FEATURE Driving


Be it a van, mobile plant, tractor, crane, excavator, truck or forklift, each motor vehicle comes with its own attendant set of risks. Up to 19% of fatal injuries in the workplace from 2015 to 2020 resulted from being struck by a moving vehicle, with 20 in the year 19/20 alone.


Working from height


The most frequent cause of incidents across the board, falling from height accounts for up to 26% of all fatal injuries at work and a staggering further 200,970 non-fatal accidents. Working-at-height medical assessments – a subsection of safety-critical medicals – are specifically designed to ensure that your employees are in top condition before undertaking such a task.


HIGH-RISK LABOUR ENVIRONMENT WORK Among the most pertinent examples of this type


of work are those who work in forestry, fishing and agriculture, construction, manufacturing, the energy industries and (perhaps surprisingly) the accommodation and foodservice industry. Typically these areas will have more environmental risk than other sectors due to extraneous factors like working at sea, with large falling objects, moving machinery, overheating, overuse of antibacterial solvents, risk of burns and constant exposure to sharp instruments.


"AN SCM PROVIDES ADVISORY INDEMNITY, AN EXTREMELY USEFUL TOOL IF COMPLICATIONS ARISE FOR BOTH EMPLOYEE AND EMPLOYER ALIKE."


WHAT ARE THE HUMAN COSTS OF SAFETY-


CRITICAL TASKS? According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report of 2020, these latter five sectors made up the statistical outliers for workplace injury, with agriculture, forestry and fishing by far the most dangerous industry. This is down to a combination of factors, as often this particular field will involve heavy machinery, driving, working from height and the additional hazard of working with large cattle, falling objects and of course being at sea for extended periods. Put simply, it combines every other safety-critical task into one broad sector.


These factors can result in serious long-term effects. Along with workplace violence, they are responsible for 76% of all non-fatal injuries across the board. The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) found that this amounted to 65,427 instances over the years 2019/20; whereas the Labour Force Survey’s (LFS) self-report publication over the same time period shows an astonishing 693,000 non-fatal injuries.


With HS2, the risks are similarly multi-faceted: not only are workers subjected to all four categories of safety-critical tasks continually, but the added danger of structural collapse is ever-present. Indeed, back in October 2019, homeowner Hero Granger-Taylor, who


twitter.com/TomorrowsHS


was 65 at the time, brought a case against HS2 Ltd for judicial review after she had received an engineer’s report that showed planned tunnels near her home could cause potential catastrophe. A 10-metre high, 120-year-old wall was purported to potentially collapse into the new tunnels below and/or the existing West Coast mainline. While the case was ultimately rejected in May of the following year, the spectre of danger still looms large over the project.


WHAT EFFECT DOES THIS HAVE ON THE


COUNTRY? The subsequent cost to the UK economy of injury whilst undertaking safety-critical tasks cannot be underestimated: the LFS estimates that approximately 6.3m working days were lost from 19/20 due to injury, amounting to £5.6bn in annual costs. Per individual case, this averages to £1.7m per fatal injury and £8,800 per non-fatal injury. Astonishing numbers – and numbers which the UK economy and employers at large can ill afford at this trying time. However, it is individual employees rather than government or employers that bear the brunt of this financial cost, with up to £9.6bn of the overall £16.2bn lost to injury and work-related ill health in 2018/19 put at the feet of the labour force themselves.


WHAT CAN COMPANIES DO TO MINIMISE RISK? To avoid becoming yet another contributor to these


grim statistics - especially if you are already aware that the next job or project you or your business is about to undertake comes with significant risk, as with HS2 – then it is highly advised that your first step be a pre-employment safety-critical medical management referral.


This will include many of the tests mentioned above, but may also include a K-10 Questionnaire (a specialised anxiety and depression checklist) as well as an Epsworth Sleepiness Scale test, a measure designed to ascertain your everyday level of weariness and thereby how likely you are to fall asleep at work.


Around one-fifth of SCMs will result in a further referral – naturally, those jobs which pose the greatest risk may require further assistance to mitigate potential hazards. That said, there will be a proportion of attendants who do not fail the test(s) yet may still be referred on as a precaution. This is to ensure the highest standards possible and is one of the reasons why the UK, despite its large-scale construction projects, remains among the safest places in Europe to work according to Eurostat.


This commitment to robust best practices shows no signs of abating, with the popularity of safety-critical medicals increasing exponentially over time. The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn its value into sharp focus, with numbers consistently high even during the peak of lockdown restrictions. With wider society now gradually easing out of coronavirus measures, and HS2 work reaching new peaks, there can be no more pertinent time to jump on the bandwagon – and futureproof you and your business in the process.


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