The British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) are celebrating 70 years. To mark this occasion they have released a new guide on workplace health protection. This is in conjunction with The Royal Society of Worker Health Protection.
What does the BOHS guide contain?
The A-Z guide has been put together by the society’s Faculty of Occupational Hygiene. And is intended to be used by scientists, health and safety professionals, and industrial disease lawyers. This is because the guide lays out what means of protection are achievable for controlling exposure to hazards at work.
And this is because some workplace hazards can be responsible for serious illness that can occur in later life. Therefore signposting potential hazards is necessary in helping to minimise such problems occurring
What’s more, over the years, the BOHS have been instrumental in raising awareness of how to reduce harm from exposure to contaminants that can lead to lung disease. Yet despite regular campaigning, the numbers of workers diagnosed with occupational lung disease continues to rise.
The new guide has come at what some have called a ‘pivotal’ time in the industry. This is as more workers report ill health and long-term health conditions as a result of exposure to hazardous substances at work.
You can find the guide on the BOHS’s website here.
More about the BOHS
Since its founding 70 years ago, the BOHS has been working tirelessly to learn more about, and prevent threats to health. Additionally, they work to understand long latency diseases which can sometimes result in serious illness later on in life.
For example, toxic substances like Asbestos were not known to be hazardous until much later in life. Sadly, workers began to show symptoms of occupational lung disease and other COPD related problems as a result of asbestos exposure. Furthermore, we are quickly finding out that lung cancer is linked to many airborne contaminants found in workplaces. So the focus for the BOHS remains on raising awareness and prevent harm from exposure to hazards before they become fatal.
Interestingly, the BOHS is currently the world’s largest awarding body for Occupational Hygiene and Asbestos related qualifications. This helps individuals learn competence in protecting workers from ill-health. This ranges from things such as Occupational Cancers, back injuries, noise induced hearing loss and Legionnaires Disease.
Advocating for worker health
Businesses like Safety First Group advocate on behalf of the BOHS. This is to ensure the message regarding worker health is carried through. Essentially, we are the middle men between the organisations that set the standards, and the companies that should follow them. For example, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) set compliance regulations that are to be adhered to by businesses with 5 or more employees. This can range from noise and vibration exposure to risk assessing and monitoring airborne contaminants. Safety First Group has experience in many aspects of UK workforce health compliance.
And it’s not just workers who are protected by compliance. Many businesses forget that safeguarding employee health is like having an insurance policy for their business. By protecting workers, they are protecting themselves from the risk of fines. It’s a win-win situation when you look at it like that!
Need to get in touch?
If you have questions relating to any of the issues we have raised in this post, you can contact us here. Alternatively, you can reach us at enquiries@safetyfirstgroup.co.uk or by telephone on 0845 004 2133.
