Safety of citizens
Research Topic
Language: English
This is a research topic created to provide authors with a place to attach new problem publications.
Research problems linked to this topic
- How can public messaging on transport systems be used to best effect to safeguard transport users following a security incident or natural hazard disruption?
- What is the feasibility, benefits and road safety risks of relaxing driving licence regulation and training qualifications so people can drive certain heavy vehicles with less additional testing or professional development?
- Which policies and interventions have the greatest potential to reverse the lack of progress in road casualty reduction since 2010?
- What would happen to casualty trends if there were no policy interventions?
- What are the health and safety challenges associated with growing industries including the retrofitting of domestic and commercial buildings; climate adaptation, installation of low carbon heat solutions and installation of electrical infrastructure for electric vehicles?
- What are the human factors and their potential impacts in the safe and effective operation of a new energy system and how can they be effectively understood?
- What are the risks associated with the new energy landscape and how could they be best controlled? What new hazards arise from how new energy systems are integrated and controlled? Do co-located technologies pose new hazards and risks?
- How can designers, consultants and manufacturers contribute to incorporating improvements in occupational health and safety when considering design of new technologies?
- What methods and information are needed to learn from early adopters of new technologies globally, including understanding health and safety failures?
- What are the opportunities and associated benefits of transferring relevant knowledge and skills from hydrocarbon technologies to operators of new and emerging technologies in the energy transition and how might this be best achieved?
- What evidence is needed to ensure that technological advancements serve to maintain or improve existing levels of safety and health and do not present additional risks (either immediate or latent)?
- What can be learned from the deployment and scale-up of more mature industries that will help the management of safety outcomes for the emergence of new technologies?
- What other new or emerging innovations might have implications for the safety of building users that merit further consideration, e.g. Artificial Intelligence?
- What evidence is needed to enable the safe and rapid introduction of new and emerging technologies, the use of novel materials and new manufacturing processes in, for example, energy.
- How can the integrity and safety of industrial assets be ensured across their lifecycle?
- How do operational fusion power plants compare in risk profile to more traditional industrial installations?
- What methodologies are there to ensure that there is sufficient evidence to support an effective and efficient approach to regulatory policy and risk assessment e.g. for the management of existing, new and emerging health risks from chemicals and to enable the safe and sustainable use of chemicals?
- What are the appropriate controls and mitigations that need to be built into new carbon capture infrastructure?
- How HSE ensures that duty holders in new industries such as CCUS, hydrogen, alternative liquid fuels and energy storage, design with safety and health considerations in mind?
- What are the significant hazards and risks associated with the deployment and scale-up of new and emerging technologies for Net Zero, such as Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) and hydrogen?
- What are the new methods of determining and managing risk being developed and what is their potential impact on regulatory assessments carried out for chemicals? How might these new methods be evaluated and introduced into assessments to increase efficiency and effectiveness of that work whilst ensuring maximum benefits to society?
- Are there alternative approaches that build on our regulatory models, which will encourage innovation and further minimise chemical use and regulatory burdens?
- Are there significant implications for building users’ and construction workers’ health and safety arising from carbon reduction involving: retrofitting domestic and commercial buildings; constructing, altering or decommissioning high hazard infrastructure/plants; low carbon heat solutions; zero emission vehicles and plant; reduced carbon materials; climate adaption to existing buildings and infrastructure?
- How can it be ensured that our regulatory approach accommodates future trends in new technologies, demographics and health and environmental hazards?
- Are there significant implications for construction worker health and safety arising from widespread adoption across this diverse sector of: Modern Methods of Construction (MMC); AI, inherently safer design principles, Autonomy and the Internet of Things; Robotics; Advanced materials and additive manufacturing?
- How can BSR most effectively evaluate the impact of the Building Regulations and associated guidance on improved building safety outcomes?
- How can building management data be structured, shared and used to enable well-informed duty holder decision-making throughout the life cycle of a building?
- What are the building safety implications of widespread adoption (including retrofitting) across the built environment from renewable energy and energy storage solutions within/in close proximity to occupied buildings? This includes battery storage, electric vehicles and personal light electric vehicles.
- How can health resilience be supported through building standards including aspects such as moisture control, ventilation and sanitation for infection control?
- How can low frequency impact noise within buildings and its subjective effect on adverse health impacts on residents be measured and evaluated, and how effective are current acoustic performance standards in addressing noise break-in to buildings from ventilation and the new requirements for overheating?
- How can BSR ensure the needs of future building users are reflected in current standards and guidance to improve and maintain safety and standards long-term, including considering the impact that an ageing population and changes to lifestyles, societal norms and ways of working may have on the extent to which current standards and guidance are fit for purpose?
- What are the building safety implications of widespread adoption (including retrofitting) across the built environment of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) including Volumetric Modular Construction, advanced materials and additive manufacturing? What are the building safety implications for structural and fire safety arising from emerging new developments such as Light Gauge Steel Frames (LGSF), Thermally Modified Timber and Cross Laminate Timber?
- What lessons might translate from the management of ageing assets in the major hazards sector to help dutyholders build and maintain safe buildings, addressing aspects such as human factors, safety management systems and structural safety e.g. to assure the safety of Large Panel System (LPS) buildings and Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) buildings.
- What are the effective ways to ensure construction workers (particularly in small businesses) are appropriately engaged with and competent in relevant health and safety matters?
- Is there opportunity to transfer knowledge into and across the diverse construction and building safety sectors to build competence levels aided by appropriate benchmark standards?
- How can BSR most effectively baseline and evaluate industry competence levels and also evaluate regulatory competence, including performance with other regulatory interdependencies e.g. the regulatory resource of Building Control Bodies?
- What asbestos remains in the built environment, at what rate is this currently being disturbed and how will industry trends impact on this?
- As some individuals may have health conditions that interact with exposures in the workplace: 1) what needs to be undertaken to develop understanding of what work-related ill health then looks like in workplaces and; 2) what are the preventative approaches that should be implemented to support employers in tackling this in a more holistic way?
- What influences construction activity in the sector, and which have the most impact on a project’s health and safety management (both at the small and larger project scale)?
- What contribution and impact does work-related physical ill health make to work-related stress or poor work-related mental health?
- What effect does violence and aggression in the workplace have on the health of workers, particularly in terms of work-related stress, anxiety and depression and what controls can be put in place to reduce these risks?
- What factors and evidence do organisations such as companies, occupational health providers or other medical professionals consider in decision making when determining if an individual has work-related stress?
- What are the safety implications of changes in working patterns and the way in which work is organised (e.g. fatigue and shift patterns)?
- What are the longer-term trends in flexible, hybrid and home working and what are the positive and negative impacts on workforce safety? What are the impacts of potential inequalities across sectors and groups of workers?
- How, and in what ways, will Safety Tech maintain or improve risk management? What are the implications of Safety Tech adoption on effective regulation and existing legislative frameworks?
- How can the health and safety implications of AI outputs be predicted, controlled, or explained?
- How can safety be assured through the AI lifecycle and accountability through complex supply chains be achieved?
- How can it be ensured that regulatory regimes and interventions are coherent, effective, proportionate, and agile – enabling effective regulation and providing confidence to industry to innovate?
- What interventions and workplace controls can employers use to successfully prevent or design out the risk of exposure to work-related stress and support good mental health at work?
- Are there indicators that risk attitudes and/or behaviours are likely to change in the future: and for which groups of workers are they likely to change?
- What are the implications of AI and cyber-physical systems for worker health and safety?
- What statistics does the BSR already have access to across its operations and what is the potential for these to be used to inform regulatory assurance and impact?
- What is the size and nature of the gig economy? What different models of employment are there, how will this change in different sectors in the future and what are the implications for safety?
- How is social change impacting on change in risks to workforce safety? What competence is required to ensure organisations, managers and supervisors can support the workforce?
- How can data and evidence be best used to identify and evaluate interventions that have appropriate and targeted impact on workplace safety systems in the short, medium and long term?
- How will the work environment (including new technologies, new materials, changes in work practices and changes in the workforce) significantly change and what are the impacts on workplace safety? How do these changing risks interact and how can they be mitigated?
- What metrics provide the best leading indicators for building safety and construction health and safety performance at both an industry and project-specific level?
- How can safety systems be improved by effectively linking, utilising and analysing leading and lagging safety data sets, including accident and incident investigation activities?
- How can it be ensured that regulatory reform promotes safe workplace practices and does not introduce or amplify risks?
- Are there alternative regulatory models, interventions and instruments to improve/encourage innovation and improve workplace safety outcomes whilst minimising regulatory burdens?
- What is the evidence required to understand who has the accountability and responsibility for workplace safety and what is the outcome for those with multiple employment?
- What is the evidence required to best understand who will take responsibility for 'risk' in a workplace and what is the outcome in an increasingly complex landscape?
- What are the safety implications of widespread adoption (including retrofitting) across the built environment from low carbon heat solutions including the impact of non-fossil fuel heating and storage systems and the impact of heat pumps on noise/acoustic performance standards and legionella control?
- What are the main health and safety challenges related to maintenance and repair of ageing low carbon energy infrastructure, such as offshore wind turbines?
- What is the effect of climate change on the safe operation of industrial assets and what are the best methods to determine the effect?
- To what extent is climate change affecting health and safety of workers and communities and how is this expected to change over time?
- What impact could wider changes in the built environment, like decarbonisation, have on the pattern of removal of asbestos?
- How will future changes in technology, and the way in which workers interact with these new technologies (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Net Zero technologies), affect the health of workers and what can be done to mitigate any work-related ill health?
- How will the changes in working practices, such as increased hybrid and homeworking, escalation of the gig economy, work in peripatetic industries and changes in the demographics of the workforce affect work-related ill health and what can be done to mitigate any work-related ill health?
- How can new health risks be identified before they become workplace health problems?
- Which interventions best support health equity and equality across different groups of workers, including those with health conditions and/or disabilities and/or caring responsibilities?
- What is the occupational health profile of the GB workforce and how do different work (e.g. trade/tasks) and demographic factors contribute to this?
- Does work-related ill health have any impacts and consequences for individuals, employers and society, including human costs, costs of ill health, and impacts upon productivity and employment?
- What is the feasibility of developing an Occupational Exposure and Control system to provide intelligence on trends over time in exposure to respiratory hazards and control measures, with an initial focus on Respiratory Crystalline Silica (RCS)?
- How can existing (and ongoing) data sets be linked to provide better data to understand the relationship between occupation, exposure to hazards, the effectiveness of control measures and work-related ill health?
- How do employers go about accessing appropriate occupational health advice, such that occupational health risks are appropriately managed?
- What interventions and workplace controls can employers use to successfully prevent or design out risk and reduce work-related ill health, including consideration of the range of working practices in GB?
- What are the enablers and barriers to organisations effectively controlling the risk of work-related stress?
- How can we ensure that multi-agency responses are coordinated effectively to reduce, and ideally prevent, young people’s exposure to and experience of harm? • How do we ensure that front line staff have access to all the relevant information from across systems and agencies, to ensure effective decision making in provision of support?
- What are cost-effective approaches to promote a sense of safety and school belonging, and ensure attendance and positive behaviour in school, enabling children to be motivated and engaged?
- What approaches or innovations are needed to support the efficient and safe handling of data within education and children’s social care settings which leads to better life outcomes?
- What are the security risks associated with AI and other digital technology within the educational and children’s social care estates? What is best practice for cyber security in our institutions how can we scale this across the estate?
- • What are the best ways to ensure that AI and other digital technology are used safely, ethically, and in ways that protect the data and interests of children, our workforce, and bodies? What forms of collaborative working, regulation and enforcement may be appropriate?
- • What resources are required to ensure the safe and efficient handling of data in education and children’s social care?