Managing a healthy and safe 'green industrial revolution'

摘要

The government's "green new deal" strategy for post-COVID-19 economic recovery puts the rapid development of jobs at the heart of its plans. These "green jobs", the government claims, will support the UK's net-zero greenhouse gas emissions targets, as well as drive economic growth. In the first of two features on green jobs, we look at what constitutes a green or sustainable job, and what the rapid expansion of these new and developing sectors might mean for occupational safety and health (OSH). In a future issue, we will look at the offshore wind power sector, one of the key sectors targeted by European governments for the twin purposes of driving economic recovery and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The features follow our analysis in 2020 of the potential impacts of climate change on OSH (HSB 490 p. 3). Many green jobs are already established, including in areas such as renewable energy, recycling and sustainable construction. Other sectors are earlier in their development, for example green transportation and carbon capture. While green jobs are associated with positive outcomes for the environment, it does not follow that they are inherently safe and healthy. The rapid expansion of the waste and recycling sector has already shown the potential health and safety costs to the workforce of green policies. The industry remains one of the poorest performers (see box 1), despite repeated attempts by the HSE, industry bodies and individual companies to address the root causes of ill health and injuries.