Health & Safety Journey - 2020

As we reach the middle of March. I thought it would be a good time, to reflect on both the challenges and reflections of 2020 and what 2021 will bring. As we all know, last March, a major pandemic had broken out, and it was evident that as OSH practitioner we had to react in a way that we had not done before. The reason for this is that there was no textbook or manual on how to manage a pandemic. Therefore, we all had to read and understand the overall risks of COVID 19 and how we would manage these to protect people within our organisations. As a result we had to understand and communicate these new risks to all people within the organisations and then what control measures had to be implemented to protect employees, allowing them to continue to work safely.

As I worked as a Principal Designer/ CDM Advisor on a range of projects, then once COVID 19 hit, and all of the construction projects that I was working on all temporarily closed as directed by the Government guidelines. So, I provided proactive advice on how to close their sites safely. This included the removal of materials, the correct level of security, and updating their Fire Risk Assessments to reflect the sites' temporary closure. As well as adapting their site risk assessments to demonstrate the safe temporary closure of the site. As the COVID, 19 rules continued to change, and as lockdown rules changed to allow the construction industry to carry on work. This meant that all of the projects I was working on were slowly starting to recommence on site. So, this involved me in reviewing all of the Construction Phase Plans for the site to consider the new risk of COVID 19. It also included reviewing the COVID 19 risk assessments for both the Principal Contractor and the other Contractor works on site. Also, make sure that all risk assessments for the site were reviewed to include COVID 19 and ensure that they include regular toolbox talks to make all personally aware of COVID 19. To ensure that the Principal Contractor was adhering to the new COVID 19 guidelines, I undertook several compliance audits against the Construction Leadership Council COVID 19 guidance. As the COVID 19 guidance continued to change, I gave regular updates to the Construction projects that I was working on to clearly understand the regular changes to the guidance and remain compliant.

It is evident that even with the overall rollout of the vaccine for COVID 19, the overall roadmap has been set out for the country to recover from the impact of COVID 19. The Government is continuing to do an incredible job of vaccinating the country. However, the risk of COVID 19 will still be present for a long time, and all sectors will need to manage the risk of COVID 19 and put in suitable control measures to manage the risks. These will continue to include the social distancing measures, well-ventilated rooms, remote meeting, wearing of face masks, to name a few. This is just another risk that the Principal Contractors, Contractors and members of the supply chain.

On the other hand, in December, I assisted Capita's Fire Safety Team in completing their portfolio of Fire Risk Assessments of Capita Offices. This included visits to several sites and maintaining COVID 19 controls at all times, and then completing the Fire Risk Assessment for each of the sites. Each of the Fire Risk Assessments that I completed had several identified actions during these visits to improve the fire safety on site. All of these actions were communicated to the Facilities Manager and a timeframe for them to be completed.

Then, as part of my continuing professional development was to achieve both Chartered Membership of the Institute of the Occupational Health & Safety and Incorporated Membership of the Association for Project Safety. These were both big goals of mine to complete. To complete my Chartership for IOSH, this included completing my Initial Professional Development in line with the IOSH procedure. I first had to complete my skills development portfolio, and this included six sections against which I had to provide evidence. This was a challenge in itself and resulted in me submitting various evidence to the appointed assessor. Some of the evidence that I presented had to be submitted, as it did not meet the overall criteria, and I started to become disheartened by the overall IPD process. However, I reached out to the IOSH mentor scheme and contacted Simon Jones, who provided me with some great guidance on how to complete my IPD. Through constant communication, I completed all sections of my IPD within a short timeframe. Then, once this was completed, I made sure my CPD was up to date to prepare for my CPD audit. Again I was given some very effective guidance on having a good amount of CPD in all sections of my CPD. Once I had passed my CPD audit, IOSH provided me with several dates to attend my Peer Review Interview, which was the final part of my Chartered journey.

This interview was to provide a 10-minute presentation on my overall career journey so far, answer the number of Health & Safety Relation questions, and make sure that I understood the IOSH Code of Conduct. It was a very challenging hour, and IOSH confirmed that I had passed, which was a great personal achievement of mine and a fundamental milestone of my career journey.

After achieving my Chartered IOSH status, which was a great achievement and showed my commitment to the Health & Safety profession, as part of my ongoing personal development was to then become a member of the Association for Project Safety, due to the work that I do daily as CDM Advisor and Principal Designer. This process commenced with completing the initial application and providing evidence against several sections related to CDM. These included providing examples of Health & Safety Files that I had compiled to provide evidence of where I can construct Health & Safety advice to a Client request. Once this had been completed, I was given a link to undertake the APS CDM 2015 exam. This exam was a series of multiple-choice questions around the main areas of CDM and other general Health & Safety questions. It was a good overall refresher of complying with the duties under CDM. It was even better when the Association for Project confirmed that I had passed the CDM exam. The final hurdle was a telephone interview with the APS. It was a conversation with an APS assessor. I had to provide a few areas after the telephone interview. Once these had been provided, The Association for Project Safety Confirmed that I had achieved Incorporated Membership of the Association for Project Safety.

As well as achieving both of these key professional achievements. I continued to work on many Construction Projects acting as either the Principal Designer and CDM Advisor on several projects. One of these projects was working as a CDM Advisor on an 80-bed accommodation block for a local housing group. As part of this project was to provide regular CDM/Health & Safety visits regularly to make sure that the site was compliant with the Health & Safety at Work Act. During the regular Health & Safety visits, it was really good to see that the Principal Contractor maintained a high compliance level whilst completing works on the project. There were a few minor recommendations. These were dealt with proactively by the site management team. I collated all the information within an overall compliance report and demonstrated both the good practice and then areas of improvement; these were then issued to the entire project team to demonstrate that the Principal Contractor is complying with Health & Safety whilst the works are being undertaken on site.

Last year was defiantly a very challenging year for myself and others within the OSH profession, and how we had to react to the new emerging risk of COVID 19 proactively. As well as effectively dealing with the existing risks within their organisation. This demonstrates the importance of the need for Health & Safety professionals within all sectors and organisations and how we need to continue to learn and understand how we manage risks. Working within the construction sector has presented many challenges and opportunities and has personally tested my resilience during this dynamic time.

In conclusion, the last year has been a challenging time for me and a great opportunity to develop my skills in providing advice to many clients on COVID and other Health & Safety risks within the construction sector. I have achieved some great professional goals, and now is the time to develop other professional skills for my career. The future goals include gaining more understanding of Behavioural Safety, Project Management skills, Environmental Management, etc. However, it demonstrates that I need to continue developing my Construction Health & Safety sector skills. Also, to understand the importance of having a mentor and how it helps in your development and so having a mentor was crucial to my continued development. It has also developed my resilience and kept going outside my comfort zone to develop myself both professionally and personally.

As a closing part here are some of the key lessons, that I have learnt from the past year:

• To always look at achieving the goals you have set and don't give up on them.
• Surround yourself with several mentors and support network that you can rely on for sources of information.
• That this year has been a challenge of learning and dealing with COVID 19.
• Take stock of the achievements to date
• Be open to challenging yourself
• Develop a growth mindset
• Becoming a Chartered Member of IOSH