THE BLOG WHAT'S NEW?

There is a legal obligation to carry out a legionella risk assessment of the water services in any work place or business connected premise! If you choose not to follow the HSE’s ACOP, and you do not carry out a legionella risk assessment to cover the water services in your work place then you may be exposed to risk of litigation and potential prosecution should a situation occur in your building or office space. If you would like to book your Legionella risk assessment, contact us.

The Health and Safety Executive is the Enforcing Body, who will undertake any prosecution under the relevant legislation with regards to legionella infection.

Whether you have a rented, serviced, or managed office there is still a legal obligation upon you as the employer to protect your employees!

Legionellosis is a very old disease, but the first recognised and documented cases were in America in July 1976. It got the name Legionnaires’ Disease from the people who first contracted it – a group of American legionnaires. Doctors and scientists originally believed the illness was an outbreak of severe pneumonia. Legionellosis is a term for any disease caused by Legionella bacteria. This includes Legionnaires’ disease, which is the most serious of these illnesses and can be fatal. There are other forms of the disease which have similar symptoms but are less serious.

Legionnaires’ disease is NOT transmitted from person to person. It cannot be acquired by drinking infected water. It can only be acquired by inhaling droplets which allow the bacteria to reach the lungs directly.

The legionella’s risk assessment identifies the pipework and individual assets – such as water tanks, showers and taps – that make up the water system and evaluate the risks associated with each element. The risk assessments are reviewed at least every two years, unless there has been a change to the system or in management/responsible person.

Duties relating to the regulations below extend to cover the risk from legionella which may arise from work activities!

• The Notification of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations (1992)
• The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations or RIDDOR (2013)
• The Health & Safety at Work Act (1974)
• The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (2002)
• The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations (1977)
• The Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations (1996)

There are further pieces of technical guidance and support documentation, although not all may apply to your business. These include:

• Approved Code of Practice L8 (Fourth Edition)
• Health Technical Memoranda 04-01 (Part A, B C & Supplement D 08)
• Health & Safety Guidance 274 (Part 1, 2 & 3)

Legionnaires’ disease tends to affect:

• Men more frequently than women
• Middle-aged or the elderly more than younger people
• People who are already ill, particularly with chest or respiratory diseases, or kidney disease
• Smokers and heavy drinkers

For further information or to book your Legionella risk assessment, contact us.

Each year, two or three children alone die after gaining access to construction sites when they shouldn’t have been able to enter them in the first place. Take action today to ensure that your premises are secure.

6 Tips to Help Ensure Safe Construction Sites and Premises

1. Walk the perimeter of your site and work out how someone could get in, for example, by jumping over a fence or hedge, or by squeezing through any gaps or holes. Ensure that you have a continuous perimeter fence in place, which marks out a clear boundary from adjoining land. It depends on the type of site but, typically, a perimeter fence for a construction site would need to be 2 metres high, and consist of mesh fence or boarding.
2. Put up adequate signage which warns members of the public about the dangers of the site, and informs them they are not to enter or access the site for any reason.
3. Remove all keys from workplace vehicles and machinery when the site is closed. Lock away all tools and hazardous substances.
4. Prevent any items from falling outside of the site boundary, such as tools or building supplies. Use toe boards and nets on scaffolding to prevent this.
5. Remove any ladders and access equipment from plain sight when the site is closed. Secure them somewhere safely so they cannot be moved or stolen.
6. Prevent access to excavations and pits by covering them and putting barriers around them.

Contact us if you require assistance.

Risk assessment forms the basis of good health and safety management in the workplace. Make sure you take the time to ensure that your assessments are effective and that the necessary measures are taken to protect your employees and any others on the premises.

Tips to Consider When Undertaking Risk Assessments:

1. When starting to do a risk assessment, first identify the hazards involved in the work. Walk around and look at how anyone could be injured or harmed by machinery, vehicles, the local environmental factors or hazardous substances, for example. Record your findings (unless you have fewer than five employees).
2. Identify who and what could be harmed, in terms of employees, contractors, members of the public and visitors. Consider those with special requirements such as young workers and new and expectant mothers.
3. Work out the risk in terms of how likely it is that the identified harm will occur. This will help to prioritise the actions needed to be taken to prevent an accident or ill health occurring.
4. Determine the actions you need to take to remove or at least reduce the hazards identified. This might include providing safety equipment, installing barriers or changing the system of work, for example.
5. Monitor your controls to ensure they are suitable and sufficient, and that they do the job they are intended to do – for example, check that guarding is working properly. Check that all identified actions have been taken, and ensure that the timeline for implementation is adhered to. Review your assessments regularly, and update them as necessary if things should change.

Contact us should you require assistance.

If you have ever had the pleasure of the HSE visiting you and leaving saying great job, well done!

The Health and Safety Executive or Local Authority can visit and leave an improvement notice or a prohibition notice.

The HSE or LA may issue an improvement notice if they believe you’re breaking health and safety law. This will usually be where the law is being broken in a relatively serious way, or in a way that poses a risk to people.

Health and safety prohibition notices. If inspectors believe that your work activities give rise to a risk of serious personal injury, they may issue you with a prohibition notice. The prohibition notice normally requires you to stop that activity immediately.

Remember to always comply with the requirements of a notice, and ask for clarification on any matters that you are unsure of – otherwise you could find yourself in court and in receipt of a large fine.

Tips to Ensure Compliance with Improvement and Prohibition Notices

1. Check that the notice has been served on the correct legal entity – for example you might be a partnership or limited company – to avoid any confusion or future legal complications.
2. Remember that any non-compliance will be noted by the HSE. An Inspector may refer to the same issue on any future visit, therefore, it’s important to take the correct action straight away. Failure to comply with a notice often leads to prosecution.
3. Do contact the Inspector who issued you the notice if you think you may have difficulty in complying with its requirements. In certain circumstances, they may be able to offer you a time extension. An Inspector will usually ask for proof of action taken – even if they don’t pay a visit – so be sure to keep a written record of what you have done, and any related purchase receipts and service records, for example.
4. There is often a schedule attached to the notice – make sure you read this as it will give clear directions on how best to achieve compliance.
5. Give clear responsibility for ensuring compliance with the notice to a senior member of staff, to ensure that the necessary personnel and funds can be put forward to enable the necessary action to take place.

Contact us if you require assistance.

Tips to Ensure a Safe Environment for Contractors and Others Affected by Joint Work Activities

1. Undertake a joint risk assessment with all parties involved in the work and make it site specific. Look at environmental factors such as ground conditions, utility cables that are present, and any other hazards that could cause a problem. Agree on the necessary controls to be implemented – it’s a good idea to write down who will be responsible for doing what.

2. Only allow trained workers to undertake the work activity – ask for proof of this from any contractors you take on.

3. Ensure effective sharing of information between all parties, such as how the work will be undertaken safely and who can be contacted in the event of an emergency.

4. Verify before work starts that the correct machinery, work equipment and safety equipment will be used. Check that appropriate signage has been put up in public areas to warn others of the work to be undertaken.

5. If working in or near public areas, ensure all parties clear up after the work finishes and take all equipment and rubbish away. Do a final sweep of the area to ensure this has happened.

Remember – contractors need to take steps to ensure that their work activities do not affect the safety or health of any other persons, including neighbouring companies or members of the public.

Contact us if you require assistance.