RoSPA is spearheading the OSH Skills Commission to address a recruitment and retention crisis facing the occupational safety and health (OSH) business.
The initiative is designed to provide insight and solutions to help OSH professionals tackle a range of challenges threatening workplace safety, including widening skills gaps, the loss of experienced professionals and mounting pressures on remaining staff. These issues are being further compounded by difficulties attracting and retaining talent combined with demands associated with changing working conditions and technology.
The OSH Skills Commission will comprise five groups tasked with coming up with suggested solutions for their respective topic.
The five topics, and commissioners for each, are:
聽Recruitment of competent people 鈥� Claudia Jaksh, chief executive of Policy Connect
- Retention of competent people 鈥� Rick Bate, president of the Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH)
- Consultation and worker representation 鈥� Luke Collins, national health & safety officer, Unite the Union
- Wellbeing, culture & psychological safety 鈥� Nick Pahl, chief executive of the Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM)
- Technology in OSH 鈥� Kate Field, head of people at the British Standards Institute (BSI)
RoSPA vice president Baroness Crawley said: 鈥淭his鈥痗ommission鈥痠s born out of difficult鈥痗ircumstances. Our nation faces a growing鈥痮ccupational鈥痵afety and health鈥痵kills shortage that is鈥痠mpacting鈥痯roductivity鈥痑nd鈥痯utting people in danger.鈥�
鈥淥ur goal is to influence policy鈥痶hrough鈥痵takeholder鈥痚ngagement and drive informed change to improve skills and competencies鈥痠n this country, once more positioning the UK as a world leader in health and safety.鈥疶ogether, we have an opportunity to future-proof OSH skills, support national productivity, and build a safer, stronger workforce.鈥�
Explaining Speedy Hire鈥檚 support for the OSH Skills Commission, health & safety director Andy Johnson said: 鈥淎s a time served safety professional,鈥疘鈥檝e鈥痺itnessed鈥痓oth the best and the worst across a wide range of sectors and industries. In recent years, however, a new challenge has鈥痚merged: a transient, industry agnostic workforce that moves rapidly between roles to advance their careers. While this brings fresh energy, it also creates skills and knowledge gaps that present new concerns 鈥� and new risks 鈥� for the OSH profession.鈥�
Nick Pahl, chief executive of the Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) and OSH Skills Commissioner for wellbeing, culture and psychological safety, said: 鈥淭he commission is putting skills at the heart of the key issues of recruitment, retention,鈥痺ellbeing鈥痑nd the impact of technology on workplaces. I also look forward to the commission identifying solutions that will empower people and businesses rather than burdening them. The commissions鈥� focus on strengthening the worker voice and鈥痠dentifying鈥痶he most innovative and promising skill areas will improve health outcomes across the UK.鈥�
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