Balfour Beatty - Corporate Responsibility Summary Report 2007

www.balfourbeatty.co.uk
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH HAZARDS
We pay particular attention to specific occupational health risks relevant
to our industry. These include:
Hand-Arm Vibration (HAVS)
Over the past three years operating companies have refined their
management of vibration, and many have appointed champions to develop
methods of reducing risks associated with HAVS. Selecting the right vibrating
tools, colour coded tools marked with "traffic light" systems, monitored trigger
times and working with a single tool provider are all used to control exposure
to vibration.
Additionally, regular health surveillance for relevant employees is carried out,
enabling us to identify historical cases of HAVS and to observe new
symptoms at an early stage. In 2007, HAVS questionnaires were completed
by 1,870 (4,700 in 2006) UK employees. As a result, 55 cases of HAVS were
identified in 2007 compared with 62 in 2006 and 86 in 2005. This reduction
demonstrates the continued effort from operating companies in managing the
risk associated with HAVS.
Of the 55 cases of HAVS identified by questionnaire in 2007 all went on for
further health surveillance and as a result 14 were reported as occupational ill
health cases to the HSE. The remainder were identified at an early enough
stage to prevent further damage.
Case studies about safety and
health management
Read case studies about how we
manage safety and health issues
across the group.
Read case studies here
Increased use
of stress management counselling,
awareness and recognition services.
11%
reduction in hand-arm vibration
cases identified during the year
53%
increase in audiometric testing
across the group
During 2007, Mansell Construction and Haden Young continued to work
closely with tool manufacturers to measure exposure time on common tasks
associated with vibration risks. Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering is
experimenting with innovative personal vibration exposure monitors worn by
operatives working with vibrating equipment.
Manual handling
Musculo-skeletal disorders due to poor manual handling are a common
hazard on site. We are addressing this in several ways including increased
automation and use of vacuum lifting and hydraulic lifting appliances. On
London Underground a mechanical aid has been developed for positioning rail
sleepers. Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions utilised a mobile training vehicle to
visit regions across the country promoting manual handling initiatives. Balfour
Kilpatrick appointed manual handling champions to look at re-designing
manual handling tasks to reduce the risk of injury.
Noise induced hearing loss
Hearing loss caused by exposure to noise at work continues to be a
significant occupational disease – which is why regular hearing checks are
vital in detecting and responding to early signs of damage.
In 2007, a total of 3,428 employees received audiometric testing across the
group compared to 2,242 in 2006. 1.2% (3.5% in 2006) of those tested had
their future duties restricted due to early signs of damage. This demonstrates
the continued effort from operating companies in managing the risk
associated with noise.
Stress
Stress is increasingly reported in the UK as a cause of work related illness
and is a focus for UK regulators. Several of our businesses have introduced
stress management arrangements, including counselling, stress awareness
and stress recognition training. Counselling is offered to those affected by
major incidents as a matter of course.
In-house workshops are used to promote awareness of stress related matters
and potential workplace stressors, and training is provided to help managers
identify potential workplace stressors early on.
In 2007 a total of 287 employees were trained to recognise stress symptoms