Tel 01204 772977 or 07792 400 503
Comply at Work Upcoming Courses
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Insurance P4-5 Cleaners clean up Heads Together campaign In the spotlight
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June 2017
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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. Tues 20 June pm Manual Handling and Asbestos Awareness Training Mon 26 June Face Fit Testing and Train the tester course Thurs 29 June Emergency First Aid £85.00 + VAT pp Mon 10 July 1 – 4 pm Fire Safety/Fire Marshall Training £75.00 + VAT pp Thurs 27 July Emergency First Aid £85.00 + VAT pp FREE Personal Development Workshops Fri 23 June for 4 weeks (every Friday – full funded for qualifying Greater Manchester businesses). Places are limited on all these courses. Please contact us on 01204 772977 now to register your interest.
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
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To summarise: An insurance policy cannot indemnify you against a fine, but it can cover defence and prosecution costs. However, most employers’ and public liability policies include this cover, so you don’t need to invest in such a package.
P4 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Insurance
False protection With HSE costs and fines ever increasing, retained support packages that include enforcement and expenses insurance can be tempting. Is this the way to go? Total cover. Safety support packages which appear to protect you from fines and costs can be very tempting. Packages offered by a number of large providers cover everything from safety consultancy, document drafting and vetting to court representation and more. In short, they offer a one-stop shop for safety compliance.
Tip 2. Don’t assume you are covered as some insurers put exclusions in the underwriting conditions. Your broker or insurer will be able to clarify what’s in your policy.
Looks good. Due to some clever marketing tactics, you might sign up in the belief that even if you’re prosecuted and fined, the company that supports you will cover any potential financial burden. Isn’t that too good to be true?
Trap. Although you might assume that the provider will have your back if you need its support, it may not be as keen to pay as you’d hope. The provider is unlikely to pay out if it’s identified that you have not followed its health and safety systems to the letter. For example, if you have failed to obtain a full set of training records.
Is this what happens? In fact, any fine for a criminal offence, e.g. a breach of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 , has to be paid by either the individual or company that’s been prosecuted. There’s no way around this. The packages offered by these large Consultancy firms will only cover legal defence and prosecution costs.
As a small consultancy, Comply at Work does not provide this insurance cover as it would be over and above our Clients’ requirements. We aim to keep our costs as reasonable as possible and don’t need to charge high fees to cover these policies which add no real value. We provide honest, straightforward support as and when our Clients require it.
Tip 1. In most instances, you don’t need whoever supports you with safety matters to provide insurance cover, as it should be included in your employers’ liability and public liability policies.
Source: Indicator
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
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Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Cleaners clean up 22 cleaning staff have been awarded thousands of pounds in compensation after their healthcare employer caused their ill health. What happened and what could have been done to prevent the situation? In 2010 a chemical called Actichlor was introduced at Torbay Hospital. The disinfectant, which comes in the form of tablets or granules, is commonly used in healthcare settings. Its purpose is to kill bacteria, fungi, yeasts, viruses, etc. For example, it is a reliable substance to use when cleaning up spillages of blood or body fluids. The staff at Torbay Hospital mixed the substance with hot water in small enclosed rooms where there was little ventilation. Unbeknown to them it should have been diluted with cold water in a well-ventilated area. As a result, hazardous levels of the chlorine became concentrated in the air where the mixing took place and this was inhaled. Ill effects The cleaners suffered from a multitude of health problems including nose sores, runny eyes and wheezy coughs. Some even had to take early retirement. When they voiced their concerns to management nothing was done to rectify the issues raised. It was at this point that the cleaners spoke to representatives of the public service union UNISON. It referred the case to a firm of solicitors who eventually secured an award of £70,000 compensation for the group of staff affected. What went wrong? The incorrect procedure for mixing the chemical was only uncovered during the investigation by the solicitors. On further digging it emerged that staff had not been trained in the correct method to use. Some effort had been made by issuing masks and goggles. But the masks weren’t effective and the goggles didn’t fit those staff who wore glasses.
How could this have been avoided? One look at the safety data sheet (SDS) which comes with this substance shows that it causes irritation to the eyes and respiratory system. SDSs follow a standard sequence of headings, and section seven is where you will find the instructions for safe handling. In this case the text describes the need for: (1) good ventilation; (2) avoiding contact with the skin, eyes and clothing; (3) removing contaminated clothing promptly; (4) washing the hands and face before eating, drinking or smoking; (5) keeping the container tightly sealed; (6) avoiding mixing with acids; and more. Tip 1. Refer to the SDS when drawing up your COSHH/ DSEAR assessment Tip 2. Once the COSHH/DSEAR assessment has been written, ensure that all staff are trained in its contents and provided with the right personal protective equipment. Tip 3. Your supplier is legally obliged to supply an SDS to business users. If they don’t do this automatically, ask them to provide one. In Summary: When planning to introduce a hazardous substance, write a COSHH/DSEAR assessment using easily obtained information from the safety data sheet and train staff in safe methods of working with the product. Comply at Work can assist with the developing COSHH and DSEAR assessments if required, just call us to discuss.
Source: Indicator e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
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Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
Heads Together campaign The Heads Together campaign, launched with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, has been introduced to help people with mental health issues and tackle the associated stigma https://www.headstogether.org.uk/ about-heads-together/
Should you join up? When dealing with issues such as stress in the workplace, it’s much easier to use an existing campaign than to generate the same momentum on your own. By signing up as a supporter you can use films, messages and other materials from the campaign to promote openness about mental health within your organisation. You can also use the Heads Together supporter logo. Comply at Work will soon be offering training in Mental Resilience, please contact us for further details.
Source: Indicator
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
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Comply at Work
in the spotlight Congratulations to our Clients this month who have achieved the following accreditations: MEPS Ltd, Bolton - CHAS We would also like to welcome several new retained clients on board: Insolito Bar & Pizzeria, Manchester Atmostherm Service Ltd, Worsley LK Group Ltd, Bury Some of our other client work this month includes: Development of bespoke electrical safety training for Aqualease Ltd, Blackburn; Development and delivery of bespoke RAMS (Site Risk assessment/Method statement) training for C Plumb Ltd, Wigan; Delivery of bespoke Manual Handling and Asbestos Awareness Training for SDH Building Services, Bolton; Noise Surveys and Air sampling for several clients; Health and Safety Audits and Gap analyses for several clients Fire Risk Assessments – Saint Gobain, Rochdale and HCS Cleaning Ltd, Bolton Bespoke Manual Handling training for CP Decorators Ltd, Bolton. Risk assessments for St Anne’s Miniature Railway, Lytham
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