Modern Occupational Health – with Eric Ball of Park Health And Safety: Part 1

In this edition of the “award-winning” Interesting Health And Safety Podcast, Colin talks to Eric Ball, the man who runs the occupational health system for Park Health And Safety about the many projects he’s worked on, including heath and safety for the London Olympics 2012, HS2, Battersea Power Station and Thames Tideway. In this first part of their two-part conversation, Eric and Colin talk about understanding the challenges of occupational hygiene, the business perception of occupational health, and the importance of introducing health and safety planning as early as possible on construction projects. KEY TAKEAWAYS Eric is an occupational hygienist at heart, a job that began in construction around the Olympics, and which has kept him mainly below ground ever since. Eric’s specialist area is major civil projects and major construction projects.   Occupational health on any large project needs to begin as early as possible. It is ultimately driven by the client, but must be considered as early as the planning stages.   Occupational health can be seen as sometimes over complicated due to its many facets, and this can cause companies to be cautious of the practice. But actually it is relatively simple once you have the right people in place.   When working with designers on projects, Eric and his team work to best practices. As he stresses agin, occupational health at the design stage can’t start soon enough.   Essential planning in the early stages with Eric and his team can help to eliminate larger costs down the line. By correctly anticipating construction needs sooner rather than later, it can lead to less maintenance, as well as a reduced need for repairs. BEST MOMENTS ‘I’ve really been spending most of my time below ground’ ‘Occupational health is health of health and safety’ ‘We’re talking about long-latency problems’ ‘Once you get someone in who’s half competent, then it’s a fairly simple process’ ‘Most projects have a big win’  VALUABLE RESOURCES The Interesting Health And Safety Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/training-competency-creating-effective-plan-process/id1467771449?i=1000452692837  Park Health And Safety - https://parkhs.co.uk/#home Eric Ball LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-ball-582a2822/?originalSubdomain=uk Eric Ball Park Health And Safety - https://parkhs.co.uk/team/eric-ball/ ABOUT THE HOST Colin Nottage ‘Making health and safety as important as everything else we do.’ This is the belief that Colin is passionate about and through his consultancy Influential Management Group (IMG) is able to spread into industry. Colin works at a strategic level with company owners and board members. He helps business leaders establish and achieve their health and safety ambitions. He has developed a number of leading competency improvement programmes that are delivered across industry and his strengths are his ability to take a practical approach to problem-solving and being able to liaise at all levels within an organisation. Colin also runs a company that vets contractors online and a network that develops and support H&S consultancies to become better businesses. Colin chairs the Construction Dust Partnership, an industry collaboration directly involving many organisations, including the Health and Safety Executive. He is a Post Graduate Tutor at Strathclyde University and a highly sought-after health and safety speaker and trainer. He has a Post Graduate Certificate in Safety and Risk management, an engineering degree and is a Chartered Member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).