On the safe side
From working at height to operating machinery, a job within the exhibitions sector is not for the faint-hearted. For the past 50 years however, workers have been protected by the Health & Safety at Work Act, a set of regulations which placed a legal obligation on all employers to provide a safe working environment.
As a committed ESSA member, Smart Display is fully-committed to industry best practice, and health & safety is no exception. We reported only last month that our youngest member of the installations team is leading the way when it comes to undertaking all ESSA training modules for a safer, healthier approach to exhibiting.
To commemorate 50 years since the introduction of the Act, we caught up with ESSA’s health & safety manager Josh Taylor to find out how we can go one step further to protect all members of the Smart Display team, both on and off site.
“It still feels slightly surreal that we have only had enforceable health & safety regulations across all workplaces since 1974,” says Josh. “A lot has changed in the past half century and a lot of that change has been good – really good in fact. Occupational safety & health records have improved dramatically, with fatal workplace injuries falling by 88 per cent* between 1974 and 2019.”
The introduction of the Act and the legal obligation that it placed on employers paved the way for many practices that have since become standard. Risk assessments, personal protective clothing and training are all things that we take for granted today, although the understanding of why these things are so important still needs work, according to Josh.
“Too often I hear stories from events professionals about their experiences with organisers, with some questioning the need and importance for certain things,” he says. “The most obvious answer as to why these things are needed is ‘because of health and safety’ – but this often doesn’t get the best response from people, namely because the why has not been effectively explained.
“Instead of ‘because of health and safety’, think about the why; “’You have to wear a hi-vis in the halls because there are vehicles and forklifts moving around and the drivers will be able to see you better’ for example.
The more information people have and share then the more people know what is happening, meaning shows can be planned better and delivered better – both more efficiently and safely.”
By its very nature, the exhibitions industry poses more potential risk to employees than office-based industries, and event-specific rules are necessary due to the greater risk of working on exhibitions, particularly during build up and breakdown.
As well as empowering its members with its health & safety accreditation – a practice already adopted by the team at Smart Display – ESSA is striving to see the Health & Safety at Work Act updated to reflect the ever-evolving workplace.
“One area we would like to see updated is regarding mental health,” says Josh. While the Act provides great information regarding physical health, it doesn’t address the need of how to look after employees’ mental health. And, with mental health becoming an ever more prevalent topic in the workplace, it feels only natural that the Act will need to be updated to provide greater guidance on this.”
* Data: History of Occupational Safety & Health
