Working Safely with Climate Change?
Intro
In 2014, a fictitious weather report was aired by Météo France in an attempt to shock the general public into action. In the report, Évelyne Dhéliat, predicted in August 2050 global warming would push temperatures in France up to 43C.
She was wrong. By 28 years. In the wrong direction.
This rapid heating is very bad news — with estimates suggesting 257% extra heat-related deaths by the 2050s — and although attempts and laws to try and reduce humanity’s impact longterm exist, the reality for most is adapting to working in an increasingly hot environment. Without it, a lack of understanding and education could have potentially fatal results.
Nowhere is this more true than large numbers of people working outdoors and with dangerous machinery and materials — i.e. construction.
So, what can be done?
The Price of Failure
The construction industry is a huge part of the UK economy, contributing GBP 117 billion, 6% of the total GDP, not including related industries, but it is so much bigger than that. With reliance on global partnerships at unprecedented levels but international trust and confidence at historically low levels, the heatwaves currently being experienced in the UK and beyond are indicative of the increasingly volatile balance between man and nature where a loss for one is a loss for all.
“Physical risk events from heatwaves…are of particular concern because of their potential to…lead to business defaults on a scale that the insurance industry would be unable to cope with.” — Report, Chatham House.
We are now all involved, so as one of the key industrial pillars on which the global economy is dependent, construction needs to spearhead both initiatives to reduce environmental impact and find ways to live with it.
Ask Cali
California gets hot. Really hot. As a result they have had a heat illness prevention standard in place since 2002.
Through years of research they found that when temperatures are between 32C(90f) and 37C(99f) degrees, workplace accidents and injuries increase by 9 percent. When it gets to be above 40C(100f) degrees, they increase by 15 percent.
Ways To Stay Safe — Everyone
California also found younger workers and men were substantially more at risk of injury and, coincidentally, most construction workers fall into at least one of those categories. Historically, older men tend to fit into many of the “more” (where more is bad) categories, meaning this is indicative of the general cultural changes needed throughout the industry as most heat-related preventions are not considered manly.
In the long-term, construction needs to be more attractive to incoming workers, but with an ageing workforce, in the short-term construction needs to change the way the current workforce think.
Heat-illness not only increases stress on the overall health of individuals as workers, but also increases potential personal responsibilities, for example pets and more vulnerable family members.
“research suggests that hotter temperatures, which in many cases may not seem like such a big deal, appear to have hidden costs.” — Jisung Park, economist, UCLA
1. Drink Water
This may seem obvious, but, ask anyone on-site — sustenance and hydration are mars bars, coca-cola, tea and redbull at most places of work. And although some people will add water to the mix when it’s really hot, most don’t.
2. Use Suncream
Prevention is better than cure. Daily use of sunscreen of 15 SPF or above can reduce your risk of developing cancers by 40% (SCC) and 50% (melanoma). The risk of melanoma increases with age, and with a ridiculous 86% of cases preventable, construction needs to be proactive about the use of suncream. This mainly revolves around getting men used to the idea of applying cream. Which sounds silly when you read it, right?
There is good news though — research by Cancer Research UK project Mortality rates for melanoma skin to fall by 15% in the UK from 2014 - 2035. so its up to us to avoid it where possible.
3. Wear The Right Clothes & Accessories
The temperature and the temperature in direct sunlight are not the same, with the latter up to 10C higher. The general UK opinion regarding suitable summer clothing is “less is more” but this couldn’t be further from the truth — especially work clothes — with light, breathable, long sleeves preferable to skin-tight nylon/polyester blend, even if it is a match replica Chelsea top.
On a hot day finding a balance between safety and comfort is the main concern, some equipment will always need to be worn depending on the role of the wearer, but most clothing can be modified, e.g. adding neck protection to hard hats.
Ways to stay safe — Employer
Cultural change and leadership are always more successful when management lead by example. The more proactive the employer is the more likely adoption and enforcement will be all along the line.
Benefits for employers are myriad and include less injury, increased productivity, a more inclusive environment and adding to a more competitive package for prospective workers. and it’s a really easy win, costing very little when compared to the rewards. Employers can:
- Educate staff on heat-illness and provide checklists and signage on how to stay cool;
- Rotate staff throughout the day when working in exposed conditions or in hotter internal areas of buildings;
- Delegate extra breaks depending on conditions and time of day;
- Educate staff about symptoms of heat-related injury in themselves and others;
- Have an emergency plan in advance;
- Provide the means — e.g. water, covered seating — to stay cool.
Harnessing Technology - The Future of H&S
The evolution of the worksite and the increasing integration of digital tools and data processing will be perhaps most beneficial to onsite Health & Safety.
Wearable technology monitoring vital statistics like core temperature and heart rate could be used in conjunction with digital Applications (dApps) to monitor various statistics. By using predictive Artificial Intelligence (AI), staff could be moved around automatically to ensure optimal health and productivity are maintained throughout the shift.
“Safety is the no.1 benefit…adding new technology to existing safety gear, wearables can help monitor vital signs, detect collisions and track unaccompanied workers.” — Dr Burcin Kaplanoglu, VP, Oracle Industries Innovation Lab
Within a relatively short space of time, data collected will allow personalised scheduling based on the individual physiology and general health of everyone on site, ensuring everyone’s automated safety and potentially reducing lost work days by up to 72% and injury frequency by up to 60%
This would also allow for AI monitoring to make predictions, alerting different parties depending on the severity of a situation - similar to Innocens BV’s application of predictive AI to protect vulnerable newborns.
Conclusion
With the heat only increasing in the short-term without radical, necessary, intervention, employers and employees need to change how they work.
From a management perspective, having a plan in advance and not reacting as necessary is key, but securing a robust labour supply and a plan to fill any gaps quickly is important, too. Creating a revolving pool of labour or having a quick and safe recruitment & on-boarding solution ensure both worker health and productivity can maintained in even the hottest of conditions.
Luckily, many of the most important things are both simple and easily applied, and with the increasing adoption of technology only going to aid the process, how we handle the problem is down to us.
Work in construction? Looking for staff? Visit TradeGraft for the most cost-effective recruitment solution.
