HEALTH, SAFETY & WELLBEING
Moving objects: As an FM you will understand the importance of separating pedestrians from moving hazards such as pallet trucks, trolleys, automated machinery and vehicles. But no matter how careful you are, you can’t always anticipate how people are going to act. Someone could be pushing or pulling an overloaded trolley along an aisle or corridor and may not have full visibility. The next thing you know, they’ve crashed into someone coming the other way or into some racking.
Introducing simple measures such as setting maximum loads for a trolley, stating that the task must be completed over two trips as well as training can help to overcome potential incidents.
Falls from height: These are always a major concern so you will undoubtedly have put measures in place to protect anyone working at height at your premises. This could include installing guardrails on your flat roof, making sure the correct ladder is used for specific tasks, or even changing working practices so people don’t have to work at height in the first instance. But have you covered everything?
Workers in industrial premises can be exposed to a fall risk if they have to load and unload pallets onto mezzanine floors, while people accessing your roof for maintenance purposes may not see a fragile rooflight that is covered with moss or leaves, or they could simply slip on the surface. Safety measures such as installing a pallet gate on mezzanines to separate the workers from the fall hazard, keeping your roof clean, protecting fragile surfaces and providing a safe, demarcated route on the roof with walkway matting will help to reduce the risk of an accident.
Mental/Emotional risks: Managing risks in the workplace is not just about tackling physical hazards. Sometimes mental and emotional hazards present the biggest risk. Events such as the Covid pandemic have helped to increase awareness of mental health and push the emotional wellbeing of employees to the top of the agenda in many businesses.
www.tomorrowsfm.com
“There are some risks that are not so obvious, and these are the ones that could quite easily end up becoming a costly injury.”
A noisy workplace, poor air quality, extreme temperatures and unsafe equipment and machinery can put unseen pressure on an employee’s mental and emotional state. Following guidance such as that laid out in ISO 45003:2021 will help you to manage psychological risks and prevent work related injury and ill health so that workers can go about their duties without the fear of suffering physical harm.
Moving with the times will help to increase safety The world of facilities management changes at a rapid pace. Post-pandemic many companies have settled into a more hybrid way of working and we have seen a significant shift in how people see the workplace and what they expect from it.
Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is becoming more and more important to health, wellbeing and productivity. This will place greater pressure on facilities management to monitor temperature, noise levels and air quality in the workplace, and that’s where technology is starting to play a major role, particularly IoT (Internet of Things) and AI.
IoT and AI driven technologies are game changes for FMs as they allow devices and sensors to be connected to provide real time data to identify faults and performance issues, manage energy consumption and implement proactive maintenance programmes.
This in turn will help you to control risks so that you can provide a safe working environment by monitoring and identifying potential hazards, even the hidden ones, and prevent costly injury claims.
www.watco.co.uk TOMORROW’S FM | 37
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