Occupational Health for Manufacturing

Ways to Improve Health and Safety in the Manufacturing Environment.

Occupational injuries and illnesses can reduce productivity, pushing back your manufacturing schedule. This is why health and safety in production environments is crucial, in addition to the overarching aim of keeping workers safe.

• Health Surveillance – Health surveillance is a system of defined health checks that are done at specified time periods and associated with residual health risks at work. Examples of Health Surveillance are, Lung Function (Respiratory) testing, Audiometry testing (hearing), Skin examination and Hand arm vibration (HAVs) testing. It should not be confused with the wider services listed below.

• Substance testing (Alcohol & Drug) – Alcohol and Drug misuse can be a big concern in the workplace. Take proactive measures to protect your employees and the business. There are many types of testing available such as ‘For Cause’ giving you the ability to test as and when the need arises or ‘Random’ testing where testing can be organised with as little as 24 hours notice, with an independent random selection process. Having a robust testing policy in place is vital to the success of the testing and being transparent about the programme.

• Biological Monitoring – Biological effect monitoring is the measurement of biological effects resulting from absorption of chemicals or other substances. There can be many harmful particle and chemical discharge risks in many manufacturing environments. An example would be the measurement of lead in blood of workers exposed to lead dust.  Biological monitoring is especially useful when there is likely significant absorption through the skin; and control of your exposure depends on personal protective equipment and this helps to check it’s appropriateness.

• Protective Equipment – Employers must protect workers from potential health & safety risks. This means providing PPE at a cost to the business if a risk assessment shows it is required. Workers may have to wear PPE such as safety helmets, gloves, eye or hearing protection, high-visibility clothing, safety footwear and harnesses to stay safe within the workplace. PPE may also include respiratory protective equipment to stop workers breathing in dust, mist, gas, or fume. Employers must carry out a risk assessment and some risks may still remain even if controls and safe systems of work have been implemented.

• Face Fit Testing – When respiratory protective equipment is used, it must be able to provide appropriate protection for the wearers of the equipment. Respiratory protective equipment can’t protect the wearer if it is faulty. A typical fault is for the equipment to leak, and a cause of leak is poor fit – tight-fitting face pieces need to fit the wearer’s face to be effective. The most appropriate time to do fit testing is at the initial selection stage when an individual can be given a choice of suitable models of respiratory protective equipment. It helps if the face piece is similar the one they wore when they had their last successful fit test. If an employee wears more than one type of tight-fitting face piece, then each type of face piece should be fit tested.

• Flu Vaccinations – Keeping people healthy in the workplace supports operational resilience saving time and money. The flu vaccination is offered to all employees as part of an effective well being program, which includes:
  • Integral to day-to-day operations, aligned and reflective of strategy, goals and culture.
  • Supports the 4 key dimensions of well being – physical, emotional, financial, social.
  • Effective in the mitigation of risk.
  • Focused on improving the health and engagement of employees.

• Fitness for Work Medicals – The main purpose of a Fitness for Work Medical is to make sure that an individual is fit to perform in their job role effectively and without risk to their own or others health and safety.  The purpose isn’t to exclude a person from a job but to enable to make any necessary reasonable adjustments to the job to allow the person to work safely. Many medical conditions and most minor health problems have very little implications for work and shouldn’t affect any future employment. Many roles do not require agreed advisory medical standards and no special health requirements.  Where questions about health are included on a job application form should be used to only seek information that may be necessary to enable any modifications to the interview process. Fitness for work medicals should be specific to the proposed job and only medical questions relevant to the employment should be asked.