Going above and beyond on health and safety measures means understanding the physical and mental state of employees. It also means designing equipment and facilities with all staff in mind.

By Dr Jessica Hutchings, Head of Prevention at RMA

Safety prioritisation in the workplace is undoubtedly critical, but it must be understood that true safety goes far beyond the mere physical implementation of rules and regulations. These are really nothing more than the minimum legal requirements necessary - and when it comes to safety measures, would you really have staff welfare at heart if you were only striving to achieve the bare minimum?

Going over and above the basics means taking care to understand the environment that employees are exposed to. This encompasses both the physical work environment - in respect of things like comfort, temperature and noise - and organisational issues like leadership, commitment and values.

Furthermore, employees must also have both their physical and their mental needs taken into consideration. There is also another element that must be considered in the workplace, and that is the social environment, something that can result in psychosocial issues.

Ergonomics, the science of how we make the work environment healthier and safer for employees is key, by ensuring that anything that the employee interacts with- be it equipment, tools, processes or workspaces - is designed with the person in mind from the outset, rather than at the end, when its already too late.

From a safety perspective, you simply cannot disconnect the body and the mind - both must receive consideration. Remember, a person may be physically fit and healthy, but if they have issues playing on their mind, like personal stresses or financial problems, their mind may not be fully on the job. This can lead to distraction and impact on concentration, contributing to an accident, injury or near miss.

Therefore, it is imperative to know someone’s psychological fitness for work. They may be easily distracted, or they may be fatigued, making them more prone to mistakes. Moreover, since the pandemic, many people face greater mental challenges, from being a sole breadwinner looking after many, to the spiralling cost of living increases, and, more recently, the impact of loadshedding.

Seeing the signs

It is important for organisations to regularly check the physical and psychological health of their staff, through their medical surveillance programmes. Tests should include more than just the physical, and include psychological and psychosocial issues, such as reaction time, concentration, fatigue and alertness levels. Obvious signs may be bloodshot eyes or instances of nodding off. You should also consider, from a social perspective, whether they appear aloof, abrupt or disengaged.

Physical signs should also be gauged regularly, such as whether there is any apparent weight loss or gain, or behavioural changes, such as suddenly turning up at work in a brand-new car. Essentially, the company needs to keep an eye out for potential cognitive, behavioural and physical symptoms that may be indicative of underlying latent conditions, including stress, substance abuse, financial difficulties or family problems.

It is also crucial to have the requisite processes in place to deal with impacts like fatigue. So, for example, when undertaking shift work, you should not only create time for rest between shifts, but also adequate breaks during the shift. If they are working outside in the heat, you should provide specific amounts of cold liquid, to avoid dehydration and heat stress, which can contribute to distractions, falling asleep and losing focus on the job at hand.

Caring businesses also have employee assistance programmes in place, to help address issues like stress, burnout or suicidal thoughts. In this way, you can offer counselling and advice and hopefully help someone before it’s too late.

And remember, management, especially supervisors, should be close enough to their teams / staff to be able to engage with them and ensure they are physically and psychologically fit for work. This is all about rapport with the employees and relies on having an environment and work culture that is strong and non-judgemental, making it easier for employees to tell management if they are not doing well.

The ergonomics of it all

Ergonomics plays a critical role in the physical and mental well-being of staff. It is the science of focusing on the individual in relation to their job, task and work environment. So, for example, with personal protective equipment (PPE), ergonomically speaking, the designers should first understand exactly who the user will be. Whether it is equipment, processes, procedures or tools, the user has to be considered right from the outset. If not, this can result in poor work performance, impact on productivity and quality, and contribute to poor safety performance. All of which ultimately affects the bottom line.

Moreover, when one looks at most equipment and its design, the designer must take cognisance of all who will use it, both women and men, and how they can do so safely and without impacting productivity.

After all, the way many current systems, workplaces and tools are designed demonstrates a clear lack of consideration for the user - and this can create safety challenges, as they may end up using it wrong, or use it badly because it was not designed with them in mind.

This extends beyond tools and equipment and into workplace facilities. For example, mines are no longer all-male environments, yet there are still cases where there are no ablution facilities catering for women. It should be obvious that failing to be inclusive in this manner will leave women employees feeling less valued, thereby impacting on their psychological fitness.

Effective health and safety are all about thinking of the bigger picture, and genuinely considering where people have to work, how they must work and the conditions of their job - and then designing tools, equipment and processes with all of this in mind. A systems approach to organisational health and safety is vital for the sustainability of businesses.

Getting ergonomics right

To get ergonomics right, the first thing an organisation should do is a risk assessment, so that it can determine potential hazards and the risks these may create.

For example, equipment that is old or badly maintained may be dangerous, as would equipment designed for a right-handed person, if it is used by someone who is left-handed. It may even be designed with a different nationality in mind, such as equipment designed for people from the Far East, who are generally shorter than Africans.

Ergonomics goes further, by also encompassing environmental issues, such as employees working with equipment like jack-hammers. These are both noisy and create a lot of vibration, so an assessment would be needed to determine the type of hand and hearing protection required.

The risk assessment should cover both the dangers of physical injuries - in particular, eye and hearing-related injuries - and then also the mental aspect: jobs that are taxing (or boring), exhausting, or create exposure to repetitive environmental factors such as noise, are all ones that can quickly create fatigue-related problems.

Ultimately, the risks to employees escalate when people are forced to adapt to the work environment, rather than the other way around. Therefore, all health and safety aspects within the workplace should be guided by the principles of ergonomics, where the design focus is completely human-centred.