Health and Safety
| Managing workplace transport |
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| Written by Roger Bibbings, Occupational Safety Adviser, RoSPA, 2008 | |
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Every year, thousands of people suffer injuries related to workplace transport. Roger Bibbings of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) offers some ideas on how facilities managers can get to grips with the range of issues that come under the 'workplace transport' banner.
Most of the big health and safety problems are not limited to just one sector, but cut across industry boundaries.
Being struck by a moving vehicle was the third most common cause of fatality among the 241 workers who were killed in total in 2006/07, coming after falling from a height and being struck by a moving or falling object. It must also be remembered that thousands of people suffer other injuries related to workplace transport. Incidents reported to the HSE show that 1,518 workers (employees - 1,449; self-employed - 69) sustained major workplace transport injuries in 2006/07, with a further 4,233 workers (employees - 4,196; self-employed - 37) suffering over three-day workplace transport injuries. More than 150 members of the public were also hurt. Again, it is interesting to note the types of workplace transport accident connected with the injuries. For major workplace transport injuries suffered by employees (i.e. not including self-employed workers), which were reported to both the HSE and local authorities, the breakdown for 2006/07 was as follows:
And the breakdown for over three-day injuries suffered by employees in 2006/07 was:
A great deal of work is ongoing to reduce the level of workplace transport injuries. Sources of helpIn RoSPA's contibution to Facilities Manager 2007, we discussed how life as a facilties manager can be likened to that of a juggler, due to the vast array of issues requiring attention. We suggested that health and safety was just one of these issues, and that it was a subject area itself comprising many different elements. Continuing the theme, it is clear that there are also a wide range of issues to be considered under the banner of 'workplace transport' as indicated by a quick scan down the HSE's online list of 23 factsheets and 17 items of suggested further reading related to vehicles at work. Because of this, some health and safety, site or facilities managers no doubt lack confidence in their ability to identify the hazards correctly, assess the risks and implement the right control measures to ensure the safe management of vehicles at the workplace. But, as we learned last year in relation to health and safety in general, help is available. The HSE's website includes a comprehensive section dedicated to workplace transport. In addition to statistics and frequently asked questions, it includes the Route Map, which is an online guide bringing together details of legislation, guidance and good practice that could be useful in the management of workplace transport risks across all industry sectors. Launched last year, the Route Map did not duplicate or replace existing guidance, such as Workplace transport safety: An employers' guide (HSG136), nor did it introduce new regulatory requirements. Instead, it was designed to provide easy directions to existing information. The Route Map covers four core issues in the management of workplace transport, each one being backed up by key messages:
In addition to consulting guidance, such as the Route Map, some facilities managers can get value by meeting their peers in other organisations and health and safety experts to talk about developments within a particular sphere, such as workplace transport, or to discuss site-specific issues and solutions. To give people this opportunity, RoSPA and the HSE have hosted a joint conference and briefings on managing workplace transport risks, covering the Route Map, what an HSE inspector looks for and how some firms are managing workplace transport in practice. The management of workplace transport risks is also an issue covered by health and saftey training providers, including RoSPA. In addition to running scheduled courses, a good provider would always be willing to discuss the specific requirements of an individual firm, enabling a more tailored approach to be offered, perhaps through in-company training or on-site consultancy. Systems and cultureAs with health and safety in general, managing workplace transport effectively cannot be achieved by one-off interventions such as putting staff through a training course or implementing a one-way system. Therefore, before you start looking for hazards, assessing risks and reviewing your precautions, you need to look at whether a robust 'system' - policies, people and procedures - is in place for managing health and safety on an ongoing basis. This was confirmed by an HSE-commissioned report into the causes and prevention of workplace transport accidents, which stated: "It is considered that workplace transport safety can only be achieved through the implementation of an entire system, including: safety documentation; risk assessment; accident, incident and near-miss reporting and analysis; training and education; communication; risk assessment and the implementation of control measures to reduce identified risks. If one or several elements of the system are omitted, the system becomes less effective." Underpinning such a system should be a positive safety culture, encompassing everyone from board-level directors and on-site managers to the workforce. In fact, in its preliminary work with stakeholders to decide how best to go about meeting injury reduction targets, the HSE's programme on workplace transport discovered that simply introducing more stringent driver training and regulatory changes would not address what was perceived as the key issue: the culture surrounding working with vehicles. Due to this culture, which is often characterised by rushing, because of systems such as pay-per-load, it is crucial that employers think creatively about how to involve their workforce in the management of workplace transport. Working together to develop a good health and safety culture has to be a team effort, with ownership and commitment to safety built throughout the workforce, and indeed extending to other firms, including clients, suppliers or contractors. As well as the legal requirement to consult workers and their representatives on health and safety, involving individuals and teams in operational decision-making also makes practical sense. Not only do employees have a wealth of knowledge that should be harnessed to aid the development of safe working practices, but involving them can lead to a better buy-in from the whole workforce. It is only through working together to prevent workplace transport accidents that significant and sustained improvements can come about, lives can be saved and injuries reduced. Further informationRoger Bibbings, Occupational Safety Adviser, RoSPATel: 0121 248 2000 Fax: 0121 248 2001 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it www.rospa.com |
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