David England says understanding the mechanics of risk can enhance the true value of a health and safety professional.
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The role of the health and safety practitioner can be called on in a multitude of industries: manufacturing, warehousing, maritime, chemical processing, and public entertainment are but a few examples. And while our core responsibility to keep people safe is unalterable, our understanding of the mechanics of the risks faced in each situation is key to implementing effective controls. I call these the environs of risk: the peripheral factors which can determine precisely how well any particular control measure can function.
I was recently involved in carrying out a road safety audit for the State of Victoria in Australia, for example. The principles of vehicle dynamics, speed, and signage positioning are all relevant as always; however, these were tempered by several other unique factors which required consideration. The condition and surface make up of the roads (particularly in rural areas) as well as possible vehicle sizes, the general attitude of drivers to the use of speed, and the volume of traffic – all of which are quite different to the UK’s – were carefully considered. In essence, it required developing the main features of a road safety audit in line with the very specific factors of the environment, factors which could be readily identified or studied.
During the pandemic, as another example, I recall studying – as many others did – the biomechanics of a virus; the antiseptic nature of certain materials; the routes of transmission, and so forth. Health and safety practitioners are not virologists, but we do understand the principles of epidemiology. And we can learn and expand our knowledge rapidly in line with the principles of health, safety, and welfare that we already practice. And learn we did.
The pandemic was a wonderful example of how corporate management turned to health and safety for answers to questions that few understood, and for which guidance was initially weak and then developed over time. The advice we gave was had to be as practical as we could make it. I remember, for instance, one company removing their cupboard doors in the canteen so that staff did not have to touch door handles in order to select their coffee cups.
Developing pragmatic safety solutions will always be through a blend of academic understanding and practical experience. Research suggests that most people “end up” in health and safety as a profession, perhaps due to what they witnessed during their careers or perhaps due to an innate sense of compassion for their fellow workers, or perhaps both. This often means that practitioners bring with them a wealth of experience before they begin their academic journey. This is somewhat unusual among other professions, where study and training are invariably the precursors to gained experience. It reinforces, perhaps, that as a profession, health and safety is a cohesive and engaging profession, requiring many ‘soft skills’ that often cannot be taught.
This can often be vitally important because a health and safety practitioner can be called on to advocate in any number of different workplaces, dealing with any number of workplace hazards. The application of various regulations regarding those hazards may be the academic component of the work that we do. But understanding the workplace processes and, more importantly, the people who perform them, is far more important in getting the safety message across in a positive manner. This is where the true value of a health and safety professional becomes evident.
Very True and to the point.
Thank you, Ali. I hope that, through articles such as these, we can expand the conversation on what health and safety truly reflects.
A few things I learnt early on in the pandemic is the virus was ñowhere near as lethal to the vast majority of people, masks were of little or no use and finally the vaccines were nothing more than a money making scam.
This, Ian, is one of the difficulties of health when compared to safety. Gravity affects all people, regardless of shape, size, colour, or background. A fall from height is the same for everyone.
Health conditions, however, affect different people in myriad different ways, and are therefore harder to legislate for, and often even harder to implement.
Hello well the title caught my eye I also work in HSE and named David England
What a wonderful coincidence, David. I hope the article does your splendid name credit!