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NEWSFLASH


IOSH HONES IN ON POLICY


WITH NEW HIRE The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has appointed Shelley Frost as its new Executive Director – Policy.


Shelley Frost moves to the Leicestershire-based charity and membership organisation from Aggregate Industries UK where, as Head of Sustainability, she led on the environment, sustainable construction and external engagement.


Shelley’s role at AI and her previous post of Regional Director, Environment and Public Affairs, for Lafarge Aggregates and Concrete, saw Shelley create and deliver new strategies or governance structures for those organisations, and engage stakeholders on a national and international level.


In an earlier role as Director, Health and Safety for the Construction Confederation, she worked closely with business and government, giving technical advice including advising Ministers. Shelley has also worked as HM Inspector of Health and Safety for the Health and Safety Executive, where she investigated major incidents, worked on health policy and managed research projects.


LOSING 25% SLEEP A NIGHT HINDERS JOB


PERFORMANCE Bensons for Beds has been educating its own staff on the importance of getting a good night’s sleep, after teaming up with The Sleep School and sleep expert Dr Guy Meadows.


By carrying out a sleep deprivation study, Bensons for Beds demonstrated how just four nights of bad sleep can severely reduce the ability of its workers to perform well.


Dr Meadows split the participants into two groups. The first group was told to sleep for 25% less than normal for four nights in a row, and the second group was told to sleep normally for three nights and then for 50% less on the last night – a total of four hours.


The results demonstrated that four nights of 25% less sleep resulted in a clear negative impact on the daytime performance of the group of Bensons for Beds Managers. They showed greater levels of sleepiness, higher levels of anxiety and irritability, consistently lower mental performance, and slightly reduced physical strength.


WORKERS’ HEALTH AND SAFETY NEEDS


NOT BEING MET Over two thirds of employees (68%) have said that their health and safety needs are not being wholly met by their current employer.


In the same survey, conducted by YouGov on behalf of Seton, 14% of employers admitted that there is nobody within their organisation trained in any type of workplace health and safety.


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The group that slept normally for 50% less for one night only fared much better, recording much lower levels of sleepiness, better mood levels and even an improvement in physical ability. This can be explained by the fact that the first group experienced cumulatively less sleep than the second.


Tim Marsden, Marketing Director at Bensons for Beds, commented: “This research shows just how important sleep is, not only to our wellbeing, but also to how well we perform at work, and consequently how well our company or organisation achieves commercially.


“We hope that managers and decision makers will see this research and really start to think about how to encourage their workforce to sleep more and sleep better.”


The research also revealed that 32% of employers were aware of accidents over the past 12 months that could have been avoided through the use of correct health and safety guidelines and procedures.


The preventable accidents reported included unsafe actions resulting in slips, trips and falls (6%) and falls from height (3%). The Health and Safety Executive has reported that 40% of all reported major injuries are caused by slips and trips, making this the most common cause of injury at work.


According to the regulator’s latest report, 4.7 million days were lost in 2013/14 due to workplace injury, and economic costs to Britain from workplace injury or illness totalled £14.2 billion.


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