cib w099 - hong kong - may 2002 one country - two systems health safety’s poor cousin the...

CIB W099 - Hong Kong - May 2002One Country - Two Systems

HealthSafety’s poor cousin

The challenge for the future

Alistair Gibb

Loughborough University


One Country Two Systems

One Problem Two Standards


What do you see?


No helmet? Lower back problems?

Skin problems?

Hand arm vibration (HAVS)?Knee problems?


No helmet?

Skin cancer?

Cement related dermatitis?


No helmet?

Musculoskeletal disorder?

Dermatitis?


No gloves?

No glasses?

Musculoskeletal?

HAVS?


Great - He’s got the gear!

But he’s not using it!


Helmet?

Boots?

Gloves?

Whole body vibration?

Noise?


Helmet back to front?

Goggles?

Skin problems? Life style???

Mask?


What do you see?

Performance?

Long service?

Stress?

Life style?

Musculoskeletal problems?

Laptop / mobile phone RSI?


Ill health is a major problem

• State of complete physical, mental and social well being…...

not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

World Health Organisation, 1998



• 134 000 UK construction people were ill because of work in 1995

• 1.2 M days lost in a workforce of 1.5 M

• Prevalence 6.8% in

construction compared

to 4.7% for all industry



EACH YEAR IN THE UK…….• asbestos 700 deaths• musculo-skeletal 96 000 cases• respiratory disease 15 000 cases• skin diseases 6 000 cases• noise induced hearing loss 5 000 cases


Patterns of ill-health in Irish construction workers

(1981-1996)

Adapted from Brenner, H & Ahern, W Construction Employees Health Trust, 2000


Reasons for absence

4734

3981

2057

685 651 574 569

276154 127 16

1858

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

Injur

y

Infec

tious

dise

ase

Mus

culos

kelet

al dis

orde

r

Bronc

hitis/

emph

ysem

a/as

thm

a

Surgic

al pr

oced

ure

Gastro

intes

tinal

disea

se

Cardio

vasc

ular d

iseas

e

Men

tal d

isord

er

Inves

tigat

ion

Neoro

logica

l dise

ase

Cance

r

Other


Reasons for absence

4734

3981

2057

685 651 574 569276

154 127 16

1858

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

Safety

Work-related ill-health (WRIH)

? ? ?

?


'Other' reasons for absence

262

198191

168157

146138

121

85

69

36 36 30 2617 17 12

149

0

50

100

150

200

250

300


? ? ??

?


Days lost 1981-96

135660

6719458917

22406 20377 17687 154818939

4920 3544 590

49347

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000


? ?? ?

Safety

? ?


Permanent disability causes

954928

415

246

115 10978

56 41 3716 15 14 10

64

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

Cardio

vasc

ular d

iseas

e

Muscu

loske

letal

disor

der

Bronc

hitis/

emph

ys/a

sthm

aInj

ury

Psych

iatric

diso

rder

Neuro

logica

l dise

ase

Cance

r

Gastro

inten

stina

l diso

rder

Skin d

iseas

e

Endoc

rine

disor

der (

diabe

tes)

Tuber

culos

is

Pulmon

ary f

ibros

is (a

sbes

tos/

silica

)

Urinar

y tra

ct d

iseas

e

Liver

dise

ase

Oth

er


?

?

?

Safety


Health management is not easy

• Complex• Low profile cf safety• Large set-up costs• Latent benefits• Hard to prove

benefits• Multiple exposure -

hard to prove blame

• Long term strategy needed

• Large, temporary & mobile workforce

• Indirect employment• Workers disinterested• Low health expertise• No baseline data


Demonstration of the current problem of under-reporting of ill-health cases

• ECIA survey 2002 (UK Engineering Construction)

• Ill-health cases in last 12 months• 4 RIDDOR (UK legal reporting requirement)

• 260 Civil Liability Cases• Mainly vibration and asbestos related


Strategic approach will bring benefits

• Prevention rather than cure

• Senior management commitment and project-level implementation– roles defined– resources allocated– means specified– performance monitored– targets & procedures defined– compliance checked


Creating healthy products and processes

• UK Government drive – Respect for People

• Processes ignore health– Techniques and tools are archaic

• Products are not chosen with health in mind– Some change but not enough


Developing healthy organisations and industry

• Little ‘n Large

• Challenge of an ageing work population

• UK targets by 2010– 30% reduction in days lost– 10% reduction in fatals and majors– 20% reduction in ill-health cases– half of these by 2004!


So what is happening?


European Construction Institute

[email protected]


APaCHe vision

A step change in the physical, psychological and social health of all involved in construction– healthy workers– healthy work systems & practices– healthy work organisations


Designing for healthy construction

• 18 month project starts July 2002

• UK Government funding

• Value ~£250k (2.5M HK$)

• Identify ‘best’ practice in Engineering Construction

• Adapt to mainstream sector

• Produce guidance for designers


Sectors rating of OH

71%

64%

52%50%

47% 47%44% 43%

39%

35%

30%29%32%

30%

45%

53%

38% 38%

48%

57%

44%

60%

0% 1%

17%

0% 0%

13%15%

5%

0%

18%

10%

38%

50%

13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Offs

hore

Chem

icals

Distrib

ution

Consu

mab

les

Utilitie

s

Metal

& mine

rals

Metal

good

s

Trans

port

& com

mun

icatio

n

Manuf

actu

red

prod

ucts

Const

ruct

ion

Profe

ssion

al se

rvice

s

Public

sec

tor

Hign Priority Medium Priority Low PrioritySource - UK Government Report 2001


Baseline health survey

• Establish extent of problems directly from the work force

• 18 month project with NJC (Unions/employers)

• UK Government funding sought• Value ~£300k (3M HK$)

• Survey >> Focus Groups >> Interviews

• International comparison??


Focus Areas (Amey Vectra Report)

• Musculoskeletal Manual handling, upper limb disorders, repetitive or forceful movements

• Hazardous substances Asbestos, solvents, silica, MDF, wood dust

• Noise exposure Power tools, machinery

• Vibration Hand-held tools

• Biological exposure Bacteria, fungi

• Radiation exposure Ultra-violet, lasers, infra-red

• Stressors Work pressure/duration, life style


HealthSafety’s poor cousin

The challenge for the future


So, what do we do?

• It’s difficult and there are no ‘quick-wins’

BUT…..

• We must take the lead in providing a healthy construction sector…..

• Find out where we are

• Identify best practice

• Get the message out


Let’s leave a legacyLet’s leave a legacy

Alistair Gibb

cib w099 - hong kong - may 2002 one country - two systems health safety’s poor cousin the...

Documents

cib w099 hong kong

systems helmet

safety slide

industry slide

systems ill health costs

systems patterns of

systems great hes

skin problems