Hospitals & healthcare
Working safely is in the interest of all workers – both the employers and employees. Health and safety training is a big part of changing attitudes towards taking risks in the workplace and can make a real difference to staff retention, productivity and accident prevention. Mark Krull, from Logic4training, explains the benefits and why HVAC workers should take note
Don’t risk the cost of poor
health and safety I
n the UK, a worker is fatally injured almost every working day, according to figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). In the construction industry sector – which covers a broad range of activities, from general construction, repair and retrofitting of buildings to civil engineering and building services engineering, things like plumbing, electrical work and HVAC – self-reported workplace injuries are disproportionately high. While these groups face a broad range of specific
risks in the workplace, for example, legionella exposure, there are some hazards that are common to all skilled manual workers. Last year in the construction sector, 51% of all non-fatal injuries to employees were caused by two kinds of incident: slips, trips or falls on same level (33%) and handling, lifting or carrying (18%), which also accounted for 3% of workplace fatalities. Falls from a height, the most common cause of fatal injury to workers in recent years, accounted for 8% of non-fatal injuries. Appropriate workplace health and safety training
is required by law, but beyond that it protects workers from harm, prevents hefty fines for non-compliance and fosters a strict safety culture in your company that becomes embedded in every activity you undertake. Workplace health and safety – the law The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) enshrines the general principles of health and safety in the workplace, imposing a duty of care on employers to take all steps “so far as is reasonably practicable” to protect anyone connected to their business. This could include employees, temporary staff and sub-contractors, business partners and the general public.
18 May 2022
In addition to this, employers may need to be aware of specific regulations, for example, the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, Work at Height Regulations 2005 or Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), together with HSE codes of practice and government-issued guidance. It’s important to note that health and safety legislation places a duty of care on the employee as well as the employer. Health and safety training courses provide essential information about workplace risks, arming employees with adequate instructions for minimising and responding to these risks and reducing the likelihood of serious incidents.
The cost of poor health and safety
Severe health and safety breaches put people connected to your business at risk and can lead to life changing injuries and illnesses – or even death. In addition to personal horror, incidents such as these can result in heavy legal costs, fines and/or prison sentences for those involved. More commonly, millions of days of work are lost
each year as a result of workplace illness and injury, including fatigue, stress, repetitive strain injury (RSI) and work-related upper limb disorders (WRULDs). HSE’s latest estimates show that between 2017/18 and 2019/20, an average of 610,000 workers were injured in workplace accidents and a further 559,000 workers suffered a new case of ill health which they believe to be caused or made worse by their work.
The impacts of this are felt by individuals and their families, employers, government and wider society. In both human and financial terms, workplace illness and injury costs around £16.2 billion every year.
What can employers do?
Employers should undertake regular and appropriate risk assessments and provide essential information, instruction and training about general and workplace- specific risks. The best way to approach this is from the top down;
take an active approach, embed health and safety culture into your business and prioritise training from day one, providing regular updates in response to legislative changes, new working practices, technological updates or HSE cases. Health and safety training has a bad reputation among employees and can be seen as tedious or a waste of time. However, online training courses are designed to be timely and affordable, providing interactive and engaging training over just an hour or two. For employers and larger organisations, online
health and safety courses are an ideal way to stay compliant, providing every employee with an optimum learning experience to ensure critical information is retained and applied, reducing risk and improving workplace safety.
Serious incidents do not only happen to other people and the clock cannot be turned back – would you risk the cost of poor health and safety?
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