Tel 01204 772977 or 07792 400 503
Comply at Work Upcoming Courses
P2-3
Will mobile phones soon have a driving mode?
P4-5
Violence at Work Policy
P6-7
Electrical Equipment
P8-9
Free January Workshop
P10-11
Have you tipped your commercial property upside down P12-13 In the Spotlight
P14
December 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.
Emergency First Aid at Work Thurs 25 January 2018 9 – 4.30 pm and Thurs 22 February 2018
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
Will mobile phones soon have a driving mode? Apple’s latest iPhone operating system, iOS 11, includes a do not disturb mode which automatically starts while driving. The company says that its purpose is to plug a safety gap for those iPhone users who don’t have the facility to link to an in-car hands-free system https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208090 How does it work?
Will other manufacturers follow?
The feature activates when the software detects that the phone is in a moving vehicle. It then asks the user to confirm if they are the driver or otherwise. If activated, the system turns off calls, text messages and other notifications.
Other phone manufacturers are coming under pressure from campaigners to provide a similar upgrade. In response to the Apple release, a coalition of road safety charities and organisations has made its view known. The influential pressure group includes some key players: the charity Brake, RAC, Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety, Road Safety GB and RoadPeace. It’s written an open letter warning that technology to automatically prevent distracting alerts while driving is urgently needed.
Note. Using this solution may appear fraught with practical difficulties but it seems that Apple have ironed these out. For example, there’s an option to send a text back to those trying to contact you saying that you will get back to them shortly. Also, if someone really needs to get through, they can include the word “urgent” in their text, to break through the do not disturb feature. Tip. Given: (1) the high level of risk of driving whilst using a handheld phone; (2) that the practice is illegal; and (3) the liability for employers who don’t discourage it, it’s highly advisable to require staff to use this new feature when driving. Of course, this only applies when the option is available.
Value Exponents of the feature say that where its use can be evidenced, drivers may be able to reduce their insurance premiums in the future. It could also form evidence used during road traffic accident investigations.
What’s the concern? The group says that the illegal use of handheld mobile phones at the wheel is at epidemic proportions. Millions of drivers admit to making calls, texting, taking photos and even videoing. Statistics show that a driver using a handset has dangerously slow reaction times and is four times more likely to be involved in a crash that causes injury. Data from the Department for Transport reveals that drivers using handheld phones caused 22 road deaths and 99 serious injuries in a sample year (2015). Tip. Make sure your drivers are aware of your position on mobile phone use whilst driving. The best option is to formalise this in a policy. To summarise: The do not disturb mode activates automatically during driving, stopping calls and notifications on the handset. It’s worth using features such as this if there is no hands-free system. Formalise your arrangements in a driving at work policy. If you would like our free Driving at Work Policy to adopt, please get in touch at info@complyatwork.co.uk 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
Violence at work policy Statistics show that in some industry sectors more than 5% of staff experience violent behaviour or threats whilst they are at work. If your staff are at risk, use our template policy to set out how you manage the issue.
Unpleasant numbers Statistics published by the HSE show that 1.4% of working adults were the victim of one or more violent incident whilst at work in 2015/16 - equating to 350,000 workers. These incidents caused 4,697 physical injuries which were so serious that they had to be reported by employers to the authorities. There is some variation in the frequency of violent incidents between industries, with those most at risk being in the public sector. However, the risk of verbal abuse or assault is common to all sectors and one which you should take account of in your health and safety arrangements. Tip. Our sample violence at work policy contains the key points you’re likely to require. Adapt the document to your specific business using the instructions we’ve provided.
What is violence? As we’ve outlined, the HSE’s definition encompasses verbal threats in addition to assault. We’ve therefore used this to determine the scope of our document. Following a short introduction which explains this definition, the policy has a section where you can describe the particular areas of concern for you and your staff. In section two of the template, tailor the list of staff groups which may be more at risk in your business. As described in section three, employers have a duty of care to protect staff from potential violence. To do this you must assess the risks and monitor that the risk control measures introduced are working effectively. To help make your requirements clear we’ve included a section on management responsibilities. This outlines that line managers have day-to-
day responsibilities including: (1) completing risk assessments which identify when and where staff members are at risk of violence; (2) initiating changes to the physical environment to make it safer where necessary; (3) ensuring that staff follow procedures; and (4) investigating any incidents. Tip. Make use of HSE case studies to identify improvements which you could make in your own workplace, either to the design of the working environment or your procedures. You can incorporate the findings into your risk assessments and policy.
What about the role of staff? Our policy includes a section on employees’ duties. This tells staff that they must follow safety procedures, asks them to raise any concerns and reassures them that they will be supported if they need to withdraw from a situation due to a fear of violence. You may decide that staff need training, e.g. conflict resolution, negotiation, use of lone working technology, incident response and security systems. Indicate who managers should consult with when they decide that training is needed. Outline the subjects which might need to be covered in your training by adding to or amending the list we’ve included in section four. Our policy can be easily adapted to provide an outline of your arrangements including management and employee responsibilities. Use it to explain how workplace design, procedures and training help to reduce the risk for your staff and how you will support staff in the event of an incident. If you would like a free copy of this template please email us at info@ complyatwork.co.uk
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
Electrical equipment “Kodi” boxes condemned as a serious fire risk Streaming. Safety campaign group Electrical Safety First has tested popular cheap unbranded media players, known as Kodi or IPTV boxes, and none of them passed. According to this group of experts, the devices represent a fire hazard, an electric shock hazard or both. What are these? An IPTV box allows the streaming of media content from the Internet or a USB device onto a TV. Although these devices appear legitimate, in practice many have been altered to illegally enable access to copyrighted material or subscription channels for free. Tip. The only way to ensure safety of these devices is to buy a known brand from a reputable supplier. If it’s unbranded or been modified in any way, it may not be safe and should be unplugged and disposed of. Source: Indicator
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
Free January workshop Monday 29 Jan at 2.00pm – 3.30pm approx IMPORTANT!! ARE YOU AWARE OF GDPR? (General Data Protection Regulations) AND WHAT EXACTLY YOU NEED TO DO TO COMPLY? More data regulations are pending, and they’ll pose big challenges — and big opportunities — for all companies. The latest to put companies on alert is the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation which will go into effect next year. In a recent survey, 92% of U.S. companies said GDPR is a top priority on their data-privacy and security agenda however in Britain that percentage is more like 10%. The law affects all companies that handle data about EU citizens and will be here from 25th May 2018.
Meeting the requirements of any one regulation will not be enough to seriously curtail data breaches. Instead, a full-scale shift in thinking about data security is required. Do YOU know what is expected of you when the 25th May 2018 comes along? Don’t wait until it’s too late! Come along to our FREE afternoon Workshop on Monday 29th January and start the New Year off in the right direction and ensure some peace of mind. Don’t put YOUR business at risk!
The GDPR expands the rights of EU citizens around privacy and protection of personal data. Among other things, it requires that companies maintain adequate data records, disclose data breaches and increase optout options. Stiff fines may await those not in compliance. The GDPR and other regulations underscore just how serious regulators are getting about data protection given continued and high-profile breaches. The toughened focus comes as breaches continue to mount, including recent ones reported by Uber, in which a data breach led to thousands of people’s information being stolen. Had Uber been prosecuted after May 2018, the fine would have been €20 million Euros!
Source: Indicator
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P11
Sn Saf ip ety pe ts P12 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Have you tipped your commercial property upside down? Commercial property owners are often unaware that their property is holding thousands of pounds of unclaimed tax relief in the form of Embedded Capital Allowances (ECA). These are allowances on items of plant, machinery and integral features such as air conditioning, plumbing, wiring, essentially everything that would remain in your property if you tipped it upside down! Amidst the current high profile of tax avoidance and evasion this is one area of real tax planning that remains as one of the most legitimate and under utilised forms of tax relief available. These allowances are a valuable form of tax relief available to anyone owning, buying or selling commercial property and are available on a wide range of properties providing you are a UK tax payer.
It is very unlikely that your Accountant will have already made a claim as a Chartered Surveyor will need to visit the property and a Chartered Tax Advisor prepare a report for acceptance by HMRC. Our process takes 10 weeks to complete, by which time you can have the cash in hand and have 5 years of additional tax relief to look forward to. So far we have uncovered £58m of tax relief for our clients and on average we identify £227K of allowances per claim and still less than 20% of property owners have claimed the Capital Allowances they are entitled to. If you would like to find out more please call Carol Bartram on 07948 948666 and mention this Newsletter.
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P13
Comply at Work
in the spotlight Congratulations to our retained clients this month on achieving the following accreditations Mowitt Ltd – CHAS (at first submission) KRW Electrical - CHAS Abstract Scaffolding - CHAS WatchEye Services Ltd - SMAS HCP North West Ltd - SMAS
Welcome to our new Retained Clients: OSS (Manchester) Ltd, Salford Alan Bretherton Groundworks & Plant Hire, Blackburn
STOPPRESS!!! We are pleased to announce that we will have two new full time team members joining us in January 2018. Steve Winstanley, a Chartered Health and Safety Practitioner will be joining Helena Pixton, our Principal Consultant who has been in post for almost a year now. We also welcome Shelagh O’Sullivan who is working towards the NEBOSH Diploma and will be our Health and Safety Co-ordinator supporting the Director and Helena and Steve in their roles. More information to follow soon! Finally, may we wish all our Clients, Associates and Suppliers and Very Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year!
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