Member Article

Warning over office ‘slow accidents’

Workplace accidents are usually immediate. Falls, trips, cuts and collisions can happen in seconds, but ’slow accidents’, the kind of accidents that happen over time, sometimes many years, are unfolding every day in the workplace, but many employees and managers just don’t realise it.

Stockport-based health and safety training expert Michelle Hay is campaigning to highlight the dangers posed by ‘slow accidents’ in the workplace and to educate managers to recognise the signs and risks of slowly unfolding accidents.

People experiencing accidents in environments such as building sites or in factories usually see them coming, but for office workers accidents can creep up on them over a period of time.

‘Slow accidents’ include musculoskeletal disorders, work related upper limb disorders, back pain, hearing loss, eye strain, lung disease, and mental and physical fatigue. Symptoms are revealed over time as aches, pains, anxiety or depression and can be misinterpreted and not recognised as work-related.

These kinds of accidents are usually avoidable if thorough risk assessments have been carried out. However, stress and anxiety caused through bullying and/or violence is another ‘slow accident’ which is sometimes difficult to diagnose.

The HSE statistics annual report 2013/2014 revealed two million workers were suffering from an illness that they believed was caused and aggravated by their current work. The annual cost to society is a staggering £14.2 billion with 28.2 million working days lost. The same report suggests 39% of the 1.2 million cases of work-related illnesses were due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety, with 11.3 million working days lost.

Michelle believes prevention is always preferable to the cure, adding: “In my experience of managing teamwork and staff motivation, the best course of action is clear instruction and openness. Worker involvement and agreement, through open discussions is essential, as is the opportunity to allow staff confidentiality when speaking up. Management should then set the standards for the code of conduct for any work place and walk the talk.”

Accidents caused by poor ergonomics in the office, such as bad posture and repetitive movement are difficult to detect, but by correctly adjusting chairs, desks, computers and other equipment the risks can be minimised. The choice of lighting, reducing glare from screens, wearing the correct glasses and taking a break are also factors in reducing the risk of a slow accident.

Michelle concludes that the best and only solution to the problem of slow accidents is for management to be trained to spot the symptoms and learn how best to deal with the challenge.

She says: “This situation can’t be ignored. Complaints such as ‘my back aches’, ‘my hands are tingling’, ‘my head hurts’, ‘my ears are ringing’, and ‘my chest is tight’, could indicate that a slow accident is happening. The signs of anxiety and depression may be harder to spot, but managers need to acquire the skills to spot them. Don’t ignore them. The consequences are not cost effective in the long run.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by James Welton .