Health & Safety Advice

March is going to be a busy month for the construction industry, particularly regarding safety issues.
If you are in the business and have maintenance or repair works site of any size, prepare yourself.
There is a big possibility that you could get a visit from HSE inspectors.

The initiative is part of the organizations’ purpose to raise the awareness and remind the
construction professionals all around the country that poor standards in health and safety politics
are unacceptable. That sometimes cost the industry and companies a fortune and more often than
not lives. Only for the period 2010/2011 42 very serious injuries have occurred on
construction sites in Nottinghamshire. Also there were 3 deaths for the same period and 188 serious
accidents across the East Midlands. Even bigger is reported to be the cost of small and totally and
easily preventable accidents- British companies lose around 250 Pounds a second in compensation
costs and pay outs or those accidents. The same study conducted by the British Safety Council
revealed that six million days are lost annually because of work-place injuries.
Generally the inspectors would be concentrating on checking high- risk activities and tidiness or the
good order of the construction sites. Unfortunately the falls from heights still remain one of the
most common causes of fatalities and major injuries in the UK. There are more than 5 of those
incidents every day around the country. The possible agenda for the inspections will concentrate in
the following points
Jobs involving working at height were properly planned, staff realizing them were trained in
accordance and appropriate precautions and equipment were in place
Sites are tidy and well organized, according to law regulations
Special attention would be given to walkways, stairs and main public access to the
construction site which should be free from obstructions and the pass byres protected

construction site which should be free from obstructions and the pass byres protected
Work areas are clear from unnecessary materials
Visits are planned to start from today 27* of February and will be carried on for a month.
Sincerely, from the team of Safe2use we wish good luck to everybody who gets visited. And if you
need to get your Health and Safety or Risk Assessment Policy in place or other Health and Safety
advice, do not hesitate to contact us.
Also during March will take place the HSE’s Behaviour Based Safety- How to improve Health and
Safety Culture event. All delegates will be advised from industry experts on different health and
safety issues, especially on prevention trough better training. It will take place at the MWB Meeting
Rooms, London on the 7th of March. Certainly, an effective training is one of the major challenges
faced by the construction industry. Apart from being part of the regulations to complete, everyday
becomes clearer that an effective health and safety training adds value to the company, creates a
secure and healthier work atmosphere and ultimately increases the quality and productivity of your
business. The experts are also expected to provide information on how to engage the workforce
from these working at the office to those on the construction site to be more proactive and
concerned on health and safety issues._ ‘_

Running a small business

Only firms with fewer than five employees are not required to have a written health and safety policy statement or risk written assessments. By law and also logic all businesses have to assess the potential risks which their activities represent for the employees, customers and the public. The truth is that if you run a SME and fail to comply with the health and safety law, the fines you would be facing will be considerable and can cripple your business. That’s why it is essential to get a good professional advice from the beginning or as soon as possible of your work activities.

Every year small and medium size enterprises lose money and working days due to occupational ill health and injuries. This is a direct result of inappropriate health and safety management. Regular updating, monitoring and reviewing of the policies and practices in your company need to become a monthly procedure and should be treated as important as the accounts and tax reviews. Some of the most frequent causes of compensation claims for SME’s and temporary absence from the work place are the injuries from slips, trips, falls and manual handling.

To avoid this we recommend you pay special attention to the quality of indoor and outdoor facilities and training. If you are lucky you may also employee workers with an amount of common sense.

The correct management of health and safety issues will translate not only in complying with the law, but also will benefit your company in other aspects.

- Reducing the sick leaves and absences, witch on the other hand will help you to retain your qualified staff.
- Will improve productivity and profits in the long term by creating a nice and secure working environment.
- Will maintain and even boost your reputation with customers.
- Will reduce costs- insurance premiums (Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance) and legal costs.

The  Löfstedt’s review

The Department of Work and Pensions has commissioned Professor Löfstedt, director of the King’s
Centre for Risk Management at King’s College, London to perform a study on the current situation
of the Heath and Safety Act and its implementation in the day to day business life.

The study focuses in particular on the 200 Regulations and the 53 Approved Codes of Practice (ACoPs) Enforced by the
HSE.

It is part of the Government’s plan to reduce the existing bureaucracy and confusion in legislation against which businesses were complaining for some time.

Some of the already announced changes and direct results of the Lofstedt’s review include relaxing the need of inspection visits
for properly attended low- risk small businesses, simplification of the safety guidance for small businesses and abolishment of the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority. There are some more changes to be brought forward by 2013 and 2014 focusing on the regulations for self- employed people (some of whom would be exempt of health and safety legislation) and simpler accident
reporting.
New legislation if and when needed would be risk and evidence based.

There may also be suggestions in changes of an independent health and safety regulator for the nuclear energy industry.

So far so good.

the planned changes will mainly tackle unnecessary paperwork for most businesses owners, health and safety advisers and
regulators as well as promising to provide a a simplified and clear way for companies to comply with the law.

What does it mean to your company?

There is not going to be a major alteration in the current legislation. The Government accepted most of the study’s suggestions to remove the existing bureaucracy burden from companies and focus on the correct  assessment of higher risk businesses.

From 2013 most low risk self-employed will be almost absent of health and safety regulations.

We here at Safe2Use.com will provide you with the latest news and changes as soon as they are communicated.

Until then we would love to hear your feedback.

Is it getting too much?

There has always been a lot of debate about grey areas in health and safety regulations.

I originally came from a construction and engineering background and have herd arguments both from workers in the trenches and now from the view of health and safety authorities, consultants and advisers.

First let’s look at from what I can gather is the sensible worker or business owner’s point of view.

The main problems seem to stem from safety rules and regulations that interfere with productivity speed, additional cost and ease that a particular job can be completed. I’m sure you have spoken to a veteran who has been doing a particular job for twenty years without incident and now new enforced safety laws result in the same task taking twice as long and more money has to be spent on unnecessary safety procedures.

Less productivity, more cost, more time to complete same task.

I have also been told by such similar people as mentioned above that they had an apprenticeship period with a mentor when they were young and over the years honed there skills to be able to complete such a task as efficiently and to a the highest quality possible.

As we know apprenticeships schemes are rare now and from the veterans point a view common sense has been taken from the youth.

One statement from a 52 year old lathe operator struck a particular cord and it went like this.

“When I started my apprenticeship there were 6 of us being trained for the job however 2 of the lads were a danger to their selves and us, they just did not have the mental capacity to be working around dangerous machines. They were clumsy, forgetful, and immature and had no common sense what so ever. So before the inevitable injury took place they were duly informed by a professional operator that they were not cut out for the job.
Nowadays all responsibility is taken from workers. Let’s say all humans are not all created equal and you as a company employ someone who is a liability, you have some major problems ahead. No matter how much training you give said person this will never amount to safe operation and an accident is bound to happen. This will then surely be deemed as the manager’s fault or lack of training, safety procedures, to much stress and so on. Thus the company and manager gets fined and injured party (normally incompetent person or liability) gets a big payout. Next if you determine that said operator is beyond useless you have then got to remove said person from the company before anything bad happens. This will probably result in unfair dismissal in return giving said person a big payout from the company.
So we now have a country with dwindling manufacturing plants and factories. We produce hardly anything because everything we do now cost twice as much and takes twice as long due to tolerating incompetence!”

Strong views from a man who has seen significant changes in health and safety legislation over the years.

Obviously there needs to be balance and a sensible approach to how a particular task must be handled.

The resistance and defiance from workers and company owners can sometimes be very fierce as we can see so we should address these issues and actually get all parties involved when it comes to health and safety Regulations.

Next time we will be exploring responses from the other side of the coin i.e. a health and safety adviser’s point a view.

We would like to answer all concerns highlighted in this post and work out some strategies on how we could better keep people safe but at the same time allow work to be completed more efficiently and cost affective.

If you would like to view health and safety regulations that affect your type of work you can find information at www.hse.gov.uk

Audits (if done right) help workers to carry on with health and safety procedures easier.

Very often the audits could be seen as unhelpful and interfering with day to day tasks and also when workers are faced with complying with health and safety requirements at the work place there often will be resistance.

Health and safety regulations are getting tougher every year, as are the regular visits to the businesses from the HSE.

In these difficult economic times no company can afford a huge fine due to bad compliance with the law.

This is where a quality audit can achieve the desired result of not just interfering with work but complying with the law and at the same time actually helping with and improving the daily tasks of workers.

If you as a manager are able to choose the right health and safety expert, he or she could be a great addition to the team. Instead of a boring and nagging person who doesn’t know what the business is all about interrupting around the office, shop or factory floor making everybody miserable… And believe me, this is what happens most of the time when you have a health and safety advisor taking an audit around your business premises.

Again an audit could improve the quality of your team/management relationship while saving you money (if it is done by the right people and in the correct manner!).
Internal audits are important too, usually done by the manager.

This person will know the organization of the work and the type of business and certainly could provide a good advice.

If this is the case the wise thing to do is at least once per year have your safety expert visit your premises to have a good look and provide you with up date information about the latest law changes and regulations.
Any of the reports from these audits needs to be presented in a positive and constructive manner, because this way they can be more effective and actually implemented.

Also it is very important for the effectiveness of audit reports to be delivered in simple and clear language.
Make it easy to use and present in a daily or weekly plan for the needed changes.
A good audit would includes what your company is doing right too, not just the mistakes.

Sometimes a quality audit can even solve some of your organizational process issues by pointing out problems you or your management are not able to see.
Most of the health and safety advisers out there would also offer you a tailor made plan and on site help on a daily basis for the problems to be efficiently sorted.
In conclusion a health and safety audit is able to save you money, time and ultimately improve your business.