IOSH magazine - Jan/Feb 2021

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

C O L L A B O R AT E / I N F L U E N C E / E N H A N C E

COLLABORATE

Is safety in the Bangladesh garment trade wearing thin?

Cover_Jan-Feb 2021_IOSH 1

SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELLBEING IN THE WORLD OF WORK

INFLUENCE

ENHANCE

The silent cost of noise-induced hearing loss

Juggling the day job with CPD commitments

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WELCOME

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF

EMMA GODFREY 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.

Published by Redactive Publishing Ltd Level 5, 78 Chamber Street, London E1 8BL +44 (0) 20 7880 6200

EDITOR Emma Godfrey emma.godfrey@ioshmagazine.com

DEPUTY EDITOR Katie Smith

CONTENT SUB-EDITOR James Hundleby

D I G I TA L E D I TO R Kellie Mundell kellie.mundell@ioshmagazine.com

LEAD DESIGNER Carrie Bremner

PICTURE RESEARCHER Akin Falope

ADVERTISING Display sales +44 (0) 20 7880 7613 ioshdisplay@redactive.co.uk Recruitment sales +44 (0) 20 7880 7662 ioshjobs@redactive.co.uk

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.

ISSN 2396-7447

© IOSH 2021 IOSH magazine is printed by ISO 14001 certified printers.

Printed by Warners Midlands plc, The Maltings, Manor Lane, Bourne, PE10 9PH

Feeling hopeful t’s difficult to remember a time when so many were willing a new year to come so eagerly. Well, 2021 has finally arrived and I wish you all a heartfelt Happy New Year. The immense challenges that the pandemic brought are still fresh in our minds with new tiers just one example, and the full economic and health impacts are yet to be felt.

Yet there is hope: with a series of promising vaccines and imminent inoculation programmes, a better year is imaginable – achievable, even.

With that in mind, we bring you this issue of IOSH magazine. Our cover feature shines a spotlight on Vision Zero, the global prevention project that aims to eliminate fatalities in the workplace.

We’ve come a long way, as you’ll read from page 22 – the UK’s fatality rate is around a fifth of the level it was in the late 1980s – but there is still more work to do.

And this is the motivation behind IOSH’s recent partnership with ISSA to deliver Vision Zero training and offer accreditation for workplace trainers. It gives organisations that sign up (more than 13,000 and counting) an ‘extra layer of validity’, as IOSH’s head of strategic engagement Alan Stevens explains. See page 29 for more.

Although the reduction of fatalities to zero, as suggested by the project’s title, could be read as unrealistic and

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unattainable, it’s about having a target and navigating a pathway towards it, about staying positive and focused to achieve successful outcomes.

In 2018, Dr Ugur Sahin revealed that his company BioNTech’s genetic technology could be used to develop a vaccine rapidly in the event of a global pandemic. The start-up that Dr Sahin founded with his wife, Dr Özlem Türeci, had never brought a product to market – and COVID-19 didn’t exist.

The vaccine they went on to create with Pfizer was approved for use and rolled out in the UK in December. ‘It felt not like an opportunity but a duty to do it, because I realised we could be among the first coming up with a vaccine,’ said Dr Sahin in an interview in October.

There is undoubtedly a long road ahead of us. Stay safe and have as positive a start to the year as you can.

Emma Godfrey EDITOR, IOSH MAGAZINE

IN OT HER N EWS...

From the next issue (March/April 2021), instead of the previous ‘naked mailing’, IOSH magazine will be sent out in paper wrapping. Paper is a sustainable and renewable resource, and is 100% recyclable with councils providing kerbside collections.

IOSH MAGAZINE

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

Contents SA F E T Y, H E A LT H A N D W EL L BEI N G I N T H E W O R L D OF W O R K

UPDAT E 7

NEWS

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IOSH NEWS

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NEWS ANALYSIS The benefits of teaching safety at a younger age

16

DID YOU KNOW..?

Air quality for drivers

18

LEGAL

20

PROSECUTIONS

63

MENTALLY STRONGER

‘ISO 45003 – the first global standard to give employers practical guidance on managing psychosocial risks to staff in the workplace’

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22 C OV E R FE ATU RE Absolute zero How striving for perfection – however remote – is helping to drive down accident rates

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

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CONTENTS

56 E N HAN C E 68

I N FLUE N C E 48

C O LLA B O RATE 34

STORYTELLING Are you sitting comfortably?

Data and statistics can only go so far. To help people really engage with your message, kick-start a culture change in your business and make your brand stand out, it’s time to start telling tales

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56

OPINION The wider view How the pandemic has produced a spike in domestic abuse cases, scanning the horizon for threats and opportunities, and the latest podcasts and webinars

ISO 45003 Readjusting the lens The new standard setting out to protect staff mental wellbeing

MEMBER INTERVIEW A little respect Craig Docherty explains how his globe-trotting career has taught him the importance of respect among cultures

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HOW TO...

Juggle work and learning Putting the right mindset in place for the ideal balance of work and study

NOISE MONITORING Feel the noise Why is noise-induced hearing loss in the workplace still being overlooked?

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DECISION-MAKING Keeping it in proportion Laurence Ball-King looks at what is hindering proportionality in UK health and safety

OSH IN BANGLADESH Worn out A series of disasters in Bangladeshi factories has seen the garment industry review the health and safety of its workers. But inequalities persist, and will goodwill from employers really last?

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52

How IOSH’s competency framework is helping a magistrate in court

RESEARCH Stop poor imitations Dr Nnedinma Umeokafor explains why safety and health practices from developed countries might not be the right fit for everyone

COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK Judgement days

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TALKING SHOP More than metrics How much value should we place on metrics – and what else can we use to influence the top table?

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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

MOTIVATE PEOPLE, INFLUENCE BEHAVIOUR & BECOME AN INSPIRING LEADER The CEDEP Leadership & Safety Culture Programme teaches managers from all sectors and industries how to create a reliable and positive safety culture that boosts motivation, increases engagement, eliminates workplace accidents, protects the company’s reputation, and leads to higher performance.

ABOUT CEDEP CEDEP is a unique, well established, global executive education club with a learning community of over 20 international members such as L’Oréal, Renault, Valeo and Tata Steel.

Create an inspired, high-performance team Through developing a ‘culture of care’ in your organisation, you will minimise workplace accidents, and create a healthier, more-engaged and effective workforce who produces better work, and faster.

Gain powerful management skills Learn the supportive leadership skills and strategies of positive influence and communication to change mindsets, inspire greater motivation, and make you a stronger leader in all areas.

Develop a practical plan and strategies to implement upon return to your organisation Create a practical plan to bring the new strategies you learn to life and have an instant and sustainable impact in your workplace.

Dr Andrew Sharman Author, Former IOSH President, Professor at CEDEP

LEADERSHIP AND SAFETY CULTURE PROGRAMME CEDEP’s well-recognized Leadership and Safety Culture programme, led by Professor Andrew Sharman and co-designed

by L’Oréal.

This programme is immersive, innovative and transformative in its approach to learning amongst a unique, safe setting in the serene forest of Fontainebleau.

The transformative and immersive 4-day programme can be experienced in two ways: → Multi-company programme To share insights, experiences and knowledge with other companies across varied industries → Custom programme Highly personalised solution based on your culture, current business challenges and strategic issues Join a thought leadership programme creating inspiring leaders who care in a unique, safe setting in the serene forest of Fontainebleau, France or online through the CEDEP LiVE experience.

Muriel Pailleux Sales, Marketing & Communication Director

For information or registration in our programmes, please contact Muriel Pailleux at muriel.pailleux@cedep.fr Website: cedep.fr

CEDEP is a global, executive education club, where minds meet, grow and succeed together.

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Update WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS ISSUE

IN THIS S E CT I O N

High Court confirms PPE entitlement for non-permanent workers P7 | Protecting the most vulnerable staff from COVID at work P9 | Call for businesses to be responsible customers in fight against modern slavery P10 | Taking health and safety into the classroom P12 | Diesel exposure study results P16 | Hearing loss ‘horseplay’ P18 | NEC fined £400,000 after prop fall P20

G I G E C O N OM Y

Gig workers win High Court battle over PPE ig economy workers are entitled to the same health and safety protection as permanent colleagues, the UK High Court has ruled.

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) won a judicial review against the UK government, calling for workers in the UK gig economy to be granted the rights they are entitled to under European safety and health law, including the provision of PPE. The IWGB represents around 5000 members working in the gig economy, including van drivers, couriers and taxi drivers.

The union argued that

PHOTOG RAPHY: G ETTY

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COVID-19 had made it more urgent to address the gap in protection.

In a ground-breaking decision, Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled that those in the gig economy must be provided with PPE by the business they are working for and that they had the right to stop work in response to serious and imminent danger.

Commenting on the judgement, IOSH called for a swift response by the government to take steps to ensure that all workers have the same protection.

‘IOSH welcomes recognition from the High Court that gig workers should have the same occupational safety and

health protections as employees and emphasises that responsible organisations should already be protecting workers during this pandemic, to support both occupational and public health,’ said Richard Jones, head of policy and regulatory engagement at IOSH. ‘No one should have their safety and health put at risk by the work they do, regardless of whether they are on a permanent contract or a gig worker. It’s vital that those in the gig economy who provide services, such as road transport drivers, taxi drivers and chauffeurs, are not exposed to COVID-19 while at work.’

IOSH MAGAZINE

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18/12/2020 17:48

UPDATE

RIDDOR

C OVI D -19

UPDATED COVID-19 REPORTING GUIDANCE FOR EMPLOYERS

Second wave support for vulnerable employees

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IDENTIFICATION

Which of your employees are clinically extremely vulnerable?

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RISK ASSESSMENT

For each identified employee, create a risk assessment that takes into account their condition and the rigours of their job role.

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SEEK GUIDANCE

Consider government and UK Health and Safety Executive guidance as well as the learning available from groups with specialist knowledge of particular conditions.

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WORK LOCATION

Clinically extremely vulnerable employees should continue to work from home where possible. This should be risk-assessed too.

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CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVES

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COLLABORATE

WHAT MUST BE REPORTED? The HSE has identified three COVID-19 specific circumstances in which a Responsible Person should make a report: An accident or incident at work has, or could have, led to the release or escape of coronavirus. This must be reported as a dangerous occurrence.

Some vulnerable employees may not be able to work at home or cannot do their usual job. Is there an alternative role for them?

A worker has been diagnosed with COVID-19 attributed to an occupational exposure to coronavirus. This must be reported as a case of disease.

Where employees are required to be at the workplace, engage with them early. What are their specific concerns and how can you support them?

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A worker dies as a result of occupational exposure to coronavirus. This must be reported as a work-related death due to exposure to a biological agent.

EXPLAIN CONTROL MEASURES

Having identified the working method for the individual, talk to them again and explain your plans.

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CREATE A CHAMPION

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MONITOR

RIDDOR typically requires diagnosis by a medical practitioner. However, given most COVID cases are diagnosed following a lab test, the HSE is taking a ‘pragmatic approach’. Responsible Persons are on notice to treat any ‘official confirmation’ of infection as being equivalent to diagnosis by a registered medical practitioner.

Consider creating champions who can form part of the risk assessment process and also be a sounding board for both you and the employee.

Find full analysis at ioshmagazine. com/covid-updated-reporting

Always monitor the success or otherwise of your health and safety measures – this is no different.

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CORRECT ION N OT I C E

KEEP LEARNING

Stay on top of the latest developments, and remember workers may become vulnerable – ensure you have a process to become aware of this.

See ioshmagazine.com/secondwave-vulnerable-employees

PHOTOG RAPHY: SHUTT ERSTOCK

he clinically extremely vulnerable are considered to be at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, yet research by disability charity Scope found that 22% of disabled employees have had their requests to alter working patterns declined.

So what can you, as an employer, do to achieve the best outcome for your business and keep clinically vulnerable employees safe at work?

The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued new guidance for employers about when confirmed COVID-19 cases in the workforce are reportable under RIDDOR.

In the infographic ‘The world at work’ in the November/December 2020 issue, we stated the global workforce totalled 24.9 billion in 1994. This should be 2.49 billion. All versions of this content have been corrected.

IOSH MAGAZINE

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UPDAT E

S U P P LY C H A I N S

IOSH makes ‘responsible customers’ call in modern slavery fight usinesses must act as ‘responsible customers’ when procuring garments from suppliers, in a bid to drive labour standards up, IOSH has urged.

WHAT WAS CLAIMED? The reports of bad practices, which IOSH says are not uncommon, said some workers were forced to stay overnight to complete orders, with some sleeping on factory floors.

WHAT PROMPTED IT? The call comes after media reports that factories supplying major fashion brands and supermarket chains were exploiting workers.

WHAT WAS CALLED FOR? IOSH reiterated its plea for purchasers to avoid unrealistic deadlines and late changes to requirements, and to expect to

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pay reasonable rates for their orders while allowing flexibility around delivery.

WHAT WAS SAID? Richard Jones, head of policy and regulatory engagement at IOSH, said organisations procuring garments from suppliers should demonstrate ‘leadership, vigilance and support’. ‘Good health and safety is fundamental to

supply chain management and maintaining a social license to operate,’ he added.

WHAT ELSE? The recent reports come just after the UK government announced tough new measures to tackle modern slavery in supply chains, which IOSH warned were not enough.

To read more about IOSH’s calls for strong action against modern slavery in its 2019 white paper, go to bit.ly/ IOSH-tackling-modern-slavery

TRAI NI NG

Safety first in Lebanese infrastructure project WHAT AND WHERE? An IOSH health and safety training course has been adopted in an infrastructure development programme in Lebanon.

WHO? The Managing Safely course was chosen by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to support one of its funded projects in the country.

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WHY? The utility company behind the project plans to upgrade its distribution network and install smart meters for its 520,000 customers. It aims to reduce technical and commercial losses from 25% to between 10% and 13%.

HOW? Due to the pandemic, the training course was delivered virtually to

two groups of managers, supervisors and engineers.

WHAT WAS SAID? ‘It is essential to include the element of capacity-building in the projects we fund,’ said Derran Williams, senior health and safety adviser at the EBRD. ‘Our intention is for the health and safety management training we have funded to cascade to a far greater number of workers and managers.’

Read more at bit.ly/ IOSH-training-Lebanon

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

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IOSH NEWS

I O S H A M BA S SADORS

MEET YOUR PRESIDENTIAL TEAM IOSH’s presidential team for 2020-21 has been announced, allowing members to find out more about them and their priorities for the coming year.

WHAT THEY DO: The presidential team members are ambassadors for IOSH, representing the organisation at global events and in digital communications, such as webinars.

P HOTOG RAPH Y: ALAMY / GETTY / SHUTTERSTOCK

WHO IT INCLUDES: The team consists of nine members: the president, president elect, immediate past president and six vice-presidents (officers of the institution).

WHO THEY ARE FOR 2020-21: Jimmy Quinn – president Louise Hosking – president elect Professor Dr Andrew Sharman – immediate past president Tim Eldridge – vice-president Neil Catton – vice-president Dr David Gold – vice-president Lawrence Webb – vice-president Ciarán Delaney – vice-president Stuart Hughes – vice-president To read bios for each of the members and view a short video about the presidential team, go to bit.ly/IOSH-presidential-team

SUPPORT

Student bursary proves ‘nobrainer’ for apprentice A safety, health and environment (SHE) technician apprentice has been able to progress his learning in spite of COVID-19 restrictions thanks to a student member bursary from IOSH. Jack Unsworth applied for the funding support after the pandemic prevented him from developing his SHE apprenticeship through face-to-face opportunities.

He sought the bursary from IOSH – which awards up to £250 to student members – to help fund online training and other careerenhancing materials. It is possible due to a fund bequeathed by the late Howard Phillips.

‘It is a no-brainer,’ Jack said. ‘The award money can take you a long way in your career and it will look good on your CV.’ To find out more or to apply, visit bit.ly/IOSH-student-bursary

G LOBAL REACH

Africa launch for IOSH network IOSH has launched its first network in Africa, presenting ‘enormous possibilities’ for the development of the region’s OSH profession.

The institution’s West Africa division will: Provide a home for OSH professionals across the region, where there are already almost 300 active IOSH members Offer support to members and a forum to share knowledge, skills and experience Be connected directly to IOSH’s 47,000-strong global membership Gain access to high-quality training.

IOSH president Jimmy Quinn said the launch represented a significant step forward in the institution’s commitment to improving the working lives of millions of people worldwide.

Find out more about the new

LEADERSHIP

IOSH CHIEF EXECUTIVE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT The chief executive of IOSH, Bev Messinger, will retire this summer.

Since joining the institution in October 2016, Bev has overseen a number of achievements, an IOSH statement read, taking it ‘from a UKfocused membership organisation with a financial deficit’ to a ‘purposeful and internationally respected professional body’.

These include: Overseeing the successful implementation of IOSH’s fiveyear WORK 2022 strategy Leading IOSH during the COVID-19 pandemic in delivering projects that aim to make improvements for members worldwide Working with WHO and others to compile COVID advice and guidance, including 30 free webinars.

Bev said: ‘2021 will be the right time for me to pursue long-held plans to develop a non-exec portfolio, which I postponed this year to lead the institution through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘I couldn’t be prouder of the hard work that everyone at IOSH has done to take us on the journey from where we were in 2016 to the stronger position we’re in now.’

division at iosh.com/west-africa

IOSH MAGAZINE

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UPDAT E

he right to education is enshrined in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet for millions of young people and children, attendance at school to develop the skills that are critical for their development remains an unattainable goal.

The UN estimates that more than 615 million children and adolescents cannot read or do basic maths. In 2015, the body unveiled its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, requiring the international community to commit to achieving 17 goals. The fourth of these aims to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’.

In December 2018, a resolution was adopted to proclaim 24 January as International Day of Education. The event’s third anniversary – the theme for which is ‘Recover and revitalize education for the COVID-19 generation’ – is especially significant because the pandemic has had a severe impact on education provision.

Inclusive and equitable education and lifelong learning are linked to employee competence and an individual’s ability to develop new skills. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 is important here because it recognises that higher education is crucial to the promotion of decent work and productive employment.

The European Network Education and Training in Occupational Safety and Health (ENETOSH) runs a task group of international OSH experts who help to promote the mainstreaming of decent work into higher education institutions.

This involves identifying innovative teaching and learning that integrates SDG 8 competences into curricula.

As Fiona Riley, chair of IOSH’s Education Group, notes, the ability to develop new skills is particularly relevant to OSH professionals in the current climate. ‘They might have the core skills but if they are not capable of spreading the OSH message then they are not effective,’ she says. ‘They might

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20 MINS

An early spark Integrating OSH into education improves young people’s risk intelligence and could generate interest in an OSH career.

WORDS NICK WARBURTON

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

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NEWS ANALYSIS

YOUNG EMPLOYEES ARE NEW TO THE WORK ENVIRONMENT AND HAVE A GREATER RISK OF BEING HURT BECAUSE THEY ARE LESS EXPERIENCED AND HAVE HAD LESS TRAINING that they can carry into adulthood. It may also encourage them to consider a future OSH career.

As EU-OSHA’s Sarah Copsey explains, the emphasis should be on real-life examples. ‘It’s about getting the children to inspect and look for hazards and then talk about what the problems are and what rules there should be. If they are involved in these decisions, they have more ownership.’

IOSH agrees: ‘Helping children to be risk-aware – not risk-averse – is giving them a valuable and transferable life skill.’

become more ‘risk intelligent’ and better placed to identify safe work practices.

Dr Haruna Moda, programme leader and senior lecturer in occupational safety, health and environment at Manchester Metropolitan University, says: ‘We know that many students take part-time jobs so by incorporating OSH into university curriculums we can address several issues.

One is to prepare them for the world of work while also helping them to become more aware of what is happening around them so we can bring the number of nonfatal injuries down.’

IOSH’s policy position calls for education and training systems to cover OSH in national, vocational and professional curricula. It also supports competence and leads the International Social Security Association Section on Education and Training for Prevention.

K E Y ST E P S

Improve OSH education

Risk group be competent to be a safety manager but are they are adaptable enough?’

PHOTOG RAPHY: ALAMY

Child’s play OSH has a pivotal role in supporting the UN’s SDGs. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and IOSH have both been proactive in promoting OSH principles in education.

In 2013, EU-OSHA published its report Occupational safety and health and education: a whole school approach, calling for the integration of risk education and school safety and health management throughout school activities.

The thinking is that if children start learning about safety and health and identifying risks, it becomes a natural part of how they work, play and live. This arms them with a positive perception of OSH

Young people undertaking further education and attending university would particularly benefit from risk education as they are a vulnerable employment group.

As IOSH notes, young workers are believed to be 40% more likely to sustain workrelated harm than older colleagues.

Data from the European Statistics on Accidents at Work on the OSHwiki knowledge hub backs this up. First, young employees are new to the work environment and have a greater risk of being hurt because they are less experienced and have received less training. Often, they are given the most physically demanding jobs, which can involve undertaking risky tasks. It also takes confidence to challenge superiors if you feel that work is unsafe. But, by integrating OSH, young employees would

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Include hazard and risk education on teacher training courses.

2

Incorporate OSH education across university curriculums to prepare students for the world of work.

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4

5

Provide learning flexibility for OSH students – for example, one day a week in a classroom for distance learners.

Introduce OSH career opportunities in the final year of secondary school and place more emphasis on apprenticeships and placements.

More support from IOSH and senior OSH professionals to help students at IOSH-accredited universities to gain practical experience.

IOSH MAGAZINE

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UPDAT E

TO P O F T H E C L ASS

IOSH’s next generation

1269

student members have joined and received support from IOSH since September 2018

171 student members in the IOSH Education Group (5018 total)

1625 overseas members (non-UK) in the IOSH Education Group

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COVID-19’s impact The pandemic has created new challenges but also presented a broad range of opportunities.

The challenge relates to the provision of teaching remotely, and the disruption it has caused to practical work – for example, it has been almost impossible for students to undertake placements and site visits.

Also, lecturers have had to adapt their approach to teaching from face-toface to online lectures, which has impacted lesson preparations.

On the plus side, it has enabled lecturers to meet, albeit online, students across the world.

‘It has also brought to light the role of OSH in the world of work,’ Haruna says.

‘We touched on mental health, and this is the sort of thing that we need to prepare the new generation of OSH professionals to deal with when they are going into work environments.’

The pandemic has also provided an opportunity to engage actively with IOSH’s WORK 2022 strategy.

‘We’ve tried to proactively promote [strategic] partnership and collaboration across work with the aim that when they go out into the world of work, it will be possible to develop those types of partnership further.

‘Another thing that I have seen in the expansion of the WORK 2022 strategy is the development around competency, capability and range of skills,’ Haruna says.

‘We’ve seen more international collaboration.

We have students stationed abroad who don’t need to come to the UK. They will be able to access the programme remotely and engage with us. The platform offers 24-hour support. Library support is there and the administrators and lecturers are there to provide support.’

More than one route Still, it’s not only about upskilling the future workforce. A pipeline of highly skilled OSH professionals is vital to help

RESOURCES IOSH’s Train the Trainer e-learning course: bit.ly/IOSH-train-trainer EU-OSHA’s report on the whole-school approach: bit.ly/EU-OSHA-whole-school IOSH’s OSH education and training policy position: bit.ly/IOSH-education-position OSHwiki knowledge hub on mainstreaming OSH into education: bit.ly/OSHwiki-mainstreaming

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NEWS ANALYSIS

reduce workplace accidents and fatalities, and highlight issues such as mental health.

That means encouraging more young people to pursue an OSH career and supporting them through their studies, whether that is at university or via schemes like the UK’s first safety, health and environment apprenticeship.

It also requires a firm commitment to lifelong and adult education for OSH professionals and an emphasis on CPD to help those who are joining it as a second or third career.

Environment, health and safety trainer and adviser Dominic Jackson is one example. He started in plumbing and then moved into a health and safety role before passing his NVQ Level 5 in occupational health and safety. He recently obtained Chartered status. ‘My route into the profession has been through getting the life experience first and then building up my competencies from continuously learning and developing,’ he says.

Tristin Morrison, risk control adviser at Premier Risk Services, is part of a new generation of student IOSH members (see IOSH’s next generation, opposite page) joining the profession during university. The South African graduated with a degree in safety, health and environmental management – an IOSH-accredited course run by Leeds Beckett University.

Tristin says that introducing OSH career opportunities in the final year of secondary school would make students aware of the different sectors that OSH professionals work in. He says more financial support is needed to promote apprenticeships and placements.

‘No university degree teaches you the experience of dealing with real-world scenarios,’ he says. ‘I learnt more in a year and a half in this role than I did at university because you are with people who do it day in, day out.’

Kyle Durward, another graduate member, started as a safety manager after passing the NEBOSH certificate. A consultant who runs his own business, he spent three years resitting the NEBOSH diploma before turning to the NVQ route as a distance learner (see My OSH journey, right) to gain his IOSH graduate status.

He feels that an entrenched attitude towards certain qualifications needs to change. ‘I work with a lot of safety professionals who are graduate or Chartered members, and you don’t know what route they’ve gone down,’ he says. ‘It shouldn’t really matter but if you look at job adverts, certainly for senior roles, they say “must have diploma”. If I were to apply for one of those, I would say, “I’m a graduate of IOSH”, which should prove that I am the equivalent.’

Kyle also passed IOSH’s Train the Trainer e-learning course, which helps trainers

KYLE DURWARD

My OSH journey I had difficulties being released to do the NEBOSH diploma in the classroom, so the only alternative was distance learning. I spent a good year revising at home every day. But when it came to my first exams, it became clear to me that I wasn’t an exam student.

The NVQ is a good substitute for the diploma. However, at the time I was a consultant, so I was here, there and everywhere, making the vocational part difficult. There needs to be an element of learning in a classroom.

The NEBOSH certificate level is fine for anyone who has some safety experience. After that, you need something that balances vocational skills, revising exams and doing safety in the workplace.

who do not hold a Level 3 adult training qualification to fulfil this requirement.

Fiona believes one of the most effective ways to help meet UN SDGs is through collaboration, as reflected in IOSH’s WORK 2022 strategy.

‘It’s about building relationships with others and IOSH has been proactive in providing free learning resources,’ she says.

‘Teaching technical and vocational skills is the best route to grow OSH in countries where the level of education is low. It’s about giving people skills that they can earn a living from.’

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UPDAT E

1

Breathing uneasily

4.2 micrograms

The IOSH-funded Driver Diesel Exposure Mitigation Study (DEMiSt) recently revealed its findings about professional drivers’ exposure to diesel pollution in London.

The average exposure to black carbon per cubic metre of air (µg/m3) while driving

10x

SECTOR BY SECTOR

Diesel fumes can contain up to 10 times the number of soot particles found in petrol exhaust fumes

AVERAGE ‘AT WORK DRIVING’ EXPOSURES WERE 3.8 TIMES HIGHER COMPARED TO ‘AT HOME’ EXPOSURES AND 1.9 TIMES HIGHER THAN ‘AT WORK NOT DRIVING’ EXPOSURES

99% 16

DEMiSt

is the largest real-world in-vehicle personal exposure study ever undertaken

Purifiers can reduce concentrations of ultrafine particles almost completely compared with air outside

Exposure to black carbon per cubic metre of air (µg/ m3) while driving at work:

Utility services 3.1 µg/m3

Taxi 6.6 µg/m3

Waste removal 4.3 µg/m3

Emergency services 2.8 µg/m3

Courier 5.5 µg/m3

Heavy freight 3.9 µg/m3

Bus 2.3 µg/m3

Average time spent on the road each day by urban professional drivers – who are disproportionately affected by diesel pollution

4hrs

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DID YOU KNOW..?

For more information, go to ioshmagazine.com/demist-research

A KILLER QUARTET Diesel emissions are linked to...

60%

DEMiSt found that 60% of study participants’ black carbon exposure could be attributed to work activities, despite spending only 42% of their time at work

Lung cancer

COPD

Heart diseases

Dementia

4 SIMPLE STEPS To reduce their exposure to diesel pollution drivers should: Drive with windows closed (if drivers are carrying passengers, ventilation protocols will need to be observed in the short term to help guard against any risk of COVID-19 infection) Take less congested routes and avoid tunnels Use recirculate ventilation settings with windows closed, although only for short periods and in areas and times of high congestion

50%

London’s three million registered vehicles contribute to around half of the city’s air pollution

Rotate shifts to reduce exposure at peak traffic times

4PM-7PM 12PM

12AM

The worst times for black carbon emissions

6th anniversary HOURS OF DATA PROVIDED The amount of data provided by the 141 professional drivers who took part in the DEMiSt study. Each driver had a black carbon monitoring device placed in their vehicle to record levels of exposure (black carbon is an indicator of diesel pollution) S o urce: The Dr iver Diesel Ex pos ure Mitiga tion Study ( DEMiSt) .

S ee: io sh.co m/media/8902/the -driv e r-die s e l-ex pos ure-mitiga tion-study-f ull-report. pdf

16-17 Did You Know_Jan-Feb 2021_IOSH 17

The DEMiSt study is the latest air quality research in IOSH’s No Time to Lose campaign, which aims to combat occupational cancer, and which celebrated its sixth anniversary in November 2020 See notimetolose.org.uk

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UPDAT E CHE LL V TARM AC CE ANDMENT (202LIME 0) U K CA S E LAW

Worker’s appeal for damages after ‘horseplay’ dismissed A contractor who suffered hearing loss following a practical joke by a company employee has been unsuccessful in his claim.

S

18

employers could be vicariously liable for unauthorised, intentional wrongdoings committed by an employee providing there was a connection between the wrongdoings and the work for which they were employed, to deem it within the scope of employment.

Applying that test, the judge ruled that the employee’s actions were not within the field of activities assigned to them by their employer, and so there was no link for vicarious liability.

The judge accepted that the employer was aware of tensions between its employees and contractors, but this had not been serious enough to reasonably suggest that there was a risk of violent acts or physical confrontation. Mr Chell claimed he had asked to be taken off-site but this was rejected, with evidence cited that contradicted this.

The judge ruled that the employer had sufficient health and safety measures in place and it wasn’t foreseeable that there was a risk of injury to Mr Chell or any external worker from a deliberate employee act of horseplay or malice.

On appeal, the judge agreed with this ruling, stating that the vicarious liability test had been correctly applied and all relevant factors considered.

The judge ruled it wasn’t foreseeable that there was a risk of injury to Mr Chell or any external worker from a deliberate employee act of horseplay or malice The appeal judge agreed that horseplay, ill-discipline and malice were not matters expected to be to be found in a risk assessment, and the existing health and safety measures were sufficient. They agreed it was expecting too much of an employer to implement a policy or site rules that covered the level of horseplay or the playing of practical jokes, and nothing more could have been reasonably expected.

The judge argued that the fact Mr Chell was found not to have requested to be moved beforehand showed the true level of his concern at the time, which was lower than retrospectively argued. The appeal for damages was dismissed.

PHOTOG RAPHY: S HUTT ERSTOCK

ite fitter Mr Chell appealed against a decision to dismiss his claim for damages against Tarmac Cement and Lime Ltd, following an incident at its site.

He had been contracted out to Tarmac Cement and Lime’s quarry site. The company had its own fitters but also contracted external workers.

It was reported that there were tensions between the employees and the external contractors as the employees believed their jobs were at risk. Mr Chell had raised the issue with Tarmac Cement and Lime and made them aware of the tensions.

A few weeks later, as a practical joke, an employee brought on-site some pellet targets that exploded when struck. The employee placed some pellets on Mr Chell’s workbench and struck them with a hammer. As a result, Mr Chell suffered a perforated eardrum, hearing loss and tinnitus.

In his claim for damages, Mr Chell argued that the employer was vicariously liable for the actions of its employee and that it had breached its duty of care by failing to provide a safe working environment.

In assessing for vicarious liability, the judge applied the test in Lister v Hesley Hall Ltd (2001). This case stated that

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LEGAL This sponsored content has been provided by Cedrec Information Systems, available at cedrec.com

L EGI SL ATI ON, GUI DANCE AN D CON SULTAT ION

RAILWAYS

PE ST I C IDE S

OFFSH ORE

TEMP WORK

EU regulations for rail safety in Ireland

Maximum residue levels for substances

Subsea safety zones

Northern Ireland Agency Workers modifications

In the Republic of Ireland, the EU (Railway Safety) Regulations 2020 cover safety requirements for the whole railway system, including safe management of infrastructure, traffic operation and the interaction between railway undertakings, managers and other bodies.

Alongside these, new EU (Railway Safety) (Reporting and Investigation of Serious Accidents, Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 2020 have also been published. cedr.ec/7co; cedr.ec/7cp

Regulation (EC) 396/2005 has been amended by Regulations (EU) 2020/1565, 2020/1566 and 2020/1633 to revise maximum residue levels (MRLs) for some substances. Regulation (EC) 396/2005 establishes the need to ensure a high level of consumer protection relating to the MRLs of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant or animal origin.

These MRLs are amended in light of new applications and assessments of existing MRLs.

The Offshore Installations (Safety Zones) (No. 2) Order 2020 establishes new safety zones around specified offshore installations. These zones extend 500 metres around the designated sites, which are subsea installations.

Under the Petroleum Act 1987, it is an offence to enter one of these designated safety zones without a specified interest. cedr.ec/7cw

cedr.ec/7cs; cedr.ec/7ct; cedr.ec/7cu

BRE X IT

Carriage of Dangerous Goods amendment C H E M I CA LS

S HI PP IN G

CLP amended to improve information requirements

Safety standards for passenger ships

Regulation (EU) 2020/1677 has amended Regulation (EC) 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP) to improve emergency health response information. In relation to this, Regulation (EU) 2020/1676 has added a new CLP rule relating to bespoke paints, exempting them from the Annex 8 notification obligations. As a result, Annex 8 on harmonised information relating to emergency health response and preventative measures has been replaced. cedr.ec/7cq; cedr.ec/7cr

The Merchant Shipping (Safety Standards for Passenger Ships on Domestic Voyages) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2020 make amendments regarding changes made to Directive 2009/45/EC on safety rules and standards for passenger ships, before 31 December 2020, when the UK’s transition period with the EU ends. These changes mainly update definitions in merchant shipping regulations, as well as new provisions for the classification of ships on domestic voyages and the categorisation of sea areas. cedr.ec/7cv

The Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 make further amendments to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009, to ensure legislation functions properly at the end of the Brexit transition period. These regulations maintain the dangerous goods regulatory framework and the international processes behind it. The EU ‘pi’ marking will still be recognised but the optional use of a UK ‘rho’ mark for equipment made or conformity-assessed in Great Britain will also be allowed. cedr.ec/7cx

The Posted d Workers (Agency Workers) Order (Northern Ireland) es 2020 makes ions to the modifications Agency Workers ns Regulations (Northern Ireland) se 2011. These require a hirer to porary give temporary ncies work agencies e notice reasonable ation and of the location start date,, when the poses to post an n hirer proposes orker to a member agency worker state for a limited time. They also allow agencies to bring a claim against hirers if penalties are imposed for certain compliance failures. cedr.ec/7cy

L IFT SAFE T Y

Irish authority reissues lift alert Ireland’s Health and Safety Authority has reissued a safety alert to owners or operators of lifts installed by Ellickson Engineering Ltd. All owners of passenger lifts marked with CE mark 490 must be aware that the lift may not be in compliance with legislation. cedr.ec/7cz

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UPDAT E

BI R M I N G H A M

NEC fined £400,000 after stage manager hit by scenery prop SCOT LAN D

RECYCLING FIRM FINED £264K OVER SHREDDER DEATH

What happened? On 11 January 2019, a freelance stage manager was assisting in the set-up of scenery ropes for a performance by Chinese dance company Shen Yun. A scenery counter-balance weight fell from an 11-metre-high platform and struck the victim on the head. The falling weight also hit another person, but they were not seriously hurt.

What did the investigation reveal?

Birmingham City Council found

that the measures that were in place on the stage’s fly-platform were inadequate to deal with scenery weights; these weights should never be stored higher than the toe board to prevent them falling off. The risk assessment failed to address this risk.

What was the outcome? The ICC’s owner, National Exhibition Centre (NEC), was fined £400,000 with costs of £8864 after pleading guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. Following the incident, the NEC appointed a contractor to install fencing on the fly platform to avoid future incidents. The stage manager has since returned to work.

THE INVESTIGATION Inspectors found that Martin’s employer, Enva Scotland, failed to provide employees who cleaned and used the shredder – which was designed to be self-cleaning – with adequate training, information and instruction on the deployment of the magnet fitted to the machine. This led him to adopt an unsafe method for moving the magnet while trying to clean the machine manually.

IN COURT The firm pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined at Paisley Sheriff Court.

P HOTOGRAPHY: HS E / S HUTTERSTOCK

What’s the story? A conference venue in Birmingham has been fined after an 11.5kg scenery prop hit a stage manager on the head at the International Convention Centre (ICC).

THE CASE On 28 March 2018, two employees were attempting to remove waste that was trapped between a heavy magnet and a hopper on a mobile shredder machine. Martin Kane, 28, manually removed the locking pins that were keeping the magnet, which weighed more than a tonne, in place. The magnet fell and struck him on the head. He died of his injuries.

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LA N CASH I RE

Construction firm’s cost-cutting led to death of roofer Who? The director of a construction firm accused of undercutting competitors by failing to provide safety equipment for roof work has been handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

Why? Michael Devlin, 57, who ran Design Roof Systems (DRS) Ltd, failed to take industry standard safety measures to protect employees who were carrying out work to replace 70 skylights.

What? On 10 April 2015, Mieczyslaw Solowski and three colleagues were instructed to walk carefully along the roof, drilling out the skylights and handing them to a worker inside the building on a scissor lift. But 59-year-old Mieczyslaw was working before the platform was fully underneath. He stepped onto the skylight and fell through it.

He suffered fatal head injuries and died instantly.

A ROUN D T HE G LOBE

PROSECUTIONS

13 CHARGED OVER WHITE ISLAND VOLCANO DEATHS WHO? New Zealand’s safety watchdog, WorkSafe, has charged 13 parties with neglecting health and safety obligations after a volcanic eruption killed 22 people in 2019. Ten organisations have been charged a maximum fine of NZ$1.5m (£790,000) and three individuals were charged with a maximum fine of NZ$300,000 (£160,000).

WHAT? The volcano exploded while 47 people were on White Island, also called Whakaari. The 22 victims – tourists and their guides – were from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, China, Britain and Malaysia.

How? The court was told that safety netting should have been fitted to the underside of the roof, an easy deck system of boards and safety rails and harnesses for the workers. But DRS Ltd provided a reduced quote of £7865 plus VAT to replace the skylights as it did not factor in the costs of providing adequate safety measures for the workers on site.

What happened in court?

Michael Devlin and DRS Ltd admitted two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act. As well as the suspended sentence, the director was ordered to observe a 20-week curfew. DRS Ltd was fined £130,000 plus £15,970 costs.

A further charge of gross negligence manslaughter was ordered to lie on file. Following the incident, DRS Ltd stopped working on the site and a second contractor took over the work, at a cost of £17,000.

WHY? While it was an unexpected event, it was not unforeseeable and there is a duty on operators to protect those in their care, said Phil Parkes, chief executive of WorkSafe.

‘Those who went to the island did so with the reasonable expectation that there were appropriate systems in place to ensure they made it home healthy and safe,’ he added.

OSH MANAGER JAILED FOR ACCEPTING BRIBES WHO? Cheow Hock Mun has been ordered to serve four weeks in prison for accepting S$6000 in bribes while working as the health, environment and safety specialist for Chevron Singapore at its lube oil blending plant.

WHAT? The 49-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving a bribe for leniency while supervising work done by the subcontractor, LGC Engineering and Contractors.

WHY? Cheow and a colleague were paid to approve permits and authorise the start of work ‘without being difficult’. His colleague is due to be sentenced shortly. LGC Engineering and Contractors’ director, Lim Gim Chuan, was sentenced to 10 weeks’ imprisonment in June 2020 for various corruption offences.

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C OVER STO RY WORDS LOUIS WUSTEMANN

Fatal accidents at work are becoming less common – but what can be done to keep driving the figures down further?

S

afety and health practitioners spend their professional lives trying to reduce harm to employees and the public, with fatality prevention a top priority. So it must be dispiriting for some to see levels of fatal accidents plateauing in some countries and rising in others. What prospect is there for us to make meaningful reductions in national statistics, and is a world without workrelated fatalities anything more than a pipe dream?

In 2014, the International Labour Organization (ILO) published its first figures for global work injuries and illness, including an estimated total of 352,769 fatal accidents for 2010. By 2017, when it published the next figures – for 2014 – the total had risen to 380,500.

The 8% jump partly reflects increasing levels of world employment and refined estimation of deaths in countries that do not publish official statistics – still, it’s hardly heartening for anyone hoping to see the end of workplace deaths.

Even in the UK, which has a low fatal accident rate relative to most countries, there were signs of a levelling-off after decades of improvement. The total of 111 work deaths (excluding road fatalities) in 2019-20 was the lowest ever recorded. The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) notes that the drop of 38 deaths on the previous 12 months may only partly be explained by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw many workplaces begin to close at the end of the period.

But, overall, says the HSE’s statistical release, this latest drop could have been caused by natural variation and ‘may not reflect any major shift in the inherent dangerousness of workplaces’. Although it is about one-fifth of the level of the late 1980s, at about 0.5 per 100,000 workers, the death rate has been broadly flat for the past seven years.

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WORKPLACE FATALITIES

Getting the message across Dr John Rowe heads the HSE manufacturing and utilities unit. He says the UK regulator is not complacent about the fatal accident total and maintains downward pressure through various channels, especially by trying to reach the small businesses in agriculture, construction and manufacturing that account for more than two-thirds of workplace fatalities.

‘We put a lot of our efforts into communications now,’ John says. ‘Not just dealing

A LOT OF THE FATAL ACCIDENTS WE SEE ARE UNDERPINNED

BY POOR DECISION-MAKING

with duty holders face to face but trying to find effective ways of using the media. A big way of getting to SMEs is through social media.’ Supply chain influence is another lever. ‘We look to larger companies to take the lead, to influence their supply chains in a positive way,’ he says.

John adds that the reminders to businesses to manage potentially fatal risks in sectors such as construction and agriculture continue. ‘In both of those industries it’s pretty clear – falling off something or being hit by a moving vehicle are the things that are most likely to kill you,’ he says.

According to Kevin Myers CBE, president of the International Association of Labour Inspection, it gets harder for national regulators and other stakeholders to significantly reduce injury figures as the rate goes down.

40 MINS

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C OVER STO RY

I S S A A N D I O SH UNI TE

Vision Zero training ‘We have the expertise, they have the intent,’ says IOSH’s Alan Stevens of the institution’s new agreement to support and accredit Vision Zero trainers. The Vision Zero programme has now grown ‘to a size where ISSA, as a social security association, isn’t geared up, as IOSH is, to administer a group of trainers in excess of 1000’, explains Alan, who also chairs the education and training section of ISSA’s prevention division.

To gain the new accreditation, all trainers must have a minimum of two years’ OSH experience – either training or as a practitioner – or a Level 3 OSH qualification. They must also be members of a recognised membership body such as IOSH. Those who have already been providing Vision Zero training can opt to submit their own course materials and have them evaluated and approved.

The other option, for existing and new trainers, is a six-hour Train the Trainer course and then the opportunity to use a complete training package developed by IOSH and ISSA, including training notes that are updated regularly on IOSH’s portal, digital workbooks and delegate certificates. Materials are available in English but IOSH will translate them into other languages if there is enough demand.

Accreditation is not compulsory, Alan says, but ‘it gives that extra layer of validity’ to the growing number of organisations signing up to the programme. ‘We are assuring companies of the quality of the work they will receive if they engage with an accredited Vision Zero trainer who we have vetted,’ he explains.

Alan says the tie-up supports all three pillars of IOSH’s WORK 2022 strategy: collaborate, influence and enhance. ‘Through collaboration with organisations such as ISSA we can influence the agenda, and through the work we do supporting this group we help enhance the profession and the people they serve, so it’s really in the sweet spot.’

‘As you approach zero, the amount of progress you get for the same level of investment gets less and less,’ he says.

John agrees: ‘The ill health statistics dwarf fatality statistics and that is the space that we in HSE, pandemic aside, are occupying and trying to make a difference in now. We are never going to stop the focus on fatal injuries, but we have to balance our time in terms of where we think the greatest benefits are.’

Automatic for the people The next development likely to prompt a step-change in the fatalities rate will be a structural one, John believes.

‘A lot of the fatal accidents we see are underpinned by decisions made at very short notice,’ he says. ‘As we move towards more automation, we are going to see the human [element] removed from a lot of those decisions. I think that will lead to another decrease in fatal injuries.’

Mechanisation is also the focus of a campaign to drive down work fatalities in the US, where the work death rate has risen slightly after falling by about two-thirds over the past 50 years. The National Safety Council’s Work to Zero programme, launched in early 2019 and steered by a 54-strong advisory council of OSH practitioners, academics and technology specialists, was tasked by its funders with ‘eliminating death in the workplace through the use of safety technology’.

‘We are doing research to understand what the most promising safety technologies are, what the best practices

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PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY / SIEMENS

WORKPLACE FATALITIES

are for adopting those into the workplace, and education to help employers understand how to adopt them,’ explains Work to Zero’s director, Emily Whitcomb. ‘We want to do pilot studies with companies that are considering implementing technologies but need that little bit of extra help.’

The project’s emphasis on fatality prevention has led it to explore substitutive technologies for the most hazardous activities. ‘One example is drones for work at heights,’ Emily says. ‘That’s the number-one cause of non-roadway fatalities. If we can send a drone up and keep the worker’s feet on the ground, that eliminates the risk for them.’

Other initiatives include studying wearable monitoring equipment of factors that contribute to fatal accidents, such as fatigue. How the project measures the effectiveness of each new technology is under discussion – ‘One of our struggles is that fatality prevention is hard to measure,’ Emily notes – but it is likely to use leading indicators such as the number of times human operators were separated from potentially fatal hazardous situations, including confined-space entry.

Global action The International Social Security Association (ISSA) is three years into a programme that is believed to be

Vision Zero leading indicators Gerard Zwetsloot, ISSA consultant, says: It is difficult to manage improvements without having a good understanding of the existing situation, but measuring health, safety and wellbeing is problematic.

Organisations measure the frequency or absence of their negative opposites: incidents, illnesses, cases of burnout, or dissatisfaction. But 1000 days without an accident does not imply no accident will happen today or tomorrow; a life without COVID does not imply you cannot be infected today.

We know lagging indicators are neither good measures for

AS YOU APPROACH ZERO FATALITIES, THE AMOUNT OF PROGRESS YOU GET FOR THE SAME LEVEL OF INVESTMENT GETS LESS AND LESS

the first global initiative to reduce workplace fatalities, accidents and ill health. ISSA represents national social security bodies in 158 countries. Its Vision Zero programme was launched at the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in 2017. By early November 2020, more than 13,000 employers worldwide had signed up to the programme.

Vision Zero asks signatories to implement the seven ‘golden rules’ of a strong OSH management system, including identifying hazards, investing in staff and showing clear leadership (see page 30).

‘This is the beauty of the programme,’ says Bernd Treichel, senior prevention expert at ISSA, who oversees Vision Zero. ‘Because it is only seven rules, everybody can talk about it. I know that some companies have organised workshops with their personnel to discuss what they are doing that is right and wrong based on the seven rules – areas such as risk assessment and machine guarding.’

health, safety and wellbeing (HSW), nor help to manage improvement. They reflect the past and have little predictive value.

Understandably, then, there is a growing interest in ‘leading indicators’ that reflect key organisational prevention processes, have a greater predictive value, and can support HSW improvements.

So far, a generally accepted set of leading indicators has not been available. However, several companies participating in the global Vision Zero campaign suggested that ISSA develop such a set that could also facilitate mutual benchmarking. There is also a growing interest in proactive forms of prevention.

In the development project, we decided to focus on proactive leading

indicators that are useful for all three HSW aspects. The set of 14 proactive leading indicators for HSW is now available (see link to ISSA guide below).

There is good evidence available for the effectiveness of these proactive leading indicators, at least for safety, and they can be used to help to identify strengths and weaknesses in HSW practices. That means each one of them can help to identify opportunities for (further) improvement, whether the organisation in question is already committed to Vision Zero or not.

To access the Safety Science paper, go to bit.ly/SS-Vision-Zero The ISSA guide, with all the practicalities, is available at bit.ly/Vision-Zero-indicators For Vision Zero metrics, see ioshmagazine. com/zwetsloot-leading-indicators

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C OVER STO RY While workplace accident rates have fallen, there are still specific areas of risk, such as working at height

2019-20

Fatal injuries in the UK

CO N ST R U CT I ON

WHOLE SA LE R E TAI L , M OTOR REPAIR, ACCOMMODATION A ND FOOD

TR A NSPORTAT I ON AND STORAGE

AG R I C U LT UR E, F O R E STRY AN D F I S H I N G A DMIN ISTR AT I VE AND SUPPORT SERVI C ES

WA STE A N D R E CYC L I NG

MANUFACTURING

ISSA has backed up the golden rules with a set of leading indicators, issued in 2019, that model good ways to implement each rule. The latest development, launched at the World Congress Digital Meeting on COVID-19 and OSH in October 2020 – which was organised as a substitute for the global congress event in Toronto that was postponed until 2021 – is a project run in conjunction with IOSH that will see the institution offering a new Train the Trainer course and accreditation for Vision Zero workplace trainers (see Vision Zero training, page 24).

While Vision Zero’s name makes plain ISSA’s goal of vanishing levels of accidents and ill health, Bernd admits that ISSA’s performance metrics for the initiative are not aligned to fatality or injury totals.

‘We cannot measure success in terms of accident rates,’ he says. ‘We basically measure success by the number of supporters and participants.’

The association takes pride in those 13,000 signatory companies and the fact that more than 100 events worldwide have been organised under the Vision Zero umbrella. Also, between August 2019 and October 2020, the Vision Zero website clocked up almost 76,000 visitors. The programme, he says, is designed ‘for everyone – company leaders as well as workers. The more people participate, the better the chance of reducing occupational accidents and diseases and improving wellbeing.’

No compromise For employers, concentrating on reducing fatal accident risk through programmes such as so-called ‘life-saving rules’ for activities including work at height and electrical maintenance, have brought their fatality rates to zero, or at least close to it.

Ralf Franke, Siemens’ global head of environment health and safety, oversaw an eight-year campaign – Zero Harm Culture at Siemens – that cut work-related deaths among the German multinational’s 350,000 employees from 19 in fiscal year 2012 to just one in 2020. As Ralf explains, the campaign was intended to influence the ‘safety mindset’ and rested on three tenets: the vision of achieving zero incidents, the value of ‘taking care of each other’, and the commitment to not compromise on safety

OTHE R

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WORKPLACE FATALITIES

2019-20

PHOTOG RAPHY: ALAMY

Fatal accident types (UK) and health. ‘For example, right from the beginning of the COVID crisis all our CEOs and board members messaged “health and safety of our employees comes first”,’ Ralf says.

Zero Harm Culture teams were convened at each site to conduct workshops and oversee improvement plans while the health and safety functions in each business unit ensured best practice was shared between units. The aim was to encourage management and employees to jointly take ownership in shaping their work environment.

Allowing freedom to adapt the programme to local needs and conditions was key to its success, says Ralf: ‘I give strategic direction and guidance – the guardrails at controlling the most serious hazards, have achieved – but leave the freedom for impressive results in reducing fatalities to almost zero, local amendment.’ they make only the smallest difference to that ILO figure The programme triggered a of more than 350,000 deaths a year – almost 1000 a day. tide of initiatives and helped So is it meaningful to talk in terms of zero fatalities propel the organisation along at all? ‘It’s actually a journey, not a destination,’ says the Bradley curve of cultural Kevin Myers. ‘It isn’t about zero as a target. Having an maturity from a rulesaspiration that we can and should try to prevent every fatal based dependent state to an accident is not the same as saying we can have a realistic interdependent, mature one, expectation that there will be no fatal accidents at work.’ in which employees look after Bernd adds: ‘Statistically, it is probably not possible to themselves and each other. reduce fatalities to zero because there is always a certain Zero Harm Culture at Siemens level of risk associated with economic activity. That’s why contributed to cutting the lostwe say it is a process.’ time injury rate from above Alan Stevens, head of strategic engagement at IOSH, says 0.8 to 0.3 per 200,000 hours that what is needed is a ‘Kaizen continuous improvement worked by 2020. mindset’. Zero fatalities, and even zero accidents, is already Continuous journey happening at site level in a time-bound sense, he notes.

While major employers such as ‘You go into a factory and they are proud of having no Siemens, which have extensive accidents for a certain time. It’s about how we extend that. resources at their disposal It’s a bit like a marriage – you have to keep working at it. and programmes targeted It’s not a line you cross and win the race.’

8 0 % O F A L L FATA L IT IE S OC C URRE D A S A RE S U LT O F F I VE A C C ID E N T T Y PE S :

Falls from height (five-year annual average of 34)

Being struck by a moving vehicle (annual average of 26)

Being struck by a moving object (annual average of 18)

Becoming trapped by an object that has collapsed or overturned (annual average of 14)

Contact with moving machinery (annual average of 11)

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WORKPLACE FATALITIES WORDS MATT LAMY

APPROACHING

After a decade of delivering OSH training in West Africa, Dapo Omolade explains how IOSH’s new Vision Zero training could take safety to new horizons.

W

hen Dapo Omolade found out that his company was the first Vision Zero training provider accredited by the International Social Security Association (ISSA) and IOSH in Africa, it came as a pleasant surprise. But for this Lagos-based OSH professional – who has been spreading the message of health and safety throughout Nigeria and West Africa for more than a decade – the real excitement comes with the impact that the programme can have.

‘This is a passion for me. Aside from running my own OSH training business,

when we started the Safety Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation [SAEF] in 2012, the idea was to commit to an awareness and an advocacy for safety in Nigeria,’ he says.

Dapo is founder and chief executive of OSH training provider Hybrid Group Limited, chair for IOSH West Africa, national coordinator of the SAEF, and a close collaborator with the Lagos State Safety Commission.

But he was still excited to hear he was the first Vision Zero trainer. ‘My main aim is to get other Nigerians approved to spread the message. We are far behind on OSH. Still, we’re much further forward than 10 years ago and, as of midNovember, we have another 50 Vision Zero trainers in Nigeria. That for me is a beautiful development.’

No more tears The Vision Zero approach is that accidents at work and occupational diseases are neither predetermined nor unavoidable, and can be stopped with a strong prevention culture that integrates safety, health and wellbeing at all levels.

Its principles were created by ISSA, but in October IOSH launched its dedicated Vision Zero training programme.

ACCREDITATION

Becoming a Vision Zero trainer Whether you’re an experienced OSH trainer or a relative novice, it’s simple to become an accredited Vision Zero trainer.

‘There are two pathways, one for existing IOSH-accredited training providers and the other for new trainers,’ Dapo says.

‘Because I am an IOSH trainer, all I had to do was complete a form about what I have been doing for IOSH and what kind of training I have been delivering. That was sent away for validation and then I was approved.’

Importantly, there is a need for more training providers to join Dapo in becoming Vision Zero trainers, he says.

‘I’ve been asking others to join,’ Dapo explains. ‘There is so much to do in Nigeria. When we have more Vision Zero trainers, we will be spreading the news more. The more we spread it, the fewer accidents we have, the more competent workers we have, the more people we have who understand health and safety in life and work, and the more we make our regions safer. In West Africa, you will find in some companies that even basic PPE isn’t provided.

With additional trainers, and with Vision Zero, we have the platform to really push the news of health and safety.’

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C OVER STO RY

H E A LT H I E R W ORK

Vision Zero’s golden rules Take leadership – demonstrate commitment Identify hazards – control risks Define targets – develop programmes Ensure a safe and healthy system – be well organised Ensure safety and health in machines, equipment and workplaces Improve qualifications – develop competence Invest in people – motivate by participation

Nigeria officially adopted Vision Zero in 2018, becoming the first West African country to commit to its principles. Dapo predicts that Vision Zero has the potential to radically improve health and safety in Nigeria and the region.

‘Here it is still at the infancy stage – we tend only to practise safety in Nigeria when there is a punishment or compliancy issue.

It’s not yet a way of life or a culture, or something that we consider necessary for workplaces,’ Dapo says.

‘But with Vision Zero, we are beginning to go straight to the management of companies. The whole purpose of OSH is not to just tick a box, it’s to drive your business and ensure that you are a responsible employer. Business leaders in West Africa first need to accept that OSH is important and they need to drive it from the top. Vision Zero is helping to achieve that.’

Top-down influence Dapo says there are clear reasons that Vision Zero training is having a greater reach than other OSH programmes.

‘The big difference is the simplicity of the principles, the objectives and how it wants the process to work across all nations,’ he says.

‘The training teaches the core Vision

ABOUT HYBRID G R O UP What: Provides health and safety training to businesses in West Africa as well as supervision for projects Why: To make Nigeria and West Africa a safer place Who: More than 100 employees

Zero principles [see Vision Zero’s golden rules, left]. The beauty of IOSH training material is how easy it is to use, its graphics and the way the programme is planned. It makes it so simple to learn and to teach.

‘Vision Zero says that it is leadership that drives everything down to other areas, including competence, investigations of accidents and reporting, and ensuring people understand their training. All of that is covered in just a one-day programme – it takes only six hours to go through the material – and while it starts with leadership, it also empowers workers to know what they need to do.’

PHOTOG RAPHY: PA

Spreading the message The 50 Nigerians who completed the Vision Zero course did so as part of a wider programme of trainer training organised by Socieux+ and implemented by consultants from German Social Accident Insurance.

‘We started training in January 2020, continuing through lockdown with virtual sessions,’ Dapo says. ‘Students receive a certificate with IOSH accreditation. It’s not just a bit of paper saying you’ve done a course: you’re looking at something that can be traced to a recognisable body that has put its weight behind it to say that it is happy with the Vision Zero principles and that the certificate holder is able to teach them. That could make a lot of difference, not just in Nigeria but across the world.’

30 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

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A DVERT I S E M E N T F E ATU R E

WORKPLACE SAFETY

WORK-RELATED ILL HEALTH IN THE SPOTLIGHT The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted why workplace safety should be your top priority.

hazards such as heavy machinery and physical injuries, but this is simply not the case. Occupational ill health is responsible for over 12,000 UK deaths every year, and in 2019-20 alone, 1.6 million new cases were reported by the HSE, in comparison to 2019-20 where 693,000 injuries were reported. In recent years, there has been a steady increase in new cases of ill health, however, with the emergence of COVID-19, the number of new cases in 2020 increased significantly. It’s estimated that this figure is likely to increase even more over the next few years.

The basics of COSHH compliance 2020 has been a year like no other, and the repercussions of COVID-19 on UK workplaces will be felt for decades to come.

Workplaces of Mike Harris, head all sizes, across of customer success all industries have had to quickly adapt to a ‘new normal’ and focus heavily on keeping employees safe in the workplace. The UK government, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and other regulatory bodies have outlined strict guidelines and regulations to help businesses provide COVID-19 secure workplaces.

COVID-19 is a biological agent This coronavirus is classified as a biological agent, and like other biological materials such as bacteria and even blood, it is risk assessable under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations. Moving into 2021, understanding the fundamentals of hazardous substance management and the COSHH regulations, is imperative to providing a safe workplace for employees.

COSHH is the primary set of regulations in the UK that governs the use and control of hazardous substances in the workplace.

The regulations cover a wide range of substances, including purchased hazardous materials, substances that form naturally from everyday workplace activities or those that form as a result of workplace processes.

The most common workplace substances that require a COSHH risk assessment are items such as cleaning products, oils, paints, dusts and fumes.

A lot of substances, especially vapours and fumes, can be colourless and may not even smell. This means that people are often unaware that they are exposed to such substances, or that they are putting themselves and others around them at risk.

The implications are not always evident until a few weeks, months or even years after exposure, and can lead to serious illnesses that have a long-lasting impact later in people’s lives.

There’s a common misconception that ill health-related hazards are not as severe as traditional, obvious workplace

The COSHH regulations are complex and most businesses do not have the time, resources or knowledge to manage them in-house. Every business owner, regardless of their company size, should have basic knowledge of COSHH. As a minimum, business owners or those responsible for health and safety should know what the COSHH regulations are, the importance of COSHH and hazardous substance management, which substances are covered under the regulations and how to write and interpret a COSHH risk assessment. Companies should remember that compliance with these regulations is not a choice, or a nice to have, it is a legal requirement designed to prevent longlasting ill health in the UK workforce.

To help understand the basics, Alcumus Sypol has produced an easy-to-read eBook on the fundamentals of COSHH and hazardous substance management. Sypol employs a team of trained and qualified COSHH scientists, who have created this eBook to help simplify COSHH and explain how to manage it practically in the workplace.

Read more at alcumus.com/ coshh-back-to-basics-ebook

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Collaborate SUPPORTING A SHARED VISION OF A SAFE AND HEALTHY WORLD OF WORK

IN THIS S E CT I O N

It’s not just about statistics, logic and hard data – the use of compelling stories can really help spread the message of health and safety P34 | After some horrific factory disasters that saw thousands of deaths and injuries, the clothing sector in Bangladesh is making progress towards a brighter future P40 | The wider view: domestic violence, horizon scanning, podcasts and webinars P45

OSH I N BANGL ADESH

CHANGE OF CLOTHES

PHOTOGRAPHY: GET TY

P40

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C O LLA B O RATE

ARE YOU A SITTING COMFORTABLY? 15 MINS

Then we’ll begin… Storytelling is a powerful tool for businesses, especially in health and safety. How can professionals use it wisely?

s a former scriptwriter on Coronation Street and EastEnders, David Mansell, now creative consultant at Tribe Culture Change, knows the power of stories. ‘We’ve been telling stories for as long as we have had language,’ he says. ‘We think in stories, remember using stories, learn because of stories and turn our own experiences into stories.’

Take gossiping, for example. In 1997, researcher Robin Dunbar found that as much as 65% of people’s conversations could be defined as gossip, and stories, as US psychologist Jerome Bruner put it in 1986, ‘are about 22 times more memorable than facts alone’.

‘Stories create “sticky” memories by attaching emotions to things that we witness or experience,’ David says. ‘We’re

WORDS ANNA SCOTT

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STORYTELLING

thrilled by James Bond because he tracks down a super-villain. We remember them precisely because they inspire these strong emotional reactions. If we’re truly swept away by a story, this makes us more likely to embrace the ideals and messages that it is promoting.’

What’s more, they even have a physical effect on our bodies. Neuroscientist Uri Hasson has uncovered a process called neural coupling, in which the same areas of the brain are active in both the person telling the story and the person listening to it. ‘That’s a pretty strong connection between speaker and audience,’ says Hari Patience-Davies, storytelling coach and co-founder of Patience Davies Consulting.

‘Storytelling also affects your brain chemistry – good stories generate oxytocin, which is the empathy hormone. When you’re enjoying listening to a story, your brain also generates dopamine, providing the same hit we get from great food or good exercise or sex. So it’s no surprise that good storytelling can be a pleasure to listen to.’

having already established a ‘rich history of storytelling’ through its employee magazine and intranet. ‘Being a diverse, global workforce, stories are really important to help all of our team members to understand what is happening across divisions,’ she says.

During the pandemic, the company found ‘powerful stories of people in every division being truly heroic, and there was a certain sameness to their experiences – a pharmacist volunteering for the first COVID-19 testing efforts in London was living a similar reality to one in Chicago doing the same’, Suzanne adds.

The pandemic has also shown how data is used in storytelling. ‘Data can help to paint a fuller picture that is better understood by a recipient than a series of vague statements,’ says Rebecca Matts, an interim head of corporate affairs who works with business leaders to develop stories that communicate the ‘why’ in a corporate initiative. ‘Data can be translated to an image to support words in the story, or remove the need for words altogether, which is especially helpful when dealing with multiple languages.’

She says the outbreak has also shone a light on health and safety, for everyone: ‘The events and actions surrounding the response have not only been sobering but universally engaging. It’s now a question of using that momentum in a sensible way.’ But it’s important to remember that ‘health and safety is about people, so stories about people should feature, not technical know-how’, she adds.

STORYTELLING ALSO AFFECTS YOUR BRAIN CHEMISTRY – GOOD STORIES GENERATE OXYTOCIN, WHICH IS THE EMPATHY HORMONE

PHOTOG RAPHY: GET TY

More than words It isn’t a new concept. ‘Humans have been telling stories for at least 44,000 years that we have evidence for,’ Hari says. ‘But what falls under the umbrella of “storytelling for business” are what might previously have been called presentation skills, communication skills or even leadership skills.’

US multinational Walgreens Boots Alliance – which owns pharmacies Walgreens and Boots – hired Suzanne Barston in 2019 as global director, corporate storytelling and social media, to ‘focus on corporate storytelling’,

Animating safety discussions One example of how a compelling character can be used to tell health and safety stories is Napo, an ‘indestructible and everlasting’ cartoon character who features in dozens of

BUSIN ESS N A R R AT I V ES

The power of stories ‘Our thoughts are stories or parts of stories – we are running narratives in our minds every day,’ says business psychologist Dannielle Haig.

‘Our life is one long story. Humans are natural storytellers, it’s how we connect with our past, our identities and it shapes our purpose as groups and gives us a sense of belonging.

‘Being a storyteller in business allows people to connect with employees and clients – humans are compelled towards stories as they bring language to life and create a common experience that builds a natural connectivity with others.’

She adds: ‘The power of storytelling cannot be understated, and it is the reason why businesses need to make their values and mission statements public, so that everyone knows the story behind the business. If successful it will mean they connect with the brand on a cognitive and emotional level.

The most successful companies have a strong narrative, a story, which appeals to and binds staff and clients or customers alike.

‘When you understand the power of storytelling, the igniting of the imagination, you understand how powerful it is to use as a tool for persuasion. It is an art form and it is why the best public speakers have “their story” which they always use to build a bond with their audience.’

Dannielle Haig is director and business psychologist at DH Consulting.

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CA S E ST U DY

Port of London Authority Governing the 95 miles of the tidal Thames between Teddington and the sea, one of the many responsibilities of the Port of London Authority is to keep commercial and leisure users of the river safe.

The organisation carries out around-the-clock boat patrols, regulates vessels’ navigation within byelaws, operates vessel traffic service centres and provides the pilotage service for the Port.

Of its 400 employees, 100 are marine pilots.

As the authority’s head of health, safety and wellbeing, Stuart Pollard (pictured above) takes an approach that encompasses innovation, change and collaboration.

‘To be able to communicate effectively, you have to [come up with] the ideas that promote health and safety, engaging people to become involved,’ he says. ‘They have to see it, feel it, and in some cases touch it before they take the plunge, but a few individuals will never accept change.’

The authority worked with Tribe Culture Change to develop a story, called Turning the Tide, for new starters to understand the importance of safety behaviours by creating their own storyline – much the same way as Charlie Brooker’s 2018 interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch allowed viewers to make decisions for the main character.

‘Make a different choice and it takes you on a different path,’ Stuart explains.

‘The story was made more immersive by putting sections of the session into 3D and on a virtual reality platform, so the wearer could make their choice with no outside influences,’ he says. ‘Your story, your behaviours, your outcomes. What better way to see if you have common organisational behaviours that can help to support a “just culture” approach?’

award-winning short, silent films about the issues that people come across at work, created by Peter Rimmer. ‘Effective storytelling can improve workplace safety,’ he says. ‘In an effort to better engage employees, many employers are using storytelling techniques in their health and safety discussions.’

The cartoons are used around the globe for training, education and awareness by companies and institutions. ‘The non-verbal language of Napo makes the films suitable for a broad audience,’ Peter says. ‘Ideally they should be followed by a discussion, but we have also seen Napo work successfully on public transport in Athens, Bilbao and Santiago in Chile.’

Walgreens Boots Alliance has completed a four-part series of stories about a team that looks out for the health and safety of US team members and customers – ‘showing the heart and soul that they pour into their jobs’, Suzanne says. ‘That helps employees to understand what is happening behind the scenes, so they can feel confident that someone has their security top of mind at all times.’ Even so, she acknowledges that storytelling can’t replace the ‘clear instructions and guidance for employee health and safety’ that are needed, and the most common safety stories are about when things go wrong.

‘Sometimes it’s all too easy to show safety stories that end in accidents while trying to “overcome obstacles”,’ David says.

‘Evoking powerful emotional responses can have a long-lasting impression and achieve the warning you require.

Negativity, I believe, should be balanced.

If you want to promote a positive environment, limit the negative feedback and negative storytelling and give twice as much positive feedback’. (See Using stories to drive culture change, opposite.)

Finding ‘sticky’ stories While OSH professionals are well equipped to create the procedures and policies needed to keep people safe in the workplace, their role also requires them to put ‘energy into “selling the message” – to raise awareness of risk and promote the right behaviours to drive an excellent

T HE IOSH COMP ET EN CY FRAMEWORK The IOSH competency framework stresses the importance of communicating effectively, inspiring and influencing in the role of a health and safety professional: iosh.com/ my-iosh/competency-framework

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STORYTELLING

safety, health and wellbeing culture,’ David says.

So in the same way that stories reinforce a brand’s values without its audience feeling like they’re being sold to – look at how the John Lewis Christmas advert evokes emotions in people every year – they can also reinforce positive messages about engaging with health and safety. ‘Part of using narrative to sell brands is to encourage people to be part of their “tribe” because stories clearly demonstrate “what’s in it for me”,’ he adds.

Nevertheless, what stories don’t do is guide decision-making. ‘Instead, they are useful frameworks for leadership teams to strip away the corporate noise and help them to be clear on the first principles needed for the outcomes they desire,’ Rebecca says.

Hari agrees that stories can ‘help you make a more effective argument for the decision that you think should be made’.

She adds: ‘Don’t be afraid to mine your personal history for good stories.’

Rebecca thinks people should ‘stay curious and ask a lot of questions’ to actively seek stories out. ‘As human beings we also like to learn from others so stories about people are very effective,’ she says.

TO P T I P S

Using stories to drive culture change Change is always about people.

‘A series of clever communications or senior diktats won’t bring about change,’ says interim head of corporate affairs Rebecca Matts.

‘You have to build the relationships and take time to understand what is and isn’t working well to motivate colleagues to do things differently.’

Use stories to illustrate where an organisation is or was (its crisis), what it will look like if it doesn’t change, the steps it needs to take and what it will look and feel like afterwards, she says.

Create a vision for the future. ‘Identify what the company and its team will be able to do at the end that they couldn’t do at the beginning,’ David Mansell at Tribe Culture Change says.

Develop a portfolio of stories that paint a picture of the culture you want. ‘They

Walgreens Boots Alliance similarly takes an ‘audience-first’ approach to finding the stories it tells. ‘This means we look at each [social media] channel and determine who we are talking to,’ Suzanne says. ‘We know that employees are reading and engaging with us outside of the intranet and internet – they are a primary audience on LinkedIn and Instagram, for example.’ The company has a hashtag, #WeAreWBA, which is the ‘ethos that informs our employee storytelling’.

Business services company Lloyd’s Register encourages staff to post explanations of their accidents and near-misses

should be a mix of “excellence stories” about how obstacles were overcome to get safety right, and “incident stories” where you learnt from mistakes,’ he explains.

Turn anecdotes or reported actions into rich stories. ‘Take what you learnt and make it into a compelling story that will evoke emotion and be easy to retell,’ David says.

Turn them into tangible assets.

‘Use them to create video blogs, leadership storytelling, re-enactments, documentaries, huddle cards and talking points,’ he suggests.

The strategy is embedded when people are using stories to illustrate their points, David says. ‘They will be used as a reference for decision-making and people will be freely sharing their own stories in everyday conversations.’

on company social media platforms.

‘Most stories people would tell in a work context are very short,’ Hari says.

‘They can be as sparse as something like: “I remember when I was working at [previous employer], we faced a similar challenge. What we did was [solution] and I really think that could work here.” In doing this, they provide critical information, and if your audience is interested you can go into more detail.

There’s a perception that telling a good story takes a long time but that doesn’t have to be the case.’

As David puts it: ‘The story machine helps you to form order from chaos, to lead your listeners to draw their own conclusions, to develop empathy, resolve problems and find solutions.’

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Transform your approach to culture change with the Chrysalis Culture Hub Tribe Culture Change are launching their Chrysalis Culture Hub this month, supporting businesses on their culture change journey. We spoke to their Managing Director, Mark Ormond, to learn more.

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How does it work?

From talking to our clients and network, we’ve been told there is a need for access to customisable content to support organisations through each stage of the culture change journey.

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Developing an online platform has always been in our plans but COVID-19 brought to the fore the very real day-to-day challenges facing Health, Safety and Wellbeing teams.

You will have access to everything you need to drive a positive change in the attitudes, values and beliefs of your workforce wherever you are in your culture change journey. This tool for transformation is a managed cost and an extension of your Health, Safety and Wellbeing team.

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Your whole organisation will have access and unlimited downloads, not just the Health, Safety and Wellbeing team. There is no need to buy extra subscriptions for additional users.

Chrysalis is the culmination of this library of expertise for members to use while also being supported by an experienced consultancy team.

If you would like to find out more about Chrysalis, visit www.chrysalisculturehub.com Email: membership@tribecc.com

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CULTURE HUB

Community and consultancy contact Chrysalis Culture Hub is much more than just an online product.

Now more than ever, people need a support network. Chrysalis features membership forums and you can take part in all our events for free as part of your membership. And members have access to consultancy support throughout the year - two days to use as you wish. You will also be able to commission a bespoke research paper on a topic of your choice.

So far so good The feedback we’ve received so far has been overwhelmingly positive. People have told us Chrysalis is very easy to use and the navigation is good. Another positive is that all the information a Health, Safety and Wellbeing professional might need is in one place. There’s no need to go to various different sites or portals to find information or resources.

“This sounds like the perfect solution in the current climate when our team don’t have time to create content from scratch but we still need to deliver” Chrysalis feedback

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18/12/2020 17:54

CULTURE HUB

An online platform with consultancy support for every aspect of your health, safety and wellbeing culture programme.

Why become a member?

Providing all the insight, practical tools and advice you need to plan, develop and deliver a positive change in the attitudes, values and beliefs of your workforce.

As a Chrysalis Member you will harness Tribe’s collective expertise in the science of culture change and the art of employee engagement to allow you to develop and deploy your own successful culture change programme.

• Confidence and support to plan and run a successful health, safety and wellbeing culture change programme • Informed decision making through culture change insights and oneto-one consultancy advice • Upskill and prioritise resources by providing your team with how to guides and practical tools • De-mystify the culture change process with our three-stage approach • Pace and flexibility to support different stages of cultural development • Opportunities to connect with thought leaders at events and panel discussions.

If you would like to find out more about Chrysalis, visit www.chrysalisculturehub.com Email: membership@tribecc.com

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C O LLA B O RATE

W

hen the Rana Plaza factory in Dhaka collapsed in April 2013, some 1134 garment workers lost their lives and more than 2500 were injured. It was a wholly man-made disaster and one in which anyone who had ever rejoiced in buying a cheap T-shirt may have experienced a jolt of complicity. Western consumer demand for ‘fast fashion’ had led well-known brands to place orders with factories that exposed staff to danger and exploitation.

‘There were really dangerous working conditions,’ says Christina Hajagos-Clausen, a director of the IndustriALL Global Union, who is involved in ongoing work on fire and building safety in Bangladesh. ‘Rana Plaza wasn’t the first industrial homicide in Bangladesh; the country has been plagued with fires and similar issues, such as the Tazreen fire in 2012 [that killed 117 people].’

From the rubble

A Dhaka factory collapse in 2013 threw the international spotlight on the working conditions in Bangladesh garment factories.

Thankfully, concerted efforts to clean up the sector are now making a real difference.

20 MINS

WORDS ELAINE KNUTT

Afterwards, what came into focus was a wider tragedy affecting millions of workers in the garment sector. There was an appalling lack of health and safety protection, with respiratory problems caused by exposure to dust, dyes and chemicals, while disabling accidents and injuries were also common. Without statutory or industry-led protection, a predominantly young workforce was being set up for a lifetime of poor health and disadvantage.

‘It’s a top-down industry, with huge inequalities – the power and the profit is at the top with the global clothing brands, and the workers are at the bottom,’ notes Meg Lewis, campaigns director at Labour Behind the Label, a UK-based pressure group working to strengthen employees’ rights and safety conditions in the garment sector globally.

Nearly eight years on, conditions in hundreds of factories have improved. The household brands whose orders fed Bangladeshi factories

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OSH IN BANGLADESH

The aftermath of the Rana Plaza factory collapse and (below) a tribute to the some of the 1134 workers who lost their lives

PHOTOG RAPHY: GETT Y / SHUTTE RSTOCK

came together with trade unions and activists to set up two complementary groupings, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety. Brands signed binding agreements with suppliers, exerting commercial pressure on factories to improve or face losing contracts.

Still, no one believes that the job has been done, or that Western shoppers are buying fair treatment and safety protection with their throwaway fashion.

At the International Labour Organization (ILO), country director Tuomo Poutiainen – who heads a team of 100 staff working to improve conditions in all sectors in Bangladesh – says that the state-level regulatory safety net is still poor with limited inspection capacity, weak sanctions and few reliable statistics.

COVID-19, too, has been a confounding factor. With orders worth billions of pounds having been cancelled, and factories halting production, there are fears that safety could become less of a priority. ‘There is the immediate threat to health, and longerterm threats that [employers] back-pedal on the health and safety gains that have been made,’ Meg says.

Allied forces The sense of shared responsibility for the Rana Plaza tragedy led to a multi-brand, multi-stakeholder response. Typically, several brands will source from the same supplier, meaning any brand trying to

A PREDOMINANTLY YOUNG WORKFORCE WAS BEING SET UP FOR A LIFETIME OF POOR HEALTH AND DISADVANTAGE enforce a bespoke agreement would have limited traction. ‘We needed a way to harness the brands’ various relationships to make system changes,’ Christina says.

US fashion companies such as Macy’s, Walmart and JC Penney formed the core of the Alliance, while the Accord was headquartered in Amsterdam and led by European brands such as Tesco, Lidl, H&M and Benetton. Both addressed issues such as structural improvements, and fire safety

and evacuation planning, but the Accord also focused on employees’ health and safety training and participation in decisionmaking, to underpin a safer working culture.

To fund the Accord’s required engineers, inspectors and consultants, brands paid fees according to the volumes they sourced from Bangladesh. Improvements were paid for by supplier factories, although in most cases they were ultimately financed by the brands, which either negotiated prices with their suppliers, loaned money or paid for the improvements themselves.

‘Some are big-ticket items that need a long time [to address] and detailed engineering plans – it’s not an easy fix,’ Christina says. The structural problems at Rana Plaza were not an isolated case, she notes, and fire protection and evacuation were often appalling, with workers left ‘trapped behind lockable gates’.

After initial inspections and reporting of findings, about 1200 factories in the Accord programme drew up ‘corrective action plans’ covering fire, electrical safety and structural safety, which were designed to be accessible to workers.

The Accord also says it has given health and safety training to an estimated 1.8 million workers, held all-staff meetings for thousands of people at a time, and given every employee a health and safety manual.

In addition, there is intensive training and capacity building for OSH committees – 525 factories have fully functioning committees, and the rest are in development. ‘It’s a big chunk of work – the only way to ensure that factories stay safe is an active factory committee that can operate without fear of reprisal or victimisation,’ Christina says.

A separate initiative – the OHS Initiative for Workers and Community – was formed by six local non-governmental organisations, with funding from international donors, including IOSH. This ran a 20-day course

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C O LLA B O RATE

to qualify 75 local garment workers as occupational safety and health trainers, who in turn ran training programmes in health and safety for a further 6000 workers.

Full coverage Still, the Accord only addressed factories supplying its signatory brands, while the ILO estimates the two groups combined covered perhaps only 60% to 65% of producers. The rest have been assessed by a government scheme, called the National Initiative, which is supported by the ILO with funding from Canada, the Netherlands and the UK. ‘A high number are not covered – that’s where the government needs its own capacity to improve these factories,’ Tuomo says. These, he says, are primarily smaller manufacturers not linked to top brands.

Both the Alliance and the Accord had a five-year time span, with the former winding itself up in 2018. The latter’s attempt to extend its life by evolving into a ‘Transition Accord’ prompted a legal backlash from supplier trade associations resistant to its call to shut non-compliant factories. The Accord and its brands eventually brokered a new agreement through the courts to set up the Ready-Made Garments Sustainability Council (RSC), a Bangladesh-registered limited company owned by the brands, unions and garment-sector trade bodies.

The RSC inherited the operations, staff, policies and infrastructure of the Accord, and will technically be implementing it on behalf of the signatories until May 2021.

The RSC will also take on responsibility for factories assessed by the Alliance and

the National Initiative, ultimately leading to 100% sector coverage.

At Labour Behind the Label, Meg voices concern over the new organisation – while worker representatives made up 50% of the Accord, adding the voice of the supplier has reduced this to 33%. ‘The Accord promoted levels of worker participation that contributed to many successful improvements – workers could trust it and felt ownership,’ she explains. ‘In the RSC, the decisionmaking balance has been reduced.

So we are pushing to protect the independence, transparency and leverage of the Accord. We do have hopes for the RSC but we need to see better, legally binding mechanisms.’

The RSC has taken up its role at a point where the Accord’s building safety programme at its factories is ‘more than 90% complete’, according to its quarterly aggregate

G A RM E N T I N DUSTRY

The Accord covered...

190 1600 brands

factories

2M

T HE UK PICT URE

Safety off the peg?

Last summer, rocketing COVID-19 infections in Leicester were linked to the city’s garment industry, where many factories continued to operate at full capacity during lockdown. A June report

by Labour Behind the Label identified UK retailer Boohoo as a main source of orders.

It said: ‘Most factories in Leicester are small workshops, often housed in dilapidated buildings with little investment in building safety and modern ventilation.

It is inconceivable that such factories would be able to operate at full capacity while ensuring social distancing and adequate COVID-19 protection measures.’

It also reiterated previous findings on the garment sector, such as wages as low as £3 per hour and intimidation of vulnerable workers.

Following the publication of the report, IOSH strengthened its calls for more robust regulation of the UK garment industry. Richard Jones, head of policy and regulatory engagement, said: ‘IOSH continues to call for improved due diligence and supply chain transparency, licensing of the garment industry, effective enforcement, and consideration of a quality-mark for good work conditions.’

The British Retail Consortium also backs the idea of a ‘fit to trade’ licensing

workers

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OSH IN BANGLADESH

scheme to respond to exploitation and unsafe conditions in the sector. In July, it coordinated a letter to the Home Office on the issue signed by 100 retailers, MPs, investors, NGOs and other stakeholders; in October the Home Office responded that it is considering the issue.

Labour Behind the Label’s Meg Lewis says: ‘In many ways, the problems we have seen in Leicester typify the [issues seen] in very different countries, but people were more shocked to see it so close to home.’

According to data uncovered by The Guardian, the 1000-plus factories in the Leicester garment sector had received fewer than 60 HSE inspections since October 2017. Meg believes the UK authorities have prioritised other regulatory areas, such as the work of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority.

‘We haven’t seen the kind of commitments we need to protect workers,’ she says. ‘The [government’s] “hostile environment” policy [towards illegal migrants] prevents people from speaking up, so we need better protection for whistleblowers. There is often a focus on rooting out illegal workers rather than looking at illegal work practices. It pushes workers further underground and puts them in a more vulnerable position.’

report. ‘There’s always the 10% – some [factories] need a new alarm system, or a plumbing and sprinkler system. These are often complicated engineering processes that have to be retrofitted,’ Christina says.

‘Each factory is on a different pathway, but the last 10% has been a challenge.’

Higher power At the same time, the Bangladesh government has been boosting its response, with the ILO working alongside it to increase its regulatory and enforcement capacity. The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) has grown from only 92 inspectors in 2013 – covering a ready-made garment workforce of two million – to 308 today, and has plans to build a workforce of 1700 inspectors.

Another shortfall it hopes to address is the dearth of statistics on accidents and occupational disease. ‘The systems are still very much lacking,’ the ILO’s Tuomo says.

‘We get information from monitoring the press, which tends to report major incidents with fatalities and injuries. There is some data on fire incidents and, although there are still fires, fatalities have gone down.’

Unfortunately, current regulatory powers

and sanctions are no match for the scale of the problem. DIFE’s power to close factories is rarely used.

An update of labour laws is under discussion. ‘We expect it to result in improved legislation and more resources to hold employers accountable,’ Tuomo says. ‘The country is growing and has a large population, with two million young men and women coming to the labour market every year. It’s important to have systems to make that work as safely as possible.’

Pandemic positives COVID-19 has had a major impact on the sector, forcing the government to step in with a stimulus package. At the RSC, inspections resumed in September, while health and safety training for workers has moved online. ‘The pandemic has meant a lot of retrenchment, and more active workers [in terms of campaigning] have been targeted,’ Christina says. ‘They are operating in a difficult environment with a lot of hostility to trade unions.’

Tuomo notes the positives. ‘Generally speaking, the industry has taken COVID-19 quite seriously. Employers have been trying to ensure maximum compliance with the guidelines [drafted with help from the ILO and the International Finance Corporation].

That doesn’t mean everyone is doing it, but there has been political and practical investment in encouraging compliance.’

So, since the Rana Plaza tragedy, just how much protection do workers have?

Tuomo says: ‘It’s an uneven industry.

But where factories have invested in worker education and trade unions are active, I hope there is a higher level of understanding of how to keep safe.’

Referring to the hundreds of factories covered by the Accord, Christina is positive about what has been achieved. ‘Yes, you can be confident that your workplace is safe, that you have a mechanism to report grievances that will be investigated and resolved, and you are being educated about how your factory is being fixed. From 2013 to 2020, there has been a huge difference.’

IOSH MAGAZINE 43

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1 in 2 safety and health professionals acknowledge that

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OPINION

The wider view C OV I D -19

SHINING A LIGHT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

IOSH IN T ERACT IVE

Conversations with the OSH profession

The pandemic has created what the United Nations (UN) describes as ‘a perfect storm’ for domestic abuse.

According to the UN’s latest data, the amount of domestic abuse tripled in China after the pandemic’s outbreak. In Finland it increased by 14%; in the United States by 22%; in Spain by 20%; and in France and Singapore by one-third (ioshmagazine.com/ UN-domestic-abuse).

With vulnerable employees facing difficult home conditions and unable to raise concerns with colleagues and line managers about abusive partners, how can OSH professionals ensure the workforce is safe in its new work environment?

IOSH magazine spoke to Homes for Haringey, the London borough’s council housing arm, about how it extended its domestic violence service to support employees and created a peer support programme during this difficult time.

Did you know we’ve launched the IOSH magazine podcast? In the first episode, UK Health and Safety Executive chair Sarah Newton speaks to award-winning journalist Matt Lamy about the regulator’s priorities, her first impressions of the safety industry, and being a female leader in the corporate world.

The second episode has just been released – newly-elected IOSH president Jimmy Quinn tells digital editor Kellie Mundell what he thinks will be the main challenges for OSH in the next 12 months and how he plans to use his presidential term to support members to overcome them.

Listen to both episodes at ioshmagazine.com/podcast

Find out more about how to help employees at ioshmagazine.com/domestic-abuse-haringey

Webinars on demand

OPINION

Many organisations understand the concept of setting an OSH strategy to plan for the future, but how do they identify potential threats and opportunities that could affect or change their approach to it? In his latest opinion piece, OSH content developer Michael Edwards GradIOSH offers a number of different techniques that organisations can use to effectively horizon-scan.

Read about how these techniques can influence OSH strategy at ioshmagazine.com/michael-edwards/horizon-scanning

PHOTOG RAPHY: S HUTT ERSTOCK

Forward planning: horizon scanning to set OSH strategy

IOSH magazine recently hosted two webinars: ‘How to ensure your business is ready for a COVID resurgence’ and ‘Beyond 2020: innovating towards a connected safety future’.

Both webinars were extremely well received by attendees and the team is busy planning more for 2021.

Log attendance as part of your CPD activities: ioshmagazine.com/webinars

IOSH MAGAZINE 45

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BoB® Biomechanics

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Influence EMPOWERING HEALTH AND SAFETY PROFESSIONALS AROUND THE WORLD

IN THIS S E CT I O N

One size doesn’t fit all – why developing countries might need to go their own way on safety P48 | Laurence Ball-King explains what’s stopping the UK safety sector from keeping things in proportion P52 | How the push for more effective noise monitoring is still falling on deaf ears P56 | ISO 45003 and the move to put mental health at the heart of things P63

EN VIRON MEN T

Feel the noise

PHOTOG RAPHY: ALAMY

P56

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T

he health, safety and wellbeing (HSW) sector has taken great strides in recent years. Technologies such as big data analytics and the Internet of Things, for example, have significantly improved communication and decision-making, boosting the performance of organisations and their projects.

Developing countries (DCs) are seeing change, too. For example, in 2015 IOSH established an informal network in Nigeria, which in November 2020 was developed into the West Africa Division – the first IOSH network in Africa.

Some governments are also getting involved, but with limitations. The Lagos State Government is working with IOSH to train people in workplace safety and health (IOSH, 2020). However, in Ghana, there is limited political will from the government to improve HSW (Amponsah-Tawiah and Dartey-Baah, 2012). Just as in other DCs, Ghana’s government has addressed HSW regulatory issues in the ministries of health; manpower, youth and employment; and lands and natural resources by developing a draft national policy on occupational safety and health. However, as of 2020, Change.org (2020) is still calling for the bill to be passed into law.

So governmental interest may not translate into action. What’s more, when the strategies, measures, standards, legislation and guidance (SMSLG) of developed countries are adopted by DCs, it is often done with little consideration for the context of the country in which they are being implemented. While it is understandable that DCs copy the SMSLGs of developed nations if they lack adequate ones themselves, the evidence shows that often such moves are counterproductive (Umeokafor, 2020; Danso et al, 2015).

The use of international labour standards by countries are acknowledged, but they serve as a target for countries to harmonise their practices and national laws. By implication, the need for contextualised practices and laws is emphasised.

15 MINS

Stop poor imitations ‘Copy and paste’ methodologies, standards, legislation and guidance are too often in use in developing countries – it’s time to challenge this, writes Dr Nnedinma Umeokafor.

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RESEARCH

Here we suggest strategies to address this issue at all levels, from national and professional institutional, to organisational and individual (see Future recommendations, overleaf ).

in business decisions, with a major focus on eliminating risk through technology.

Problems occur because developed countries are in phase three, while many DCs are in the first or second phases.

Local knowledge

Frame of reference

Why is it a problem to adopt or copy SMSLGs in this way? The role that education and knowledge has to play in improving HSW standards cannot be overstated.

This is reflected by the requirements that professional institutions have for continuing professional development (CPD).

Many DCs do not have enough skilled and trained safety professionals. Some CPD and training content is copied from, or informed by developed countries and, as a result, does not relate to local challenges or meet the needs of safety practitioners on the ground. For example, CPD on measuring and analysing the health and safety performance of organisations stresses the need for adequate and reliable data, which is lacking in many DCs. Alternatives have yet to be put forward and the issue is left unaddressed.

CPD should focus on nuanced, subtle ways to deal with this, but much is based on International Standard Organisation materials, which are good but in some cases need revision to meet local needs.

The differences in OSH regulatory frameworks of developed and DCs are discussed in detail in Umeokafor (2020) and Abubakar (2016).

They report that the framework of DCs is ‘distributed’, while that of developed countries is ‘consolidated’.

Abubakar states that the ‘distributed OSH regulatory framework leverages on multiple and less coherent legal provisions dispersed in various related laws… [while] the consolidated framework refers to a relatively harmonised regulatory and enforcement framework which comes with mandate expansion, enrichment of regulations, increased regulator powers and budgetary allocations as well as enhanced executive and financial independence’.

This explains why some SMSLGs adopted or copied from developed countries will be impracticable or ineffective in DCs.

As an example, the International Labour Organization in Nigeria claimed that it had 267 staff working for the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment Inspectorate Division in 2016. Compare this with the UK, which had 1396 inspectors working for the Health and Safety Executive in March 2014.

The role that education and knowledge has to play in improving HSW standards cannot be overstated

Language barrier The Provisions and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (1998) and their approved code of practice (ACOP) and guidance is one example of health and safety regulations copied from developed countries by DCs.

PHOTOG RAPHY: GET TY / ALAMY

Cultural differences The safety culture of developed countries is mature compared with that found in the DCs where their SMSLGs are being used.

Pybus’s model for understanding safety culture and management (1996) comprises three phases. The first, the traditional phase, focuses on compliance and enforcing standards and laws with an emphasis on individual control, attention to discipline and the acute effect of injury. The second, transitional phase is proactive – unlike the reactive first phase – and focuses on preventing hazards before they occur through training and engineering. The final, innovative phase is about integrating safety

On closer inspection The SMSLGs in developed countries are designed to meet local contexts, which include an adequate and skilled workforce and a higher level of awareness, knowledge and functional systems than seen in DCs. Meeting the objectives of many SMSLGs depends on adequate enforcement. When SMSLGs that have been developed and used in countries with high workforceinspector ratios are adopted by countries where the ratio is low, the result is obvious. It is common knowledge that DCs are limited in resources, including inspectors from the regulatory authorities.

While the regulations are not enforceable in DCs, it can be argued that they act as reference documents in some cases.

Regulation 8(4) requires that ‘information and instructions required by this regulation shall be readily comprehensible to those concerned’. The ACOP and guidance explain that written information would include information provided by a manufacturer

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or supplier of work equipment and is not limited to instruction manuals, training manuals and warning labels.

Such information should be easy to understand, in English or other languages appropriate to the user.

This can be challenging or even impossible for DCs. The importation and use of second-hand equipment is common in many DCs. Much of it comes with no instructions, no warning signs, information in different languages, and some parts broken and irreparable.

One participant in a research project (Umeokafor, 2017) recalled how loading and lifting capacity information was missing

from equipment on their site. Another noted that an HSW inspector from the national regulatory office was unable to understand the information on one piece of equipment.

Fighting COVID Europe and the Americas are three of the continents most affected by COVID-19. Each has at least 10 of the worst-hit countries in terms of numbers of confirmed deaths. Contrary to expectations, Africa and Asia have recorded lower numbers of COVID-19-related deaths.

F U T U RE R E C OMM ENDATI ONS

For developing countries At national level Governments should produce or revise SMSLGs that are locally contextualised and supported by research and stakeholder consultation.

Investment in HSW research and development should be increased, and be based on the social, economic, cultural, environmental, political and institutional contexts.

At professional institutional level Bodies should encourage countries to share local best practice. This could form part of CPD meetings.

More measures and research that focus on understanding the local context are needed. Supporting materials should also be developed.

Efforts to involve governments should be applauded but academic institutions have a platform to boost knowledge and need to be involved.

At organisational level Ways to share best practice need to be created, whether contextualised or not.

SMSLGs should be carefully developed or revised to meet local needs through adequate research and consultation.

Data is power. Waiting on governments to address this issue is not enough.

While HSW information can be sensitive, with proper annotation and protection, databases can be developed.

Research and development by renowned local academics could deal with a lot of the issues addressed here.

R&D investment is needed.

At individual level Safety practitioners need to think creatively about how the existing SMSLGs are insufficient and work with colleagues to find solutions.

Research on HSW in developing countries is growing – practitioners need to use it.

While a younger demographic profile, greater use of outdoors and a different way of collecting data may explain some of the differences, the experience of fighting other infectious diseases, such as Ebola, SARS and MERS, have also been a big factor (Mormina and Nsofor, 2020).

COVID-19 arguably took the world unawares, resulting in all countries trying to find solutions individually. In fighting the pandemic, DCs considered their own contexts, including limited resources. Senegal developed a cheap test that would cost less than $1, with no need for sophisticated technology, according to Mormina and Nsofor (2020). They also cite innovations in Rwanda and Ghana. This emphasises the need for a contextualised approach to addressing issues in DCs, and the ability of DCs to do this themselves.

While we have covered the issues that can result when transposing SMSLGs from a developed to a developing country, it’s important to note that not all such examples of this are impracticable or without benefits. Still, one cannot expect to see improvement in HSW in DCs without adequately considering their contexts.

Dr Nnedinma Umeokafor is course leader for BSc building surveying, BSc quantity surveying consultancy, and BSc construction management, and a lecturer in construction law at Kingston University.

For references, see ioshmagazine.com

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Training

Harm at work is preventable Vision Zero Training provides the knowledge and skills to develop a preventative strategy in organisations throughout the world.

The International Social Security Association (ISSA) has partnered with IOSH to deliver this unique training programme.

Become an accredited Vision Zero trainer or take the Vision Zero Training to play your part in creating a safe and healthy world of work.

Find out more: www.iosh.com/visionzerotraining p51.IOSH_JanFeb21.indd 51

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I NFLU ENC E

I

n the late 1960s the UK government asked Lord Robens to investigate the state of OSH and how it might be improved. His groundbreaking report in 1972 led to the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA), which introduced a novel, risk-based approach to safety. Risk-based approaches would later gain popularity around the world, including in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Canada.

The UK system also places duty holders at the heart of decision-making. It is they who must try to answer the essential question of ‘How safe is safe enough?’ – a conundrum that has seemingly lost none of its relevance since appearing in influential research in the 1960s. Now more commonly known as ‘proportionality’, it has risen to the top of the agenda through the series of government inquiries into OSH from 2010 onwards motivated by concerns that some decisions were disproportionate. The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has also joined in,

15 MINS

Laurence Ball-King GradIOSH discusses what is hindering proportionality in occupational safety and health.

Keeping it in pr op or i n

to

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DECISION-MAKING

featuring this concept prominently in its publications and elevating proportionate decision-making to the headline goal of the UK’s risk assessment process.

But what does this cryptic term actually mean? Is it widely understood? And how well is it being achieved by duty holders? And if proportionality is not being achieved, what is hindering it?

These were some of the central questions addressed during a four-year research project at King’s College London, published in 2020 (see Resources, below).

Through in-depth interviews, the study drew upon the knowledge of 34 senior risk experts, who together had over 1000 years of collective experience in safety.

Alongside the interviews, additional data sources were used to triangulate and strengthen the findings.

The research looked at the wider picture of how risk assessment is conducted by a range of agencies across three different sectors: hi-tech (nuclear and aviation), conventional workplaces (OSH) and non-conventional (leisure). This broad approach enabled a comparison between sectors to see what differences existed.

What emerged was a remarkably consistent story across all respondents that highlighted the major present-day issues in the UK’s management of risk.

The research concluded by offering a number of ideas (not presented here) as to how duty holders and proportionate decision-making may be assisted.

Selected findings, presented in order, are as follows:

PHOTOG RAPHY: GETT Y

1

Support for the UK approach remains strong

The primary legislation and the goal-setting philosophy of the HSWA upon which the UK model is based was strongly endorsed by the community of risk experts. Its flexible, nonprescriptive nature and demands for a thinking approach in particular were cited as key parts to a sensible, balanced approach to risk management. This mirrored a key finding of the 2011 Löfstedt review.

An analysis of core government publications also found strong support for rational decision-making that seemed to agree with the idea of proportionality.

This is partly due to the HSE, which has promoted this effectively in key documents such as Reducing risk, protecting people (R2P2), although less so in early editions of Managing for health and safety (HSG65), indicating a clear change in the regulator’s stance.

2

Continuing confusion

After close on 50 years of the HSWA, there are still fundamental issues affecting the understanding of risk and the meaning of proportionate decision-making.

It was found that, despite the government reviews, significant problems remain in regard to risk assessment and decision-making as currently practised. At a basic level, this includes confusion over risk terminology, including fundamental concepts such as risk, hazard and safety.

For instance, it was found that many agencies have defined risk as ‘some combination of probability and consequence’, which can and has led to misunderstandings. It could, for example, lead to a conclusion that being killed by a lightning strike is high risk because the consequences are grave. Lord Hobhouse, commenting on a 2003 courtroom decision over the safety of a lake in a country park, made a striking observation: ‘It is a fallacy to say that because drowning is a serious matter that there is therefore a serious risk of drowning.’

Participants also expressed misgivings over the widespread use of qualitative risk assessment in OSH, with tools such as risk matrices and scoring systems seen as highly subjective.

In addition to the uncertainty over terminology, and aligning with Löfstedt’s findings, there was perceived widespread misunderstanding of regulatory and legal requirements, including the meaning of reasonable practicability.

Linked to this was discussion of the quality of training courses. It was proposed that these had not kept pace with modern thinking and developments – indeed that they had barely evolved in several decades. Many respondents spoke of simplistic, ‘dumbeddown’ content, which was light on the philosophy behind decision-making RESOURCES and thinking processes, the For a full copy of the research paper, focus instead being formRisk management and proportionality filling, and the following – a synoptic view of UK practices, of laid-down protocols and contact laurence.ball5@gmail.com guidance. This could be seen as subverting the system intended by Lord Robens

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by discouraging a thoughtful approach to safety.

Furthermore, it was felt that OSH training neglected to cover how to be proportionate.

Other issues were identified as impediments to proportionate decision-making: uneven enforcement by regulators; the influence of third parties such as insurance companies; the pressure for comprehensive records and bureaucracy; and the prevalence of competing ideologies such as hazard-based thinking, risk minimisation and ‘zero risk’ strategies.

3

Courts struggle with risk and its interpretation

Given these issues, particularly in relation to risk terminology and the meaning of proportion, duty holders might reasonably expect to turn to courts for guidance. However, the study also conducted a review of prominent legal judgements over the last several decades, and this found an extended debate over the understanding and interpretation of risk within the courts themselves.

As with the duty holder level, misunderstandings exist over the meaning of fundamental concepts such as risk, hazard and safety. It is also evident, from the history of appeals (such as the one Lord Hobhouse contributed to), that the understanding of risk and the UK’s alleged risk-based philosophy varies as you progress from lower to higher courts.

Coupled with this is strong evidence of a tendency for the legal process to be consequence-driven, often without much, if any, consideration of the prior risk.

This can lead to extremely low-probability events coming to be considered high risks.

One could reasonably question how duty holders can be expected to comply with legislation, the meaning of which is still being debated within the legal system itself.

4

Raw deal for duty holders

The research served to highlight the stark difficulties duty holders face. Most are trying their best to cope with a regulatory system that deliberately leaves much to their discretion. Managing risk proportionately is difficult enough, but the system of control can be unevenly applied, and it is all too easy to find fault in some agency’s safety management system – which may or may not be causal – after an event has occurred.

Despite government reviews, significant problems remain in regard to risk assessment and decision-making as currently practised

Layered on to this are a multitude of other factors and forces to which duty holders are subject; many of these serve to divert them away from a proportionate approach. The consequent output from safety management is that it is probably less efficient and safe.

5

Risk assessment and the ideas around it continue to evolve

Also emerging from the research was a strong sense of the evolution of the OSH sector. This was evident through analysis of changes in core regulatory guidance such as HSG65.

Having gone through a period of formal control that emphasised documentation, rigid frameworks and protocols, there has been a noticeable shift towards a more simplified approach that stresses proportionality in decision-making and gives greater freedom to duty holders.

This modern concept of a more adaptable, less system-bound, nuanced approach to decision-making has also been identified in recent articles in IOSH N EXT ISSUE magazine by John Green (May/June 2020) and Look out for the March/April issue of IOSH magazine and Laurence’s followDominic Cooper (September/ up article on assisting proportionate October 2020). It may reflect, decision-making by duty holders and intentionally or otherwise, a his calls to action for IOSH members. return to Lord Robens’ vision of a more thinking culture of risk management.

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I NFLUENC NFLU ENC E

15 MINS

WORDS STEVE SSMETHURST METHURST

Feel P

eter Wilson is angry. The technical director of the Industrial Noise and Vibration Centre is a veteran in noise reduction and helped to write the IOSH ‘Noise at work – risk assessment and management’ course, yet he finds himself frustrated by the global approach to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).

‘I’ve been doing this for 40 years and have become increasingly disillusioned with the whole industry,’ he says. ‘Too many people treat risk assessment as a boxticking exercise. People are still going deaf needlessly and it is 100% preventable.’

The impact of failing to monitor noise for employees is a major public health issue. What needs to change? g

the noise Dr David Greenberg, chief executive of noise management technology company Eave, is equally passionate about the subject of hearing loss. Before founding Eave, he practised as an NHS audiological clinician and gained a PhD in auditory neuroscience.

He spells out the consequences of hearing loss: ‘Accidents in the workplace rise with increased hearing loss. If you have normal hearing, you have a 2.4% chance of having a workplace accident in a three-month window. If you have a lot of trouble with your hearing, the chance doubles to 4.8%.

‘Employment rates for men are badly affected, too. Across almost the entire age range, if you have hearing loss you are less likely to be employed. Those with hearing loss are more likely to retire early, feel shame, embarrassment and have a lack of self-worth.’

David adds that, in a 2020 Lancett report on dementia, the number-one controllable risk factor in dementia was hearing loss.

‘When we’re exposed to noise, the inner ear, the cochlea, is affected. It has hair cells that have a direct link to the brain. Once these cells are damaged, they don’t recover.

If we eliminated hearing loss, we’d reduce

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NOISE MONITORING

the number of people with dementia by 9%. We really need to start paying attention to aspects like this, because it is a public health issue.’

Crimes and punishment Occupational noise is responsible for 16% of disabling hearing loss in adults. In Europe alone, says EUOSHA, approximately one-quarter to one-third of the workforce is exposed to hazardous levels of noise at least a quarter of the time. The majority are in industries such as manufacturing, construction, oil and gas, and mining.

In the UK, the main noise legislation is the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 (see Dialling it down, page 59). ‘There are two main noise levels,’ says solicitor Simon Ellis, a partner at Hugh James and head of the firm’s military claims department.

‘The first is a daily or weekly personal noise exposure of 80 decibels (A-weighted). The employer is under a duty to identify that fact, to make employees aware of it, and to make ear protection available to them and to make sure training is offered.

‘The next trigger is 85 decibels (A-weighted). At this point, employers have to make sure hearing protection is used by the workforce in the areas identified as noisy.’

Failure to comply with legislation can be expensive. Simon leads a department of 40 people looking after military hearing loss. In 2019, he recovered more than £500,000 for a hearing-impaired former Royal Marine. He has more than 3500 cases on his books.

One difficulty for employers can be that workers might accept a noisy environment as ‘part of the job’ and disguise the signs associated with NIHL. Simon says people can assume that it doesn’t apply to a particular industry. ‘If you look at nightclubs, for example, there can be a perception that it doesn’t apply as it’s hospitality. But if you’re working as a bar manager then you are likely to be exposed to high levels of noise,’ he says.

‘Another problem is if you don’t wear the noise protection for the entire shift.

It’s not simply a case of, “If it’s off for 25% of the time, then only 25% of the damage occurs” – it can cause much more than that over a short period of time.’

PHOTOG RAPHY: GET TY / ALAMY

People are still going deaf needlessly and it is 100% preventable

How do we fix it?

Tina Morgan, an agency manager for NFU Mutual and chair of the IOSH Rural Industries Group, says that employers should look for signs that a worker is finding it difficult to hear conversations from a normal operating distance.

‘The employee may ask for things to be repeated or seem to find conversations difficult, especially in environments where there is additional background noise,’ she says.

‘There may be misunderstandings and near-misses or accidents recorded where they have failed to react to warning signals or alarms.’ IOSH’s noise toolkit has more details on signs and symptoms (see Resources, page 60).

Tina says employers should ensure that they consult with staff and inform them what level of noise is considered

KEY MESSAGE

UK HSE on risk control The important message relating to noise-induced hearing loss from the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is that inspectors are looking for one thing – that duty holders are controlling risk.

Chris Steel, a noise and vibration specialist at the HSE, says: ‘All too often, health surveillance finds occupational noise-induced hearing loss.

‘Failings that have led to hearing loss should be identified and corrected, including appropriate use of grouped, anonymised health surveillance findings. Measurement and monitoring of noise are essential but should be minimal and only used when necessary to inform control actions.’

The HSE lists three fundamental factors duty holders should take into account to ensure that the risk posed by noise is controlled: The most efficient and effective way of controlling noise is by technical and organisational means reducing noise at source.

When purchasing or hiring machinery, quieter machines should be preferred.

Hearing protection is a last resort but necessary to prevent deafness in many workers.

To be effective, hearing protection programmes must be supported by appropriate health surveillance and sufficient information, instruction and training.

For more information about HSE expectations and guidance, visit hse.gov.uk/noise

IOSH MAGAZINE 57

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harmful, the effects of exposure and the control measures required to ensure safety.

‘They must also ensure that they have noise levels checked regularly, as even well-controlled noise can increase as a result of defective machinery such as a worn motor, damaged bearings, lack of greasing or lubrication. While basic measurements can be taken by anyone, it is important to ensure that detailed measurements and analysis are carried out by a competent noise assessor and that any consultants have professional indemnity insurance,’ she says.

‘Employers should also incorporate health screening into their safety management system as part of an occupational health programme. Good practice would be to have all new employees undergo a hearing check and to ensure that they can report any symptoms without recrimination.’

IOSH has a range of relevant courses and workshops (see Resources, page 60).

Keith Foster, safety and risk consultant

at Powys Safety Solutions, says that education is crucial, with examples of penalties for non-compliance. He would also like to see rewards for staff complying with good safety practices, including RoSPA awards. ‘We are always quick to chastise poor practices and discipline staff for transgressions, but what about congratulating them on safe working? We should celebrate the safety culture,’ he says.

The last line of defence The subject of PPE can be contentious.

‘Doing the measurements is easy,’ Peter says. ‘The difficult bit is changing things to reduce the risk. The level of knowledge about noise control is abysmal. Everyone falls back on high-cost palliatives. As a simple example of low-cost engineering noise control, sound-damped steel can be hugely effective. It’s laminated steel, which looks like steel or stainless steel, but it sounds like rubber and can be

UK REGULAT I O N S

Dialling it down The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 and the Control of Noise at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 require employers to eliminate or reduce the risks to health and safety from noise in the workplace.

Employers are required to: Carry out a risk assessment where exposure to noise is likely to be at or above the lower exposure action value Take action to eliminate noise or to reduce exposure so far as is reasonably practicable Introduce control measures, based on a hierarchy of control, to reduce exposure Maintain equipment and ensure its correct use Where required, provide hearing protection and hearing protection zones Provide employees with information, instruction, training and supervision Undertake health surveillance where a risk assessment indicates that there may be a risk.

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I NFLU ENC E

YC L I N G SHIP RECYC

Deaf to the danger

used on chutes, hoppers, guards and so on. It has been around for 45 years but very few people know about it.

‘Likewise, a conventional risk assessment might recommend enclosures.

All too often, the conclusion is that it would result in terrible hygiene and access, plus it would cost a fortune. So nothing changes. Using noise control “scalpels” such as sound-damped steel and efficient air nozzles instead of blunt instruments such as enclosures can

RE S O URCES Free advice to help employers tackle noise at work: bit.ly/IOSH-noise-toolkit Practical ways to eliminate or reduce risk: bit.ly/IOSH-noisecontrol-measures Learn about best practice in measurement and management: bit.ly/IOSH-noise-workshop Identify potential problems before it’s too late: bit.ly/IOSH-noiseearly-intervention

actually help to save a fortune.’

David agrees that measurements are not useful by themselves, ‘particularly if they are just going to sit on a shelf in a report. You need to know where your problem is and how big a problem it is, so you can do something about it.’

Even as a PPE manufacturer, he acknowledges that it is the least effective way to reduce risk. ‘It is the absolute last resort, the last line of defence, which means that if it fails, the person is exposed.

So if the company has failed to eliminate the hazard at source, then they’d better make damn sure the PPE works.’

Ultimately, David believes that if things are going to change, it can’t be left to education and awareness alone. ‘Education is great and you’ll capture the percentage who see that it makes sense, but what’s required, in my view, is legislation.

‘NIHL is eligible for industrial injuries disablement benefit but it’s not reportable under RIDDOR. In the eyes of the law, we can disable people so much that they need to go on benefits, but you don’t need to tell anyone about it. That’s got to change.’

The World Health Organization has noted that one occupation often criticised for noiseinduced hearing loss is ship recycling. Mostly carried out in Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan and Turkey, it is done ‘for the most part without effective occupational safety regulation’.

It quoted Joydeep Majumder, a workplace noise and audiometry expert at the National Institute of Occupational Health in Ahmedabad, India. He reported that oxy-fuel torch cutters tended to work in the same area all day and could be exposed to levels of sound exceeding 140 decibels for prolonged periods.

He said: ‘Workers do not want to use ear plugs or ear muffs because they cannot hear each other and because of the humidity. They are sweating heavily and the ear plugs are uncomfortable. They also fear getting ear infections.

‘The majority of these workers are not even aware that they have a problem. They typically come from rural areas and are surrounded by other hearingimpaired people and they are all shouting, and they do not realise what is happening until they go back to their families.’

Joydeep has been trying to boost awareness and encourage greater use of PPE by conducting on-site training.

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Are you a future leader?

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As a member of the Community, you can enjoy a range of specialised support, including access to an exclusive online forum and opportunities to interact with your peers and share your personal experiences.

p62.IOSH_JanFeb21.indd 62

Can I be part of it?

To be part of the Future Leaders Community, you must be an IOSH member and: - be in the Student Membership category, or - be 35 years old or under, or - have five or less years OSH experience.

Find out more about IOSH’s Future Leaders Community at iosh.com/futureleaders

21/12/2020 16:36

ISO 45003

15 MINS

WORDS PETER CRUSH

Readjusting the

lens The forthcoming ISO 45003 standard focuses on the mental health in ‘health and safety’ and offers timely guidance on how to protect the psychosocial wellbeing of staff.

L

ess than a year of many people working from home – the perk consistently found to be what employees crave most – staff are now clamouring to return to the office. Places once pilloried for contributing to poor mental health are now seen as havens for human interaction.

Still, it’s simplistic suddenly to label offices as good, and home environments as bad. After all, the latest UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics record that half of all workrelated ill health cases during 2019-20 were caused by stress, depression and anxiety. But what is being exposed is just how the function of work, regardless of where it’s being done, is increasingly being viewed through a mental health lens, with a recognition that the way it is organised needs looking at again.

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ISO 45003

Timeline to publication 2018: ISO 45001 is published – the first ISO standard on occupational health and safety management

2019: Guidance begins to be drawn up for the new ISO 45003 on psychological health and safety, including how to prevent or manage workload issues such as stress or burnout

26 JUNE – 4 O CTO BE R 20 20 : Consultation period for the draft guidelines, with invitations for interested parties to write and submit their comments

DE C E M BE R 20 20 : More than 500 responses read and digested

FEBRUARY/ M A R C H 2 0 21: Revised draft published for final approval

J U N E /J U LY 20 21: Anticipated date the guidelines will be ready.

Cue the summer 2021 arrival of ISO 45003 – the first global standard that will give employers practical guidance on how to manage psychosocial risks to staff in the workplace.

Stavroula Leka is professor of work organisation and wellbeing at the Business School of University College Cork and coconvener of the working group developing ISO 45003. She says: ‘With mounting data that poor work organisation, design and management is associated with poor mental health, absenteeism, presenteeism and human error, it was felt that a specific guidance standard on psychosocial risks was needed.’

Drafting the guidance Stavroula defines psychosocial risk as any risk related to how work is organised – from social factors to aspects of the work environment and hazardous tasks.

The assumption is that psychosocial hazards are present in all organisations and sectors, and from all kinds of employment arrangements.

Some people have suggested that the term ‘psychosocial’ is too medicalised, but its use has broad support. Organisations were invited to submit their comments to the draft document by October 2020. Ivan Williams Jimenez, policy development manager at IOSH, says: ‘What we’re trying to make clear is that work organisation and work design can contribute to good or poor psychological health and safety – which requires very specific interventions and an integrated approach.’

Because ISO 45003 will provide ‘guidance’ rather than comprise formal accreditation, the revised draft will include details about what constitutes psychosocial risks, their impact on the individual and the organisation, and how they can be assessed and managed.

Stavroula says that all comments were to be looked at in December, with a final draft international standard ballot planned in February or March.

Sally Swingewood, lead standards development manager at BSI, is also involved in drafting the standard. She says that while ISO 45003 is standalone, it will feed into those organisations undergoing ISO 45001.

‘If you’re a company doing 45001, applying elements of 45003 will help you to achieve it,’ she says. ‘The aim is for 45003 to be incredibly practical to those who haven’t had much expertise in this area.’

Ivan adds: ‘Firms designing management systems for ISO 45001 will not have to design a new one for ISO 45003 as these are guidelines specifically for managing psychosocial risks.’

Breadth of scope Comments on the draft have been broadly supportive to have 45003 slot below 45001, but it hasn’t all been unquestioning. The British Psychological Society is concerned that the guidance is too simplistic. More stridently, it suggests: ‘Non-psychological professionals [line managers] might be used for understanding psychological issues within the workplace, [yet] psychological assessment must always be done by trained and registered psychologists.’

ISO 45003 is a proactive attempt to make good mental wellbeing part and parcel of a company’s culture

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ISO 45003

PHOTOG RAPHY: GET TY

Putting it into practice

Stavroula counters this: ‘The guidance is not trying to turn line managers into psychologists. ISO 45003 is not about managing clinical psychological problems.

It’s more about how organisations [can] create a positive psychosocial environment. It’s guidance for designing work in a more preventative way so that psychological issues don’t arise.’

Stavroula, Sally and Ivan admit that there will always be criticisms that ‘guidance’ rather than accreditation could make others see ISO 45003 as too broad.

But they also recognise that psychological health is affected by a wide variety of factors, many of which will have nothing to do with employees’ working arrangements.

Rhian Greaves, a regulatory lawyer with a specialism in health and safety at Pannone Corporate, says: ‘Mental health is affected by personal, cultural, racial, religious, gender and other issues. I think what ISO 45003 is at least trying to do is highlight the part that the at-work elements contribute to it.’

Antony Eckersley CMIOSH, managing director at TSE Solutions, which advises on health and safety law, adds: ‘Many companies still brush psychological health under the carpet. ISO 45003 is a proactive attempt to make good mental wellbeing part and parcel of a company’s culture.’

ISO 45003

At a glance It is the first global standard giving practical guidance on managing psychological health in the workplace.

It will provide help in identifying the conditions, circumstances and workplace demands that could potentially impair psychological health and wellbeing, and how to improve the working environment.

It builds on what is covered by ISO 45001, which is designed to prevent work-related injury and ill health and to provide safe and healthy workplaces.

It defines a psychologically healthy and safe workplace as one that ‘promotes workers’ psychological wellbeing and actively works to prevent harm to psychological health, including in negligent, reckless or intentional ways’.

It is now at ‘draft’ stage, meaning it is 95% technically accurate.

The British Psychological Society and others argue that SMEs – which comprise 99% of all UK businesses and account for three-fifths of all private-sector employment – may not engage with the new guidance. Still, Antony points out: ‘The HSE has found that the two largest rises in mental health absenteeism have come from increased workload and lack of managerial support – two things that apply to firms of all sizes.’

So what do employers think of it? Ian Maxwell, group health and safety manager of luxury retirement village provider Audley Group, has implemented ISO 45001 and is watching the ISO 45003 developments with interest. ‘ISO 45003 forces companies to take a new stance on wellbeing and use an integrated approach,’ he says. ‘Risk profiling will help organisations assess where the impacts of psychosocial risks may occur.’

He argues, however, that psychosocial health and wellbeing is new territory for many health and safety professionals, who ‘will require specialist or additional professional help’, on how to pick up on mental health indicators.

Happily, Stavroula suggests that at least the increase in working from home needn’t cause any wholesale rewriting of the draft.

‘We believe that the finished text will apply across the board, regardless of where people actually work. The working group will look at the text, and reference working at home issues more, but this development will not alter the content significantly.’

Ivan adds: ‘Psychosocial hazards were already recognised as major challenges to health, safety and wellbeing at work. Now the business case is clearer than ever as many of these hazards have increased as a result of the pandemic.’

All being well, ISO 45003 will be with us by summer 2021. Sally says: ‘By setting out advice, in layman’s terms, companies have the opportunity to change the conversation about psychosocial risks and be all the safer for it.’

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REC RU I T M E N T

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Enhance DEVELOPING THE SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES OF ALL OSH PROFESSIONALS

IN THIS S E CT I O N

Mubin Chowdhury on the mutual benefits of being a magistrate and following the competency framework P68 | Former director of Singapore’s OSH Inspectorate, Craig Docherty, reveals what he’s learnt from his extraordinary career P70 | Keeping the right mindset – how to manage work and CPD P72 | Four OSH experts on why there’s more to the job than just focusing on metrics P74

P72

CPD AND YOUR CAREER

PHOTOGRAP HY: IKON

PERFECT BALANCE

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ENHA NC E

H

ealth and safety professionals are responsible for people’s wellbeing, but for Mubin Chowdhury CMIOSH, it’s doubly true. That’s because Mubin, the University of Leicester’s health and safety business partner, also serves as a magistrate in Leicester and Loughborough.

‘There are misconceptions around magistrates, like there are around OSH professionals,’ Mubin says.

‘But just as OSH professionals are moving away from the old stereotypes, so magistrates are also modernising their image. There’s a misconception that you have to be from a certain profession or status to be a magistrate, but that’s wrong.

There’s even a young magistrates group, just as IOSH has its Future Leaders.’

Crossing the court Having started in OSH in 2003, taking on such a stimulating voluntary role makes perfect sense at this stage of Mubin’s career.

‘I enjoy getting to know people, understanding their motivation and pain

10 MINS

OSH IS SUCH A PEOPLE-CENTRIC ROLE NOW. THAT IS WHERE THE COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK CAN HELP YOU TO TAKE STOCK points, and how I can enable them to work safely. When you’re dealing with so many stakeholders, it teaches you to treat people in an open, fair, respectful and unbiased manner. That reflects the competency framework element of diversity and inclusion, but all of that is crucial to being a magistrate and the principle of justice, too.’

In fact, there is a lot of cross-over between Mubin’s professional life and his voluntary role. Magistrates have their own competency framework and must be able to demonstrate key qualities including good character, understanding and

JUDGEMENT DAYS IOSH’s competency framework is helping Mubin Chowdhury CMIOSH in court as a local magistrate.

WORDS MATT LAMY

communication, social awareness, maturity and sound temperament, sound judgement, and commitment and reliability.

‘The magistrate’s “good character” quality highlights personal integrity, as does one of the IOSH codes of practice,’ says Mubin. ‘Key quality two – understanding and communication – overlaps with the competency framework in the areas of decision-making and effective communication.

‘A magistrate is a very responsible position but it’s not about power. It’s about making the responsible decision and then being accountable for that decision.’

Give and take There are also certain specific ways that Mubin’s OSH experience has helped him work particularly effectively as a magistrate.

‘If I look at behavioural competencies, active listening is crucial when doing an accident investigation. You are given a lot of information but you have to simplify it: what are the actual facts and what level of evidence is available?’ Mubin says.

‘Active listening is also especially important when listening to people in court and absorbing all the evidence from different representatives.

‘Empathy is an important competency.

As OSH professionals, we have to see things from other people’s perspectives. In court, I have to keep the victim in mind and make sure we operate an open, fair and prompt justice system that is looking after them.’

In return, court experience is bringing its own benefits that Mubin can apply to the health and safety sector.

‘Specialist knowledge is a key benefit,’ Mubin says. ‘I’m gaining knowledge in areas such as occupational driving, which is a big issue in the workplace with factors such as speeding, mobile phone use or insurance requirements. I’ve also learned a great deal about substance misuse and domestic abuse.’

Stakeholder and risk management framework competencies have also been enhanced by court experience.

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COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK

I O S H C OMPETENCY F RAM EW ORK The IOSH competency framework has been designed to help OSH professionals build capability and keep pace with rapid change in the workplace. It’s a useful reference tool for recruiting and developing individuals or a team.

To find out more, visit iosh.com/ my-iosh/competency-framework

‘In court, we are always prioritising which cases to see first on the basis of risk identification, profiling and risk mitigation,’ Mubin says.

‘Sentencing – whether punitive or rehabilitative – that’s all risk management.

You keep foremost in mind the victim and what will most benefit society. But if you can rehabilitate somebody, you’re potentially reducing the risk of them coming back to court.’

PHOTOG RAPHY: ISTOCK

Bigger picture The structured nature of the competency framework is helping Mubin work his way through all of the elements. ‘I wish I had a structured framework like this when I started my career because it gives a focus in terms of overall work, career and life.’

And while completing all 69 elements of the framework can seem insurmountable at times, he says the key to making it achievable is grouping them. ‘Think about the IOSH code of conduct and your CPD and tie all three things together,’ he says.

His advice to those new to the profession?

‘Choose a few competencies every year or every few months and ask yourself: How do they tie in with what I am doing at work?

Am I actively listening? Am I doing a project where I can use some of these framework competencies?’

Mubin believes mentoring can help with this. ‘Get yourself a mentor who can guide you through the competency framework with their experience,’ he says. ‘I benefit from having two IOSH mentees and mentors.’

Extra effective Mubin says his experiences in court – along with the competency framework, IOSH’s code of practice and regular CPD – all combine to make him not just a better health and safety professional, but a more effective member of the wider community.

‘OSH is such a people-centric role now. That is where the competency framework can help you to take stock and understand your strengths and weaknesses,’ he says.

‘Take on challenging projects and tie in any CPD reflective statements with the competency framework. You can learn a lot from failure as well as success. For example, I’ve learnt a lot from having to resubmit my IOSH Fellowship application.

‘Following the competency framework can make you an enhanced, all-round trusted adviser. But these are also transferable skills that you can use if you want to go into management as you progress and develop your career. Or they can help you in other aspects of life, too.’

Serving as a magistrate Magistrates are volunteers who hear court cases in criminal court, family court or both. All criminal cases begin in a magistrates’ court.

Magistrates can give punishments such as fines, unpaid work in the community, or prison for up to six months (or up to 12 months for more than one crime).

Magistrates are required to be in court for at least 13 days a year and employers must, by law, allow them reasonable time off work to serve.

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ENHA NC E

D

espite spending more than 20 years in prominent occupational health and safety roles for both multinational companies and national governments, Craig Docherty GradIOSH is modest when it comes to his achievements.

‘I never felt I was at the top of my game and I still don’t,’ he says.

His CV would suggest that others don’t agree. As global construction safety manager for US pharmaceutical giant Merck and Co, and director of Singapore’s OSH Inspectorate, he has been entrusted with some highly demanding jobs.

‘In 1998, I was in Australia working for a company called MSD,’ says Craig. ‘It was early in my career and I asked if there was any chance to work overseas. Two weeks later I was in Singapore, where I took on the role of project SHE [safety, health and environment] manager tasked with implementing an OHSAS 18001-based safety management system for the construction of a US$500m bulk chemical facility.’

‘I was the only Australian in the owners’ management team there, in a very US-centric environment.

We had eight different nationalities on that job so I learnt a lot about how building rapport through dignity and respect is essential to a leader’s effectiveness.

‘I remember there was a really aggressive project manager who saw a safety officer from the main contractor wearing a turban. The project manager told me to tell him to go home. I said to let me speak to him. I asked the guy if he wore a hard hat on-site. He said of course he wore a hard hat, it would be crazy not to. Just having that chat got the issue sorted, but it’s an example of the cultural disconnect that can occur.’

I NTERV IEW

A LITTLE RESPECT With a career that has seen him in roles at national and multinational level, Craig Docherty GradIOSH explains why respecting cultural differences – both within and beyond the workplace – is crucial.

WORDS MATT LAMY

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MEMBER INTERVIEW CRAIG DOCHERTY

it to our job – safety is for the people and if we focus on that, everything else will follow,’ he says. ‘This ties in with a fundamental issue that future leaders need to get sorted early: you have to understand what the values of the organisation are and live them.’

leadership and one that you could be fined or jailed for.’

To do this, Craig oversaw the implementation of programmes such as the Business Under Surveillance scheme.

‘If there was a fatality, I would meet formally with the managing director or company owner to determine what they had learnt from the event and what their business recovery plan or path forward was going to be,’ Craig recalls.

‘It taught me so much about people. Some would be arrogant and show little to no remorse; others would break down, overwhelmed by the event. I could get a clear picture of the company leadership, values and morals based on a half-hour discussion with a senior executive.

‘At that time, our team was averaging about 1.5 new fatal workplace events each week. It was relentless. But it was an experience that changed my life,’ Craig says.

An inspectorate calls

Leader of the pack

In 2005, the contacts that Craig had formed in Singapore came calling. ‘Singapore had created the Workplace Health and Safety Act 2006, which is a broad, Robensstyle of administration rather than the more prescriptive Factories Act that came before it. Ho Siong Hin knew that he needed to build capacity and industry experience within his team to enforce that, which is where I came in.’

Craig became director of the Singapore OSH Inspectorate and was later named deputy commissioner. ‘My role was to push enforcement through workplace inspection and investigations. I was to help create a “burning platform” for industry: a punitive reason for workplaces to take note that safety is a serious matter for organisational

In 2007, Craig moved back to Australia and started Fusion Safety Management, consulting throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

‘I called my business Fusion Safety because I believe there are three elements that are needed for a business to succeed: effective leadership, a strong health and safety system, and all embraced by a strong safety culture,’ he says.

‘Most fatalities I’ve investigated had a system that would have provided a solution or controls that would have prevented the incident.

But without leadership, businesses don’t develop a positive safety culture to make the system effective.

It’s that development of a positive culture that underpins the whole effectiveness of health and safety in the workplace.’

L EADERSAFE HERO CODE ‘From what I’ve seen in my career, you need leaders not only at the executive level but throughout an organisation,’ Craig says. ‘These leaders need to build excellent rapport with colleagues and the workforce, and they need to align the values of all people in the organisation around health and safety. This is easier said than done, so at Fusion we’ve developed the Leadersafe Hero Code coaching course to build the necessary skill-set.’ For more information on this course, visit bit.ly/fusion-leadersafe

Three years after breaking ground, the project had achieved more than seven million work hours with no lost time incidents, and it received a letter of commendation from the Singapore Ministry of Manpower. It also meant that Craig met Singapore’s commissioner for workplace safety and health, Ho Siong Hin, who would figure significantly in Craig’s later career.

PHOTOG RAPHY: ISTOCK

Coming to America First, though, Craig became Merck and Co’s US-based global construction safety director. ‘I tried to replicate across the Merck world what we’d achieved in Singapore,’ Craig says. ‘That’s where I continued with the practice of respecting different social cultures. As soon as you talk to people with dignity and respect, it becomes much easier to implement and influence health and safety change.’

It was during this period that Craig also developed an important part of his work philosophy. ‘Merck has a saying: “Medicine is for the people and if we focus on that, the profits will follow.” I realised we could apply

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ENHA NC E

I

n a world profoundly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of OSH professionals pushed centre stage, continuing professional development (CPD) is essential. As Vanessa Harwood-Whitcher, IOSH director of professional services, says: ‘If professionals don’t stay up to speed with changes in legislation or trends in OSH, it means the advice and support they are offering their colleagues could be out of date or, worse, put life in danger. Setting aside a little time every week to carry out professional development is a great way of not allowing yourself to be complacent by relying on knowledge gained in the past.’

However, managing both work and CPD at the same time can be daunting – and it might have become even more difficult in the last few months for those professionals who must work longer hours and deal with more stressful situations.

Many resources are available on LinkedIn or on the IOSH website to make people’s CPD journey easier.

Courses are available, but so also are books and resources aligned with the new competency framework launched in 2020 to cover the skills, knowledge and behaviours that OSH professionals currently need. The IOSH Career Hub (iosh.com/my-iosh/careerhub) is a good place to gain new knowledge and business skills.

A tool such as Blueprint 2.0, which will launch this year, is also useful for

IT’S IMPORTANT TO DECIDE WHERE WE DRAW A LINE AND DECIDE WHEN OUR DAY OF WORK IS FINISHED. WE NEED A DAILY CUT-OFF POINT 72

H OW TO...

JUGGLE WORK AND LEARNING CPD is more crucial than ever, but how can you set the best speed for the treadmill of work, study, repeat?

WORDS LÉA SURUGUE

professionals to reflect on their practice.

Accessing a large amount of materials, doing the exercises and reading the content available on this system will autopopulate into professionals’ CPD records.

Finding the right balance While these resources are useful to save time and access high-quality content and learning, successfully completing your CPD and getting the right balance between working and studying also requires organisation, as well as consistency in your learning and honesty with yourself about the gaps in your knowledge.

‘You need to make time, even if it’s just a short amount each month,’ says Keith Sillitoe, senior consultant at the British Safety Council. ‘I keep a simple Word document to explain what I have done and benefited from, including refreshed OSH

training and education. It’s best to keep it simple and not too formalised. The best approach is to have a clear documented record of what I’ve learnt and the tasks I have completed that are linked to my occupation and continual improvement.’

As the pandemic increases the workload for OSH professionals, finding even this small amount of time in your schedule may be challenging.

‘The trick is to plan what you want to develop and then set achievable goals for each week,’ says Vanessa. ‘This may be as short as reading an online article or as long as gaining a qualification.

It has to be right for you, your career journey and how much time you have to spend keeping yourself up to date. By setting small goals, you get a sense of achievement when you reach them and this can really help with motivation.’

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HOW TO... CPD

TO P T I P S

Clear minds Practical advice from Dr Angela Carter, occupational psychologist at Just Development

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ILLUSTRATION: IKON

CPD should not be neglected by professionals who might have been furloughed or lost their jobs.

Learning and joining training courses can restore a sense of purpose as well as demonstrate to employers that the time out of work has been used productively to gain new skills or achieve qualifications.

‘In the last few months, IOSH has seen an increase in the number of members working on their initial professional development [IPD] to become Chartered. Far more people are coming through the process during the pandemic,’ Vanessa says.

Stress busters With the rise of home-working, the past year has been characterised by increasingly blurred boundaries

between private and professional life. The anxiety and stress of adapting to new ways of working has led to a higher risk of burnout.

However, practical tips can be implemented to help manage your time in a more efficient way, allowing for a good balance between work and CPD, while setting up clear boundaries and reducing the potential for stressful situations (see Clear minds, right).

Philip Lancashire, a member of IOSH’s Future Leaders Steering Group, concludes: ‘It’s important to decide where we draw a line and decide when our day of work is finished. We need a daily cut-off point to say the working day is done. We can then do professional development tasks on our time.’

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Professional development is about taking time out and evaluating where you are, where you want to be, and making appropriate changes to gain control in stressful overwork situations. But CPD is not all about courses and qualifications – it is also about extracting learning from the working day and using that to make the subsequent activities more effective.

To avoid feeling stressed and overwhelmed, make a clear distinction between working, studying and enjoying your own time.

Incorporate one learning activity into each day – and enjoy it. You can also combine this activity with day-to-day work.

Take time to think about what you are doing and learning. Evaluating outcomes will show how you have used your abilities and that you have a ‘valued role’.

Separate activities into different spaces if possible – sit in an armchair with a book, or use a pen not a computer.

Plan your time carefully to learn when you are not tired – for example after lunch or first thing in the morning. Don’t try to learn when you are tired, or on a Friday.

Set your own pace.

Take frequent rests, and eat and sleep well.

Use exercise to work out difficult problems – just let the thoughts float around your head while exercising (or sleeping) and you may find what comes out of it is interesting.

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PERFORMANCE REPORTING

TA LK I NG S H O P

ANDY ANDERSON CMIOSH

ANTONIO JAVIER GASPAR MARICHAL CMIOSH

Health and safety manager, Amazon

EHS manager, Dematic

Having spent many hours discussing OSH metrics, I would not describe them as inspiring. Unfortunately, many business leaders I have worked with have become obsessed with the metrics, and when they notice them going in the wrong direction, they see it as a sign of failure instead of a learning point. That then cascades down the business in a negative way. The most effective way to inspire leaders is to weave in personal experiences with the metrics – bring the metrics off the page and make them real with a compelling story. This brings emotion to the discussion and results in better approaches to safety.

Knowing where you are is not enough; it’s too late – you were actually there ages ago. Most OSH performance and progress reports look backwards and present information on historical events. This provides a limited insight into the current state of affairs, and no predictive value.

To influence strategy and improve risk management practices, senior leaders need both insight and foresight.

Reports should tell a compelling story about how OSH interventions contribute to organisational success and support business ambitions. This leads to stronger leadership buy-in.

MORE THAN METRICS

CHRIS CLARK CMIOSH

Four industry experts turn traditional performance reporting on its head and suggest new ways to influence senior leader engagement.

SHE adviser, Morgan Sindall Group

Data can be used and represented in a variety of ways; it can also be manipulated to provide a false representation of an organisation’s safety performance on the ground. Reporting leading and lagging indicators is no replacement for leadership engagement with the workforce. Observation is a critical skill needed by all senior leaders. Workers will naturally change the way they usually operate when they are under observation (work to rule). But when a person becomes accustomed to being observed, they will revert to their normal way of working – once that occurs, the observations will then truly represent the organisation and its safety performance.

HAVE YOUR SAY… 74

What are your thoughts on inspiring senior leader engagement in performance? Let us know

LYNDA PARKINSON CMIOSH Health and safety lead, HB Projects Ltd

Although it is important to track, measure and demonstrate to the C-suite and external bodies that we are managing trends and identifying opportunities for improvement, it’s not very inspirational. If a monthly board report is the only contact the health and safety team has with senior leaders, it’s unlikely that new initiatives will gain their backing.

There is real value in senior leaders – including health and safety leaders – being seen ‘at the sharp end’, engaging with workers about the challenges they face. Visible leadership and support from the top can make a real difference in implementing change, rather than chasing statistics.

TWE E T: @I O S Hma ga zi n e

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