Health and Safety Audit? These tips will help you keep above the bar

This should be the first thing you do! Management with previous experience with legislation compliance should be amongst your ideal candidates. Arrange quarterly reports from them to ensure that they are working efficiently. Now you have some accountability in place, you can take a look around for any obvious infractions.

Toilets, drinking water, changing rooms and eating areas all fall under the welfare section of the workplace health and safety act. Ensure that drinking water is provided from a clean and regularly refilled container.
Sanitary conveniences and washing facilities should be able to easily service the capacity of your workforce. For example, one cubicle is not enough for a business with 100 or so employees. Are these facilities constantly packed with large queues? This should be taken into consideration in addition to the effectiveness of your cleaning staff, take a UV light to your washroom facilities to check if all precautions are being taken to eliminate the residual of biological waste.

Even though the probability of electrical failure is miniscule, keeping all of your mains powered electronic devices PAT tested is essential with legislation compliance, especially when these devices are coming in contact with the public. The condition of your property should be monitored to ensure that it has the appropriate stability and solidity for use.
Floors and “traffic routes” should be kept clear and clean by your staff, most accidents tend to occur in high traffic areas, so your health and safety representative should take careful note of these spots. Most of this part is simply common sense, as it doesn’t take a genius to note a dangerous area. Make sure all potentially hazardous materials are marked, and your employees are aware about their placement.

The health part of the legislation is mostly common sense. Are your employees working in an acceptable environment? Is there fresh, clean air being ventilated in your workplace? Is your ventilation solution providing an acceptable, cool environment for your employees to function properly? The legislation states that workplaces should be at least 16 °C; if the work involves physical effort it should be at least 13 °C (Unless other laws require lower temperatures).

Lighting should be sufficient to enable people to work and move around safely. Room dimensions and space should be sufficient for the number of employees working on the property. A lot of these can be worked out by simply looking around and talking to employees about any unsafe or unsavoury conditions.

I hope that this has been a relatively simple way of looking at this legislation, use your common sense and have your health and safety representative study the appropriate materials, they are not lengthy, and can prove to be advantageous in the wellbeing of your employees.

Jennifer is a health and safety consultant providing business with clear strategies to combat workplace accidents and the associated risks. For more information on washroom services Nottingham and other aspects relating to this article such as clinical waste disposal then please visit City Healthcare.

Applying for the CCNSG passport is quite beneficial for any company.

The Client/Contractor National Safety Group passport (CCNSG) is issued to companies or contractors who are operating as oil, gas, nuclear power, chemicals and steel providers. This passport is completed over two days and it is one of the best methods to educate and train on what is required for basic safety. As the national group overseeing safety standards within these sectors, the CCNSG has developed a level of training that ensures that providers taking this course will use a standardised curriculum.

Why is a CCNSG Passport Needed?

The CCNSG is often the major requirement for contractors working on any type of engineering or construction site. Anyone wanting to work on a nuclear power plant site would be required to have studied and been assessed for this safety training certificate. It is provided as a two-day national course and it is valid for at least three years. The CCNSG passport shows that training and education needed for a complex site such as a nuclear power plant is met. This passport shows that the company and contractor are both serious about the safety level of the service they provide.

Increased Levels of Safety

One of the major benefits for possessing the CCNSG passport is the increased level of safety it can provide to those working around a nuclear power station. As it is a national course, all of the basic safety information is covered. The knowledge for this passport is quite detailed and will cover valuable topics such as safety when entering a confined space, safe behaviour on-site, using equipment safely and the correct way to work at heights.

When working at a nuclear power station, useful course information will highlight handling hazardous substances, how to protect the environment, dealing with noise, safe lifting and protection from electrical burns. Therefore, these topics are all useful information and this is course is a complete educational tool for those who would like to not only the knowledge, but also practical tips for maintaining health and safety standards while working on-site at a nuclear power station.

Bio: Amy Griffin, from Griffin Toilet Hire, has recently applied for CCNSG to enable their portable toilets to be installed within Hinkley Point, Bridgewater, UK.

Man Loses Arm after Accident with Hydraulic Press

A 47 year old employee had his armed crushed by a hydraulic press while working at Helmet Integration Systems Ltd. Due to the severity of James McKay’s injuries he had to have his arm amputated. The hydraulic press was designed by Composite Integration Limited specifically to create fire helmets, as a result of the accident Composite Integration Ltd were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive.

Safety Gates Failed to Stop the Hydraulic Press

The incident happened in November 2007. Mr McKay was working on a typical night shift operating the press alone. The machine connects two halves of a fire helmet made from fibre glass together, resin is injected into the mould as it is closed together and heated in order to create a finished helmet. While Mr McKay operated the machine one of the moulds slipped out of press. To resolve the problem he opened the safety gate in order to gain access to the mould, believing that the press would automatically stop. The top cavity continued to lower due to gravitational pull which trapped, crushed and burnt Mr McKay’s arm inside the press.

It took ten or fifteen minutes for Mr McKay’s screams for help to be heard. A work colleague pressed the emergency stop button but the machine did not stop, instead the cavity continued to lower and crush the arm further. The only way to stop the machine was to remove the hydraulic hose which stopped the pressure and allowed the fire fighters present to release Mr McKay. A lot of damage to the arm meant Mr McKay needed many operations in order to try and repair the damage, unfortunately after an infection in January 2008 the arm needed to be amputated.

Flaws in the Design of the Press Discovered

The Health and Safety Executive investigated the incident and they found that there were problems in the design of the hydraulic press which had been designed by Composite Hydraulic Ltd.  Opening the safety guard should have stopped the machine from functioning, and so should pressing the emergency stop button.  There should have been a system in place to make sure that when the machine was stopped using the guard or the button the cavity at the top stopped moving downwards due to gravity.

Due to the poor design of the press Composite Integration Ltd were fined £25,000 when they pleaded guilty at Stranrear Sheriff Court.  They breached three sections of the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations which were Sections 11, 12(1) (e) and 29(a) which state that machinery should not be supplied unless it is safe.

Health and Safety Consultants Ready to Help

There are multiple health and safety services available if you are finding it difficult to get your head around health and safety in your place of work. With so many regulations and legislations it can be easy to get too tied up in red tape and miss vital areas. Using health and safety consultants can be useful to ensure you are meeting your duties. Call 0800 1488 677 today to speak directly to health and safety consultants.

Worker Trapped at Leisure Park

An employee at the Dawlish holiday Park, Lady’s Mile Farm, suffered terrible injuries when he became trapped while working in a trench. Grzezgorz Waluszowski had been asked to help with laying one of the drainage pipes in a trench. While he was in the two meter deep trench the sides collapsed trapping him inside.

No Adequate Safety Measures in Place and a Lack of Planning

Other people working on the trench were able to help dig Mr Waluszowski out of the caved in trench however he had fractured his skull, his cheekbone and his jaw.  When the Health and Safety Executive paid a visit to the park they discovered that they had good reason to prosecute the operators, Main Gate Leisure. The inspectors discovered that there was no adequate planning in place for the work of laying the new drainage pipe, and no safety measures were in place to prevent the accident from occurring.

Mr Waluszkowski not only worked at the park, he lived there too. On the day of the accident he was working with two of the directors of the park’s operators. In order to try and prevent the trench from caving in some pieces of plywood were propping up a metal plate and some wood was placed between the sides in order to help hold them up. Unfortunately this was not effective and the whole support system collapsed causing the sides to cave in. The directors present used an excavator on site in order to reach Mr Waluszkowski and help to get him out which the managed to do before the emergency services arrived.

Main Gate Leisure Limited was prosecuted at Torquay Magistrates court where they pleaded guilty for breaching Regulation 31(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations. The company have to pay a fine of £5,000 and they were also ordered to pay £2,198 in court costs.

After the hearing Jonathan Harris, a Health and Safety Executive spoke to the press. He said that the accident could have easily resulted in a fatality. This highlights the importance of thorough planning and the need to have proper safety measures in place. The support used to prop up the sides of the trench was clearly not suitable; a trench box can be hired with ease and would have prevented the caving in of the trench.

Make Use of a CDM Coordinator

Using the health and safety services offered by specialists is a great way of helping to prevent accidents such as these occurring in your workplace. If you work with health and safety consultants it is possible to make use of CDM Coordinator Services that are able to help companies conform with the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. The experienced consultant will be able to help you in a variety of ways including but not limited to:

• Risk Management
• Administration
• Health and Safety and the Design Process

Call 0800 1488 677 to speak to health and safety consultants about their CDM Coordinator service or one of the many other useful services available.

Human Resources: The Cost of Tribunals

In the changing world of the 21^st Century, the shape of the workplace is changing to reflect the changing society and its norms and behaviours.

Blame society

British society has increasingly begun to reflect its counterpart US society where blame and automatic questions of compensation and responsibility are banded around. Walk down any UK large High Street and you are likely to meet someone who is trying to get your business in respect of a claim, maybe even going back many years. People are even solicited by the use of SMS on their mobile phones or cold calls to their home phones. The reality is that the UK is become more and more blame conscious and this is reflected in work environments.

In the not too distant past employees were grateful for a job and all that meant for them: financial security, challenge and career fulfilment. Today we see increasing numbers of employees who feel they are owed the opportunity to earn money and crucially feel they have the upper hand in the employer employee relationship. Clearly this is not the case but perceptually it is very much the case to them. Right from the point of recruitment there (quite rightly) an expectation that things will be done correctly, with fairness and equality being paramount as well as finding the correct candidate for the role. Commonly Employment Tribunals will receive complaints from individuals whose perception is that they were not treated with fairness and will have a reason or a number of reasons as to why they were not chosen as the right candidate on the day. Thus having robust tried and tested recruitment procedures in place is a must for any employer of people.

The Welfare of Workers

Managing the working environment is an area frequently neglected, particularly in lower risk sectors. Managing risk is a non negotiable when people are involved. As their knowledge increases surrounding their rights and the organisation’s responsibilities, so the trends in claims against companies unsurprisingly also does the same.

Conducting workplace risk assessments and taking action to reduce the risks identified may feel like a bureaucratic waste of precious time but your responsibility to your workforce is actually one of any organisation’s biggest responsibilities. Larger companies frequently offer medical assessments and support for employees who have a highlighted area of concern. As much as a business has a responsibility to its staff so the staff have a responsibility to their employer. To protect your own business you need to know of any problems with employees that could impact health and safety for themselves, their colleagues or the wider business. Support for employees displaying issues for concern can be provided support by a number of external bodies, for example the Coalition Against Drug Abuse might help an employee sober up and return to work. Bear in mind that any periods of sickness due to accidents or longer term medical ailments will impact on the business’s productivity as business work leaner and meaner and cuts workforces to minimum requirements, absences become harder to manage.

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Grievances against colleagues

Having a grievance procedure is a very important use of time and resource. While an employer can control the company’s decisions around how to treat employees and manage the People Agenda to minimise risk, it is far harder to legislate for the behaviour of individual members of staff, yet their behaviour remains the business’s responsibility.  Any workforce will be made up of a number of types of people, with different lifestyles, backgrounds and opinions. It is crucial therefore that a business legislates for colleagues who may conduct themselves inappropriately and set out information around how this behaviour will be dealt with.  If an employee has a complaint to make against a colleague, it must be clear as to how this is carried out and there can be no repercussions for any individual raising a complaint. An investigation process must be clearly laid out and appropriate action as required should be taken against any parties found to be guilty of misconduct.

Tribunals and Complaints

Violating employment legislation can be a costly error to make. Where unions are involved to represent the worker it can also spell industrial action and loss of productivity for prolonged periods of time.

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Tribunal costs can run into thousands of pounds in compensation per case depending on the severity of the case. Most types of claim have an associated maximum award and bands of award reflecting the severity of the breach. It is noteworthy that the highest levels of compensation are often awarded for harassment and discrimination cases and these are uncapped. In January 2012 a reported £4.5 million award was made for one such case. The number of claims submitted to UK Employment Tribunals is ever increasing (between March 2010 – March 2011 by around a fifth according to HM Courts and Tribunals Service).

A major defence to liability in any type of claim is showing that your company was not negligent. Training and educating the workforce to take preventative steps is crucial and for any business employing people and wishing to remain viable, training and educating is non negotiable.

Reporting of Injuries – Changes to RIDDOR

When an employee is injured it is necessary to create a report on the injury if they are incapacitated for over three days under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. However as from April 6 2012 the new reporting time is going to change to incapacitation of over 7 days subject to being approved in parliament.  The 7 day period doesn’t include the first day, and all accidents that cause more than 3 days of incapacitation to employees will still need to keep a record of this in the work accident report book.

The changes to RIDDOR mean that employees now need to report any injury within 15 days from the date of the incident.

How to Report an Injury

If you need to make a report you have a variety of ways to do so. Firstly it is possible to go online and visit the Health and Safety Executive website and fill in one of the forms relating to the type of incident that occurred. Your choices are:

• An injury
• Dangerous occurrences
• Offshore injury
• Dangerous occurrence offshore
• Flammable gas incident
• Dangerous gas fitting
• Disease

If you prefer to use alternative methods it is also possible to put in your report over the telephone. However, telephone reporting is only to be used if the incident was fatal or if the injuries sustained were major.  The phone line is open between 8.30am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

Keeping Records

When you report an injury or an occurrence you have to keep a record of the report for your own records. Before you submit your form online be sure to make a copy of it and save it in your files and preferably print off a copy too. Once you send off the form to the HSE you should also receive an email with a copy of the form however if you have incorrectly entered your email address on the form you will not receive one. Your SPAM filter may also stop the email from reaching your inbox so it is advisable to make your own copy just to be on the safe side.

If you make a report over the phone or do not make an online copy you will still need to have a record. Create a document stating the time and the date that you placed the report, how you reported the incident as well as:

• Personal Details of the People Involved
• Brief Description of the Event or the Disease
• Where the Incident or Injury Occurred
• Time and Date of the Incident

All employees have to keep an accident report book so this is a good place to store your report record. However if you are reporting a disease you will need to create a new method of saving a record.  You may also need to report the incident for insurance purposes, the HSE do not do this for you so you will need to take of this yourself.

To find out more about RIDDOR and your responsibilities as an employer when it comes to reporting accidents contact your health and safety consultants. Call 0800 1488 677 for further information today.

Getting your message heard and creating a safer environment by focusing on people