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Health and Safety Enforcements and what to look out for

risk-assessment

Health and Safety Enforcements and what to look out for

If you’re found to be in material breach of Health and Safety law, you will have to pay for the time it takes the inspector to identify the breach and subsequently advise what you need to do to put things right. This includes investigating the issues themselves and taking any enforcement actions.

There are several key areas we’ve discovered are becoming more popular for the HSE to focus on. So, in addition to making sure your risk assessments are in place and up to date, here are some of the most common ones, and the most important checks you can make to make sure that you’re covered should an inspector turn up at your door.

CoSHH and occupational hygiene

Have appropriate COSHH assessments been completed for substances in use in your business?

If you’re welding, do you know the makeup of the fume and required control measures?

If welding is undertaken, can the fume be controlled at source via the use of on-tool extraction? Is Local Exhaust Ventilation a suitable alternative?

If you use metalworking fluids, have you assessed the risks to workers of long term exposure and  inhalation? Do you have bacterial testing measures in place with records kept?

Has appropriate training, instruction and supervision been given to employees about hazardous  substances within the workplace (consider cutting fluid, wood dust and welding fume) themselves? Have you communicated the risk / CoSHH assessment findings?

Has air/exposure monitoring been undertaken and recorded to ascertain suitable controls are in place?

Is Respiratory Protective Equipment required, if so what type?

Is a minimum assigned protection factor required?

Has face-fit testing been completed? (using a Fit2Fit accredited tester)

Has a DSEAR assessment been undertaken if required?

Can the dangerous substances identified be substituted for a less hazardous alternative, the quantity reduced, or the work process changed to reduce the risk?

Are measures in place to reduce employees exposed to effects of dangerous substance?

Do drivers have required training and licensing to drive the vehicle?

Is an appropriate evacuation and emergency procedure in place?

Noise and vibration

Have noise risk assessments been undertaken for the workplace and hearing protection zones / control measures implemented?

Have Hand Arm Vibration (HAV) and Whole Body Vibration (WBV) assessments been undertaken for the workplace and control measures implemented?

Is health surveillance in place where required for: Hazardous Substances, Noise and Vibration?

Machine maintenance and guarding

Has the task been risk assessed and a safe system of work developed?

Are all respective guards or interlocks in place? Have you inspected these prior to use?

Has the operational manual been reviewed to consider requirements for maintenance?

Have the operators and engineers been appropriately trained in process and maintenance  requirements?

Is there a lock-out, tag-out procedure in place?

Prior to starting the work has the machinery been purged of any stored energy or hazardous substances?

Workplace transport

Has an appropriate risk assessment been completed that considers transport?

Has this considered blind spots? Bends? Pedestrian interactions? Gradients?

Is the site large enough for activities required? Loading/unloading, reversing etc.

Are vehicle routes wide enough for the types of vehicle needed?

Do drivers have required training and licensing to drive the vehicle?

Has a one way or traffic management system been implemented? What are the pedestrian segregation controls?

Working at height

Is a suitable and sufficient Risk Assessment in place?

Has it been completed by a competent person with involvement of the employees undertaking the work?

Has it been communicated to relevant parties? (i.e. those completing the work and those who may be affected by hazards arising from the work.)

Is the work at height planned, organised and carried out by competent persons?

Are ladders being used? Are they the correct type? Have they been inspected before the task is carried out?

Has adverse weather been considered if working outside?

Is access equipment being used? If so, what is the maintenance schedule? Is it the right equipment? Has it had its LOLER examination?

Is a work-restraint system in place? Is it suitable to prevent employees from accessing the edge/an area where they could fall?

 

  • Did you know?
  • As of April 2022, the cost recovery rate for the Fee For Intervention is £163.

 

Contact us if you require further information.

Homeworkers: Quick Facts

home office

Homeworkers: Quick Facts

Homeworkers are those employed to work at home or in other premises of their own choice other than the workplace of the employer. Homeworking is not a specific job in itself but a method of working which can be relevant to many job roles.

Homeworkers are covered by health and safety law in the same way as any other employed worker, but as this topic describes, there are a range of issues specific to these workers that must be considered in order to keep them safe in their homes.

Some tips

  • Employers should keep in touch with lone workers, including those working from home, and ensure regular contact to make sure they are healthy and safe. Social Isolation
  • Working from home can bring benefits both to the employee in terms of flexibility and to the employer in terms of reduced overhead costs.
  • Siting the home office is an important consideration; segregation is preferred, followed by locking equipment away when not in use. Siting a Home Office
  • Employers are required to assess all significant risks and to make adequate arrangements for managing the risks to homeworkers. Risk Assessments for Homeworking
  • If display screen equipment (DSE) is to be used, employers must ensure that a DSE assessment is carried out with the homeworker and that health and safety requirements are met, including eye tests and the provision of appropriate equipment. Display Screen Equipment
  • Employers must ensure that any substances are assessed and suitably controlled and should provide appropriate personal protective equipment. Hazardous Substances
  • Homeworkers should be trained in the use of any equipment provided, which should be suitable for the job, regularly maintained and appropriately guarded.

Contact us for further information

 

8 Ways to Improve Homeworking

Home Working

Home Working

There are many people working from home, given the current situation we are in with COVID-19. This percentage may drop in the future, but for now, if we can work from home, that’s what we should do.
With kitchens and spare rooms now becoming a more permanent office space for many, staff should take time to make sure the space is serving their needs and not causing any damage. Your employers can help with this in many ways. Discuss your concerns with them.

Here we look at 8 ways to improve homeworking. If you have any suggestions, let us know.

1. Perform a risk assessment

Health and safety law requires that employers do all that they can to ensure the wellbeing of their staff. This obligation has not changed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and so risks to employees need to be managed in the usual way.
Although generally low risk, homeworking is not exempt from the law, and so a risk assessment should be carried out on the home environment to identify hazards. The risk assessment will also need to establish any measures needed to prevent harm to the employee, as well as anyone else affected by their work (including other members of the household).
To assist this process, employers can remotely work through a risk assessment with members of staff or ask staff to conduct their own assessment using a template and guidance. Contact us for further information.

2. Create a good workspace

Managing occupational health is critical for a healthy workspace. Poor posture while working, or a lack of suitable equipment, can cause serious musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), including injuries to the back, neck, hips, knees or wrists.
With many workers converting kitchen tables and spare rooms into their new office spaces, there is a significant risk that employees could unwittingly be causing themselves long-term damage through poor seating choices or by not having the right equipment.
To ensure staff are protecting themselves from potential MSDs, employers should try to find out about their staff’s working conditions and check that everyone knows how to set up their workspace. As a minimum, the risk assessment will likely identify that everyone needs carry out a display screen equipment (DSE) check and know how to report any problems.
Search through our previous blogs for DSE information.

3. Encourage activity

As well as sitting correctly, moving is also an important part of maintaining good musculoskeletal health. In the typical office, people are much more likely to have situations where they need to walk around — as part of their commute, to go to a meeting, or to speak to a colleague. Many of these workplace opportunities to stretch the legs have now been lost, so as well as taking breaks from looking at a screen (as required by the DSE Regulations) encourage staff to take a regular breather to get up and move around. Setting a timer on a phone can be a relatively easy way to do this.

4. Create a good routine and balance

Routine is important to help protect mental health and to provide continuity in the working day. Having clear start and finish times helps create work–life boundaries, as can creating a dedicated workspace.
Wherever possible, ask staff to mix up their to-do list to create balance in their work. Spending all day in video conferences can be extremely fatiguing, as can hours in front of a screen with no workplace contact at all. When evaluating new working arrangements, also ask staff to consider how they are finding the new methods of working.

5. Ensure security

Working from home brings additional cyber security issues that organisations may not have considered. The National Cyber Security Centre provides comprehensive advice on what employers might need to think about, but a starting point would be to check that staff:

  • have strong passwords on their accounts
  • know how to use software
  • are using devices that are properly encrypted
  • know what to do to maximise the security of information and what to do if any device becomes lost or stolen.

If the organisation has any e-learning modules that cover cyber security, then consider asking all staff to carry out refresher training.

6. Consider fire safety

House fires are much more likely to occur when people are at home. When considering the home office, ways to prevent fires include:

  • only using laptops on a hard surface to prevent over-heating
  • making sure electrical equipment is turned off at night
  • avoiding “daisy-chaining”: plugging multiple extension leads together
  • not using counterfeit or incorrect chargers for electrical devices.

Employees working from home should also check that they have working smoke alarms that are tested once a week.

7. Support technology

Working from home might mean using new technology. Whereas some may find this an easy transition, others may find it harder. It is commonplace for staff to have previously asked nearby colleagues for help with IT issues, so check in to ask if there are any problems.

8. Improve energy efficiency

Working from home will bring additional costs, e.g. to keep the workspace warm. To help keep energy costs low, organisations could raise awareness of energy efficiency measures that staff can adopt. Some examples might include:

  • turning off standby modes on electrical equipment
  • turning lights off when not in use, and checking that energy-efficient bulbs are fitted
  • only filling the kettle up with as much water as is needed when making a hot drink.

Contact us should you require further information.

Keep safe!

Benefits of Online Training – COVID-19

Online training benefits due to COVID-19

Online training

Since the UK lockdown due to COVID-19, classroom-based training has largely halted. Delegates sit indoors in very close proximity for long periods of time. There are additional risks associated with using public transport and mingling at break times. In short, classrooms can be petri dishes. Online training avoids these risks and, according to our beloved principles of prevention, should be considered before options such as distancing or barriers. It is also questionable how many delegates could fit into a venue if they must be physically distant.

There are subjects for which face-to-face training is unavoidable. If online training is an option, it is worth considering the benefits and potential pitfalls.

Online training

In the current climate of home working and skeleton staff in the workplace due to COVID-19, we look at the benefits of online training and the advantages that are offered.  These include:

  • Not incurring or passing on costs relating to travel, venue hire or catering and the administration time organising all this. This can reduce the cost of online training
  • Not incurring printing costs for electronic course materials
  • Training dates are not restricted by room availability
  • Delegates can attend regardless of where they are based, expanding the prospective market for courses. Delegates could find it interesting to attend events with people whom they might otherwise never meet
  • Most delegates log on at home. They turn up fresh and not agitated by the journey
  • Delegates are not delayed by traffic etc. so typically join the session on time
  • Participants are not worrying about getting home and remain focused throughout the session
  • Trainers are not battling a venue’s ventilation or heating controls.
Avoiding the pitfalls of online training

Delivering training online undoubtedly has potential pitfalls such as being let down by, or being unable to use, the technology. The pitfalls can be avoided or managed with some simple steps.

  • Make sure that the office/home has a good, stable internet connection. Use introductions to check everyone is clearly hearing you and each other. Inform the delegates what to do if you or they temporarily or permanently drop out.
  • Get comfortable with using the technology. Watch ‘how to’ videos, run practice sessions and attend online events as a delegate. Many of the ‘how to’ videos will help sort out the basics such as your backdrop, lighting, testing your audio and so on.
  • Amend the material to suit online delivery and the new options available to you.
  • Help delegates get comfortable with the technology. Host the training on simpler and popular platforms, send out a plain English user guide and take delegates through warm up exercises in the course introduction.
  • Cover the new rules of engagement in the introduction. For example, when delegates should be muted or the benefit of raising hands to join a conversation.
  • Delegates need to be physically comfortable. Programme in more regular breaks and provide simple reminders on comfortable DSE use.

Many organisations have little option but to consider online training. Rather than being an undesirable substitute, this approach offers tremendous benefits and could become the new normal regardless of how COVID-19 plays out.

Getting the best from it requires an initial investment of time and effort. As with most things in life, the more you put in, the more you’ll get out.

Contact us for your training needs.

Keep Safe!

Published · Updated

COVID-19 Risk Assessments

The Government have published guides to help businesses to open and work safely in regards to COVID-19. Some businesses may need more than one of the guides to ensure people are safe.

Looking through the guides they all offer similar solutions. Here we look at the top ten items to consider for your business in relation to the risk assessment.

  • HAND WASHING

We began the COVID-19 crisis light-heartedly washing our hands while singing a double rendition of ‘happy birthday’, but as the virus continues to hit hard, we find that hand hygiene remains front and centre. The science tells us adequate hand washing is effective but also simple, logical and cheap. It is difficult to imagine a reasonable excuse for an employer that fails in this respect.

  • WORKER ENGAGEMENT

While there have long been legal requirements to consult with employees, COVID-19 as a risk has grabbed the attention like few other hazards. The risk assessment reinforces the importance of worker input: ‘make sure you talk to your workers and their representatives to explain the measures you are taking. They can also provide valuable information on how you could control the risks’. Employers ignore this at their peril.

  • SOCIAL DISTANCING DURING COVID-19

Social distancing is becoming an increasingly elastic concept; sometimes two metres, sometimes ‘one metre plus’ and differing throughout the UK. The document reminds employers that local rules may differ which highlights the importance of nationwide organisations remaining abreast of local updates and being agile and responsive to changes at short notice.

  • REMOTE WORKING

Virtually all jobs have changed in some way. Many of our new working practices are no doubt here to stay. There is a hint of this in the new document, which encourages the increased use of online meeting facilities, even when people are working in the same building.

  • VENTILATION

Good ventilation is another basic control measure to reduce the risk. This is reflected in the risk assessment, which suggests propping open non-fire doors to improve air circulation, ushering in another important point: COVID-19 control measures should not adversely impact pre-existing safety regimes. Consider having the company fire risk assessment reviewed in light of these changes.

  • MENTAL WELL BEING

The document takes a huge step forward in identifying the detrimental impact of the pandemic on our collective mental health and well being. While the focus is on planning for those coming back into workplaces, huge numbers are still working from home and the importance of contact, time management and fatigue are among the hazards highlighted.

  • BACK PAIN

Thinking about those remote workers, the assessment also highlights the musculoskeletal disorders risked by lengthy DSE use at home. The HSE maintains that ‘there is no increased risk for people working at home temporarily’ but there is no question that this pandemic is testing the bounds of what ‘temporarily’ really means.

  • SHIELDING WORKERS

The all-encompassing task facing employers is laid bare by the need to identify those within the workforce who are vulnerable or clinically extremely vulnerable. The suggested control measures include an in house individual assessment of these employees and a discussion to identify what is needed in each case. Consider management and HR (If applicable) reviews.

  • TRAVELLING

Once again we see the attempt to stretch health and safety law beyond its typical boundaries. In identifying occasions when social distancing may be difficult, employers’ control measures are said to include the provision of facilities to keep people from public transport and creating working cohorts of those who already travel to work together.

  • FACE COVERINGS

The very last point, face coverings. These are ‘not required to be worn in the workplace’ but ‘where people choose to wear them you should support them’. The government guidance for those in close contact sectors such as hairdressing now requires the wearing of visors to ‘provide a barrier between the wearer and the client from respiratory droplets caused by sneezing, coughing or speaking’. Of course face coverings are also now mandatory on public transport too. Logically there is an acceptance that simple barriers (not PPE) have a part to play in reducing the transmission risk and a more sweeping change in the existing non-committal position feels almost inevitable.

Contact us if you require further information.

Keep safe!

(This blog was correct at time of release)

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Walker Health and Safety Services Limited,
Suite 6, C1, Coalport House,
Stafford Court,
Stafford Park 1,
Telford,
Shropshire,
TF3 3BD

Telephone: 0845 834 0400
Fax: 0845 834 0401
Email: info@walkersafety.co.uk

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