NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023

HEADING
IN THE
RIGHT
DIRECTION
A four-day week trial
suggests flexible working
brings OSH benefits

1 Cover_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 1 18/10/2023 09:09

 
 

 
 

           

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 W ELC OM E
OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF

The Institution of Occupational Safety

and Health (IOSH) is the world’s leading

Reflecting
professional body for people responsible
for safety and health in the workplace.

Published by Redactive Publishing Ltd

9 Dallington Street, London, EC1V 0LN

EDITOR
over the
Joanne Perry
joanne.perry@ioshmagazine.com

DEPUTY EDITOR
Alex Lacey

CONTENT SUB-EDITORS
past year
James Hundleby, Amy Beveridge
s an avid action and sci-fi film also been given to the IOSH networks

A
D I G I TA L E D I TO R
Kellie Williams
fanatic, I fully appreciate and strategic engagement work in
kellie.williams@ioshmagazine.com the concept that time is South Korea, Finland, Gibraltar, Japan,
DESIGNER relative and can fly past our Malaysia and South Africa.
Craig Bowyer
eyes. However, nothing prepared me for On behalf of members, a reinvigorated
PICTURE RESEARCHER
Claire Echavarry
the speed at which the past 12 months and well-functioning council has
ADVERTISING
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Display sales +44 (0) 20 7880 7613 both president and chair of Council are line with IOSH’s charitable objectives,
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This year has been one of opportunity, statements, a healthy pipeline through to
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with a focus on our new five-year strategy the presidential team, enhancement of
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Aaron Nicholls Activate 2028; a safe, healthy working competencies, increased opportunities
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My personal focus areas have included
promoting the elimination of harm,
recognition of neurodiversity and the
associated opportunities, and supporting
our next OSH generation and future
leaders. Chosen for longevity and impact,
they also support the fundamental
principles of good OSH.
There have been more than a dozen
webinars, on subjects including
‘Opportunity Starts Here’, Blueprint,
student employability, our members’
professional journeys, neurodiversity
and the dangers of asbestos. Support has
IT HAS BEEN
been more forthcoming as members,
volunteers, external OSH stakeholders
and those we want to help – specifically
the global workforce – need to see what
is done on their behalf. I hope you agree
that this has progressed, but there is still
more to do.
The future is exciting, with key
opportunities and topic areas such as
the progression of artificial intelligence,
the ongoing recognition of the OSH
profession on the global stage post-
COVID-19 and the growing recognition
of IOSH with international stakeholders.
It has been an honour and a privilege
to serve you all, and I wish Stuart Hughes
all the very best in his presidential

ARE YOU
RECRUITING?
AN HONOUR year. I will be there as immediate past
president to help him navigate his time as
Promote your health
and safety job on
AND A PRIVILEGE it flies by – if he needs it.
the official careers
site for IOSH TO SERVE YOU ALL Lawrence Webb
IOSH PRESIDENT

IOSH MAGAZINE 3

3 Welcome_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 3 18/10/2023 09:10

CONTENTS N OV EMBER/ D EC EMBER 2023

Contents SAF E T Y, HE ALT H AN D W E L L BE I N G I N T HE WO R LD O F WO R K

T HE K NOW L E D G E
6 THINGS YOU
NEED TO KNOW
The latest stats and
facts, news and views

10 INSIDE THE
REPORTS
To disclose or not to disclose
mental health conditions, and
AI challenges in the workplace

12 INTERVIEW
John Elkington talks
sustainability and sharks

14 PROSECUTIONS
Recent court cases

18 THE WIDER VIEW

What’s new online – our latest
webinars, videos and podcasts

21 OPINION
Chris Wagstaff discusses putting
down the clipboard and pen for
forward-thinking OSH

23 MEMBER GRADES
We continue our series on career
development through the tiers of
IOSH membership, looking at the
37
value of becoming Chartered SIDE-STEP THE TRAP
26 SUSTAINABLE Everyone is susceptible to
DEVELOPMENT GOALS
As IOSH launches a report on confirmation bias – how
OSH and SDGs, how can OSH
professionals can help businesses
can we avoid the pitfalls
achieve sustainable success? and keep thinking clearly?
4 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

4-5 Contents_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 4 18/10/2023 15:39

 41
THE E VIDENCE

30
71 ROUNDUP
Wellness warriors
The latest research
and reports relevant

THE PRACTICE H EA DING IN TH E to OSH professionals

37 CONFIRMATION BIAS
RIGH T DIRECTION 72 DEEP DIVE
Research: in depth
Side-step the trap Should we all be switching to A closer look at two
How can we challenge our own a shorter working week, or new studies and
cognitive biases for more do the drawbacks outweigh their findings
objective thinking? the benefits?

41 CLIMATE CHANGE THE LAST WORD

Seeds of disaster
The impact of global warming 74 PROOF POSITIVE
on farming, forestry and fishing A light on safety
An illuminated
47 CASE STUDY walkway keeps pupils
Zeroing in on better safety safe at one school
How one industrial gas giant uses THE B USIN E SS in Bristol
its global EHS system to work
toward its goal of zero accidents 55 NEURODIVERSITY

62
Thinking differently
50 AUTOMATION about neurodivergence
Tomorrow’s world today Open communication
How will OSH be affected is key to inclusivity
by robotics and AI?
58 SANITATION
A basic human need
OSH’s role in ensuring every
worker has toilet dignity

23 62 LONE EMPLOYEES
Going it alone
Ensuring the safety of those
working on their own

67 THE NANNY STATE

COVER:SHUTTERSTOCK

Does nanny know best?

Reasonable rules versus
personal responsibility

IOSH MAGAZINE 5

4-5 Contents_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 5 18/10/2023 10:47

 KNOWLEDGE
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS ISSUE

‘Inspectors now have

two routes to lawyers.
First of all... inspectors
can come to our team
for early investigative
advice. Or we now have
a formal Decision To
Prosecute [DTP] system.’
ALAN HUGHES, HSE SENIOR ENFORCEMENT LAWYER

6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

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 2. IN N UMB ER S
Disabled staff
continue to
struggle at work

78%
of disabled employees said
they, rather than their employer,
had to initiate the process of
getting adjustments.

58%
said that getting the adjustments
they needed was due to how
assertive and confident they
were to ask for that support.

1. NEW H SE SYSTEM

CHANGES TO HOW
56%
said they still faced disability-related
barriers in the workplace after

SAFETY REGULATOR adjustments had been made.

APPROACHES
PROSECUTIONS 37%
felt their employer
was genuine about removing
all disability-related barriers
IOSH magazine recently The case would then and making the workplace
interviewed Alan Hughes, be referred to the Legal inclusive for disabled employees.
a senior enforcement Services team to decide
lawyer at the GB Health whether to progress.
and Safety Executive
(HSE). Alan talked to us
about recent changes
made to the regulator’s
But following a radical
rethink last year to
become more in line
with other prosecuting
18%
was the proportion who said their
adjustments have removed
legal services division, bodies, the HSE has all barriers in the workplace.
which affects how it adopted a new system
becomes involved in cases. where inspectors
Until this point,
investigating inspectors
worked with principal
now have two routes
to lawyers.
10%
PHOTOG RAPHY: ISTOCK

inspectors, who would Read the interview to said it was easy to get the
find out more at adjustments they needed.
make an approval decision ioshmagazine.com/
about prosecution. HSE-Legal-Services S o urce: B usi n ess D i sab i l i t y F or u m , 2 0 2 3, U K

IOSH MAGAZINE 7

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THE KNOW LED G E T H IN G S YOU N EED TO K N OW T H IS ISSUE

3. C O N ST R U CTI ON 4. DISCRIMIN AT ION

Building Safety Act: OH failings

what’s new? see employer
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will become the lose unfair
building safety authority for all higher-risk buildings
(HRBs) in England. dismissal
Developers will no longer be able to choose the
building control body they use for constructing new tribunal
residential buildings that are over 18 metres or seven
storeys with at least two residential units, and hospitals A UK-based worker who sustained a spinal
and care homes that meet the same height threshold. injury has won a disability discrimination case
Developers must also apply to the BSR for building after his employer failed to arrange an occupational health
control approval before starting building work on any assessment in lieu of accessing his medical records.
projects involving HRBs.
Get the full story: ioshmagazine.com-spenceandsons
The BSR Charging Scheme came into force on
1 October 2023. The scheme was created under the
Building Safety (Regulator’s Charges) Regulations
2023, will enable cost recovery and is a key element
of the Building Safety Regulator’s funding. 5. FUN DIN G
Look out for a full report in a future
edition of IOSH magazine.
IOSH opens research fund
IOSH is opening its research health and technology in the
fund this winter, with an workplace. The call involves a
international call for one-stage application process.
research proposals.
The Institution is looking For details and information
for research proposals from on how to apply, visit the
experienced researchers to IOSH website where the
explore topics that include announcement will be published,
mental health, occupational or see iosh.com/researchers

6. WAST E
Sellafield to reduce long-term
hazard and risk on-site
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has said that work
has started at Sellafield, a large-scale nuclear site in the UK, on
removing historic waste from one of its oldest storage facilities, to
PHOTOGRAP HY: S HUT TERSTOCK / ISTOCK

reduce long-term hazard and risk at the site in Cumbria, England.

Permission was granted to begin retrievals at the pile fuel
cladding silo after the ONR undertook a ‘rigorous and detailed
assessment’ of Sellafield’s safety case.

Full details are at ioshmagazine.com/Sellafield-safety-case

8 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

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 7. F I RE S AF ETY
HSE to investigate
new firefighter
breathing
apparatus policy 9. BUILDIN G
The GB Health and Safety Executive will
look into the Fire and Rescue Service’s Crumbling concrete
new breathing apparatus policy after the
Fire Brigades Union (FBU) warned it will
endanger the lives of firefighters.
crisis update
When attending fires in high-rise New guidance has been issued for those managing buildings containing reinforced
buildings, firefighters first establish a autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) following the scandal that emerged earlier
‘bridgehead’ in a safe position. They
this year.
then undertake a series of checks and
Over the summer, the UK government admitted that new evidence had emerged
activate their breathing apparatus before
showing the dangers of RAAC, which has been used in public buildings including
proceeding to tackle the fire.
But the FBU argued that officers could schools and hospitals since the 1950s.
be overwhelmed by smoke or other Advice from the Institution of Structural Engineers, alongside that of
hazards before they put on their PPE. Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures UK (CROSS-UK), is that if a building
owner or manager has a building from this period and is unsure of the form of
Full details here: ioshmagazine.com/ construction, they should carry out an inspection and a risk assessment. If RAAC
fbu-breathing-policy planks are present, their structural condition will need to be determined by a
chartered or incorporated structural engineer.

8.HSE DATA ioshmagazine.com/RAAC

Assessing
regulator’s
ill-health work
interventions 1 0. IN SECURE EMPLOYMEN T
The GB Health and Safety Executive
is developing an ‘iterative evaluation
BME workers
strategy’ to assess the impact its disproportionately
interventions are having on improving
rates of ill health in the workplace. affected by
Designed to understand and analyse
work-related ill-health incidence, the
insecure work
strategy will link data between a range In 2011, 3.2 million people were in insecure employment
of datasets and organisations, which the in the UK. By 2022, this had grown to 3.9 million: around one
regulator can use to provide a ‘richer in nine workers.
evidence base’ on the impact of its work. Black and minority ethnic (BME) workers have ‘borne the brunt’ of this increase,
The safety watchdog has continued
according to a report from the TUC. Two-thirds of the increase in insecure work has
its focus on tackling occupational lung
been among BME workers. Whereas the proportion of the working population in
disease, musculoskeletal disorders
insecure work grew from 10.7% to 11.8% between 2011 and 2022, the proportion of
and work-related stress, the three main
causes of work-related ill health. BME workers in insecure work rose from 12.2% to 17.8%.
Insecure employment is characterised by low pay, variable hours and fewer
Find out more at ioshmagazine.com/ rights. Industries with the highest proportion of insecure work are elementary
hse-evaluation-strategy occupations, caring and leisure services, and process, plant and machine operatives.

IOSH MAGAZINE 9

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THE KNOW LED G E ANALYSIS
Inside the
reports
Bridget Leathley CFIOSH explores
recent OSH developments to reveal the
takeaways and challenges for practice.
M E N TA L H E A LTH
SENIOR LEADERS:
TO DISCLOSE OR
NOT TO DISCLOSE
A report has presented the results of
research conducted by Affinity Health at
Work, and commissioned by the charity
InsideOut LeaderBoard, on the impact
of senior leaders revealing their mental
health issues. Its charitable objective is
‘the advancement and promotion of
good mental health in society, for the
public benefit’. The authors have already
decided how this should be achieved,
with a stated aim ‘to provide evidence
of the positive outcomes of senior
leadership disclosure of mental ill health
in the workplace’.
The study included a literature search
and interviews with 10 senior leaders.
Although the researchers identified
568 peer-reviewed papers using key
search terms, none of the papers met the
criteria for inclusion. A ‘hand search’
identified eight studies and four further
references, although many of the stats
provided are referenced to sources not
included in the literature review.
The challenges
While it is not the fault of the authors
that the literature review showed ‘just
10 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
10-11 Inside the Report_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 10
how little knowledge we have about the that disclosure is a positive experience
impact of senior leader disclosure’, the seems undaunted.
strong conclusions they drew from
what they could find seem unsupported. Takeaways
One study demonstrated that
disclosure by senior physicians in
Where people disclose mental health
issues, we all have a duty to be
training roles can reduce stigma related
to mental health in their students. The
supportive and affirming, and to make
adjustments to their work if necessary.
authors conclude that ‘the role that But if someone isn’t ready to disclose,
senior physicians take in training the evidence isn’t there that we should
students is similar to that of leaders in coax them into doing so.
the workplace’ without any further For managers and OSH professionals,
evidence that this is true in a working the most useful part of the paper is a
hospital, let alone a construction site reference to the factors that impact the
or factory. experience of mental health disclosure
Interviewees were limited to leaders at work (section 3.5). This includes who
who had already shown a commitment to disclose to and when, how to prepare,
to the InsideOut LeaderBoard. All of and messaging and tone.
them believed that their own disclosure
had created a ‘ripple effect’, enabling To read the original article, see
‘others to disclose their own experiences bit.ly/disclose-mental-health
of mental health’ and providing
PHOTOG RAPHY: ISTOCK
‘enhanced experiences for Bridget Leathley is a freelance health
junior staff ’. A more and safety consultant and a health and
rigorous study might safety trainer.
have used a broader
sample of leaders, and
checked how the junior
staff felt about it.
The authors admit to
identifying downsides
to disclosing mental
health problems, such
as discrimination and
mental fatigue, but
their initial opinion
18/10/2023 09:36
 A I AND ROBOTI CS
OSH CHALLENGES FROM AI-BASED
SYSTEMS IN THE WORKPLACE
Advanced robotics and
systems driven by artificial
intelligence (AI) provide both
opportunities and hazards
for OSH, according to a study
by EU-OSHA.
The five-page document
is based on 11 case studies
from nine organisations
across eight countries.
Each organisation used
advanced robotics or AI, or
both. Applications included
assembly and inspection
tasks, and image and
video analysis.
A longer report, Advanced
robotic automation:
comparative case study
report (EU-OSHA, 2023),
describes the work in
more detail.
Rather than focusing
either on a doom-laden
dystopian future where we
are controlled by robots, or
a utopian future where we
can sit in the sun while robots
attend to our every need,
this EU-OSHA report looks
at what is already happening
with the technology.
The challenges
On the plus side,
workers have opportunities
to upskill – to manage
robots rather than push a
trolley, or to configure an AI
10-11 Inside the Report_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 11
system rather than apply a
checklist. But the ‘irony of
automation’ (Bainbridge,
1983) means that the more
we automate tasks, the
fewer skills people have
to intervene when
something goes wrong.
A lack of
transparency in how
AI makes decisions
contributes to this challenge.
Companies acknowledged
that they had stopped
training some skills ‘based
on an assessment of
which skills are seen as
important in the future’.
Robotics can reduce
the demands of physical
workloads, and in some Takeaways As a result, workers
cases remove the need for Other challenges and might reject or misuse a
people to work in dangerous opportunities are described, new system, losing the OSH
environments such as and summarised in figures 1 benefits it has to offer and
confined spaces. and 2 in the report. possibly putting themselves
On the other hand, These are structured and others at risk.
collaborative robots around physical, A further recommendation
present more challenges psychosocial and will be familiar to even
to protect people from organisational factors. the least tech-savvy OSH
coming into physical contact As OSH professionals, professional – involve
with them. we can improve the quality workers in an ‘open,
For organisations, AI and of risk assessments for new continuous dialogue’,
advanced robotics offer technology by considering take their concerns
opportunities to improve the factors described. seriously and address
the quality and safety of In particular, the authors them honestly.
work; as with any other new emphasise the importance of
technology, the challenge is assessing risk from workers’ To read the original
to share those benefits with attitudes, such as a fear of job article, see bit.ly/
the whole workforce. losses or increased workload. workplace-challenges-AI
IOSH MAGAZINE 11
18/10/2023 09:37
THE KNOW LED G E IN T ERV IEW

No time to challenges. So initiatives like this also have

a wider potential benefit of persuading
people that it is worth investing in caring,
almost on a fractal basis, from the health

mellow
of individual human beings, right up to the
health of the planet.’

We speak to John Elkington, a godfather
of corporate sustainability, about inspiration,
environmental concerns and Tickling Sharks.
n the realms of corporate
a fundamental right could be seen, John
Pollinating change
John is the founding partner and ‘chief
pollinator’ at Volans: a future-focused
company ‘at the intersection of the
sustainability, entrepreneurship and
innovation movements’, which works with
some of the world’s biggest businesses to help
them face their sustainability challenges.
However, while he is acutely aware of both
corporate and political sensibilities, John

I responsibility and
sustainability, John Elkington
is one of the world’s most
prominent thought leaders. He has founded
two highly regarded sustainability
consultancies and worked closely with
organisations such as the World Economic
says, as an important step for both OSH and
sustainability interests.
‘It is absolutely crucial that the workplace
environment is brought under effective
management,’ John says. ‘If you can’t
demonstrate that you can control things
that are under your immediate control,
is increasingly of the opinion that such
concerns need to be set aside.
‘The debate around sustainability is
becoming intensely political and politicised,
and we can’t simply remain neutral and
professional. At some point, we are going
to have to grab the nettle and join forces to

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY
Forum, the B Corp movement and even you are certainly not going to win anyone’s drive political action,’ John says.
IOSH with the Catch the Wave campaign. He confidence that you will be able to deal with ‘For example, when Extinction Rebellion’s
has the ear of policy-makers and the world’s our looming – and much bigger – systemic protests in London were on Waterloo
biggest corporations, and has written or
co-authored 20 books. While John is now in
his eighth decade, he’s also far from done yet.
‘My next book, which will come out next
year, is called Tickling Sharks,’ he says.
‘When I look back at my working life of
50 years, a large proportion of what I have
done has been at board or C-suite level,
working with very senior people in business
or financial institutions. In the same way
that people tickle catfish or trout, it struck
me that working with these kinds of people
is akin to tickling sharks.
‘Although things have changed, these were
people who didn’t want our agenda anywhere
near their decision-making, so one had to
find ways of seducing them.’
In many ways, John’s experience of
bringing environmental concerns to
boardroom level has mirrored OSH’s
challenge. In fact, last year’s decision by the
International Labour Organization to ratify
a safe and healthy working environment as

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 Bridge – which is right outside Volans’s
front door at Somerset House – I talked to
the protesters every morning as I walked
into work. I was incredibly impressed by
the calibre of the people involved and the
non-aggressive nature of what they were
trying to do. So I wrote a letter to The
Times, signed by 20 CEOs, basically saying
these people are right to be concerned and
to protest.
‘Overall, the response was strongly
positive. We try to be professional, we
try to be objective, but we recognise the
system will have to change, the paradigm
is shifting, and at the end of that will be a
world transformed, where most of what
we’re currently doing – whether it be
business-as-usual or sustainability-as-
usual – will be seen as time-expired.’
Acting on inspiration
Such an approach probably shouldn’t
come as a surprise. John’s drive to catalyse
change has been in large part shaped by the
events of his formative years in the 1960s,
and the protests and civil disturbances that
period saw.
12-13 121_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 13
WE TRY TO BE
PROFESSIONAL, WE
TRY TO BE OBJECTIVE,
BUT WE RECOGNISE
THE SYSTEM WILL
HAVE TO CHANGE
‘In terms of individuals, it’s impossible to
say who my biggest inspiration has been,’
John says. ‘I can point you towards Rachel
Carson with Silent Spring, or James Lovelock
with his Gaia hypothesis. Or even back to
Thomas Kuhn, who wrote a book called The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which
introduced the notion of paradigm shifts.
I read that when I was 13 or 14 in the early
1960s, and I’ve never seen the world the
same since.’
And what of his own ability to inspire?
For those who want to take action after being
moved by his words, he has a self-deprecating
response. ‘I would probably say, poor
darlings – they should get out more!’
John laughs.
‘But I would say two things. One is, don’t
just read the obvious professional material.
There is so much other literature out there
covering these issues, including science
fiction, which is currently producing some of
the most extraordinary accounts of what the
future may hold for us. For people in any role,
whether it’s OSH or senior management,
take a look at what people like Kim Stanley
Robinson, David Brin and others are doing,
because books like Paolo Bacigalupi’s novel
The Water Knife give us a peek at what’s
coming down the pike towards us.
‘The other fundamental thing is to have
conversations outside our comfort zone.
They are always important, but at a time
when everything is coming apart at the
seams and then starting to recoalesce in very
different patterns, the need to engage a wider
spectrum of people in a very different set of
conversations has never been greater.’
REPURPOSIN G A C O N C EPT
In 1994, John launched his
concept of the ‘triple bottom line’
– TBL or 3BL – a revolutionary
accounting framework that brings
together the economic, social
and environmental results of
a business’s operations. Many
know this as people, planet,
profit. However, despite many
thousands of companies adopting
the TBL and countless schools
of economics now teaching it, in
2018 John issued a management
system recall on the TBL.
‘I was uneasy that people were
misunderstanding the original
intent of the TBL, which was
about system change. It wasn’t
simply about being able to track
across three different dimensions
of performance and optimising
one or more of them, it was how
you simultaneously achieve
progress in all three,’ he says.
‘One day, almost out of the
blue, the idea of a product recall
flashed into my mind. A lot of
people imagined that must mean
the idea was dead, that it had
been idiotic in the first place.
But the point of a product recall
is that you have something
that is perfectly adequate in
most respects but which has
developed a defect. Then you
fix the problem and put the idea
back out. So that’s what we did
with the TBL over the following
18 months.
‘We expanded the framing,
from Responsibility (how
businesses can better serve
stakeholders) to Resilience (how
they can negotiate disrupted
times) to Regeneration (how
they can help rebuild everything
from our economies, societies,
biosphere and politics).’
IOSH MAGAZINE 13
18/10/2023 09:52
THE KNOW LED G E P ROSEC UT ION S

WA ST E I N D U STRY

Double prosecution for

waste management firm
Valencia Waste Management has been ordered to pay fines
totalling £3m after two fatalities.
In October 2019, HGV driver Michael
Atkin, 63, was killed while collecting
waste-paper bales at Valencia Waste
Management Ltd’s Grendon Road site in
Earls Barton, Northamptonshire.
Just three months later, 31-year-old
agency worker Mark Wheatley died
while working for Valencia when he
attempted to use his lorry to lift two
skips simultaneously at Dartmoor
National Park Conservation Works
depot in Bovey Tracey, Devon.
Thxxxxx
The GB Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) investigated both incidents and
prosecuted Valencia Waste Management
Ltd, formerly known as Viridor Waste
Management Ltd. SENTENCING they approach sentencing. At the end of
But, in a relatively rare occurrence, In September 2023, at Loughborough step two, if they are able to say that they
despite the cases happening at different Magistrates’ Court, in relation to the first note a defendant has offered a high level
times and being geographically distant, fatality, Valencia Waste admitted breaching of cooperation with the investigation and
they were sentenced on the same day section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work considered the family or families involved
and in the same court. Act and was fined £1m. In relation to the to bring the two prosecutions together, then
second death, Valencia Waste pleaded guilty that will act in mitigation.
TWO CASES AT ONCE to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and ‘Our first thoughts are always with the
With two positive decisions to prosecute Safety at Work Act and was fined £2m. families of the men who died and, with
being taken, a rare opportunity arose to However, while the fines were substantial, this approach, we were able to help them
have both Valencia cases brought before and Valencia’s failings were rightly regarded achieve at least some level of closure sooner.
the same court at the same time. as significant in relation to the incidents ‘Sometimes you hear stories about defence
‘We had very open collaborative that led to both deaths, the sentencing firms being adversarial or slippery, but in
discussions with the defence lawyers for hearing represented something of a victory this case everybody spoke to each other
Valencia Waste Management Ltd and for mature and responsible reactions to honestly and made sure that everything we
P HOTOGRAPHY: ISTOCK/S HUTTERSTOCK

they were able to give us an indication
that if we put the matters relating to
both these incidents together, then
they would plead guilty to both,’ the
HSE’s senior enforcement lawyer,
Alan Hughes, told IOSH magazine.
legal proceedings.
‘That collaborative approach had an
effect on sentencing,’ Alan added. ‘With
sentencing guidelines now, the district
judge has to follow them very prescriptively
in terms of the steps they must take when
agreed upon was put into action. It really was
a collaborative approach that achieved the
right result for everyone.’
ioshmagazine.com/
valencia-waste-management

14 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

14-17 Prosecutions_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 14 18/10/2023 09:53

 F O O D AND DRI NK
PRET A MANGER FINED £800K
AFTER WORKER LOCKED IN
FREEZER FOR OVER 2 HOURS
The coffee and sandwich chain
was fined after repeated call-outs
for faulty walk-in freezers.
The incident
In July 2021, an employee at the
Pret branch in London Victoria
coach station was locked in a walk-
in freezer. The freezer was typically
set to around -18 degrees, but the
worker was dressed only in jeans
and a t-shirt. She tried
to keep warm by
moving around;
however, after
some time
she began to
feel unwell
from the cold,
finding that
her breathing
was becoming
restricted and that
she was losing sensation
in her thighs and feet.
She tried to tear up a cardboard
box containing croissants to use
as cover from the ventilator
blowing out cold air but found
that her hands were too cold to
break the box apart. The
worker was eventually found
by a colleague two-and-a-half
hours later, distressed and
believing she was going to
die. She was taken to hospital,
where she was treated for
suspected hypothermia.
14-17 Prosecutions_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 15
The prosecution
Westminster City Council found
that there was no suitable risk
assessment for employees working
in temperature-controlled
environments. Pret’s reporting
system revealed that there had been
a number of previous call-outs
relating to defective push
buttons, including one
at the same remote
kitchen in January
2020, when a
worker was
trapped in the
walk-in freezer.
In court
Pret, which operates 558
stores internationally (424 in
the UK), admitted breaching the
Health and Safety at Work Act and
was ordered to pay the council full
costs and a victim surcharge. When
passing sentence, the district judge
decided on a starting point of £1.6m,
reduced to £800,000 following
credit for an early guilty plea and
mitigation advanced on behalf of the
company. The sandwich chain had a
turnover of £461.5m in 2021.
Read more: ioshmagazine.com/
pret-a-manger
MANUFACTURING
TISSUE GIANT
FINED £1M AFTER
WORKER LOSES EYE
Europe’s second-largest
manufacturer of tissue paper,
Sofidel UK Ltd, has received
a seven-figure fine after an
employee suffered serious facial
injuries when he was hit by a
crane hook.
WHAT HAPPENED?
In November 2019, a man working
for Sofidel UK Limited was
attempting to use an overhead
crane to free a paper reel that had
become stuck on the exit rails of
a paper machine.
During this process, part of
the crane made contact with the
spinning reel and caused the
crane hook to swing violently. It
hit the man in the face, resulting
in him suffering the loss of an
eye and nine teeth, plus multiple
fractures to the face.
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
An investigation by the GB Health
and Safety Executive found that
the kitchen and toilet paper
manufacturer had failed to carry
out a suitable and sufficient
risk assessment to identify the
hazards posed by paper reels
that did not eject correctly from
the machine.
ioshmagazine.com/
sofidel-paper
IOSH MAGAZINE 15
18/10/2023 09:55
THE KNOW LED G E P ROSEC UT ION S

RAIL SAFETY

Network Rail fined

£6.7m over bad weather
crash fatalities
The infrastructure manager was fined £6.7m after pleading
guilty to criminal charges relating to a passenger train
derailment that led to the deaths of three people.

WHAT HAPPENED? THE FAILINGS ANALYSIS

An Aberdeen-bound ScotRail
train was travelling in heavy
rain near Stonehaven,
Aberdeenshire, when it struck
Despite the poor weather conditions, the
train driver – one of three people killed –
was not advised to slow down. The train
had been travelling at 73mph (117km/h),
‘A number of opportunities to spot
that the installation of the newly
installed drain was not as intended
by the designer were missed,’ said
PHOTOG RAPHY: ALAMY/SHUTT ERSTOCK

gravel debris that had washed
out of a drainage trench
onto the track. The train then
deviated to the left before
striking a bridge parapet,
causing the vehicles to scatter.
just under the normal speed for the line.
Network Rail admitted that it had failed to
inform the driver that he should reduce the
train’s speed due to the adverse weather
conditions on the day of the incident in
August 2020.
GB Health and Safety Executive
inspector James Collins.
Read our full analysis of the
case at ioshmagazine.com/
scotrail-stovehaven

16 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

14-17 Prosecutions_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 16 18/10/2023 09:56

 ROAD SAFETY
RISK ASSESSMENT
FAILINGS LED TO
TRAM DEATH
A criminal investigation has
found Edinburgh Trams
Limited guilty of failing to carry
out a suitable and sufficient risk
assessment of the layout of a
crossing where a pedestrian
was killed.
Carlos Correa Palacio, 53, was
fatally struck on a tram crossing
in Edinburgh, Scotland, in
September 2018, while making
his way home from his work as a
bus driver.
Investigators from the Crown
Office and Procurator Fiscal
Service found the company
failed to assess the loudness
of audible warning devices on
its trams, or the emergency
14-17 Prosecutions_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 17
A ROUN D T HE GLOBE
OSHA FINES
CEMENT
MANUFACTURER AFTER
braking distances of trams
WORKER DROWNS
approaching the crossing, in Buzzi Unicem USA is facing safety
order to identify and implement penalties after a worker fell from
adequate control measures to a barge into the Mississippi River.
address these hazards. The company, which
manufactures construction
The absence of any written
materials including brick
risk assessment was made
and cement, faces $62,500
worse by the failure to regularly
in proposed fines following an
review, which meant the investigation by US regulator OSHA,
original error went unnoticed. which found that the company’s
A near-miss incident at the negligence placed three of its workers
same crossing in November at risk of drowning due to the absence
2016 was reported but failed to of mandated personal flotation devices.
result in any action in relation The agency cited Buzzi Unicem USA
to the risk assessment. for five serious violations in all, including
the absence of essential guardrails and
first aid training, as well as the lack of an
Find out what happened in eyewash station.
court: ioshmagazine.com/
edinburgh-trams
FOUR MEN
GUILTY OF
NEGLIGENCE OVER
FATAL AUSTRIAN
GAS EXPLOSION
Four men have been given a
10-month suspended sentence
after an explosion killed one
person and injured 17 others
in December 2017.
The court was told the four employees
of Bilfinger Bohr- & Rohrtechnik (BB&R),
a subcontracting company that was
operating at the Baumgarten an der March
natural gas transfer station in Austria,
failed to comply with safety obligations.
BB&R was fined €125,000, while eight
other defendants were acquitted following
the 18-day trial.
IOSH MAGAZINE 17
18/10/2023 09:59
THE KNOW LED G E ON T H E WEB

The wider
Webinars
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If you didn’t catch the live

presentation,
you can watch it back here:
ioshmagazine.com/webinars/3M-abrasives

E P I S O DE 24: 10 QUESTI ONS MAN AGIN G HEAT ST RESS WIT H T EC H

F O R LAW RENCE W EBB
After a year at the helm, IOSH president
Lawrence discusses the highs and lows of his
presidency, and his hopes for the future.
E P I S O DE 23: TH E TRUTH
A BO U T TURBANS
IOSH magazine hosted a live event in September on heat
stress, attracting over 2000 members. Cority’s Sean Baldry
reviewed the practical steps needed to create an effective
workplace heat stress prevention plan. He also explored
how technology offers OSH professionals new tools to
detect the warning signs of heat stress, and offered real-
time guidance on what to do to reduce the risk of heat-
related issues.

We speak to Paul Singh CMIOSH, a practising Watch on demand:

Sikh, about the independent research he has ioshmagazine.com/
undertaken into the relative lack of turban- webinars/
wearing Sikhs in construction health and safety. heat-stress

Catch up at ioshmagazine.com/podcast or
search for IOSH on your usual podcast
platform and add it to your playlist.

18 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

18-19 Wider View_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 18 18/10/2023 10:00


view
OPINION
Read all our opinion pieces
from industry experts at
ioshmagazine.com/opinion
WORK HARD, PLAY HARD?
Has the work/k/
life balance
pendulum
swung too
far towards
the needs
of hard-
pressed
employers?
IOSH’s
research manager
Mary Ogungbeje says that
employees’ wellbeing remains
paramount, even in times
of economic hardship.
ioshmagazine.com/opinion/
worklife-pendulum
C LI M AT E C H ANGE:
WO RK ERS N EED
C LE A N A I R
Nine in 10 workers are
exposed to air pollution
above WHO guidelines,,
researchers have warned.
Richard Jones CFIOSH offers
ways to promote effective
18-19 Wider View_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 19
Video
T HOUSAN DS WATCH OUR V I D EO O N T HE
GROWT H OF MODERN SLAV ERY
More than 9000 of you have watched our recent video,
Modern Slavery: No Excuses for Employers. Produced
on the back of a feature we ran in the last issue, this
video explores the links between human trafficking and
work, and explains the critical role OSH professionals
can play in combating the risks.
If you missed it, catch up here:
ioshmagazine.com/videos/modern-slavery
management of OSH risks
arising from climate change,
ahead of the forthcoming
IISO publicly available
sspecification, due next year.
ioshmagazine.com/
opinion/clean-air
WORKPLACE CULTURE:
W
W H ERE DO WE START?
Defining safety culture
Stay up to date
revolves around individual
Do you receive our award-winning weekly
and team beliefs, values,
eNewsletter? Packed with the latest news, insight
attitudes, risk perceptions,
and legislative updates, almost 50,000 members
competencies and patterns
and non-members read our eNewsletter every week.
of behaviour that directly
Don’t miss out – sign up for free today.
impact health and safety
performance.
perfor
per manc As OSH
form
manc
ioshmagazine.com/newsletter
professionals, we are
prof
cconstantly being
driven to improve
our workplace
Download our
safety culture digital edition
– but what
does that really Did you know you can download this issue of
mean, asks IOSH magazine? Read your members’ publication
IOSH’s technical
IO anywhere, at any time. And that’s not all – you can
lead Angela Gray. also access our issue archive. Four years, 29 issues,
hundreds of features and thousands of words are
ioshmagazine.com/ available to browse. Read individual articles or
opinion/work-culture
download entire PDFs of each issue.
ioshmagazine.com/issue-archive
IOSH MAGAZINE 19
18/10/2023 15:41
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p20.IOSH_NovDec23.indd 20 13/10/2023 11:34


I A CAREER PATH
n OSH, you often encounter people who
may not understand the importance of
safety, or who see you as a barrier to their
success. Countless conversations with
business owners that start with ‘Do we
have to?’ or ‘We haven’t got time’ were the
norm for many years. But if an organisation
manages safety well and instils a positive
culture within their organisation, they
become more successful (and profitable).
My IOSH membership started in 2012.
Over the past 10 years, I have held various
roles, including a health and safety adviser
in education and retail, health and safety
consultant for SMEs and director of an OSH
consultancy. IOSH provides a network for
the community and brings like-minded
professionals together, while providing
CPD resources and a recognised tiered
membership that has been crucial for
development in the industry.
I feel like the ‘clipboard and pen’
approach to safety is dwindling and a more
pragmatic, risk-based approach to safety is
being adopted by OSH professionals. Safety
has become integral to day-to-day decision-
making and growth for many businesses.
As a result, the stigma has been reduced
and replaced by health-conscious business
owners who value maintaining an accident-
free and healthy workforce.
The increasing importance placed upon
compliance has raised safety standards
from the design and procurement stages of
products and services, enabling businesses
who manage OSH well to win more tenders
and contracts.
Technology on the move
Businesses that followed government
guidance throughout the pandemic were
able to reopen safely, and COVID-19
risk assessments meant that they could
continue to trade. Although, in some cases,
compliance can be seen as a box-ticking
exercise, it has driven safety standards
throughout many industries.
A real positive improvement in the past
ILLUSTRATION: ISTOCK
10 years has been the increased awareness
and efforts from employers on improving
health in the workplace, not just safety.
21 Opinion Chris Wagstaffe_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 21
OF CHOICE
A career in health and safety does not
come without its challenges, but the
opportunities are many.
WORDS: CHRIS WAGSTAFF CMIOSH, HEALTH AND SAFETY DIRECTOR, CRONER
Forward-thinking employers offer health-
related benefits, employee assistance
programmes and incentives to employees,
as they understand a healthy workforce is a
happy, productive one. Health surveillance
programmes are more common in relevant
industries. I believe this will continue to
grow, with many employers now trying to
improve worker mental health too.
Accessible EHS (environment, health and
safety) software has meant that businesses
can check risk assessments, training
records, checks and inspections at the click
of a button. Gone are the days when you
needed to call around multiple sites and
ask if their OSH is up to date or ask them
to email records to you; instead, you can
check this in seconds using a mobile device.
Software provides employers with reports
THE KNOW LED G E OP IN ION
that can be used for trend analysis and staff
training, with the increased use of photos
and videos for visual reference.
We are at an interesting time where
the use of artificial intelligence (AI),
virtual reality and tablet technology is
rapidly finding its way into everyday life.
Applying regulations such as the Display
Screen Equipment Regulations 1992 to
a workstation in 2023 has its challenges.
Reviewing and streamlining OSH
regulations would remove some red tape
and encourage employers to adopt safer
working practices. Hybrid and remote
workforces require technology on the move,
which brings its own challenges. AI will be
used to improve safety standards and OSH
professionals must adopt these new ways of
working and manage safety accordingly.
When I reflect on my career so far in OSH,
I cannot think of another career that brings
so many opportunities to learn, develop and
make an impact. You can work anywhere in
the world, in almost any sector, and meet
all kinds of people. You could be talking
to a board of directors at a manufacturer
in the morning and then training a group
of warehouse operatives in the afternoon.
So, whether you’re at the start of your OSH
career or a seasoned professional, there are
lots of varied and exciting roles out there
with endless development opportunities.
IOSH MAGAZINE 21
18/10/2023 10:01
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p22.IOSH_NovDec23.indd 22 18/10/2023 14:15

 THE KNOW LED G E MEMBERSH IP G RA D ES
Continuing our series on IOSH’s membership grades, we spoke to
recruiters and hiring managers about the value of belonging to IOSH,
and why Chartered membership is so important.

R
upert Lown CMIOSH
is in no doubt about
the value of Chartered
membership. As chief
safety, health and wellbeing
officer at Network Rail in the
UK, he oversees a team of
around 100 people who have
a responsibility to protect
colleagues, and has direct
links to teams across the
organisation run by other
Chartered Members.
‘From where I sit, I need to
make sure that people offering
health and safety advice to the
business are competent to do
so,’ he says. ‘That comes from
having a structured, controlled
framework of training,
upskilling and coaching so
people do their jobs properly.’
A Chartered Member of
12 years himself, Rupert
says some roles for which he
recruits require CMIOSH.
For more junior roles, it isn’t
a prerequisite, but support is
offered at Network Rail to reach
that level.
ILLUSTRATION: IKON

‘This is a complex business,’

he adds. ‘It’s not just the
workers we have to worry

IOSH MAGAZINE 23

23-24 Member grades_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 23 18/10/2023 10:04

THE KNOW LED G E MEMBERSH IP G RA D ES
about – we need to be aware of
the trains and the system, and
of course we have the public to
look after. So it’s crucial we keep
up to date as a team, and IOSH
membership – particularly CPD
– plays a key role in that.’
Embracing soft skills
Alan Cheung CFIOSH,
group safety, health and
environment operations
director for construction and
engineering firm Costain, is
also a big advocate of Chartered
IOSH membership.
He’s a strong believer in the
importance of behavioural and
people skills, which he says are
as important as technical ability
for OSH professionals.
‘This is really crucial to me
when we’re hiring,’ he says.
‘There are, of course, technical
competencies we look for. But
we are a people-based business.
If I’m interviewing someone, I
want to know if they have the
people skills to go with them.
Key to much of this, says
Alan, is membership of IOSH.
Depending on the level of the
role they’re recruiting for,
Chartered membership may
be expected, though they can
make exceptions ‘if the right
candidate comes along’.
‘But we’d want them to have a
plan for how they plan to reach
CMIOSH,’ he says. ‘Having
CMIOSH shows they have a
level of professionalism and
that they have been through a
rigorous process. You don’t get
it for free – you have to put in
the hard yards.’
Extra confidence
Alan worked closely with IOSH
president Lawrence Webb,
24 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
OM
23-24 Member grades_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 24
M
Man
aand shares these insights with
sstud
Plus pointss
Through their commitment to their professional journey
and keeping themselves up to date through CPD,
IOSH members add real value to businesses. They are
supported through this by IOSH, as its soon-to-be-updated
membership grades are underpinned by robust standards
designed to help members demonstrate their competency
and experience.
Once launched, the new structure and assessment
processes will clearly signpost how members can progress
from one grade to the next and, as a result, move forward
in their careers to deliver a real benefit to their employers,
colleagues and society as a whole. For more information,
visit iosh.com/my-iosh/shaping-the-future
who was safety, health and Saudi Arabia, says Chartered
environment strategy director membership is crucial for many
at Costain. Lawrence says senior roles within his business.
having Chartered Members ‘It signifies a number of
‘gives assurance’ that an things, including advanced
IOSH professional has – and expertise, strategic leadership,
maintains – the technical risk management capabilities,
competence required to do regulatory compliance
their job, but also values the knowledge, effective
behavioural aspects. collaboration, the ability
‘What are they going to be to foster a culture of safety,
like as leaders and professionals strategic problem-solving skills,
in the business?’ asks Lawrence. enhanced reputation and a
‘It is so important. Costain has commitment to continuous
people at all levels in the OSH improvement,’ he states. ‘These
team. They include graduates, qualities make Chartered IOSH
who are supported through the Members invaluable assets in
process of moving onto higher driving organisational success
IOSH membership grades.’ while ensuring the wellbeing of
Syed Mazhar, health, safety all stakeholders.’
and environment manager at
solutions provider Parsons Improved employability
Corporation, based in the The vvalue of progressing
United Arab Emirates and throu
through the IOSH membership
grade
gr
grades is clear to those working
in
n th
the academic world as well.
Caaro Conroy, an associate
Carole
pr
rofe
professor (reader) in OSH at
th
he U
the University of Salford in
Manchester, acknowledges this
students. ‘I sit on the Industry
Advi
A
Advisory Board, which has
repr
representatives from health
and safety, environmental
and other industries, and it’s
clear to see the value placed on
membership of professional
bodies like IOSH by employers,’
she says.
‘It gives employers
confidence in the ability of the
person they are employing.
That’s why we work very closely
with IOSH right from the
induction of new students.
‘Our students leave us as
graduates, but we encourage
them to consider working
towards Chartered membership
as it’s a great way to enhance
their employability. If they want
to work towards getting senior
roles, then becoming Chartered
is a big step towards this.’
For global professional
services firm Shirley Parsons,
IOSH membership is
particularly important for those
starting out. Its eponymous
founder and brand ambassador
says it demonstrates that
professionals are invested in
their career, and that Chartered
membership is ‘a door opener’
for those aiming for roles higher
up the ladder.
‘It can be particularly
valuable at the initial
application stage,’ Shirley says.
‘This is especially the case for
larger organisations and those
in client-facing positions
– for example, those in the
consulting sector. The benefits
of Chartered membership are
very much around upskilling
yourself and being able to grow
your career.’
18/10/2023 10:05
 30 April – 2 May 2024
NEC Birmingham UK

DEDICATED
TO IMPROVING
OCCUPATIONAL
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Find out more www.healthandsafetyevent.com

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p25.IOSH_NovDec23.indd 25 18/10/2023 14:17

THE KNOW LED G E SUSTA IN A BLE D EV ELOP MEN T G OA LS

Mapping out
a sustainable
future IOSH has launched a new report detailing how the OSH
profession contributes towards the delivery of the United
Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

WORDS MARCUS BOOCOCK

26 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

26-28 SDG_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 26 18/10/2023 10:06


hen all 193 United Nations
W (UN) member states signed up
to the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, they
committed themselves to playing their part
in the drive for long-lasting economic growth
around the world.
It was a 15-year plan of action for people,
planet, peace and prosperity, one supported
by 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs): high-level aims for governments,
international bodies and businesses.
These goals range from ensuring healthy
lives for people of all ages and providing
decent work and economic growth to
reducing inequalities and acting on climate
change. They are underpinned by 169
targets, which give clarity to how the goals
can be achieved.
This agenda was set out in 2015. Fast
forward eight years and much progress
PHOTOG RAPHY: GE TTY
has been made towards delivering them. A
look at the SDGs website reveals that more
than 7700 actions have been taken toward
26-28 SDG_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 27
delivering them, while there have been
more than 3800 events related to them.
But there is a long way to go to realise the
vision of the agenda, and many things must
come together in the coming years.
One of the keys to unlocking many of the
goals is good OSH management – but this
may not be as far off as other aspects.
‘Our profession has a vital role to
play,’ says Dr Christopher Davis, thought
leadership manager at IOSH. ‘But this
isn’t something to be intimidated by. In
fact, there are likely to be many activities
that our members are already doing,
perhaps on a day-to-day or week-by-week
basis, which are contributing broadly to
delivering the goals.’
Clear alignment
OSH has a role to play in contributing
either directly or indirectly to many of the
17 SDGs. IOSH currently believes it can
support meeting 51 of the 169 targets – for
31 of these it makes a direct contribution.
This is due to the interconnectedness of
good OSH across SDGs.
This is laid out in more detail in IOSH’s
recently released report Delivering a
sustainable future, which – for the first
time – maps the SDG targets to the
elements of good OSH management.
The report came about following
a review by IOSH into where good
OSH management can contribute to
sustainable development, meeting the
goals and fulfilling the 2030 agenda. It
lists 10 key areas of OSH management
– risk management, OSH management
systems, performance management and
governance, welfare, occupational health,
chemical hazards, vulnerable workers,
ethical business practice, OSH legislation
and business continuity – and highlights
which specific targets these areas can
contribute to.
‘We’ve spoken for some time now about
how there is a clear alignment between
OSH and sustainability, and how OSH can
deliver on many of the targets of the SDGs,’
says Christopher. ‘Following a significant
T HE IMPORTAN C E O F O S H
Did you know?
Back in 2003, IOSH was one of
the first international bodies to
make the case that OSH was a
‘material topic’ for sustainability in
all organisations, and essential to
public and socioeconomic good.
It should therefore be designed
into all public policy, global trade,
international development and
corporate strategies.
review, we can now show what targets OSH
management can help deliver.
‘We believe that highlighting the
connections between OSH and the SDGs
can help professionals, and the businesses
they work with and for, identify how they
are supporting the goals. As a result, they
can enhance how they report on their
sustainability work, providing details
about how their OSH management
supports this area.
‘There is a growing interest in social
sustainability, so it’s very important that
businesses get this right. It also provides
an opportunity for the OSH profession to
truly demonstrate how ensuring workers
are safe and healthy brings significant value
to businesses. Put simply, OSH is front and
centre to a business’s delivery of the SDGs
and its aims to become socially sustainable.
‘Equally, there are benefits to reap in
return by considering OSH in this way,
namely because it invites a more holistic,
joined-up perspective on the safety and
health of people and its impact on
business and wider society. To my mind,
seeing OSH as a central aspect of the
sustainability ecosystem completely
energises the role of the profession and
raises its profile considerably.’
IOSH MAGAZINE 27
18/10/2023 10:07
THE KNOW LED G E SUSTA IN A BLE D EV ELOP MEN T G OA LS
Universal principles
Many organisations are turning to
the UN’s Global Compact (UNGC)
for support on their sustainability
work. The UNGC, the world’s largest
corporate sustainability initiative,
supports companies with aligning
their strategies and operations with
10 universal principles on human
rights, labour, environment and
anti-corruption. They also commit to
advancing the most urgent societal
goals, including the SDGs.
To date, more than 18,000
organisations from over 160 countries
have joined, representing nearly every
sector and size of organisation.
IOSH, itself a participant in the
UNGC, has been highlighting the link
between OSH and social sustainability
for many years (see Defining the links,
right) and launched its Catch the Wave
campaign in
November 2021.
Through the WE MUST
campaign, it has
showcased the
REMEMBER THAT
latest research
and thinking,
THE SDGs ARE ALSO
defining a ABOUT PEOPLE
model for safety
and health.
IOSH head of policy Ruth
Wilkinson says: ‘Stakeholder interest
in measuring and disclosing social
sustainability has grown in recent
years and continues to do so. We must
remember that the SDGs are also
about people. The demand for OSH
professionals to support businesses on
their journey to sustainability has been
gathering pace for several years. With a
safe and healthy working environment
now recognised as a fundamental right
at work, with a human rights-based
approach to OSH, this will continue to
be the case.
‘IOSH and our members have a
shared vision of a safe and healthy
world of work, one where people are
protected, supported and provided
with decent work, good conditions
and rights and social protections.
28 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
26-28 SDG_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 28
This aligns very closely with
sustainable development and the SDGs
– the two are inextricably linked –and
we need to continually develop good
health and safety practices across
the world, with OSH professionals
contributing to the delivery of
these goals.’
Integral to success
Engineering, procurement and
construction services organisation
Fluor describes sustainability as being
‘integral’ over a century. As one of
the UNGC signatories, its reporting
focuses on key non-financial areas,
including OSH.
Chris Evans GradIOSH, executive
director for health, safety and
environment at Fluor, highlights SDG 3
(good health and wellbeing) and SDG 8
(decent work and economic growth) as
key areas.
‘Without a laser
focus on healthy
lives and lifestyles,
employees, families
and communities
can suffer, as can
the productivity
and growth of
companies and
governments,’ he says. ‘By applying
stringent health and safety standards
at work sites, the OSH professional is
vital to delivering sustainable success.’
Security, cloud and networking
services provider BT also has
sustainability high on its agenda.
James Fyfe CMIOSH, BT business
contract safety manager, says: ‘Our
profession plays a significant role
in the SDGs by contributing to the
overall wellbeing of individuals and
communities, reducing inequalities and
supporting sustainable development.
‘By integrating health, safety,
environment and quality policies and
procedures into the organisation, you
can contribute significantly to the
achievement of goals, while creating a
safer, more sustainable workplace for
your employees.’
ALIGN IN G GOALS
Defining the links
between OSH
and the SDGs
A new IOSH report, Delivering a sustainable
future, has been produced to clearly map the
link between good OSH management and
the United Nations’ Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs).
It lists 10 key areas of OSH and lists which
SDG targets they can help to deliver directly*:
• Risk management
SDGs 3, 6, 9, 11, 12 and 16
• OSH management systems
SDGs 1, 8, 10, 12, 16 and 17
• Performance management and governance
SDGs 1, 8, 16 and 17
• Welfare
SDGs 6 and 10
• Occupational health
SDGs 3, 6 and 10
• Chemical hazards
SDGs 3, 5, 11 and 12
• Vulnerable workers
SDGs 1, 8 and 9
• Ethical business practices
SDGs 8 and 9
• OSH legislation
SDGs 1, 3, 6 and 8
• Business continuity
SDGs 1, 11 and 13
The report also goes on to describe how OSH
can indirectly influence some of the SDGs.
As the conclusion to the report says: ‘IOSH’s
mapping study has surfaced the links between
the fundamentals of OSH management already
practised in many organisations and the
benefits that accrue to communities, countries
and the whole world, as measured by the
UN SDGs, the most widely recognised global
framework for sustainable development.’
*To see which targets these
relate to, download your copy
of Delivering a sustainable future
at bit.ly/IOSH-sustainablefuture
18/10/2023 10:07
 As a charity, every penny
we make goes towards
campaigning and service
innovations to ensure
that workers thrive.
Find out more:
T. +44 (0)20 3510 3510
www.britsafe.org

Registered Charity No. 1097271 and OSHCR No. SC037998. MC231

p29.IOSH_NovDec23.indd 29 13/10/2023 11:36

THE B I G STORY FOUR-DAY WEEK

IMAGE: S HUT TERSTOCK

30 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

30-34 Cover feature_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 30 18/10/2023 10:09

 H E A D I N G I N
THE RIGHT
DIR E C T I O N
The results of the first large-scale trial of a four-day
week offered a mixed picture. Behind the headlines,
however, a flexible approach that avoids long working
hours does offer strong OSH benefits.
WORDS NICK WARBURTON

E
arlier this year, 4 Day Week Global, the leading
not-for-profit organisation responsible for
the world’s first large-scale trial of a four-day
working week, partnered with Autonomy
and 4 Day Week Campaign in the UK to
highlight the findings of the UK pilot (4 Day
Week Global, 2023).
For six months – from June to December
2022 – 61 companies, representing around
2900 predominantly white-collar workers
across 15 or so different sectors, took part in the trial.
It set out to evaluate the 100-80-100 principle: giving
employees 100% pay for 80% of their time in return for
POOKA
KYY PO OKA
KA
as a permanent change – it is clear that some struggled to
make it work. Others are waiting to see more evidence of the
business benefits before deciding on whether to formally
adopt it (Lynch, 2023).
Global pilots
Since the UK pilot, 4 Day Week Global has completed
one-year trials in the Republic of Ireland and the US (4 Day
Week Global, 2022), with further work adaptations taking
place in countries as culturally diverse as Brazil, South
Africa and Sweden.
In June, Euronews reported on the countries that have
explored the four-day week and how it has been received

100% productivity. (Joly et al, 2023). Belgium, which formally introduced a

S POOKY
AG E: SPOO

Although the trial organisers point to a 92% success rate compressed four-day week in November 2022, has taken
IMAGE:
IMAG

– with 18 participants confirming the four-day week policy a prescriptive approach. Workers there still have to work

IOSH MAGAZINE 31

30-34 Cover feature_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 31 18/10/2023 10:09

THE B I G STORY FOUR-DAY WEEK

the same hours, but now have a choice of

working nine-and-a-half hours a day over
four days or eight hours a day over five days
(Hurst, 2022).
However, as Dr Dale Whelehan – 4 Day
Week Global’s CEO and a behaviour scientist
by background – explains, variations in the
four-day week approach are important to
support individual businesses, as well as
meet client needs.
‘The 100-80-100 principle is the gold
standard, so it’s trying to achieve that in
various different ways,’ he explains. ‘But if
it is not possible to achieve that in a certain
week, then use the principle as the platform
to take stock of what the additional work was
and give that back as time off in lieu.’

Banishing burnout
One of the motivating factors behind the
four-day week movement – and part of a
wider conversation about reducing working
hours – is that it improves the individual’s
work/life balance. This, it is argued,
enhances employee wellbeing, minimises
the risk of burnout and drives productivity.
‘Organisational leaders have been trying
for years to be lean and agile in their ways
of working and the analysis is typically used
for a machine,’ Dale argues. ‘But humans are
not machines. We are much more like elite
athletes. We are driven by our motivation
levels and our training, not by our ability to
run to the grind.’
Dale adds that when organisations
move to a four-day week, they remove all
the barriers that would have inhibited
employees from reducing the number of
hours they work in the first place: ineffective
leadership, culture, inefficient processes,
technologies and ‘death by meetings’.
‘Those are the five areas that we see,’ he
explains. ‘When those things are seriously
considered, adapted and refined to facilitate
time reduction, that is a motivating activity
for people because their environment is set
up in such a way that it allows them to do the
work that is required of them.’
Variations in the
four-day week
approach are
needed to benefit
individual
organisations
health, safety and wellbeing reasons, are
hardly new. In 2021, the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the International
Labour Organization (ILO) published the
first global analysis of the loss of life and
health associated with working long hours,
making the link to increased deaths from
heart disease and stroke (WHO, 2021).
Despite more flexibility in work patterns
brought about by the pandemic, it appears
that many of us are still working long hours.
According to the ILO’s Working time and
work-life balance around the world report,
However, although the European Trade
Union Institute (ETUI) published a 2017
report that put a strong case forward for
working fewer hours, it also highlighted
some concerns (De Spiegelaere and
Piasna, 2017). While long working hours
are linked with fatigue and being tired at
work is a safety hazard, the report cautions
that shortening working hours does not
automatically mean employees will enjoy
improved health. The report notes: ‘When
reduced working time goes together with
more atypical, flexible or unpredictable
working time, the net health effect might
even turn out to be negative.’
Improving wellbeing
For many of the UK participants in the
trial, however, there have been recognisable
benefits, including staff wellbeing.
That was the case for helpline
Citizens Advice Gateshead, which
participated in the trial, extended it for
another six months to May and then rolled
it out permanently after 15 months’ worth
IMAGE : ISTOCK

Conversations around the merits of more than a third of workers are regularly of data highlighted the overall positives
reducing working time, particularly for working over 48 hours per week (ILO, 2022). (see Citizens Advice Gateshead, right).

32 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

30-34 Cover feature_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 32 18/10/2023 10:09

 It is argued that the four-day week minimises
the risk of burnout and drives productivity
‘Our job is demanding emotionally
and very challenging. We are dealing
with people’s problems all the time,’
says chief executive Alison Dunn. ‘We
are also experiencing a cost-of-living
crisis; we’ve been through a pandemic
and have experienced austerity. Getting
an extra day to de-stress, to take care of
things that happen and to free up the
weekend so employees can spend time with
family, has helped by providing much-
needed space.’
One of the criticisms levelled at the four-
day week is that individuals in more senior
positions often struggle to adhere to the
model due to business demands. However,
as Alison points out, it’s important to see the
bigger picture, which is about being flexible
and reducing hours where possible.
‘One of the questions I am always asked is,
“Do I, as the chief executive, get a four-day
working week?” The honest answer is most
weeks I don’t, but that is not the headline,’
she argues.
‘The headline is that prior to the four-
day working week, I probably would have
worked until 6pm or 7pm on a Friday night
and I certainly would have worked on a
Sunday. Now I spend my Fridays doing nice
things, and I will always finish by 3pm. The
win for me is that early Friday finish, but also
I don’t take any work into the weekend.’
Despite the fact that she doesn’t
necessarily achieve a four-day working
week in the strictest sense, Alison has seen a
reduction in the number of hours she works,
an increase and improvement in family time
and a reduction in her stress levels.
Bespoke plans
Darren Stewart, who is director and
co-founder of Insureflow, a technology
company that designs software for the
insurance market, has seen similarly
positive benefits, albeit by adapting
the model to a nine-day fortnight. The
technology leader was approached to
participate in the trial, but opted out when it
became clear a four-day week wouldn’t work
in practice (see Insureflow, overleaf ).
30-34 Cover feature_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 33
‘We are not fans of people working four ‘It wasn’t a huge problem because we were
days out of five, but having to do an extra only losing one day out of 10, but it did need
couple of hours every day,’ he explains. ‘We a change in the way we manage.’
do complex work and people work hard. The
returns for working an extra couple of hours Drawbacks and disparities
a day diminish pretty quickly. People get Although the UK trial results were largely
tired and make mistakes.’ positive, some organisations ironically
Like other businesses trialling reduced- reported increased stress levels as
hour models, Insureflow experienced individuals juggled heavy workloads with
teething problems at the outset, with some shorter working weeks.
staff putting in extra hours to complete As Andy Hooke, principal consultant
work. ‘We didn’t go into it naively, but what at WorkNest, explains, often businesses
we probably should have done is replanned will find the same amount of work needs
some of those projects right from the start,’ to be done, but with no extra resources.
he admits. Consequently, he warns ‘it can become more
‘There was an impact. What we needed of a burden for people because they feel
to do was educate people a bit better to say: pressured to work on the day they wouldn’t
“Look, this is our problem as a management be working on, or at least part of it’.
team, not yours. We insist that you take Brett Edkins is head of health and safety at
that time off. That’s the whole point of London Projects Ltd and works in the super-
this scheme. If that means we miss some prime construction sector. He highlights
deadlines because we haven’t planned another issue that has implications for
this properly, then that means we miss OSH management systems. ‘If you have a
those deadlines.” medium-to-high-risk activity and the entire
PRODUCT IVIT Y AGREEMEN T
Citizens Advice
Gateshead
According to Alison Dunn, chief executive at Citizens Advice Gateshead, the
helpline took an employee-led approach and trialled working 30 hours for 37
hours’ pay for six months. It found most of its 200 staff worked 33 hours on
average. Although the initial data was promising, it wasn’t sufficiently robust for
them to adopt the model as business as usual.
The extended 15-month pilot, however, enabled the charity to demonstrate the
feasibility of the four-day week and it has been formally adopted. Readers can
access a library of case studies showcasing benefits such as improved wellbeing
and productivity at bit.ly/CA-4dayweek.
As Alison explains, the model includes a productivity agreement. This is an
employee benefit and is not a change in contractual terms. Because the model
is based on trust, should an individual’s productivity fall below the standard
required, they temporarily lose the reduced hours and have to undergo some
personal development to get them back up to the level required.
Listen to its ‘Lives Well Lived’ experience at spoti.fi/3L1X3fC
IOSH MAGAZINE 33
18/10/2023 10:10
THE B I G STORY FOUR-DAY WEEK
operation must be completed within a
week or a fortnight, if you take time away
you are inherently going to encourage
rushing and the cutting of corners. This
naturally heightens the risk of harm to
both people and the company.’
One potentially overlooked area in the
four-day week debate is grey fleet drivers,
whose driving hours are not recorded,
controlled or monitored. If individuals
are required or feel pressured to work
longer days on the other four days, there is
a risk they could drive when tired, with an
increased risk of road traffic accidents.
As driving hours are not always included
in an employee’s working hours, should a
driver be involved in a road accident, it is
unlikely their employer would record it
as a work-related incident. Consequently,
it would not be noted down on the OSH
management system or investigated.
‘If somebody is working those extra
hours and they are used to working six or
seven hours in a day, and then they are
working 10 on a particular day to get their
hours in, you’ve got to consider that,’ says
Andy, himself a grey fleet driver.
‘As an organisation, you must have
systems in place to manage it and
wellbeing policies to make sure people
aren’t driving too much. If there is a lot of
business travel involved, drivers should be
encouraged to stay over where they can so
they aren’t driving when they are tired.’
He adds that all drivers have different
thresholds, and it is important to do a
proper risk assessment to determine how
much driving is safe.
As the aforementioned trial
illustrates, a minority of organisations
struggled to support the four-day
week and were unable to make it work
for their employees.
Darren suggests that scale will be
an influencing factor, even for some
considering a nine-day fortnight.
‘You need people in the business. Where
we are with the state of the economy, some
companies are probably working with the
minimum number of people that they can
have already,’ he says.
34 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
30-34 Cover feature_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 34
FLEXIBILIT Y
Insureflow
Insureflow’s director to see how we were employees already
and co-founder Darren delivering and the time have a large degree
Stewart says the firm it took,’ he says. of autonomy in how
recognised that a ‘After six months, they plan and execute
four-day week was we were still hitting the their projects and
impractical, but they same timescales for because it also provides
trialled a nine-day those projects. flexibility around their
fortnight for six months ‘The only reason for work patterns. The
to identify what worked that is people were more model has also been a
and what didn’t. energised and fresher positive recruitment and
‘Being a technology when they were working.’ retention tool.
company, we tracked the The model works For more information,
outputs of the various well for the business, visit bit.ly/Insureflow-
projects very closely he adds, partly because 9dayfortnight
Benefits vs risk Andy concurs, and adds that flexibility
So what do OSH professionals need to is integral to the GB Health and Safety
consider? What other options are there to Executive’s stress management standards.
improve work/life balance and psychological The starting point, he adds, is the
wellbeing if a four-day week isn’t possible? risk assessment.
As an April 2022 Forbes article argues, the ‘We’ve got to properly assess the risks
answer is for businesses to provide greater and take a holistic approach,’ he argues.
flexible working options built around the ‘What are the benefits versus the potential
individual’s unique needs (Tjepkema, 2022). risks and the impacts that we are going to
Ruth Wilkinson, IOSH head of health and see? Part of the risk assessment process will
safety, adds that there is no ‘one-size-fits- look at the demands of the business and
all’ approach. understand where changes can be made to
‘A flexible organisational culture includes reduce the pressure on workers.’
being responsible, accommodating Brett says the lessons learned through the
individual needs and essentially having a pandemic can be applied to the challenges
whole-person management approach that presented here. ‘OSH professionals are
values and supports people,’ she argues. going to have to be on their toes more,’ he
‘This should be part of performance says. ‘You will have to communicate and
conversations and considerations, and start talk to everyone and see how it affects them.
from the very beginning of employment. [It Even if it takes six months to a year, don’t
must] be an ongoing process that requires rush it – get the communication right. Also,
human-centric leadership to be open to avoid using absolutes. It’s proactive planning
exploring and learning from continuing with the aim of reducing hours.’ 
experimenting, adjustment and adaptation.
It also needs open and constructive For references, visit
conversations with workers.’ ioshmagazine.com/4-day-week
18/10/2023 10:10
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business by working with you to show how OSH
improvements deliver real results – while we use
every penny of our surplus for our charitable purpose of
driving a safHDQGKealtK\world of work.

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p36.IOSH_NovDec23.indd 36 13/10/2023 11:47

 PRACTICE
EXPLORE SKILLS, IDEAS AND THEORIES

T
he 2010 explosion on the Deepwater
Horizon drilling platform,
which killed 11 men and caused a
catastrophic oil leak, was the result
of numerous human errors in cutting corners
that could have prevented the explosion.
Underpinning these errors was a series of
cognitive biases, including confirmation
bias. This led to engineers performing a well
integrity test to look for evidence confirming
that the well had been sealed, rather than
objectively checking whether it had been.
David Robson, a science writer who has
explored the role of cognitive biases in the
Deepwater Horizon and other disasters
in his book The Intelligence Trap, defines
confirmation bias as ‘when you are only looking

Side-step
the confirmation
bias trap
Confirmation bias can lead to accidents and safety failings. Yet everyone
is susceptible to it, even experts. So what measures can organisations
and OSH professionals put in place to help navigate the pitfalls?
IMAG ES: ISTOCK

WORDS KIM THOMAS

IOSH MAGAZINE 37

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THE PRA CTI C E C ON F IRMAT ION BIA S

for the evidence that’s going to back

up a previous belief that you’re
holding – and, crucially, you’re
not looking for any evidence
that might contradict what you
already believe to be true’.
Everyone is susceptible to
confirmation bias. It’s not an ethical
problem – people don’t deliberately seek
out evidence that confirms their view –
but a cognitive one. Dr Paige Williams,
a positive psychology researcher at the
University of Melbourne, says that the
human brain looks to process information
as easily as possible, and that biases provide
a shortcut. She adds: ‘If you’re a human,
and you’ve got a brain, you have bias.’
Like other cognitive biases, it arises from
what psychologist Daniel Kahneman calls
‘system 1’ thinking (our automatic, intuitive
reactions), in contrast with ‘system 2’
thinking, which is slow and considered, and
which we use to think through a situation
logically (Kahneman, 2011). System 1
thinking is an essential part of daily life, but
it causes difficulty when we rely on it to
solve a complicated problem.

Expertise does not protect us

As well as being a handy shortcut,
confirmation bias is the brain’s way of
dealing with cognitive dissonance – the
process of holding two conflicting values
or beliefs at the same time. Because that’s
uncomfortable, says Dr Joshua Ramirez,
CEO of the Institute for Neuro and
Behavioral Project Management, we cope by
‘minimising’ or ‘rejecting’ new information
that conflicts with our existing beliefs.
The universality of confirmation bias can
be hard to accept. It’s easy to assume that
our particular expertise and experience
make us immune to it. In fact, says David,
not only does expertise not protect against
confirmation bias, it can exacerbate it.
‘More intelligent people are often better
able to find the evidence that supports their
point of view, and they’re also better able
to rationalise any evidence that doesn’t
match their existing point of view.’ Similarly,
people with higher IQs tend to have a ‘bigger
bias blind spot,’ says David – in other words,
they wrongly believe that others are more
susceptible to cognitive bias than they are.
Even being aware that we are susceptible
to confirmation bias isn’t enough to protect
us. As Dr Carla MacLean, a faculty member
in the psychology department at Kwantlen
Polytechnic University, Canada, explains,
the problem is that ‘people self-generate a
theory about whether something has biased
them and what direction they’re biased in’.
We don’t, however, have the insight into
our own cognitive processes to identify
correctly when we are being biased.
Confirmation bias overlaps with other
cognitive biases. These include memory bias
(a tendency over time to forget elements of
an event and exaggerate others), groupthink
(when people within a group prioritise
consensus over reasoning) and outcome bias
(an assumption that because a near miss
didn’t lead to disaster, there is nothing to
worry about). In fact, confirmation bias can
act as an ‘amplifier of any existing biases that
we might already have’, explains Paige.
In the workplace, confirmation bias causes
problems in multiple ways. In a meeting,
for example, or when interviewing, we are
‘more likely to pay attention to information
that confirms what we already believe,’ Paige
says. ‘Particularly for leaders, the questions
they ask, the way they put together agendas
for their team, and the way they put together
progress markers and goals for their team
can be inherently biased in what they believe
“good” looks like in terms of outcome.’
Confirmation bias also plays a role in
safety failings, in every industry from

38 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

37-40 Confirmation Bias_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 38 18/10/2023 10:52


aviation to waste management. In medicine,
an over-reliance on past experience can
lead doctors to ignore important symptoms
mentioned by the patient. One study found
that 6% of people who attend US emergency
rooms are misdiagnosed (Kounang, 2022).
‘Once doctors come to a particular diagnosis,
they don’t really interrogate that and look
for disconfirming pieces of information that
might change their mind,’ David suggests.
Leaders need to admit their errors
If everyone is susceptible to confirmation
bias, how can organisations reduce the risk
of people falling prey to it? It requires an
organisational culture where dissent and
IMAGE S: ISTOCK
whistleblowing are encouraged, says David.
Leaders need to model this approach so that
37-40 Confirmation Bias_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 39
they ‘show the intellectual humility where
they can admit their own errors and they can
embrace situations in which someone else
has pointed out the errors in their thinking’.
For OSH professionals, objectivity is
crucial – particularly when it comes to
workplace investigations. In its workbook
Investigating accidents and incidents, the GB
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states
that any investigation ‘should be thorough
and structured to avoid bias and leaping to
conclusions’ (HSE, 2004).
Yet OSH professionals are as susceptible
to bias as anyone else. An experiment by
Carla and Dr. Itiel Dror demonstrates
the influence of confirmation bias. Safety
inspectors were provided with a company’s
previous safety history before being shown
a picture of the work site and asked to
identify safety violations. Inspectors who
OSH PROFESSIONALS
ARE AS SUSCEPTIBLE TO
BIAS AS ANYONE ELSE
believed the company had an unsafe
history identified a greater number
of hazards in the worksite photo than
those who believed the company had a safe
history (MacLean and Dror, 2021).
Carla says that inspectors often
have ‘familiarity with the investigative
environment that they’re walking into’,
particularly if the investigation is internal.
‘Investigators might even know the
employees on the floor. They have history
with these people, with the people who are
doing the work. This familiarity can spring
to mind an initial theory because you say,
“I’ve seen this before.”’
The problem of human error bias
One of the most common biases in
investigations is human error bias: a
tendency to attribute blame to human
error rather than to other factors. Like
any other cognitive bias, it is amplified by
confirmation bias. Another study by Carla
and Itiel asked professional investigators
and undergraduates to read a summary
of a workplace event and determine the
cause. The summary was crafted to be
objectively balanced in its implication of
cause equally between two factors: a worker
and a tyre. Both the professionals and the
undergraduates displayed a human error
bias (MacLean and Dror, 2023).
So what can we do to tackle confirmation
bias? It’s not something we can simply
choose to avoid, says Itiel, a cognitive
neuroscientist and principal consultant at
Cognitive Consultants International. ‘We
have no way to control it by mere willpower
– we have to take certain actions to control it.’
Workplace diversity, both demographically
and in terms of occupational background,
can help. ‘Every time you’ve got diversity, as
long as it’s not causing conflict, the diversity
does help because it forces more of an open
mindset,’ says Joshua. ‘A more open mindset
allows more information to come in and
to be accepted.’
Carla cites one investigation team she
works with that always includes someone
from a policing background, with a ‘deep
understanding of the investigative process’,
IOSH MAGAZINE 39
18/10/2023 10:53
THE PRA CTI C E C ON F IRMAT ION BIA S
as well as someone from industry who has ‘a
lot of knowledge about how things operate
in the workplace’.
How to engage system 2 thinking
How can OSH professionals make sure that
they engage system 2 thinking – the slow,
considered, analytical type of thinking
that helps us reach rational conclusions
– and guard against confirmation bias in
themselves and others?
‘Measure number one is not exposing
people to irrelevant contextual information,’
says Itiel. This would include, for example, a
company’s previous safety history.
Itiel recommends using the linear
sequential unmasking (LSU) technique,
which prioritises and sequences the order
in which information is examined (Dror
and Kukucka, 2021). This is because the
initial information in a sequence can create
a first impression and expectation that
then influences an individual’s perception
and evaluation of subsequent information.
When a forensic scientist investigates a
crime, for example, they should examine the
evidence from the crime scene first, such
as bloodstain patterns, before they receive
contextual information, such as the police
theory of what happened.
Paige suggests that OSH professionals
can monitor their own biases by using the
ladder technique, which entails checking
that each decision point in the process was
‘clean’ and ‘there wasn’t anything being
inferred’. She explains: ‘This goes back to
asking yourself: At what point did I infer
information rather than actually having it
in front of me? At what point did I make an
assumption? Did I jump to a conclusion?
Did I infer that, rather than having evidence
to support it?’
Another technique is to ‘consider the
opposite’: once you’ve arrived at a judgement,
ask yourself what you would have seen if the
opposite was true. ‘If I’m taking this piece
of evidence and assuming it supports my
point of view, how would I feel about the
same piece of evidence if it had supported the
opposite point of view? Would I have seen
the same value in it?’
40 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
37-40 Confirmation Bias_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 40
CLEAR T HIN KIN G
How to counter your
own confirmation bias
● Read books that explain psychological biases, such as Daniel
Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow.
● Use Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats process to separate
different parts of the thinking process. The red hat, for example,
signifies feelings and hunches, while the black hat identifies
problems and risks (De Bono Group, 2023).
● When carrying out an investigation, use the linear sequential
unmasking technique, which prioritises the examination of
objective and relevant information before considering
contextual information.
Increasingly, OSH recognises the need Ray gives the example of a labourer he
for a more analytical approach. Ray Duffy, observed on a capital infrastructure project
director of facilities and environment who was working in a very unsafe way. He
health and safety at Enara Bio, argues that discovered during the investigation that
the tendency towards human error bias, the labourer was under huge pressure to
for example, was ‘a lot more common in finish the job quickly. Rather than punish
the 1990s and early 2000s than it is now, the individual, the supervisor was held
because I think more and more in the accountable (and formally warned) on
UK, organisations have moved to a safety the basis that deadlines were put before
culture type of an approach’. personal safety. Both the labourer and
Historically, he says, there was a tendency supervisor were provided with additional
for investigators to check whether the health and safety education and training
company had the correct safety procedures as a countermeasure, with performance
and policies and whether the employee had monitoring for several weeks afterwards.
received training. If that was the case, and Underpinning the more analytical
the employee still made a safety error, the approach, says David, is intellectual
conclusion was usually that the employee humility: being willing to learn from your
was to blame. own mistakes. If something doesn’t go
Now, he says, there is a greater willingness right, then you need the curiosity to dig
to investigate why an employee didn’t deep and find out what happened. In the
follow the rules – perhaps procedures or case of Deepwater Horizon, a willingness to
training were inadequate or complex, or the investigate near misses – and a willingness
employee was experiencing personal stress. by management to take the problems
seriously – would have prevented the
disaster. ‘It’s true in any organisation,
whatever your field, that having that
IF SOMETHING DOESN’T curiosity to really dig deep into any
GO RIGHT, YOU NEED THE unexpected events can be important to
reduce the risk of disaster in the future.’ 
CURIOSITY TO DIG DEEP AND
FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED For references, see ioshmagazine.
com/confirmation-bias
18/10/2023 10:54
 THE PRA CTI C E C LIMAT E C H A N G E
SEEDS OF
DISASTER Climate change is exacerbating risk
in the already dangerous sectors of
farming, forestry and fishing.

WORDS CATHERINE EARLY

IMAG ES: GETTY

IOSH MAGAZINE 41

41-44 Climate crisis_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 41 18/10/2023 10:11

THE PRA CTI C E C LIMAT E C H A N G E
T
he impacts of climate change are
rarely out of the headlines, as
wildfires, drought and flood affect
more countries globally. The
effects on agriculture have been clear, with
farmers warning of lower yields and higher
prices. Forests have been among the most
visible disaster zones in recent months,
with significant wildfires in Hawaii, Canada
and Greece. Marine heatwaves have made
fish populations and movements volatile
(Seafood Alliance, 2023).
However, the impacts on workers have
garnered far less attention. Agriculture
and forestry are already among the
most dangerous professions in Europe
– between 2010 and 2020, there have been
more than 150,000 non-fatal accidents
each year, and an average of more than
500 deaths. This is likely to be a significant
underestimate due to under-reporting of
both fatal and non-fatal accidents in these
sectors (EU-OSHA, 2020).
Extreme weather and fires all increase
as the climate warms, making rural
environments even more dangerous,
with direct risks including falling trees
or structures, drowning, burns, smoke
inhalation and extreme heat, as well as
indirect risks from exposure to toxic gases
and explosions.
Clearing up afterwards can also be
highly risky, especially in forestry. On top
of extreme weather, warmer summers
and winters are driving surges in beetle
populations, causing large-scale death
of trees, which then need clearing.
Dealing with trees that have been killed
or damaged by high winds is also one of
the most hazardous operations in forestry
(EU-OSHA, 2020).
Hotter, wetter conditions are also
predicted to increase the number of pests
affecting farms and forests; in turn, the
use of pesticides could rise – with serious
consequences for workers who are exposed
to them (see Perilous pesticides, right).
Similarly, erosion caused by storms
and drought can reduce soil fertility,
which could lead to greater fertiliser use
and higher risks of burns and pulmonary
42 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
41-44 Climate crisis_31-Oct-2023_IOSH.indd 42
illnesses. Exposure to silica dust will also
increase in dry-climate farming regions,
says EU-OSHA (2020).
For fishermen, changing patterns of fish
movement due to rising sea temperatures
are forcing them to travel further out to sea
and stay there for longer periods of time
(Goldfarb, 2017). This puts them in danger
when long hours are repeated day after
day, says Tina Morgan, chair of the IOSH
Rural Industries Group. ‘The exhaustion
grows and affects cognitive skills, which
puts them more at risk of accidents and
stress,’ she says.
A hot topic
Rising temperatures in themselves can lead
to greater risks, including heat exhaustion,
heat rash, sunburn, heat stroke and skin
cancer. Older workers are more vulnerable
to heat, which increases risks for farmers in
particular, with a third of farmers in the EU
aged over 65 (EU-OSHA, 2020). Heat can Climate change can
also lead to indirect risks, such as prompting lead to lower soil fertility
and more fertiliser being
workers to remove PPE, or affecting how used, increasing health
risks for farmers
well the PPE functions.
OSH professionals report that heat has
been one of the first risks from climate
change to become a
reality for workers (CIHEAM) in Zaragoza,
in farming, forestry AGRICULTURE Spain, and co-author of the
and fishing. Halshka
Graczyk, technical
AND FORESTRY EU-OSHA report, says that
climate change is often
specialist on OSH
at the International
ARE ALREADY viewed as a risk to crops
and farm animals, but
Labour Organization AMONG THE MOST impacts on workers
(ILO), says that heat
strain, one of the first
DANGEROUS are overlooked. This
could be partly due
symptoms a worker
can experience, is not
PROFESSIONS to government structures,
he believes.
very well recognised, ‘Environment and
either by the worker or the employer. agriculture ministers look after climate
‘Of course, workers have been dealing change and agricultural production
with heat for a very long time, but the new respectively, while the employment ministry
types of heatwaves that we’re seeing – in new looks after the farmer – there’s no holistic
parts of the world for longer time periods for vision, management or risk assessment
more consecutive days – lend themselves to when it comes to managing climate change
more risk because of this,’ she says. and its impact on farmers,’ he says.
Alun Jones, head of international projects However, awareness of the dangers of heat
for the International Centre for Advanced has risen. A common policy introduced in
Mediterranean Agronomic Studies many countries has been the reduction or
18/10/2023 10:14

halting of heavy work once temperatures
reach a certain threshold, and this has in
turn raised awareness of the risk among
workers, says Halshka.
‘It’s a difficult one because heat has always
been a health risk, and now we’re facing
more extreme situations, but when the
workers get concerned and when they do not
is a very thin line,’ she explains.
Other measures can be taken, such
as ensuring rest areas are shaded and
that there are appropriate breaks, she
says. Researchers are pushing for more
monitoring and evaluation of such measures
to identify what strategies are the most
effective, but so far there is no data, she adds.
However, Tina warns that such
strategies might not be effective in practice.
‘Harvesting of crops has to be done within a
short window of time. Literally everybody
IMAGES: GET TY
is out in the field, and they will work from
morning all the way through the night
41-44 Climate crisis_31-Oct-2023_IOSH.indd 43
Perilous pesticides:
an increasing risk
in a warmer world
Pesticides represent a major
occupational health crisis, with
up to 44% of farmers estimated
to be poisoned by them every
year (ILO, 2021). Exposure
happens primarily through the
skin, including via contaminated
clothing, or breathing during
the handling, dilution, mixing,
application and dispersal of
these powerful chemicals.
It can also occur by eating
contaminated food during or
after work, or oral contact with
contaminated hands.
The International Agency
for Research on Cancer (IARC)
classifies a range of pesticides
as being carcinogenic (group
1) or probably carcinogenic
(group 2A) to humans (IARC,
2013), while neurotoxic effects
such as Parkinson’s disease,
Alzheimer’s disease and
endocrine disruption can also
arise (ILO, 2021). The risk of such
health consequences is likely
to increase with climate change
due to increased pesticide use.
An ILO report from earlier
this year states that climate
change ‘can reduce pesticide
availability and efficacy due
to a combination of increased
volatilisation and accelerated
degradation’, which are
influenced by greater moisture
content, higher temperatures
and direct exposure to sunlight.
Crop characteristics and pest
occurrence can also change
with the climate, leading to an
increase in the volume and array
of pesticides used (ILO, 2023b).
These changing conditions
are likely to encourage greater
dependence on pesticides,
increasing the risk of exposure
to hazardous chemicals.
GLOBAL TRENDS
In May 2020, the European
Commission (EC) announced
two pesticide reduction targets
as part of its Farm to Fork
strategy to make food systems
fair, healthy and environmentally
friendly. Target 1 is to reduce by
50% the use and risk of chemical
pesticides by 2030, while target
2 is to halve the use of more
hazardous pesticides by 2030.
Results released in July
2023 show a decrease of
6% in chemical pesticides
between 2020 and 2021, an
overall reduction of 33% from
the baseline period of 2015-17.
Hazardous pesticides increased
by 5% from 2020, but there
was a decline of 21% from
2015-17. The EC states that the
overarching downward trend
‘shows that both Farm to Fork
targets can be achieved by
2030’ (EC, 2023).
However, the European
Environment Agency (EEA)
notes that, in our globalised
food system, pesticides now
banned in the EU are still being
exported outside the bloc,
meaning that, to an extent, the
problem is being shifted from
one part of the world to another
(EEA, 2023).
IOSH MAGAZINE 43
18/10/2023 10:15
THE PRA CTI C E C LIMAT E C H A N G E
on maybe a couple of hours’ sleep to get that
crop in.
‘Unfortunately, to only have people
working for six hours, or have them working
on rotation, will be cost-prohibitive – the
farmers would love to be able to pay to have
twice as many people working shorter hours,
but the supermarkets don’t pay twice as
much for that crop,’ she explains.
Policy-makers have not done much to
prevent the impacts of extreme weather on
workers’ health and safety, and policies that
have been implemented tend to be reactive,
she reports. ‘Where workers have died in
extreme weather events, countries have
created policies to stop work when there are
very strong storms or heat-related events as
a reaction to that,’ she says.
However, there are examples of good
OSH practice around the world as climate
change concerns come to the fore. In the US,
the state of California has recognised that
increased heat will lead to a rise in work in
the early morning and late evening. It has
introduced a law applying to agricultural
workers who harvest and operate vehicles
between sunset and sunrise, focusing
primarily on workplace hazards caused by
poor visibility.
The Spanish
government has run
a campaign to raise OSH
awareness of the dangers
of heat exposure to
PROFESSIONALS
fishers. Last year, it SHOULD DEVELOP
carried out research
on the dangers from A MORE HOLISTIC
ultraviolet light from the
sun, which found that
VISION OF RISK
fishers were exposed
to three times the recommended levels
of sunshine, or even higher in small boats
(Instituto Nacional de Seguridad y Salud en
el Trabajo, 2022).
Technological aids
In some countries, new technologies that
mitigate risks are being tested. These include
smart PPE that monitors blood pressure and
heart rate. Cooling vests, garments that can
be packed with ice or equipped with fans, are
44 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
41-44 Climate crisis_31-Oct-2023_IOSH.indd 44
FRONTLINE IMPACTS
Effects on workers
Climate change impacts on workers in farming, forestry and fishing can include:
• Heat (fatigue, heatstroke)
• Dust (allergies, asthma, lung cancer,
chronic bronchitis)
• Pesticide exposure (poisoning,
neurotoxic effects, cancers)
• Zoonotic and pest-related diseases
(Lyme disease, tick-borne encephalitis,
West Nile fever)
• Extreme weather-related hazards
becoming increasingly popular with workers
exposed to high temperatures, Halshka
says. However, researchers are still sceptical
about their effectiveness.
‘Many of them are not well designed and
provide no evidence for their effectiveness,’
she says. ‘Research has shown that the ones
that are effective tend to be expensive and
impractical, while the ones that are practical
and economical are not
very effective.’
She points to workers’
smartphones as a
potential way for workers
to monitor temperature
and their work capacity.
An ILO (2023a)
report on worker
safety in forestry
suggested various
uses of information and communication
technologies, such as remote controls to
improve the safety of tools and machines,
using virtual simulations of risky situations
and adopting GPS technology for speeding
up accident response.
Tina reports that farmers are trialling new
machinery and equipment – for example,
machines that offer better shade for pickers.
They are also investing in more machinery
so that it can operate for longer hours when
(falling infrastructure and trees,
drowning, fires, landslides)
• Excess time at sea (extreme fatigue,
whole body vibration)
• Stress and other mental health issues
• Accidents from failure to maintain
machinery and equipment during busy
periods as working patterns become
more unpredictable.
necessary, but also so there is additional
capacity when machines need maintenance.
Volatile weather patterns have led to
machinery needing to run longer hours,
which reduces opportunities for maintenance
and makes them noisier. This could damage
workers’ hearing, she says.
The risks to workers in farming, forestry
and fishing from climate change could be
overwhelming for OSH professionals. Those
considering how to reduce the risk should
start by looking at the change in seasons and
weather patterns and planning for those,
says Tina. ‘It’s about being proactive and
looking to other countries and technological
advances to see how we can adapt working
practices to keep workers safe and healthy.’
Alun’s view is that OSH professionals
should develop a more holistic vision of
risk. ‘This is about changing the work
environment of agricultural workers. Years
ahead of time, we need to consider what
crops we’ll produce, when and how, and
not just think about the environment and
the financial costs, but also the health and
safety risks that might occur. It’s complex
and that’s why probably not many people are
taking this approach, but that doesn’t stop us
increasing that awareness.’ 
For references, see ioshmagazine.
com/climate-change-agriculture
18/10/2023 10:16
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ZEROING
IN ON
BETTER
SAFETY
We look at how industrial gas giant
Air Products’ global EHS management
system is effectively moving
the company towards its goal of
zero accidents.
I
ndustrial gas is a major industry
and a real linchpin for business,
supplying sectors as diverse as
healthcare, aerospace and
food manufacturing, as well
as playing a key role in the
development of cleaner
fuels such as liquefied
natural gas and hydrogen.
In this sector, Air Products
is a world leader, employing
20,000 people at a variety of sites.
It has set itself the goal of becoming the
world’s safest industrial gas company
with zero accidents globally. This is a
47-49 Case Study_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 47
goal that presents a demanding set of
challenges as the company addresses
diverse health and safety practices,
cultures and regulations across
its many operations.
Because of this variance
in standards, Air Products
decided to introduce a global
environment, health and
safety (EHS) management
system. We spoke to Mark
Garrett, Europe and Africa EHS and
quality director at Air Products, about how
the system is implemented and the results
it is bringing.
THE PRA CTI C E CA SE ST UDY
The project
‘Air Products has been around for
more than 80 years,’ Mark says.
‘In the early 1980s, although our
incident rate was similar to other
industry leaders at the time, it
was high in comparison to today’s
number of recordables. Then
we started to bring in a lot of
standards at different structural
levels, as well as health and
safety management systems.
We also started to move more
towards what we call the three
Es – evaluation, education and
enforcement. That brought down
our level of recordable rate.
‘In the 1990s going into the
2000s, we started looking at
a global EHS management
system. In the earliest stages,
we had various business units
– electronics, chemicals, gases –
which all had their own systems.
Because these systems were all
at different levels of maturity, we
made the decision to standardise
them and globalise them at the
same time.
‘As we started to roll out the
EHS management system we saw
a step change, but it didn’t come
without its challenges. We also
needed to think about how we
brought this into different regions.
Europe and America were quite
mature regions, but regions such
as Israel or South America were a
series of phases behind where we
were as a company. Bringing in a
global EHS management system
therefore helped bring those areas
to the necessary level of maturity.’
IOSH MAGAZINE 47
18/10/2023 10:17
THE PRA CTI C E CA SE ST UDY

The objectives
Mark and senior management influence
local management from above. When
the clear and consistent message from
the top is that safety is the number one
priority, Mark says, it makes a huge
difference to motivation.
‘One of the things we see is the
difference between local regulations
and what a global EHS management
system brings,’ Mark says. ‘We based
our EHS management system on
OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health
Administration] rulings from the US.
That standard can either be higher or
sometimes lower than what we find in
a certain region or a business unit. The
challenge is about explaining to only report accidents. We encourage people
employees and leadership why we need to report near misses, not just accidents, to
to change to the higher level. progress towards zero accidents.’
‘With the EHS management system,
we do a lot of case studies that focus Execution
around the Bradley curve. We look at a As part of the region for which Mark has
more interdependent route where we responsibility, the recent acquisition of an
need employees to recognise and solve Israeli gas company is a perfect example of
issues themselves. how this process has been put into action.
‘One of our biggest challenges is that ‘The Israeli regulations and EHS
sometimes, culturally, it hasn’t been management systems that were already set
acceptable to make a mistake, or people up were quite mature, although a few things

S A F ER SYSTEMS

Walking the robodog

To safely deal with
emerging technologies,
Air Products has
dedicated teams of
experts to develop
safe systems.
‘One of our teams
has been testing
ammonia spills and is
working on developing
the mitigation and
protection you need to
needed addressing to bring them up to Air
be able to safely offer ‘We’ve even recently Products’ standard,’ Mark says.
ammonia as a hydrogen trialled what can only ‘To do this, one key thing is having
carrier,’ Mark says. be described as a somebody who understands our EHS
‘We have a team of robodog. This goes management system. You also have to
system experts that round remote plants recognise that all your systems need
do risk analysis first, taking safety readings. careful and considered translation with the
before we enter new It walks like a dog and necessary local context to allow employees
areas, and then teams feeds back imagery to understand them.
of specialists develop through cameras, but ‘For example, the working at height
protocols and safe it takes away the risk regulations in Israel begin at two metres,
systems that will meet of somebody lone- but Air Products globally works to 1.3m. The
what we plan to deliver. working there.’ employees asked why they had to work to

48 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

47-49 Case Study_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 48 18/10/2023 10:17


FA ST FACTS
Industrial 12
mergers and
acquisitions in
gas the industrial gas
sector in 2022
$12.7BN
Air Products’
revenue
in 2022
that and what the benefit was in working
to that. What we have learnt is, when we
go through these cultural changes with
employees, we need to have a bridge between
what the regulatory body is saying in the
country and what we are saying,’ Mark says.
‘Having local people directing health
and safety in a region is important – you
need a local understanding. They know the
local regulations and they understand the
language and cultural differences.’
While the transition processes begin soon
after an acquisition, Air Products recognises
47-49 Case Study_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 49
1,605,682.42
kilotons – the estimated
size of industrial gas
market in 2023
ASIA-PACIFIC >4%
is the largest market compound annual
for industrial gas growth rate for the
in the world industrial gas sector
that the EHS management systems need a
certain integration period.
‘When you go into new regions with these
systems, you have to give them time. It is
important you don’t say: “This is the way
things have to be done.” You have to bring
the people along with you,’ Mark says.
‘To see how things are progressing, we
audit the system. We have a corporate audit
that fits in with the EHS management
system and, while there is a compliance
element to that, it also looks at the cultural
element and if people really understand.
There is a lot of face-to-face conversation
and coaching that happens alongside
the audit.’
Absolute zero
Between 2014 and 2022, lost time injuries
(LTIs) reduced by 58% and recordable
incidents dropped by 38% as Air Products
moved from dependent to independent
safety behaviours. But it is in individual
regions that the starkest effects can be seen.
‘With the Israeli business, we saw six
recordable injuries within the first six
months of Air Products acquiring it. Two
years later, that is down to having just one
incident requiring first aid in the whole year,’
Mark says.
‘Our goal is zero accidents and you need
the belief that you can attain it, but it’s not
just blind belief. We have seen it. We had
a whole year last year where we had zero
LTIs with contractors in Israel, so zero
is attainable.’
Pleasure in prevention
‘When we first introduce our EHS
management system in a business or
region, there is obviously a pushback as to
why we are doing this. We want our local
teams to engage with us to improve our
understanding of the working processes
and what the challenges are so we can
improve and grow. Motivation for this
comes from the tangible results they see
from the standards we bring to bear,’
Mark says.
‘What we are seeing in Israel now is
engagement – they see tangible results
from the EHS management system. That
wasn’t the case before. What we have to do
is show people that this system helps them
as individual employees and as a group do
better in the long run. When they start to
see that, there is an excitement and passion
that people demonstrate when they see the
changes these EHS systems can bring.
‘There’s no better feeling than saying
nobody has been hurt. You can never truly
say you’ve eradicated something, but there’s
a great pleasure in knowing the severity of
incidents is reducing.’
IOSH MAGAZINE 49
18/10/2023 10:21
 BUSINESS
ELEVATE OSH IN YOUR ORGANISATION

A
t the start of the Industrial
Revolution, few people could
envisage how rapidly new
technology and ways of working
would change the whole world. Likewise,
today, as the automation revolution gains
pace, it’s hard to predict what impact it will
have on industry, agriculture, trade, society
and individuals.
Regardless, plenty of attempts to map the
future have been made. In the 2021 article
‘How automation will impact future job
markets: 10 predictions’ in the business
magazine Forbes, for example, leading
business coaches foresaw certain industries
succumbing to full automation, skills
gaps widening, workers needing to retrain
and commercial extinction for anybody
foolish enough to resist (Forbes Coaching
Council, 2023).

Tomorrow’s
world today
Advanced automation is
on the cusp of changing the
way we work. What are the
key implications of this new
industrial revolution for OSH?
WORDS JOHN WINDELL

50 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

50-52 Automation_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 50 18/10/2023 10:23

 But to understand the potential
consequences of the technology, we need to
understand the meaning of ‘automation’ in
the modern sense. Many of the tasks open to
automation are simple, repetitive processes,
such as stock control. Beyond this basic level,
robotics may be employed. These can come
in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and carry out
more complex manual work. Then we come
to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine
learning (ML), where automated processes
and robots learn better ways of completing
tasks. Ultimately, the goal of automation
is to make work quicker, more efficient,
productive and sustainable – as well as safer.
As that Forbes article and countless others
have demonstrated, the implications of these
developments are far from clear. Whole lines
of work – from shelf stacking to accountancy
– may be under threat as the automated
processes simply do it better than any human
can. An analysis from the Office for National
Statistics (ONS) found that of the 20 million
jobs in England in 2017, 7.4% were at high
risk of automation (ONS, 2019). Concern is
greatest for the low-skilled manual work that
is so vital to disadvantaged communities and
developing countries.
Going back to the Forbes article, also
notable was the feeling among several
contributors that increased automation
would actually make the human element
of work more important.
ILLUSTRATIONS : ISTOCK
Developing symbiosis
The sense is that automation will take over
the work that it can do best,
50-52 Automation_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 51
leaving humans to do what they can do
best, with a degree of symbiosis developing
between the two. When the travel group Tui
recently announced the launch of an AI-
generated travel guide, its chief information
officer Pieter Jordaan told German media:
‘Gen AI is rapidly replacing tasks but not
jobs. We see it being used as an additive to
existing jobs. However, humans using Gen AI
will far outperform humans without the help
of Gen AI’ (Jolly, 2023).
Angelo Cangelosi, professor of ML and
robotics at the University of Manchester,
also feels the prophecies of doom are an
overstatement. ‘It is true that any new
technology development, including AI such
as ChatGPT or robots performing physical
tasks, will change the way we work. Some
jobs may disappear. But new technology has
always changed the way we work and caused
job profiles to shift.’
What does this all mean for OSH? IOSH
senior policy and public affairs manager
Ivan Williams says: ‘The topic is vast
and there are too many uncertainties
surrounding AI governance. It’s all about
the potential for the technology to minimise
harm, but there are negative and positive
connotations when it comes to safety
and health. It can be difficult to establish
liability for AI-caused harm, and there can
be counter-effects related to physical and
mental stress.’
The extent of the potential application
of automation and its possible effects
were summed up in Digitalisation and
occupational safety and health, a research
report by EU-OSHA. It concluded that while
automation, AI and robotics could help
enhance safety and health of workers in some
respects, such as taking over hazardous work,
spotting signs of fatigue and preventing
injuries, the flipside is a range of potential
risks, particularly around mental health
(EU-OSHA, 2019).
Taking control
As automation becomes more affordable, it is
already stepping in to take control of certain
tasks. ‘We know that some inspectors and
auditors are using AI-powered tools such as
drones when it comes to accessing dangerous
environments,’ says Ivan.
Kevin Barr, head of health, safety,
environment and quality at Group
Metropolitan, has also been watching the rise
of automation. ‘I’ve seen CCTV connected to
AI that can monitor hazardous environments
and who has access to what areas. Some
use facial recognition, which means they
can identify anybody violating a specific
rule or procedure. It’s a bit Big Brother, and
I wouldn’t implement it myself, but it is
interesting that the tech exists.’
More positively, the technology may
help ease the administrative load. ‘Our job
involves a lot of paperwork,’ says Kevin.
‘Of course, it’s important to the business,
but it’s not the most interesting thing to
IOSH MAGAZINE 51
18/10/2023 10:24
THE B USI NESS A UTOMAT ION
do when your role is to keep people safe.
Anything technology can do to remove that
burden would be useful.’
One resource everybody is talking about
is ChatGPT, the AI chatbot that can give
long, human-like responses to questions on
any given subject. ‘I tested it when it first
came out,’ says Kevin. ‘I asked it to do a risk
assessment report and it did a fairly good job
with a list of reasonable hazards and controls.
It wasn’t perfect, but if somebody had no
experience of risk assessments it would
certainly point them in the right direction.’
As with the Forbes commentators, though,
Kevin believes the human element still has
to be paramount. ‘At the end of the day, it’s
my responsibility to make sure that work is
effectively risk-assessed and that people stay
safe and healthy.’
Explainable AI
In contrast, Angelo is not keen to engage
with his car’s auto-parking function because
it fails to include the driver. The solution,
he says, is a simple explanatory dialogue
from the machine to instil trust. ‘We call this
explainable AI. It removes the mystery and
some of the stress a user might feel when
using a system. It needs to be transparent
and give explanations when needed.
‘This applies from assisted driving to
systems used by doctors for cancer diagnosis.
It’s a key way to make the technology
acceptable and safe.’
Another way is to institute clear and
binding standards for the development and
use of automation. ‘We are moving towards
standards related to systems that work with
humans,’ says Angelo, ‘but governments and
society need to put more emphasis on this.
52 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
50-52 Automation_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 52
EU-OSHA AN D ROBOT ICS
AI implications
The EU-OSHA research
report Digitalisation and
occupational safety and health
looks at the health and safety
implications of several emerging
automation technologies:
Smart robots: known as ‘cobots’,
they are driven by AI and equipped
with hi-tech sensors. They will
become common in healthcare
and manufacturing. They can work
in hazardous environments but
may also be a hazard themselves:
humans may be unable to keep up
with the pace.
Exoskeletons: these can aid heavy
manual work. In the short term,
they may reduce musculoskeletal
stress and injuries, but the long-term
effects are not yet understood. More
proven organisational and individual
prevention measures should still take
precedence over exoskeleton tech.
It will help to ensure future workers live in a
safe world. It could help us retain that vital
sense of control.’
However, as the technology accelerates
and becomes ever more complicated, Ivan
warns it will get harder for regulators and
regulations to keep pace. A deeper and more
practical level of debate is required. ‘Media
headlines can be misleading and need to
inform better on some critical aspects. What
is the technology about? Who is accountable?
What are the consequences and ethical
considerations for workers?’
For its part, IOSH is advocating for a
human-in-command approach to the design,
adoption and implementation of AI to ensure
that workers are consulted throughout.
‘Workers must be part of this conversation,’
Big data, algorithms and AI: these
are already used to monitor workers,
their productivity and how they react
to situations. They may help improve
OSH data, planning and prevention,
but could have a counteractive effect
on workers’ mental health as a result
of loss of control and lack of privacy.
Smart PPE: sensors in traditional
protective wear can detect
emerging hazards, worker fatigue
and health problems, and help
to prevent OSH issues. They
also raise ethical concerns about
sensitive personal data. Malfunction
and misinterpretation of data could
cause harm.
Virtual reality and augmented
reality: used during maintenance and
training, they can help workers avoid
dangerous environments. But they
rely on up-to-date and accurate data.
Risks to workers include information
overload and distraction.
says Ivan. ‘People-related professions such
as human resources and OSH professionals
need to be really switched on. Their input
can be critical in discussions on the impact of
AI and by helping to address organisational
or cultural barriers to adoption. Consultation
is needed across many different industries.
This is such an important matter for workers
and working conditions.’
This engagement is needed now. ‘It’s
the next frontier of technology,’ says
Kevin. ‘It feels like it has finally got to a
point where it is going to start changing
things and, as people buy into that, it will
start spiralling.’
To view references for this article, visit
ioshmagazine.com/advanced-automation
18/10/2023 10:24
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A DIFFERENTLY
s new research reveals one
in four people working in the
construction industry identify
as neurodivergent (National
Federation of Builders, 2023), awareness
of human variability is on the rise.
This figure is higher than the national
average, which says one in seven people,
or 15% of any workforce is neurodivergent.
While 80% of those surveyed – who
disclosed their neurodiversity in the
research – said they were supported with
‘reasonable adjustments’, 40% said they
had not told their employer. This raises the
question of how OSH
professionals can ensure
they are creating an
inclusive and supportive
workplace environment,
whatever the sector.
Neurodiversity
covers a broad spectrum
of neurological
conditions, such as
autism, attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD), dyslexia,
dyspraxia, dyscalculia
and Tourette’s. Laura
Watkins, CEO at the
Donaldson Trust,
which aims to improve
the experiences of neurodivergent
people, says it is vital for workplaces
to embrace neurodiversity.
‘The benefits to organisations of
a neurodiverse workforce are well
documented and include the benefits of
having creative and innovative thinkers,’
she says. ‘By understanding and embracing
the strengths and skills that neurodivergent
people can offer, employers can truly build a
diverse workforce.’
So what can OSH professionals do to
IMAG E: GETTY
ensure neurodivergent people have all the
support they need?
55-56 Neurodivergence_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 55
THINKING
about neurodivergence
Neurodiversity is in the spotlight, with increasing
numbers of people receiving diagnoses. We explore how
OSH professionals can help every worker feel supported.
WORDS EMMA BENNETT
1
Educate your workforce
Robbie Canham, safety, health,
environment and quality (SHEQ)
manager at Terra Firma, has ADHD. He says
training should be open to everyone and
challenge common misconceptions.
‘There needs to be a cross-cultural
approach to education,’ he explains. ‘This
should include looking at the language we
use to encourage an open, inclusive culture
in the workplace. The only way to learn is
to talk to individuals who are experiencing
neurodiversity – toolbox talks or lunch-
and-learns can help.’
THE B USI NESS N EUROD IV ERSIT Y
MYTH BUSTER
Laura Watkins, CEO
at the Donaldson Trust
MYTH: Neurodivergent people
have superpowers.
REALITY: Neurodivergent people
have skills and talents the same
way neurotypical people do.
These skills and talents might
be different but framing these
differences as superpowers creates
false expectations.
MYTH: People with ADHD can’t sit
still and can’t concentrate.
REALITY: People with ADHD can
do what they are required to do
given the right environment, tools
and support to know what works
best for them.
MYTH: Meeting the needs of a
neurodiverse workforce will cost a
lot of money.
REALITY: Most of the adjustments
don’t cost anything. The investment
organisations need to make are
more about developing a culture
that is inclusive and diverse.
IOSH MAGAZINE 55
18/10/2023 10:26
THE B USI NESS N EUROD IV ERSIT Y
Laura agrees, saying the Donaldson
Trust’s workplace training improves
understanding of neurodiversity.
‘Everyone benefits from neurodiversity
training in the workplace. Awareness
levels are higher, understanding is
improved, and adjustments can be
made as a result that can make work
life so much better for neurodivergent
employees,’ she adds.
2
Have an open dialogue
Fayola Francis, equality, diversity
and inclusion lead at IOSH
says listening is the first step to creating
an open and supportive culture. ‘It’s
important to give neurodivergent people
the opportunity to speak about our
experiences, share ideas and to ask us
what we need.’
Tony Bough, head
of health, safety
and wellbeing at NOT EVERYONE
RSA Insurance,
recommends using
HAS THE SAME WAY
employee resource OF COMPLETING
groups to encourage
volunteers to share TASKS AND ONE
ideas. ‘Sharing
stories shows we
SIZE DOES NOT
are all different and FIT ALL
encourages people
to speak up about what they need. This
includes senior leaders, who should
talk openly about their own stories of
neurodiversity, and have the confidence
to have honest conversations with
individuals about how they can help.’
3
Treat everyone
as an individual
‘The best way to support
neurodivergent people to thrive in your
organisation is to take a person-centred
approach,’ says Laura. ‘Getting to know
the person is more important than getting
to know the condition itself. You should
tailor support to meet individual needs.’
Fayola agrees, saying everyone
experiences neurodiversity differently.
56 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
55-56 Neurodivergence_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 56
‘A woman’s experience might be
different to a man’s, while a minority
ethnic woman’s will be different again,
depending on how social biases have
affected her.’
4
Make reasonable
adjustments
Tony says it is important to
make reasonable adjustments to support
individuals across the whole employee
journey, from recruitment to induction
and performing everyday tasks. ‘Whether
that’s by creating a more relaxed interview
environment, allowing for flexible
working arrangements, creating quiet
areas or offering dictation software, look
at how your organisation can meet the
individual person’s needs.’
Laura adds: ‘Not everyone has the same
way of completing
tasks and one size does
not fit all. Think about
flexibility in the ways
goals can be achieved,
working hours and
breaks, and offer
help where required
to prioritise into
manageable chunks.’
5
Be inclusive
by design
Fayola says
organisations should think about how
they do things differently to benefit
everyone. ‘For example, if you have
a uniform, certain materials can be
uncomfortable for people with sensory
issues, but also for women going through
the menopause or those with different
body shapes,’ she says. ‘Being inclusive by
design has a “dropped curb effect”, when
something is designed to support one
group, but can also benefit others.’
Watch IOSH’s webinar series
Divergent Thinking on YouTube to
find out more about how your organisation
can support neurodiversity: bit.ly/
IOSH-divergent-thinking
ADHD SUPPORT
Being part
of the team
After years of masking his ADHD,
Robbie Canham, SHEQ manager
at Terra Firma, says his employers’
open communication and attitude
means he is finally able to be
himself at work.
‘The best way to describe me is
quirky. I have quite severe ADHD
so I can be twitchy and on edge.
People expect you to be high-
energy all the time, but that’s not
the case.
‘Up until this job I don’t think
I’ve ever been myself at work.
You self-sabotage because you
try to mask your behaviours and
you trick yourself into believing
that you should be conforming to
social norms. But the expectations
of a neurotypical person, or what
society sees as acceptable in the
workplace, don’t fit everybody. It’s
mentally and physically draining
trying to be someone you’re not.
‘Terra Firma understands that
different people require different
things from the workplace.
They’re good at listening and
see me as an individual. They
understand that by getting
the best of me, they’re getting
the best for the organisation. I
have regular meetings with the
directors who understand that
there will be some days where
I can only give 70%. So if I’m
having a bad day I can work
from home, or take more regular
breaks from my workspace.
‘These little accommodations
have really made the difference
to me. I feel cared for, valued and
part of the team.’
18/10/2023 10:27
 Let’s go
further together
Membership grades changes are on the way
The new membership grades structure will change your professional journey for the
better. It will support you to build the right skills, equip you to meet the challenges
of the future and reward you for your professionalism and commitment.

Progression – clearer routes

Focus – an emphasis on
towards your career goals
competencies to build
skills and knowledge

“ Chartered membership
was an obvious choice
for me, reflecting my
Status – your membership grade
unwavering dedication
will reflect your skills, knowledge
to continuous professional
and behaviours and will be
development and
recognised globally
adherence to the highest
OSH standards. Achieving
chartership presented
challenges, but the sense Your next steps
of fulfilment upon success Check out the changes now and
was truly remarkable. My career now knows no what they’ll mean for you by
bounds, offering limitless opportunities for scanning the QR code or visiting
growth and advancement.” iosh.com/member-grades.
And look out for the letter we’ll
Ravi Sharma CMIOSH, Group be sending in the mail which will
Head of Health, Safety and Security, bet365 explain things in more detail.

p57.IOSH_NovDec23.indd 57 13/10/2023 12:07

THE B USI NESS SA N ITAT ION
A BASIC HUMAN NEED
Being able to use a toilet at work should be a given for everyone
– but, for many people, the facilities simply aren’t available.
A
ccess to toilets is a huge global
challenge. The UN recognises
the problem within Goal 6 of its
sustainable development goals for
2030 – to ensure availability and
sustainable management of water
and sanitation – and with World Toilet Day,
which takes place on 19 November.
Around the world, 4.2 billion people live
without access to safely managed sanitation
and are forced to use unreliable, inadequate
toilets or practise open defecation (One
Drop, 2023). Untreated human waste gets
out into the environment, spreading disease
and contaminating ground soil.
A lack of toilets is not just a problem for
the developing world. In the UK, nearly 700
public toilets closed between 2010 and 2019
(Royal Society for Public Health, 2019). Even
after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted,
many toilets never reopened (Saner, 2023).
People at work
This has an impact on people doing their
jobs. ‘For workers who drive professionally
there is a fundamental lack of access to
toilets,’ says Unite the Union’s national
58 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
58-61 Access to toilets_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 58
WORDS ANNA SCOTT
officer Adrian Jones. The same applies in
the US. Uber drivers and service delivery
drivers face a challenge finding toilets,
according to Dr Steve Soifer, programme
manager, past president and co-founder of
the American Restroom Association. ‘Why?
There are way too few public restrooms in
the US.’
Time is an issue too. Three delivery
drivers in the US have filed a class action
lawsuit against their employer, online
retailer Amazon, claiming they are forced
4.2 BILLION PEOPLE
LIVE WITHOUT ACCESS
TO SAFELY MANAGED
SANITATION
to urinate in the back of their delivery vans
in order to meet expanding delivery quotas
(Towards Justice, 2023).
Workers in construction are also
affected. ‘It’s typically seen as a huge
issue experienced by women on-site, yet
it is one that many men relate to as well,’
says Danny Clarke CMIOSH, commercial
director at the National Federation of
Builders. ‘Expecting people to travel across
a site to access a facility sometimes 20 or 30
minutes away really baffles me.’
Construction work programmes should
plan for temporary toilets that can be moved
around sites. ‘But the transient nature of
sites may make it difficult to establish
more permanent facilities, or project
timelines and budgets may contribute
to overlooking the provision of proper
facilities,’ Danny says.
Changing industries
IMAG ES: GETTY
In the rail sector as well, toilets for workers
are few and far between. A UK train driver
18/10/2023 10:27
 IOSH MAGAZINE 59

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THE B USI NESS SA N ITAT ION
SANITARY IMPACT
Implications
of having no
access to toilets
Physical health
Cancer
Constipation and related problems
Cystitis
Deliberate dehydration
can exacerbate existing
medical problems
Digestive problems
Kidney stones
Urinary tract infections
Mental health
Stress and anxiety of not being
able to access toilets
Humiliation of being forced to
relieve oneself in public areas
or soiling oneself
Fear of not being able to have
privacy or fear for safety
Wellbeing and dignity at
work damaged.
Public health
Employees, cleaning staff and
members of the public may
risk exposure to bacteria and
deadly diseases.
Equality
In many countries, this may class
as discrimination, as people
could be indirectly disadvantaged
due to their legally protected
characteristics, such as in the UK’s
Equality Act 2010 and Ireland’s
Equal Status Acts 2010.
Employees experiencing
menstruation, menopause or who
are pregnant often need to use
the toilet more frequently and
for longer
Older employees may need to
use the toilet more frequently
Disabled employees need toilets
they can access frequently
and easily
People with long-term conditions
such as Crohn’s disease, diabetes,
endometriosis or irritable bowel
syndrome may need to use the
toilet more frequently.
60 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
58-61 Access to toilets_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 60
killed by a passenger train in 2022 may
have left his own cabin to urinate (Rail
Accident Investigation Branch, 2023).
The same report highlights the health
and sanitation risks of bottles of urine
discarded on railway tracks.
Edward Hodson CMIOSH, who is
also chair of IOSH’s Railway Group,
led technical research for the Rail
Safety Standards Board (RSSB)
and Rail Wellbeing Alliance. The
results were published in a guidance
document in which he describes
‘disturbing’ incidences of rail workers
in freight, passenger, infrastructure
and maintenance lacking access to
toilets (RSSB, 2022). ‘The railway
landscape has changed significantly in
the past 30 years,’ he says. ‘A shrinking
infrastructure in the freight sector,
brought about by the reduction in steel
and coal, has contributed to a reduction
in the established depots, and with it, a
reduction in the provision of welfare and
toilet facilities.’
Edward found that a lack of planning is
the main problem. ‘It’s making sure that
the driver has a break at a place where
there are facilities,’ he says.
Legal obligations
In the UK, the Workplace (Health,
Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
outline requirements for workplaces
to provide suitable toilet and washing
facilities at readily accessible places
for all employees, including those with
disabilities and those who visit the
workplace as part of their job.
‘The rules requiring companies to
provide access to their toilets for delivery
drivers were a big step forward, but do
not resolve the problem due to non-
compliance,’ says Adrian. ‘And the rules
do not assist the problems for other
drivers – for example, bus companies
where ultimately the employer is failing
to ensure toilet dignity. For construction
workers, the problem is non-compliance
by employers failing to follow the
rules, and the GB Health and Safety
Executive [HSE] needs to play a far strongerr
enforcement role.’
In the past five years, the HSE has issued
more than 600 notices to companies for
breaching the regulations. ‘Many relate to
the poor condition of on-site toilets, with
a lack of running hot water and general
cleanliness being two common breaches,’ a
spokesperson says. ‘We recognise that the
majority of duty holders do already provide
reasonable access to toilets.’
It has also published revised operational
guidance on welfare standards in
construction, shared industry-wide, ‘so
there can be no doubt about the legal
requirements and standards of welfare HSE
expects to see on all construction sites,’ the
spokesperson adds.
Around the world
In the US, Occupational Safety and Health
Administration regulations state that
workers must be allowed to leave their work
locations to use a restroom when needed.
OSH PROFESSIONALS
NEED TO ‘PLACE ACCESS
TO TOILETS AT THE TOP
OF THE TO-DO PILE’
Employers must also ‘avoid imposing
unreasonable restrictions on restroom use
and ensure restrictions, such as locking
doors or requiring workers to sign out a key,
do not cause extended delays,’ Steve says.
Marc Linder, professor of law at Iowa
Law College and author of Void Where
Prohibited Revisited: The Trickle-Down
Effect of OSHA’s At-Will Bathroom-Break
Regulation, adds: ‘To the extent that sex-
specific characteristics have impacts on
the need to stop work in order to tend to
supervening necessities, arrangements must
be created to instantiate workers’ collective
and individual autonomy.’
In the developing world, regulations
for employers to provide employees with
access to toilets are limited. In India,
18/10/2023 10:29
 inclu
and inclusion by ensuring that all workers,
regardles of their background, have access
regardless
fa
to basic facilities that contribute to their
we
overall wellbeing,’ Danny says.
Tips for OSH professionals beli
He believes OSH professionals need to
Raise awareness by educating organisations, contractors and workers about the ‘move past tick-box audits and actually
importance of proper toilet facilities for overall health and wellbeing. understand the standards of facilities and
Provide guidance on best practices for designing and implementing appropriate the impact on workers’.
toilet facilities, considering factors such as location, cleanliness and accessibility. He adds: ‘Think about whether they are
Collaborate to develop and implement policies that prioritise the provision and accessible, clean, suitable for use and have
maintenance of suitable toilets. the correct supplies for all workers.’
Conduct training sessions to raise awareness about the significance of hygiene
Collaboration is essential. In the US, OSH
and proper toilet usage, fostering a culture of respect for workers’ needs.
as an academic and governmental field is
Actively monitor and report on the condition of toilet facilities on sites.
not integrated into public health, Marc says,
Speak with workers and other stakeholders to help build a consensus on the
need for better facilities, creating a collective push for positive change. ‘despite the undeniable fact that workplaces
are important sites of public health’.
OSH professionals need to ‘place access to
toilets at the top of the to-do file and ensure
the companies they work with are resolving
these issues, rather than brushing them
informal or unorganised work sectors showing where public toilets are under the carpet’, Adrian says.
are not formally monitored by state available around the country. ‘Restroom While provision and planning is an issue
or national governments, and there is design is the key. We are advocating for political and organisational leaders to
inadequate sanitation for the workforce for single-occupancy, all-gender address, health and safety professionals have
(Bandyopadhyay, 2023). toilets everywhere,’ he adds. a crucial role in advising, advocating and
Sanitation workers are exposed In the UK, Unite has a long-standing supporting better toilet access at work. 
to serious public health risks too. An toilet dignity campaign that asks
International Labour Organization (ILO) members to raise concerns about the For more information, visit
study found that workers in a number of lack of access to toilets, and it works ioshmagazine.com/toilet-access
developing countries who clean toilets, with sister unions globally. Adrian adds:
empty pits and septic tanks, and operate ‘If workers are denied access to toilets
treatment plants are exposed to chemical at work then Unite will challenge the
and physical risks including cholera, employer on the issue and ensure that
typhoid and hepatitis (ILO, 2019). action is taken.’ RESOURCES
The Road Haulage Association (RHA)
Aslef: Health implications of not
Solutions has petitioned the government to
having access to toilets at work:
The International Transport Workers’ do more to ensure truckers and
bit.ly/Aslef-worktoilets
Federation (ITF) has created a Transport coach drivers have access to Great British Public Toilet Map:
Workers’ Sanitation Charter, which better facilities at service stations toiletmap.org.uk
comprehensively outlines what companies and truck stops (RHA, 2022). The HSE: Have the right workplace
should do in consultation with workers proposed state-owned public body facilities – toilets and washing
and trade union representatives to Great British Railways, which will facilities: bit.ly/HSE-toilets
provide clean, safe, free-of-charge be responsible for infrastructure HSE’s Approved Code of Practice
toilets for workers. It also calls for paid and stations across the vast majority in L24 Workplace Health, Safety
breaks during shifts to be long enough of routes, should get rid of the and Welfare:
hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l24.htm
for workers to access and use the toilets fragmentation between different
Unite: Dignity, Respect, Equality and
(ITF, 2019). operators that can lead to a lack of toilets.
Welfare at Work: It’s time for a toilet
Steve suggests the US should adopt
break: bit.ly/Unite-toilets
a public toilet map – similar to those OSH’s role
created in Australia and the UK – which ‘Addressing this issue aligns with the
is a continually updated online resource principles of psychological safety, equity

IOSH MAGAZINE 61

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THE B USI NESS LON E EMP LOYEES
Going it
alone
Lone working is growing – but so too are technology
solutions aimed at protecting lone employees.
A
t Alpha Inclusion and
Communication – a social
enterprise supporting people
with autism and Asperger’s
syndrome – staff typically see the
people they manage directly at
their homes. Often, the neurodivergent
needs of people they visit demand minimal
numbers of people arriving, in order to
avoid overwhelming them. It’s a situation
that means these workers are, quite
literally, ‘lone workers’ – people without
a physical buddy to assist them should
anything happen.
To mitigate these risks, the organisation
has chosen a solution that growing
numbers of employers are looking into
– equipping staff with technology (in
this case from provider Safepoint) to
be their virtual ‘buddy’ in case they get
into trouble.
Typically comprising an on-phone app
or wearable device that lets staff schedule
a lone working event (where an alarm
can be set to trigger if the worker hasn’t
‘checked in’ to say they’ve completed it),
most devices also feature a panic button,
and some even have motion sensors
detecting ‘man-down’ events, where an
employee may not be conscious but needs
immediate help.
62 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
62-64 Lone working_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 62
WORDS PETER CRUSH
A growing market
The size of lone worker protection
solutions is estimated to hit €284m by the
end of this year – up from €154m in 2019
(IoT Business News, 2020). Its recent
growth is a reflection of both the rise of
lone working itself and rising employer
awareness of their responsibilities
(see What are employers’ lone worker
duties? overleaf ). However, according to
Around 20% of
employees will be
lone working at
some point in
the day
Richard Bedworth, director of StaySafe
(part of EcoOnline Global), it is also
because of a seemingly more fractious
work landscape. ‘Eight or so years ago, lone
worker numbers were estimated at about
five million, but it’s eight million now –
maybe more,’ he says.
‘People can now be in at-home volatile
environments. But even in traditionally
safer areas such as retail, workers are
experiencing abuse and actual violence.
Half of our customers are new customers,
wanting to have better safety control and
reporting methods.’
According to Callum Coombes, CEO
of Safepoint, demand for lone worker
technology also reflects the changes in
which staff transition in and out of lone
working throughout the day. ‘Around
20% of employees will be lone working
at some point in the day. It’s also worth
remembering that someone who works out
of eyesight or earshot may still be classed as
a lone worker – even if they’re in the same
building as their team.’
Alerts in times of trouble
Most providers, such as Safepoint,
SoloProtect and StaySafe, use an app to
turn employees’ smartphones into a lone
worker alarm, which will activate if a worker
hasn’t reported in after a timed event. Their
location will be tracked by GPS.
‘Phone-first solutions greatly boost
user engagement because having a
separate piece of kit is just something
else people need to remember to pick
up,’ says Richard. ‘Everyone carries their
phones, though.’
IMAG E: GETT Y
Providers say that, in most cases,
having a phone app that people can tap
18/10/2023 10:31

suffices. But for more serious events,
additional wearables, such as Bluetooth-
linked wrist straps with panic buttons, give
additional security.
Steve Hough, managing director of
SoloProtect, says: ‘These help when
someone physically can’t reach their
mobile. But they also help in other scenarios
– such as an employee being in a situation
threatening to get violent.
‘Being seen to be pulling their phone
out could escalate matters, so a discreet
button pushed less visibly will alert our
response centre. An agent can even hear the
altercation and decide if immediate help
is needed.’
Safepoint’s own additional wearable
has an accelerometer, which can detect a
fall and automatically send a request for
help, while other add-ons – such as that
offered by StaySafe – include being able
to link to satellite GPS, meaning people’s
exact locations can be determined, even in
reception blackspots.
62-64 Lone working_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 63
CON CERN S
Is Big
Brother
watching
me?
The question that
inevitably arises from
wearable technology
is whether staff will be
snooped on for reasons
outside safety – especially
with many solutions
having location-tracking
capabilities. Bryan says
unions still raise this.
‘We tend to combat this
by launching a trial with a
small segment of people,
which invariably gets their
buy-in,’ says Richard. ‘We
Reassurance when help is needed also feature a privacy
At Forestry England – where forestry mode on our product,
operations, recreation and conservation where someone’s specific
happen in sometimes hard-to-get-to location only becomes
places – such systems can be the difference visible once an actual
between life and death if a serious accident alarm has been raised – so
there are ways to assuage
happens. Health and safety manager
people’s fears.’
Helen Jackson oversees lone working
At Forestry England,
arrangements provided by Peoplesafe,
Helen says their devices
which it has used since March 2020. ‘It’s reassure. ‘Our lone
app-based, where users can set activity workers feel they have
times, report on their welfare and use an a system they can trust
SOS button if needed. Some staff have a to help them if things go
separate device that links to satellite GPS wrong. Only restricted
if they are in a signal blackspot. Our people personnel have access
feel reassured that if something goes wrong to location information
when they are lone working, action will be through our lone working
portal, and our policies
taken. While we do get some false alarms,
ensure this information is
this confirms the system works as intended.’
only used for safety during
lone working operations.’
Real-time vital statistics
Wearable technology is now moving at
such a pace that it is often doing more than
simply monitoring someone’s location,
IOSH MAGAZINE 63
18/10/2023 10:32
THE B USI NESS LON E EMP LOYEES
but actually assessing their real-time vital
statistics. Bodytrak for example, has in-ear
sensors to monitor physiological responses,
determining when a user is at risk to
prevent incidents caused by heat-stress and
fatigue before they happen.
CEO and founder Leon Marsh says:
‘We monitor heart rate and the heart
rate variability to detect fatigue. When
users exceed pre-set thresholds, alerts are
triggered via audio and a dashboard.’
‘Fatigue is often underestimated.
According to the HSE, fatigue has been
implicated in 20% of accidents on
major roads and is said to cost the UK
£115m to £240m per year in terms of
work accidents alone.’
Wearables for all?
But to what extent do health and safety
professionals feel they need to equip all
their lone workers with this technology?
Nicole Vazquez, who runs Worthwhile
Training and has advised the Suzy
Lamplugh Trust and the HSE, says:
‘It’s less about lone working, but
more how lone working changes risk
to staff.
‘Agile lone workers who work away
from base and meet the public or clients
What are employers’
lone worker duties?
Although the HSE, under the
Management of Health and Safety at
Work Regulations 1999, states that
employers ‘must manage any health
and safety risk before people can work
alone’, there is no specific law related
to lone working, and regulations do
not provide specific information about
managing health and safety risks
before people can work alone.
The responsibility lies with
employers to make a suitable and
sufficient assessment of the health
and safety risks of their employees to
which they are exposed while they are
at work.
64 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
62-64 Lone working_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 64
may be at
increased risk
of aggression
and potential
violence, while others
may be at higher risk when alone due to
the environment or the machinery they
are using. It is clear the role that wearables
can play in these instances. Home-working,
on the other hand, still has risk, but this
is more likely to be additional stress and
mental health pressures linked to isolation
and lack of support.
The Health and Safety at Work Act
sets out general health and safety
duties of employers and employees
so far as is reasonably practicable.
So, if lone working has been identified
as a risk, this is to be managed as with
other risks in the workplace.
Certain scenarios that may be
considered high-risk include people
working in confined spaces and
driving vehicles, but assessments
should also include any risks
from violence, and the likely stress
and mental wellbeing impacts
people might experience while
working alone.
Bodytrack
(left) and
Safepoint (far
left) provide
phone apps
to monitor
safety
‘The question is, how does a wearable
solution really manage these risks? The
HSE has adopted our PET assessment
model (People, Environment and Task),
which allows employers to assess the
relevance of lone working. I think
technology is definitely beneficial, but
health and safety professionals need to
understand why they are buying it.
‘Just buying tech as a shortcut without
truly understanding the nature of workers’
risk isn’t a meaningful control measure.’
The future looks positive
But iron out these issues and most agree
that as lone working rises, technology is a
vital protection method.
‘Compared to the days when people
would literally have to phone in to confirm
they’ve reached a destination or finished
something safely, we are in a very different
world,’ says Bryan McCracken CMIOSH, a
risk consultant at Gallagher Bassett.
‘Employers still need to acknowledge that
violence and aggression is a more serious
risk than they might think. But even when
there is pushback around being tracked [see
Is Big Brother watching me? on page 63],
the best form of defence is for employers to
demonstrate its safety value.
‘Not everyone is at high risk, so not
everyone always needs it. But for those who
do need it, the technology is a real boon.’ 
For references, see ioshmagazine.com/
lone-working-technology
18/10/2023 10:33
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 1-in-5 lone workers have had a severe
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alert when they are in danger?

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p66.IOSH_NovDec23.indd 66 13/10/2023 12:18

 THE B USI NESS N A N N Y STAT E
D A I LY N E W S

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tribute to this.
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SH professionals
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IOSH MAGAZINE 67

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THE
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Maintaining standards
But not everyone is arguing for
deregulation
deregulation. A survey ini March
M h by the
non-profit group Unchecked UK found the
overwhelming majority of UK businesses
(79%) are not willing to accept lower health
and safety standards for their employees
and customers (Clay, 2023).
‘While critics sometimes accuse
governments of being too interventionist
or controlling, there is little evidence
that the wider public sees regulations in
these terms,’ says Unchecked UK’s deputy
director for engagement Carum Basra.
‘Most people favour reasonable rules over
an unchecked free-for-all. They don’t see
sensible protections as a “nanny state”, but
as a common-sense way to prevent harm.’
Professor John Coggon, from the
Centre for Health, Law and Society at the
University of Bristol Law School, says the
phrase ‘nanny state’ is ‘a political slur’.
‘It tends to be used in place of argument,
rather than as an argument,’ he explains.
He says there was a ‘stark change’ in the
framing of the debate in Westminster over
the need for ‘top-down’ regulations in areas
such as public health.
‘Boris Johnson approached his
premiership castigating nanny state
of
it in ‘perishing nonsense’ overrw
overwhelming for some people, so we
been ‘out of long hab h spe ed
g plans for a 70 mp
persuading or coercin wen
wentnt right
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do wh at is go od limit on the motorways.
natives to Orgaan
Organization] guidance to make sure there
om pso n, And finally, in 1980,
m’ (Th was cleclear information, so people felt they
during a parliamentary
iind
did indeed have a level of control over their
en debate on plans to
early example was wh car enviiron
environment,’ says Karen.
rvative MP make the wearing of
the Conse lso ry,
seatbelts compu Shhe aadds that it is important to encourage
She
Iain Macleod used the d
Conservative peer Lor peop ple to make informed choices based on
people
e use d
ine Balfou r of Inc hry the aava
available evidence, although sometimes
The Spectator magaz
ber 196 5 the phrase and argued peop ple n
people need to be encouraged to be more
in Decem ’
that seatbelts ‘can kill situa atio
situationally aware. ‘In terms of putting
(Macleod, 1965). In his 20 18).
aim (Wheeler,
article, Macleod took yourr sea
seatbelt on, situational awareness is
know wing you’re in some form of vehicle and
knowing
therre’s a seatbelt, and that you should be
there’s
wea ring it.’
wearing
Shhe als
She also pointed to the latest government
statiistics – which show 30% of people who
statistics
diedd in ca
cars in 2021 were not wearing a seat
policies, presenting the position that belt – as pproof that they work (PACTS, 2022).
individuals can and should make their
th i Looking towards the future, Karen
own decisions without government adds there will always be a need for
interference,’ John continues. ‘Following central frameworks to benchmark how
his significant illness with COVID-19, his organisations are performing in terms of
views materially changed, and this was issues such as health and safety, and points
reflected in distinct framings of public to the success of the Robens report (Robens
health policy.’ et al, 1972), which she says has ‘transformed
working life’ in this country.
Taking responsibility ‘We can effect change in terms of
Dr Karen McDonnell – former behaviour by getting the right messages
IOSH president, OHS policy adviser across, and by encouraging people to share
and head of the Royal Society for the those messages that keep people safe and
Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) allow them to return home safely at the end
– says that, during the pandemic, of the day,’ Karen adds.
RoSPA’s advice was to pause, John says that while public health
prioritise people, remain situationally regulations may often be presented as ‘top-
aware and gather evidence about down’, they really are about ‘a stratification
what worked best. of responsibilities across society’.
‘While health and safety laws might be
cast as “nanny statism”, there is a further
argument that is needed,’ he adds. ‘Few
It is important people, if anyone, would argue that there
should be no health and safety measures.
to encourage So, the question is where the line should be
people to make drawn, rather than whether a line should
be drawn.’ 
informed choice
s For references, visit
ioshmagazine.com/nanny-state

68 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM

67-68 Nanny State_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 68 18/10/2023 10:37

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p70.IOSH_NovDec23.indd 70 13/10/2023 12:27


EVIDENCE
E X P LO R E T H E L AT E S T R E S E A R C H
TOPIC: Coal Workers’ Health
Surveillance Program
TITLE: Submission of mandatory
respiratory health examinations
among US coal miners
participating in the Coal Workers’
Health Surveillance Program
PUBLISHED BY: Occupational
and Environmental Medicine
SUMMARY: This report
looked at coal mine operators’
compliance with mandatory
respiratory health examinations
of new US miners entering the
workforce. They have been in
place since the 1969 Coal Act
mandated chest radiographs
and were updated to include
spirometry with promulgation
of the 2014 Mine Safety and
Health Administration Dust
Rule. According to figures
from the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and
Health Coal Workers’ Health
Surveillance Program, the
majority of new coal miners
did not receive a baseline
radiograph or spirometry test.
READ REPORT AT: bit.ly/OEM-
miners-health-surveilance
TOPIC: Peer support
programmes
TITLE: Wellness Warriors:
a qualitative exploration of
ILLUSTRATION: IKON IMAG ES
healthcare staff learning
to support their colleagues
in the aftermath of the
Australian bushfires
71 Research_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 71
Wellness
warriors
A selection of the latest
research reports that OSH
professionals need to read.
PUBLISHED BY: International
Journal of Qualitative Studies
on Health and Well-being
SUMMARY: A post-disaster
intervention, called Wellness
Warrior training, was developed
in Australia in response to the
2019-20 bushfires to support
staff in a rural hospital in New
South Wales. Through semi-
structured interviews, the study
explored the experiences of
18 healthcare staff who were
trained to provide emotional
and peer support to their
colleagues. Staff reported
developing interpersonal skills
around deep listening and
connecting with others.
READ REPORT AT: bit.ly/
IJQSHW-Wellness-Warriors
TOPIC: Long working hours
TITLE: Characteristics of long
working hours and subsequent
psychological and physical
responses: JNIOSH
cohort study
PUBLISHED BY: Occupational
and Environmental Medicine
SUMMARY: This study aimed
to examine the association
among objectively measured
average working hours
(AWHs), frequency of long
working hours for six months
and workers’ self-reported
psychological and physical
health. Researchers found
that longer AWHs were
associated with higher
levels of psychological
stress responses. Irritability,
anxiety and depression
were significantly greater
at ≥180 hours/month, and
fatigue and lack of vigour
were greater at ≥205 hours.
They recommended that
workers’ mental health
NEWS ANALYSIS
should be protected through
minimising the frequency
of long work hours.
READ REPORT AT: bit.ly/
OEM-long-working-hours
TOPIC: Sun safety for
outdoor workers
TITLE: Tailored sun safety
messages for outdoor workers
PUBLISHED BY: Safety and
Health at Work
SUMMARY: The goal of the
study was to develop a set
of tailored, practical, harm-
reducing sun safety messages
to better support outdoor
workers and their employers
in reducing the risk of solar
UVR exposure and UVR-related
occupational illnesses.
The research team
adapted a core set of sun
safety messages previously
developed for the general
public and made them more
applicable for outdoor workers.
The study has resulted in a set
of evidence-based, expert-
approved and stakeholder-
workshopped messages that
can be used as part of an
exposure control plan.
READ REPORT AT: bit.ly/
SHW-sun-safety-outdoors
IOSH MAGAZINE 71
18/10/2023 10:39
THE EV I D ENC E D EEP D IV E
Research:
in depth
We take a look at two recent
papers to see how their
findings can inform OSH.
TITLE:
Impacts of hot climatic
conditions on work,
health and safety in
Australia: a case study
of policies in practice
in the construction
industry
PUBLICATION:
Safety Science
BACKGROUND/AIMS
Workers in many industries are
frequently exposed to hot weather
conditions. To protect workers’
health and safety, it is important to
evaluate the existing heat-related
policies practised in workplaces in
accordance with national guidelines.
The researchers used a case study
design to evaluate the existing
heat-related policies of a large
construction company and five
of its subcontractors.
METHODS AND FINDINGS
Retrieved documents were analysed
thematically using the framework
approach. The main guidance themes
and categories were developed
deductively based on the ‘guide for
working in heat’ provided by Safe
Work Australia (SWA). The data was
72 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
72-73 Deeper dive_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 72
interpreted and summarised.
The results suggest that all
policies advised on some
administrative control
measures, safe work
practices for workers, use
of PEE and emergency
response plans.
The policies do not
comprehensively cover some
important aspects of heat stress
management, such as consultation
with workers, risk assessment of
heat hazard, promoting training
and awareness programmes
among workers, and reviewing and
evaluating control measures and heat
stress incidents.
CONCLUSIONS
Priorities for heat-related policy
development include an increased
emphasis on preparation and planning
for hot weather in consultation with
workers, along with considering
location-specific, workplace and
individual risk factors in assessing the
heat hazards at the workplace.
Pursuing these priorities could
lead to the implementation of
practical control measures in a timely
and effective manner. Mandating
work-rest regimens and self-pacing,
promoting awareness and introducing
training, acclimatisation and fitness
programmes among workers may
also mitigate some of the risks
of heat stress.
RESEARCHER’S TAKEAWAY
‘It is well established that hot weather
poses significant risks to the health
and safety of workers, and these
risks are expected to worsen due to
climate change.
‘Therefore, evaluating the
effectiveness of existing organisational
heat-related policies is crucial
for mitigation and adaptation to these
changing conditions.
‘While many workplaces have
established heat-related policies,
their actual effectiveness is uncertain.
Our review of policy documents
from a construction company
reveals that the development and
implementation of these policies are
still in their early stages and require
substantial improvements.
‘National standards and guidelines
can serve as valuable models for
structuring these policies.’
Peng Bi, author
18/10/2023 10:40
 TITLE

Does a change to with a decreased risk of all-cause

an occupation with DP. Older workers had the largest
decreased risk for MDP.
a lower physical
workload reduce CONCLUSIONS

the risk of disability Changing to an occupation with

lower exposure to physical workload
pension? A cohort was associated with reduced risks of
study of employed men DP and MDP among both sexes.
and women in Sweden
RESEARCHER’S TAKEAWAY
‘In this study, we found that
PUBLICATION
changing to an occupation with
Scandinavian Journal of Work,
lower exposure to heavy physical
Environment & Health
workload was associated with a
BACKGROUND/AIMS reduced risk of disability pension
This study aimed to examine if a (all-cause and MSK) among men
change to an occupation with a lower and women.
physical workload reduces the risk of ‘Older workers seemed to
all-cause disability pension (DP) and have the largest gain from
musculoskeletal DP (MDP). reducing exposure to physical
workload regarding MSK
METHOD AND FINDINGS
disability pension.’
This study used a sample of 359,453
Kathryn Badarin, lead author
workers who were registered as
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
living in Sweden in 2005 and aged 44 IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
– IOSH’S TAKE
to 63 in 2010. Exposure to physical – IOSH’S TAKE
Heat increasingly presents a serious
workload was measured from 2005 to The research is interesting for a
hazard to worker health and safety.
2010 by linking a mean value from a number of reasons. It tells us about
This study highlights the common
job exposure matrix to occupational the ideal trajectory of employment
gaps that exist in heat-related
codes. The mean values were then for workers who by and large are
policies, which often focus on
split into quartiles. staying in the labour market for
administrative control measures
All included participants had longer. That is, in an ideal world,
that may not always be feasible to
high exposure to physical workload career progression might naturally
enforce. Although the study findings
(top quartile) from 2005 to 2007. lead to a reduction for workers in
are limited by geographical area, it
A change in physical workload was terms of physical workload.
draws attention to an employer’s
measured as a change to (i) any lower Of course, in practice, this doesn’t
responsibility to manage climate-
quartile or (ii) medium-high or low happen. Workers in lower-skilled,
related changes to worker safety more
quartiles from 2008 to 2010. DP cases physically demanding jobs may lack
proactively and committedly.
were taken from register data from career development opportunities.
The conclusions about the need for
2011–2016. Crude and multivariate In practical terms, stakeholders
timely and effective control measures
Cox proportional-hazards regression at an operational level might look
are pertinent. Given that the nature
models estimated sex-specific hazard to manage the physical workload
of heat-related hazards depends on
ratios (HR) with 95% confidence of older workers more effectively
many different variables, the ability
intervals (CI). and proactively, in line with both
of employers to understand and
Compared to workers with their duty of care and the benefit of
manage the risks faced by individual
consistently high physical workload, keeping people at work.
workers will likely require policies
a change to any lower quartile of
that go beyond the implementation of For the full report, go to bit.ly/
physical workload was associated
administrative controls. Sweden-disability-pension
IMAG E: GETTY

For the full report, go to bit.ly/

Australia-climatic-conditions

IOSH MAGAZINE 73

72-73 Deeper dive_31-Oct-2023_IOSH.indd 73 18/10/2023 10:43

THE LAST WORD P ROOF P OSIT IV E
LIGHT ON SAFETY
A safety business based in Weston-super-Mare has created a
safer environment for pupils and pedestrians on the construction
site of the new Elm Park School in Winterbourne, Bristol, UK.
F
HOSS Illuminated Safety
Solutions, in partnership with
BAM Construction Ltd, created an
illuminated safety walkway using
focused beams of light and traffic
lights to control the movement
of people and vehicles on site, as well as
a magnetic locking gate to ensure that
pedestrians are entirely segregated from
machinery and equipment.
So successful was the project that it won
the Health, Safety and Wellbeing award in
the Constructing Excellence Awards South
West 2023. Hailed by judges at the annual
award as a ‘true collaboration between
a contractor and industry provider’, the
company was described as a ‘worthy winner
in a very high-quality field’.
Andrew Kimitri, CEO of FHOSS, said
the award honoured the achievements of
the entire team and all the work put into
creating the successful safety system.
‘This award reaffirms our dedication to the
74 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 | IOSHMAGAZINE.COM
74 Proof Positive_Nov-Dec 2023_IOSH.indd 74
Casting a
WORDS ALEX LACEY
highest safety standard and motivates us
to continue saving lives and pushing the
envelope in on-site pedestrian safety,’
he said.
‘Our thanks to Kurt Williams
at BAM Construction, whose vigilant
passion for proactive on-site safety
measures helped to ensure that this project
was a resounding success.’
FHOSS, which has operations in the UK,
North America and Australia, produces a
range of illuminated safety products for
numerous industries and applications.
Kurt, senior site manager for BAM
Construction Greater Bristol area and
project lead at Elm Park, said FHOSS
provided a solution to one of the high-risk
pinch points on the site.
‘Some 250 pupils and staff were
escorted through the site from the existing
school during the construction phase,’ Kurt
explained. ‘Children are unpredictable, so it
was important that we considered and risk-
assessed every scenario, with appropriate
risk mitigation adopted beforehand.’
Kurt and his team had to ensure that
they secured robust segregation during
high-risk activities, such as lifting
operations or unloading large items with
their telehandler.
‘There were plenty of logistical challenges
because of the need for pedestrians to
cross a busy haul road to get to the site
itself. The illuminated crossing points
used a combination of audio, visual and
mechanical technology to control the traffic
and pedestrians as well, thereby taking out
the risk.
‘We were proud to receive some very
positive feedback from the school’s
headteacher, who said she was “beyond
impressed” with the standards of safety and
safeguarding we implemented.’
PHOTOGRAPHY: FHOS S
For further information visit
fhoss.com
18/10/2023 10:44
 Save
the date! January 2024

We’ll see Mo
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