A Review of the Action On Respiratory Health Summit July 2021

Over 300 construction industry professionals from across the country registered for the second digital Action on Respiratory Health Summit (AORH), hosted on the 20^th July. This event saw RVT Group join forces with the Health in Construction Leadership Group (HCLG), The British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS), the Construction Dust Partnership and the British Lung Foundation to raise awareness of the importance of protecting respiratory health on site.

Julian Hayward, Director at RVT Group, opened the summit by playing the AORH campaign video which set the tone for the event. This was followed by another informative video produced by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), featuring Professor David Fishwick, Consultant Respiratory Physician and Chief Medical Advisor to the HSE, demonstrating just how easily dust can enter our lungs and cause long term damage. Construction industry professionals then took to the stage to share their experiences and their perspectives on how we can drive change.

Clive Johnson, Head of Health and Safety at Derwent London and Chair of the Health in Construction Leadership Group, spoke on the new initiatives the HCLG are launching. Here, Clive introduced the initiative around respiratory health and what the construction industry can expect from the new HCLG working group. Clive also touched on the HSE’s upcoming respiratory health focus in October, stating that “we have to give health the same billing as safety”.

After his presentation, Clive introduced a hard-hitting pre-recorded video interview with Doug Hall, a retired construction worker who is now in the final stages of COPD. This video was produced for the Action on Respiratory Health Summit and is a stark insight into the devastating effects this disease can have on your long-term respiratory health. Doug’s message was clear; “If you see anything on site concerning your health – shout.”

We then heard from Grace Rutland, Community Fundraising Manager for The British Lung Foundation, who gave us an overview of the important work they do and the support they offer to people living with respiratory disease. Although the aim of the Summit was to look at solutions that will adequately protect our workers on site and prevent them suffering as Doug has, we are thankful to the organisations and charities who work hard to support people who are living with respiratory health conditions.

Kevin Dupont, Technical Consultant at RVT Group, reminded us to always consult the Hierarchy of Control when assessing hazards on site; he then talked us through some case study examples of where effective engineering controls had been used.

Keith Prince, representing Laing O’ Rourke, revealed the positive changes being made at the company, whilst also discussing the HCLG Respiratory Subgroup and their aim to eradicate exposure to respiratory hazards in construction by 2030. Keith reiterated Kevin’s message regarding effective engineering controls, stating that “we need to adopt the attitude that we can create safe environments for people to work in”. He went on to explain the need to “identify the correct tools and make it [the process] easy for people to adopt”.

Steve Perkins, of Steve Perkins Associates, went on to talk about the challenges site operatives faced during asphalt planing on the M25. Steve highlighted the importance of effective dust control and the key learnings for engineering controls he has taken from this project, including understand the controls you may already have, maintain your controls regularly and train site operatives to properly use and manage the engineering controls on site.

Nick Wing, representing McGee Group, highlighted the positive changes McGee has made in protecting workers on site from respiratory hazards. He also spoke about the barriers he has faced when trying to implement change over the years in previous roles.

Attendees of the previous AORH Summit had requested more content around engineering solutions, so RVT’s technical consultant, Ted Taylor, pre-recorded an equipment demonstration video. This video featured the Dustex® Raptor, Dustex® Dustmaster® Pro, Dustex® Wandafilta Pro and the stand alone Soundex® Cutting Enclosure with extraction vents. This demonstration also featured a selection of monitoring units because, as Ted said, “if you don't measure it, you can't manage it.”

Our speakers then took part in a lively panel discussion, hosted by Colin Nottage of the Construction Dust Partnership and The Interesting Health and Safety Podcast. Speakers were also joined by Kevin Bampton, CEO of BOHS, for this discussion. The session focused on two main questions:

• What new training programmes & resources are available?
• How do we manage and provide systematic leadership?

A wide range of issues were discussed under each question, including the re-assessment of training content to cover health and not just safety, the requirement to train site managers in the importance of health hazard control and working together to provide clear leadership and requirements when it comes to site minimum standards. There was also unanimous agreement that wide spread recognition of the importance of protecting respiratory health throughout the industry will only come with a culture change on site and at management level.

RVT’s events team was delighted by another successful event and to see so many people attend with the common goal of protecting long-term health. This event also supported the British Lung Foundation, with RVT Group pledging to donate £2 for every verified event registration. We are thrilled to say that, thanks to everyone who registered, we will be donating £600 towards the fantastic work the BLF does.

A huge thank you to the speakers the supporters and the attendees for making this event another great success.

Watch the Action on Respiratory Health Webinar:

Couldn't attend or would like to watch again? You can watch a recording of the event here

More Resources:

Below, you can find a range of useful resources on protecting respiratory health on site.

Videos featured during the AORH Summit:

View the Action on Respiratory Health Campaign Video here

View the video of David Fishwick demonstrating how easily dust can enter our lungs and cause long term damage, here

View Doug's Film, an interview with a retired construction worker suffering from COPD, here

View RVT Group's Hazard Control Equipment Demonstration here

HCLG:

You can visit HCLG's website here

View HCLG’s wide range of educational resources here

Read a number of informative case studies here

View HCLG’s library of video content here

The British Lung Foundation:

You can find The British Lung Foundation’s website here

You can find their wide range of lung health information here

You can find information about their vital research here

BOHS:

Read useful information, guidance and resources to support you during the pandemic, with the BOHS COVID-19 Hub here

Breathe Freely is a BOHS initiative, aimed at reducing occupational lung disease in the UK. Visit their website here

Sign up for Breathe Freely campaign updates here

Read about Breathe Freely’s HI Management Standard Assessment Tool here

Learn more about the 'CCHRC 2.0 – Controlling Health Risks in Construction' course here

CDP:

Find further information on the CDP here

View advice, information, and guidance from the CDP here

You can find Colin Nottage’s regular podcast The Interesting Health & Safety Podcast on Omny.FM, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other audio streaming services.

Steve Perkins Associates:

You can find the Steve Perkins Associates website here

You can find the Steve Perkins Associates educational resources and articles here

You can find the Connect Plus “Healthier Highways” content here

Laing O’ Rourke:

You can find Laing O’ Rourke’s website here

You can view Laing O’ Rourke’s industry perspective and articles here

McGee Group:

You can find McGee Group’s website here

You can find McGee Group’s ethos on health, safety and wellbeing here