There’s a beautiful scene in Lord of the Rings when Galadriel urges Frodo Baggins to take heart and carry that tricksy Ring to Mount Doom. She says, “even the smallest person can change the course of the future”.
These are words that give us goosebumps. Words that make our hearts swell. Because – secretly – we all want to be part of something big. No matter how unimportant we feel.
What can I do?
At work, on a drizzly Tuesday morning, we may not feel like we’re changing the future of the world when we’re carrying out a routine risk assessment on site. Noting a colleague’s bruised thumb in the accident book may not feel hugely important to the rest of the planet. But, here’s the thing: such records do have global significance.
The ILO: World Safety and Health at Work Day
Every year, the International Labour Organization (ILO) makes us sit up and take notice of global working conditions as part of its annual World Day for Safety and Health at Work. This year, on 28 April, it focuses on the need for countries to improve how they collect and use occupational safety and health (OSH) data.
What’s the big deal about OSH data?
OSH data is crucial to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015. The 2030 agenda encompasses a global plan of action with specific targets to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. As part of this, it’s crucial for countries to collect and use reliable OSH data – so that they can implement and report on the Agenda’s 17 sustainable development goals and their targets.
OSH data drives change
The ILO reminds us that the data collected from businesses across the globe drives change. And data collected from more physical, higher-risk environments – just like that collected by the engineers and site workers of QEM – can be particularly valuable. The collection and use of reliable OSH data helps detect new hazards and emerging risks, identify hazardous sectors, and develop preventive measures. Not only that, but good data can help in the implementation of policies, systems and programmes at international, national and enterprise levels. In the ILO’s words, “OSH data provides the basis for setting priorities and measuring progress”. By collecting and utilising reliable OSH data, we’re taking part in a global force for change. By simply recording our own data, we can improve the working conditions of the world’s most vulnerable workers, economies, and environments.
And it will also #HelpGBWorkWell
But it’s not all just “greater good”. There are immediate benefits close to home too. By making a commitment to good OSH practices, you’re also playing your part in the HSE’s Help Great Britain Work Well strategy. This five-year strategy has a number of themes, of which “Tackling Ill Health” knits comfortably with ILO’s campaign day this year. Sweet.
So, next time you’re completing a risk assessment, be thankful you don’t have to face Mount Doom to make the world a better place. Leave that one to the hobbits.