• Menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
 
ARCADIA: Stronger Settlement Partnerships. Innovative Solutions.

Amaxx Workers Comp Blog

Reduce Workers Compensation Costs By 20-50%

Header Right

  • Home
    • Training Center
  • Search
    • Free Resources & Solutions
    • Subscribe to Free Newsletter
    • Create Free Training Center Account
    • Enroll in On-Demand Courses
    • Activate WC Mastery Membership
    • Request Strategic Coaching Session
    • Buy WC Guidebooks
  • Membership
    • Insider (free account)
    • WC Mastery
    • Teams & Managers Mastery
    • Training Partners
  • Products
    • On-Demand Courses
    • Specialty Courses
    • Certifications & Mastery Courses
    • Ultimate Guidebooks
    • Coaching
  • Blog
    • Video Blogs
    • COVID-19 / Coronavirus Pandemic
  • Login

Mobile Menu

  • Home
    • Training Center
  • Search
    • Free Resources & Solutions
    • Subscribe to Free Newsletter
    • Create Free Training Center Account
    • Enroll in On-Demand Courses
    • Activate WC Mastery Membership
    • Request Strategic Coaching Session
    • Buy WC Guidebooks
  • Membership
    • Insider (free account)
    • WC Mastery
    • Teams & Managers Mastery
    • Training Partners
  • Products
    • On-Demand Courses
    • Specialty Courses
    • Certifications & Mastery Courses
    • Ultimate Guidebooks
    • Coaching
  • Blog
    • Video Blogs
    • COVID-19 / Coronavirus Pandemic
  • Login
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
You are here: Home / Workers Comp News / WC Loss Prevention - News / Questions Arise Over Safety of Green Jobs

Questions Arise Over Safety of Green Jobs

July 31, 2013 By //  by Michael B. Stack Leave a Comment

While many people and companies have adopted a green lifestyle, there are some who question the safety of ‘green jobs’ for workers .

With pressure to reduce carbon emissions, reduce waste, increase energy efficiency and the proportion of renewable energy, the European Union (EU) is set for a rapid growth in the number of ‘green jobs’ – jobs which help to protect or restore the environment. But with new technologies and processes being introduced in the green economy, what are the implications for workers’ health and safety?

Foresight Report Identifies New Or Emerging Risks

With the publication of a new Foresight report, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has moved the spotlight on the occupational safety and health (OSH) risks of green jobs.

The Foresight project attempts to identify new or emerging risks in this important area. It works by identifying a number of possible future scenarios looking at how work is likely to develop in green jobs by 2020 and what future OSH challenges this may bring, given advances in green technologies, and a variety of different social and economic conditions.

As EU-OSHA Director Christa Sedlatschek remarked, ‘the scenarios developed through our Foresight project are powerful tools, which will provide policymakers in the EU with insights on how to shape the green economy of tomorrow to keep Europe’s workers safe and healthy. If they are to be truly sustainable, and if they are to contribute to the EU2020 Strategy’s objectives of achieving smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, we need to make sure that green jobs provide safe, healthy and decent working conditions. They need to be good for workers, as well as good for the environment.’

EU Commits to a Balanced Approach

The EU noted that it is committed to balancing economic growth with efforts to protect the environment, and has set a number of challenging targets for reductions in carbon emissions and waste, and increases in energy efficiency and in the proportion of renewable energy. Meeting these targets will reportedly lead to a rapid expansion in the green economy. But there is reportedly already evidence that the ‘greening’ of the economy in the EU has resulted in workers being put at greater risk.

New technologies and processes call for new combinations of skills to deal with them, but the rapid growth in this area of the economy, together with economic and political pressure, could lead to skills gaps, with workers being dangerously inexperienced and untrained in the work they are doing.

‘Old Risks’ Can’t Be Overlooked

Officials point out that here are also a number of ‘old’ risks, found in different situations and combinations equally requiring new specific skills.

The installation of photovoltaic elements on roofs, for example, combines traditional construction risks together with electrical risks: workers therefore need specific training to perform this job. Some of the epoxy resins used in the manufacture of wind turbines are associated with allergies. And the introduction of new legislation can have unintended effects: new laws reducing the amount of waste being sent to landfills, for example, has resulted in higher-than-average rates of work-related accidents and illness among workers in the waste treatment sector.

The report and a summary, entitled ‘Green jobs and occupational safety and health: Foresight on new and emerging risks associated with new technologies by 2020’, are available from EU-OSHA’s new website area dedicated to OSH risks in the green economy at: https://osha.europa.eu/en.

 

 

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

©2013 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law.

Filed Under: WC Loss Prevention - News

Related Articles

New York Pipe Firm Fined $67K for Safety Violations

New York Pipe Firm Fined $67K for Safety Violations

Washington Halfway House Operator Nabbed On Workers Comp Fraud

Washington Halfway House Operator Nabbed On Workers Comp Fraud

Ohio BWC Stresses Worker Safety in Hot Weather

Ohio BWC Stresses Worker Safety in Hot Weather

EU Continues to Push for Safe Handling of Asbestos

EU Continues to Push for Safe Handling of Asbestos

OSHA Cites Texas Employer After Worker Death

OSHA Cites Texas Employer After Worker Death

Hotel Management Co. Settles on Worker Safety Concerns

Hotel Management Co. Settles on Worker Safety Concerns

EU-OSHA Addresses Added Safety Issues In Culturally Diverse Workforces

EU-OSHA Addresses Added Safety Issues In Culturally Diverse Workforces

Employer Disregards Working At Height Rules And Feels Wrath Of Court

Employer Disregards Working At Height Rules And Feels Wrath Of Court

Employee Loses Leg When Employer Fails On Workplace Safety

Employee Loses Leg When Employer Fails On Workplace Safety

Social Media Assists in Nabbing Ohio Man

Social Media Assists in Nabbing Ohio Man

Lack of Maintenance Leads To Employee Injury And Fine

Lack of Maintenance Leads To Employee Injury And Fine

OSHA Cites Contractor for Potentially Deadly Job Site

OSHA Cites Contractor for Potentially Deadly Job Site

Free Download

The 5 Cs For Taking A Bulletproof Injured Worker Recorded Statement - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Train to Succeed

BECOME CERTIFIED IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Proven Course Catalog & WC Toolbox Give You The Power To Achieve Lower Costs and Better Injured Worker Outcomes

VISIT WORKERS' COMP TRAINING CENTER

Previous Post: « EU-OSHA Addresses Added Safety Issues In Culturally Diverse Workforces
Next Post: Reasonable Compliance Found In Fatigue Management Law »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FREE DOWNLOAD

The 5 Cs For Taking A Bulletproof Injured Worker Recorded Statement - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Our Sponsors

ARCADIA - Enhancing Settlement Outcomes

The Structured Settlements Company
 

Catastrophic and Risk Solutions, Case Management Solutions, and Specialty Networks
 

Post-Settlement Administration
 

Medcor

Injury Triage, Onsite Clinics

Read Our Award-Winning Blog

Blog Categories

Search Our Archive

Subscribe to Our FREE Newsletter

Return-to-Work Essentials

Footer

Search Our Archive

Search our continually growing archive of over 2500 articles about Workers' Comp issues.

Quiclinks

  • Calculators
  • Terms & Abbreviations
  • Glossary of WC Premium Terms
  • WC Resources
  • Best Practices
  • Industries
  • Return-to-Work Essentials

RSS Recent Blog Posts

  • Five Things to Include in Your Workers’ Comp Communication Policy
  • An Advocacy Approach in Claims Handling
  • Appreciation in Workers’ Compensation
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEE NEWSLETTER
Let Us Help You Stomp Down the High Cost of Workers' Comp!
Top of Page ↑
  • Home
  • Training Center
  • Search
  • Membership
  • Products
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Login
Copyright © 2022 Amaxx, LLC. All Rights Reserved. · Privacy Policy / Legal Notice