FEATURE
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
With increasing concerns about Great Britain’s occupational health record and recent legislation changes, Tanita Cross spoke to Alan Murray, Chief Executive of the BSIF about what’s on its agenda.
More than forty years after the launch of the Health and Safety at Work Act, Great Britain’s safety record is something to be proud of. In 2013/14, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reported that 133 workers were killed at work – less than half the figure from twenty years ago. Yet when it comes to occupational health issues, we’re still falling short.
Alan Murray took over the reins as chief executive of the British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) a little over a year ago and since then concerns about worker health have been at the forefront of his mind. He said: “Safety is something we do well in UK workplaces by and large. But we are not as concerned about the health of our workers. This needs to be addressed.”
With over 160 members from across the health and safety industry, the BSIF is in a strong position to influence attitudes and approaches to health problems in the UK workforce. For this reason, one of Alan’s early moves in the job was to revitalise the federation’s campaigns on occupational health issues.
In particular, the BSIF is worried about the prevalence of long latency conditions – those that take a long time to develop following exposure to the agent that caused them. Respiratory diseases such as mesothelioma and COPD are among the most common conditions, causing 12,000 deaths each year in Great Britain.
Arguably, this figure largely reflects past working conditions, but 28,000 people who worked in the last year are now suffering with breathing or lung problems they thought were caused or made worse by work. It seems lessons haven’t been learned.
Clean Air? – Take Care! is a joint initiative between the BSIF and HSE
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to teach the industry how to reduce occupational respiratory disease. Alan explained that the campaign is currently being refreshed and updated for today’s workforce. It centres on a range of national activities to raise awareness among RPE users, employers, fit testers and advisors on the correct selection, deployment, use, maintenance and storage of RPE.
It’s not only our lungs that the BSIF is keen to protect. “We have a long- term latency issue with hearing,” said Alan. At the Health & Safety Expo at London’s ExCeL this June, the BSIF will launch an initiative called Listen today, hear tomorrow to target this problem area.
Alan commented: “It is going to be aimed at the younger market with the use of technology like apps. The message is ‘listen today and you’ll be around with your hearing intact for an awful lot longer’. Loss of hearing is not going to kill you but it’s about quality of life and the quality of your time.”
With HSE recording 40,000 new cases each year, work-related diseases are also firmly on the BSIF’s radar: “We also have a campaign that’s been about for a while called It’s in your hands, which is about hand and skin and now incorporates skin cancer. This is a major issue with more and more people working outside.”
Awareness campaigns make up only a small part of the BSIF’s contribution to protecting the workforce. The federation feels passionately about making the industry’s supply chain 100% safe and reliable. “We’re very keen on upscaling the supply chain, so we have launched a safe supplier certification programme,” said Alan.
“SAFETY IS SOMETHING WE DO WELL IN UK
WORKPLACES BY AND
LARGE. BUT WE ARE NOT AS CONCERNED ABOUT THE HEALTH OF OUR
WORKERS. THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.”
“We work on the basis that there’s an awful lot more legislation and hurdles to get over if you’re opening an off-sales or a sandwich shop than if you’re selling safety products.
“We run the Registered Safety Suppliers Scheme which is a binding declaration that the safety equipment a company offers meets appropriate standards, fully complies with PPE regulations and is appropriately CE marked.”
The BSIF also runs an accreditation scheme called Fit2Fit to establish the competence of any person performing RPE fit testing. HSE sits on the programme’s governing body and 200 people have now been accredited.
In recent months, Alan has also led the organisation’s first foray into public affairs in Westminster. He called it the “first dipping of our toes” into the world of politics when the
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