Creating a safety culture
March 1st 2011 The recent Health & Safety South 2011 exhibition provided a wealth of knowledge for materials handling managers to aid their quest to build an effective safety culture in the warehouse. Simon Duddy reports.
An effective safety culture is a must-have for the modern warehouse but can be complex to achieve as it requires understanding safety issues from a wide variety of perspectives, such as legal, technological and psychological. The Health & Safety South 2011 exhibition, which was held at Sandown Park on March 1-2 offered a range of views and practical advice, as well as product solutions from a variety of top suppliers.
A key starting point for any evaluation of health and safety in the warehouse is to realise that it is integral to the business, not simply an add-on that should be perceived as getting in the way of making a profit.
Ken Smith, divisional director of consultancy services at Arc Associates says: “Good business is about achieving sales at a profit and keeping costs down. Health & safety is a key part of making sure costs can be controlled through a mix of good management and investment.
“In addition, with higher health & safety practice a company earns a better reputation and this can help to win contracts as well as trimming costs.”
Smith argues companies often underestimate both the chances
of a serious incident occurring as well as the costs these can incur
for businesses.
“Some companies think ‘we haven’t had a serious accident for 20 years so why bother?’ but it could be about good luck.What if you have some bad luck? People are key, if they are off work, that is a cost. If you have one forklift driver and he gets injured that’s critical to your company.”
He adds that costs are not always immediately apparent and include higher insurance premiums and defending against a claim, as well as the more obvious costs of downtime and equipment damage.
Ageing workforce
The Health & Safety event also highlighted some key trends important to health and safety in the warehouse, such as an ageing workforce.
With a wealth of experience gained as on-site physiotherapist at Cummins Engine Plant, Samantha Kee of Kee Anatomy Consultancy offered expert guidance during her seminar. She made the point that companies must take note of the changing demographics of their workforce.
“The UK has an ageing workforce - by 2020, one third will be over 50. The key to improved health and safety and ergonomics is to design jobs and workplaces to match the capabilities and limitations of the human body,” she explains.
Furthermore, Kee argues that staff must not be regarded as the same, as people differ in characteristics due to gender, height, arm length etc. These factors should be taken into account when designing materials handling processes in the warehouse. It is clear that if a picking process is positioned optimally for a tall person with a long reach, shorter people may face repeated stretches and this could lead to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) down the line.
“Design work is needed to cater for workers, for example, for the older worker. Not doing so will escalate costs through sickness absence. Over time, we will also certainly see a greater reliance on mechanical help with lifting in the warehouse,” Kee adds.
Kee also noted a trend for greater incidence of non-work related MSDs, which nevertheless impact on work performance. “When I started as an industrial physiotherapist,” she explains.
“I assumed most of the MSDs would come from work related injuries. I was wrong.Most MSDs are caused by out of work activities such as slouching during computer use or lifting a child out of a car seat. These still need to be treated.
“Of course some work activities need to be looked at closely, such as heavy lifting, repeated small part lifting, work in areas where temperatures are too hot or too cold, and work in areas with poor lighting.”
Kee advises companies to carry out risk assessments to spot hazards and to deal with them promptly. Early reporting of MSDs can be crucial if behaviour or circumstances are then modified to the good.
“You must involve staff,” she adds. “Are hazards reported by your workers? Have they got a platform to do so? Can they see the actions that have been taken by management in response?” Ergonomics is not a quick fix but can achieve good results. A delegate at Kee’s seminar shared her experiences and outlined how an 18 month health and safety drive reduced sickness absence by 80%, but she acknowledged it took a lot of time and effort to persuade over 40s in the firm to accept the programme.
Consult on equipment
We have seen how technology can help with health and safety, for example mechanical handling can allow workers to lift heavier loads more regularly and safely. A key aspect to remember when implementing a technology solution is to get the buy-in of staff.
Jim Wakerly, territory sales manager for Ansell Occupational Healthcare gave a talk on cut protection and selecting the correct gloves.
“The cut index of gloves is key,” he explains. “Look at what is in use now. Is it enough? Consult with the workers to make sure their needs are met. For example, do the gloves provide the level of dexterity needed as well as protection? Once adopted, training the workers in new PPE is also important.”
Safety knives are also well worth considering when trying to decrease workplace cuts.
Know the law
A key driver in health and safety is of course the law, and while the recent Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act has added no new obligations it has added potentially more severe penalties for companies, although failure by management must be a substantial part of the breach.
Indeed lawyer Mark Tyler, partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon International, explained in his seminar that action under the new Act has been muted. The only case brought so far is that of Cotswold Geotechnical, which was convicted in February. The man who died was 27 year old Alex Wright, who was a geologist for Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings and was investigating soil conditions in a deep trench on a development plot in Stroud when it collapsed and killed him. No individual was charged. Tyler explains: “The case could have been brought under the old law. A conviction is no surprise and the £385,000 fine does not strike me as excessive. Indeed it is less than the guideline under the law (£500,000) and the company has been given 10 years to pay it.”
In other legal developments Tyler’s research uncovered that while Health and Safety Executive fines have increased steadily in the last 20 years, the number of prosecutions brought by the HSE has fallen by around half in the last ten years.
He also said Lord Young’s review planned to change RIDDOR reporting. At present all incidents resulting in three or more days of absence must be reported. If the changes are implemented, this will change to seven days, although incidents resulting in three days of absence will still need to be recorded. Tyler estimates this will result in a 30% reduction in reporting workload for managers.
Thinking safe
In psychiatrist Sarah Cudmore’s (of Cudmore Consulting) seminar, the importance of safety culture was emphasised. A key question to ask, argues Cudmore, is why people behave badly. Is it because they don’t know any better or are they choosing bad behaviours because they perceive the culture of the company requires them to.
A good example in the materials handling industry is forklift drivers pushing their trucks too hard or too fast or taking on too many pallets. They know the consequences of this - increased risk of accidents and increased wear and tear - and know it is wrong but carry on because they think they are expected to work as fast as possible in a highly competitive throughput-focused operation. In fact, setting aside health and safety concerns, it is better for the company’s bottom line to work slower but with far fewer incidents and accidents.
Cudmore says: “Don’t underestimate how much the work environment will affect people. It is down to management to set the safety culture for the company but it is important that implementation is with the workforce rather than imposed upon them.”
Conclusion
Creating an effective safety culture is not easy for the modern warehouse but by taking stock of a number of legal, technological and psychological factors, managers can achieve impressive results with the appropriate investment of money and time. More articles from Handling & Storage Solutions: | 
