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; Covid-specific controls will still apply for this particular course for the moment and they will be advised within the joining instructions. Demand is always high, so book places as soon as possible to avoid disappointment:
Dates:
- 26 June 2023 (Monday)
- 21 July 2023 (Friday)
- 23 August 2023 (Wednesday)
- 27 September 2023 (Wednesday)
- 30 October 2023 (Monday)
- 29 November 2023 (Wednesday)
Cost: £85 + VAT per person
MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID
1-day FAA Award in First Aid for Mental Health (Level 2 RQF)
Duration: 1 day
Dates: 4 July 2023 (Tuesday)
Cost: £85 + VAT per person
IOSH MANAGING SAFELY
3-day IOSH Managing Safely course
Duration: 3 consecutive days
Dates: 18, 19 & 20 July 2023 (Tuesday – Thursday)
Cost: £395 + VAT per person
UKATA ASBESTOS AWARENESS
Half-day UKATA asbestos awareness open course.
Important note: Those who currently hold a UKATA certificate must undertake a further course within the following 12 months, before the certificate expiry date.
Date: 29 June 2023 (Thursday)
Cost: £60 + VAT per person
HSE NEWS
ANOTHER HSE DUSTS CAMPAIGN
The issue of dusts and respiratory health risks has been a priority for the HSE for many years now (as you well know from the many, many times this has been discussed in previous newsletters!) and the HSE has launched yet another high-profile campaign (from May to the middle of July) specifically targeted at how dusts are managed.
Be warned yet again –make sure your systems for dust control and respiratory protection are exemplary, right down to the maintenance of respiratory protection. Helpful information can be freely downloaded from the HSE and campaign websites:
- https://rb.gy/t5r1f
- https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/cis36.pdf
- https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/cis78.pdf
This issue has been around for so long, so much information has been published and WHS has raised this issue so many times through training, inspections and these newsletters, there really is no excuse for non-compliance and no grounds for appeal should anyone receive an enforcement notice from the HSE.
DUSTS IN INDUSTRIAL CLEANING
Whilst on the subject of dusts, the HSE has produced a report on dust exposure during the vast array of industrial cleaning processes (just think about the effect of something as commonplace as dry sweeping!). RR1192 makes interesting reading for those involved in this type of work and can be downloaded from:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr1192.pdf
DISABILITY IN THE WORKPLACE
We are all under an obligation to support our workers in whatever way necessary to ensure their physical and mental wellbeing, and this obviously requires special attention when it comes to employees with particular disabilities. The HSE has recently added a further range of excellent support materials to their websites to help both employers and employees:
- The principles of support and best practice: https://rb.gy/v9htq
- The ‘Talking Toolkit’ and best practice: https://rb.gy/xvdns
- An in-depth podcast hosted by experts: https://rb.gy/gz938
In addition, an online support service has been developed on GOV.UK which gives essential support for employees and managers: https://rb.gy/vzto3
SIMPLIFICATION OF HSE WEB INFORMATION
The HSE has recently completed a wide-ranging exercise to revise much of its main online advice, which had become repetitive and cumbersome over the years. The main improved and more concise information sites are as follows:
- Introduction to health & safety management: https://rb.gy/ncnsx
- Risk management: https://rb.gy/42wfg
- Managing some of the basic risks for all workplaces: https://rb.gy/ig3w9
- Principles for senior and middle management and where you can subscribe for updates, always useful: https://rb.gy/tm08j
All information, as usual, is freely downloadable and can be extremely useful to refer to alongside the in-depth resources provided to all WHS customers. Do take a look; it’s all very easy to digest.
HSE LAW POSTER
Did you obtain your legally required HSE Law Poster from WHS or elsewhere? If elsewhere, did you get it direct from the HSE or a legitimate provider?
The law says that you MUST display an approved version of the poster in each workplace or, where this is just not possible, provide each worker with a copy of the equivalent leaflet (provided in the templates section of your WHS resources). The current approved design (which has been out for ages) is shown here; if you still have a cream-coloured version without pictures, get a new one quickly!
It has come to the attention of the HSE that there are many fake posters in the marketplace now and displaying one of these is illegal; the business displaying a fake poster will be subject to HSE enforcement so check now!
Posters from 2009 onwards have enhanced security measures within the poster itself; check online whether your posters are legitimate and, if not, order a replacement immediately from the HSE: https://rb.gy/t9zjw
INDUSTRY NEWS
TELESCOPIC LADDERS
There is a continued and serious warning from the Ladder Association about the safety of telescopic ladders.
WHS highlighted this issue in 2022 when the LA reported that an alarming 82% of all telescopic ladders tested failed, were found to be non-compliant and, in most cases, were totally unsafe to use. Now the LA have reported a second time (April 2023) and an even more alarming 100% of those previously tested types still failed and are still total unsafe for use. Read both reports and the background to the issue on the Ladder Association website: https://rb.gy/7zq58
And, if you do own one of these ladders, you would be strongly advised to take it out of use and buy or hire an alternative – before it’s too late.
YOUNG PERSONS WORKING
With the school holidays fast approaching, there is a tendency for those classified as ‘young persons’ to earn a bit of spare cash. All WHS customers have information in their health & safety packs about the legal necessity to carry out a Young Person’s Risk Assessment for anyone under his/her 18th birthday and to abide by strict rules as per the Health & Safety (Young Persons) Regulations 1997.
However, there are other legal requirements related to any child / young person aged 13 – 18 years (it is illegal for anyone under the age of 13 to be employed in any shape or form, no matter how minimal) under the Children & Young Persons Act 1933: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/23-24/12/contents
The NNCEE (National Network for Children in Employment & Entertainment) website explains what needs to done, rules to be followed and permits to be obtained, together with providing 2 relevant posters: https://www.nncee.org.uk/page/45/employment
The Shropshire Council website also provides valuable succinct information:
https://rb.gy/pjxxb
For those in any type of workplace which does or may interact with children (obviously schools, leisure facilities, etc, but also gyms, sports coaching, local authority work, etc) it is advisable to gain at least a basic qualification in child protection such as the Introduction to Safeguarding Children Training Course (Level 1 Safeguarding) offered here: https://rb.gy/0q57d
And never forget that any employment of those under 18, whether paid or unpaid, voluntary or work experience, MUST be specifically covered by your insurance.
PPE – STANDARDS MARKINGS
Having issued the instruction that all PPE must be UKCA marked from the beginning of this year, the requirement has now been rescinded until 1 January 2025….make up your minds!!
So, apologies to those WHS customers who already have the UKCA PPE marks mentioned in their health & safety policies (obviously from the previous instruction); the CE marking will stay as the legal minimum requirement until 2025. If anyone would like us to issue a fresh policy electronically (only), please contact the WHS office.
ENVIRONMENTAL
WATER POLLUTION
Never forget that safeguarding the environment, particularly against pollution of all types, is both morally and legally essential. And the consequences of non-compliance with environmental law can be very costly indeed, not only for the local environment, but for the culprits. For example:
Taylor Wimpey has recently been fined £480,000 plus £8,591.40 costs and a surcharge of £121 for polluting the River Llwyd and its tributaries in Pontypool. Multiple illegal water discharges were allowed to happen between January and October 2021 and investigations revealed that, in each case, the pollutant was silt contained within water run-off from the site.
Whilst this level of fine is well-deserved for any such breaches of environmental law (refer to your Environmental Manual for full details), it is a bit rich when water companies have been getting away with polluting our rivers indiscriminately for decades!
AND FINALLY
Structural safety
- Two metal recycling directors, Wayne Hawkeswood and Graham Woodhouse, were each jailed for 9 months after 5 workers died when a 45-tonne wall collapsed on them; the victims had to be identified by fingerprints. The 3.5 metre wall was overloaded with 263 tonnes of metal briquettes and so close to toppling over that “a breath of wind could have brought it down”. The 2 companies involved, Hawkswood Metal Recycling and Ensco 10101 (previously trading as Shredmet Ltd) were fined £1 million and £600,000 respectively and ordered to pay £775,000 in costs. The sheer scale of negligence and total disregard for employee safety in this case just defies belief.
Plant & machinery
- Two major transport companies, Turners (Soham) Ltd and The Haulage Group Ltd, were fined £1.9 million and £30,000 respectively and both ordered to pay costs of £75,500 each, after the depot manager of Turners was hit and killed by an HGV. The vehicle had been reversing from a parking space at The Haulage Group premises; both companies had failed to recognise the hazards of reversing vehicles, particularly in areas of poor visibility and neither had established safe systems of work.
- Eco Waste & Recycling Ltd was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay over £3,000 costs after an employee was run over by a telehandler and had to have his leg amputated. The company had failed to properly risk assess and to segregate plant from pedestrians.
- Creagh Concrete Products Ltd was fined £1 million and ordered to pay over £47,500 after a 24-year old worker suffered fatal injuries when his head became trapped in the jaws of a grab; a rope connecting the grab locking level had snapped leading to the malfunction. The HSE found that all related equipment was in very poor condition, no assessment of risk or suitability of equipment had been carried out and, consequently, no safe system established. A tragic and totally unnecessary loss of a young life.
- Akso Nobel Packaging Coatings Ltd was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay over £3,000 costs after a worker’s leg was crushed by a forklift. The victim had been walking across a pedestrian crossing at the site when he was hit by the forklift; the driver’s vision had been obscured by multiple containers on the forks and he had not slowed down as he approached the crossing. The HSE found inadequate risk assessment, with a lack of supervision and management resulting in poor practices becoming commonplace.
- E Jackson (Chatburn) Ltd was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay almost £4,000 costs after a mechanic died whilst repairing a forklift. The victim had been working with a new employee as they attempted to fix a steering fault. He had told the inexperienced employee to move the forklift forwards; however, he moved it backwards instead, trapping the victim against a trailer and causing fatal head injuries. The requirements of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) had been totally ignored and no systems established for the legally required testing and inspections, nor for repair and maintenance of the 30-year old truck.
COSHH
- F&E Joinery Ltd was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £1,500 costs for failing to control employees’ exposure to wood dusts; the visit which identified the multiple failings was part of the HSE’s current campaign against dust exposure. The failings included the disconnection of LEV systems and no appropriate cleaning regime.
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