As a company with safety as our number one focus, Kite Group explore what safety means to workers in this blog, and some facts that may surprise you about the history of occupational health.
Where ‘safety’ comes from
The word ‘safety’ comes from the Latin salvus which means in good health, uninjured, safe. ‘Safety’ entered the English language in the 14th century. Perhaps not coincidentally, this was the same century of the Black Death, which wiped out around a third of the European population.
All safety is relative
When a situation is called safe, it generally means safe within reasonable limits and parameters. Eliminating all risk can be extremely difficult, highly expensive, and in some cases not possible. For this reason, safety is often taken to mean that risk to people or property are low and manageable.
The first book on occupational safety was published in the 1700s
De Morbis Artificum Diatriba (Dissertation on Workers' Diseases) was the first book to explore working environments to identify hazards and health disorders caused by working – occupational diseases. Bernardino Ramazzini wrote the book in Latin and it was published in 1713. This foundational work introduced health and safety concepts that are now well-known, such as ‘it is better to prevent than cure.’
The most dangerous occupation in the EU and USA might surprise you
By far one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, construction incurs more occupational fatalities than any other sector in the European Union or United States. For this reason, the construction industry is highly regulated with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) gathering and sharing information to help businesses comply with UK laws around health and safety at work. Falls are one of the most common causes of fatal and non-fatal injuries among construction workers – read our blogs about safety at height and our featured products to find out more about preventing falls.
There is a hierarchy of hazard controls
This hierarchy is used among numerous safety organisations as is widely accepted as best practice in the workplace. The hazard controls are, in order of decreasing priority:
· Elimination
· Substitution
· Engineering controls
· Administrative controls
· Personal protective equipment
Eliminating a hazard is the most effective priority and, if possible, often negates the need for other controls. However the very nature of many occupations means that elimination is not always possible, for example repairing work on a roof in the construction industry, or treating a patient with an infectious disease in healthcare. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is often the most important way to control hazards to individual workers. PPE can include but is not limited to; gloves, hardhats, high-visibility clothing, safety eyewear and footwear.
There are many more important facts to know about safety and its importance to the workplace. Kite Group take safety as our number one priority. All of our products are compliant with HSE regulations and certificates of conformity can be produced upon request. Kite Group are proud to hold accreditation for ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems along with a Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) award.
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