others and drive change in the workplace.

This story brought a chorus of agreement among the other OSH leaders present. Sadly, it reflects negatively on our profession’s ability to develop talent and serves as an example of why we sometimes struggle to argue we are a profession to be valued and listened to.

IOSH has continued to assess the demands of the modern workplace and the future challenges for the profession. The fourth industrial revolution and everchanging commercial landscape demand that the modern OSH professional develops “non-technical” skills.

With this in mind, we have modified the balance of support for our members. Although the technical understanding of the trade remains vital, we will no longer focus solely on this. In line with our strategic aims to enhance, collaborate and influence, we recognise that IOSH needs to do more to help members build the skills and behaviours necessary to further their careers and become more effective influencers. We will now provide fresh impetus to supporting the career development and professional standing of our members.

Our new competency framework is a first step and the result of a lengthy, evidence-led research project. Through a combination of focus groups, telephone interviews, desktop research, analysis and benchmarking against a wide range of national and international standards and practices, we have identified 69 competencies. Forty per cent are more traditional and technical competencies, and 60% address capability through core skills and behaviour.

The competencies are divided into three groups:

Technical competence Our profession must continue to enhance its capability to provide accurate and effective advice on safety

and occupational health subjects. This section of the framework includes the collection of OSH technical competencies that underpin advisory ability. These include complying with legislation and standards, policy, risk management, incident management and the effect of health, safety and welfare on people. It also includes new technical understanding aimed at working more effectively in the modern age, such as sustainability, ethical practice, human capital and community impact.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCE Health and safety policy Risk management Incident management Health, safety and welfare and effect on people Sustainability

CORE COMPETENCE Strategy Planning Leadership and management

Core competence This covers the skills to support and enable good decision-making in the workplace. It includes the competencies necessary to influence in operationally busy organisations and enhance the employability and general effectiveness of the OSH professional. The competencies include strategy, planning, leadership and management skills.

Behavioural competence To deliver influence, OSH professionals must conduct themselves appropriately in the workplace. This section includes competencies for building effective stakeholder relationships, delivering good personal and professional performances, developing exemplary communication skills and an ability to work productively with others.

These are all abilities that underpin the building of successful and productive relationships.

BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCE Working with stakeholders Personal performance and professionalism Communications Working with others

What will IOSH be doing next?

At IOSH 2019 (see pp 12-15), we heard from a diverse array of speakers who are leading the charge with innovative and disruptive approaches, to ensure that safety and health is taken seriously as a core business function. The time for change is now.

Our new framework provides exciting possibilities.

It provides essential context for our qualifications and training products, as well as the review of member grades. It also lays the foundation for the launch next year of our new professional journey for members, which will include an enhanced assessment tool, expanded continuing professional development and a new career hub.

By equipping OSH professionals with a wider range of skills, IOSH will help to break down the barriers and future-proof the profession.

Watch this space, there is more to come! ●

Duncan Spencer CFIOSH is head of advice and practice, IOSH

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Pathways to smooth landings Heathrow Airport’s health and wellbeing strategy includes a focus on sustaining resilience at work and equipping line managers with the tools to support employee mental health Words: NICK WARBURTON

Illustration: Vicki Turner

I

t was the loss of a close friend that moved Katherine Compton to ask her employer, Heathrow Airport, formerly BAA, to support the creation of a role to oversee health and wellbeing, with a particular focus on mental health and occupational health at the aviation hub.

Compton, who was head of health and safety improvement at the business in 2016 when a health and wellbeing strategy was first raised, felt that health had become the ‘neglected partner’.

“One person doing both aspects of this role was too much,” she says. “It was too broad. We needed a strategy for health, which is why I created the role. I had the full support of the business, which recognised the importance of the health agenda. We look at proactive [interventions] rather than just preventive.

Catching somebody before they fall is an important part for us.”

Appointed as head of health and wellbeing transformation in February 2017, Compton has

overseen the development of the strategy, which comprises multiple strands and has been rolled out in stages, the latest one on trauma landing last October.

Heathrow employs just over 6,500 colleagues from a diverse range of backgrounds. Roles are also varied, and include, for example, engineers, office workers, firefighters, security officers, airside operatives and project teams.

However, despite so many cultural differences and roles, some of which might appear high-risk, Compton says no single group stands out as needing particular mental health support or focus.

“Because mental health issues are not necessarily work-related and are so broad and non-discriminatory, they can affect anybody at any level of the organisation, which is how we shaped our health and wellbeing strategy – we look at the whole person.”

The challenge at the outset for Compton was how to bring together the different strands around mental health and physical health issues so that

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they fitted into a cohesive strategy that also reflected Heathrow’s objectives.

“I was clear at the outset, that we are not just a wellbeing team,” she says. “It is not about getting colleagues to become a bronzed god or goddess doing a yoga pose on a beach with a sunset behind them.

To truly be beneficial and make a difference to the health profile of our colleagues, our engagement and education strategy has to appeal to everyone and be relatable – there must be something for everyone.”

Compton says the organisation’s mental health strategy is not a silver bullet. “Although we would love to be in a position where no one suffers from a period of mental ill-health, sadly that doesn’t reflect our current reality – we need to be realistic about what we can do,” she says.

“Ensuring our colleagues take accountability for their own health is important. We can provide them with education, empowerment and access to care pathways to help them make healthy choices and understand health risks. It was a bit of a deal: ‘We’ll do this; and you need to do this’,” she says.

Pilot data When they first started to create their mental health strategy, Compton’s team had neither health data nor insights into whether colleagues were grappling with issues as varied as financial worries, stress and bereavement. So the first stage in the strategy’s development was an exercise to glean the workforce’s general health status.

On the physical health side, in early 2017 the team rolled out a 12-month calendar of initiatives and used each one to capture feedback. A physiologist carried out 20-minute health assessments from which they started to identify trends. A pop-up gym was installed and a room set aside where staff could relax.

Compton admits, however, that on the mental health side it was “a bit of voyage into the unknown”.

“We wanted to create a multi-layered approach to our mental health agenda that takes into account the whole person – not just the work person – and touches every layer of the organisation,” she says.

“We wanted to start by encouraging people to talk, and not to feel alone, recognising that there may be stigma associated with reaching out for help. To launch our campaign, our executive signed the ‘Time to Change’ pledge, and we asked colleagues to be part of a DVD to share their story.”

Compton was genuinely moved by the number of colleagues who came forward and wanted to share their stories to help others. The DVD included two members of the executive, which Compton says has been instrumental in changing perceptions of the business’s culture.

The next step was leading people to support, she says. “Once you start people talking, [the next, and most important question] is ‘where do you lead them to?’. You need them to have somewhere that they can go to get professional help and support.”

Sustaining resilience However, colleagues can be uncomfortable about speaking frankly about their concerns to their line manager or human resources. So Compton’s team worked with psychological health consultancy March on Stress to develop a bespoke, two-day course to equip selected volunteers – known as sustaining

Above Katherine Compton, head of health and wellbeing transformation

resilience at work (StRaW) buddies – with the tools to have a structured conversation about mental ill-health indicators. The individuals wear pin badges on their lanyards to identify themselves.

This was an improvement on the Mental Health First Aid approach, she says. “When looking for a product we wanted something that could equip managers with practical tools to have a conversation.”

The StRaW buddy programme uses a red, amber and green approach to guide the volunteers to identify the best pathways for a colleague to be directed towards professional help.

“One of the differences in our product is that it has a structured recruitment process,” Compton says. “If you compare us with other organisations, they might have 200-plus mental health first aiders, opening up training to anyone within the organisation. We have 23, who have been through a rigorous selection process. It is the quality not the quantity that is important.”

She says this process is about identifying individuals who are good listeners, understand the importance of confidentiality and are in a ‘good place’ mentally to help others. She equates it to putting on an oxygen mask – “you need to put yours on first before helping others, and we need to ensure that our buddies are in the right place to be able to help others”.

Heathrow’s product also differs in that the training does not cover mental health conditions. That’s because “a little knowledge is sometimes dangerous”, she notes. “The StRaW buddies,” she adds, “are there

To truly be beneficial and make a difference, our engagement and education strategy has to appeal to everyone and be relatable

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Mental health

not to diagnose, but to listen and signpost colleagues to the help and support that is appropriate to them.”

After the StRaW buddies have completed the formal two-day training, they receive an extra half-day session hosted by a StRaW manager (who runs the overall programme) where they get to know each other better, to form a support network.

“We also reaffirm the business’s expectations, for example, the importance of boundary-setting and confidentiality – we ask them to sign a confidentiality agreement,” says Compton.

“There is also a focus on looking after their own wellbeing, and on the importance of the structured governance for the programme, which includes their own check-ins and welfare calls.”

The StRaW manager provides mandatory, annual refreshers for the volunteers, to ensure their skills remain fresh and relevant. “They have to complete an assessed role-play, which they must pass to remain as a StRaW buddy for the following year – something other programmes don’t do,” Compton says.

“This rigour that we’ve put in place is important to safeguard the mental health of our volunteers and of those they are helping.”

The buddy programme is continuously reviewed, to help Compton and her team to pick up on prevalent themes or trends across the business.

They have recently created four ‘lunch-and-learn and networking sessions’ on key themes that are supported by local charities – including cancers and domestic abuse.

“These sessions enable the volunteers to find out what the charity does and where it is located, and to build a rapport with it,” she says. “If a colleague needs to be signposted for support, the buddy can feel confident in the referral routes and services that the colleague could reach out to.”

An important feature of the programme is the opportunity for the volunteer to stand down from the role – temporarily or permanently – to respond to their own life events or challenges.

It is also noteworthy that the programme has full support from the unions, which helped to shape its development. “Our unions also look after colleagues, wellbeing, and it is important that we have a joined-up approach to mental health,” Compton says.

Above Heathrow Airport employs just over 6,500 colleagues from a diverse range of backgrounds

best placed to catch individuals before they ‘fall’. She refers to findings from the Mental Health at Work Report 2017 (bit.ly/2lAXnJi) which noted that line managers know they have a duty of care to support employees on mental health issues, but aren’t always sure how to discharge this duty effectively.

Compton could identify both extremes at Heathrow: there were line managers who failed to provide the required support and others who went too far – for example, by taking phone calls outside work hours to support a colleague.

Drawing on industry best practice, together with coaching techniques and a Heathrow ‘purpose and values’ lens, her team devised a one-day, off-site course called ‘Your Mind Matters’ for line managers, which was launched in June 2018.

The first part of the course looks at the importance and role of the line manager in creating a positive psychological environment in which colleagues can thrive. In risk assessment language this entails the line manager eliminating workplace stress risk.

Compton says: “The line manager has a responsibility to create that environment but they also have a role, which is the second part they are taught on the course, in catching somebody before they fall – spotting the early signs and symptoms.

“It’s far easier to help someone recover more speedily if you catch them at an earlier stage.”

The final stage of the course involves helping the individual back into work if they have been absent due to mental ill-health. Compton wanted to provide a suite of practical tools that line managers could take away from the course: aids that would give them the confidence to apply the practical measures while giving them the autonomy to manage the individual.

Two tools were created. The first is a personal plan for non-work-related issues. It comprises three simple prompts for the manager to shape a conversation with the colleague, including temporary adjustments.

The second is a workplace pressures assessment tool. Based on the UK Health and Safety Executive’s stress risk assessment model, the tool has been adapted to reflect Heathrow’s business climate.

Compton says that Heathrow made one simple yet significant change: the line manager, rather than occupational health, has responsibility for completing the workplace pressures assessment.

There is a two-step approach to this process. After the initial conversation, the employee is given a form to

Line managers matter An important but missing piece of the jigsaw was the role of the line manager, who Compton says is arguably

Heathrow_October 2019_IOSH 31

25/09/2019 10:34

Mental health

take home, where they can reflect on the issues they feel they are facing. The template requires them to consider the triggers at work that are causing them anxiety.

“If I came into a meeting with you right now and you said, ‘Talk me through what’s causing you stress’, it would all come tumbling out, in any order,” she says. “I am also not owning it. If I just blurt it out and gave it to you as a torrent of how I am feeling, you get the emotion, but also irrational and unlinked illogical thought patterns, which are commonly associated with stress or anxiety.”

The act of asking employees to complete the form at home, with time to reflect, confers ownership of those thoughts on the person who has them, she says. “By writing it down, they are committing to the process, and forced to think about what the true triggers are.

“The second part of the [workplace pressures assessment] process is that they bring it back and talk to their line manager, who can help them put in place any adjustments that are required.”

Again, boundary-setting is crucial, and something that is reinforced by Compton’s team. She admits that, before the course, some managers were stepping too far outside their role.

“A manager is not there to be a friend. They are there to provide guidance, helping the employee to reach out for professional help, and providing structured support in the workplace,” she says.

“Sometimes, when you are struggling, you need someone to break the problem down into manageable, bite-sized actions – that is what the manager can do.

Giving someone a routine is also important.”

She has found the training has changed the mindset of some line managers, too. “[Before the training] some managers thought, if you are off with mental ill health, you get better outside work, as with a physical injury. They hadn’t realised that coming back into the workplace is part of that whole recovery, and that they have a critical role to play.” Assisting the employee back to work is the final stage of the whole process.

Sometimes, when you are struggling, you need someone to break the problem down into manageable, bite-size actions – that is what the manager can do

Care for the first responders Heathrow Airport recognises that trauma requires an entirely different skills set.

Heathrow has a diverse risk-based profile and some environments are high-risk.

There have been car crashes on the perimeter road, and passengers have had heart attacks after embarking planes.

“Our teams are trained to be first responders and deal with these,” says Katherine Compton, head of health and wellbeing transformation.

“We therefore need to look after their mental health. We have a duty of care, as we are putting them in that position. The trauma part of the mental health agenda was huge for me – how were we going to support them and what were we going to do differently?”

Heathrow’s trauma incident management system (TRiM) has been applied to several incidents over the past year, most notably the arrival at the internal postroom of a Heathrow company building in March of a suspicious package, thought to have been sent by dissident Irish republicans.

The team has also applied TRiM to multi-agency terrorism-prevention exercises, which test the effectiveness of a joint response to a terrorist incident at Heathrow.

“We overlaid TRiM on that,” Compton says. “This was our test bed to see whether it would work. Everybody said they felt there was a gap and wanted to pursue TRiM there, so we started to roll it out across the business.”

Ultimately, she would like all the organisations working at Heathrow to embed this single product for trauma support.

Compton says Heathrow has a commitment to train all its line managers within 18 months from the course launch. So far, just over 600 managers have been trained.

The feedback has been refreshing, she says, with all managers reporting that they would recommend the course to others.

Learning from the army Launched last October, Heathrow’s trauma incident management system (TRiM) operates as a sister product to the StRaW programme, but is still very much in its infancy (see box, left).

“TRiM is a widely used product in the army and blue-light services that we have learned a lot from,” Compton says. “It is a structured risk-assessment process that provides support and interventions at key timed intervals.”

As with the StRaW buddy course, Heathrow has provided bespoke training that fits the business’s needs, again with an emphasis on boundary-setting.

The next project taxiing for take-off is the team’s work on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

“It’s become easy to have a conversation about mental health issues, but MSDs is now sort of a poor relation,” Compton admits.

“We’ve just started to shape our strategy this year by looking at what our data is showing us.

What are the trends and risks? It’s similar to mental health, in that most of our workplace absences are non-work-related,” she says.

Compton’s team received industry plaudits in July when Heathrow was among six shortlisted finalists in the Bupa Health and Wellbeing Award category at the Responsible Business Awards 2019.

“Being recognised for the award was an amazing recognition of how far we have come on our mental health agenda – and I am incredibly proud. However, as with the safety agenda, I feel that there is still more to do and learn,” she says.

“I don’t think that there should be any boundaries to sharing best practice regarding the health agenda.

We all have a social responsibility to care for one another – why reinvent the wheel?.”

Compton returns to her earlier point about encouraging a whole-person approach. “Normally, we find that work is a trigger, or contributor, but there are other underlying issues,” she says.

“By supporting our colleagues to find the true trigger, it helps to make their recovery quicker, because they can get the right support. For me, that is huge.” ●

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Working overseas

Safe travels

Organisations that send employees abroad should ensure their safety, security and medical support by following several key steps

Words: ALEXANDRA AZEVEDO

34 OCTOBER 2019

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Working overseas

R

apid globalisation, and the increasing interconnectedness that comes with it, has resulted in more people travelling for work or being stationed abroad.

Businesses are becoming much more intelligent at recognising workforce diversity and this places further demands on their duty of care to their employees, so they are recognised on an individual basis. Businesses now understand, recognise and support diversity.

Although these are positive developments, they call for a new approach to managing the safety and health risks associated with international travel and employment overseas. Many organisations struggle to know how best to keep employees and expats safe.

However, by implementing some key steps, and working with external experts where necessary, employers can put in place safeguards to minimise the risk of incidents.

Images: Getty / Istock

Duty of care Any responsible employer will understand that it has a moral obligation to take reasonable care of its employees, regardless of where they are operating.

Under UK common law, employers also have a legal duty. Crucially, this duty of care continues when employees travel to work in other locations, no matter how long the assignment’s tenure.

Although the employer’s duty of care is not absolute, it is still required to show that it has acted “reasonably” in any given situation. To ensure its actions are not unreasonable, the main requirements for an employer are: ● having policies in place that cover travel safety, health and security (and actively enforcing these); ● carrying out tailored risk assessments to properly understand the relevant health, safety and security risks that employees may face when abroad; ● putting a system in place that enables it to pinpoint its workers’ locations to monitor their safety; ● testing systems to ensure they work effectively; ● preparing and educating employees about the location they will be working in; ● arranging extra training if workers will be travelling to high-risk areas; ● putting in place systems to stay up-to-date with changing risks, and ensuring this information can be shared quickly with the employees; ● providing workers with access to a 24-hour helpline; ● referring employees to medical and security travel assistance providers and institutions, such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, so that they remain up-to-date on the latest travel alerts.

The first case study (see ‘Misled on malaria risk’ box, overleaf) shows what can happen when an employer fails to exercise its duty of care.

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Working overseas

Beyond the clear moral and legal obligations underpinning an employer’s duty of care, there are also significant business benefits to be gained by taking measures to protect a mobile workforce.

A joint study by International SOS and Prevent found that every dollar invested in medical check programmes brought a return ranging from $1.60 to $2.53 (bit.ly/1M7257H).

Assess and manage risks Travel risks differ between employees and destinations, so individualised risk assessments need to be carried out before any trip.

From a medical perspective, a risk assessment should include vaccination status and requirement, as well as any current and past health issues. On the security side, the assessment should cover whether

the worker has been to the country before, or to destinations presenting a similar risk. It is important to bear in mind whether the individual is considered vulnerable because of their gender, religion or sexual orientation. The assessment should also consider the support the worker can expect in the country, and the duration of the trip. Employers should look carefully at the actual travel details alongside an assessment of the worker’s behaviour around risk.

As well as risk assessments, companies should make sure that they are taking active preventive measures that are documented and auditable. There are many ways that risks can be controlled, but the measures selected should depend on the level and type of risk.

By taking active steps to prevent accidents or minimise the negative consequences, organisations will not only help to better protect their employees but ultimately also safeguard their own reputation.

Travel preparation

Misled on malaria risk Before leaving on a trip to West Africa, a worker was told by his employer that he did not need to worry about contracting malaria because he would be working on a remote offshore oil rig. As a result of this advice, he took no anti-malarial medication with him. However, when he was bitten by a mosquito during an overnight stay on his way to the oil rig, he developed a fatal malarial infection.

The High Court in London found that the employer had failed in its duty of care to the employee, because the assignment included stopovers to and from his final destination (bit.ly/2mcLHNp).

As in many parts of business, planning is integral to travel safety. To reduce exposure to risk and to limit the consequences that might occur, organisations and employees should consider the following: Security: there should be an awareness of the specific risks an individual worker may be exposed to in the country and city to which they will be travelling or assigned. This should then inform other issues, including the choice of transport, driving patterns and the impact of local laws in an emergency.

Organisations should also develop escalation plans, detailing key contacts and safe locations, and provide

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Working overseas

training so that employees and their families can act autonomously if needed. The plan should also include an escalation matrix, which will allow organisations to assess when they may need to consider evacuating the premises.

Medical: Many health risks posed by international travel can be anticipated, and putting in place a process to identify (and prevent) these risks is the employer’s responsibility. Alongside identifying any hazards and implementing programmes to reduce their risk, employers should provide information about potential health issues, and encourage employees to carry out assessments with a specialist physician well in advance of their travel.

However, being informed and educated is not always enough. Travelling workers should also be given a list of trusted healthcare practitioners and facilities at their destination. The availability and reliability of emergency response services, and the location of the nearest 24/7 emergency department, at the employee’s destination must also be confirmed ahead of their trip.

Neither medical nor security risks are static, so individuals should have access to reliable information about evolving threats in the form of proactive alerts that are sent to the traveller. Ideally, these should be automatic and tailored to the worker’s itinerary.

The second case study (above right) shows how travel alerts helped one expat to remain safe in Burkina Faso in west Africa.

Changing demographic International SOS’s report Global Business Resilience Trend Watch 2019 (bit.ly/2mHzGQ9), which was carried out with Ipsos MORI, revealed that travel policies are not keeping up with the changing needs of a modern workforce. The research showed that only 26% of organisations make specific provisions for female travellers, and even fewer provide for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers (9%) or those with disabilities (10%).

One possible explanation may be that travel security managers are unsure about whether it is reasonable to segment travellers and provide them with genderspecific travel advice, for instance. Not only is there a fear of being seen as sexist or patronising, but there is also a worry that they may face a backlash from the travellers themselves for treating them differently.

But since the risks faced by different groups vary, organisations need to provide travel protection that

Medical and security risks are not static, so individuals should have access to reliable information about evolving threats

Travel alerts keep expat safe One of International SOS’s members on assignment in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, west Africa, had travelled to the country’s second largest city, Bobo Dioulasso, for business. On the day he was due to travel back, news emerged that Ouagadougou had been seized in a military coup and he was advised, through the company’s travel security alerts, to stay at a secure location.

However, he realised that he was running out of his malaria medication and was therefore anxious to get home. He communicated his location and situation.

The company was able to reassure him by regularly sharing updates on the evolving security situation, and telling him where to find a credible local medical provider. The provider supplied him with anti-malaria medication while he waited for further instruction from International SOS’s security team.

reflects this. Ultimately, this will not just avoid negative publicity but also empower travellers to have safe and productive business trips.

Some things that planning organisations can do to support their diverse mobile employees include: providing gender-specific pre-trip briefings, and holding suppliers – such as hotels – accountable by ensuring they have policies to cater for individual needs, such as those of people with disabilities.

Responding to emergencies Should there be an emergency, it is critical that travelling workers, or expats, know whom they need to contact, and how to do so.

Before an employee departs for overseas their employer must also have considered the “what if?” question, with a clearly identified chain of responsibility and escalation. Small incidents sometimes have the potential to escalate into major ones, so having an emergency plan in place is critical.

Two questions to consider when putting this together are, “Is there a person able to make a decision (including about any financial issues) to support a worker confronted with an imminent, dangerous situation?”; and “Is there someone able to provide them with medical and security advice and support on the ground?”.

Ultimately, the emergency plan should cover these essentials: ● preparedness (to deal with an emergency); ● mitigation (measures to reduce the severity of the situation); ● response (measures to deal with the emergency); ● recovery (measures to assist workers and ensure business continuity after the crisis).

The ideas, actions and examples outlined here provide an overview of best practice for keeping a mobile workforce safe and secure. As such, they are applicable to any organisation with remote or travelling employees.

The support needed to implement these steps – and especially during an incident – may be complex, so having access to a reliable medical and security assistance provider, with knowledge of any local environment, is important.

By working together to put these steps into practice, organisations will not only meet their duty of care but also improve their bottom line. On the other hand, failing to do so risks putting their employees and reputation in danger. ●

Alexandra Azevedo is a travel manager at International SOS

38 OCTOBER 2019

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Safety behaviour

Healthy thinking The mental shortcuts we use to make judgements could result in us giving more attention to safety risks than to health ones, but being aware of these unconscious biases could lead to more effective interventions Words: DR NICK BELL

Provisional fatal injury statistics for 2018/19 showed that a total of 147 people died as a result of work-related injuries

That same month it was revealed that 2,523 people died as a result of mesothelioma (a cancer caused by asbestos exposure) in 2017

OCTOBER 2019 41

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Safety behaviour

I

n July, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released two sets of data relating to deaths in the workplace. Provisional fatal injury statistics showed that a total of 147 people died as a result of work-related injuries (bit.ly/1jMmGvo) in 2018/19. That same month it was revealed that 2,523 people died as a result of mesothelioma (a cancer caused by asbestos exposure) in 2017 (bit.ly/1F3QbTC).

There is a huge disparity between these figures, yet it is often noted that industry has historically given far more attention to safety than health. There have been numerous efforts to redress this imbalance, such as IOSH’s No Time to Lose campaign, which aims to raise awareness of, and find solutions to, work-related cancers (bit.ly/2GHmc09). This bias may partly be due to the unconscious, mental shortcuts (or heuristics) that we use to make sense of the world.

There are two schools of thought about heuristics.

For the psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, they are a source of error, leading people to arrive at decisions that defy the laws of statistics – Kahneman was later awarded the Nobel prize for this work (bit.ly/2XcTbNo). Gerd Gigerenzer, a psychologist and a director emeritus in the Max Planck Institute, instead proposes that heuristics are a range of fast, decision-making strategies that help us to survive and thrive when we have limited or uncertain knowledge – hence Gigerenzer uses the term ‘fast and frugal’ heuristics (bit.ly/2Hvm2at).

For example, if we are in a social situation and don’t know what is expected of us, we could unconsciously select the ‘social proof heuristic’, which means adopting the same behaviour as others. Hotels have used this approach to encourage guests to reuse towels (bit.ly/32bmpiv).

Imagine that you wanted more information about a health issue. An internet search brings up reports from the HSE, the UK’s National Health Service, a commercial organisation and an academic institution – but you only have time to read one. Which would you pick? You could use the ‘take-the-best’ heuristic, in which one unconsciously uses one’s own personal experience to create criteria to distinguish between different options. For example, you might first consider which organisations are likely to have the most reliable information (perhaps enabling you to reject one or two), then you might consider which you personally know the best. The process goes on until you are left with one. Although this filtering happens unconsciously, you may be aware that you dithered briefly before making a final decision.

If you walked into a situation where someone was overreaching on a step ladder and someone else was working with noisy equipment without hearing protection, you would need to decide which person to talk to first. In this scenario, you would most likely adopt the ‘take-the-first’ heuristic and act on your first impulse. The question, however, is how you’d arrive at that judgement. To help us, we are likely to rifle through a mental ‘Filofax’, and identify whichever hazard most easily conjures up examples of serious harm – this is the ‘recognition heuristic’ at work (bit.ly/2LcCOfG).

Lack of mental images When these heuristics are applied to health, many people will lack memories or mental images of people who have sustained health damage, and therefore instinctively consider them to be less relevant, compared with the vivid aftermath of an accident.

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Safety behaviour

This can happen for many reasons. Work-related health conditions may become apparent only once someone has left the workplace, or the person may find ways of adapting to their deteriorating health, making it less obvious to others. Seeing someone with an arm in plaster represents a dramatic change which is more easily noticed and sticks in our memory more than gradually declining health (neuroscience calls this ‘salience’). Once a salient event is lodged in our memory, we will see a further occurrence as significant, and our hippocampus will file it in our long-term memory. This can become a self-reinforcing cycle, leading us to overestimate safety risks and under-estimate health risks.

The case studies in IOSH’s No Time to Lose campaign illustrate how personal stories can be used to create powerful, meaningful memories, rather than reams of statistics, that we can unconsciously draw on to inform our judgements. Incidentally, we are also more likely to remember and be influenced by the most recent events – the ‘recency effect’ (bit.ly/2Zpol56).

Consequently, there may be value in rearranging the sequence of communications, so that they end with a key, impactful message about health.

An easier choice Richard Thaler, an economist who went on to win a Nobel prize, and Cass Sunstein, a legal scholar, drew on these ideas when developing and justifying Nudge Theory, set out in the book Nudge. This attempts to side-step a lot of these challenges by simply making the healthiest choice the easiest one to adopt. The classic examples are putting healthier snacks near checkouts, or increasing organ donations by requiring people to opt out rather than opt in.

Seeing someone with an arm in plaster represents a dramatic change which is more easily noticed and sticks in our memory more

Dr Nick Bell is founder of Nick Bell Risk Consultancy

There is a huge disparity between the numbers of people dying from workrelated injuries and those who have died from workrelated health problems, yet it is often noted that industry has historically given far more attention to safety than to health

Our heuristics support us in making immediate judgements about a situation. Our strategies for finding and processing information will prioritise anything that immediately threatens or supports our goals in that situation. ‘Melioration bias’ describes the resultant cognitive bias where we attach more importance to immediate and certain outcomes rather than distant and uncertain consequences. The long latency period between exposure to health hazards and their discernible effects, and our uncertainty that exposure will definitely lead to ill health, means that naturally we will be inclined to consider them less relevant than safety hazards and their instant and obvious consequences.

Public health campaigns sometimes try to tackle these biases by employing graphic images of the unseen damage of cigarettes, for example. This enables us to readily visualise the immediate harm being done to our bodies. However, this has to be done sensitively.

Paul Slovic, the guru of risk perception, points out that we can develop a sense of dread about some risks (bit.ly/2mmheMX) that could be counter-productive if we stop engaging with the training material.

It is possible to double-check whether unconscious biases are apparent in, or could be supported by, the messages we give out. A recent example was the decision by the Safety Institute of Australia to rebrand itself as the Australian Institute of Health and Safety.

At a much simpler level, we could review templates for workplace inspections or past safety bulletins, and see whether health has an equivalent place to safety.

All of this can help to ‘normalise’ health-related discussions, which will generate even more material for our brains to process. In recent years, there have been high-profile efforts to achieve this through discussions about employee mental health.

If we want health messages to become salient, and lodged in the memory so they can sway future judgements, it is worth considering whether health information could be more impactful coming from an occupational health professional. Alternatively, a health and safety professional could establish themselves as a credible source of information – for example, by being seen to work closely with the occupational health provider, and drip-feeding short, accurate and relevant health facts and case studies through meetings and/or social media channels.

Although unconscious biases may result in people instinctively prioritising safety over health, it is possible to account for this, and to ensure health messages are absorbed and influence judgements and decisions. ●

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Legal

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Legal

T

he sentencing guideline for health and safety offences (bit.ly/2ZuCQof) observes that transgressions under the law centre on failure to manage risk. But neither the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 nor the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR), which contain the requirement for risk assessment, define ‘risk’. The sentencing guideline is silent, too.

The prosecution process requires evaluation of the risk. The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Enforcement Policy Statement (para 2.1) (bit.ly/324heRl) states enforcement action should be “proportionate to the health and safety risks”. At trial, when the defendant organisation is seeking to prove it took all reasonably practical steps to control

the risk (s 40 of the HSWA), this entails consideration of the extent of that risk. If convicted, the sentencing guideline requires the court to assess culpability and harm, the latter involving an assessment of the seriousness of harm risked and its likelihood.

So, should the courts have guidance on assessing health and safety risks, or is it merely a matter of ‘common sense’?

Hazard and risk Although the HSE’s guidance on risk assessment is broad-brush, it does make clear that the process involves identifying hazards, considering who might be harmed, and then evaluating the risk. A more detailed approach was set out in the now withdrawn

Courts can be overreliant on ‘common sense’ in risk assessment cases. It is time for guidance similar to that which governs statistical evidence

Images: Istock

Words: MIKE APPLEBY AND LOUISE SMAIL

Gaps in the guideline OCTOBER 2019 47

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Legal

approved code of practice (ACoP) to the MHSWR. This defined hazard as “something with the potential to cause harm” and risk as “the likelihood of potential harm from the hazard being realised”, with the extent depending on: ● the likelihood of the harm occurring; ● the potential severity of that harm; and ● the population that might be affected by the hazard.

The terms ‘hazard’ and ‘risk’ are different and not interchangeable. The courts have grappled with defining risk for the purposes of the HSWA. In R v Board of Trustees of the Science Museum [1993] 1 WLR 1171, the Court of Appeal held that risk was the “possibility of danger” (bit.ly/2MCtS6l).

In the House of Lords case R v Chargot [2008] UKHL 73 (bit.ly/2ZvFSbV), Lord Hope said: “When the legislation refers to ‘risks’, it is not contemplating risks that are trivial or fanciful.” He added: “It is directed at situations where there is a material risk to health and safety, which any reasonable person would appreciate and take steps to guard against.”

There is no judicial guidance on how risk should be evaluated, nor any warning to differentiate between ‘hazard’ and ‘risk’.

There is no judicial guidance on how risk should be evaluated, nor any warning to differentiate between ‘hazard’ and ‘risk’ to “probe, test or challenge” the underlying basis of experts’ opinions, but attempt to undermine their credibility (para 1.21).

Journalist and economist Tim Harford concluded in his article ‘Making a lottery of the law’ (bit.ly/1CVrmes): “It is the controversial cases that grab everyone’s attention, so it is difficult to know whether statistical blunders in the courtroom are commonplace or rare, and whether they are decisive or merely part of the cut and thrust of legal argument.

But I have some confidence in the following statement: ‘A little bit of statistical education for the legal profession would go a long way’.”

In 2017, the Council of the Inns of Court and the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) jointly published Statistics and Probability for Advocates: understanding the use of statistical evidence in courts and tribunals (bit.ly/2TiWHsa). The introduction notes that the RSS began work on statistics and the law after a series of court cases in which the interpretation of statistics, particularly by experts who were not statisticians, gave cause for concern.

Statistical evidence may form part of the consideration for evaluating risk (see for example R v Squibb Group Ltd [2019] EWCA Crim 227), (bit.ly/2ZKzUDY) but it is not the whole story.

Likelihood and risk perception Another word for ‘likelihood’ is ‘probability’. The probability of winning the National Lottery jackpot is one in 45,057,474. It does not matter how many people win the jackpot; the probability remains the same. Consequently, the fact that there has been a workplace accident does not change the probability of one occurring; neither does it, in itself, change the evaluation of the risk. Therefore, the phrase sometimes used by judges when sentencing of “an accident waiting to happen” is unhelpful. Statistically speaking, all accidents have been waiting to happen.

The psychologist Daniel Kahneman, renowned for his work in risk perception, argues that we estimate the probability of something happening based on how easily we can recall other instances to mind, rather than on how often it occurs.

In his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, he writes: “We are prone to overestimate how much we understand of the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events. Overconfidence is fed by the illusory certainty of hindsight.”

Most prosecutions arise from a serious accident or fatality. This might lead to a perception of the risk that is unrealistic.

Why does this matter?

Expert evidence It is not uncommon for the prosecution and the defence to rely on expert evidence in health and safety cases.

Sometimes the risks can be understood easily and the correct control measures considered. At other times, the risks involved are complex and the approach to controlling them call for difficult judgements. How are the courts to assess, and the advocates to challenge, conflicting expert evidence if there is no baseline understanding? The approach to the use of statistical evidence is informative.

The incorrect application of statistics by experts in criminal trials has led to miscarriages of justice.

In 2011 the Law Commission, in its report Expert Evidence in Criminal Proceedings in England and Wales (bit.ly/2UaTubt), identified that advocates tend not

Mike Appleby is a solicitor at Fisher Scoggins Waters LLP

Dr Louise Smail is a risk consultant at Fisher Scoggins Waters LLP

HSE’s Enforcement Policy Statement (para 3.1) states that one purpose of enforcement action is to promote and maintain sustained compliance with the law.

Therefore, the HSE will prosecute if it believes health and safety risks are being inadequately controlled.

The dispute between the HSE and the defendant organisation can be about the best way to control a risk.

If convicted, s 174 of the Criminal Justice Act imposes a duty on the court to give reasons for the sentence.

The sentencing guideline requires an assessment of the risk. It is likely the sentencing judge will explain the reason for that assessment, and what measures could have been taken. This can have far wider implications beyond the prosecution.

The consequence is that, without a proper understanding of risk and its assessment during the court process, there is the potential not only for unfairness but also for disparity between the court’s approach and that taken in the workplace.

Ultimately, this could have a detrimental impact on health and safety.

Common sense has its place, but guidance comparable to that for statistics would not go amiss. ●

48 OCTOBER 2019

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Lexicon iis for

Recap our A to Z of core safety and health terms ioshmagazine.com/type/lexicon

SRK (Skill, rule, knowledge) Words: BRIDGET LEATHLEY

F

Knowledge must not be seen as the necessary but effortless stage required before someone is skilled

orty years ago, the Danish engineer Jens Rasmussen published his SRK framework, distinguishing between skill-based, rulebased and knowledge-based behaviours.

In his 1983 summary of SRK (bit.ly/2YUPvAu) Rasmussen defines skill-based behaviour as sensory-motor activities which occur “without conscious control as smooth, automated and highly integrated patterns of behaviour.” Skills can be physical – putting one foot in front of another when walking. Skills can also be cognitive, such as the skilled musician who doesn’t think about individual notes when playing a melody.

Rasmussen describes rule-based behaviour as the “next level”, where each action is “controlled by a stored rule or procedure”. Some rules are explicitly taught or communicated, but people also work out their own rules from experience in relation to their own goals. The written rule is that short-cuts must not be taken across the car park, but the worker sees that everyone else does so without harm or challenge. The new rule becomes that you should take the shortest route to save time.

For Rasmussen, the highest level is knowledgebased, which he describes as essential for “unfamiliar situations, faced with an environment for which no know-how or rules for control are available”. Knowledge-based behaviours require the individual to understand how a system works, to develop their own hypotheses about how to meet a goal, and then to test each hypothesis, either by reasoning, or by trial and error. If the car stops, can we work out why? What steps might we go through to test different ideas about the problem?

Rasmussen had in mind the 1979 incident at Three Mile Island, where there was a partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor. A significant feature of the incident had been that operators relied on rules, and had insufficient knowledge of the system to consider revising those rules when the reactor didn’t behave as expected.

James Reason has adopted SRK to explain human error. While Rasmussen described skills first, Reason turns the categorisation on its head. In his 2008 book The Human Contribution, he makes knowledge-based performance sound unattractive. “All human performance begins at the knowledge-based level in which our actions are governed online by the slow, limited and laborious application of conscious attention.”

By contrast, Reason extols the virtues of skill-based behaviour, explaining that “instead

of agonising over each separate movement or word, we are able to run them off in prepackage sequences”.

Reason does admit that skill has its pitfalls.

“Automatisation carries the penalty of occasional absent-mindedness,” he says. This is not the risk of a nuclear melt-down, just the chance we might put cat food in the teapot (something he has himself done). By contrast, he warns that knowledge-based behaviour “is a highly errorprone level of performance”.

The main focus in the workplace has therefore been to avoid errors by training skills and learning rules. Since most readers are not in the nuclear industry, consider a more familiar example.

Sam is a new employee, and manual handling is part of her job. According to Reason’s use of SRK, as a novice, she starts learning manual handling at a conscious, knowledge-based level.

She is shown how to lift, and given rules to follow about how to position her feet and hands, and which trolley to use.

With time, Sam becomes a skilled manual handler. Bending her knees, keeping her back in its natural curve, lifting and lowering at the right time – all have become automatic to her.

One rainy morning she finds a delivery has been left outside in now soggy cardboard boxes. She has never been told what is in the packages, why they are needed or where they have come from. Without this knowledge, she doesn’t know how much damage they will sustain if left there. She doesn’t know if these are critical spare parts, or if they can be left there, with the courier being asked to come back and deal with the delivery.

Rasmussen proposed SRK to encourage us to design our workplaces and work processes so that people have the knowledge they need to deal with the unforeseen situations where skills need to be adapted, and where existing rules won’t work. He didn’t mean for people to be trained Pavlov-style to perform tasks automatically and unconsciously at a skill-based level.

Knowledge must not be seen as the necessary but effortful stage required before someone is skilled. If we ask Sam to move a clean, dry, cuboid box, we can test her skill in ideal conditions. But to test her knowledge, the assessment should include the greasy, awkward and too-heavy-to-lift load.

As Rasmussen puts it, “Successful performance does not validate a model; only tests of its limits and error properties can do this.” ●

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Off duty Stuart Morris

CMIOSH

Health and safety manager, Lancashire County Council

I

There are people who are really up for it, then you get them in the aircraft and they blank out and can’t do it

took my first parachute jump on my 16th birthday in March 1982. My father had opened his skydiving business in 1973, having done it as a hobby for years, so I’d been around the sport since the age of six. I’d always wanted to try it and was clamouring to do my first jump – especially after seeing my older brother do it. As soon as I reached the minimum age of 16, I did my ground training and jumped the same day. In 1998 my dad passed the business on to me, so I’ve been in or around the sport for more than 45 years.

Our family’s parachute centre is affiliated to the British Parachute Association and so I progressed through its category system of jumps.

The first three jumps are descents on a static line, where the parachute opens automatically.

Each jump is assessed: if you do it competently you can move to the next one; if not, you repeat the jump. As you progress, you go higher up in the aircraft, completing freefall descents using a ripcord to deploy the parachute. By the time you qualify, you’re leaving the aircraft at 3,048 m and performing manoeuvres: back loops, turns, barrel rolls, and so on.

After jumping every weekend over a fourand-a-half month period, I’d done 54 jumps and qualified. I’d always wanted to be up with the professionals who competed and broke records, and at 17 I entered the British national championships in the junior section of the ‘precision landing’ discipline. The aim is to guide your parachute to the dead centre of a defined area that is only 5 cm in diameter. An electronic pad records where you land – usually your foot hits first – and you’re judged by your total, accumulated, score over ten jumps. I won gold. By the time I was 20 – after around 200-250 practice jumps – I had become the British senior precision landing champion, and was selected to compete at the 1986 World Championships in Turkey. I went on to compete at world championships in Russia, the Netherlands and France, to name a few.

Skydiving gets the adrenaline pumping – you’re leaving a plane with a parachute on your back and you know you’re going to impact the ground at some point. There are so many different disciplines to try, and they’re changing all the time: freestyle, jumping with boards on, new manoeuvres. The sport is becoming more refined and more exciting.

Read about other safety professionals’ pastimes ioshmagazine.com/type/duty

The excitement from jumping out is still there, because I’m always learning new techniques.

At our centre in the Lake District the views are amazing: you can see Lake Windermere, Lake Coniston and Scafell Pike.

My employer, Lancashire County Council, was always very gracious about allowing me time off to compete, and my day job as a health and safety manager fits in well with skydiving. Until recently, the sport had an ‘operations manual’ but no full safety management system. Because of my health and safety experience, I’ve always had a good understanding of the risks – which vary according to the centre you’re jumping at, because of the different geography. About ten years ago, I helped to get a safety management system put in place. Since it was rolled out in 2009/10, numbers of accidents and incidents have fallen. Each year we’ve taken on feedback from centres, and we’ve developed a suite of generic and specific risk assessments for different ‘drop zones’.

Skydiving at the weekend can feel a bit of a busman’s holiday. I’m always looking at potentials: if something doesn’t look quite right, I’ll always check it. You can’t switch off your safety and health mindset: on a freefall I’m always aware of my surroundings – of where everyone else is. I’m dynamically risk-assessing all the time.

I qualified as an instructor in 2000; at work I train a lot of people, so I managed to pass first time. It’s fantastic to take someone from ‘civvy street’ and, by the end of the day, see them jump out of a plane on their own. The thrill they get is awesome. It’s fulfilling teaching someone who has never jumped before, and seeing them complete the category system in what can be a few weeks.

There are people who arrive really up for it, then you get them in the aircraft and they blank out and can’t do it. We never push people out; if they change their mind, that’s fine – although we encourage people to say while we’re still on the ground if they’re feeling hesitant or have questions.

Sometimes people choose to do a tandem rather than a solo jump. This allows them to experience freefall – and that sometimes encourages them to book a course and experience it again.

Each centre has its own requirements for skydiving. Ours has a weight limit of 95 kg, and you have to be under 55 to train for a solo descent.

You can do a tandem jump at any age though. We get all sorts: charity jumpers, stag and hen parties, millennials crossing skydiving off their bucket lists, and war veterans in their 90s.

Personally, my most memorable jump was into Preston North End Football Club’s ground on the day the team won promotion into the Championship. A group of us was invited to skydive into the stadium wearing the new strip for the next season. ●

52 OCTOBER 2019

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Recruitment

To advertise your vacancy, contact iosh-recruitment@redactive.co.uk

Ask a recruiter I seem to be able to land first interviews without any problem, but I can’t progress any further.

Where might I be going wrong?

If you’ve made it to the first interview stage, it’s safe to assume that on paper you are a fairly good fit for the job, however, the key decider as to whether you will be successful or not is dependent on how the interview goes. Being the right candidate isn’t just about the CV – especially not in a job that may be client facing or focussed around communication skills.

There could be a number of reasons that you are struggling to progress past the first interview. Unfortunately, sometimes it is just down to personality fit or being pipped at the post by a slightly better suited candidate. If this is the case, then you’ve been unlucky.

If you’re looking to really nail the first interview, my advice is to ensure

that you are fully engaged and show real enthusiasm when speaking to the hiring managers. Preparation is key – prepare some questions for the hiring managers that show you are interested in the role and the wider business.

Avoid cramming information in the night before or memorising lots of text from a company website, instead review the LinkedIn profiles of the people you are meeting and find some recent projects or news stories which are relevant to the company or sector you are applying for – these can be used as talking points during your interview.

Give yourself a good understanding of the business and what they do. Ask if you can bring supporting documents along to show examples of your work; perhaps

reports you’ve written, case studies of a successful project you’ve led, or your dissertation if you’re a graduate – things like this will strengthen your case in the interview by providing evidence that you are a specialist in your sector.

If you feel the interview has gone well, close the meeting by asking what the interviewers’ thoughts are and whether they have any doubts in hiring you – this gives you the chance to address any concerns there and then.

If you are unsuccessful in progressing to the next stage, it is imperative that you chase up the interviewers for detailed feedback, as responding positively to constructive criticism is the only way to improve and ultimately become successful in future interviews.

Dominic Jacques is head of health and safety recruitment at Mattinson Partnership.

T: 020 7960 2551 M: 07860 928 310 E: dom@mattpart.com

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A large public sector organisation is looking to expand its central safety team with a health and safety business partner to work directly with its asset management and compliance teams. You will support the implementation of health and safety strategy across the estates and campus and lead in the relationship building with key stakeholders. You will have CMIOSH status with an impressive track record in cultural change.

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Recruitment

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Recruitment

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HSE RECRUITMENT

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OCTOBER CALENDAR OF EVENTS

We believe that the very best Health & Safety practitioners understand WKDW SURIHVVLRQDO GHYHORSPHQW GRHV QRW VWRS ZLWK TXDOLČ´ FDWLRQV ,W LV D continuous and varied pursuit.

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OCTOBER EVENTS 1st Oct - Attending & speaking at RoSPA Excellence Forum, Manchester 1st Oct - Attending IOSH Food and Drink Awards.

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