Health problems within the construction industry such as issues with mental, musculoskeletal and respiratory ill health are set to be examined at Institution of Occupational Safety and Health’s (IOSH) first annual construction conference next week.
The event, at the Radisson Blu hotel at Manchester Airport on 7 November, comes after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published figures showing that 38 people died in the construction industry in 2017/18.
HSE statistics also show that, in Great Britain, 507,000 workers suffer from work-related musculoskeletal disorders, with a high proportion working in construction; and the construction industry has the largest burden of occupational cancers among industrial sectors, with over 40% of the occupational cancer deaths and cancer registrations from construction and allied trades.
Meanwhile, a recent report into mental health in UK workforce revealed three out of five (61%) employees have experienced mental health issues due to work or where work was a related factor.
Sessions at the conference will discuss causes, prevalence and consequences of mental, musculoskeletal and respiratory ill health in the workplace.
The need for a continued focus on the protection of workers in the construction industry will also be addressed.
The conference is aimed at safety practitioners, health and safety leaders and employers. The core focus is to enable those working in construction, including SMEs and those supporting them, to take positive action to improve the health of their workforce.
Dr Michael Cash, chair of the IOSH Construction Group, said: “The main focus of the conference will be delivering health improvements in the construction industry and will be closely aligned with the [UK] HSE’s construction sector strategy.
“We wanted to focus the conference on health for a number of reasons. Historically, companies have focused on the management of safety risks but the elephant in the room has always been health hazards.
“Unfortunately, the statistics speak for themselves, with huge numbers dying each year from past exposure to dusts and chemicals at work and one in four suffering from a mental health problem.
“The micro and SME sectors find the management of health particularly challenging. We hope that our conference will enable delegates to go back to their organisations and take positive action to improve the health of their workforce.”
Among the speakers at the event will be Chris Lucas, a principal inspector at the HSE; Eric Ball, of Park Health; and Dr Wendy Jones, a senior researcher in occupational health at Loughborough University.
Dr Jones is part of a team sponsored by IOSH that conducted research into nanotechnologies used in modern building materials and potential health risks associated with them.
This research aims to ensure the safety of workers who may be at risk of developing respiratory diseases due to their work environment – a key objective of IOSH’s ‘No Time to Lose’ campaign to prevent occupational cancer.
