A Review of the Action on Site Health Summit 2022

Senior construction industry professionals gathered in person, to attend the Action on Site Health Summit on the 12^th April at BMA House in London.

Hosted by RVT Group, this event was supported by the Health in Construction Leadership (HCLG), British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS), UK Hearing Conservation Association (UKHCA), The Construction Dust Partnership (CDP), Mates in Mind and Steve Perkins Associates. Speakers, supporters, and attendees all arrived with a common goal; to discuss the steps the industry can – and must - take to better protect the health of those on site.

Upon arrival, attendees were greeted by RVT staff who were happy to point them in the direction of tea, coffee and, most importantly, breakfast. Well-fed and refreshed, the attendees took their seats as RVT Group director, Julian Hayward, welcomed everyone and officially opened the event.

The first session saw Colin Nottage (CDP, The Interesting Health and Safety Podcast), Clare Forshaw (UKHCA, Park Health and Safety) and Eric Ball (CDP, Park Health and Safety) discussing occupational health on site. The biggest challenges faced by the industry were considered, such as the control of welding fume, and a clear message emerged; if the industry carries on treating health as it always has done, then we will continue to face the same challenges. Clare left us with an inspiring thought; “In this room, we have the power at our level to change the way the industry works and how we make people work; how we protect them, treat them, pay them. Let’s start pushing responsibility up the chain.”

Heather Bryant followed this, introducing the HCLG, their working groups and their aim to “make construction a leading industry for occupational health, mental health, wellbeing and disease prevention, treating health like safety and mental health like physical health by 2025.” HCLG’s mission of “uniting the construction industry in eradicating ill health and disease caused by exposure to health hazards and in promoting and improving positive mental health across the industry” was also outlined.

Heather then introduced the Head of the HCLG’s Musculoskeletal Working Group, George Mosey (Laing O’ Rourke) who took to the stage to highlight the harsh reality of MSDs;

• 8.9 million working days lost to MSDs in 2019/20.
• 480,000 workers suffering from work related MSD’s (new or long standing) in 2019/20.

He also explained the link between MSDs and how they can impact mental health, with the industry suicide rates sitting at 3.7 times the national average.

The audience were then invited to think about shifting the acceptable level of risk and to answer the question; “What operations can we transform in order to make work less ‘manual’?” This generated lively discussion and produced some excellent suggestions, such as;

• Implementation of offsite manufacturing.
• Prefabrication & Module Building.
• Good Hoist to Transport materials to upper levels.
• Delivery of materials to facilitate on site movement.

Steve Hails then took to the stage to discuss mental health in the industry and the initiatives that can be set up to support those in need. Steve delivered the following shocking figures, sourced from Mates in Mind;

• 5,691 suicides in England & Wales in 2019 (a two-decade high).
• For every 100,000 construction workers, 30 die by suicide (ONS 2020).
• Only 27% of people who died by suicide had been in contact with mental health services in the year before they died.

Steve then asked the floor to present ideas, advice, and initiatives they have implemented to promote mental health and wellbeing at work. The answers submitted included;

• An internal employee assistance programme with free counselling offered to all employees and across the supply chain.
• Implementation of wellbeing committees.
• A full network of mental health ambassadors and first aiders who have all received comprehensive EAP training.
• A free wellbeing app, accessible to all employees.

RVT’s “Technical Ted” Taylor presented next on the impacts of uncontrolled noise on site, reminding us of the following HSE statistic; there were 14,000 workers reported to be living with work-related hearing problems from 2018/19 to 2020/21 due to excessive noise on site.

Attendees were then asked to wear earplugs whilst discussing what they thought was the nosiest site activity for two minutes, an interactive activity designed to help people understand what it might be like to suffer from hearing loss. Ted went on to explain the hierarchy of control, work exposure limits and explained how noise can be effectively controlled to prevent hearing loss through the use of monitors, barriers and enclosures.

After this, attendees enjoyed a networking break with some snacks to refuel before settling back down for Kevin Dupont’s (RVT Group) presentation on Respiratory Health. Not only did Kevin describe the adverse effects of uncontrolled respiratory hazards on the body, but he also got the audience to simulate reduced lung function. You can watch the attendees getting involved here.

After, attendees watched the hard-hitting “Doug’s Film,” an interview with retired construction worker Douglas Hall, who is now in the final stages of COPD. This film carries an important message from Doug; “If you see anything on site concerning your health - shout!” Kevin then talked us through the engineering controls that can be applied on site, such as mobile LEV units, dust suppression, enclosures, negative pressure set ups, and the importance of the 3Cs principal; Capture, Contain, Control.

Steve Perkins (Steve Perkins Associates), stepping in at the last minute due to one of the speakers being unable to attend, delivered an engaging presentation about the challenges site operatives faced during asphalt planing on the M25. Steve highlighted the importance of effective dust control through water suppression and explained the key learnings for engineering controls he has taken from this project, such as “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.”

The floor was then opened for a lively Q&A session hosted by Colin Nottage, which produced some thought provoking questions. A wide range of issues were discussed, including the development of AI technology and whether there is scope for it to be used within health hazard control. This subject raised interesting points, with Heather Bryant agreeing that there is a place for AI technology within the industry, confirming that is already being used in some areas and that there is scope for it to be used more. Clare Forshaw and Eric Ball also agreed that there was room for AI to be used within health hazard control but cautioned that we should be careful of complicating processes and becoming over-reliant on AI. It was a well-rounded session, with all speakers ultimately urging the attendees to leave the event determined to create change within the industry.

The RVT events team was happy to be running a live event after so long and delighted to see so many people gathered with the common goal of working toward better protection for all aspects of site health. As Kevin Dupont said; “This isn’t just about today, but also tomorrow. It is about the legacy we leave for future generations who want to work in construction and ensuring that they know they will be kept safe when joining the industry.”

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

More Resources:

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

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.

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.

UK Hearing Conservation Association

You can find the UKHCA website here.

You can join the UKHCA 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.

Mates in Mind:

You can find Mates in Mind’s website here.

You can find more information on their mental health training and resources here.

You can find how to volunteer 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.

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.

RVT Group:

Looking to book a CPD session for your site? See what courses we have available here.

Looking for Posters and Whitepapers to download? Click here.

Looking to discuss a project with RVT? Call us on 0808 178 3286 or submit your enquiry online.