In our last post, which focused on the Transportation & Storage sector, we highlighted the number of workplace fatal injuries to members of the public and stated that “if you add in the member of public fatalities [to worker fatalities], Transportation & Storage accounts for by far the most fatalities with 66 in 2017/18, exactly double that of the next … Read More
What’s Happening with Health & Safety in Transportation & Storage?
One sector that seems to have been in the health and safety news a lot recently is Transportation and Storage (SIC 2007 code H). The HSE report against this sector as a whole despite the somewhat diverse nature of companies that sit beneath the main headings of: 49 – Land transport and transport via 50 – Water transport 51 – … Read More
Halloween, Megatrends and Wellness
It’s Halloween! The day of ghosts and ghouls, apple-bobbing and trick or treating. It’s actually ‘New Year’s Eve’ from ancient Celtic times and a day when the worlds of the dead and the alive came together, a day when the Druids (the Celtic Priests) were better able to predict the future because of the presence of the dead. The origins … Read More
The Rise of the Machines: The Good, The Bad and the Grey Goo
The IOSH Future Leader Conference is taking place on November 5th and includes a session titled ‘Robots: meet your new colleagues’, by health and safety consultant Bridget Leathley. This should be a really interesting examination of the benefits that robots and cobots (robot co-workers) can bring to occupational health and safety. The Future Leaders Conference is aimed at those new … Read More
ROI and Your Board
We recently introduced the concept of e-permits as a modular solution. With e-permits comes the assurance that people work safely and are safe at work. This is everyone’s goal, but software comes with a price tag and businesses usually need to justify expenditure by way of a return-on-investment. This post describes the ROI components of e-permits and then opens up … Read More
Which Camp Are YOU In?
Have you chosen sides in the Heinrich/Dekker debate yet? Zero Harm vs. Safety Differently? Focussing on the incident/accident data of what’s gone wrong rather than working on what’s gone right? People are the problem vs. people are the solution? I do hope not because the chances are that they’re both right and that breaking through the statistical plateau (that is … Read More
e-permits Modular Solution
e-permits is the UK’s first and leading web-based permit to work software and work authorisation system. The past year has seen its continued modularisation to enable new clients to absorb value in line with available budget and implementation resources. This post describes this new e-permits modular solution in detail. It consists of 4 Core Modules plus additional Functional Modules to … Read More
Fatigue, Driving and Regulations
During my mother-in-law’s last few years of failing health, I had the pleasure of meeting one of her home care helpers. I watched her bubbly personality cook, tidy-up and put a smile on a frail old lady – all in her 15-20 minute allowed visit time. As she dashed for the door, I asked her where she was going next … Read More
Safety and Business Performance – Correlation and Causality
This post continues our examination of what it takes to make safety a keystone habit within a business, thereby, driving improved business performance while improving worker safety. Note that in this scenario ‘improved business performance’ means significantly outperforming competitors in a sustained manner over a period of several years. We’re not talking a few percentage points improvement in productivity from … Read More
Making Safety a Keystone Habit
The business benefits of good safety practices are clear and obvious. As the HSE lists them: Reduced absenteeism Staff retention Brand reputation protection Increased productivity and profits Reduced insurance and legal costs But, if I’m a Board member of a Forbes 2000 company, is that going to grab my attention? I don’t think so. They’re nice benefits and, of course, … Read More
The Human Oil in the Process Engine
Today started with a review of Staying Alive: Preventing Serious Injury and Fatalities while Working at Height All-Party Parliamentary Group on Working at Height from February 2019. This on the back of the recent headlines about the upward trend of worker fatalities, particularly those arising from ‘falls from a height’, and our subsequent deeper dive into the historical statistical trends. … Read More
H&S Statistics – Behind the Headlines
In our last post on breaking through the statistical plateau that is health and safety fatality rates in Great Britain, we reflected on the recent headlines that greeted the [provisional] increase in fatalities to 147 in 2018/19 from 141 in 2017/18 and the accompanying rise in fatalities caused by falls from height, 40 from 35. We took an action to … Read More
Breaking Through The Statistical Plateau
This is a difficult post with more questions than answers. Over time we’ll work to try to answer these questions. Some are just a matter of research, some are more philosophical and much more difficult to answer. The basic challenge is breaking through the statistical plateau that is the Great Britain worker fatality rate. For the past five or six … Read More
Why Cycle to Work Day is Important for Workplace Safety
Thursday 8th August is Cycle to Work Day in the UK. What has this got to do with safety in the workplace? Quite a lot actually. A 2018 Decathlon survey of more than 7,600 UK adults found that only 7% currently cycle to work. For the reader musing that you’re more likely to get killed cycling to work than through … Read More
Delivering Increased Control and Compliance Using e-permits
This post begins by summarising the benefits delivered by e-permits, the electronic permit to work software and work authorisation system, in bringing increased control and compliance to the existing paper process. It continues with a detailed “how” e-permits delivers these benefits. In Summary By providing critical information to the appropriate people just as they need it, e-permits helps ensure that the… … Read More
Using e-permits to Reduce Cost
The most recent HSE estimates put the cost to Great Britain of workplace injuries and new cases of work-related Ill Health at £15bn annually (for 2016/17). The costs only include self-reported injuries and new cases of ill-health attributable to working conditions. Despite the preponderance of injuries, the new cases of ill-health account for two-thirds of the total cost burden owing … Read More
