CONTENTS
- Training
- Company news
- HSE news
- Industry news
- General news
- Recent prosecutions
TRAINING
FIRST AID
1-day Emergency First-Aid at Work course dates are listed below; specific requirements and controls will be advised within the joining instructions.
Dates:
24 February 2025 (Monday) – Limited space
31 March 2025 (Monday)
28 April 2025 (Monday)
19 May 2025 (Monday)
25 June 2025 (Wednesday)
21 July 2025 (Monday)
20 August 2025 (Wednesday)
Cost: £85 + VAT per person
MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID
1-day FAA Award in First Aid for Mental Health (Level 2 RQF)
Dates: 13 February 2025 (Thursday)
Cost: £85 + VAT per person
IOSH MANAGING SAFELY
3-day IOSH Managing Safely course
Dates: 1, 2 & 3 April 2025 (Tuesday – Thursday)
Cost: £450 + VAT per person
ONLINE COURSES
Wenlock Health & Safety Ltd (WHS) provides an extensive suite of fully certificated online courses, priced at a very reasonable £25 + VAT per course, to help with staff training when time is short. All that candidates need is access to a computer or laptop.
We would always recommend face-to-face training to help your workforce get the most out of course content, but these online courses offer a temporary solution when time is short or turnover is high; all courses take only 30-40 minutes to complete and can, of course, be completed at home as well as at work. Full details of all available online courses and booking facilities for this e-learning platform can be found on our website: www.wenlockhealthandsafety.co.uk
SHORT COURSES
And, in addition to the programmed courses we have on offer over the next few months, don’t forget that WHS also provides a multitude of other short courses (both classroom and on-site based) to suit your needs. Feel free to contact Vicki Brown at the WHS office on 01952 885885, or via email on enquiries@wenlockhs.co.uk or vicki@wenlockhs.co.uk , to discuss your particular needs.
COMPANY NEWS
ANNUAL SAFETY AWARDS 2024
We had great pleasure to announce in the last newsletter of 2024 the winners of the Wenlock Health & Safety Ltd Annual Safety Awards. We do this every year to recognise those WHS clients who have gone above and beyond normal expectations to establish exemplary health & safety systems and cultures in order to protect their workforce.
The very worthy winners of the 2024 Awards are seen below receiving their certificates.
Joe Gray, Contracts Manager, receiving the WHS Award for Continual Improvement on behalf of Strip Out Solutions Ltd from WHS Health & Safety Consultant, Mark Roberts.
Joe makes the following comments about the company’s safety culture:
“At Strip Out Solutions, safety is more than a priority – it’s a core value that shapes everything we do. This recognition reflects the hard work, dedication and vigilance of our entire team, who consistently strive to uphold the highest standards.”
Tony Challinor, Senior Technical Engineer, receiving the WHS Award for Commitment to Health & Safety on behalf of Landia UK Ltd for Commitment to Health & Safety. Tony makes very valid points about company safety:
“I’m often asked the question ‘How are our accident / incident statistics consistently so low?’. The simple answer is experience, coupled with regular training and periodic 3rd party assessments to ensure that we remain on the right track… Having a safety plan that clearly defines the route of responsibility, from a site survey at the start of a project to a fully commissioned system, ensures that we can consider ALL risks that are posed on a site…The result is a happy customer and a satisfied installation team that returns to base with no injuries or incidents. Health and Safety is never one person’s responsibility. It is a team effort, which ultimately reflects on our accident statistics.”
We couldn’t have put it better ourselves! Both Strip Out Solutions and Landia are excellent examples of how health & safety should be viewed, and the results speak for themselves.
HSE NEWS
THE HSE TURNS 50!
The HSE was created by the ground-breaking Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was launched on1 January 1975. The idea behind it was to prevent accidents and fatalities before they occur, rather than merely prosecuting the culprits after the event – as most countries still do.
It is worth noting that, when the Act came into being in 1974, 651 people lost their lives whilst at work and countless were maimed, injured or harmed as a result of their working environment. As the statistics below show, we have come a long way in reaching the Act and the HSE’s objectives; last year a total of 138 were killed at work, a huge reduction over the decades, and the number has actually been lower than that in recent years.
Most businesses resent the HSE (why? something to hide?) but it is there to help ensure our safety while at work – we all have the right to go home safely at night.
FATALITY AND HARM STATISTICS 2023/24
Towards the end of 2024, the HSE published their annual report on work related health & safety figures: https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/
And the latest poster is available from the HSE’s website, priced at £11.44 including VAT.
In brief:
- 138 workers were killed in work-related accidents
- 600,000 were injured
- 33.7 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and injury
- 1.7 million workers suffering from work-related illness, including 543,000 with musculoskeletal disorders and 776,000 with stress or depression
- £21.6 billion estimated cost to the UK of injuries and ill-health
Industry-specific statistics are also reported and make grim reading:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/
with 36% of all fatalities still being caused by work at height.
FOOTNOTE:
As our award winners have demonstrated, it can be done with a little commitment and effort. And here is an incredible example of just that very commitment to employee safety:
Scaffolding and safety systems supplier, TRAD UK, has recorded 1 million work hours without any lost time injuries across its 6 depots and site operations. To quote TRAD UK’s Head of Technical and Product Support, Alan Slater, “This isn’t just about hitting a number – it’s about a whole new mindset. We’ve made safety everyone’s business, from the top down.”
Take note – and, as our awards winners clearly demonstrate, it can be done!
ASBESTOS
The HSE is continuing its hard-hitting campaign to make sure that (a) everyone is aware of the dangers, including householders who may commission work from tradespeople, and (b) those tradespeople carry out their legal duties to prevent asbestos disturbance for the wellbeing of both themselves and those commissioning the work.
It is a sad fact that, despite legislation having been in place for over 20 years, the majority of householders are still unaware of the potential dangers of asbestos and/or are assured by incompetent builders or tradespeople that everything is safe to continue without the legally required survey work being carried out.
To hammer home the message to both contractors and those commissioning work (commercial and domestic), the HSE has been working alongside a number of industry bodies for a number of years. For example, Trustmark which has produced a Trustmark app to help householders to navigate their responsibilities and choose a reputable contractor: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/homeowner/discover/home-improvement-app
and Work Right which issues webinars, podcasts and a great deal of freely downloadable resources:
https://workright.campaign.gov.uk/campaigns/asbestos-your-duty-campaign-assets/
including a heart-wrenching personal story of loss shared by Danny Williamson, a member of HSE’s digital team, who experienced 3 members of his family dying from mesothelioma:
Blog: a family’s tragic history with asbestos
Just because the use of asbestos was banned so long ago, the problem has not gone away; asbestos-containing materials are still endemic throughout pre-2000 structures. Please, never be tempted to cut corners for the sake of keeping prices low or expediting the work in order to win the job; it simply isn’t worth the gamble in terms of health risk and the risk of being prosecuted.
LEGIONELLA
The HSE has issued a stark reminder about employers’ legal responsibilities to determine whether there is a risk of legionella in their workplaces (both company premises and on site, take note) and to take appropriate steps to control and risk.
A recent prosecution demonstrates the severity of both the risk and the consequences of failing to undertake the legal duties:
Facilities management company, Amey Community Ltd, was fined £600,000 plus over £15,000 in costs after a prisoner at HMP Lincoln died from contracting legionella in 2017. Water samples taken from both the prisoner’s cell and the shower block tested positive for legionella. The company had failed to act on a risk assessment carried out in 2016, put in place a formal plan for legionella prevention, ensure appropriate water temperatures were maintained and monitored; subsequently, the bacteria spread rapidly, leading to the death of the prisoner.
- ALL employers are under a legal obligation to assess the risk of the legionella forming within their water-based systems which could, as this case demonstrates, include showers and other seemingly innocuous systems.
- ALL designers and installers of such water-based systems are under a legal obligation to design out the risk where at all possible and provide appropriate risk-reduction information where it isn’t.
- ALL developers and principal contractors are under a legal obligation to include site conditions in their risk assessment with particular reference to water systems standing unused ahead of project or dwelling completion.
A wealth of advice and guidance is available on the HSE’s website: https://www.hse.gov.uk/legionnaires
and within the information issued to all WHS clients. In most cases, expert advice will be required to ensure a competent and meaningful risk assessment and control regime; WHS has access to such specialist advice so please do feel free to call us for advice.
GENERAL NEWS
COSHH SAFETY
The Fire Service has issued a warning to all cleaners and cleaning services to remind them of the extreme dangers of mixing cleaning products or not being aware of the risk involved with their use. The Service is called to hundreds of emergencies each year resulting from misuse of cleaning chemicals and, often, fire fighters need to wear breathing apparatus in order to attend the incident – this sounds far-fetched but it’s true!
Serious incidents include the production of chlorine gas or, worst-case scenario, splattering and ‘explosion’ when chemicals are mixed (especially where bleach or bleach-based products are involved). And the majority of these incidents involve ordinary domestic cleaning products. Just because they can be easily bought from supermarkets, doesn’t mean they don’t present risks; obviously safety information is attached to all such products.
However, WHS would add to this a reminder that ALL employers who engage cleaners (whether a cleaning company or self-employed individuals) have a legal responsibility to ensure they are competent to do their job – and this MUST include adequate COSHH and risk assessments to ensure they are equipped with the essential knowledge of how to safely use, handle and store the products.
STRESS
As highlighted in the December 2024 newsletter, the HSE has issued a strong reminder that stress must be included in work-related risk assessments.
To assist with this, the HSE has issued various guidance documents:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg430.pdf
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wbk01.pdf
https://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/assets/docs/manage-mental-health.pdf
https://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/assets/docs/securing.pdf
And there are HSE templates on its website for stress risk assessment, plus examples:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/risk-assessment.htm
https://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/risk-assessment.htm
https://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/risk/risk-assessment-template-and-examples.htm
These will be included in future health & safety packs to all WHS clients; in the meantime, make use of the web links to ensure that you cover your statutory duties to consider the well-being of your staff. The risk assessment template is a standard format, but the examples are particularly useful as to what to consider and how to manage the issues raised.
It is estimated (by the HSE) that last year, there were 776,000 cases of ill health caused by stress, depression or anxiety, each case meaning an average of 21 days off work. Whilst nobody is suggesting that all cases of stress (etc) are solely because of the working environment, it is the responsibility of all employers to try and recognise the symptoms, act sympathetically where stress is suspected or declared by the individual, and help by recommending appropriate courses of action and/or organisations where help can be found.
Note: The half-day Mental Health First-Aid course run on a regular basis by WHS (refer above for the next course date) enables attendees to both recognise signs of stress and assist the individual with practical and sympathetic means.
TACKLING ALCOHOL & DRUGS MISUSE IN THE WORKPLACE
Also as highlighted in the December 2024 newsletter, the HSE reminds all employers that the issue of alcohol and drugs misuse in the workplace must be viewed as a potentially serious risk issue and tackled accordingly. But how? This is a tricky one as there may be issues of underlying stress, addiction, or misinformation to consider.
The HSE advises the employers should develop a drugs and alcohol policy; step-by-step guidance can be found on: https://www.hse.gov.uk/alcoholdrugs/
However, WHS would remind our clients that we have access to expert HR advice and assistance should this issue raise its head in your workplace. Please do contact WHS sooner rather than later when it may be too late to deal with it appropriately; this is particularly important if a company wishes to go down the route of screening and testing, which can have legal implications.
RECENT PROSECUTIONS
Equipment safety
- Maynard and Harris Plastics was fined £330,000 plus costs of £4,373 after a worker lost his life when he was drawn into a rotating lathe. The victim had been using emery cloth to de-bur the workpiece when it became entangled, drawing him in and resulting in fatal head injuries. The company had failed to risk assess nor establish a safe system of work for the use of emery cloth on lathes; it had also failed to properly train the worker for such an operation.
- David Wood Bakery Ltd was fined £573,344 plus costs of £12,288 after three of its employees suffered serious injuries in separate incidents. The company had a history of poor machinery guarding and had previously been fined £856,000 in 2021 after a worker had to have his right arm removed.
The latest prosecution, all in 2022, involved a female employee’s arm being dragged into a conveyor belt, another female employee losing a finger to an unguarded drive belt, and a male employee becoming trapped for 90 minutes when a mixer lid dropped onto his left arm, eventually being rescued by the Fire Brigade!
The company had continued to fail in its legal duties to keep employees safe from unguarded machinery, to undertake adequate staff training and to monitor safety. The size of the fines levied relate to the seriousness of the continuing breaches of the law.
Work at height
- EE Renewables Ltd was fined £120,000 plus costs of £4,716 after a worker broke his leg when he fell 4 metres during the alteration of solar panels on a domestic roof. Absolutely no fall prevention measures were in place (as can be seen in the photo).
Just because the work took place on a domestic property does not negate the (legal) requirement for proper fall prevention measures – and with work like this, that means full scaffolding, no matter what the cost to the householder!! If the householder won’t pay for scaffolding, don’t do the work – look what it cost the company to take the risk!
- Dodwell Farn Ltd was fined £133,000 plus £8,816 costs and a surcharge of £2,000 after a worker fell 10 metres through a barn roof, leaving him seriously injured. The victim had been fixing new panels to timbers but the existing panels were not strong enough to support his weight. The company had failed establish any sort of fall prevention measures, an all-too-common scenario in the field of agriculture.
WHS is working for you; help us to help you.
Our aim is to keep people safe and to keep your company working.
To contact WHS, ring: 01952-885885