Being struck by a vehicle in the workplace accounts for a large number of serious and fatal injuries each year. Take action today to ensure that your vehicle operations on site are managed properly, and the risks are controlled.
- Identify the risks involved. Think about how someone could be run over, reversed into or hit by moving vehicle parts such as shovels or booms. Implement controls to prevent this happening, such as by improving lighting conditions and training drivers and other workers so they are aware of the operating hazards.
- Reduce reversing operations wherever possible. Introduce one way systems, and ensure vehicles follow the designated routes. Use signage for drivers to direct them the correct way. Define the maximum speed limit you want drivers to adhere to, and include this in inductions and regular briefings.
- Introduce segregated pedestrian walkways and crossings. Use barriers to stop vehicles using them. Ensure workers do not use headphones or mobile phones when walking on site if there is a risk of being run over – these devices will stop them from being aware of their surroundings.
- Introduce aids to enable pedestrians to be seen easily – vehicles should have suitable mirrors and CCTV fitted where appropriate. Workers should wear hi-vis when on site. Fit reversing alarms to vehicles, too.
- If using banksmen, protect these workers by ensuring only trained staff fulfil this job.
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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated an incident, and found that PSL Worldwide Projects Ltd had not completed a suitable risk assessment for the job, and the equipment provided – including the hose – was not suitable for the task. It was also established that the company had failed to provide its workers with the correct personal protective equipment (PPE).
5 Tips to Ensure the Safety of Workers when Using Hazardous Chemicals
- Undertake a thorough risk assessment before using any chemicals to identify potential hazards such as chemical reactions when mixing substances, or the likelihood of spillages or explosions.
- Always consult the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for all substances to find out how the manufacturer or supplier states the substance should be used, stored and moved around safely. Check that you have the most up-to-date MSDS by contacting the manufacturer/supplier, or by looking on their website.
- Train workers in the hazards associated with the chemicals used. Make sure they know what other chemicals another substance could react with – sometimes this might even include water or oxygen in the air.
- Provide suitable controls to protect workers, such as enclosing substances to avoid human contact with chemicals, or by extracting them at source to prevent workers breathing in harmful gases. Make sure that any equipment (such as storage containers or hoses) is made of a suitable material that will not erode or rust.
- Give workers suitable PPE. This should always be the last resort in the hierarchy of controls as it only protects the individual wearer, but it can be an effective control. Make sure PPE fits the wearer (check again if anyone grows or removes a beard) and that they know how to adjust it, clean it and store it properly.
Chemical burns can kill, and can have a lasting effect on those who suffer them. Ensure that your workers are fully trained and protected today.
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- Undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment to establish whether a forklift is the best option for the job, or if an alternative piece of equipment could be used such as a cherry picker. Identify any hazards in the intended route which could cause a forklift to overturn, such as ditches, large pot holes or slopes.
- Produce a method statement which details how the work must be completed to ensure the safety of workers, including the environmental conditions which must be achieved (such as operations being undertaken in suitable weather conditions).
- Ensure only trained workers use forklifts, and that they know how to attach, use and access any man-riding cages properly and distribute the weight of loads correctly.
- Provide operating instructions for workers, which include the need to keep to specified speed limits, and to travel slowly down slopes. Ensure operators always keep their eyes on the direction of travel.
- Never allow a load to be lifted on a forklift which is heavier than the lift truck’s capacity, and do not allow workers to turn a forklift on a slope, nor travel across the slope.
Many workers have died from being thrown from overturning forklifts, or from being crushed under them as they fall. Take action today to ensure this never happens to anyone on your premises.
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The HSE have devised a strategy for 2017. They focus on work-related stress, musculoskeletal disorders and occupational lung disease.
The Health and Work strategy has been developed to enable companies to engage with each other and the regulator itself, by both providing vital information on controlling health risks, and sharing information about best practice and the contributions by industry to improving health within the workplace. You can view and comment on the strategy on the HSE’s website (www.hse.gov.uk).
Worker Health Priority Areas Top Tips
- Occupational Lung Diseases
- Undertake risk assessments to determine where controls need to be implemented to prevent workers from breathing in harmful substances and developing conditions such as asthma or lung cancer.
- Provide effective personal protective equipment, ensure it fits employees properly and workers know how to store it and use it correctly.
- Control dusts and vapours by containment, and by using extraction or ventilation methods to remove them from the workplace.
- Provide health surveillance and monitoring where appropriate.
- Musculoskeletal Disorders
- Develop a thorough risk assessment of all work activities in relation to how workers could sustain a back or limb injury.
- Look at how mechanical aids could be used, such as trolleys and conveyors, to reduce the amount of lifting, pushing and pulling of loads.
- Label weights so that employees know the weight of the load they are moving.
- Provide training for workers on how to avoid musculoskeletal injuries.
- Work-related Stress
- Undertake risk assessments for your organisation to identify the risk factors that could contribute to workers feeling stressed at work, in line with the Management Standards produced by the HSE.
- Implement suitable controls, such as allowing job rotation or developing ways in which workers can have a say in their workload or the way their job is done.
- Develop policies on how change is to be delivered within the workplace, and how workers will be consulted on the process.
It’s estimated that a quarter of all enforcement notices issued by the HSE relate to health issues – take steps to follow the recommended actions now to avoid receiving a notice at your workplace.
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Often, safety issues can end up taking precedence over health issues, but it is imperative that action is taken to ensure both the health and safety of employees – so make sure you identify today where your health risks may lie.
- Do a risk assessment to identify how workers could be affected by manual handling activities, in relation to musculoskeletal disorders (where injury or damage could be caused to the tissue or joints within the back or limbs). Consider whether workers actually need to move loads in the first place, and whether mechanical aids could be used instead.
- Consider the most appropriate aid that could be used, such as a pallet truck, trolley or a conveyor. Ensure that aids are inspected and maintained properly.
- If workers need to move loads by hand, make sure that the loads are as small and light as possible. Reduce the distance that loads need to be carried, and limit awkward movements such as stooping or twisting. Ensure good lighting is available and that routes are kept free from obstructions.
- Give workers effective training – tell them what the risk factors are and how injuries could occur within their tasks. Show them how to use mechanical aids properly and how to lift correctly. Ensure training is tailored to the task.
- Where possible, label loads so that workers can see how heavy items actually are before lifting them. Get them to test loads before moving them to check that they are confident in their ability to move them.
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