The evolution of the health and safety (H&S) landscape is continual. Legislative changes, new innovations and solutions, and growing importance on factors like sustainability present challenges for professionals working in health and safety across a variety of manufacturing sectors.
Keeping on top of the key issues affecting the industry is vital in tackling and overcoming the challenges. To help get to the heart of some of these, RS produced its third annual H&S report, ‘Improving the Standard’. This was based on the responses of 545 surveyed people working in H&S roles in the UK and Ireland, from process manufacturing sectors like food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, plastics and chemicals, through to discrete manufacturers, energy and utilities, logistics and retail.
The management of Environment, Health & Safety (EHS), business strategy and compliance, and factors affecting the future of health and safety in the next 12 months emerged as focus areas for the report.
Figures indicate a confidence decline
The confidence of EHS teams in their ability to keep staff safe is declining. While 84 per cent rank their ability to protect employees as high or very high, and 80 per cent ranked the same for the wider attitude towards managing EHS in their organisation, the figures have fallen from 88 per cent and 84 per cent respectively a year ago. These are at their lowest in three years.
Interestingly, in the discrete manufacturing sector, professionals show the lowest levels of confidence in their organisation’s attitude towards managing EHS. Less than three-quarters (73%) rank this as high, which is well below the overall average of 80 per cent.
Encouragingly, the fall in confidence doesn’t appear to be impacting confidence in the ability to protect end-users, which has remained stable at 88 per cent.
On the mental health front, 53 per cent of professionals cited they are confident in how they perform when it comes to mental well-being, which is lower than last year’s 55 per cent the previous year, and at the same level as in 2023. Organisations in process manufacturing are the least likely to report offering mental health support, with 70 per cent doing so, compared to an overall average of 73 per cent.
The highest area of confidence is in managing protection from physical harm, where 76 per cent of respondents said they felt confident or very confident. In the discrete manufacturing sector, this was a much higher number at 91 per cent of respondents.
Compliance measurement should be prioritised in the quest for effective management
KPIs are undoubtedly helping many organisations set objectives, measure performance and create actionable insights. When it comes to measuring health and safety compliance, they’re more than just a commercial activity.
However, RS’ report indicate a slight drop in figures when it comes to compliance measurement in many organisations. Some 71 per cent record their all-accident rate versus 73 per cent last year. When it comes to measuring near-miss rate, it’s a sharper decline with 61 per cent this year compared with 67 per cent last year.
There are fluctuations, as would be expected, with smaller organisations being less likely to rely on KPIs. The number of small businesses recording their all-accident rate is much lower at 64 per cent, when compared to 80 per cent of medium-sized companies and 79 per cent of large businesses.
RS urges both an ‘above and beyond’ strategy in place to cover the major causes of accident, and a continual review of KPIs to ensure they cover the main risks to the organisation.
Improving productivity remains a high priority
Driving higher productivity is vital in any industry, but when it comes to manufacturing, it’s key to survival.
This emerged as a significant concern for health and safety professionals, who are feeling the pressure to improve productivity. Those citing it has risen to 39 per cent from 36 per cent a year ago, pointing to an impact of having to do more with fewer resources.
Budget cuts presented as a worry for 42 per cent of respondents – up slightly from 41 per cent – and this is most notable for large organisations, where 58 per cent see it as a threat.
Ongoing challenges for H&S professionals
When asked about the main challenges facing them in the coming 12 months, respondents cited skills shortages as a key one.
Sustainability is a significant issue for many organisations, but as the H&S arena is a large user of items like PPE, it is even more prominent. However, the RS report highlighted a rapidly dwindling willingness to pay more for sustainable products. Some 78 per cent of respondents to last year’s survey said they’d be willing to pay more for sustainable products, but this has fallen to 60 per cent this year. In the process manufacturing sector, they are even less likely to do so.
But RS urges organisations to consider working with partners to evaluate the options, as, purchasing sustainable PPE is not always more expensive, particularly when the lifetime costs are considered. A product with more expensive materials could potentially last three or four times longer, meaning the increased cost could quickly be recouped.
Women’s PPE is an ongoing issue: 85 per cent believe more needs to be done to ensure PPE for women fits better. There is evidence of a growing awareness of women’s PPE options. Despite this, only one per cent cited women-specific PPE as an important factor when sourcing.
Counterfeit and sub-standard items saw 34 per cent of respondents citing concern about this, compared with 37 per cent a year ago.
Additional research on end users reveals PPE wearer insight
This year, RS conducted additional research on PPE end users to find get some insight on their experiences. When asked if ill-fitting PPE had made them feel unsafe or unprotected in the workplace, 11 per cent of respondents said yes.
A higher number said it had made them uncomfortable, at 30 per cent, and 13 per cent said they’ve had to modify PPE to fit. Some 20 per cent of respondents said they had raised the issue with a line manager, and 79 per cent of those said their issue was resolved with the provision of more suitable PPE.
The job of H&S safety professionals isn’t getting any easier against a backdrop of economic turbulence, and the report highlights that people working in these roles are doing what they can to keep workers safe in the face of budget pressures and skills shortages. Working with reputable suppliers and trusted partners will help them in this quest.
RS’ report ‘Improving the Standard’ can be downloaded in full by visiting uk.rs-online.com/web/content/m/hs-industry-report.
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