Past projects

Light is the most influential environmental regulator of biological rhythms, capable of suppressing sleep and enhancing cognitive functions; impacting endocrine systems and gross physiology; and resetting the phase of circadian clocks. However, it is currently very difficult to monitor long term light exposure that is matched to the photoreceptor sites in the eye, particularly taking into account the non-visual effects of light in humans, and how this varies for an individual.

This project involves the creation and testing of flexible wearable devices for light sensing. This will involve electronic circuit and instrumentation design, app creation for data collection, signal processing for analysis and data cleaning purposes.

Work will begin by creating standard FR4 rigid PCBs for prototype multi-spectral light sensing wearables. We will then aim to create a flexible electronics prototype, using Kapton or printed Silver on PEN to use highly flexible substrates which are conformal with the skin, following all of its contours to get a better signal and longer lasting connection to the body. Conformal electronics are seen as the next generation human body sensor platform. By attaching directly to the skin they can provide very long term and high quality recordings. They are also very discrete and socially acceptable. Ultimately we aim to design a multi-spectral light sensor which can be manufactured via screen/inkjet printing rather than using Printed Circuit Board (PCB) technologies as in conventional wearables.

The project is a Wellcome Trust funded collaboration between the Non-invasive bioelectronics group, the Centre for Biological Timings and the Thomas Ashton Institute.

Building on interdisciplinary UoM expertise in housing safety, standards and policy, the goal of the Building Safety Network (BSN) is to create a community of scholars, industry experts, officials and representative bodies who together will help inform the future of building safety policy and practice through internationally excellent co-produced research.

The programme of activity stimulated by the network will re-energise attempts to tackle entrenched problems within a sector that is scarred by the tragedy at Grenfell and stymied by fragmented relationships between designers, constructors, building owners, managers and residents. The network’s activities will be set within a genuinely transdisciplinary environment – bridging the expertise of the School of Engineering and the School of Social Sciences with the needs of building residents. The BSN will create a community of UK-based expertise, engaging experts from fields ranging from high-risk safety engineering to anthropology of the built environment.

It aims to amplify interdisciplinary research approaches to building safety and promote knowledge exchange across boundaries to address under-explored dimensions of risk, trust, quality, procurement, management and transparency.

This collaborative research project between the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the University of Manchester, under the Thomas Ashton Institute, explored the relationship between corporate governance and safety performance, with a focus on the nuclear and high-hazard sectors. The study aimed to determine whether strong corporate governance correlates with improved safety governance and outcomes.

The construction industry is notorious for its poor occupational safety and health (OSH) performance. The industry accounts for about 30% of worker deaths in Malaysia. Design for Safety (DfS) is one of the mechanisms for preventing or reducing the risk of accidents and injuries in construction.

This project initiates a collaboration between The University of Manchester and Universiti Teknologi MARA on DfS. DfS has received increasing attention in various countries, as part of the effort to enhance the practice of designing out’ OSH risks at the early design stages in construction. In the UK, Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM) has been introduced to mandate the DfS practices since 1995 and recently revised in 2015.

The lessons learnt from the UK could assist the implementation of the OSHCI(M) guidelines into Malaysian legislation, and build the foundation of DfS research landscape and industry maturity. Thus, this collaboration aims to promote the exchange of research and practitioner expertise and experiences on DfS through multi-dimensional scholarly activities.

Project team

• Akilu Yunusa-Kaltungo, The University of Manchester
• Sheila Belayutham, Universiti Teknologi MARA
• Clara Cheung, The University of Manchester
• Khairil Izam Ibrahim, Universiti Teknologi MARA
• Yen Kuek, British Council Malaysia
• Patrick Manu, The University of Manchester
• Ahmad Razif Mohamad, Might Malaysia
• Vicky Turner, The University of Manchester
• Mazlina Zaira, Universiti Teknologi MARA.

The aim of the research is to develop a model, which specifies the key dimensions of organisational safety culture in UK nuclear industries.

The model will support the UK nuclear regulator (Office for Nuclear Regulation, ONR) in its regulatory duties, and the UK nuclear industry in efforts to improve nuclear safety. In addition, based on this model, the research will develop and validate a survey to measure safety culture at UK-based nuclear sites.

Project team

• Sharon Clarke, The University of Manchester
• Darren Clement, The University of Manchester
• David Holman, The University of Manchester
• David Hughes, The University of Manchester
• Helen Kreissl, The University of Manchester
• Lina Siegl, The University of Manchester
• Vicky Turner, The University of Manchester
• Colleagues from ONR

The project builds on existing work on safety culture, safety leadership and rule compliance to identify significant cultural issues and develop an intervention to help address these. 

It will aim to answer two research questions:

• How can we encourage the development of a positive safety culture at Naval Ships Govan?
• What interventions might be developed and implemented to improve safety leadership, encourage rule compliance, and reduce accidents? 

The programme works with industry, academics and governments from the global community, generating bespoke solutions for local contexts, including the challenges faced in developing countries.

Colleagues from the institute are delivering projects in text mining and construction risk knowledge management using BIM.

Project reports

• BIM-based construction safety risk library
• Digital information technologies for prevention through design (PtD): a literature review and directions for future research
• Safety leading indicators in construction: A systematic review
• A method to implement prevention through design using 4D BIM
• Industry 4.0 implications for health and safety phase one output
• Phase one outputs from development of capacities to extract health and safety insights from free-text sources
• Construction Risk Library phase one outputs.

You can find out more about Discovering Safety on its dedicated website.

Management of occupational safety & health (OSH) entails the implementation of robust performance metrics, often regarded as OSH leading indicators (LIs). The project, funded by the Lloyds Register Foundation aims to collect evidence on how OSH LIs have been used and linked with safety outcomes in high-risk industries around the globe.

Project team

• Akilu Yunusa-Kaltungo
• Clara Cheung
• Patrick Manu
• Haleh Sadeghi
• Vicky Turner
• Colleagues from Lloyds Register Foundation.

One of the main historical challenges in the UK for occupational health research to inform and support the HSE policy activities is the lack of good quality occupational data in routinely collected health records, such as primary care records (CPRD) and Hospital Episode Statistics. Death certificates do contain information on occupation, but there are questions on the quality of the occupational information on death certificates.

However, the UK data science landscape is now entering an important new phase, where advances such as the Digital Economy Act 2017 (DEA) and the development of 'Trusted Research Environments' (TRE) for secure analysis of citizen data at scale are offering novel opportunities for cross-departmental data sharing and the acceptable co-location of sensitive data within secure analytical environments.

Our academic led collaboration is uniquely well-placed to advise HSE on these opportunities through delivering this feasibility study - where we will provide strong, comprehensive and informed analysis to support HSEs policy implementation strategy.

Our collaboration includes national experts in:

1. occupational health and exposure sciences
2. data science governance, legal gateways and infrastructure
3. mental health epidemiology

To deliver HSE's objectives we will undertake two high-level tasks:

1. To assess the breadth of data potentially available to HSE relating both to the exposures of interest (occupation and employment, and sub-groups of these) and the health outcomes of interest (primarily stress and mental health, but also physical health outcomes, such as musculoskeletal and respiratory diseases, and cancers), to document the content, coverage and strengths and weaknesses and to determine the suitability of these for HSEs strategy.
2. To understand the routes to access these data for HSE, other government departments and academic partners. This has allowed, for example, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Administrative Data Research UK (ADRUK) to support different government departments to link data, at a population level, and to deposit these in the ONS TRE for secure research (for example, the 'Longitudinal Educational Outcomes' initiative links all of the Pupils' whose data are in the National Pupil Database to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) employment and welfare outcomes records for policy analysis as to differential progression into productive workplace labour. These opportunities are now open to HSE, although the governance considerations around this are complex as the DEA excludes the ability to link health data to administrative data - which is the primary objective of this HSE feasibility study. The eventual solution to this challenge is currently impacted by new NHS policy in this area - for the development of 'Secure Data Environments' for the use of health records in research. The NHS are currently developing the regulatory framework for these - the outcome of which will heavily influence the potential for HSE's research ambition.

The institute was appointed as preferred supplier for the provision of health-related research services to provide specialist technical support to HSE for input into multidisciplinary science research projects, contributing to their Health at Work priorities. Technical support is provided in the areas of health research and associated data analysis and longitudinal epidemiological workplace studies looking at current and cumulative (retrospective) exposure as well as information on health status and well being.

Projects awarded under the framework to date

Demographics - 2 Rapid Evidence Assessments

The project team will undertake two rapid evidence reviews to understand how certain key issues have changed during the post COVID-19 world. The reviews will document research completed or currently being undertaken and, where possible, identify evidence gaps. The evidence reviews will inform and underpin HSE’s demographic scientific programme and priority research in associated areas.

• Review 1: A demographic picture of the construction sector to identify and document what research is being done on the impact of COVID-19 on construction sector workers, that specifically relates to health and safety risks to different demographic groups, including older workers.
• Review 2: Employers attitudes and behaviours - workplace communication: to identify and document any evidence on employers’ attitudes, behaviours and competencies around communicating with workers about health and safety in light of COVID-19.

Developing an exposure intelligence system

The overall aim of this project was to assess the feasibility of developing an occupational exposure-control intelligence system (OccECIS), using respirable crystalline silica (RCS) as a worked example.  The idea is that OccECIS will enable the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and its stakeholders to target their intervention activities to control exposures to agents that cause respiratory diseases in workplaces in Great Britain.  This could be, for example, across whole industries or industry sectors, in a particular occupation across a number of industries, or in a particular scenario, such as a specific occupation within a specific industry.

The project recently secured additional funding to explore the practicalities of developing an exposure database, with key stakeholders from industry, academia, and the HSE. Read the feasabilty report: A Feasibility Study for Developing an Occupational Exposure-Control Intelligence System in Great Britain (using Respirable Crystalline Silica as the Working Example).

Systematic review of respiratory health surveillance

Occupational health surveillance (HS) is a scheme of repeated health checks that are used to identify ill health caused by work. Health and Safety law in Great Britain required health surveillance by employers be put in place when workers remain exposed to health risks even after exposure mitigation measures have been put in place. This is because such control measures may not always be reliable, despite appropriate checking, training and maintenance. The aim of this research was to carry out a systematic review of the scientific evidence underpinning respiratory HS, to make recommendations about whether The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) current guidance on respiratory HS should be changed, and to identify any important knowledge gaps.

Mining of Polyhalite, dust - exposure, control, and respiratory health

Currently, little is known about the impact of polyhalite dust on mineworkers health and wellbeing or the effectiveness of monitoring the impact. This evaluation will examine the issues through consultation with OH practitioners, providing essential evidence for a more detailed study, including the feasibility of examining health and wellbeing issues with employees involved in polyhalite production.

Shellfish allergens

The aim is to conduct a pilot study to explore the association between exposure to fish and shellfish allergens and (respiratory and skin) ill-health.

This completed project focused on developing a high-performance, graphene-enhanced cement aimed at transforming low-carbon manufacturing processes. Led by May Su and supported by a multidisciplinary team at the University of Manchester, the project ran from February 2022 to January 2023. It successfully explored how integrating graphene technology into cement production could significantly reduce environmental impact, offering a promising step toward more sustainable construction materials.

This project sought to examine the role of third-party workplace violence and aggression (V&A) directed to employees by members of the public.

Through our workplace Violence and agression network (VARN), researchers had the opportunity to work with an organisation who wished to gain insight into the impact of the use of body worn video (BWV) cameras on V&A incidents on civil enforcement officers (commonly referred to as traffic wardens). The research is valuable to them to encourage the provision / permission of BWV in the local authorities they work with.

Project team

• Sheena Johnson, The University of Manchester
• Kara Ng, The University of Manchester
• Helen Beers, HSE
• Eleanor Kinman, HSE.

Since the Health & Safety at Work Act was deployed in 1974 there has been incremental improvements from: legislation, working practices and behavioural safety. However, human error still accounts for 96% of all accidents according to the HSE. Safety culture is the next natural step in the evolution of Health and safety. 

Tended are creating a digital Safety Culture Tool, which is an MVP product with a basic level survey and analysis. Tended aim to incrementally upgrade the product, as they gain more sophisticated knowledge about sentiment analysis, psychometric inventories and safety culture taxonomies.   

In order to achieve a bespoke tool, Tended require the research and development capabilities of The University of Manchester in the areas of safety culture and capability maturity modelling.  The outcomes of this project will inform and shape the upgrades within the functionality of the tool, and will provide empirical evidence that the whole system is scientifically proven to be reliable and valid.  This will give Tended clients absolute confidence in the product and consequent changes to safety. The project will take a collaborative approach, maximising the opportunity for knowledge exchange between the partners.

Working with Tended will provide the University team with access to data for research, and build a relationship leading to further opportunity for collaboration. It is anticipated that the project will develop additional avenues for research and knowledge exchange between The University of Manchester and Tended. 

The project will provide a scientific foundation for the Safety Culture Tool, by validating and developing the safety maturity matrix and corresponding question sets. The university will gain further knowledge of safety cultures, as we share data and collaborate with high profile organisations. We have already secured Rolls Royce, Bouygues, Siemens and Bachy to partner with us to trial the product.  

The ultimate goal for this project is to form the foundation for a KTP project to further develop the Safety Culture Tool, to create a fully working taxonomy of safety culture. 

This completed research initiative, led by the University of Sussex in collaboration with the UK Government’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority, aimed to transform the delivery of major public projects. The project generated robust evidence to inform policy, enhance ministerial understanding, and strengthen the project delivery profession. By addressing common challenges such as cost overruns and delays, it contributed to improving the effectiveness and value of large-scale government initiatives.

As part of Theme 6 of the PROTECT study, the Keeping the UK Building Safely (KUBS) project is improving our understanding of the construction sector’s efforts to build ‘COVID-secure’ workplaces.

Evidence collected by the KUBS project will be used to support the sector to reduce transmission of the COVID-19 virus, and keep building safely and productively as the UK economy unlocks.

The KUBS project is structured around key workstreams, identified through engagement with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and construction industry stakeholders: transmission, technology, data and simulation, leadership, and construction project delivery.

The KUBS research team is led by Professor Neil Bourne.

Read the Phase 1 Report Keeping the UK Building Safely: A scoping study and learn more about the KUBS project on the PROTECT National Core Study website.

To improve occupational safety and health (OSH) performance, high-risk industries (e.g.the construction sector),have relied on lagging indicators(e.g.injuryrates). However, most lagging indicators are reactive and cannot convey the reasons for poor OSH performance.

Under the circumstances, a more proactive approach has been proposed by using OSH leading indicators (e.g. safety training) as complementary measures of OSH performance. Emex is creating a digital OSH leading indicators tool, which helps clients in high-risk industries to track OSH leading indicators and performance.

By working with the UoM’s team, Emex aims to gain sophisticated knowledge about the validity of OSH leading indicators, and the interaction effects among them associated with OSH performance, which will shape the functionality upgrades of the tool and provide empirical evidence that it is scientifically proven to be valid and reliable.

The project outputs will create a robust foundation to improve Emex’s OSH leading indicator tool. It is hoped that the tool will become a standard to improve OSH performance in high-risk industries. The university will gain further knowledge of OSH management through collaborating with high profile clients of Emex,such as Kaz Minerals and Titan Cement. The ultimate goal for this project is to apply for a KTP grant to develop an AI-enabled OSH leading indicators tool and further.

Project Team

• Clara Cheung
• Patrick Manu
• Obuks Ejohwomu
• Matthew Thorpe
• Akinloluwa Babalola
• Zoya Anwar
• Helen Kreissl
• Vicky Turner
• Darren Clement.

Commissioned by NHS England, the Thomas Ashton Institute developed a Wellbeing Indicator Tool designed to support Wellbeing Guardians and NHS leaders in monitoring and improving staff health and wellbeing. The tool consolidates existing NHS data into six key indicators—psychological safety, job demands, job resources, healthy work environment, stress symptoms, and positive engagemen - providing a clear, intuitive dashboard for early intervention and continuous improvement.

Following the successful concept development in Phase 1, Phase 2 focused on refining and piloting the tool. This included integrating feedback from Wellbeing Guardians, incorporating non-survey data such as absence and turnover rates, and embedding the tool within the NHS’s Model Hospital platform. The project delivered guidance for interpreting the indicators and offers recommendations for future data enhancements, ensuring the tool remains relevant and impactful in supporting NHS staff wellbeing.

The PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment is a UK-wide research programme improving our understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is transmitted from person to person, and how this varies in different settings and environments. This improved understanding will enable more effective measures to stop transmission, saving lives and getting society back towards ‘normal’.

The PROTECT study is made up of six themes that use a complementary variety of research methods and scientific disciplines to address the research questions from different angles – including microbiology, building science, behavioural science and mathematical modelling – and ensure findings are turned into practical tools and advice for policymakers.

Led by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Andrew Curran, this critical work is being delivered by more than 70 researchers from 16 institutions across the UK. The PROTECT study began in October 2020, as part of the COVID-19 National Core Studies programme spearheaded by UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. It is funded by HM Treasury until March 2023, with the final year focused on making findings more accessible and ensuring the programme’s legacy for future pandemic preparedness and the ongoing management of endemic respiratory diseases.

Learn more about the PROTECT project.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) are committed to carrying out an assessment of its regulatory culture, and have engaged colleagues from the Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) to carry out this task. The assessment will be wide ranging and will cover all of ONR's regulatory purposes, corporate functions and locations. A key part of this assessment will involve the research team seeking the views of key external stakeholders.

The two key aims of the assessment are: to determine the extent to which ONR culture supports them to achieve their mission: to protect society by securing safe nuclear operations; and  to provide recommendations which will allow them to learn lessons to further strengthen it's regulatory culture. 

The UoM team will be supported by an internal multi-disciplinary team at ONR.  The team will be using recognised techniques, including interviews, focus groups and observations, which will involve engagement with stakeholders where everybody’s feedback will be considered.

This phase of the project will begin over the summer and is expected to last until late Autumn 2022.  This will be followed by extensive analysis of the data from which colleagues will draw out key themes and patterns, and provide meaningful insight on ONR's culture, and the extent to which it supports them in achieving it's mission.

These findings will be then published externally in a report in Spring 2023.  

Project team

• Sharon Clarke, The University of Manchester
• David Holman, The University of Manchester
• David Hughes, The University of Manchester
• Helen Kreissl, The University of Manchester
• Lina Siegl, The University of Manchester
• Vicky Turner, The University of Manchester
• Colleagues from ONR

The project addressed the growing need for safer, more efficient inspection methods in hazardous or hard-to-access environments, such as confined spaces and elevated structures.

The University of Manchester is to carry out one of 21 new studies into the novel coronavirus funded by the UK Government. Professor Martie van Tongeren and Dr Hua Wei will lead a £300,000 study into the role of gig workers and delivery supply chains in preventing disease transmission. The team will be working with companies in this sector to collect data on deliveries to construct mathematical models.

The models will determine how the delivery sector contributes to minimising the risk of spreading the disease. They will also set out the impact of additional measures to protect the workers and reduce infection risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study will inform the UK’s policy making in social distancing and coordination of supply chains as a key component of national response to pandemics.

This second round of projects receive £14.1 million as part of the £24.6 million rapid research response funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and by the Department of Health and Social Care through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Read more about the project.

The Violence and Aggression Research Network (VARN) was established to address the growing concern of work-related violence and aggression (WVA) across multiple sectors. Despite existing reporting mechanisms, the true extent of WVA remains unclear due to underreporting, siloed practices, and limited cross-sector data sharing. This project aims to:

• Assess the prevalence of WVA.
• Evaluate current reporting practices.
• Explore organisational prevention strategies.
• Understand the impact on employees.

Using a scoping review, stakeholder workshops, and interviews across sectors such as healthcare, retail, construction, and local authorities, VARN is building a clearer picture of WVA. The network also supports ongoing research, including studies on body-worn cameras and sector-specific interventions, while actively disseminating findings through publications and conferences.

Find out more about the network:

• Violence and Aggression Research Network (VARN)

Employment can have an important impact on our physical as well as mental health. It provides support, income, purpose and structure to the day and being out of work or the threat of unemployment can lead to poor physical and mental health.

Moreover, poor working conditions can also be a cause of mental and physical ill-health, such as stress and lung diseases. It is difficult to find out if efforts to improve the health of workers or help their return-to-work after periods of sickness or unemployment are effective. Existing health datasets, such as those held by GPs or the data that hospitals collect, are often used in health research. However, these health datasets rarely hold information on employment and on the types of jobs people have. This means that it is very difficult to study how work affects people's health, how health impacts their ability to work and if measures to assist people to stay in or return-to-work are effective.

Understanding these issues can benefit both workers and employers. Therefore, it is essential that we improve the data on work that is collected and link these data with existing health records to conduct high quality research in the areas of work and health. This project will look to improve on the ways how work and health data can successfully be used in research.

We will review, collect and combine existing datasets that contain information on work, such as job type, workplace risks, as well as datasets with information on health outcomes. We will capitalise and build on recent work that brings together over 20 long-term UK studies that have collected data on people's health and wellbeing, some containing employment and job information, and most already linked to health records. We will explore how data from these and other studies can be linked to sources that provide more detailed information on work, such as data collected for tax and benefit purposes.

We will develop an important data resource for work and health research in the UK that can be used to measure the effect of policies and other interventions on the health of the UK workforce. This will have long-term benefits to workers, their families, employers and society.