Protect What Matters - June 2024

ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH and Safety (EHS) sits at the heart of many an organisation – from food and beverage, utilities, health and social care sectors, through to intralogistics and industrial and manufacturing operations – and the duty to keep people and product safe is an important one. But the challenges for EHS professionals are ever-present and mounting. With factors affecting compliance including culture, mental health and wellbeing, inclusive PPE and sustainability to consider, the evolving landscape is a minefield to navigate.

To unveil some of the challenges and priorities and explore some of the ways to tackle and achieve them, RS conducted its second annual industry survey from which it created the 2024 Health & Safety report, Striving for Excellence.

Delving into the report, a variety of ongoing and emerging themes present themselves.

Confidence in EHS capabilities is high but does that translate in reality?

The Striving for Excellence report highlighted that most businesses, according to more than 850survey respondents, are confident in their EHS capabilities and ranked them high, or extremely high in a number of areas, from management, reporting and culture, to their ability to protect both employees and end users. Almost 90 per cent of participants cited this. Furthermore, accident prevention was rated the highest in terms of having a business strategy around it (86% cited this) and the highest priority area of compliance.

But data from the HSE’s latest Health and Safety at Work report – which gives Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) figures – shows numbers of people killed in work-related accidents is high, at 135. Around half a million suffer musculoskeletal disorders and an estimated 1.8 million are affected by work-related ill-health. So with a disparity between confidence levels and instances of death, injury or ill-health, what more can HSE professionals do to keep workers safe?

Culture is a big factor and this can vary from business to business and affect compliance, which is ultimately how organisations keep workers safe. Size of business makes a difference: our survey found that the larger companies demonstrate strong safety culture. And organisations need to stay abreast of the emergence of mental health and its effect on compliance and culture. This was highlighted in the survey results where three quarters of respondents claimed to have a focus on mental health; although only just over half felt confident in their capabilities in this area. This shows a growing awareness of this big issue within the EHS arena, but that there is still a way to go when it comes to competency. 

Having the right key performance indicators (KPIs) in place is also crucial in maintaining competency. While 73 per cent of respondents cited they used KPIs to measure accident rates, that leaves more than a quarter who don’t. which is a surprising statistic and an area organisations should really be looking to address. But with risk factors like skills shortages (cited by 47% of respondents) and budget cuts (cited by 41%) adding pressure, getting these figures up through evolution of processes could be a challenge.

Fit-for-purpose PPE continues to be a hot topic

With PPE being the last line of defence from a safety perspective, getting it right is crucial. This seems to be an increasingly recognised consideration with almost half of survey respondents agreeing selection of the correct PPE product as the most important factor. Cost as a factor in PPE procurement has reduced: 11 per cent cited it this year compared with 14 per cent last year, which indicates HSE professionals are prioritising other important factors like getting the right product, fit for purpose and the wearer.

The hot topic of inclusive PPE showed to be exactly that, with survey respondents banging the drum for better options for women in areas of footwear, workwear and high-visibility clothing. Overall, 82 per cent of respondents believe more needs to be done around better PPE options for women, but only one per cent ranked it as an important factor when purchasing PPE. With a quarter of respondents claiming 40 per cent of their workforce are PPE-wearing women, the prominence of this topic needs to translate into real action. Simply pinking and shrinking PPE is no longer an option.

The report highlighted that more than a third (37%) of respondents cite counterfeit or substandard PPE as a real issue in the industry and this further makes the case for working with reputable partners with verified, transparent supply chains. This will ensure that the products being procured are correctly tested and certified to the appropriate standard and are from ethical supply chain sources. 

There is also higher consideration of more sustainable options. In fact, the survey results highlighted sustainability as an increasingly high priority area, with 78 per cent of survey respondents saying they would pay a premium for sustainable products. But with only two per cent citing sustainability as an important purchase factor, there is a real gap and clearly a need for better education.

Many organisations aren’t aware of the true economics around buying more sustainably, always believing it to be the more expensive option. When initial cost of item is compared with overall cost of ownership, the case for choosing more sustainable products becomes compelling. In some cases, particularly as the price differential decreases, it’s fair to claim the sustainable option as more cost effective than the alternative.

On the topic of sustainability, the response from survey respondents is highlighting a move toward recycling PPE. While 41 per cent manage this in-house, 29 per cent outsource to a third party. When it comes to items like textiles, firms like Avena – with which RS partners – offer recycling options. Organisations are increasingly more aware of these services as well as more inclined to opt for them, as the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) agenda gathers pace.

The Striving for Excellence report was based on the findings of 891 survey respondents working in H&S roles in the UK and Ireland and covered a wide variety of sectors including manufacturing, energy and utilities, public services, logistics and retail, among others. The report also delves into four broad industry categories: RS was keen to offer insights to operators working in those industries to ensure the data available to them is particularly relevant to their sector and role. 

While overall the report showed some positive moves and greater awareness in a variety of key areas like mental health, women’s PPE, sustainability and confidence in competency, it’s important not to become complacent in an arena that really does involve life or death decisions. There is always room for improvement and organisations that are committed to improvement should leverage supply partners for advice, guidance and information on the latest products, services and regulations to help them in their continual journey.

The RS Striving for Excellence 2024 Health & Safety report can be downloaded in full by visiting https://uk.rs-online.com/web/content/m/hs-industry-report. 

Ryan Plummer is senior director for RS Safety Solutions. For more information, visit https://uk.rs-online.com/web/content/services/rs-safety-solutions