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Health and safety policy
from Induction Pack
The partnership seeks to conduct the practice in such a way as to minimise the risks to the safety and health of everyone concerned. The partners consider that all accidents and incidents causing, or having the potential to cause injury or damage, are avoidable and that the achievement of safe working requires the active cooperation of all.
Overall responsibility for health and safety rests with the Partners who will:
Provide and maintain healthy and safe working conditions, taking due account of all statutory requirements.
Provide appropriate information, instruction, training and supervision to enable staff to perform their work safely and effectively.
Ensure facilities exist to enable employees to consult the Partners on health and safety matters at reasonable times.
Ensure that advice and assistance is available to staff and Partners in order to maintain a healthy and safe working environment.
Make available the necessary protective equipment.
Health and Safety
All staff carry responsibility for safe practices within the limits of their functions and are accordingly expected to take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and of others affected by their acts or omissions at work. It should therefore be clearly understood by all employees that they owe a duty of care to themselves and the people with whom they work. It should also be remembered that employees are liable for the same penalties as the Partners if they do not comply with the relevant act.
To this end all staff should:
Work safely and efficiently
Adhere to procedures and codes of practice designed to secure a healthy, safe work place
Use protective clothing, equipment and safety devices and meet their obligations under the Act
The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 clearly defines the contribution all employees are required to make by the exercise of care in all their actions.
Any hazard or practice that is outside the capability of the individual to rectify should be brought to the attention of the Health & Safety Manager.
Any safety concerns should be brought to the attention of the H&S Manager.
Warren Dodds, CDM Manager
0191 213 4521
Fire prevention and procedures
In this section, basic information is provided on Fire Prevention.
There are many causes of fire which all employees should be aware of. These include:
Deliberate act
Carelessness
Burning rubbish
Poor housekeeping
Electrical faults
Misuse of electrical installations
The awareness of the danger from fire is important and staff must familiarise themselves with the Emergency Procedures notices displayed in the office.
Should the alarm activate whilst you are on Cundall premises, then follow the office Emergency Procedures which are displayed in common areas and report to the designated fire officer at the nominated assembly point.
Remember - you are responsible for ensuring that any visitors you are entertaining evacuate the building with you - do not leave it up to someone else!
The practice operates a good housekeeping policy as an important facet of a fire prevention policy and whilst we can provide the lead, the cooperation of all employees is necessary to maintain acceptable standards.
Please refer to the staff handbook on Cundall Intranet for further information.
Accident prevention
What is an accident? The definition of an accident is: “an unplanned, uncontrolled event which has resulted in, or could have led to physical injury or death, damage to plant, equipment or the environment or some other loss”.
Cundall understand that at times accidents within the workplace may happen. Therefore, it is company policy to provide all employees with sufficient information, instruction and training to ensure that they can carry out their tasks with minimum risk to their own or other people’s health and safety.
We recognise that all accidents have a cause and an effect. A cause can generally be controlled. An effect, is as a result of luck. Therefore we have highlighted within your H&S induction the contributory and the causes of accidents for you to familiarise yourself.
Contributory factors to accidents in the workplace are:
Lack of training
Workplace layout
Poor working environment
Unstructured working practices
Lack of maintenance
Lack of guidance
The factors that can cause accidents are:
Poor design
Poor housekeeping
Personal protective equipment
Prevention of most accidents in buildings and on construction sites is possible if proper thought is given to potential risks and relevant precautions are taken. It is our policy that all staff must ensure that the following procedures are considered when working out of the office environment.
Obtain permission from site owner or agent
Follow site safety rules
Request onsite safety induction from the Site Supervisor
Use designated walkways
Ensure PPE is worn at all times
Report any problems
Tell someone at the office where you are going and what time you expect to return
PPE equipment can take many forms including:
Gloves
Hard hats
Protective footwear
Eye goggles
Harnesses
Cundall provides staff with overalls and protective hats for site visits and expects that all employees wear appropriate PPE when conducting site visits.
First aid
First aid is defined as:
“The first help given to someone to prevent injury or illness from becoming worse”.
At Cundall we have designated first aid officers whose responsibility it is to take charge of a situation involving illness or accident. They are not responsible for administering first aid in the event of injury or accident, but will contact the appropriate emergency services where necessary.
First aid boxes are provided at each office. Their location will be pointed out to you during your Health & Safety Induction on Day One of your employment by a member of the HR team.
It is Cundall’s policy that any medicated items will not be prescribed or distributed to any member of staff in case of allergic reaction.
Poor lighting/ventilation
Fooling around
Ignoring health and safety rules
