How would you react in an emergency? Would you feel confident carrying out first aid or possibly using a defibrillator?
Every year in the UK, thousands of people die or are seriously injured in accidents. Many of these deaths could be prevented if first aid is given before emergency services arrive. What would you do?
If someone is injured in an accident at work or in everyday life:
- First check that you and the casualty are not in any danger. If you are, make the situation safe.
- When it’s safe to do so, dial 999 or 112 for an ambulance, if necessary.
- Carry out basic first aid if you know how.
- If a person is unconscious but is breathing and has no other life-threatening conditions, they should be placed in the recovery position until help arrives.
- If a person is not breathing normally after an incident, call for an ambulance and then, if you can, start CPR straight away. Use hands-only CPR if you are not trained to perform rescue breaths.
Would you like to know how to deal with the following in an emergency:-
- Poisoning
- Stroke
- Fractures
- Drowning
- Bleeding
- Anaphylaxis (or anaphylactic shock)
- Heart attack
- Burns and scalds
- Choking
- Electricity
There is currently no legal obligation to ensure an AED is available in the workplace. Without common law making units mandatory, workplaces may feel reluctant to invest in an AED. However, there is good reason to consider a purchase if you have not already. Typically these units retail for around £1000, depending on the make, manufacturer and accessories included. If you have multiple workplace sites this can be a significant cost.
But you can’t put a price on a life.
If you would like to learn the basics or train to a higher standard in first aid, contact us.
Top 10 Higher Risk Activities
The HSE has issued a list of specific activities in defined sectors, recognised as being potentially higher risk. These are:
- Legionella infection in premises with cooling towers.
- Explosion caused by leaking Liquefied petroleum gas in premises with buried metal pipework.
- E. coli/Cryptosporidium infection at open farms.
- Fatalities or injuries from being struck by vehicles in warehouses and motor vehicle repair centres.
- Falls from height, including fatalities, or injuries, in industrial and retail premises.
- Amputation and crushing injuries in industrial and retail wholesale premises and timber merchants.
- Industrial diseases, including deafness and asthma in motor vehicle repair and industrial and retail premises.
- Crowd control and injuries, or fatalities, to the public at large-scale public events.
- Carbon monoxide poisoning in commercial catering premises.
- Violence at work in premises which have vulnerable working conditions, e.g. lone and night working.
** Some of the subjects will not be applicable to your business.
The HSE has advised LA Inspectors that proactive inspection should be used only for the activities on this list or where there is intelligence that risks are not being effectively managed. The Inspector must explain to you why you are being inspected and if you operate in a low-risk sector and have been unreasonably subject to a proactive health and safety inspection, contact us.
Across Great Britain, the HSE secured a total of 636 convictions, giving a conviction rate of 94%. Local authorities prosecuted 191 offences and secured 184 convictions – a rate of 96%. The HSE’s emphasis is on prevention but they will come down hard on employers who flout the law. Do you know what should you be doing to avoid this happening to you?
10 Top Tips for Health and Safety Success
- Lead by example – demonstrate your commitment and provide direction to let everyone know health and safety is important.
- Write a policy which includes the health and safety responsibilities of all personnel within the organisation and the arrangements for implementing and monitoring it. To make your policy effective, you need to get your staff involved and committed. This contributes towards a positive health and safety culture.
- Make sure your workplace hazards have been identified and the risks have been assessed, eliminated or controlled. Provide information on hazards and risks to your employees and contractors working on your premises.
- Assess the skills that your employees need to carry out their work safely and ensure that all employees – including managers, supervisors and temporary or agency staff – have received the necessary training.
- Ensure that managers and supervisors understand their responsibilities and have the time and resources to carry them out.
- Arrange to have access to competent health and safety advice – you need to know if you are complying with health and safety laws that affect your business. A good adviser will give you practical solutions to health and safety ‘challenges’.
- Set health and safety objectives, where everyone knows what they must do and how they will be held accountable.
- Co-ordinate and co-operate with contractors who work on your premises.
- Measure your health and safety performance by means of regular inspection and checking to ensure your standards are being implemented and management controls are working. You can monitor reactively – by learning from your mistakes – when they have resulted in injuries, illness, damage to property or near misses.
- Monitor and review your performance by carrying out audits to see if your policy, organisation and systems are achieving the right results. Combine the results from measuring performance with information from audits to improve your health and safety management.
It is predicted that more employers will fall foul of the Regulator in 2015 – make sure you’re not one of them.
Contact us if you would like further advice.
It’s that time of year again when friends and family think about the Christmases of the past and plan for the coming holiday with their loved ones in mind. As we reflect on this wonderful holiday, we must keep in mind that Christmas is not just any holiday but may be the most important one of the year for some people.
It is a time for remembering, a time to share the goodness of your heart with others, and for expressing with words and gifts what someone means to you. It is a chance to make wishes come true and to give something from your heart. It is a chance to give a message that will express love and caring to the ones we care about the most. As you write your messages, take the time to make a Christmas wish for each and every person on your list.
Walker Health and Safety Services wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year!
(Instead of purchasing Christmas Cards, we have donated to the Telford Food Bank.)
Organising the Christmas party can often be a headache, rather than a celebration. You need to be aware of potential risks such as sexual harassment, religious discrimination, alcohol-fuelled fights and post-party absenteeism. But by taking simple steps to ensure you protect your employees’ wellbeing, you can avoid the potential for costly litigation should things go wrong.
7 Tips for Managing the Office Party
- If you choose to hold the event externally, choose somewhere that is safe and is easy to access for your employees. Ask to reserve a dedicated area that will remain under your control throughout the event.
- Remind everyone of your policies, so that people know the company rules apply outside the office too. When it comes to social networking and uploading photographs, ensure your policy on email and internet usage extends to work-related events.
- As an employer, you could be held responsible for an employee driving home after an office party, so look at how employees will get home. Prior to the event, you can issue advice about not drinking and driving and remind employees to organise their trip home. You could also provide them with the numbers of local taxi firms. Advise staff that they should drink in moderation. Consider using a ticketing system to limit the free alcohol and provide non-alcoholic drinks for young workers and the teetotal, and to curb excess drinking.
- Be clear about your expectations regarding absence from work the morning after. Staff should know the extent to which you will be lenient about coming to work late.
- Ask employees about any dietary requirements, e.g. allergies, vegetarian or diabetic, so that these can be catered for.
- Keep fresh party food in the fridge, e.g. meats, trifles, cheese and do not leave them out at room temperature for more than 4 hours, otherwise, they can make people ill.
- Make clear what is and what is not acceptable behaviour and inform staff of the procedures and consequences should their behaviour be unacceptable. Ask some senior members of staff to be alcohol free so that they can deal with any unacceptable behaviour that arises.
Planning health and safety before the event will help things run smoothly, so remember to relax and enjoy the festivities!
