Occupational hazards - October/November 2019

I WAS delighted to open the recent IOSH 2019 conference in Birmingham. The conference, held from 16-17 September, really showcased all that is good about occupational safety and health and how we can progress together.

I focused on many areas of interest in my opening address. One of the key areas was that of new technologies and the impact they are having on the workplace. 

These new technologies are changing the way people work and, as a result, creating new opportunities for working people and the safety and health risks that come with them. We can consider how mobile technology, for example, has led to many more people working alone, mobile, and away from a central base, which has clear safety and health risks in most cases.

It is very important that the safety and health profession responds swiftly to these challenges, so we can continue the drive to protect working people and minimise harm.

There are two sides to this technology story, however, and what I would like to focus on are the opportunities that new technologies actually bring us to enhance our profession. 

When I walked around the exhibition at IOSH 2019, it was clear that there are many such technologies. A look through the conference programme also showed how much technology is on offer for us.

We have to embrace the opportunities that we are being provided with. We have to look at how they can improve our offer as a profession. Doing so will help us to enhance the way we look after working people, driving down the rates of workplace accidents and work-related ill health.

So, what are some of these new technologies?

IOSH has recently launched some research which has focused on the use of different technologies. 

One of these research projects, which was also showcased at the conference, has examined how virtual reality can provide valuable insights into workers’ behaviour during emergency evacuations.

This research was funded by IOSH and carried out at the University of Nottingham. They carried out a study using a multisensory virtual environment in which participants had to navigate towards a meeting room and begin some tasks before a virtual fire was started. The technology enabled their behaviour to be recorded and studied.

A second study also looked at the training effectiveness of the virtual environment. It showed that it was more successful than PowerPoint training for many areas like knowledge retention and attitudes towards health and safety with hands-on interaction.

Another project funded by IOSH, conducted at Glasgow Caledonian University, showed how digital apps can help construction project designers create safer buildings by improving their knowledge of hazards and means to mitigate their risks.

With research showing that up to half of construction accidents in the UK being connected to the design of the building, it is clear for all to see how important it is that designers consider safety in their work.

Both of these examples really demonstrate how new technologies can be harnessed for the good of the safety and health profession and in return help to protect working people.

While standards in safety and health have undoubtedly improved around the world in the past few decades, 2.78 million people still die every year in either a workplace accident or from work-related ill health. This is unacceptable. No one should have their life cut short or negatively impacted by the work they do. 

So, our profession needs to continue to strive for new ways of preventing injuries and fatalities in workplaces, and illness related to exposures at work. 

Emerging technologies might just help us unlock the door.

Professor Vincent Ho is the immediate past president of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). For more information, visit www.iosh.com