Category Archives: Health and Safety

Preventing fires

• Switch off all electrical equipment at the mains when not in use.
• Use appropriate sealed containers for any flammable liquids, not open tins or buckets.
• Follow the permit-to-work procedures for hot work.
• Ensure you are a safe distance from any possible source of ignition when handling flammable liquids.
• Use non-combustible stands for gas rings, bitumen boilers, soldering irons, etc.

DO NOT:

• Use heating equipment to hang clothing i.e. electric heaters.
• Allow waste material to build up in your working area, especially combustible material such as paper, wood and textiles.
• Smoke in prohibited areas.
• Overload electrical sockets. Extension leads must be fully extended to avoid overheating.

Actions to take if you discover a fire

• Raise the alarm and ensure that the fire brigade is called.
• Close the doors and windows if possible, to prevent the fire from spreading.
• Evacuate the building or area.

If the fire alarm sounds

• Confirm how employees will be alerted to a fire.
• Make sure everyone is aware of the escape route(s).
• Confirm how employees should evacuate the workplace, eg via the stairs, where to find the designated evacuation point, more commonly known as a “muster point”.

Employees must NOT:

• Block, lock or obstruct any fire doors or escape routes.
• Obstruct access to fire extinguishers.
• Obstruct clearly marked signage for fire exits and escape routes.

REMEMBER: Be aware of the surroundings in your workplace and familiarise yourself with the escape routes and emergency procedures. You won’t have time if a fire breaks out.

Questions for employees

• Sprayed insulation coating on steelwork and concrete
• Floor tiles and flooring materials
• Asbestos cement as structural sheets, pipes and tanks
• Ventilation systems
• Old fire blankets
• Lagging on boilers and pipework
• Insulation boards on interior walls, doors or ceilings
• Some ceiling tiles.

Working with asbestos

• Asbestos dust is fine and invisible to the naked eye.
• Most work with asbestos must be undertaken by a licensed contractor.
• Asbestos waste is hazardous and must be disposed of correctly by an authorised waste carrier.
• Stringent precautions are required for any work with asbestos to avoid risks and contamination.

Immediately after an accident

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.

What should you do?

If you are involved in an accident investigation, whether internal or external, you should:

• jot down your memories of where you were and what you were doing at the time of the accident while fresh, to refer to later
• listen carefully to the questions and remain calm
• state honestly what you saw, heard or did in the events leading up to, during and following the accident
• try not to be influenced by what colleagues are saying
• do not be afraid to say when you do not know the answer — guessing will not help anyone and will just delay any investigation
• remember that the reason for the investigation is to learn about what happened to prevent the accident from happening again, it is not to assign blame.

Make sure everyone knows

• Where the first aid kit is kept in the workplace, plus any mobile kits, eyewash stations, defibrillators, etc.
• Who is an appointed first aider and where to find them. If on a construction site they should be easy to identify, eg certain hi-vis jacket or helmet.
• The fact that first aiders may not dispense medication, including paracetamol or ibuprofen.
• Procedures when working in a small group away from the main workplace or when using potentially dangerous tools or machinery, etc.
• Know where to access phones and understand the procedure for calling the emergency services.
• How first aid procedures have changed in view of the pandemic due to COVID.

What to do if someone is ill or injured

• Make sure the area is safe before approaching the injured or ill person.
• Remove any hazard from the vicinity of the casualty, if safe to do so.
• Call for help, eg first aider.
• Send someone to phone for an ambulance if necessary.
• Do not move the casualty unless they are in immediate danger.
• Remain with the casualty and give reassurance.
• Make the casualty as comfortable as possible.
• Do not give drinks or food to the casualty, moisten lips with water only if requested.
• Do not allow the casualty to smoke.

What are the benefits of fit and healthy employees?

There are several important ways that promoting health and fitness in the workplace brings benefits to your business.

1. It reduces absence. Workplace absence is predicted to cost the UK economy a staggering £26 billion by 2030. Fitter employees are much less likely to need time off due to sickness, as a healthy body is much better at fighting off illnesses, and recovers faster should they fall victim.
2. It means better performance. Employees who exercise report more concentration, motivation and energy than those who remain sedentary. Statistics show that exercising can increase work output by as much as 21%.
3. It brings teams together. A shared goal that doesn’t necessarily involve day-to-day working tasks is a great way to foster team cohesion. Whether it’s a weight loss programme, training for a sponsored 5K run or weekly yoga sessions together, you’ll find that people bond quickly over physical effort — and bonded teams are productive teams.

How to promote employee fitness

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.

• Standing desks: these might not seem especially active, and really they’re not, but standing occasionally rather than sitting all day encourages the use of different muscle groups and will help prevent musculoskeletal disorders. Simply moving a little more brings benefits.
• App challenges: some wellness apps allow you to organise teams and issue challenges. Something like the total number of steps by a team in a month, for instance, with the winning team getting recognition and a small prize.
• Charity activities: wherever you are, there are charities organising sponsored runs all the time. Get people signed up to something short like a 5K run — it’ll encourage exercise and camaraderie.
• Be cautious due to COVID.

Make it an employee benefit

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.