FEATURE
THE CONSEQUENCES OF RISK
Gary Escott, Managing Director of SiteZone Safety, explains how technology in risk mitigation impacts the human factors behind occupational health and safety.
There comes a point when our clients realise that there are risks on site that they can actively mitigate using technology. We often confirm this by carrying out thorough site surveys.
In high-risk sectors, like construction, waste and recycling, workers operate alongside the stark possibility that they might get hit by a work vehicle on their site. Heavy
and cumbersome plant vehicles are being operated, while workers on foot must carry out certain functions alongside. At some point, the margin for collision avoidance will narrow, and there’s the potential that both parties will ‘bump’ into each other. Sometimes, fatally.
This problem is not so unusual. Whether you’re a large or small contractor, if your employees are working around vehicles, the risk exists. The knock-on effects of collision incidents affect several aspects of operations.
Staff stress: If you’re constantly worried about colliding with a worker, while operating a large plant with blind spots, it takes a toll. Being fearful at work affects wellbeing and performance.
The aftermath: Companies not only have to manage the incident, but also its aftermath as it can send shockwaves throughout an organisation and even a whole sector. If there’s a fatality it means managing the morale of the rest of the team; communicating with stakeholders; then there’s determining the error that caused the accident and explaining why it happened. The effects of this can reverberate throughout the team for a long period. In addition, there’s the family’s suffering when their loved one doesn’t make it home.
Litigation: The entanglement of insurance and legal responsibilities can be lengthy, time consuming, and expensive for employers; not to mention unwelcome red tape for families.
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The ability to capture all breaches and access that data is a significant game changer when driving behavioural change throughout a workforce. Site managers can scrutinise recorded information on near collision incidents, determining where common errors occur that can be avoided in future.
MENTAL WELLBEING AT WORK Generating accurate risk data can be particularly poignant
when it impacts the human condition directly. The mental wellbeing of workers is a hot topic of concern in 2021. We’ve been through a pandemic, with our mental capacities stretched while adapting to stringent changes.
However, occupational mental health is on the radar for us all the time, as we cater for workers in high collision risk jobs. Despite existing safety practices, we’ve consistently found that proximity warning technology has helped to alleviate the anxiety of everyone connected to a working site when it comes to collisions risk.
For example, the banksman role was devised as a safety intermediary between mobile plant and personnel on site. Ironically, the banksman is often a victim of injury from plant because they must work near it. By studying consistent accident data, and then installing a targeted proximity warning system, sometimes the banksman can be removed from the equation safely, while also protecting other personnel from collision. The plant operator also benefits, by not having to worry about hitting anyone in his blind spots.
This shows that using technology to close those gaps is reassuring and eases the stress considerably during the working day; it’s not just about the economic gain, improved project delivery, or reduced costs. The fact that you’re using a proven safety solution for the improved welfare of site workers is significant culturally. As safety professionals, we must strive to ensure that every site employee ends their day unharmed at work.
https://proximitywarning.com/
www.tomorrowshs.com
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