World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2024
- 29th Apr 2024
- Author: Elliott Langley - Marketing Administrator
As we mark World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2024, I thought it was the perfect time to spotlight another one of the unsung heroes who works behind-the-scenes here at the National Space Centre. For this Our Space, I was joined by Katrina, our Health and Safety Officer, to not only talk about what we do to keep everyone in the Centre safe, but also why it’s so important to be conscious of Health and Safety every day of the year.
Whether it's ensuring that our Exhibition is hazard-free, making sure that all the work we do at the Centre is carried out safely, or keeping an eye on both our staff and visitors’ well-being, Katrina and the Building Services team have got very eventuality covered.
Thanks so much for joining me, Katrina. First of all, Happy World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2024! Could you tell me what today is all about?
Happy World Day for Safety and Health at Work to you too! Today was created by the International Labor Organization in 2003 in order to promote Health and Safety at work, why it matters and what we can all do to work safely. The idea is that it encourages employees to think more about creating a culture of safety in the workplace. It happens each year, and for 2024 I wanted to make it more visible at the National Space Centre.
Are you doing anything to celebrate?
Well I’m always here to answer any questions that people may have, but I thought talking to you would be a good start and that hopefully people will read this and come away a bit more knowledgeable about Health and Safety. In the future I would like to hold a coffee morning for all of our staff, so I can talk more about World Day for Safety and Health at Work and what it’s all about. My focus is on Fire Safety at work currently, so I’ll be incorporating that into the coffee morning..
There won’t be an actual fire though, will there?
That would be memorable, but no, I’m focusing on how to prevent fires rather than how to start them. I’ve got two exams coming up about Fire Safety at work, so I want to spread all the knowledge I’ve gained during my studying with the wider team.
Well good luck with your exams! So how did you get into Health and Safety, was that always your plan?
I kind of fell into it… although it was a safe fall, I might add! I remember when I was a kid… this might sound silly, but I wanted to be a lorry driver on the moon!
Sounds like a viable career choice if you ask me.
Well, maybe one day! But in terms of how I got into this field, I used to work in a food manufacturing factory on the production line. An opportunity came up where I was able to assist with a Health and Safety audit and I helped produce the documentation for that process. When it was over I was asked if I wanted to take on the role full-time, and it was an instant yes for me, as I really enjoyed doing it. I think I swayed them with my 116-words-per-minute typing skills.
That is quite impressive.
Thanks! I think I knew that Health and Safety was for me then. I was in that role until 2019 and then I had a break to go travelling in Japan. If you ever want tips on which karaoke bars to go to, I can definitely help with that. Then, shortly after Covid, I worked in a private hospital as a Health and Safety Administrator, which was a really good experience for me to learn more about the field. Then I came and joined the National Space Centre in 2022. I saw the position being advertised and I knew I had to have the job; who doesn’t want to work somewhere with the “space” in the name?
Naturally. So what do you have to do in your role as a Health and Safety Officer?
Well to put it simply, I’m managing the health and safety across the whole site. So that includes keeping our staff, visitors and any contractors that come to us safe whilst they are with us. A big part of that is focusing on risk assessments, which identify the risk factors and how we prevent them. There are a lot of different types; just to reel off a few, there’s general risk assessments, lone working, working at height, and chemical risk assessments. So it’s keeping track of lots of individual aspects of the Centre. Then there’s also event safety management, management of contractors, fire safety, which like I say is my focus at the moment. There’s also things like workplace equipment and making sure all of our staff are safe and can work comfortably and safely.
The thing about Health and Safety is that it’s always ongoing, especially because we have an annual review date that we work towards. We’re always looking at new requirements and legislations and considering how we imbed them into the National Space Centre. So I keep up-to-date with the world of Health and Safety as well.
Is it hard to keep track of all of that legislation?
Honestly, no, it just stays in my brain! There’s a little pocket in there for legislation and I can honestly just reel it off. It’s quite a helpful skill to have in my role, trust me. It’s my Health and Safety superpower.
Nice! Is it difficult to think about all the possible scenarios in a complicated building like the Space Centre?
It has the potential to be difficult, but I have a system. It sounds a bit bleak, but the way I work is that my mind automatically goes to the worst case scenario and then I work back from there. Like, what’s the worst that could happen: a flood, a fire, something vital breaks. Okay, so how do we prevent that from happening? Or if it can’t be prevented by us – like a flood for example, we have no control over that – how do we ensure we have a protocol to follow should something like that happen to minimise the potential for people to come to harm. Hence why we have fire evacuation procedures and things like that.
The Centre’s a complicated building and we do lots of different things. And it isn’t always on site; the Education team visits schools and the Community team goes out into libraries and similar places, so I’ll go and shadow them so that I fully understand what’s happening and ensure it’s all done safely. Sometimes I’ll get thrown a curveball, like for example “we’re taking some students to diving school and we need it risk assessed”, which means I suddenly need to do a lot of research on diving legislation.
Sounds like there’s rarely a dull moment! How do we keep our visitors safe during their time with us?
Well we’ve already done a lot of the work before our visitors have even arrived here. The National Space Centre is safety compliant, so we know the building is safe and we’re always reviewing that. Everything happening within the Centre is risk-assessed, which means that we've identified the hazards and put systems in place for them to be carried out safely. So for example, all of the live science demonstrations that our Presenters carry out have been scrutinised and are being performed safely. So we know our visitors are safe and we hope they know that too. And then of course there are things in place should anything go wrong, like the team of First Aiders, the First Aid room, having quiet spaces for people who need a break to utilise, things like that.
And what about the staff?
Well they’re even more at risk in some ways, especially if they’re working with chemicals, ladders or technical equipment for example. So we have to rigorously look at everyone’s work practices and make sure everyone is safe. Everything is assessed, even the chair you’re sitting on, to make sure you’re safe while you work. That’s what today is all about really.
I also work with all the teams to understand their jobs, because obviously they’re going to know their own roles better than I do. They also might have the technical expertise that I don’t or understand the instruments they’re using in a way that I don’t, so it’s very much a two-way discussion. Everyone’s important in it, and I think you'd be surprised how much each person contributes to Health and Safety every day.
The other thing is that it’s all a process; our staff’s safety contributes to our visitors’ safety, and vice versa. You could call it the Circle of Safety.
You could write a song named after that. So it sounds like you’re almost “taking care” of the people at the National Space Centre.
I hope people view me that way! When you look at Health and Safety and see lots of different legislations and regulations, it might seem a bit intimidating. But the person delivering all of that is doing it because at the core of it, they don't want people to come to any harm. I think you have to be a bit of a caregiver if you work in this role and be empathetic.
So in that sense, how safe am I right now? And am I conducting this interview safely?
I’d say you’re very safe right now and you’re following everything that you should be, so well done. Although I will point out that you’re sitting with your legs crossed, which isn’t technically the most comfortable position to sit in for a long stretch of time.
Good to know. [Sits up straight] What are some of the highlights of your role? Any fun stories?
Definitely working with the 1st Military Working Dog Regiment that came onto the premises for training. They were conducting searches outside of the building as a practice. My job was to make sure that the dogs were safe, which meant that prior to their visit I had to identify any potential hazards and put in place any control measures that were needed. But once that was done, I got to spend all day with the dogs.
Do you find yourself doing risk assessments in your everyday life? For example, can you butter the toast without being worried that you’re holding a sharp knife?
[Laughs] It just stays in that bit of my brain that I talked about. It’s not as bad as you might think. But I do make sure I’m compliant when I’m doing my hobbies. Like, at the moment I’m working on a costume at home and it needs a heat gun for the glue, so I wear goggles when I’m doing that.
That’s very responsible of you. Speaking of hobbies, I’ve heard a rumour that you really like Katy Perry. How many times have you seen her in concert?
[Pause] Um… 34 times. I went all the way to Australia to see her once.
34 times?! Wow, that is some serious dedication.
Yep! Katy Perry, World of Warcraft and Health and Safety are my passions. I have a space in my brain for each of those things. They don’t tend to cross over too much though.
So where can people go if they’re interested in Health and Safety, or if they have any concerns?
Definitely! The Health and Safety Executive website would be my suggestion for a good starting point. This is a government agency responsible for regulating Health and Safety at work and their website is a great resource that I use all the time. The local authority will also have similar resources that might be more tailored to your location. If there’s ever any specific worries about the National Space Centre, any of our staff can be spoken to about it and it will always be brought back to me to look into.
Do you have any tips on how people can be more conscious of Health and Safety whilst they’re at work?
I’d say work with the Health and Safety professional in your organisation who is trying to put in control measures and see if from their point-of-view, they’ll be more than happy to explain why things are done in a certain way and why those measures exist. It’s a great way to understand the workplace better and it might help you find a new way to work.
Finally, what does #SpaceForEveryone mean to you?
It means a safe and accessible place that everyone can visit and know that they’re welcome and that they’re being looked after. I think it’s also about making reasonable adjustments for everyone, as everyone is different and no two people are the same, so it’s about being equitable and doing whatever we can to make their time with us most comfortable and enjoyable.
Huge thanks to Katrina for taking a break from revising for her Fire Safety exams to talk about Health and Safety at the National Space Centre. You can learn more about World Health and Safety At Work Day here. If you ever have any Health and Safety concerns prior to or during your visit then please do speak to any member of our team.
