The TUC has proposed the concept that occupational health should have the same priority as injury prevention measures. It estimates that diseases caused through occupational exposure kill six times more employees than work-related accidents, generating direct and indirect costs that equate to around 4% of global GDP. Against a background of claims for compensation, there is a growing consensus on the need for more action on occupational health.

The working environment can throw up some aggressive conditions. Thankfully, technological advances have not only delivered enhanced processes but also improvements in safety tools and techniques to protect us from these conditions.  However, since there are so many options available, there is work to do in understanding, evaluating and appreciating the risks that workers face in order to establish the most cost-effective and efficient safety practices. This can be a complex task but a worthwhile one from all perspectives because, while personnel safety is undoubtedly the most important factor, the prevention of accidents and ill health  also improves productivity and profitability and that benefits everyone in the business.

Health and safety practices are sometimes based on an oversimplified assessment of risk to comply with the most basic demands of legislation. However, more enlightened companies are following more proactive risk reduction strategies that go much further.  

When it comes to addressing the dangers posed by contaminated atmospheres the problem is often one of perception. Deadly gases such as hydrogen sulphide (H2S) that pose an immediate threat to life naturally attract the most attention. However, the effects of exposure to potentially toxic dusts can be extremely harmful, despite the long latency period of any developing condition. It may take many years before symptoms, such as cancers of the lungs, throat and nose as well as other respiratory conditions including emphysema and asthma, present themselves.

To prevent the losses to both employee health and business profitability that arise from, at one end of the scale, lost working hours to, at the opposite end of the scale, claims for compensation raised as a result of serious illness, businesses can take advantage of modern instrumentation to monitor conditions and protect the business and workforce from the negative effects of exposure.  Customer expectations are high given the growing deployment of sensors in the home and the environment, but modern instrumentation is providing increasingly sophisticated answers. 

For example personal sampling pumps can be used to quantify the presence of harmful contaminants such as dust and vapors in the atmosphere. Casella developed a sampling pump for use in coal mines 60 years ago, but today in addition to certification for use in potentially hazardous atmospheres due to flammable gases or dusts, the Casella TUFF personal sampling pump offers the reliability that is essential in health and safety equipment, not least because of what it offers in terms of battery management.  Built to withstand harsh environmental conditions, the pump’s intelligent battery monitoring and fast/trickle charge control facility maintain optimum battery condition and service life. Fast charging and a remaining run time ‘fuel gauge’ help ensure availability.

While the Health and Safety Executive is often accused of allocating more effort to ‘safety’ as opposed to ‘health’, the capabilities of modern instrumentation for detecting contamination in the atmosphere is making it possible for  businesses to roll out cost-effective monitoring to protect employee health and business sustainability.