There are many types of spill response equipment, but a typical spill kit will include a mobile bin with a lid containing oil- or chemical-absorbent pads, inert absorbent such as granules and plastic bin bags to store the spill.
One way to decide how to stock a spill kit is to carry out a spill risk assessment based on answers to the following questions:
- How much would I spill in a worst-case scenario?
- Who would be expected to clean it?
- How would they go about it?
- What is the potential pollution linkage, including source, pathway and receptor, for the spill?
- What do I need to deal with the spill? For example mop, bucket, dust pan, vacuum cleaner, personal protective equipment, barrier tapes, warning signs, SDS availability/disposal containers.
Could the spill involve special considerations such as confined space working, or a need for breathing apparatus? - Where will a spill kit be most easily accessible?
- How will I maintain the kit?
- What training should I give to employees to use the kit in an effective and safe manner?
- Does my spill response procedure specify the location of the spill kit and how to replenish it.
Learning curve
In some cases, spills may become reportable to the authorities under regulations such as the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 in the UK. Therefore, a formal reporting system for spills is required to record and assist with legal requirements.In case of doubt, it is better to report an incident that looks like it may meet the criteria than not report it at all.
Systematic reporting of spill incidents helps to detect any adverse trends and identify underlying causes. After a serious near-miss or incident, a formal summary of lessons learned is good practice, taking care to keep it simple and accurate and avoid naming individuals.
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It may sound strange, but even in this day and age it is legal for employers to require female employees to wear high heels. TUC footwear guidance states that it is estimated that 80% of adults have a foot or leg problem, such as swelling or varicose veins. Many of these issues can often be attributed to or exacerbated by work activities. Wearing inappropriate footwear can lead to back pain, and could also contribute to an accident, for example, if heavy items are dropped onto poorly-protected toes in a warehouse.
6 Tips to Help Protect Your Workers’ Feet
- Where the risk assessment of a work activity indicates that risks to feet cannot be controlled by other means, then workers will need appropriate safety footwear. Any footwear provided for this reason needs to be done so free of charge, and you must show workers how to wear and look after it correctly.
- Consider all possible hazards to feet in your workplace, including how they could be crushed, run over or caught in machinery. Communicate these hazards and your identified control measures to workers. Consider what footwear is appropriate in specific environments – you might allow flip flops in office settings, but not in the machine shop, for example. Keep floors clean and dry, as this could cause a slip or trip no matter what the footwear might be.
- Investigate ground conditions that could cause problems for feet, for example, nails found on the floor that could puncture the sole. Provide puncture-resistant footwear in this scenario.
- Make sure the safety footwear provided fits properly – there should be ‘wiggle room’ for toes. Give staff a choice and consult with them over options – get feedback on styles to be ordered next time.
- Review your dress code on a regular basis to ensure that staff are not prevented from wearing comfortable shoes – get safety representatives involved to ensure dress codes do not affect staff safety.
- Prevent prolonged standing, as this can cause leg, hip and back pain. Offer options on whether staff sit or stand, adapt the workplace where feasible, and rotate jobs regularly.
Feet need to be comfortable and protected at work – so make sure your footwear policy allows this to happen.
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5 Tips to Ensure Your Workers are Adequately Trained
- Undertake a risk assessment to establish where your training needs lie – you might find that this process identifies hazards which would be best controlled by staff training, either in place of other controls or alongside them. Work out whether the training would be best given on the job (for example, in relation to using machinery), in a classroom (perhaps in relation to theory) or as a mixture of both.
- Keep training records of who has received which training and when – this will help to identify when refresher training is needed.
- Always consider staff training requirements when new work conditions arise or the environment changes – for example, when new equipment is introduced, people change jobs or work is done outside rather than inside.
- Ensure the training is carried out by competent people who understand the nature of the hazards involved. Provide written instructions where necessary for workers to refer back to, for example, for complex procedures.
- Check with staff after the training has been given that they understood it, and that it was suitable for their needs. Use any feedback given to help you plan your next training sessions.
Training is one area that you cannot afford to get wrong – make sure your staff know what health and safety risks can be found in their roles, and how they are supposed to manage those risks to avoid coming to any harm.
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5 Tips to Ensure the Safety of Your Workers during Loading Operations
- Make sure you have completed a thorough risk assessment to identify how and when workers could be hurt. Look at every step of the procedure – from vehicle movements, loading equipment and the loading operation itself to identify where the hazards are.
- Produce a loading plan for every operation, and make sure that the driver of the vehicle knows how the loading operation was performed so that he or she knows how it is to be safely unloaded at the delivery site.
- Always load vehicles on level ground, and secure any ramps to stop them moving. Verify with the manufacturer that ramps can take the weight of the load before using them. Make sure the lorry’s brakes are on, and that stabilisers are used.
- Train workers to use all loading equipment properly – from forklift trucks and vehicles to access ladders and hoists.
- Always make sure that the load is secured properly, otherwise it may shift within the vehicle during transit which could make the vehicle overturn. Pack it properly and use racking, chains or straps (and sheeting if loose contents such as soil could escape).
The heavy equipment often used in loading operations can cause a serious accident or a fatality if not used properly and in a safe manner. Make sure you review your loading procedures to ensure they meet the grade.
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Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, all employers have a duty to protect the health and safety of persons not in their employment, which includes members of the public. It’s vital that companies consider how the public could come to harm within their work environment – be that children at play who may touch things within their reach, or anyone who may be unaware of the work surroundings and associated hazards.
6 Tips to Help Keep Visitors Safe on Your Premises
- Complete a risk assessment to identify anything that could cause harm to someone not familiar with your premises. Walk through your site with a view to looking with a ‘fresh pair of eyes’ – take newer members of staff with you as they too may be able to point things out that perhaps might have been overlooked.
- Think about how visitors could slip or trip on the premises. Check nothing protrudes from your door surrounds that could trip someone, and that steps are not slippery (coat with anti-slip paint if they are). Make sure you have a good housekeeping schedule in place, and that boxes and other items are not left lying around. Check the car park for potholes and repair them.
- Consider how someone could be hurt by a falling item. Check that stored items which visitors can access are placed correctly – use racking that is securely fixed to the wall, and where feasible don’t store things above head height. Regularly check internal partition walls and false walls to ensure they are in good repair.
- Keep your vehicles away from pedestrians by providing segregated walkways inside and outside buildings.
- Prevent anyone being able to fall from height. Fit window restrictors and guard rails on walkways.
- Stop anyone being hurt by electricity. Use socket covers in accessible areas to prevent little fingers entering sockets. Don’t leave any tools lying around – I once found a knife in the milk aisle of a supermarket which an employee had been using to unwrap packaging, and had forgotten to remove.
Make sure that all areas which the public can access are regularly inspected, and that control measures are implemented for any identified hazards.
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