Green Jobs can Cost Lives, Says Occupational and Environmental Health Expert
Working in the so-called green industry can seriously affect one’s health and safety. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) ratings, green jobs are considered to be ten times more hazardous compared to other jobs.
Hazards, a reputed health and safety journal, has also raised this issue recently in one of its articles. In the article, the journal’s editor has expressed the view that these jobs are actually the jobs of the waste industry in a new look. Rory O’Neill, who is also a Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Stirling, Scotland, writes that the nature of materials that are handled in the waste industry automatically increases the risk quotient.
O’Neill emphasizes the need to closely monitor the industry, otherwise the number of accidents at workplace is bound to increase alarmingly in the near future.
O’Neill points out that the recycling industry handles many potentially dangerous materials like asbestos and metals like lead. He writes that in the course of energy efficient retrofitting of old buildings, workers are exposed to high levels of such carcinogenic materials. Similarly, in the re-insulation industry, fibreglass and other materials that are irritants for the respiratory system are used.
Apart from this, O’Neill mentions the risk of physical injury while handling the fitting of large insulation panels or solar panels. Workers engaged in the construction and maintenance of wind turbines are also under the risk of falling from heights, according to him.
O’Neill warns that green jobs may ultimately be the reason for the loss of many lives, and urges the unions to take positive steps towards improving the health and safety regime.
Companies need to be sure that they are giving the correct instructions with effective policies around health and safety decisions; fire risk assessment and fire safety training are essential parts of any organisation’s health and safety programme. Fire Risk Assessment Training will benefit health and safety managers, facilities managers and fire wardens in all organisations in enabling them to understand their responsibilities for fire safety, and put in place measures to control the risks of fire as required under new legislation.
