WENLOCK HEALTH & SAFETY LTD WISHES ALL OUR CUSTOMERS
A VERY HAPPY AND SAFE FESTIVE PERIOD
COMPANY NEWS
TRAINING
When booking courses, all necessary criteria and restrictions will be personally communicated both directly at the time of booking and again through joining instructions ahead of all planned courses. It is vital that these are understood and relevant information clearly passed to candidates.
And do please be sure to inform us ahead of the course date of any candidate who may require assistance in any way, especially with reading or writing; we need advance notice to be able to provide this help.
Please contact Vicki at Wenlock Health & Safety Ltd (WHS) on 01952 885885 or enquiries@wenlockhs.co.uk
or vicki@wenlockhs.co.uk to book places. In addition to those below, please enquire about our other courses available; the full range is also detailed on our website: https://wenlockhealthandsafety.co.uk/
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:
18 December 2023 (Monday)
24 January 2024 (Wednesday)
28 February 2024 (Wednesday)
20 March 2023 (Wednesday)
Cost: £85 + VAT per person
MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID
1-day FAA Award in First Aid for Mental Health (Level 2 RQF)
Dates: 1 March 2024 (Friday)
Cost: £85 + VAT per person
IOSH MANAGING SAFELY
3-day IOSH Managing Safely course
Dates: 21, 22 & 23 February 2023 (Wednesday – Friday)
Cost: £395 + VAT per person
HSE NEWS
ACCIDENT STATISTICS
On 22 November 2023, the HSE published its annual reports on the finalised fatality, accident and ill-health figures for 2022/23, and it makes for grim reading:
- 135 workers killed in work-related accidents
- 561,000 working people sustained an injury
- 60,645 injuries to employees reported under RIDDOR
- 1.8 million working people suffering from a work-related illness, of which:
875,000 workers suffering work-related stress, depression or anxiety
473,000 workers suffering from work-related musculoskeletal disorders
- 2,268 mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures (2021)
- 35.2 million working days lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury
- £20.7 billion estimated cost of injuries and ill health from current working conditions (2021 to 2022)
Full details can be found on:
https://rb.gy/paaptx
https://rb.gy/6jl7hb
As reported in the August newsletter, fatalities and serious accidents are on the rise again.
We cannot be complacent.
Comparisons with other European countries (yes, we are still part of the continent of Europe!!) make interesting reading: https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/european/index.htm
Of the 30 countries where collecting data is possible, we still have one of the lowest fatality rates in Europe; we are in 6th place.
However, we are almost half way down the tables for workplace accidents and ill-health, which is shocking. We cannot and must not be complacent!
OCCUPATIONAL DEAFNESS
Although incidents of occupational deafness have dropped significantly over recent years, the number of new cases is rising again and it is still a major issue, particularly in factories and any workplace using plant and/or machinery: https://rb.gy/spxtnd
The HSE is urging employers to try the simple ‘shout test’. To quote the HSE’s noise specialist Chris Steel: “If you are shouting at work and can’t be heard from 2 metres away, the chances are there’s a noise issue. Try it out for yourself and see if you can be heard.” For more detail of this and what’s required to alleviate noise, go to: https://rb.gy/f4zfw7 and https://rb.gy/dup3hl
INDUSTRY NEWS
ASBESTOS
Yet again, asbestos is in the news. Following closely on the heels of the sudden realisation in governmental circles that many of our schools and public buildings are unsafe because they contain RRAC concrete (or maybe because of it) there is an elevated concern about these buildings being also unsafe because of asbestos. The HSE is now targeting schools and public buildings but, as you should all know, asbestos can be in any buildings built before the year 2000.
The https://workright.campaign.gov.uk/ has been running the Asbestos & You – Work Right to keep Britain safe campaign for a long while, so it’s a relevant time to remind ALL our customers that asbestos is everyone’s concern, both at work and at home. The website includes valuable advice and guidance, and a short quiz to test your knowledge of the subject. 8 simple questions that everyone should get right; if you get any wrong, you need to contact WHS urgently and attend training / refresher training!!
ACCOMMODATING DISABILITIES IN THE WORKPLACE
It is a fundamental principle of UK law that all employers have a duty to provide a safe and healthy working environment for all workers. But it’s worth reminding employers that this also includes provision for those with disabilities.
ALL employees must be provided with:
- A safe workplace
- A healthy working environment
- Appropriate and adequate welfare facilities
There are various regulations which cover health & safety in the workplace and the legal requirements to accommodate employees with disabilities. However, good summaries (mainly applicable to static premises) are available through the HSE’s website:
https://bitly.ws/33oZp
The HSE is also reminding employers that inclusivity is a collective responsibility, from which we all benefit:
https://rb.gy/m0xcrn
Again, the Work Right website draws attention to this in its Work Right for Everyone campaign:
https://rb.gy/jee1px
AND FINALLY
Dusts
As we have highlighted many, many times, the HSE has been targeting dusts and the use of protection measures, particularly LEVs, massively as part of their Dust Kills campaign. They continue to make spot checks across all sections of industry, and nobody is exempt. For example:
- Sole trader, Chris Buckley, was fined £1,354 plus costs of £3,578 after an HSE inspection found a total failure to control wood dusts: https://rb.gy/reypay
Mr Buckley is a sole trader – nobody is exempt!!
- WS Barrett & Son Ltd was fined £10,000 plus £3,625 costs after an HSE inspection found the company had failed to protect its workers from exposure to powder coating dusts and welding fume; the LEV in place was totally inefficient as it had not been thoroughly examined and tested (as required by law) despite the company having been previously served with an improvement notice.
- Pineland Furniture Ltd was fined £16,000 plus £3008 costs after two HSE inspections over a two-year period found that the company had failed to carry out statutory inspections on its extraction systems and had carried out no face-fit testing on mask wearers.
- The Joinery Yard Ltd was fined £25,000 plus costs of £2,681 after the HSE found that the company had failed to establish adequate controls to protect employees from wood dusts.
Work at height
A reminder that, across UK industry, the number of workers dying from falls from height continues to increase, accounting for 40 fatalities in 2022/23 (an increase of 38% on the previous year) and 30% of all workplace fatalities. So, as usual, here a few examples of totally avoidable accidents and the consequences.
- Wanzl Ltd was fined £320,000 plus £4,016 costs after two workers fell 3 metres when a metal cage they were dismantling collapsed beneath them; one of the men was severely injured. Although tower scaffolds had been erected, they collapsed. The work had not been properly assessed, planned and managed; the use of towers was inappropriate and the workers had not been trained in tower erection.
- ELP Broadcast & Events Ltd was fined £16,000 plus costs of £2,969 after an employee died as a result of falling 10 metres through the roof of a temporary rehearsal stage. The Work at Height Regulations apply to ALL industries.
Plant & vehicle safety
- Earlcoate Construction & Plant Hire Ltd was fined £50,000 plus £9,223 costs after a 16-year-old work experience boy was seriously injured when he became trapped under a tractor. The company had failed to provide training, instruction and supervision with the result that the tractor the boy was driving overturned when he attempted to drive it down an incline; in addition, he had not been wearing his seatbelt.
N.B. This case is a pertinent reminder that any employee (paid or unpaid) under the age of 18 is classed as a ‘young person’ and strict rules apply to what he/she can do. All employers are under a legal obligation to take account of the young person’s inexperience, physical capabilities and possibly a lack of maturity and understanding by avoiding hazardous tasks, work without proper supervision and long hours. Full details can be found in your Health & Safety Manual and WHS has also provided a template with which to risk assess, as legally required, a young person’s capabilities and appropriate tasks.
- Sunrise Poultry Farms was fined £233,000 plus costs of £8,841 after a 19-year-old employee died when he was crushed between an HGV and a wall. There had been no controls in place to segregate pedestrians from moving vehicles, a fundamental principle for all yards or areas when vehicles (or plant) manoeuvre in the vicinity of those on foot.
Equipment safety
- McCain Foods (GB) Ltd was fined £700,000 plus costs of £6,508 after an employee lost two fingers whilst cleaning batter system machinery. He had been attempting to remove string dangling from a chute when his left arm was drawn into the machine’s rotary valve. The company had failed to provide adequate risk assessment, appropriate guarding, training or supervision.
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