Inspired by 1984

It blew my mind to recently learn that it wasn’t until 1984 that women were allowed…yes! That’s ALLOWED! To run a marathon at the Olympic Games. Perhaps more alarming was the fact that up until this point, women were not allowed to run beyond a mile at the Olympics, with 1500m being the longest women’s distance event. Bonkers! Considering men were able to run the marathon since the modern games were created in 1896.

In 1984, Joan Benoit Samuelson did something very special, at mile three, she broke away from the lead pack and… well, I won’t spoil it… just take a listen. Miles to Go is the audible series that takes you on a journey of the history of women’s distance running. It’s a story of triumph over discrimination, it shows how Joan’s feet wouldn’t have been possible, without the women that went before her, Julia Chase Brand who broke the gender barrier in 1961 by crashing the famous men’s only Manchester Road Race. From there, you are introduced to a string of women who stood up, took risks, and ran the Boston Marathon.

It’s an emotional roller-coaster and gave me goosebumps when it concluded. Throughout the story, there is just a very strong realisation of how unfair the situation was. How slow organisations were to move to, what now feels like such an obvious position. You are introduced to small acts of allyship and support from men, who evidently knew what the right thing was to do. From judges using their findings to raise the issue, to the runners who protected women who were illegitimately taking part in the marathons, to those who set up women’s running clubs. All small acts of heroism, that added to the historical event on the 5 August 1984.

What has this true story of long distance running and the fight against discrimination got to do with Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and why is it important?

Well, there are a few good reasons. The first being OSH is applicable to everyone, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, etc and in being non-discriminatory, it is useful for OSH practitioners to broaden their understanding of discrimination, barriers to participation and the impact of cultures on the uptake of, and engagement with OSH. I heartily recommend The Culture Map as further reading in this space.

The second is the make up of our workforce, with three quarters of the UK’s adult population in work, approximately 32 million people, that’s a broad spectrum of society and the safety profession should be representative of the workforce. If we expand that out across the globe, the International Labour Organisation indicates that 55.8% of the global population are employed. The Safety profession must be representative of that global workforce, to give us the best chance of being successful in protecting people from harm and helping them to thrive at work.

Put more simply, the global workforce has the right to a safe and healthy work environment. In fact, this year’s International Labour Conference will be voting on making Safety and Health at Work a fundamental principle and right at work. This is a big moment! On the 10 June 2022, we will find out if this is enshrined as a human right. I don’t believe anyone should be against this. With almost 3 million people dying annually due to safety and health hazards related to work, that’s equivalent to five people every minute. FIVE PEOPLE EVERY MINUTE!

The third really focuses on the close to 50 thousand members of IOSH and representing the membership by applying to join Council. If you are a member of IOSH and not sure what Council is or what it does as a group for the membership, there is a nice video series that introduces the role of Council and what it means to some of our Councillors. Councils’ role is to represent our membership and as a member of the Presidential Team, it’s important to me that the makeup of Council reflects the makeup of our membership. Therefore, I’d encourage any member of IOSH who wants to volunteer, represent the members voice, help steer strategy, and hold the Board of Trustees to account, to apply. Applications close on the 27 June 2022 and more info can be found here.

Diversity and inclusion are being championed by our President Louise Hosking. She really is role modelling the idea of being the change you want to see. For IOSH, there is still miles to go. I would love to see the number of Female Fellows go from 1% to 10% and ultimately to 50%. It would be great to see our international membership continue to rise and cover the globe, bringing in new voices, fresh perspectives and broadening our understanding of global OSH issues to support our membership and IOSH to deliver a safer world of work for everyone. Delivery at both the local and global level are critical to our success.

I’ll be watching with interest on the 10 June to see what happens. It’s potentially a monumental moment for the profession and for the global workforce. One we should all be very aware of and if this passes, one that the profession should leverage, not for ourselves but for our core purpose.?