Asbestos Toolbox Talk
Why have this talk? Asbestos Toolbox Talk. Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral and because of its excellent fire retarding and insulating properties it was widely used in the building industry in the 1980s.
Research has shown that breathing in asbestos fibres may cause lung disease and cancer and it is currently the greatest single cause of work-related deaths in the UK with several thousand people dying each year. The delay between asbestos exposure and disease can range between 10 and 50 years.
What will this talk cover? Where you might find asbestos and how to work around it.
| The use of asbestos is now banned but any building that was built before 2000 could have asbestos in it. As long as the material is not disturbed, workers should not be alarmed. If existing asbestos materials are in good condition, they can be left where they are as long as their condition is regularly checked to ensure they do not become damaged. Products where the asbestos is bound tightly (eg asbestos cement sheets or flooring tiles) are less hazardous than products such as pipe lagging which easily give off fibres, but all products need careful handling by trained workers. |
| The only way to reliably check if asbestos is present is to have a sample of the material examined in a laboratory. All potential asbestos-containing materials must be treated with caution. |
Do you have any questions for me?
Contact us for further information.
Why have this talk? Understanding the root causes of accidents allows the organisation to make changes to control measures to prevent reoccurrence in the future.
What will this talk cover? Why accident investigation is important and how to support an investigation.
Accident Investigation Toolbox Talk
If a serious accident or fatality has occurred you will need to shut down the site to prevent further injury and so that equipment/substances, etc can be investigated.
Explain the company policy on when this should happen or who makes the decision.
If you are involved in an accident investigation, whether internal or external, you should:
Do you have any questions for me?
Contact us for further information.
Why have this talk? First aid is emergency aid. It aims to minimise injury and illness until qualified medical help arrives. It can save lives.
What will this talk cover? How first aid is provided by the organisation and what to do if someone falls ill or is injured.
Past blogs of interest
First Aid Cover During Reduced Staffing as a Result of Covid-19 (walkersafety.co.uk)
What Should be in a First Aid Box | Health and safety blog (walkersafety.co.uk)
Do you have first aid training? | Health and Safety Blog (walkersafety.co.uk)
Contact us if you wish to discuss this topic.
There are ways to promote fitness that will improve wellbeing, motivation and productivity rather than just irritating your employees.
Many of us spend our day mostly sitting at desks, working with computers, getting up occasionally for a cup of tea. With more than a year in and out of lockdown, fitness isn’t necessarily at the front of our minds.
But with 6.9 million working days a year lost to musculoskeletal disorders in the UK, it’s worth promoting the idea of health and fitness in the workplace.
There are several important ways that promoting health and fitness in the workplace brings benefits to your business.
A good employee fitness and wellness programme in the workplace should be voluntary, non-intrusive and inclusive of people of all fitness levels and abilities. While you might be an avid climber or mountain biker, not everyone in the office will have the right equipment or head for heights!
Start off small. Encourage people to walk to work instead of driving, or even just to get off the bus a stop early. An employee fitness programme doesn’t have to mean everyone hits the gym on Monday morning. Try to avoid coming over as patronising — humour is a good approach.
Ideas that will increase employee fitness and productivity in the workplace include the following.
Rather than trying to put together an employee fitness programme yourself, you could always use an external company. Many places offer discounted corporate gym memberships, apps with step trackers, and great deals on healthy food. Providing an employee benefit like this will boost your reputation and enhance employee morale.
Start with this online challenge from the NHS – CLICK HERE
Contact Walker Health and Safety Services for further information.
Coronavirus has created the most challenging and difficult time for us all
With the Government confirming that face coverings will no longer be compulsory in shops, hospitality and on public transport in England from 19 July 2021, employers will be asking what this means for them.
From 19 July 2021, there will be a shift by the Government from instructing us all to follow strict rules to a greater emphasis on individuals making their own decisions on what steps they feel they should be taking to keep themselves safe. This shift of responsibility gives employers more flexibility when it comes to deciding whether to require staff to continue wearing face coverings in the workplace but also leaves employers with a difficult decision to make.
The Government will provide guidance on where individuals may still choose to wear a face covering, for example in places where they come into contact with those who are outside of their bubble. However, ultimately, in the workplace the decision will be left to the employer.
As an employer, your duty of care to safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of your employees does not change because the Government states that people no longer have to wear face coverings. When making their decision, employers should consider the nature of the workforce and listen to individual concerns. There are likely to be some employees who will be relieved to not have to wear face coverings; however, as they are worn to protect people around an individual, rather than the wearers themselves, there are also likely to be a number of employees who are concerned about the implications of not wearing one. Furthermore, you may have younger staff who have not had the opportunity to be fully vaccinated, or vulnerable/extremely vulnerable staff who are concerned about colleagues not wearing face coverings.
The organisation should review its Covid risk assessments in view of the changes. This will help you decide on which controls, such as the continued use of face coverings, might need to be retained. You can then update your policy on face coverings in the workplace and communicate it to all staff, so employees know where they stand. If you decide to make face coverings mandatory in the workplace, remember that some employees may continue to be exempt.
Alternatively, your policy may be that face coverings are no longer required but staff can wear a face covering if they want to, or that face coverings are required only in certain circumstances, such as meetings over a certain size, etc.
Be prepared that you may receive some resistance from whichever group has not achieved their preferred outcome. Employees should be expected to comply with workplace rules set by the employer. However, to manage any such resistance, listen to individual circumstances and explain how these have been taken into account in your risk assessments.
Bear in mind that it is not just in the actual workplace that employees may be concerned; public transport may be a worry to some employees if others are no longer wearing face coverings, especially at peak travel times.
There are various measures that you can consider from a HR and health and safety point of view to help make employees feel more comfortable with the transition to a face covering free workplace.
From 19 July 2021, it will be the employer’s choice whether to require employees to wear face coverings in the workplace or not. This will be a difficult decision for many employers trying to balance the individual circumstances of the workforce.
Whichever route the employer decides to take is likely to meet with some resistance from one group or another. Make sure you listen to employee concerns and redo your workplace coronavirus risk assessment. Review this regularly to ensure your risk control measures are working as expected. Have a clear, reasonable policy and be prepared to justify your approach.
Contact us if you require further information.
