THE BLOG WHAT'S NEW?

Planning Work Activities: 5 Important Tips

1. Carry out a risk assessment for every activity, with a view to finding where the hazards are and working out a way to remove them or limit the possibility of them causing harm.
2. Make sure everyone involved in the work activity understands their role, and the safe system of work that applies. Remember that sometimes you may need to state the obvious – what you may know or understand can differ from others, particularly those new to the job or the work environment.
3. Confirm before work starts that the work equipment to be used is the most appropriate. For example, your risk assessment might state that a work platform needs to be used due to the length of the job, so in this scenario no one should be using a ladder instead.
4. Ensure that you plan ahead so that workers wear suitable personal protective equipment (PPE) as required by the job, and use the right tools. Too often I hear someone say that they used a certain tool ‘just because it was there’, and not because it was the best tool to do that particular task safely.
5. Keep an eye out for complacency. It’s human nature for people to switch off sometimes if they are very familiar with a job – yet problems can then arise when factors within that job change. Train workers to look for new hazards, and introduce toolbox talks on new and old subjects to keep the focus on health and safety.

Sometimes, it only takes a split second for someone to make the wrong decision. As an employer, it’s vital to plan ahead to try to control the likelihood of an accident occurring – make sure you review your systems to ensure they are fit for purpose.

Contact us if you require further advice.

Falls from ladders are common across all industries, and they can have devastating effects on the lives of those that are injured. Serious injuries have even occurred when workers have fallen from the bottom rungs of a ladder – make sure you take steps today to check your ladders and train workers to use them properly.

5 Top Tips to Ensure Safe Ladder Use

1. Make sure your risk assessments for work at height activities cover the use of ladders, and whether they are the most suitable item to use to access places at height. Ladders can be a good option for low-risk, short duration work of roughly 30 minutes.
2. Where possible, attach leaning ladders to items being accessed to prevent them from slipping, or have them be footed by another person. Ladders should be of a suitable height – not too long and not too short for the area being accessed.
3. Label ladders so that you can keep an inventory of those that you own to ensure they are regularly checked. Every three to four months is a good baseline.
4. Train workers in the correct method of using a ladder, and ensure they maintain three points of contact at all times. Teach them to check the ground environment first – this should be flat and free from contaminants like water or oil.
5. Ensure that workers undertake a pre-use check of the ladder before they use it, looking for any defects in the stiles or rungs, and checking that the platform and feet are in a good condition.

Contact us should you require support.

It’s possible that Harrison Ford could have been killed when a hydraulic door from the Millennium Falcon landed on the actor on the set of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) established that Mr Ford had walked through a door on the set of the Millennium Falcon, pressing a button as he did so as he thought the set was not yet live. As he then walked back through the door – the drive system of which was comparable to the weight of a small car – it closed on him, pinning him to the ground. If an emergency stop button had not been activated by another person, the injuries sustained could have been much worse.

5 Tips to Ensure You Communicate H&S Risks Effectively

1. Undertake a detailed risk assessment of all of your work processes, to identify where your obvious (and hidden) risks are, and establish the necessary controls needed to mitigate the risks.
2. Create a comprehensive induction procedure which covers the findings of your risk assessments and the key elements of your policies and procedures.
3. Make sure you have a clear process in place to communicate existing (and new) risks to staff and contractors. Undertake daily briefings when risks are regularly changing, such as on busy construction sites, and utilise bulletin/message boards within mess rooms or similar areas. Make it one person’s job to co-ordinate the cascading of information throughout the company.
4. When giving out vital health and safety information, ask those receiving it to sign to say they have both received and understood it – this way you can also be sure you have captured everyone that needs to be briefed.
5. Provide written working instructions and safe systems of work for all to follow, and where necessary, put up signs and warning notices as a visual aid, for example, for areas which should not be accessed or equipment that should not be touched.

As this case highlights, it is so important that you identify the risks within your premises and ensure that everyone on site – be they staff, contactor or visitor – knows what and where these hazards are, and how you are managing them.

May the force be with you!

Contact us if you require further information.

Hundreds of accidents happen each year because machines are not properly guarded. Some people escape with dislocations or amputations – others aren’t so lucky. Take time today to make sure that all of the machinery on your premises is properly guarded.

5 Top Tips Protect Staff Working with Machinery

1. Make sure all machines have been thoroughly risk assessed to identify any potential for people to become trapped, caught or entangled within them, and the necessary controls to prevent this from happening.
2. Ensure that all parts of machines are properly guarded. Fixed guarding is best, as this is much harder for workers to defeat or adapt. Regularly check that guarding is in place, and that it is in a good condition – put machines out of action until broken or removed guards have been replaced.
3. Develop safe systems of work and communicate these to your employees. Provide adequate levels of supervision to all workers, especially those that may be new to the job and unsure of the dangers.
4. Give training to your employees on the safe use of machines. Make sure they know not to put their hands in to move a blockage, and that they must always turn off machinery at the mains before undertaking maintenance or blockage clearing. Have a policy of keeping the machine key on the operator working on it, to ensure that no one else can turn it on by mistake.
5. Investigate all accidents and near misses to help identify where your controls might have failed. Record your findings, and the action you have taken to prevent an accident in the future.

Contact us if you require more information.

The HSE conducted an investigation at a company and found that it had not had some of its lifting equipment thoroughly examined within the necessary timescale specified in the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER). This requirement is there to ensure that equipment is safe to use, and that any deterioration can be identified to prevent possible failures during use. The company had 14 items that were overdue a thorough examination, and even though the HSE served an Improvement Notice – and extended the notice twice to give the company more time – the company still failed to carry out this important duty.

5 Top Tips to Ensure Your Lifting Equipment is Safe

1. Carry out a risk assessment to identify the hazards involved in your lifting operations, and ensure that the lifting equipment you choose is right for the job. Teach workers how to do pre-use checks to ensure the equipment is in a good condition before they start.
2. Always ensure that a thorough examination by a competent person is undertaken at the right intervals. Unless otherwise stated, this is every six months for all lifting accessories and for lifting equipment and associated accessories used to lift people, and every 12 months for all other lifting equipment.
3. Ensure that your lifting equipment, and accessories such as slings and chains, are clearly marked with the safe working load (SWL) and that this is never exceeded. Never let anyone be lifted by equipment which is not suitable for carrying persons.
4. Keep a written record of your scheme of maintenance and user checks. Records must be kept for all thorough examinations and any defects found must be reported to both the person responsible for the equipment and the relevant enforcing authority, such as the HSE or local authority.
5. Properly investigate all incidents and near misses involving lifting equipment to identify any maintenance issues or defects. Never use an item which has a defect until this has been remedied and the item has been put back into service.

Fatalities and serious injuries can occur when lifting equipment fails, often resulting in workers being crushed or pinned by falling heavy items. Make sure you take steps today to ensure that your lifting equipment is safe to use.

Contact us should you require assistance.