Tag Archives: safety

Summer safety

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Some key pointers for worker safety during hot spells

Hydration:

Encourage your staff to drink plenty of water throughout the day, especially before, during, and after work.  However sugary or caffeinated drinks should be used sparingly as they may partially dehydrate.

Rest and Shade:

Take or schedule more frequent breaks in cooler or shaded areas – you might consider providing a welfare spot with a gazebo  for shade.  Consider whether workers are able to rotate between tasks where there is greater exposure to heat/sun if frequent breaks are more difficult to incorporate.

Appropriate Clothing:

Provide loose-fitting, light-colored, and breathable clothing. Avoid excessive layers of protective equipment when possible without lessening the protection that may be required for the tasks.

Heat Illness Awareness:

Train workers to recognize the signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses, such as heat exhaustion and heatstroke.  Make sure that your staff and in particular first aiders know the emergency procedures.

Workplace Environment:

Ensure there is adequate ventilation in the workplace and use fans or air conditioning when possible.  Monitor your workplace temperatures and adjust the work schedules as needed.

This Napo film below has a light-hearted summary …

If you have unique challenges that you need advice on just contact us to arrange a chat.  By the way the Napo films are the property of Via Storia.

Fear of non-compliance on inspection

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A survey of 2,000 individuals who work in varied roles across a range of UK sectors has found 68% of respondents feel their business/organisation would likely not comply with on-the-spot Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspections. 

This is because they feel the business/organisation they work for doesn’t have the data to prove that its fixed and movable assets are managed and maintained to the required regulatory standards.

The article headline extract above makes a strong case to review your maintenance arrangements and record keeping.  The article is rather skewed towards digital asset management records, but the question stands – is your firm prepared to be inspected and would it be compliant?

If you are in doubt about your legal duties and responsibilities (such as suitability, maintenance, inspection, information and training…) then why not drop us a line.  Happy to provide pragmatic no-nonsense advice on an ad-hoc or retained basis.

Health and Safety Statistics

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Key figures for Great Britain (2017/18)

  • 1.4 million working people suffering from a work-related illness
  • 2,595 mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures (2016)
  • 144 workers killed at work
  • 555,000 injuries occurred at work according to the Labour Force Survey
  • 71,062 injuries to employees reported under RIDDOR
  • 30.7 million working days lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury
  • £15 billion estimated cost of injuries and ill health from current working conditions (2016/17)

The statistics for 2017-8 can be downloaded from the HSE website and make interesting reading.

Of course by taking reasonable steps to comply with legislation and your moral duties your business need not form part of these costly statistics and flourish as a safe effective and efficient business.

Contact us for advice and guidance to help you comply.

HSE myth busters

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An extract from the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) website:

Do you need to wear safety footwear all the time?

An employee questions the need to wear safety footwear for the whole of their shift as they think their work does not always warrant it.safety boots

HSE Panel decision

Health and safety law only requires safety footwear to be worn where there is a real risk of injury. It is not uncommon for employers to adopt a policy requiring the wearing of safety footwear at all times, when and where there is a risk that people would not change into and out of PPE footwear during the day. We would recommend that employers and employees discuss what is really required in this case. It may be that the risks are such that sensible shoes are a preferable alternative to requiring full PPE footwear to be worn for a full 8 hour shift.

UK safety fines rose 80%

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… according to Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) injury and ill health statistics

A scary headline to make any boss take a long, hard look at Health and Safety arrangements in their company or organisation…

In 2016-17 – the first full year that the new sentencing guidelines for safety and health offences were in place – fines reached £69.9m compared with £38.8m for the same period a year earlier.

But it’s not all bad news. Whilst the fines handed to dutyholders found guilty of safety and health offences increased by 80% in the 12 months to the end of March 2017 there was a fall in the number of cases prosecuted.

Under the new guidelines, the level of fine corresponds to the offending organisation’s turnover. If convicted of a safety and health offence, large organisations that turn over more than £50m and fall into the “very high” culpability category could be fined up to £10m.

The HSE and local authorities also issued 11,913 enforcement notices in 2016-17, a 5% increase compared with the previous period when 11,380 were served.

It’s really good to see the number of cases prosecuted falling but we continue to urge everyone to make sure they avoid complacency in the workplace.

We are always happy to arrange an “anti-complacency” visit to your business or organisation, working with you to ensure all of your Health and Safety arrangements are in place and, more importantly, are working…

Helping to keep national computer gaming festivals safe

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We are delighted to have been appointed Health and Safety contractor to some of the UK’s biggest computer gaming festivals.

SoPro Safety Ltd will advise Multiplay UK Ltd, a subsidiary of Game, on event health and safety for Insomnia, Brick Live and games publisher conventions such as Minecon. Event venues include Birmingham’s NEC, London’s Excel and Belfast’s Titanic Exhibition Centre. The increasingly popular shows attract up to 50,000 consumers, many of them families and young people.

SoPro Safety is headed by Jon Sullivan, an experienced Health and Safety professional whose previous event work has included venues at the 2012 Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, International art shows in London and World Skills, International.

As well as event work SoPro Safety offers a full compliance, advice and outsource service for Health and Safety as well as a number of unique, dynamic training courses.

Commenting on the appointment Multiplay UK Ltd’s Events Director, Andrew Smith said “We are delighted to have Jon Sullivan, and SoPro Safety, on board. Their experience of events coupled with an extensive knowledge of Health and Safety is invaluable to Multiplay. Jon Sullivan manages the implementation of our Health and Safety in a professional and pragmatic manner, enabling our team to work safely and offer a low risk environment to our visitors”.

New regulations to include Events and Exhibitions

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The new Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM Regs) come into force in April.  Events and exhibitions of scale will fall within the scope of these regulations and the HSE is drafting guidance specifically for the events industry.  The draft regulations have been published, however the exact impact on our events and exhibitions industry is still taking shape.

We expect there to be better formalisation of the responsibilities of the client and their appointed organisers and/or main contractors.  For well run projects this should be a fairly simple matter to comply…

From the HSE:

The new CDM Regs come into force on 6 April 2015 and apply to all building and construction projects, regardless of the size, duration and nature of the work.

The main changes, outlined in general by the Health & Safety Executive, are as follows:

  • Principal designer. The replacement of CDM co-ordinator (under CDM 2007) by principal designer. This means that the responsibility for  coordination of the pre-construction phase – which is crucial to the management of any successful construction project – will rest with an existing member of the design team. 
  • Client. The new Regulations recognise the influence and importance of the client as the head of the supply chain and as the party best placed to set standards throughout a project 
  • Competence. By splitting ‘competence’ into its component parts of skills, knowledge, training and experience, and  – if they are an organisation – organisational capability, provides clarity for the industry to assess and demonstrate that construction project teams have the right attributes to deliver a healthy and safe project. 
  • The technical standards set out in Part 4 remain essentially unchanged from CDM 2007 and HSE’s targeting and enforcement policy, as a proportionate and modern regulator, also remains unchanged.

The Regulatory package

The new proposed Regulations and supporting guidance are all in draft form before they come into force and may be subject to changes. They offer duty holders the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the main requirements before they come into force.

Glasgow 2014

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Billed as the safest Games ever delivered – the XX Commonwealth Games.2014-08-06 23.48.25

Jon Sullivan had the pleasure of working with the Trivandi team supporting the Organising Committee to provide assurance and safety advice to the venues in the challenging time of Bump-In, Games Time, Bump-Out and the start of Re-Instatement and hand back to the Principle Contractor in the city.

The venue Jon worked on was the Scotstoun Sports Campus which was the most complex Glasgow venue – being a training venue for Triathlon and athletics from 13 July, plus a competition venue for Squash and table Tennis for the whole 11 days of the Games from 24 July to 3 August.  The site’s unique feature was a purpose-built, all glass squash court with arena seating within a temporary demountable structure.