health and safety commission the challenges for health and safety swansea safety group annual...
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Health and Safety Commission
“The challenges for health and safety”
Swansea Safety Group Annual Seminar,
20 June 2007
Sandy Blair CBE
Member of the Health and Safety Commission
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Health and Safety Commission
“The challenges for health and safety”
Swansea Safety Group Annual Seminar,
20 June 2007
Sandy Blair CBE
Member of the Health and Safety Commission
![Page 3: Health and Safety Commission The challenges for health and safety Swansea Safety Group Annual Seminar, 20 June 2007 Sandy Blair CBE Member of the Health](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022051613/5515e416550346d46f8b4e49/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Coverage of presentation
• Changes in industrial structure and economic activity in Wales;
• Review the progress that we have made in reducing the incidence of ill health, injury at days lost in the workplace;
• Major challenges we face in the sphere of occupational health;
• ‘Sensible risk’ principles and key messages
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Wales – the changing economy
Wales is a dynamic and vital part of the economy :
• workforce of just over 1.3 million
• 390,000 (30%) employed in public administration, education and health
• Almost 300,000 workers (23%) employed in the service industries
• 179,000 (14%) employed in manufacturing
• 157,000 (12%) employed in finance sector
• Nearly 100,000 (7%) employed in construction
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Progress in reducing injury and ill-health
• At the end of the 1960s around 1,000 employees died each year;
• The number of fatal and non-fatal accidents in was over 300,000 in 1970 compared with 193,000 in 1961;
• 160 employees and 52 self-employers were killed at work in 2005/06;
• Many lives have been saved by the health and safety improvements introduced following the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 Act.
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Performance against Revitalising Health and Safety targets - 1
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Performance against RHS targets - 2
Issues can be tackled:
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The burden of occupational ill-health
• 1 million people a week take sick leave
• In an average week 3,000 people are off sick for more than six months
• Of those 80% will not work again for the next five years
• Some 600,000 new people are flowing on to Incapacity Benefit each year.
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Sickness absence : the hard facts
• An estimated 164 million working days are lost each year due to all causes of sickness absence;
• An average of 7 to 8 days lost per employee;
• Only 1-in20 absences are long term but these account for at least one-third of working time lost.
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Present and future challenges – Health, Work and Well-being
Key themes of the Government’s Health, Work and Well-being Strategy :
• To improve the health and well being of the working age population
• To influence people to change culture and behaviours
• To win support of major stakeholders
• Our vision is to gain recognition of work as important and beneficial, and to remove institutional barriers to starting, returning to or remaining in work.
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Health and Well-Being in Wales
HSE is producing joint plan with the Welsh Assembly to implement the Health and Wellbeing Strategy for the Welsh workforce, including :
• Promoting Welsh Backs and HSE Better Backs, aimed at reducing incidence and sickness absence
• Also jointly developing Corporate Health Standard scheme for SMEs. The scheme is a performance accredited award scheme.
• Planning a “Joint Health is Good Business” Conference in October with the Mid Wales Manufacturing Group.
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Sensible risk – silly stories
• There are the simple myths – stories with no basis in fact at all;
• There are the stories that reflect the actions of a single person that go well beyond what the law and common sense would suggest;
• There are examples where health and safety or fear of litigation is used as an excuse to justify a decision made for other, usually financial reasons.
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HSC ‘Principles of Sensible Risk Management’ - 1
Sensible risk management is about:
• Ensuring that workers and the public are properly protected;
• Providing overall benefit to society by balancing benefits and risks;
• Enabling innovation and learning ;
• Ensuring that those who create risks manage them responsibly;
• Helping individuals understand that as well as the right to protection they have a responsibility.
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HSC ‘Principles of Sensible Risk Management’ - 2
Sensible risk management is not about
• Creating a totally risk free society;
• Generating useless paperwork mountains;
• Scaring people by publicising trivial risks;
• Stopping important recreational and learning activities;
• Reducing protection of people from risks that cause real harm and suffering.
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Sensible risk – key messages - 1
• Health and safety needs to be about saving lives not stopping people
• Sensible risk management is about providing overall benefits to society by balancing benefits and risks
• If we are to turn the tide all of us must make sure we are above reproach
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Sensible risk – key messages - 2
• We must concentrate on saving lives, not stopping people living
Sensible risk management is about:
• providing overall benefit to society by balancing benefits and risks, with a focus on reducing real risks
• Managing health and safety is not about absolutes, but rather the balance needs to be struck. Section 3 of the Act is qualified by ‘reasonably practicable’
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Other initiatives in Wales
• Planning joint guidance for employers/agencies of migrant workers in Wales and events
• We have also agreed a plan with Welsh LAs on joint working with a goal of over 120 inspection initiatives this year targeting priority objectives;
• We continue campaign Moving goods safely ;
• We will be undertaking a flexible warranting project in North Wales working with Local Authorities.
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Conclusion
Whilst the evidence shows that improvements are being made in some areas, for example the on-going reduction in days lost, we must not lose sight of the task ahead including in preventing fatalities and major injuries.