Occupational hazards

The two worst incidents I have been involved with in my career were falls from height. In one of them, a colleague broke his back in four places. I can never forget the feeling of walking into the hospital and hearing him screaming in pain from the other side of the ward. I then saw him in his hospital bed with his family around him, all wondering why it happened.

The other incident was a fatality. The trauma of picking up the pieces of a business after the tragic loss of a colleague is something I still carry with me.

Unfortunately, these are not isolated incidents. According to Health and Safety Executive stats, 50 people died after falling from height in 2023-24. Plenty more will have been injured – many of them seriously. And that’s just in the UK; I dread to think how many people die falling from height at work around the world.

That’s the reason that working at height is a focus area of my year as President of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). 

Like with many workplace accidents, a large proportion of the falls from height that happen at work will have been preventable. And that must make it even harder for those who have lost a loved one to come to terms with their loss.

It’s crucial that businesses have strong, robust measures in place when people are working from height. In fact, following the hierarchy of control, this must start with asking if the working at height is needed to start with. 

As OSH professionals, we have a major role to play in managing the risks, advising and guiding businesses and colleagues. But we must also look after ourselves.

While families and friends bear a huge burden after a fatality or serious injury, there is also a significant impact on OSH professionals. As I mentioned, I am still affected by those two awful workplace incidents. We must ensure we seek support when needed to be able to perform to the best of our abilities. 

Health and safety can feel like a lonely career. But it’s a team sport. We cannot create a safe and healthy world of work without the input of others, and we cannot make the impact we need to without each other. 

One way we can do this is to share our stories. As I mentioned earlier, many of us have some harrowing stories to tell – we shouldn’t shy away from telling them.

The power of storytelling can’t be ignored: consider the stories we tell to support each other in knowing we’re not alone in this industry; the stories we tell to remind everyone that what we do is more important than a technical knowledge exercise, that what we do helps bring people home; and the stories we tell to bring people along with us on our journey. Essentially, storytelling is crucial.

While I’m still affected by those two awful accidents, they drive me to seek to ensure no one else has to suffer. We need to keep working together to make the world of work safer and healthier.

Kelly Nicoll is president at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. For more information, visit www.iosh.com