RoSPA's National Occupational Safety & Health Committee
The National Occupational Safety & Health Committee (NOSHC) is a voluntary association of people drawn from organisations representing a broad cross section of occupational safety and health interests. It is an advisory committee to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
The purpose of the Committee is to advise RoSPA in identifying ways and means of improving occupational safety and health and shapes RoSPA policy and key issues.
As partners we work together to influence the UK's safety landscape. View our committee partners here.
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Members
Bud Hudspith, Health and Safety Adviser for the trade union Unite at a national level.
Unite is the largest union in the UK, with about 1.4 million members in the private and public sectors. It is the product of a merger between Amicus and TGWU.
Bud Hudspith has been dealing with trade union health and safety issues for over 30 years. His job is to represent Unite at various levels and provide information, advice and guidance to Unite Officials and Safety Representatives. This involves visiting workplaces and representing members in discussions with employers, as well as sitting on various committees.
His current Committee membership includes, for example:
- Paper and Board Industry Advisory Committee (PABIAC)
- Printing Industry Action Group (PIAG)
- Castings Health and Safety Advisory Committee (CHASAC)
- Advisory Committee on Toxic Substances (ACTS)
- Chemical and Downstream Oil Industry Forum (CDOIF)
- Petrochemical Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG) (and post Buncefield Groups)
- Microelectronics Joint Working Group (MEJWG)
- UK Chemical Stakeholders Forum
- Motor Vehicle Repair Forum
- NEBOSH Qualifications and Technical Council
- NSAPI/CIA Process Safety Management Project Board
Within Unite, industrial sectors covered include Graphical, Paper and Media; Metals; Chemicals (including Rubber); Aerospace and Shipbuilding; Electrical, Engineering and Electronics (including semiconductors), IT and Communications; Energy and Utilities: Vehicle Building and Automotive; Motor Components.
He represents Unite on various European health and safety matters concerning silica dust, the steel industry, and printing and paper machine safety; leads for Unite on REACH, Corporate Manslaughter and Directors H&S Duties; and has a particular interest in behavioural safety. In 1999 he received the ROSPA Distinguished Service Award for Health and Safety.
Nick Pahl is CEO of the Society of Occupational Medicine. The Society of Occupational Medicine is the UK organisation for all health professionals working in or with an interest in occupational health.
Research shows that working is good for your health and mental well-being – occupational health professionals help people stay in work and live full and healthy lives. They also help employers by reducing sickness absence and increasing productivity.
Nick was formerly CEO of the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC), the leading self-regulatory body for the practice of traditional acupuncture in the UK. Nick graduated with an MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1998. He is vice Chair of the Research Council for Complementary Medicine.
Working with and through RoSPA's National Occupational Safety and Health Committee, Karen seeks to identify routes through which health and safety performance within the world of work may be improved. Her role extends to encouraging business to business learning through the RoSPA Higher Performer's Forum.
In her role as Head of RoSPA Scotland Karen is responsible for the management of activities' linked to the RoSPA's vision of a life, free from serious accidental injury;, this is achieved through influencing policy via the promotion of RoSPA key issues such as the Management of Occupational Road Risk, Learning from Safety Failure and Worker Involvement.
A Chartered Fellow of IOSH, Karen is a member of IOSH Edinburgh Branch Executive, she chairs Professional Organisations in Occupational Safety and Health (POOSH) Scotland and represents the POOSH Scotland membership on the Partnership on Health and Safety in Scotland Committee and POOSH UK. Karen is a member of IOSH Council and a past Vice President.
Committee members
Roger Bibbings was RoSPA's occupational safety adviser for nearly 20 years, retiring from the role in 2014. Prior to this, he was, for 17 years, health and safety adviser at the Trades Union Congress where he worked closely with the Health and Safety Commission and Executive and also with the European Commission (DGV).
Roger's role at RoSPA was to advise the Society on all matters associated with work related risk helping it expand its contribution to the British 'health and safety system'.
He developed a number of RoSPA's Key Campaigns including:
- Managing Occupational Road Risk (MORR)
- Strengthening the role of accident investigation in health and safety management
- Promoting director action on safety and health
- Improving health and safety help and assistance to small firms.
He continues his work in Health and Safety, supporting 'Safety Groups UK’ and re-energising the work of RoSPA's affiliated Health and Safety Groups. He is President of his local Group in Herefordshire.
In 1990 he received the MBE for his services to occupational safety and health. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health and has received the RoSPA Distinguished Service Award for services to health and safety. In 2006 he received the IOSH President's Distinguished Service Certificate. In 2011 he received the IOSH Lifetime Achievement Award.
Alison is an Occupational Health Nurse and has worked at the Health and Safety Executive for the last 15 years; initially in the Centre for Workplace Health undertaking research on a range of occupational health topics. She currently works in the occupational health and mental health policy team working on activities to support HSE’s health and work programme.
Alison has worked in occupational health for over 25 years, alongside her nursing and occupational health qualifications she has a Masters degree in Public Health. Prior to working at HSE she has operational and management occupational health experience in a variety of industry sectors.
Corresponding Member
David Eves graduated with Honours in English Literature and Language from Durham University and qualified as a teacher before joining HM Factory Inspectorate in 1964. He became its Chief Inspector in 1985. As Deputy Director General of the Health and Safety Executive, he was one of its three statutory Members from 1989 until 2002, when he retired from the Civil Service.
Since then he has acted both as an independent consultant and as an associate director of Sancroft International Ltd, a consultancy specialising in corporate social responsibility. He has advised government departments in the Republic of Ireland and New South Wales, Australia on regulatory matters and at home he has assisted Defra and the Health Protection Agency with reviews and investigations. He has served as a co-opted member of the national occupational safety and health committee of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), the policy development forum of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) and the research committee of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). He has also served as Secretary General of the International Association of Labour Inspection (IALI) and Vice President of Safety Groups UK (SGUK), and is currently an ambassador for the National Examination Board for Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH).
David is the author of 'Disasters – learning the lessons for a safer world' and co-author of 'Questioning Performance – the director's essential guide to health, safety and the environment', both published by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). He recently completed 'Two steps forward, one step back: a brief history of the origins, development and implementation of health and safety regulation in the UK, 1802-2013' (www.historyofosh.org.uk).
He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath by the Queen in 1993 and was honoured to receive an Award for Distinguished Service from RoSPA in 2000. He is an Honorary Vice President and retired Fellow of IOSH from whom he received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. He is an Honorary Fellow of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) and a member of the Hazards Forum.
Bridget Gilmour is a Chartered Safety and Health Practitioner, Fellow of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and a Professional Member of the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE).
Bridget is Vice President of IOSH and Owner and Director of Hundred Acre (GB) Ltd an independent consultancy delivering health and safety services and training to businesses of all sizes across the UK and beyond.
Bridget grew up around safety and has worked full time in the profession for over 20 years.
Chris Jones has worked in the waste industry for the last 25 years advising on and managing health, safety, welfare, quality, environmental and transport issues.
Chris Jones is a Chartered Member if the Institute of Waste Management, has been involved with WISH from the concept stage in 2001, and was honoured to become its first elected chairman in 2008.
Mike Leppard joined the Energy Networks Association (ENA) in 2008 as a SHE Adviser, and is responsible for supporting the network companies' work on safety, health and environmental issues developing a sector wide approach where appropriate. Prior to joining ENA Mike worked for the HSE as part of the Utility Policy team, focussing on electricity and gas safety issues. His background is in the chemical industry and he was employed for a number of years at a resin manufacturing company in a variety of production related roles.
William David McKenzie, Baron McKenzie of Luton (Bill McKenzie) is an English Labour politician and, up to the General Election of 2010, was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities and Local Government. He is also a former Partner at accounting firm Price Waterhouse which became PricewaterhouseCoopers following a 1998 merger.
Sheila Pantry OBE, BA, FCLIP is a pivotal figure in occupational safety and health due to her pioneering use of computer technology in information management.
She is perhaps best known for her development and management of the world-renowned Health and Safety Executive information service, which included establishing a HSE public enquiry service that handled 250,000 enquiries a year.
Sheila writes, edits and produces websites for the health, safety, fire and environment sectors, and has produced a series of books for the information industry.
She has worked on the European Commission programmes in telematics and living/working conditions in a number of European countries, and was instrumental in the development of a Masters syllabus in information engineering.
This year's IOSH Lifetime Achievement Award winner is a prolific speaker. She regularly gives talks and presents seminars, both in the UK and internationally, on all aspects of information management, staff training and development, as well as the use of health, safety, fire, chemical and environment information. She was a visiting lecturer at the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield, and served on British Library advisory committees in London and at Boston Spa.
Sheila runs seminars and conferences on all aspects of health, safety and fire and is an active member of the UK Fire Information Group, the UK Fire and Rescue Statistics User Group and the National Occupational Health and Safety Committee at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).
Few could match the global reach of this influential figure, who has set up information services and trained staff in Australia; Bulgaria; Canada; Finland; Greece; Hong Kong; Hungary; Ireland; Jordan; Lithuania; the Netherlands; New Zealand; Poland; Switzerland; Turkey; the USA and Zimbabwe.
Sheila was awarded an OBE by HM The Queen in 1993 for services to the health and safety information industry. In 2000 RoSPA awarded her its Distinguished Service Award.
She has worked closely with the Geneva-based International Labour Office Health and Safety Centre. In 2004 she received a certificate of appreciation for giving 25 years of untiring support to the International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre.
Sheila can now add one of the most prestigious awards in occupational safety and health to her long list of achievements.
Graham is a global leader within the occupational safety and health world with over 20 years' experience in a variety of high and low risk environments in both private and public sectors. His background in health and safety management includes real estate, FM, logistics, aviation and general health and safety management.
Graham is a Fellow and Past President of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). He is also a Fellow of the International Institute of Risk Safety Management (IIRSM), a Professional Member of The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and a Certified Member of British Institute of Facility Management (BIFM).
Through his work with IOSH, Graham has been able to engage on a global platform with world and organisational leaders including the ILO, WHO, ISSA and governments across the world.
Graham is one of the leading 'RoSPA Awards Excellence Ambassadors' and continues to represent IOSH on the RoSPA Sir George Earle Awards Panel.
Graham has worked in the construction, engineering and FM disciplines since the mid–eighties. His full time involvement with health, safety and environmental management began in 1996, starting in petro-chemical refineries, leading into a conventional and radiological safety role in the nuclear industry. This culminated in Graham managing his own safety consultancy business serving various clients in the North West of England.
In 2003 Graham relocated to the South East of England taking up a group safety role in mainstream construction where he remained up until 2013.
Graham is currently employed as the Head of Safety for Berkeley Homes East and West Thames. Graham represented RoSPA Sir George Earle Trophy winner Berkeley Homes East and West Thames on NOSHC during 2017-18 and remains a corresponding member.
Corresponding Member
Since the early 1980s Paul Reeve has made a sustained policy contribution to the role of UK business in improving health and safety at work.
Paul is chemical sciences post-graduate, and a Chartered Fellow of both the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health and the Institution of Environmental Management and Assessment. He began his health and safety career in 1983 when he joined the (then) ‘Safety Practitioner’ as one of its first editors. In 1988 he became editor of ‘Health and Safety at Work’ magazine, where he continued the title’s campaigning style with a successful call for higher fines for serious health and safety offences.
Paul has made a major input to the development of health and safety policy and legislation and guidance, both in the UK and in Europe. In 1990 he joined the Engineering Employers’ Federation (EEF) as Head of Health and Safety. At the EEF he played a leading role in many initiatives such as researching and presenting, with Lloyds Bank Business Services, the tangible business case for effective health and safety management. He also made a significant contribution to the practical integration of health and safety with environmental management and sustainability. Paul moved from the EEF in 2001 to become Executive Director of the UK chemical industry ‘Responsible Care’ programme, and in 2002 he was presented with the RoSPA’s Distinguished Services award. In the early 2000s Paul moved into the building services industry, but he still produced groundbreaking articles on the urgent need to apply REACH, and the principles of CSR, to the development of nanomaterials, e.g. ‘Nanotechnology: A Size Matter’.
Other contributions to the development of health and safety have included chairing RoSPA’s National Occupational Safety and Health Committee (NOSHC), the IOSH Risk Management Strategy working group and more recently, Safety Schemes in Procurement. He has also been an elected member of IOSH Council.
Paul is currently Director of Business Policy at the Electrical Contractors’ Association, and H,S&E advisor to the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group, where he continues to lead health and safety, sustainability and CSR initiatives, and to influence broader policy issues across the building engineering services sector.
A career that began in the cement and minerals extraction industry with Blue Circle Cement, Kevin now has accumulated over 30 years’ experience helping international companies in – Waste Recycling, Print, Engineering, Construction Projects, Logistics, Facilities – achieve their health and safety goals. During that time Kevin was also the Director for a risk management consultancy advising and delivering NEBOSH training in the UK, Ireland, UAE and India.
He is currently the Director of Health and Safety for the Mineral Products Association supporting and representing its members in an industry that has the largest materials flow in the UK economy and is also one of the largest manufacturing sectors.
Kevin holds numerous Health and Safety qualifications, which includes an MSc in Risk, Crisis & Disaster Management, and he is also a Chartered Member of IOSH.
Errol is responsible for the charity's public health agenda. His evidence-based approach aims to reduce the toll of injury by empowering individuals and organisations to be 'as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible'. He created a new epidemiological measure, the Preventable Year of Life Lost (PrYLL) and was the lead author of RoSPA's suite of Big Book(s) of Accident Prevention.
A keen proponent of partnership working, Errol is a non-executive director of EuroSafe, an advisory board member to the Chief Fire Officer's Association and chairs the judging panel for the British Safety Industries Federation Awards. He played a leading role in £ multi-million projects 'Safe At Home' and the 'Child Safety Education Coalition'.
Qualified as a Chartered Director with an MBA, an engineering degree and a gold grade in RoSPA advanced driving test. Married with three children, Errol enjoys scuba diving, cycling, racket sports and sailing.
Barry joined NEBOSH in 2005. His role as Director of Strategy and Marketing is to support the Chief Executive in the development of NEBOSH's future business strategy. This includes identification of market trends and the management of key stakeholders as well evaluating product performance and overseeing the brand guidelines and promotional activities.
He has worked on a number of international projects including advising the Ministry of Labour in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain.
He is a member of the Board on INSHPO (the International Network of Safety & Health Practitioner Organisations) and is involved in the INSHPO Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Professional Capability Framework which provides a global benchmark for the role of the OHS professionals and practitioners as well as the requisite knowledge and skills
Barry is an experienced health and safety practitioner, project developer/manager and management systems auditor. He has over 25 years' experience in health, safety and environmental management and became a Chartered member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) in 1997. He is also a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineers (CSSE).
His background includes roles at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Birmingham City University (BCU), the National Health Service (NHS) and most recently Course Director at the University of Warwick, teaching trainee health and safety inspectors.
Alex Wilson is the honorary Secretary of the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS), the Chartered society for worker health protection. He has served on the board of directors of the BOHS since 2012. Alex is the current Global Occupational Hygiene Manager of Rolls-Royce Plc. In his role he supports one of the world’s leading power systems manufacturers in its health risk management strategy and roll-out. His previous experience of 10 years is working in the UK steel industry for Tata Steel and its predecessor Corus.
Occupational health risks campaigns
Find all the information you need here:
Asbestos
ATL is running a campaign to increase awareness of the danger of asbestos in education buildings.
It is estimated that more than 1.5 million workplace properties still contain some form of asbestos. Certainly, asbestos is present in many educational establishments, though staff are often unaware of its presence until repairs or renovations occur.
Exposure to and inhalation of asbestos can lead to serious and terminal related diseases. The British Lung Foundation reports that 2,000 people are diagnosed with the asbestos-related disease, mesothelioma, every year in the UK. The number of deaths from mesothelioma is expected to peak at 2,450 between 2011 and 2015.
As part of its health and safety training for reps ATL is showing parts of a DVD, Mesothelioma: the human face of an asbestos epidemic, to further raise awareness of the issue.
There are four types of mesothelioma: Pleural (lungs), peritoneal (abdomen), pericardial (heart) and testicular. Pleural and peritoneal are the most common types, comprising nearly 90 percent of all diagnoses. Learn more about your specific type and what it means for your treatment options.
Medical experts acknowledge four main types of mesothelioma — each named for the area of the body where the cancer forms. The most common type, pleural mesothelioma, develops in the lining of the lungs.
Peritoneal mesothelioma forms in the peritoneum, the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity. This is the second-most prevalent type. The overwhelming majority of mesothelioma specialists treat patients with one of these two types.
Your family: Your entire family can be affected by invisible asbestos dust you may bring home on your work clothes. It's nasty stuff and doesn't discriminate!
Your health: Asbestos is the biggest on the job killer of tradespeople in the UK. Each week on average it kills 20 tradesmen, including 4 plumbers, 6 electricians and 8 joiners. Don't dismiss it as a thing of the past... it's still a very real and dangerous threat.
Your colleagues: If you don't deal with asbestos responsibly you'll be putting everyone on site at risk. Do the right thing by your colleagues. Always speak up if you come across asbestos and follow the right procedures.
Your business: If you're not clued up about asbestos you're not doing a good job and it will soon become common knowledge. Be prepared for bad ratings and negative customer feedback. No one wants a cowboy in their home endangering their family.
Asbestos kills around 20 tradesman each week. If asbestos fibres are released and inhaled they can cause serious and fatal diseases.
This is why some work will require a licensed contractor, and some work may need to be notified.
Asbestos is the UK's biggest workplace killer.
The three main types of asbestos - blue, brown and white asbestos - can still be found in the workplace. There is no safe level of exposure and all types are dangerous.
Around 4,000 people die each year from mesothelioma and asbestos related lung cancer - 11 people for every day of the year. This is greater than the number of road accident deaths. Before the death rate declines, up to a quarter of a million people in Britain may have died from asbestos exposures.
There are up to six million tonnes of asbestos in schools, hospitals, ships, offices and factories - and the homes we live in. The importation, supply, and use of all asbestos throughout Britain is prohibited.
UNISON is ready to ratchet up its campaign against asbestos in schools and has prepared a series of documents to help activists, reps and parents who are concerned about the issue, and includes advice on asbestos in warm-air heating systems from a joint union body.
Asthma
Asthma is an inflammatory disorder of the airways which leads to them becoming inflamed, muscles in the airways tightening, and too much mucus being produced. As the airways narrow, the air has more difficulty getting in and out and this is what causes the person with asthma to have problems in breathing.
Asthma symptoms can include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and a tightening around the chest. For some sufferers the symptoms are so severe that they cannot work again.
Occupational asthma is caused when workers breathe in substances at work that leads to them developing a sensitivity to it. The body sets off an immune reaction to the substance, and any further exposure can bring about an attack. In some cases the symptoms develop immediately after exposure, but for some people they will not appear until several hours later, often at night.
Benzene
Benzene is found in almost every industrial solvents. It is found in glue in shoes, in coating on toys, and in cleaning agent in for electronic parts.
Yet benzene is also a deadly carcinogen. It is generally considered that the only absolutely safe concentration for benzene is zero. At its current scale of use it is possible that up to a million Chinese workers will die from benzene.
Benzene is replaceable, human lives are not. Support and stop this massacre of workers!
Cancer
This online resource forms part of a Hazards 'Zero cancer' campaign. The initiative promotes participatory approaches to reducing occupational and environmental cancer risks. It is a project of Stirling University's Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Research Group (OEHSRG) and is coordinated by OEHSRG's Professor Rory O'Neill and researcher Jawad Qasrawi.
Cancer caused by what people do at work is nothing new. One of the first official cases of an occupational cancer was identified in the eighteenth century.
Asbestos is the best known carcinogen – and the biggest killer. Today, asbestos claims well over 100,000 lives a year worldwide. It's estimated that 10 million people across the world will have died as a result of asbestos exposure before it's been fully controlled. But there are many other carcinogenic exposures that cause cancer and claim lives – well over 50 substances are listed as known or probable causes of workplace cancer. Across the EU, 1 in 5 workers faces an occupational cancer risk. Across the world, the number of people dying from a work-caused cancer far outstrips those dying because of work accidents. It's estimated that at least 666,000 people die worldwide every year.
Each year almost 120,000 people of working age are diagnosed with cancer. Whether you are an employee, carer, business or health professional we can provide support and information about work and cancer.
Dust etc.
British Occupational Hygiene Society. 'Breathe Freely'
Construction workers are at high risk of contracting lung disease from the work that they do. In 2015, approximately 3,500 will die from cancer caused by past exposures to asbestos, 500 more from silica dust, another 5,500 will be diagnosed with occupational cancer, and – today alone – an unknown but significant number will breathe in the hazardous substances that will one day seriously affect their health or kill them.
The CDP aim is to:
"To raise awareness within the construction industry about lung diseases related to hazardous workplace dust and to promote good practice to prevent these diseases, particularly for those undertaking high risk tasks"
The membership has collectively agreed to:
- Target hazardous construction dusts, particularly those that give rise to the greatest risk of lung disease.
- Improve the construction industry's awareness of the risks of developing lung disease due to the inhalation of these dusts.
- Identify those construction tasks that give rise to the greatest risk to workers developing such conditions.
- Work together to agree and promote proportionate controls to minimise the risks from these high risk tasks.
QPT strapline: “Working together to tackle workplace dust”
The QPT is a tripartite body whose raison d’être is:
- To reduce the incidence of respiratory disease in workers within the quarrying industry by further raising awareness of the risks of exposure, via inhalation, to hazardous dusts in the workplace.
- To improve workers' knowledge concerning exposure to dust in the workplace
- To share, promote and encourage good control practices in the workplace
- To bring about a change in attitudes and behaviours to workplace 'dust'.
QPT includes the chair of the Construction Dust Partnership.
MPA NEPSI Multi-sectoral social dialogue agreement on ‘silica’
NEPSI is the acronym for the European Silica Network formed by the Employee and Employer European sectoral associations having signed in 2006 the EU’s Social Dialogue "Agreement on Workers' Health Protection Through the Good Handling and Use of Crystalline Silica and Products Containing it". The “NEPSI” Agreement represents 15 industry sectors and their social partner, IndustriAll – the European Trade Union. Representing more than 2 million employees and a business exceeding €250 billion, the European industries involved are: Aggregates*; Cement*; Ceramics; Container Glass; Expanded Clay; Flat Glass; Foundries; Glass Fibre; Industrial Minerals*; Mineral Wool; Metals; Mining; Mortar*; Natural (Dimension) Stone*; and Precast Concrete*. Of these European industries, those marked with an asterisk are represented in GB by the MPA. It is hoped that the European Construction Industry and its social partners will re-consider the benefits of joining of a suitably modified NEPSI.
Health risks
The SafeTea Break, brought to you by 3M, provides health and safety managers the toolkit and platform they need to engage the workforce in a discussion about health and long latency occupational diseases.
The SafeTea Break arrives as a kit, providing open questions to present to the workforce in a break out session that will generate debate across health topics, ultimately driving a useful action plan for the health and safety manager, and a better understanding of the health risks and consequences of non-compliance for the workforce.
The SafeTea Break will therefore provide a health and safety manager with a mechanism to improve personal safety and compliance on site, whilst developing an inclusive safety culture following the group discussions.
CBH is a non-profit membership scheme dedicated to help the Construction Industry achieve a fit and healthy workforce.
We show you an easier and better way to control your work-related health management, with our resources and expertise, reduce absenteeism, skills drain, wasted time and money.
A healthy workforce is a happier and more productive one.
The Health Risks at Work initiative provides simple, concise information to help small businesses manage five key health at work risk areas:
- Breathing
- Skin
- Muscles, bones and joints
- Hearing and touch
- Wellbeing
RPE
Are you sure that the RPE you provide to your employees fits them properly? Are you sure the face fit test was carried out competently? You ought to be, because the health of your employees could be at serious risk.
Recent research indicates that up to 50% of all RPE used does not offer the wearer the level of protection assumed and one of the major reasons is that it simply does not fit! Yet, under the regulations RPE must be correctly selected and this includes, for many types of RPE, a face piece Fit Test conducted by a competent person. So how can you be sure the person conducting the fit test is competent?
In view of these major concerns the British Safety Industry Federation, along with the HSE and other industry stakeholders have developed a competency scheme for Fit Test Providers. The Fit2Fit RPE Fit Test Providers Accreditation Scheme is designed to confirm the competency of any person performing face piece fit testing. Follow the useful links and downloads on this website to find out more.
Clean Air? - Take Care! is a new joint initiative between the BSIF and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) aimed at reducing occupational respiratory disease. The initiative is centred on a range of national activities and educational seminars designed to raise awareness among RPE users, employers, fit testers and advisors on the correct selection, deployment, use, maintenance and storage of RPE.
Work related skin diseases are preventable yet 40,000 new cases are recorded every year by the HSE and it’s only the tip of the iceberg based on anecdotal evidence. The objective of the 'It's in in your hands' originally launched seven years ago is to significantly reduce the incidence of work related skin disease. By providing information on what to look out for and advice on how to protect workers against hazardous substances, work related skin disease can be avoided.
- Hearing protection is a last resort but must be used until noise risks are under control.
- Choose the correct level of protection. This will not usually be the highest available.
- Make sure it is suitable for the user and their work activities, and that they can use it comfortably with any other PPE or equipment they have to wear or use.
- Ensure they wear it at all times in the noisy area. If they remove it, even briefly, they will have wasted most of the time they have spent wearing it. For example, removing protection for just 5 minutes out of one hour will reduce the protection achieved by more than half.
Stress
Stress is not a direct risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but it's possible that it may contribute to your risk level. It all depends on your coping mechanisms.
Some people cope with stress with risky behaviour – such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol and overeating.
All of these increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.
The Best Heart Resources on the Web 2017 - compiled by Paul at Cassiobury Court with link
www.cassioburycourt.com/2017/07/the-best-heart-resources-on-the-web-2017/
Over 400,00 people suffer from stress related illnesses caused by their work every year. The Stressed Out survey by the Samaritans, the UK emotional support charity, found: "People's jobs are the single biggest cause of stress... with over a third (36 per cent) of Briton's citing it as one of their biggest stressors."
Our hearts and minds can face intolerable pressures from work. Overwork, bullying, low job control and satisfaction, job insecurity, new ways of working, poor work organisation and pace of work can all cause work stress.
The mental symptoms of stress range from sleeplessness and listlessness through to clinical depression and suicide. The physical effects range from appetite loss and nausea through to heart damage and stroke.
Skin
British Association of Dermatologists. Sun hazards
The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) currently runs a national campaign around skin cancer called Sun Awareness, which includes national Sun Awareness Week in May. This campaign is overseen by the BAD's Skin Cancer Prevention Committee, comprised of leading medical professionals with expertise in skin cancer, vitamin D and public health messaging.
Sun Awareness is the British Association of Dermatologists' annual campaign to raise awareness of skin cancer. The campaign runs from April to September annually and includes Sun Awareness Week in May. The campaign is two-pronged and combines prevention and detection advice. The first aim is to encourage people to regularly self-examine for skin cancer. The second is to teach people about the dangers of sunburn and excessive tanning, and to discourage people from using sunbeds, in light of the associated risks of skin cancer. In addition to public education about the dangers of sunbed use, the BAD has also been involved in campaigning for legislation to regulate the sunbed industry and is continuing to push towards further and improved regulation.
Almost all skin cancers are caused by over-exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from the sun and/or sunbeds. All skin types can be damaged by exposure to UVR. Damage is permanent, irreversible and increases with each exposure.
- Skin cancer is the UK's most common and fastest rising cancer
- Malignant melanoma is one of the most common cancers in young adults (aged 15-34) in the UK
- More people die from skin cancer in the UK than Australia
- Over 80% of all skin cancers are caused by over-exposure to the sun and/or sunbeds, making the majority of all skin cancers preventable with sun safety measures.
Health and work: seven key points
Your employees are your number one key asset. Good health is not just good for people, it is good for business too. Here are seven key rules to help you focus on the health and work challenge.
- Do not damage your employees' health by exposing them to harmful levels of dust, chemicals, noise, vibration, micro-organisms, heavy loads and bad posture, harmful stress etc. – and prevent accidents.
- Where necessary, make sure your employees are fit enough to do those jobs that are especially demanding.
- Besides providing first aid to deal with health crises, provide sensitive and practical help and support employees whose health is impaired, including those returning to work following sickness or injury.
- Engage with your people at work and work to raise their understanding or how they can maintain and improve their own health and safety - and that of their family members - and provide help and opportunities for them to achieve this.
- Through training, education and dialogue, create a partnership culture in which the managers and staff work proactively to maintain and improve employee health.
- Plan, deliver and monitor your employee health improvement plan to check it is working, acting on lessons learned from experience and celebrating successes.
- Get the right outside help and support to achieve these objectives, while aiming to become as self-reliant as possible.
Learning how to learn from accidents
However well any organisation thinks that it manages its operations to ensure good health and safety outcomes, it can expect to have some unanticipated, damaging (or potentially damaging) events. Accidents and incidents damage people and they damage organisations - but they also present important opportunities for everyone to learn lessons, which, if acted on, will not only help prevent recurrence of similar events but will also help to improve the way risks are managed generally. Accidents, particularly incidents in which no one has been hurt, can actually be our one of our best teachers; although to be able to squeeze safety learning out of them, we need to learn how to listen to what they try are trying to tell us. In fact, learning how to learn from accidents and incidents - particularly by overcoming some of the common barriers that arise in their aftermath such as fear, blame and anxieties about reputational loss and legal proceedings - and developing a culture of reporting and systematic investigation of accidents, incidents and unsafe acts and conditions - is all part of a much bigger culture change that is badly needed in so many of today's businesses.
RoSPA has produced this downloadable resource to help you reflect on the way your organisation investigates and learns from the unplanned and the unexpected. Although it contains advice, it is not a universally applicable 'how to' guide but rather a thought-provoking introduction to some of the challenges which people are likely to face when investigating accidents and developing the organisational readiness of their organisation to respond to them effectively.
Download: Learning how to learn from accidents
RoSPA is keen to receive feedback so we can develop this resource further. Comments should be sent to Dr Karen McDonnell, RoSPA's Occupational Safety Adviser at [email protected].
Projects
The Committee has concentrated on a number of strategic themes:
History of Occupational Safety and Health website
In 2011, the NOSHC decided to take forward the History of Occupational Safety and Health project in order to create a suitable "map" of occupational safety and health information sources and materials from an historical point of view, with as many links to original texts as possible. The website, www.historyofosh.org.uk launched to mark the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April 2014, is the result of that project.
Improving Health and Safety in Small Firms – Initiative
Many small firms need help to meet their duties under health and safety law. NOSHC undertook a long term inquiry (SME Inquiry) into Health and Safety assistance available to SMEs. Find out more about this inquiry.
Big Workplace Discussion
How to improve team leadership of health and safety. Find out more about this initiative.
Awards
A sub-committee of the Committee also oversees RoSPA's occupational health and safety awards. Find out more about RoSPA Awards.
Meetings
Three meetings of the committee are convened each year.
Our shared purpose - NOSHC mission statements
Working for a healthier workplace.
NEBOSH - The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health
NEBOSH's vision is to preserve and improve health, safety and environmental management in workplaces worldwide.
IOSH - Institution of Occupational Safety and Health
World of work which is safe, healthy and sustainable.
Unite is dedicated to serving the best interests of its members, protecting workers rights and improving the quality of life by negotiating with employers and government.
Our vision is that our members are recognised and valued for supplying essential materials for a sustainable future in a manner that is economically viable and socially and environmentally responsible. Health and Safety is the top priority for the MPA."
WISH – Waste Industry Safety and Health
WISH will continue to promote, publicise, facilitate and bring about the sharing and publication of best practice to identify of the actions that can be taken to reduce workplace accident and occupational ill health incidence rates.
The voice of the networks, representing the 'wires and pipes' transmission and distribution network operators for gas and electricity in the UK and Ireland.
RoSPA - The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
Life, free from serious accidental injury.
UK's premier business lobbying organisation, providing a voice for employers at a national and international level.
To promote health and safety by supporting a thriving national network of health and safety Groups.
Our Vision is: To lead the industry and our Member businesses to growth and prosperity.
Our Strategic Objectives are:
- To enhance the credibility and capability of our industry, our Members and the Association
- To positively influence the technical, commercial, training and industrial relations environment in which our Members operate
- To provide high quality services that help our Members to succeed
- To ensure that the ECA is well governed, well managed and financially sustainable
Our Values are:
- To provide excellent customer service
- To support and empower our people
- To achieve success through innovation
- To act with integrity
- To work collaboratively.
Working together to improve the health of the UK's workforce.
We're a powerful voice in leading, championing and celebrating UK manufacturing.
HSE's mission is to prevent death, injury and ill-health in Great Britain's workplaces - by becoming part of the solution.