All forms of work carry a level of risk. However, some professions are objectively more dangerous and involve more physical risks to the human body than others. These include construction, healthcare, manufacturing and food delivery.
Whether you own your own business or are a key decision-maker for a larger corporation, it’s important to gauge the level of physical risk involved in day-to-day activities faced by the team. Then, you need to identify specific dangers and take measures to ameliorate them.
In this article, we’ll go over some industries that are at a higher risk of workplace accidents. If you’re a key decision-maker in one of these industries, make sure to take the necessary steps to keep you and your team members safe. And if you’re thinking of looking for work in one of these four sectors, make sure you know how to adequately protect yourself from the common dangers.
Construction Industry
Due to the physically demanding nature of construction workers’ daily tasks and the fact that they often need to operate heavy equipment or work in unstable conditions, these workers are at a high risk of individual personal harm. Construction-related accidents can be debilitating to individual workers and also harm the reputation of the construction firm they work for.
As a business seeking to create a safe environment for construction workers, there should be significant investment in high-quality protective equipment like hard hats and high-visibility vests for nighttime work. It’s also important to secure an insurance policy for each employee in case an accident should take place, as well as for the firm as a whole – to prove that all reasonable steps to prevent accident and injury have been carried out.
When in doubt about what safety measures to implement, refer back to official guidelines. While adhering to safety rules and regulations can pose a challenge to construction companies, especially smaller ones, following these guidelines is absolutely necessary if you want to keep your team safe and happy.
Healthcare Industry
Healthcare is an incredibly rewarding profession, but it’s also rife with potential dangers. Doctors and nurses often need to treat infectious patients, which creates the risk of getting infected themselves. There’s also plenty of hazardous waste in hospitals and clinics, but beyond this, confused or unwell patients can become angry and aggressive towards the staff.
Safety training is paramount in a medical setting. All medical professionals should have easy access to personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, face shields, latex gloves and aprons. They should also be trained in de-escalating situations and handling violent patients.
Medical centres also need to implement rules for patients and visitors. Everyone entering a hospital should be screened for flu-like symptoms and if necessary, wear face masks. Medical professionals often deal with hundreds of patients a week, so every possible step should be taken to keep them safe and healthy.
Manufacturing Industry
The manufacturing industry in the UK is rebounding. While this means greater opportunities for local factories, it also means more possibilities for workplace-related injuries for factory workers. Whether you operate a factory or outsource manufacturing, putting health and safety at the forefront of operations is vital.
Thankfully, there are some time-honoured ways to make factories safer places to work and keep up with the rising demand for locally-produced goods without endangering the workers. As with construction and healthcare, protective equipment is also vital in the manufacturing industry.
The specific PPE required will depend on the goods being produced, but hard hats, safety goggles and earplugs for working with loud machinery are almost always a necessity. Factory owners should also implement comprehensive safety training programmes for all new employees.
Compared to other industries, manufacturing has a very high rate of physical injury. It’s not hard to see why: workers often have to spend hours a day operating heavy machinery and performing demanding physical labour. This is why employee welfare should be the top priority in any factory workplace. This includes the provision of adequate breaks during a shift, and adequate rest periods between shifts.
Food Delivery Industry
While food delivery has been around for a long time, the rise of delivery apps like Uber Eats and Deliveroo coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic has made ordering meals a fairly regular habit for lots of the population. This has led to a rise in the number of delivery drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists across the country.
The growth of the food delivery sector has also highlighted the dangers associated with being a delivery driver, primarily, road accidents. Third-party delivery businesses and restaurants with their own fleet of delivery personnel both need to implement measures to keep their riders safe on the road. These include a strict hiring process to ensure drivers have the relevant licenses, and investment in the right insurance policies, as well as provision of high-visibility jackets and accessories. On rainy days, businesses should inform customers that there might be delivery delays. This reduces the pressure on delivery people to drive fast on wet roads, protecting them from an increased risk of potential accidents.
While delivering food can be a lucrative profession, it also requires a great deal of care. Spending hours a day on the road can lead to accidents, meaning that delivery businesses should pull out all the stops to promote safe driving practices among their teams. It’s also necessary to implement training on the safe handling of hot foods and liquids to mitigate burns and spillages.
Tentative growth in the UK economy is great for individual businesses and the workforce, although it also highlights the risks involved with working in certain industries. We’ve just gone over some of the sectors most at risk of workplace accidents. This is important to understand whether you’re a jobseeker considering what career avenues to pursue, or a business or HR manager responsible for the safety and wellbeing of a number of people under your employment.
Thankfully, there are effective ways to prevent physical injuries to workers. These strategies are industry-dependent, so if you’re in or thinking of joining a sector with a higher than normal rate of workplace accidents, make sure to identify all the common risks and take the necessary measures to prevent them.
