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5 Tips to Help Duty Holders Undertake their Health and Safety Responsibilities Effectively

1. Make sure you have a health and safety policy which covers how health and safety risks will be managed and by whom. Include a statement of intent signed by a Director or other senior personnel to show the duty holder’s commitment to managing the risks brought about by the work activities. Include information about how you will access competent advice to enable you to carry out your duties properly.
2. Undertake risk assessments for all of the work activities to identify hazards within the workplace that could harm employees and others. Work out a plan of how to manage these risks and timescales for doing so. Prioritise significant risk controls first.
3. Provide written safe systems of work for employees, which determine how the work should be completed safely. Make sure these state the correct equipment, personal protective equipment and trained personnel needed to do the job correctly.
4. Give employees the training they need to do their work in a safe manner. Make it job specific and tailored to the right people.
5. Ensure effective communication and consultation with employees. Explain the findings of risk assessments and provide regular briefings or toolbox talks. Ask the views of employees – this can sometimes be the best way to find out about the risks found within the workplace.

Serious accidents can occur when duty holders do not know their health and safety responsibilities and if they fail to carry out their duties accordingly. Don’t let this happen in your workplace.

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When properly used, guarding can be an effective control measure that prevents serious injuries and even deaths in the workplace. Take steps today to ensure that your machinery guards are in place, and they work properly.

1. Carry out a risk assessment to establish where dangerous parts of machinery are that could be accessed by workers (this includes all moving parts that could trap, pull in or sever body parts, for example). Fit suitable guards to these areas and ensure they fit properly, with no gaps.
2. When installing guarding, make sure it is fixed securely in place, and that workers are not able to remove it unless the work activity requires it, such as during maintenance. Make sure it is part of the job to always replace guarding when finished.
3. Develop a checking system to ensure that guarding is in a good condition, and it is secured in place properly. Check that bolts and screws are not worn, and the guard itself has not rusted or become weakened in places.
4. Train workers in how to use guards properly, and how to replace them correctly. If putting guards back on is complex, provide written step-by-step instructions for workers to refer to and supervise them doing it. Explain to workers why guarding is used in the first place, and the dangers of removing it without permission.
5. Use signage near machinery as a visual prompt, warning workers not to interfere with guards.

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The benefits of taking health and safety seriously at board level include increased productivity, reduced risks and accidents and lower employee absenteeism. Make sure your company practises good health and safety management, which comes from the board down.

Tips to Help Directors Fulfil Their H&S Duties Effectively

1. Always lead from the top. Ensure there is active board-level commitment to ensuring effective health and safety management within the company. Put health and safety on the agenda for board meetings, and regularly participate in inspections and walk arounds to demonstrate your involvement.
2. Think about health and safety in relation to the business decisions made – it shouldn’t be an afterthought. Make it part of the tender process for all contracts.
3. Provide suitable and targeted training for all employees to enable them to do their jobs safely.
4. Seek competent health and safety advice, whether that be external or from within the company.
5. Monitor, review and audit your company’s health and safety performance regularly. Facilitate the setting up of a health and safety committee if your company doesn’t have one, and ensure the significant risks identified within the business are fed back to director level and acted upon.
6. Actively plan your health and safety management system – ensure that suitable and sufficient policies, procedures and risk assessments exist. Provide resources (both personnel and time) for those with health and safety responsibilities to undertake their roles properly.

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Many accidents occur each year, such as finger amputations and lacerations, when staff work unsafely on band saws and similar equipment with moving blades. Take action today to prevent an incident like the one above happening in your workplace.

1. Undertake a risk assessment to establish the risks involved in the use of band saws. Consider how someone could be hurt – by being cut, for example – and the best controls needed to remove or reduce the risk.
2. Always use the necessary guards. Use the right combination of both adjustable and fixed guards on blades and pulleys, and interlocked doors where possible.
3. Verify that the equipment is the most suitable item to cut the intended material. Make sure blade teeth are sharp, and that the blade type and width is suitable for the material.
4. Use push sticks or an automated feed system to keep hands away from the blade. Use a fence when undertaking straight cutting of work pieces.
5. Train workers on how to use the equipment, including setting it up, cleaning it and changing the blades. Teach them not to force materials through, as this could lead to workers losing their balance, or losing control of the work piece.
6. Provide adequate supervision for all workers to ensure they are following safe working procedures.
7. Ensure that the controls work properly. Make sure emergency stop buttons are large, and that they are located in suitable, accessible positions. Use hold-to-run buttons wherever possible.
8. Position the band saw correctly, for example, in a place where the operator has their back to a wall. This should help prevent accidents as a result of the operator being pushed forwards or knocked into by a person or workplace vehicle.

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Statistics from the HSE show that 25-30% of manufacturing fatalities in Great Britain relate to maintenance activities. Take steps today to protect your workers by ensuring that your machinery maintenance risks are identified and effectively managed.

Tips for Safe Machine Maintenance

1. Undertake a risk assessment to find out what risks are involved to workers performing maintenance tasks, such as how they could be pulled into machines or fall from the top of machines. Identify the key control measures needed, such as training for workers and guarding of moving machinery parts.
2. Make sure you know everything you can about your machines so you can plan for things that could go wrong, and find out about different run modes. Read the manuals before putting any new machine into action.
3. Develop safe working procedures for both preventative and reactive maintenance, as the circumstances under which workers perform these tasks are likely to be different. Remember that reactive maintenance can occur under pressure, such as when machines have a fault, and staff need clear instructions on how to proceed safely.
4. Establish the correct equipment needed for maintenance tasks, such as fixed ladders to prevent access equipment moving during use, and fall restraints if access at height is required.
5. Train workers to isolate and lock off machinery before attempting maintenance activities. Give each worker involved in the operation their own locking off padlock. Ensure any stored pneumatic or hydraulic energy is released before work starts.
6. Use signage to tell other workers in the area that maintenance is being undertaken. Don’t let anyone else try to start up a machine whilst this is being done – remove all keys and isolate as detailed above.

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