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When skin comes into contact with certain substances at work, this can cause occupational dermatitis, the most common forms of which are irritant contact dermatitis and allergic dermatitis. The result is damage to skin cells, swelling, flaking, cracking and blistering or a rash.

7 Top Tips for Preventing Dermatitis at Work

1. Begin by establishing whether you use any of the following in your workplace: soaps and detergents; antiseptics; perfumes and preservatives in toiletries or cosmetics; solvents; cement; acids and alkalis; powders, dust and soil; flour; oils used in machinery; and disinfectants. All of these products have the potential to cause dermatitis. Similarly, if a job involves a lot of wet work, e.g. hairdressing, this activity may also give rise to skin problems.
2. Identify all the skin irritants and sensitisers in use in the workplace and assess each for risk. Introduce effective control measures by substituting these products with agents which have a lower level of reactivity.
3. Train staff on the causes and symptoms of occupational dermatitis and other skin conditions, including skin hygiene and self-examination, the correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and your reporting procedures.
4. Encourage staff to report any symptoms and prevent further exposure whilst the cause is fully investigated. If you do not have an Occupational Health Department, referral to a dermatologist may be appropriate. If the health specialist or dermatologist confirms that the employee is suffering from occupational dermatitis, you must report it to your enforcing authority under RIDDOR 2013.
5. Provide barrier creams and appropriate PPE.
6. Ensure you provide regular health surveillance for employees who are likely to be exposed to any agent which may give rise to occupational dermatitis and keep health records of the individuals concerned.
7. Review your risk assessment and management strategy regularly and always following incidents.

Work-related dermatitis is very common and criminal or civil claims may be expensive, particularly if the affected employee can no longer work in the vicinity of the irritant. Make sure you manage the risk effectively.

Contact us should you require assistance.

From the minutes of safety committee meetings and details of an accident sustained at work through to compliance documentation, record keeping is an intrinsic part of the management of health and safety. Although record keeping can often be burdensome and complex, the benefits of a good system of record keeping outweigh the disadvantages of not having one.

Why records need to be kept

There are a number of reasons why record keeping is an essential part of good health and safety management.

To maintain legal compliance, a variety of documents are required to be kept, e.g.; accident and incident reports. As a minimum, details of all workplace injuries must be recorded in the Accident Book (Form B1510), as required by the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979 and kept for at least three years from the date of an entry.

In the event of more serious accidents and injuries, there are reporting requirements under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. Accident records can also be called upon as evidence against prosecutions or claims for compensation.

Additionally, requirements extend to the need to keep risk assessments on file under most modern health and safety legislation. The general duty to carry out risk assessments is documented in regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and specific legislations also cite the need for risk assessment, e.g.; the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2012, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Statutory requirements also dictate the length of time records should be kept. One specific example of this is health records and health surveillance records: under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, health surveillance records must be kept for 40 years.

Health and safety record management should form part of an organisation’s everyday activities but is often a job that is neglected. The range of documents to be stored electronically may vary from one organisation to another and is also dependent on level of risk – legal duty is more extensive for high risk industries.

What are the pros and cons of keeping information stored electronically?

Benefits

• Improved compliance: systems can alert users when documents are due for renewal
• Improved staff efficiency: cuts out the time wasted in searching for information
• Better audits: documents can be found and accessed with ease. Record entries can be traced by time, date, named creator or editor
• Ease of organisation: records can be stored alphabetically, chronologically or by compliance area
• Ease of retrieval: documents can be located from a number of sites and devices, at any time
• Trend analysis: some systems give the opportunity to run reports and look at trends.
• Reduction of hardcopy records: more space saved in buildings and savings in off-site archiving costs.

Drawbacks

• Price: the implementation and maintenance of a records system can be costly
• Training: staff must be trained in how to use the system and must also receive refresher training when systems are updated: there are obvious costs attached to this
• Security: information can be compromised and privacy can be breached, e.g.; if your network is hacked
• Obsolescence: technological advances can mean that a system may become obsolete quickly
• Superusers: problems ensue when only one or a small group of individuals know how to retrieve data and this knowledge is lost when they leave an organisation
• Downtime: the system may be interrupted by downtime of servers or the corruption of IT systems.

Data protection

Record management systems need to meet the requirements set out under the Public Records Act 1958, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Legislation requires an organisation to store and process records in a particular fashion and there are key obligations placed on an organisation regarding confidentiality, security and data sharing.

With the rise of mobile working and the need for information on the go, more and more people are using smartphones and tablets to access electronic data and in-house records. Such devices present added concerns when it comes to the security of electronic data – they can be lost, misplaced, stolen and hacked into. Data can be protected in a variety of ways to ensure that all formats: desktop or virtual cloud-based systems, an online or data management system or information accessible on hand-held devices can be password protected and files can be encrypted to prevent making them easily accessible, should systems be compromised.

Contact us should you need further information.

Training is an important part of an employee’s development in the workplace. It is important that employees know the companies procedures and are aware of what to do should there be an emergency.

Article 21 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 states:

21 (1) The responsible person must ensure that the employees are provided with adequate safety training –

(a)at the time when they are first employed; and

(b)on their being exposed to new or increased risks because of—

(i)their being transferred or given a change of responsibilities within the responsible person’s undertaking;

(ii)the introduction of new work equipment into, or a change respecting work equipment already in use within, the responsible person’s undertaking;

(iii)the introduction of new technology into the responsible person’s undertaking; or

(iv)the introduction of a new system of work into, or a change respecting a system of work already in use within, the responsible person’s undertaking.

(2) The training referred to in paragraph (1) must—

(a)include suitable and sufficient instruction and training on the appropriate precautions and actions to be taken by the employee in order to safeguard himself and other relevant persons on the premises;

(b)be repeated periodically where appropriate;

(c)be adapted to take account of any new or changed risks to the safety of the employees concerned;

(d)be provided in a manner appropriate to the risk identified by the risk assessment; and

(e)take place during working hours.

If you require fire training, please contact us for a quotation.

Walker Health and Safety Services

1. Identify each ladder you own for checking and inspection purposes. Number each ladder and keep a record of it. As a minimum, the record should identify the ladder, give the date of the inspection and the name of the person carrying out the inspection, along with their signature.
2. Decide how often you wish to formally inspect your ladders, e.g. three-monthly or six-monthly. Note that this formal checking is in addition to your pre-user checks.
3. For general ladders, look for: loose steps or rungs; loose nails, screws, bolts or other metal parts; cracked, split or broken uprights and damaged or worn non-slip bases.
4. For extension ladders, look for: loose, broken or missing extension locks; defective locks that do not seal properly when the ladder is extended and deterioration due to exposure to weather.
5. For trestle ladders, look for: loose hinges; loose or bent hinge spreaders; broken stop on hinge spreaders; the centre section guide for extension being out of alignment and the ladder being wobbly.
6. For stepladders, these should not be wobbly, have loose or bent hinge spreaders, broken, split or worn steps, or loose hinges.
7. Ladders which have been modified, painted or shortened should be removed from use.
8. Defective ladders, including those with corrosion and dents, must be removed from use and marked to ensure further use is prohibited. Repair work should only be carried out by a competent person.

A blatant disregard of ladder checks will highly increase the chances of fatal falls, prosecution and hefty fines. Make sure you carry out these vital checks.

Contact us if you require assistance.

Each year, 40% of all accidents reported to the HSE are attributed to slips, trips and falls and cost employers around £512 million in lost production. They are also responsible for 50% of all reported injuries to members of the public in workplaces. This short guide gives tips on how to reduce these statistics and what you can do to prevent slips and trips in your workplace.

There are many factors that contribute to slips, trips and falls in your workplace, according to the HSE…

1. Unsuitable floor surfaces
2. Wet/contaminated floors
3. Unsuitable footwear
4. Poor lighting
5. Obstructions in walkway
6. Uneven surfaces

To tackle these risks employers should focus on :

Contamination (e.g. Oil and dust)

Contamination can occur through spills, leaks or from cleaning activities (e.g. wet floors). You can look at ways to reduce the risk by reviewing current work practices and putting measures in place to ensure access to these areas are restricted.

If it is not possible to avoid contamination, other factors could be altered – for instance the type of flooring, cleaning method/routine or type of footwear worn.

Flooring

The floor in a workplace should be suitable for the type of work activity taking place on it. If a floor is slippery, the causes should be assessed – for example, does the floor need to be chemically treated? Are appropriate cleaning materials and methods being used?

Footwear

HSE says that choosing the right slip-resistant footwear for workers can be tricky and the final choice may have to be a compromise based on a range of factors – e.g. durability, comfort and other safety features. It advises seeking the supplier’s advice, asking for trial pairs to try and ensuring any trial involves a representative sample of the workforce and lasts long enough to produce meaningful results. 

Environment

This could include: lighting (could create glare on a shiny floor or inadequate lighting could stop people seeing hazards); noise, which could distract people from hazards; weather (rainwater, ice, snow, frost); humidity; and condensation.

Human factors

How people act and behave in their work environment – for instance, dealing with spillages, rushing around, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and so on.

Housekeeping

There should be no trailing wires or other obstructions, an effective cleaning regime and adequate storage facilities and rubbish bins to avoid trips.

Design and maintenance

Employers need to ensure that flooring is fitted correctly and properly maintained and that walkways are located correctly, available for use, wide enough and level. Stairs should be suitable, with usable handrails available and risers consistent. Markings can be used to indicate changes in level.

Should you require further information, please contact us.