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ThePeakHealth & Safety LaboratoryAn agency of the Health & Safety Executive June 2010
Newsletter
Health&SafetyLaboratory T +44 (0)1298 218218 F +44 (0)1298 218635 www.hsl.gov.uk
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In This Issue Tower Crane Investigations Leading Safety Culture Energy Networks Association
Also in this issue... Interview with David Fishwick - Chief Medical Officer at HSL
In this edition we once again explore the
sheer breadth of HSL’s activities; from
tower crane failures, worker behaviour and
safety culture to wellbeing at work.
Underlying this diversity, however, are two
generic aspects of HSL’s approach;
learning from the past and transferring this
knowledge to others via practical, validated
solutions. Thus, our Chief Medical Officer
explains how previous industrial exposure
still affects workers today and how, by
improving well-being in the workplace,
organisations can help to ensure that their
workforce remain healthy in the future.
Similarly, we outline practical tools and
approaches such as our Safety Climate
Tool, as well as our work for the Energy
Networks Association on understanding
worker behaviour and organisational safety
culture. In all cases, we are proud to be
helping organisations to continuously
improve their health and safety
performance.
Welcome to The Peak
Health&SafetyLaboratory T +44 (0)1298 218218 F +44 (0)1298 218635 www.hsl.gov.uk
Eddie Morland
Chief Executive
Health and Safety Laboratory
Tower Crane Investigations
Understanding the cause of accidents is key to
preventing their recurrence. Major incident investigations
following the King’s Cross Underground, Buncefield
Oil Depot and Paddington rail disasters, have all
resulted in changes to designs, processes and
procedures. Other investigations indicate the need for
additional research or even new guidance or legislation.
At HSL, we provide practical support to HSE and other
agencies with their investigations. These may have
resulted in substantial property damage, serious
injury or fatality. We carry out 200-250 investigations
each year and our unique expertise and experience
means we are an essential member of the investigating
team. Our experts have also supported major incident
investigations around the world.
A good example of our work relates to tower crane
collapses. There are around 1800 conventional tower
cranes thought to be operating in Britain, with about
1300 in use at any one time. Eight people, including
a member of the public, have lost their lives in a
number of high profile tower crane collapses since
2000. At these incident sites HSL’s Engineering
Safety team and specialist photographers carried out
detailed examinations of the collapsed structures and
observed recovery operations. Various sections of the
cranes were then brought to HSL for further examination
and testing. Our specialised, large-scale test rigs are
able to replicate the forces experienced by a tower
craneand help determine the cause of collapse.
In response to public concern over these incidents,
the Government’s Work and Pensions Select Committee
recommended that a national crane register should be
established as part of a package of measures which
involves HSE, HSL and the construction industry
continuing to work together. As a direct result, The
Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes Regulations
2010 came into force on 6 April 2010.
The Regulations require certain information about
conventional tower cranes used on construction sites
to be notified to HSE. This will help improve the
control and management of risks by providing better
intelligence about tower crane use. HSL’s Mathematical
Sciences Unit played a key role in the implementation
of these Regulations by developing the web-enabled
database that will allow online notification by duty
holders. A Guidance Leaflet (INDG437) on complying
with the Regulations is available on the HSE website.
HSL’s Engineering Safety Unit is also undertaking
research into the effect of wind loading on the jib of a
luffing tower crane. A crane has been erected on our
Buxton site which has instrumentation fitted to measure
and record various operational parameters. The study
is providing valuable information on the effect of wind
speed when the jib of the crane is facing directly into
the wind and the facility has also been used to
recreate the conditions of a real-life, incident.
As these examples illustrate, HSL is committed to
continuing its provision of specialist investigation and
research expertise to help HSE and UK businesses
understand the causes of accidents and reduce the
risk of their recurrence.
If you would like more information contact:
Darren Whitehouse +44 (0)1298 218407darren.whitehouse@hsl.gov.uk
More information on the Safety Climate Tool can befound at www.safetyclimatetool.co.uk
‘Leading Health and Safety at Work” can be downloaded at www.hse.gov.uk/leadership/
ThePeak newsletter l Issue 5 June 2010
Business leaders can then use the results to guide
both strategy and resources in improving health and
safety performance.
Dr Caroline Sugden, one of HSL’s Human Factors
specialists, has worked across many industries to
implement the tool and recognises some of the key
issues to consider. “We know from experience that
the Safety Climate Tool can help businesses to identify
some of the barriers to improving safety and help
them to develop a clear plan for improvements.”
She adds “However, it is important that an organisation
is suitably prepared not only to roll-out the survey,
but also to be able and willing to act on the results”.
One organisation that has successfully used the tool
to highlight and address safety issues is United
Biscuits. They have been working hard to improve
the safety culture of the organisation since 2003. Our
team at HSL worked in partnership with United
Biscuits to undertake a safety culture evaluation to
assess the impact of the company’s safety initiatives
between 2003, when the tool was first applied, and
2009 when the new tool was reapplied.
They found a clear improvement in safety climate
over this period, indicating a more positive safety
culture. For example, accidents showed a steady
decline with the average number per month
reducing from 7.7 (2003) to 3.2 (2009).
John Johnstone, Health and Safety Manager at
United Biscuits, outlines the value of the tool: “This
provided both the evidence to prioritise operational
areas where improvements and development were
required, and a measure for monitoring progress.
We’ve moved forward in how we look at safety and
this has been reflected in the change in Safety
Climate Tool results.”
An effective health and safety management system
requires strong leadership. A joint report from the
Health and Safety Executive and the Institute of
Directors entitled “Leading Health and Safety at
Work” noted that those organisations with good
systems tended to have leaders who provide
visible, active commitment to health and safety,
encourage workforce involvement in health and
safety issues, and regularly monitor and review
performance. Many high profile safety incidents are
rooted in systemic leadership failures and a failure
to recognise poor health and safety performance as
a key business risk.
One of the challenges for business leaders is to
gauge the underlying attitudes and ‘culture’ of safety
within their organisation. At HSL we have developed,
and use, a suite of practical tools and techniques to
help businesses improve their health and safety
performance. One example is the newly revised
Safety Climate Tool (SCT).
The SCT measures an organisation’s ‘culture’ in
respect of safety and helps it to assess a number of
factors that are known to affect safety performance.
These factors include leadership of the company but
also cover organisational commitment, attitudes of
peers towards safety issues, the effectiveness of human
resources policies and how the organisation
approaches the investigation of incidents.
LeadingSafety Culture
Leading Health & Safety at Work
Energy NetworksAssociation
team worked directly with these companies to
conduct both focus groups and structured one-to-
one interviews.
These encompassed a range of individuals from
across the workforce, and focused on specific
areas which had been identified as particularly
relevant:
Understanding the hazards
Competence and training
Roles and responsibilities
Procedures
Supervision
Resources
Management commitment
Outcomes/BenefitsA comprehensive report of the findings was
produced for the benefit of both the ENA SHE
Committee and the ENA member companies
involved.
The research reported on the perceptions, opinions,
and understandings of the individuals and groups
who were interviewed. This information has directly
informed the new 5-year health and safety
strategy for the electricity industry ‘Powering
Improvement’. Furthermore, building on the findings,
the SHE Committee has agreed to develop a suite
of guidance documents defining the key issues that
need to be addressed to secure compliance and
ensure that risks are adequately managed.
Peter Coyle, Operations Director at ENA
commented, “The project carried out by HSL has
provided ENA with a useful indication of the
prevailing safety climate within the networks
industry in the UK. In a number of areas the work
helped to confirm what we previously believed, and
gave us an evidence base which has directly fed
into our new 5-year strategy.”
For more information contact Adam Mellor +44 (0)1298 218732adam.mellor@hsl.gov.uk
Case Study
Health&SafetyLaboratory T +44 (0)1298 218218 F +44 (0)1298 218635 www.hsl.gov.uk
The clientThe Energy Networks Association (ENA) is the
industry body for UK energy transmission and
distribution organisations. It acts in the interest of
the energy 'wires and pipes' sector to achieve
excellence in both its internal services and
relationships with stakeholders.
One of ENA's overriding goals is to enable its
members’ networks to be the safest, most reliable,
efficient and sustainable in the world.
The problem A number of incidents over recent years suggested
that experienced, highly-trained workers were
allowing themselves to be exposed to unnecessary
levels of risk whilst working with live electricity.
In light of this, ENA’s Safety, Health and Environment
(SHE) Committee took the decision to commission
independent research to gain a greater
understanding of the underlying behavioural and
safety culture within the electricity networks
sector. HSL was selected to perform this work.
What we didIn partnership with HSL, ENA selected two
member organisations to act as representatives for
the industry. Experts from HSL’s Work Psychology
.
Health&SafetyLaboratory T +44 (0)1298 218218 F +44 (0)1298 218635 www.hsl.gov.uk
What are the main benefits of early intervention?
In my view, keeping workers healthy is the most
important issue, although other benefits include
retaining an engaged and healthy workforce, with all
the financial benefits that go along with this not only
for workplaces, but also for the wider society. Keeping
a healthy and engaged workforce will become even
more important as our society gets older.
Keeping people at work is also important for their own
health, as a lot of research supports the fact that being
out of work is exceedingly bad for you and that once
you’ve been away through illness for 6 months the
chances of return are low. I think the recent change in
emphasis is important; when you are not well, your
doctor will identify what you can do, rather than
perhaps saying that you are too ill for any work.
What is the significance of well-beingin the workplace?
There is information to suggest that, where worker
well-being is good, an organisation actually performs bet-
ter. Personally, I embrace this issue. All of us need to
focus on improving well-being in our workplaces, as
engaged workers will be happier at work, more effective
and healthier. It is very important here that senior
individuals within organisations also support this. At HSL,
we are so convinced about these benefits that we have
formed our own Health, Work and Well-being Group,
helping to define the strategy and implement various
ideas. But we don’t just deal with well-being locally, as
HSL also works with a large number of national
organisations and employers to assist them in this area.
In addition, we work with various organisations across
Europe to co-ordinate research and exchange information
relating to worker wellbeing. We are leading various
projects here to better understand how to make simple
and practical changes for the better in workplaces.
There are very interesting and exciting opportunities at
the moment. Whilst we are better able to prevent and
deal with diseases caused by work, we also have many
exciting challenges to improve worker wellbeing, to
ensure the entire future workforce remain healthy at
work.
Interview
Do you think these diseases could havebeen prevented and, if so, how?
To a degree, yes. I sit weekly in clinic and see people
who’ve been potentially harmed by their work
environment, some now short of breath and not able
to climb stairs or even play with their grandchildren.
The patient is clearly at the end of a journey when they
see me in clinic, along which at certain points, systems
might have failed them, allowing lung disease to
develop. This is where the concept of the ‘patient
journey’ comes in. When workers travel along this
process and begin to develop symptoms, there should
be the opportunity for early intervention to get people
back to health and spot early cases of lung disease.
All people with responsibility for workplaces can make
a difference here by trying to identify problems at work
that might harm breathing, and to take medical advice.
Whose responsibility is it to recogniseearly symptoms in the workplace?
I think it’s everybody’s responsibility - the worker, the
employer, the legislator and many others, including the
supply chain. There are also other sets of
responsibilities which are more difficult to identify. For
example, primary care also has a responsibility to
identify early lung disease and make a potential
connection with the workplace.
If you work regularly with flour and you go to see your
family doctor or nurse, they should be aware that flour
can cause asthma. The same is true if you see
hospital specialists. HSE also has a very important role
here, but I believe that they can only fully solve these
problems by working with many other parties.
What does your role at HSL involve?
I work at HSL in the Centre for Workplace Health
(CWH), a tri-partite agreement between HSL, Sheffield
Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the
University of Sheffield. The benefit of this arrangement
is that all members of the CWH team are able to work
across traditional boundaries to address particular
health issues, including occupational respiratory illness.
CWH is also active nationally, convening the Group of
Occupational Respiratory Disease Specialists, which
has been invaluable in providing HSE with information
on new and emerging issues and helping identify
particular research needs.
CWH undertakes a significant amount of work on Hand
Arm Vibration Syndrome and we have also been
involved in addressing musculoskeletal issues in the
workplace.
What are the main occupational healthproblems that you see?
As a consultant respiratory physician I see patients
with breathing problems, that in part, reflect their
previous industrial exposures. Conditions include lung
cancer, asthma and rarer conditions.
I still see a significant amount of asbestos related
disease, a product of ‘historic’ asbestos exposure.
I also deal with more recently identified occupational
lung problems, including asthma related to cleaning
products and enzyme usage, mostly in cleaners and
bakers, and both asthma and alveolitis related to
contaminated metal working fluid exposure.
Dr David FishwickChief Medical Officer at HSL and Clinical Director of the Centre for Workplace Health.He is also a Consultant Respiratory Physicianat the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and aReader at Sheffield University.
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ThePeak newsletter l Issue 5 June 2010
A new Workplace Well-being Tool has been launched on the Business
Link website.This tool forms part of Health, Work and Well-being – a
government-led initiative to improve the health and well-being of working
age people. It replaces the existing Business Health Check tool and
provides a more user-friendly, online resource.
A Greener Future
The tool has been designed specifically to help employers improve the health
and well-being of people in their organisation. Through using the tool employers
can calculate the cost of employee ill-health, staff turnover and workplace
injuries to their business. They can also compare their results against bench-
marks in other similar organisations, get useful information on ways to improve
through ideas and case studies, and have the opportunity to build bespoke
business cases for their own health and well-being initiatives.
HSL’s Futures team has been commissioned by the
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work to
undertake a study into the potential health and safety
risks likely to face workers in ‘green’ jobs in 2020. The
two-year investigation will produce scenarios which
can then be used to make decisions which will help
shape the future of occupational health and safety in
industries such as wind turbine installation, hybrid and
electric vehicle manufacture and the energy efficiency
sector. The project is being led by HSL and also
includes experts from SAMI Consulting and the Belgian
and Estonian branches of Technopolis.
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HSL has recently provided the Energy Technologies
Institute (ETI) with a bespoke, professionally facilitated
awayday for its Executive Directors. ETI asked HSL to
design and deliver a tailored event so that its Directors
could review their approach, understand the latest
developments on the regulatory landscape and examine
HSL’s own experience of managing a large multi-
hazard site in order to inform their own discussions.
ETI Training Matt Clay, Principal Consultant with HSL, said: “ETI wereseeking a tailored approach to maximise the value
added by the event. Because ETI’s Directors have
substantial industrial experience, including in the major
hazard sector, a standard director’s duties programme
would not have been appropriate. Instead, we put
together a practical and interactive event, which focused
upon strategic risk management action planning and a
regulatory and good practice update”.
Well-being Tool Launched
HSL is running a new course based around the use of
the Assessment of Repetitive Tasks (ART) tool. HSE’s
newly launched tool helps recognise, assess and
reduce upper limb disorder risks in the workplace.
Delegates have the opportunity to practice using it
alongside the HSL team who helped develop it.
The ART tool can be downloaded for free at
www.HSE.gov.uk. The first one-day course, held in
Buxton in April, was fully subscribed and the next course
is scheduled for July 14th. For details of this and other
HSL courses visit www.hsl.gov.uk/training.aspx
The ART of Training
Newspage
The Workplace Well-being Tool is free and can be accessed at
www.businesslink.gov.uk/wwt