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Comply at Work safety snippets Upcoming Courses
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Who is responsible for safety
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Accident reporting
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Winter driving
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Christmas shutdown
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Free MP3s
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In the Spotlight
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December 2015
P2 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Comply at Work OUR UPCOMING TRAINING COURSES…. Ask us about our special offers: Pick n mix sessions, free seminars and discounts for retained clients.
Thursday 14 January 2016 Emergency First Aid at Work Friday 15 January 2016 – pm Manual Handling Awareness and Asbestos Awareness
Places go quickly, so don’t delay, call us now to book your place.
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P3
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Who is responsible for safety? An exercise by the HSE has highlighted that staff may think that health and safety isn’t their responsibility. What are the potential implications? In October 2015, the HSE completed a mock trial at a training session. Actors played out what would happen if there had been an incident on site. In this instance the supervisor being questioned was suspected of bypassing health and safety procedures. When the inspector asked him whether he had considered the risks associated with the job, his response was: “that’s not my job, that’s something management or the safety advisor does”. Although this was a mock trial, the HSE stated that the response from the supervisor is similar to what it hears regularly in real-life interviews. What would your staff say? Based on the HSE’s experience, it appears that many employees are keen to run for cover when it comes to taking responsibility for dealing with safety issues. But if staff don’t understand their duties they can be put at risk and the likelihood of an accident increases significantly. Warning. If your staff don’t fully understand their duties regarding your safety procedures, it will be easy for an inspector to pick holes. As such, they could bring a case against you for failing to have appropriate arrangements in place.
Tip 1. Complete a quick test with your staff. Ask them who they think is responsible for making sure that risks have been identified and are being managed appropriately. If they think that it’s down to others, you need to make the situation clear. Tip 2. Engage your staff in the risk assessment process - ask them to identify how to manage the risks associated with their jobs and suggest control measures or precautions. This will help them understand what they should be doing in practise. Tip 3. Task those responsible for monitoring compliance with reviewing your risk assessments etc. This is to check that what’s written down is what’s actually happening in the workplace. Explain to them that if this bears no resemblance, they could struggle to explain themselves to an inspector in the future. If staff don’t actively deal with health and safety issues, the likelihood of an accident and enforcement action increases. Engage them in the risk assessment process by asking them to suggest control measures. Contact us for guidance if necessary. We are here to help. source: Indicator
P4 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Comply at Work
ACCIDENT REPORTING When one of your staff has a serious accident it may be tempting to keep off the HSE’s radar by not reporting it as required, but this isn’t the best strategy, as a company discovered in November 2015. The firm was prosecuted for failing to report an accident under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR). A trainee had two fingers amputated at the company’s premises in December 2012. However, the HSE only became aware of the incident when it was informed by the employee’s family.
Tip 1. If you have a serious accident at work always check the reporting requirements on the HSE’s RIDDOR website http://www.hse. gov.uk/riddor/ do this as soon as possible after the accident to see if it’s reportable and the timescale required to submit the report. Not reporting correctly is a breach of criminal law.
Tip 2. Use the description section of the report to explain what measures you already had in place which should have prevented the accident and any new precautions you plan to implement to avoid a recurrence.
Don’t fall into the trap of not reporting accidents to the HSE. You could be prosecuted, especially if the HSE finds out by other means. Double check the reporting requirements and timeframes whenever a serious accident occurs to ensure compliance. If you are still unsure of the correct procedures or need assistance in investigating an accident or incident, please get in touch. We can assist you through the process. source: Indicator
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P5
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Q&A - how do we prepare for winter driving? Q. Some of our staff drive company vehicles and we want to ensure that they have what’s necessary for winter driving. What’s a sensible kit list? A. The usual winter extras include a scraper, de-icer, highvisibility vest, torch (and batteries), jump leads and low temperature screen wash. If extreme weather is forecast and the journey is unavoidable, encourage them to take a shovel, sleeping bag or blanket, spare clothes, waterproof footwear, non-perishable food/snacks, water, etc. Tip. For good measure, advise driving staff to put loose items in a holdall or lidded box to stop it rattling around in the event of an accident.
source: Indicator
P6 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Comply at Work
Christmas Shutdown at your premises… If you’re closing your premises over the Christmas period, use our checklist to ensure that your property is protected while you’re away. Just drop us an email on info@complyatwork.co.uk to request yours.
It’s a simple checklist that’s designed to remind you what to do. You can also use it to tick off what’s been done and whether further action may be required by others. The risks Unfortunately the festive spirit isn’t shared by everyone. Christmas is a prime time for arson and vandalism to take place. With this in mind, our Checklist will guide you through the process of securing your property and making sure that it’s in one piece when you return from your break.
Tip. Ideally, you should go through this in the days before shutting up shop, then again just before you close the doors for your break.
source: Indicator
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P7
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Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Comply at Work
Two FREE MP3s for the Festive Season Relaxing Holidays New Year - New You Simply click on the links and download to a desktop or laptop. Please feel free to share these download links with anyone you feel would benefit.
Happy Relaxing, and very best wishes for the Season to all our readers.
T he rk o W t a C o m p ly Team e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P9
Comply at Work
in the spotlight Congratulations to JRK Decorators Ltd who have received SMAS accreditation this month with our assistance. Well done also to Beta Building Services Ltd attaining CHAS accreditation and Euromark Marking and Coding Ltd attaining Safe Contractor, both on their initial submissions, with our support. Welcome to our new clients this month: Monitor Creative, Manchester Arrow Security Shutters Ltd, Horwich D Shawcross Roofing Ltd, Wigan We have had once again many delegates through our trainings this month with some very positive feedback coming back via our evaluation forms. Congratulations to all delegates who passed the CIEH Level 2 award In Health and Safety this month. Well done to all. Finally, we are very pleased to announce that we will be employing a full time Principal Consultant and Business Development Manager early in the New Year. More details soon.
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