COMPANY NEWS
TRAINING – ONLINE COURSES
WHS is now 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. Courses currently on offer:
- Accident Investigation
- Asbestos Awareness
- COSHH Interactive
- Display Screen Equipment
- Driver Safety
- Equality & Diversity
- Fire Safety
- Home Working Health & Safety
- Ladder Safety
- Legionella Awareness
- Lone Working
- Manual Handling
- Menopause Awareness
- Office Safety
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Stress in the Workplace
- Working at Height
We would always recommend face-to-face training to help your workforce get the most out of the 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 and booking facilities for all courses on this e-learning platform can be found on our website:
www.wenlockhealthandsafety.co.uk
TRAINING – SHORT COURSES
In addition to the programmed courses we have on offer over the next few months, as listed in the next section, don’t forget that Wenlock Health & Safety Ltd (WHS) can also provide a multitude of other short courses to suit your needs, such as (but not limited to):
- H&S Management
- H&S Awareness
- Risk Assessment
- Manual Handling
- COSHH Awareness
- Lone Working
- Fire Warden / Extinguisher
This is not an exhaustive list so do 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.
TRAINING – OTHER COURSES
MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID
1-day FAA Award in First Aid for Mental Health (Level 2 RQF)
Dates: 3 July 2024 (Wednesday)
Cost: £85 + VAT per person
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 June 2024 (Monday)
- 22 July 2024 (Monday)
- 21 August 2024 (Wednesday)
- 25 September 2024 (Wednesday)
- 28 October 2024 (Monday)
- 27 November 2024 (Wednesday)
- 18 December 2024 (Wednesday)
Cost: £85 + VAT per person
HSE NEWS
LEGIONELLA
Have you checked your water system recently?
Legionella (or Legionnaires’ disease) is a potentially fatal form of lung infection which is normally contracted by inhaling small droplets of water suspended in the air containing the bacteria. We have discussed legionella a lot over the years because it is such a high-risk issue warranting its own HSE Approved Code of Practice, L8: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l8.htm
Refer also to the wealth of other HSE guidance on www.hse.gov.uk , such as:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg458.htm
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg274.htm
But employers, building managers, landlords, etc still seem largely oblivious to both the risks and required controls measures to prevent legionella. If you are an employer, or someone in control of premises, such as a landlord or building manager, you must understand the health risks associated with legionella and take the right precautions to reduce the risks of exposure to legionella:
- Hot water storage cylinders (calorifiers) should store water at 60°C or higher
- Hot water should be distributed at 50°C or higher (thermostatic mixer valves need to be fitted as close as possible to outlets, where a scald risk is identified)
- Cold water should be stored and distributed below 20°C
(The bacteria begin to die in temperatures above 50°C and cannot survive above 60°C.)
Contact WHS for assistance and/or guidance.
INDUSTRY NEWS
FALLS FROM HEIGHT
No Falls Week took place 13-17 May with events taking place across the country to highlight the perennial issue of falls from height which commonly account for half of all fatalities at work.
The usual causes are well known – the laws governing work at height being ignored or corners cut to reduce costs and expedite the work – as are the legal requirements being ignored. But there are other issues which the HSE, the Ladder Association, PASMA and the No Falls Foundation are seeking to address, for instance:
- The increased risk of accidents when telescopic ladders are purchased from Amazon or eBay (etc) rather than from dedicated retailers such as Screwfix or Toolstation; 68% of respondents to a recent survey admitted that cost was a high priority (shockingly 29% said it was their only priority!!). Refer to:
https://ladderassociation.org.uk/ - The extreme dangers of buying or using so-called ‘DIY-towers’ which are readily available online but often do not comply with legislation. Again, cost is no doubt a factor here – with potentially lethal consequences (not to mention the possibility of prosecution if the HSE find out!). Refer to:
https://pasma.co.uk/scaffold-towers/the-dangers-of-diy-towers/
You can find valuable in-depth guidance of these and many more issues related to safe work at height from:
- https://nofallsfoundation.org/
- https://ladderassociation.org.uk/
- https://pasma.co.uk/
- https://www.ipaf.org/en
- and, of course, https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/index.htm
FALLS FROM HEIGHT – THE FACTS
And here’s are the shocking facts about what it means in reality to fall from a height:
- Falling 4 metres is the equivalent of being hit by a car travelling at 20 mph
- Falling 10 metres is the equivalent of being hit by a car travelling at 30 mph
- Falling 16 metres is the equivalent of being hit by a car travelling at 40 mph
Who would knowingly risk stepping out in front of a car travelling at 20, 30 or 40 mph? So why do so many employers and employees (across all industries) still risk falling from such considerable heights? The section at the end of all our newsletters inevitably includes work at height prosecutions – the vast majority of these sadly having resulted from fatalities.
50 years of the HSWA but still so many workers are killed falling from height.
DRIVING FOR WORK – FREE ASSISTANCE
Driving for Better Business is a free to access government-backed National Highways programme, delivered in partnership with RoadSafe. Its purpose is to help organisations reduce work related road risk, thus protecting staff who drive or ride for work and others with whom they share the road.
Its mission is to improve safety and reduce risk for all those who drive or ride for work, by promoting good management practice and demonstrating the significant business benefits that follow. For full information visit:
https://www.drivingforbetterbusiness.com/
By registering, you’ll be able to (free of charge):
- Access a driving for work policy template and checklist to ensure you’ve got everything covered
- Create a driving for work policy document that meets legal and compliance standards
- Get email alerts for any changes in guidance or legislation that could affect your policy
- Receive an annual reminder to review your policy, with any changes that may be required
And:
- Access driver awareness resources and tool-box talks
- Benchmark your fleet performance
- Carry out a gap analysis on your fleet
- Access podcasts and other valuable resources.
WHS does provide a template for a company driving policy within all health & safety packs – but why not access this government-backed, material to ensure all aspects of driver safety are covered? It’s FREE!!
AND FINALLY
Overhead services
- New Earth Solutions (West) Ltd was fined £200,000 plus costs of £12,467 after an employee came into contact with a live electrical cable and suffered burns to his face and body; he also sustained fractures and a dislocated kneecap as he fell from the scissor lift he had been working from. The victim had been moving live heavy-duty electrical cables using a crowbar!!!
The task had not been part of the victim’s normal job so he had not received any training, nor had any risk assessment been undertaken to ensure a safe system of work – which would obviously include isolating the power supply to that area plus ensuring the right tools and working method for such a hazardous task.
This is a warning to all businesses – do NOT ask your own staff to carry out work which, because of the risks involved, require a properly qualified contractor. It is NOT clever to save costs by asking your own employees to carry out ANY work which you are not familiar with or require specialist knowledge and controls; it will end up costing the company a significant amount of money (as here) in fines and possibly cost an employee his or her life.
Materials handling
- Double-glazing contractor, My Best Group Ltd, was prosecuted in May following the death of an employee. The company has since gone into liquidation but, had this not been the case, would have been fined £120,000. However, director Ayman Noor was given two suspended jail terms of 20 weeks and 14 weeks, and ordered to pay costs of £9,294.
The employee suffered a cardiac arrest when a number of toughened glass panels fell on him whilst he was trying to remove one from a stack leaning against a wall. No racking or restrain system was in place as the risks involved with this type of materials handling had not even been considered.
The risks included public access to the area where the panels were stored. It has happened in the past that members of the public have been killed in similar circumstances; ALL work-related areas (including storage areas, skips, etc) MUST be protected against public access.
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