Subtle Change to Health and Safety Enforcement in the UK:
At Christmas we look forward to spending time with friends and family. Even in this consumer driven society, good health is considered by the wealthy and not so wealthy alike, as really important. This months article looks into how work related health conditions have now become a bigger issue than workplace safety.
Because of this the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and other enforcement bodies are being encouraged to put the same or higher emphasis on Health issues, as they do with Safety issues. This has led to a slight but noticeable change in trends of enforcement action taken against organisations.
Last year 133 workers were killed in work related incidents. Our performance on Safety issues in the workplace and in particular the number of workplace fatal accidents has been on a downward trend over the last 40 years, since the Health and Safety at Work Act came into force in 1974.
Health and Safety professionals though have been increasing criticised for "shouting" safety while whispering "health".
Around 4,000 people a year die from Asbestos related illnesses this is increasing year on year and is likely to peak at around 5,000 in about 2018 or so, before it starts to come down again. People who suffer from Asbestos related conditions place a great burden on the National Health services and also are likely to be unable to work for a number of years before they die.
Around 8,000 work related cancer deaths occur each year due to all manner of exposures to substances in the workplace including the following:
- Organic solvents
- Mineral oils
- Wood dust
- Asbestos
- Diesel fumes
- Biological agents
- Petrol fumes (unleaded petrol contains benzene which is a known carcinogen).
Muscular skeletal problems including work related upper limb disorders and vibration white finger are responsible for a very high proportion of long term sickness in the workplace: manual handling, ergonomic considerations (such as display screen equipment), vibration exposure and repetitive actions over long periods of time all play their part.
The biggest reason for long term sickness, in the workplace, is work related stress. Employers have a legal duty to control the levels of stress within the workplace and help workers, who are suffering from work related stress back into work.
The HSE estimate that work related harm is responsible for 28 million absences per year at a cost to the UK economy of £14.2 billion. This figure does not take into account though additional benefit payments or additional costs to the NHS, incurred in treating such patients. The HSE also estimate 1.2 Million people in the UK are suffering from work related illnesses.
How will this affect my organisation?
UK Health and Safety enforcement authorities are likely to still take action against companies putting the safety of workers in jeopardy but much higher burden of work related health issues, is going to lead to increased scrutiny on how employers control the risk from work related health issues:
- Asbestos management
- Manual Handling
- Display Screen Equipment
- Vibration exposure
- Noise induced hearing loss
- Hazardous substances
- Workplace ergonomics
- Excessive Work related stress
- Night shift working
Medical surveillance is essential part of any health risk management strategy. If health issues in the work place are still occurring, it is likely that your health risk management is not up to the required legal standard.
Wallett HSE Services have seen increased enforcement action taken against organisations on work related health issues. Improvement notices, prohibition notices and prosecutions are more likely now on health issues and penalties imposed are much higher than they were say 10 years ago.
Also the affect on workers health of working night shifts can not be underestimated. All studies in to shift working say that night shift workers are much more likely to be obese, suffer from depression, heart disease, become diabetic and also there are some cancers associated with shift working.
Women who work long term nights for instance are twice a likely to suffer from breast cancer than the general population.
Medical surveillance for night shift workers has been a legal requirement for a number of years now, due to these issues.
Organisations should now to start to consider how work related activities affect workers health more seriously, morally it the right thing to do but if you want to talk about the harsh reality, the level of fines and compensation awarded for work related illnesses has significantly increased, in the last few year. Compensation for Mesothelioma, an Asbestos related cancer is usually over £200,000 and fines for "potential" Asbestos Exposure can be around £100,000 based on recent test cases.
Recent court cases awarding workers compensation from Repetitive Strain injury from inappropriate computer workstation setup have exceeded £100,000.
Past occupational exposure to known and probable carcinogens is estimated to account for about 5% of cancer deaths and 4% of cancer registrations currently occurring each year in Great Britain.
This equates to about 8,000 cancer deaths and 13,500 new cancer registrations each year.
Past asbestos exposure is the leading cause of deaths from occupational cancer today. Other major causes of occupational cancer include silica, solar radiation, mineral oils and shift work.