MARCH 2018 | 45
Skills
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
WORKING WITH ROBOTS
NEEDS NEW SKILLS
What will wellbeing look like in a workplace dominated by insecurity, gig work and
intelligent machines? British Safety Council says our understanding of changing risks to
health, safety and wellbeing needs to improve, in a new report about the future of work.
The public debate on the
future of work has centred so far
on the likely shape of the work-
place and its implications for
both employers and employees.
There has been far less focus on
what this might mean for workers’
health, safety and wellbeing. When
wellbeing has been considered,
the discussion has centred on the
present, rather than preparing us
for the challenges of the future.
Yet, the impact of automation
on the workplace will be more
fundamental than is commonly
understood, with 11 million jobs
predicted to be lost in the next 20
years in the UK. As we are already
seeing with some ‘gig’ working, it
may undermine such basic human
needs as social identity, economic
security and a sense of belong-
ing.
These issues have been exam-
ined by the Future risk: Impact
of work on employee health,
safety and wellbeing report com-
missioned by the British Safety
Council from RobertsonCooper
researchers. It reviews the existing
literature on this subject and
makes a number of recommenda-
tions. While providing an over-
view of the landscape of work,
the report explores the changes
that employers and employees are
likely to experience over the next
20 years. It focuses on the risks of
these changes to the health, safety
and wellbeing of the workforce.
Professor Cary Cooper CBE,
Professor of Organisational Psy-
chology and Health at the Uni-
versity of Manchester, founder of
RobertsonCooper, said: “We know
that work is changing. However,
we know less about the risks this
might bring to the health, wellbe-
ing and safety of employees, so
it’s a challenge for businesses to
prepare for this.”
The main themes explored by
the report are:
Implications of ‘any
time, any place’ work
A move away from standard
work practices, hours and location
will challenge the relationship
between employers and their
workforce. “We are currently
seeing loyalty between employers
and employees decreasing, which
means that retaining healthy, high
performing employees is even
more important. Organisations
of the future need to trust their
employees and manage by praise
and reward,“ explains Professor
Cooper.
Need to build resilience
The future world of work will
place new pressures and forms
of stress on employees. Working
alongside intelligent machines and
robots, which never stop, outper-
form humans and are incapable of
social interactions, will require an
entirely different set of skills. This
may strip away everything good
that work in traditional social
environments offers employees,
such as a sense of identity and be-
longing, as well as social support.
That’s why employers will need to
introduce specialist training and
wellbeing programmes to help
their employees gain skills that
will build their resilience and help
them to cope in new circumstanc-
es.
Forward thinking
education
New jobs in partially-automated,
remote or less secure workplaces
may require a greater variety of
‘soft skills’, including creativity,
leadership, flexibility and social
skills, as well as skills related to
new technology and the ability
to collaborate with intelligent
machines and robots. School and
training bodies should start devel-
oping such skills and this process
should continue beyond the com-
pulsory education system.
Updating regulatory
systems to protect
modern workers
In modern workplaces, where
humans will work alongside
robots, and companies operate
across borders, the answer to the
question of where ownership
of risk lies, i.e. who should take
responsibility if something goes
wrong, will be of crucial impor-
tance. As employment contracts
are increasingly diffuse (people
in the gig economy are often not
classified as workers), compa-
nies may wish to avoid the costs
of sickness absence or liability
insurance.
present huge risks to employers,
employees, the economy and the
environment. For example, the
fast pace of innovation, insecurity
around employment status and
a drive for efficiency are putting
increasing pressure on people,
which can lead to stress, which
people working remotely may not
be able to handle, particularly if
they are older.
Matthew Holder, Head of Cam-
paigns at the British Safety Coun-
cil, said: “At a time when work is
rapidly changing, whether through
technological innovation or types
of employment, there is an urgent
need to have a more strategic view
on what research says about the
future of work and risk, and how
these two issues are related.”
Understanding
future risks The report can be downloaded
at britsafe.org/futurerisk-report
These fundamental chang