2023 HSE target areas – do your safety controls measure up?

Each year the HSE identifies high-risk areas or emerging trends across industries and focuses their inspection activities on those areas. They have now announced their inspection programme for the current year, and for 2023, the HSE are focusing on the following four areas:

• Work at height
• Occupational lung disease
• Workplace transport
• Gas safety

Across each of the four target areas, we will look at how you can undertake a review of your current safety controls to make sure you are in line with the HSE's requirements.

Work at height

Working at height remains the highest cause of workplace fatalities and injuries. For 2023, the HSE will be inspecting the workplace transport across several industries. If you work in the following areas, you may be subject to an inspection:

• Agriculture
• Construction
• Demolition
• Manufacturing

To prepare for an HSE inspection, you need to make sure that you have the following measures in place:

• Robust precautions to prevent falls. As far as possible, eliminate work at height altogether. If this is not possible, use collective measures to prevent or minimise the distance of a fall, such as installing edge protection and guard rails.
• Where collective measures are not possible, utilise personal protective equipment such as fall-arrest systems.
• Task-specific risk assessments for work at height, that take into account the equipment, access routes, and people involved.
• Health and safety training for employees working at height.
• Safe working procedures, such as a permit-to-work system, where access to dangerous areas is restricted without authorisation.

Occupational lung disease

Occupational lung disease claims 12,000 lives in the UK each year, with 2.3m workers estimated to be exposed to harmful dusts. Common occupational lung conditions include asbestos-related lung disease, mesothelioma, occupational asthma, COPD, and silicosis. In 2023, the HSE will focus their inspections on the following industries:

• Ceramics
• Construction
• Engineered stone
• Foundries
• Rubber
• Wood

To ensure you are meeting HSE requirements, you need to review the following key controls:

• Substitution. Can you eliminate the dust-generating process altogether, or replace the dust-generating material with a less hazardous substance?
• Process controls. Damp down dust by using water suppression, or enclose the dusty process using local exhaust ventilation (LEV).
• Restrict access. Limit the number of people exposed to hazardous dust.
• Personal protective equipment (PPE). Provide respiratory protective equipment (RPE) to supplement any engineering controls in place.
• Air monitoring. Monitor the level of dust in the air to understand whether existing controls are effective enough.
• Health surveillance. Provide relevant health surveillance for employees at risk of lung disease, such as spirometry testing and biological monitoring.

Workplace transport

According to the latest available HSE data, 25 workers were killed in workplace transport accidents in 2021/22. For 2023, inspections will focus on the following areas:

• Agriculture
• Waste and recycling industry
• Construction

To prepare for an HSE inspection, you need to review the following key controls:

• Safe site design. Make sure your site layout promotes safe practices, using clearly defined walkways, speed limits, and one-way systems.
• Safe vehicles. Make sure vehicles are fit for purpose, regularly maintained, and fitted with any necessary safety features such as roll-over protection and rear cameras.
• Safe drivers. Only employ qualified and licensed drivers to operate vehicles and ensure they are regularly re-trained.

Gas safety

Gas accidents caused 11 deaths in 2021/22. For 2023, the HSE will be inspecting across several sectors to ensure:

• Those working with gas are suitably competent and qualified
• Equipment is well-maintained
• Gas is stored safely

To prepare for an inspection, you need to review the following key controls:

• Make sure that anyone working with gas is suitably qualified and competent, including carrying out regular refresher training.
• Maintain robust records of your gas system maintenance and engineer qualifications.
• Ensure that relevant gas equipment is serviced regularly in line with manufacturer recommendations.

If you are worried about your current compliance with any of the HSE target areas, our safety consultants are here to help. Get in touch with our team today for more information.