Health and Safety Compliance | Walker Health and Safety

Poor Housekeeping

It’s for this reason that good housekeeping should be at the top of your health and safety agenda.

Human factors

Carrying out certain work activities, such as cleaning or maintenance, pose a greater risk of temporary slips, trips and falling hazards.

However, even with robust training and experience—anyone can slip up. So use physical controls and suitable and sufficient safety systems of working to mitigate risk.

You should always consider vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and the visually impaired when attempting to mitigate risks.

Young workers, new starters or persons with a limited understanding of English are more at risk of accidents due to a lack of understanding of controls / signage and / or instruction.

Environmental factors

Environmental factors can often significantly affect the likelihood of a slip, trip or fall.

Factors such as (but not limited to):

Lighting – A poorly lit environment or excessive glare will make it much harder for a person to assess their environment and spot potential hazards
Noise – Noise can distract and draw an individual’s attention away from localised hazards as they move around
Weather factors – Snow or leaves in autumn can physically conceal potential hazards on the ground or create hazards themselves

So where do I start?

All employers have a legal duty to assess the risks to their employees and others who may be affected by their operations, such as visitors, contractors and members of the public.

This will help to find out what needs to be done and where to control any risks.

This should be a five step approach:

Look for housekeeping issues in your workplace – remember to review the whole workplace, including infrequently used areas and any outdoor areas.
Decide who may be harmed and how – remember to include any vulnerable groups such as the elderly, young workers, or anyone with a disability
Think about the risk – are mitigation’s already in place and are they adequate?
Record your findings – if you don’t record it how do you prove you’ve considered it?
Review your assessments regularly – If there have been changes to the workplace then the review should ensure that both current precautions and management arrangements are suitable and sufficient or that further controls may be required.

NOTE: Risk assessments should be reviewed at least once annually.

An organised approach

A good management approach and robust systems will help identify any deficient areas, help you decide any action points, note when actions have been completed, and check that the steps taken are actually effective.

A good system should include:

Planning – This will identify key areas and set timely goals for any improvements that may be required. If you fail to plan then you plan to fail
Organisation – Employees should be involved in all stages of the process, they are your experts.
Control – Regular checks should be made to ensure working practice and process work and are being followed
Monitor and Review – Any accident investigations and inspection reports are key. Near miss and minor accidents will also assist in highlighting any trends / problem areas. The monitor and review should include management arrangements.

Remember – A clean and tidy workplace is a safer working environment for those affected by its activities.

Contact us for further support.

The Importance of Health and Safety Training for Directors and Executives

The safest workplaces are those where health and safety standards are set at a high level – from the very top right down to the very bottom. You have to lead by example and encourage everyone to adopt a safe and compliant attitude across the entire organisation. Ignorance is never a defence if your find yourself in the middle of a RIDDOR investigation.

As a director you have a responsibility to educate yourself about health and safety. You need to know what your role is in ensuring a safe, as well as productive, workplace. Being an executive, getting that title of director, comes with a price – ultimately the buck stops at your desk.

The good news is that, although you need to know the broad outline of health and safety regulations, you don’t need to commit the fine detail to memory. That means you can fit a health and safety course into a single day.

Here are courses that top management could do.

CITB Directors Role for health and safety

IOSH Leading Safety

IOSH Safety for Executives and Directors

If you require advice on booking a course or finding a supplier, please contact us.

We can point you in the right direction.

Drug Testing in the Workplace

Laws on random drug testing in the workplace

Drug testing can be quite a difficult and time-consuming policy to establish. Remember, an organisation must have consent from its employees to test them for drugs. This consent is usually included in the individual’s contract.

The law imposes various requirements on employers who wish to undertake random drug testing in the workplace. These include:

• limiting drug testing to the specific group of employees that the organisation needs to test

• ensuring the tests are random

• not singling out an employee unless justified by the nature of their job.

If there is a policy, with procedures in place and an employer has good reasons for testing for drugs — whether it is essential to do so for certain roles or where there is reasonable cause to believe an employee is under the influence — and someone refuses to take the test, the employer may resort to disciplinary action.

Dealing with drugs in the workplace

So, once an organisation has established when testing is applicable, how does it go about the testing?

There are three different types of workplace drug and alcohol testing.

Pre-employment: This tends to be the most common form but it’s also the least effective. This is because it’s based on a urine sample that an individual can easily dilute or substitute.
Post-incident: As the name suggests, testing in this case follows a health and safety incident.
Random: When a group of individuals consent to testing and you pick a handful of them to test at random.

To effectively test for drugs, the testing must be carried out by an individual with the correct qualifications from the UK Accreditation Service. They’ll conduct the testing.

The testing procedure must also comply with the International Standard for Laboratories. Failing to do this will mean the results are void.

Drug tests tend to work in a similar way, no matter which substance you are testing for. The most common package test is for cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, benzodiazepine, and opiates.

What to do if drugs are found in the workplace

If you happen to find physical evidence of employees using or storing drugs in the workplace, you still have to follow your process.

Refer back to your drug and alcohol policy and stick to it.
Document where, how, why, and who found the drugs, as well as any witnesses, previous complaints, concerns or behaviours.
Meet with the employee to discuss the situation — you should bring your documents with you to support this. Make sure a third party is present as a witness.
If the discussion with the employee is inconclusive, you may request the employee submits to a drug test.
If the employee refuses to take a test you may go down the disciplinary route — including terminating their employment if necessary.

The organisation should consider to what degree, if an employee is found to be using drugs, it will offer help and support. Actions might include arranging sick leave for treatment and arranging for referral to a treatment service.

How to create a drug and alcohol policy

The aim of this policy is to clearly set out the company’s position on drugs and alcohol within the workplace. You should include this in your Health and Safety Policy.

The policy should define when the use of drugs or alcohol is an issue (For example within working hours or when it interferes with work capability or conduct, etc). Make sure that you have considered the effects of prescription drugs too.
Then, it should define when the organisation might request a drug test or conduct an investigation.
It should then give direction to employees who suspect a colleague is under the influence, ideally pointing them to a particular contact they can speak to.
Finally, the policy should detail the company’s support and disciplinary procedures and how it will relate to anyone using drugs or alcohol in the workplace.

You may also want to create a separate document that specifically covers drug testing. The document needs to be specific to your organisation and work activities.

Contact us should you wish to discuss this topic or create a policy.

Sitting V Standing

Sitting v standing — the risks

The health risks of sedentary work, for example, among office workers who sit in front of computers for the vast majority of their day, have been well documented in recent years.

Prolonged standing at work: the law

According to the HSE, while there is no specific legislation that relates to prolonged standing, the risk to employees’ health and safety from working in a standing position would fall under the general provisions of the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974 and its associated regulations, e.g. the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.

The HSE therefore advises that pragmatic controls that consider both seated and standing work are identified through an appropriate risk assessment.

Crucially, the HSE also emphasises the importance of involving and engaging the workforce in the risk assessment process, as staff can provide feedback on their workstation and practices that can lead to pragmatic and sensible adjustments.

How to reduce the risks from standing

Job design is a critical factor in protecting the health of staff who need to stand during their working day. The basic principles of good job design for standing work are as follows.

Change working positions frequently so that working in one position is of a reasonably short duration.
Avoid extreme bending, stretching and twisting.
Pace work appropriately.
Allow workers suitable rest periods to relax; exercises may also help.
Provide instruction, training and supervision on proper work practices and the use of rest breaks.
Allow workers an adjustment period when they return to work after an absence after illness so they can gradually return to a regular work pace.

Specific points to consider could, depending on the type of work, relate to the following:

Working tables and benches should be adjustable. If the workstation cannot be adjusted, platforms to raise the shorter worker or pedestals on top of workstations for the tall worker should be considered.
Organisation of the work space is another important aspect. There should be enough room to move around and to change body position.
Where it is possible, a seat should be provided so that the worker can do the job either sitting or standing.
Quality of footwear and type of flooring materials, including anti-fatigue mats, are also major factors contributing to standing comfort.

Workers should go home healthy

The HSE’s current Go Home Healthy campaign is targeting the musculoskeletal health of workers as one of its three key focuses, along with work-related lung diseases and stress.

Employers should be aware that static and fixed postures from prolonged standing can cause musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), along with a range of other health issues.

In the context of the campaign and work involving prolonged standing, an HSE source warned against the pitfalls of starting with appropriate footwear or anti-fatigue matting. Rather, employers are encouraged to:

first assess the overall design of the work process
reduce the need for fixed, static or awkward postures
provide appropriate workstation design features (for example height adjustable stations and appropriate seating)
organise the work to include rest breaks or job rotation to avoid muscle fatigue.

Certainly, thereafter, appropriate footwear and matting could also contribute to the overall risk reduction of the work.

Again, employers should rather be moving up the hierarchy of controls to think about the design of the work activity, rather than relying on training alone and the HSE has published advice for employers on how to get the right type of help in this regard.

Conclusion

An HSE source had the following to say about avoiding MSDs for staff who need to spend time working in a standing position:

“Fixed and static postures at work such as prolonged standing can affect workers’ health, making it more likely they will experience leg and lower back pain. It’s important that employers work with their employees to consider pragmatic solutions to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal problems — such as balancing sedentary and active work, rotating jobs, and providing rest breaks, appropriate workstations, and suitable equipment — to help ensure that workers can go home healthy.”

If you require advice, please contact us, Walker Health and Safety Services Limited.

What is a DSE Assessment?

Smart watch and phone safety

It is a legal requirement for businesses where staff work at fixed workstations, home workers or hot-desking to complete the following:

A DSE workstation assessment
Provide an eye test if a staff member requests for one
Provide training and information for employees

Improper use of DSE or poorly designed workstations or environments can lead to staff suffering with neck, shoulder, and back pain as well as fatigue and eye strain.

What is a DSE risk assessment?

Most employers are required to carry out a DSE assessment, but what exactly is one, and what does it need to cover? To start, let’s understand what DSE is, then look at how we can assess it.

What is DSE?

DSE stands for Display Screen Equipment. As the name suggests, a DSE assessment is an assessment of Display Screen Equipment. Display Screen Equipment (DSE) is a device or equipment with a display screen and often refers to a computer screen. However, it includes both conventional display screens and those used in emerging technologies such as laptops, touchscreens and other similar devices.

In a work environment, desktop computers are traditionally looked at when considering DSE, but it is important to consider other display screens such as tablets, laptops and smartphones.

What is a DSE assessment?

A DSE assessment is an assessment of risk from the way we use computers, laptops, tablets and other display screens at work. Each workstation should be assessed, and the risks reduced as low as is practical.

A DSE assessment looks at how a user works at their workstation. Like any risk assessments, the aim is to identify the hazards and assess the likelihood and severity of harm to those that may be affected. Then, reduce the risk by altering the workstation or providing tools to make it comfortable.

If you have sat at a computer screen for a long time, you may already be familiar with some of the hazards. Poor posture or lack of movement throughout the day can lead to back pain. Staring at the screen for long lengths of time can give you headaches.

But it’s not just computer screens that are causing issues. Slouching over your phone, tablet or handheld device for even a short length of time can give you neck and upper back pain.

Why do we need a DSE assessment?

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations. These regulations lay out some key requirements for employers surrounding the use of DSE, one of which is the need to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of workstations used in the workplace.

2.—(1) Every employer shall perform a suitable and sufficient analysis of those workstations which – (regardless of who has provided them) are used for the purposes of his undertaking by users; or have been provided by him and are used for the purposes of his undertaking by operators The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992

Any workstation used by your business, regardless of who provides it, should be assessed. So DSE requirements apply to co-working spaces, remote working, temporary workplaces and your own offices.

However, this should not just be considered a tick box exercise to comply with legal requirements. A DSE assessment can actually help combat ill-health and conditions, such as epilepsy and therefore improve health and productivity in the workforce.

DSE assessments can also help increase productivity. This is the result of employees being less tired, and more comfortable while sitting/standing at their workstation.

What does a DSE risk assessment cover?

Problems are often caused by the way we use our DSE. The display screen may not be the cause of back pain, but the way you sit at it could. Computer workstations or equipment can be associated with neck, shoulder, back or arm pain, as well as with fatigue and eyestrain.

So, it’s not just the display screen that needs to be assessed. Everything to do with the use of the equipment should be considered. Other items looked at in the assessment includes, the keyboard, the mouse, furniture and the environment.

The assessment should also encompass the general environment and includes lighting, reflections, glare, temperature, humidity and noise. All of these elements can impact how the equipment is used, and the risks to users.

The business benefits to DSE assessments

Display screen equipment are the most common tool used across all businesses, and can offer many benefits to a business including:

Improved health, wellbeing and morale for DSE users
Sustained production from reduced sick leave
Minimising the risk of compensation claims for upper limb disorders
Reduced administration costs
Encourages positive behaviour and adoption of DSE good practice.
Improved organisation safety

Contact us should you require a DSE Assessment.

The Walker Health and Safety blog is brought to you by the team at Walker Health and Safety Services Limited. You can contact us using the address or email address below or via the form on our main site.

e-Innovation Centre
University of Wolverhampton
Telford Campus
Priorslee
Telford
Shropshire
West Midlands
TF2 9FT

E-mail: info@walkersafety.co.uk
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Category Archives: Health and Safety Compliance