Author Archives: Author

As an employer, you have responsibilities under health and safety legislation, including ensuring that gates are maintained in efficient working order by a competent person and keeping records of such maintenance. You should only use a reputable company that regularly tests the safety features of the gates to ensure they are set and working correctly.

6 Tips for Ensuring Your Gates are Installed and Maintained Safely

1. Arrange for a gate ‘MOT’ to be carried out, which should include a documented risk assessment force test, as specified within BS EN 12445. The risk assessment must be performed by the gate installer as proof of compliance when carrying out servicing, maintaining or repair.
2. Have your gates force tested annually. If the gates are unsafe, take steps to make them safe by installing safety devices or protective mechanisms. As an interim measure, the gates must be deactivated by isolating the power. If you are concerned about security, you should only permit the gates to be used under strict supervision.
3. Ensure the gates are inspected at least every 6 months to ensure they work properly and that the protective mechanisms are effective, e.g. the automation system, earth connection, operating/stop devices, photocells, other safety devices, control panel settings and manual release operation.
4. Following inspection, the risk assessment should be reviewed and amended, if necessary.
5. By law, the gate installer must provide you with information on how to maintain the gates, this includes use of the manual release key.
6. The Machinery Directive requires you to keep several key documents in a technical file, including: risk assessment, declaration of conformity, force testing results, declarations of incorporation (conformity) from the drive unit and safety device manufacturers, guide for the safe use of the gate, details of the location of emergency devices and installation/maintenance log.

The message is simple – no one should install or work on powered gates without knowing the relevant legal standards. Employ the services of a company that can prove its ability to do the work safely.

Stress is back under the spotlight this month with National Stress Awareness Day on Wednesday 5th November. At this time of the year stress levels typically rise, because although nature may be slowing down and encouraging us to rest and retreat, our modern lives and work schedules continue to demand constant activity and productivity.

Winter offers an invitation to turn inward and recuperate. When we override this seasonal rest cycle by forcing ourselves to race on without refuelling we can begin to experience burnout. A common symptom of this is depression.

7 TIPS TO TRANSFORM DEPRESSION THIS WINTER

1. Listen – Allow the wisdom of your body to communicate with you by noticing the physical signs and symptoms it gives you rather than overriding them. Be kind to yourself. It is okay to feel low.

2. Pause – Give yourself permission to press pause, de-stress and take time out to rest.

3. Lighten Your Load – Let go of unnecessary commitments. Clear some space in your calendar so that you can slow down, indulge in some personal reflection and get more sleep.

4. Go Within – Use creative mediums like poetry, art, song, dance and body movement to explore and process your emotions, especially the ones you’ve felt unable to express in the past.

5. Remove the Mask – Make a list or draw pictures of all the things you pretend to be in your life. What are you putting up with? What are your frustrations? Where do you feel tension? By expressing these it becomes easier to go behind the mask you wear and rediscover who you truly are underneath.

6. Get Outside – Make an effort to get outside during the day and increase your exposure to daylight. This will help to boost your mood and is especially important during the winter months when there are shorter daylight hours.

7. Uncover Your Passions Connect with your true interests to boost your sense of self-fulfilment and help overcome depression. Lacking inspiration? Remember some of the things you used to love to do as a child and reignite old hobbies or experiment by trying something new.

NB: If you think you may be suffering from prolonged stress, depression or SAD consult your GP for further advice and information.

An AED is a device that shocks a casualty to restore the normal pumping of the heart to restart the blood circulation. It works by interpreting the heartbeat and automatically sending an electric shock, but it will not deliver it unless it can detect the presence of a heart rhythm. There is no explicit legal requirement to provide defibrillators in the workplace, but the British Heart Foundation and the Resuscitation Council UK advocate their provision. Generally speaking, if your first aid needs assessment indicates that the likelihood of cardiac arrest in your workplace is high, you should provide a defibrillator.

8 Top Tips for Managing Defibrillator Use

1. Review your policies to ensure you have clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of personnel who oversee and use AEDs.
2. Ensure your employees know that there is an AED present, where it is and what it is for.
3. An AED can be used safely and effectively without previous training. However, training should be provided to improve the time to shock delivery and correct pad placement and to demonstrate compliance with the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER).
4. In terms of location, the AED is best positioned in public areas. If there is a significant risk of theft or vandalism, any measures you put into place must be accompanied by reliable arrangements to minimise the delay in obtaining access when needed.
5. Whenever the AED is deployed, ensure you undertake a detailed investigation and review as part of the company’s health and safety management system.
6. Ensure that the device, as with all other first aid equipment you provide, is properly maintained under PUWER. Failure to maintain an AED unit and its disposable parts, such as batteries and pads, can result in the equipment malfunctioning at the critical moment of deployment.
7. The use of an AED, especially in the case of a fatality, can result in the operator suffering psychological distress and you should consider implementing post-incident counselling.
8. If you intend to use the equipment on non-employees, check your insurance company will indemnify you.

A person who has had a cardiac arrest will die if they don’t receive emergency treatment. Seconds count, and using a defibrillator will increase their chance of survival.

Contact us if you wish to purchase a defibrillator and update company procedures.

With the shortest day of the year coming up, we have issued a number of tips to ensure people stay safe over the festive period.

With winter quickly approaching we are urging people to take a number of measures to protect themselves and their properties during the darker nights.

The aim is to cut crimes which traditionally rise when the clocks go back. While crime has been reducing in recent years, burglary, robbery and vehicle crime can increase with the darker nights.

Our tips are:

* Most burglars are opportunists – Make sure you use a light timer switch to make it look like you’re at home

* One in five burglaries take place through unsecure windows and doors, so keep them locked – don’t let them in!

* Do not leave your house or car keys in a visible and easy to reach place in your house

* Be careful not to advertise your movements when visiting public places or using social media sites like Facebook

* When out and about keep expensive items out of sight and close to you at all times

* Consider property marking your expensive and valuable items

* Make sure people know your whereabouts

* Do not leave property on display in your car

* Consider personal safety when travelling at night, avoid dark short cuts and always let someone know where you are going

* Register your valuables for free on the National Property Database  www.immobilise.com

* Plan journeys in advance and remember to book a licensed taxi before heading out for the night.

With the darkest nights upon us, thieves may take advantage which could increase the risk of burglaries and thefts. We are urging people to do as much as they can to ensure they are not targeted by thieves and by following a few common sense safety tips they may save themselves and their families a lot of money and distress.

Employers and employees have duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 to ensure that workplace risks are controlled so that people do not slip or trip.

12 Tips for Managing Slips and Trips in your Workplace

1. Carry out a risk assessment of slip and trip risks in consultation with employees. This will enable you to highlight any potential hot spots within the organisation. Consider the design and layout of work areas, activities carried out in the work area and procedures for carrying out specific tasks. Don’t forget to include outside areas, including car parks, entrances, etc.
2. Ensure safe systems of work are in place which take into account slips and trips. Workers and management should receive training on understanding the risks of slips and trips and know how to prevent them.
3. Encourage the reporting of accidents and near misses by staff to help identify slip and trip black spots. Give feedback on actions taken.
4. Arrange for regular workplace inspections and pay particular attention to floors, stairs, tasks, lighting, general housekeeping and cleaning methods, personal protective equipment and variations in conditions at different times of the day.
5. Keep work areas clean and tidy, with floors and access routes clear of obstacles or obstructions. Encourage a ‘see it, sort it’ mentality amongst staff.
6. Ensure rubbish is regularly removed to a designated area outside the building.
7. Provide good lighting levels, without shadows or glare, particularly on stairways.
8. Ensure flooring is level and is checked regularly for damage. Loose carpets or mats should be removed or affixed. Changes of gradient should be highlighted and slippery surfaces should be treated with non-slip coating.
9. Provide handrails to all stairways and ensure stair nosings are colour-contrasted to prevent slips.
10. Staff should be advised to clean up spillages immediately. Make sure signs are used when floors are wet or cleaning is taking place.
11. Cables should not trail across walkways. Cable ties, walkover mats and cable managers should be provided.
12. Workers should wear footwear which has been selected through risk assessment and with regard to its slip-resistant properties.

Managing the risks of slips and trips will create a safer workplace. Take action now to ensure the safety of your workforce and reduce criminal and civil litigation costs.

Contact us if you require information.