Tel 01204 772977 or 07792 400 503
Comply at Work Upcoming Courses
P2-3
H&S Committees
P4-5
Employers’ Liability
P6-7
Waste Management
P8-9
Safe Use of Ladders
P10-11
In the spotlight
P12
August 2017
Sn Saf ip ety pe ts 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.
Thurs 7 Sept Work at Height, Manual Handling and Asbestos Awareness sessions Wed 13 Sept half day Fire Warden Training 1 .00 – 4.00 pm 19 – 21 Sept IOSH Managing Safely (3 days) Thurs 28 Sept 1 day Emergency First Aid at Work Thurs 12 Oct one day Health and Safety Awareness Training PLEASE CONTACT US ON 01204 772977 FOR FURTHER DETAILS
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P3
Sn Saf ip ety pe ts P4 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
A smooth-running H & S committee Are your health and safety committee meetings drawn off track by discussions about leaky boots and other trivia? Are you worried that you’re not covering all you should? What you need is a standard agenda. Why meet? If your organisation has one or more recognised trade unions, then you may have set up a health and safety committee. This is required under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 if two union-appointed representatives request it in writing. Even if your workforce is non-unionised, you may choose to establish a committee to consult on health and safety matters. There’s a duty to consult under the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 . Although this can be met by other means, such as through team meetings or direct discussions, for some businesses it’s easier to achieve this through elected representatives of employee safety at a regular meeting. Get the best results Implementing a health and safety committee meeting is a significant investment of employee time. So having compiled your committee with a good range of staff and management representatives, how do you obtain best value? A common problem is that they get bogged down in trivia. But whilst the concerns of staff must be heard, you also need to make sure that the committee serves its statutory purpose. Our FREE health and safety committee agenda will help you to limit the time wasted on minor details and focus on the strategic points. Good reason
trying to clear a blockage on a circular saw. The worker had pressed the stop button and seen the blade move out of sight into the base of the machine, but he didn’t realise it was still rotating. It was established by investigators that the blade took five minutes to stop rotating - not something that all staff were aware of. Due to this knowledge gap, it wasn’t identified that a brake needed to be fitted. After the hearing an HSE inspector said, “Employees were not represented in safety meetings so that known issues could be highlighted and control measures implemented.” What to include: Tip. The areas which must be covered in your consultations are: 1. The introduction of any measures likely to affect health or safety, including new technology. 2. The delivery of health and safety information and training. 3. The appointment or nomination arrangements for health and safety advisors and similar. We’ve made sure that all of these are included in our template agenda along with the expected standing items such as accidents and incidents; hazard notices/ alerts; audits and inspections; risk assessments; policies; and enforcing authority correspondence/ visits.
There are certain topics on which employers are required to consult, so if the meeting doesn’t cover them, problems could arise. A recent prosecution is a good illustration.
Please get in touch if you would like our free template and we will email one over.
Kalsi Plastics (UK) Ltd was fined £6,000 after an accident in which an employee lost four fingers whilst
Source: Indicator
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P5
Sn Saf ip ety pe ts P6 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Employers’ liability What is “vicarious liability”? You’ve heard that you can be held “vicariously liable” if someone is injured as a result of your work activities. How might you be caught and can you do anything to avoid it? Common law
Connection with the job
“Vicarious liability” means liability for the acts of a third party. This common law “duty of care” applies to all of us as individuals, as well as employers and organisations. To fulfil the duty of care you must take reasonable care to avoid causing harm to others. If you fail to do this, you have been “negligent”. Therefore, as an employer, you could be liable for the acts of your employees.
At the original trial to determine liability for damages P successfully argued that C wasn’t acting within the course of his employment. But the Court of Appeal judge overruled this decision.
Extent of responsibility There clearly has to be a limit. Just because an employee is in paid working time, it doesn’t mean that their employer is responsible for absolutely everything they get up to. For example, if your employee robs a bank or has a fight with a relative, it doesn’t make you responsible for the consequences. However, most circumstances are less black and white. Note. Each case is looked at on its merits to determine whether the employee’s negligent act was committed “during the course of their employment”. Example Mattis v Pollock 2003 was a key case in understanding where the line should be drawn. Mr Pollock (P) was a nightclub owner who employed a bouncer, Mr Cranston (C). C assaulted a customer, who had supposedly been barred from the club, but was fought off by other customers. He went away and returned with a knife brought from home. He came across the customer outside the nightclub and stabbed him in the back. The injuries resulted in paraplegia.
Even though the stabbing hadn’t taken place on the premises, it was connected with the earlier incidents in the nightclub. The court also placed weight on evidence that P knew C tended to be violent and had positively encouraged the behaviour in his instructions to C. Note. This case was quite extreme, but it’s usually much clearer than this as to whether someone was acting in the course of their employment; in other words, were they at work at the time and undertaking a task which was conceivably part of the job? Avoiding it? You can’t completely avoid vicarious liability but it can be controlled. Tip 1. Having good Health and Safety systems in place will limit the risk of claims arising from the acts or omissions of your employees. Give clear instructions to staff about safe working and, if necessary, take disciplinary action to reinforce. Tip 2. Vicarious liability for the acts of employees is covered by Employers’ Liability insurance, which is a legal requirement. So, if you think that your business could be held liable for the acts of another, contact your insurer immediately. To summarise: You could be vicariously liable if an employee acts in an unsafe manner and causes injury or damage. Your only defence is running a ‘tight ship’ and ensuring staff follow safe systems of work at all times. Source: Indicator
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P7
Sn Saf ip ety pe ts P8 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Waste management Consignment note We recently dealt with a query on this topic. We hope the following information will clarify. If you send hazardous waste from your premises, you must complete a consignment note. Legal requirement The Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 introduced the duty to record the transfer of hazardous waste from a producer to a waste carrier on a Consignment Note. In summary, this document asks the producer to detail the waste they wish to be collected, the quantity, the chemical/ biological components and the physical form of the product, i.e. liquid, solid etc. Update On 1 April 2016 the government introduced a changes to the procedure. Previously, any organisation that produced more than 500kg of hazardous waste in a year had a duty to register with the Environment Agency (EA). They received a registration number to include on the consignment note. This duty has been dropped. As a producer you must now use the first six letters of your business name. As before, you must add a five number reference code of your choosing. Note. This change only applies in England. Producers in Wales are still required to register with Natural Resources Wales. Warning Do not be tempted to continue using your registration number. If you’re audited, the EA will deem that the note hasn’t been completed properly. Plus, the carrier is unlikely to accept it. If you would like a template of a waste consignment note to use, please get in touch and we will email one over. Source: Indicator
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P9
Sn Saf ip ety pe ts P10 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Safe use of ladders Combination ladders
Duty holders and users should ensure that:
Following a recent fatal accident investigation, HSE is strongly advising all duty holders and users of combination ladders to ensure that they:
• pre-use checks on the ladders are thorough, checking the components and operation of each and every locking mechanism (often one or two per rung) and the associated release mechanism(s);
• carry out pre-use checks; • use them in accordance with instructions; • check the locking mechanism(s). Failure to do so could result in serious accidents. Telescopic ladders. The use of telescopic ladders is growing more popular due to their ease of storage and convenience; however, there are numerous issues with many of these products due to the number of components involved and their construction. Namely:
• the ladders are stored well, transported carefully and maintained (including cleaning) as dirt and grit etc. can affect locking mechanisms; • they understand the limitations and likely performance of their ladder, e.g. strength, bending etc. Trading Standards are aware of the substandard products and have been taking action, e.g. http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/council/news_events/ news-updates/2017/march/news_items/warning_ after_safety_tests_lead_to_over_32000_telescopic_ ladders_being_withdrawn_from_sale.asp
• they are often rated for a lower load (person, tools and materials);
Guidance
• the stiles are prone to greater bending;
HSE will be amending its ladder guidance INDG455: Safe use of ladders and stepladders: A brief guide
• they are prone to greater bending of the frame. The issues are likely to increase with the height of the ladder.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg455.pdf to highlight these two issues. Link
The situation is compounded by significant numbers of substandard products that are being made available on the UK market. These are often low cost products that are attractive and are imported from outside the EU. Some of these have been implicated in serious accidents, including fatalities. The relevant European Standard – BS EN 131-6:2015 – provides more information on the design requirements.
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Source: HSE
Safety Snippets | P11
Comply at Work
in the spotlight Welcome to our new clients this month: Anderton Activity Centre, Rivington Woodmines Ltd, Wigan Unity Homes, Manchester and Liverpool OCM Products Ltd, Burscough Telford Construction, Ashton-in Makerfield Brinsop Inn, Westhoughton Acme Facilities Group Ltd, Blackburn Hannon Holmes Sales and Lettings, Swinton Choice Electrical Ltd, Bolton GeoCon Site Investigations Ltd, Stockport. King Construction, Speke
Congratulations to the following retained Clients: Red Rose Landscapes on achieving CHAS accreditation. K Darlington & Son Ltd on achieving CHAS accreditation. Lyons Stonework on achieving SMAS accreditation Diamond Business Interiors Ltd on achieving SMAS accreditation P&J Electrical (NW) Ltd on achieving SMAS accreditation
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