Tel 01204 772977 or 07792 400 503
Comply at Work safety snippets & business bytes Upcoming Courses
P3
Unwanted Christmas Present
P4-5
Cyber Crime
P6-7
Why’s That Good
P8-9
In the Spotlight
P10-11
December 2014
Sn Saf ip ety pe ts P2 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Comply at Work
UPCOMING COURSES PLANNED FOR THE NEW YEAR
CIEH Level 2 Award In Health and Safety – one day course One Day Emergency First Aid training Asbestos Awareness Manual Handling Awareness DSE assessor Training
We are yet to schedule the dates for the above courses in January/February.
Please let us know if you would like to register your interest for any of the above as soon as possible to reserve your place! DON’T MISS OUT.
Tel 01204 772977
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P3
Sn Saf ip ety pe ts If you would like any further advice on any aspect of fire safety, or would like our FREE Arson checklist with no obligation, please get in touch.
Source: Indicator
P4 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Comply at Work
Unwanted Christmas present You’re closing your business for a Christmas break but have heard from the fire brigade that it’s a prime time for an arson attack. What are some simple steps to make sure that on your return, everything is just as you left it?
As you left it
Vehicles
Premises that are going to be empty for a period of time can be a problem. We all want to return from our break to find things just as we left them. Our source at the fire brigade has informed us that holiday periods such as Christmas are unfortunately prime times for arson and vandalism to take place. 45% of all serious fires result from arson and 80% of businesses never recover.
Don’t leave vehicles on public view. Cars and vans can be broken into and thieves may set fire to them to avoid detection. Such a fire could lead to more than just the loss of a vehicle!
Arson is the largest single cause of major fires in the United Kingdom, currently costing an estimated £2.2 billion a year, which equates to £44 million every week. Thanks to annual shutdowns, quiet business parks and long hours of darkness, there are ample opportunities for attacks to take place. However, there are some basic precautions to ensure that you’re not affected.
Action plan This should include all the measures you can take to reduce arson to a minimum. For example, decide how you’ll deal with packaging and waste paper if it’s normally kept outside. Start by looking for sources of combustible material and consider how easy it would be for an intruder to ignite them. Tip. Waste materials such as pallets and packaging materials should be kept locked away or disposed of. If you use a skip, try to get it emptied before the break or ask your skip provider to deliver one with a lockable lid. Pallets and other wood should not be stored outside, so ensure your plan deals with this. Combustible material should be kept away from perimeter areas where a cigarette end or match could be thrown into it. It’s not just deliberate attacks you should consider; a discarded cigarette or New Year’s Eve firework may not be noticed during a shutdown. Make sure there aren’t any chemical containers left out; even empty ones may still have fumes which could explode in a fire.
Tip. If possible, park vans and vehicles away from any buildings. If the worst case happens and they’re set alight, this will reduce the risk of a fire spreading to your buildings.
Lighting The use of good external security lighting can help to deter intruders. When you review your external lighting make sure that there are no dark spots close to your premises. Tip. If you feel that your lighting leaves some dark areas of your site, hire some temporary lighting to cover the holiday period. By using it, you can save on the expense of permanent lighting and move it to the areas you feel it’ll have the best effects. Don’t put the lights too close to your perimeter as you may upset your neighbours (especially if you illuminate their bedrooms at night) and they may become a target for children throwing stones etc.
To summarise: Deal with any dark corners of the site and make sure there’s nothing which will support a fire if left unguarded. Make sure any skips are emptied before the site is closed, or if not, that there’s a lockable lid to prevent access.
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P5
Bu By sin te ess s Tip 1
Tip 3
Know what really matters to your organisation
Understand the risks – what could go wrong?
Determine the information assets held by your business, including tangible assets such as laptops and servers, and also data, IP and your reputation. Then assess the impact to your business of loss, damage or disruption to them. Could you carry on? Would your customers be affected? Would you be able to fully recover and how long would it take?
It’s important to identify the types of incident you could be subject to. Some of the most common ones are:
Working out which of your assets matter most, and the implications of an incident involving them, means you can prioritise what needs protecting.
Tip 2 Work out who might want to attack Understanding who might want to obtain your information, damage your reputation or steal your assets can help you think about what type of attack you might face. Typically, threats come from one of four groups: • Organised crime
• Denial of service (DoS) – attackers send thousands of requests to your website to effectively bring it to a standstill • Defacement – attackers gain access to your website or social media accounts and post offensive messages • Phishing – an email which appears to be legitimate is sent to a user and their username, passwords or bank details are captured so that money can be stolen. To what extent are you at risk from these? You also need to gain assurance that your suppliers are operating effective controls as they too could be targeted as a way of reaching you.
Tip 4 Get the basics right
• Hacktivists • Cyber espionage – nation state • Insider Consider which risks are most relevant to you, including the implications of the locations you do business in - some countries may monitor internet traffic or have less stringent privacy legislation for example. On the insider threat, ensure that the access your employees have to your systems is appropriate and necessary.
Simple measures can make a big difference. The government’s Cyber Essentials scheme offers very useful advice on basic controls. Review these controls against the controls in your organisation and re-mediate any gaps. In addition, allocate responsibility for cyber security to a specific individual in your organisation and create an information security policy (ISP), however basic.
Tip 5 Your people are your biggest strength, and your weakest link Cyber security is not just about technology – it’s also about people. Employees who don’t understand cyber threats – such as clicking on a link in a spam email – present a significant risk. That’s why it’s vital to develop cyber security training for staff which should be delivered at least annually. If you actively engage employees, they are more likely to take security seriously rather than regarding it as an inconvenience.
P6 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Comply at Work
Cyber Crime Cyber security is a growing issue for all businesses. It’s easy to think that cyber attacks are a problem which only affect governments and multinational companies – but in fact according to the Federation of Small Businesses (May 2013) , 41% of SMEs were impacted at some level by cyber crime last year. Please find below five top tips on what SMEs can do to protect themselves against this threat. All businesses, regardless of size, need to take steps to protect themselves from cyber attacks – yet, worryingly, recent research from KPMG found that more than two thirds of companies disregard this threat. Fortunately, simple measures can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to attack.
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Business Bytes | P7
Bu By sin te ess s P8 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Comply at Work
Why’s that good? For better Presentations, play the ‘Why’s that good game…’ Have you ever been bored during someone else’s presentation? Has someone else ever been bored during yours? It’s notoriously hard to align your agenda to other people. And, failing to do so causes big problems – strategies don’t land, stakeholders don’t engage, teams don’t buy-in, communications take too long ... and don’t work. To help both you and them value your communications more, when preparing, play the “Why’s That Good Game”. Imagine your audience saying “Why’s that good?” to your agenda, and you replying with “Well, that’s a good thing for you because.” So, for a leader outlining her new strategy...
Leader: Here’s the new strategy Audience: Why’s that good? Leader: Well, that’s a good thing for you because you will know the direction we’re going Audience: Why’s that good? Leader: Well, that’s a good thing for you because you’ll know the changes to your role going forwards
To secure instant buy-in, since the last iteration is their agenda, start there and work backwards: “I want to show you simple changes to make, to help you be more successful and enjoy your job more. To help you do this, I’m going to show you the changes to your role going forwards, by outlining the direction we’re going. I’ll do this by sharing our new strategy with you.” Frame communications from their agenda, and they’re more likely to buy into yours.
Audience: Why’s that good? Leader: Well, that’s a good thing for you because you’ll learn simple changes to make, to be more successful and to enjoy your job more
Action point So, to secure instant buy-in with your next communication, play the “Why’s That Good Game”. Start with the last iteration, since that’s the phrase most likely to get them listening. Source: Andy Bounds
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Business Bytes | P9
Comply at Work
spotlight
Here’s a summary of the latest news from Comply at Work… Our recent Fire Safety and Fire Marshall training was very well-received. Here are some comments from our evaluation sheets: ‘Fantastic Training course, well presented and very informative’ ‘Enjoyed the course, feel a lot better about my role now’… All delegates on our recent CIEH Level 2 Award in Health and Safety have passed the exam and have been awarded their Certificates – well done all. We will be running a further course in eh New Year. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more of book on. Haigh Plumbing and Heating Ltd have now completed three days of training with us, including Emergency First Aid, Work at Height, Asbestos Awareness and Manual Handling for several of their staff. Crosshill School, Blackburn have undertaken moving and handling training and associated risk assessments. St Gobain, Rochdale has now completed DSE assessments for all their offices staff, some of which are to be trained as DSE assessors by Comply at Work in due course. The Business Growth Hub hired our fantastic training facility for two days for a Digital Growth Workshop and gave us excellent feedback on the Comply at Work venue , facilities and service, including our superfast broadband and connectivity. We even had a film crew joining us for the first day, reporting back on the hub’s ongoing success with their clients. The Growth Hub plans to use our facilities even more in 2015 and we very much look forward to working with them. For more information on our training room and venue hire, please contact us. Visitors are also welcome to look round and businesses can use our meeting rooms for an hour or so, FREE of charge for client/staff meetings if the space is free – just call us to book in.
Finally we are pleased to welcome our new clients this month: Highbank Building Services, Bolton Andrew Lee Ceramics, Hindley Heiss Weiss Children’s Centre, Salford Halbro Sportswear, Horwich Amplify, London EC2 Lancashire Laminators, Darwen Lancashire Steel Buildings, Ltd, Burnley Prestige Law Solicitors, Bolton
Sue, Shaneal and the Comply at Work Team would like to wish all our Clients, colleagues, suppliers and contacts a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
Sue with on of the film crew at the Business Growth Hub Meeting
The Authority in Access Ladder Log Safety Inspection System
We thought that I would give you the heads up about the Ladder Exchange which starts on the 1st September and lasts until 31st December this year.
Ensure you meet current Working at Height (WAHR 2005) Ladderstore have been part of this great initiative for over 6 years and we give customers regulations with our adhesive 10% off any orders that are to replace damaged ladders. If customers are unsure about the stickers, tags, holders state of the ladder they can always contact us on 01204 590232and and webusiness can advise them or if it is a large number of ladders go out to check them. packs See the general details at http://www.ladderexchange.org.uk/
The Authority in Access
Services We Offer Ladder Log Safety Inspection System • • • •
Site Surveys for Bespoke Access EnsureTraining you meet current Ladder & PASMA Workingdesign at Height (WAHR 2005) Special Application regulations with our adhesive On Site Ladder Inspections stickers, tags, holders and business packs
Visit Ladderstore.com or call our team on 01204 590 232 Services We Offer • • • •
Site Surveys for Bespoke Access Ladder & PASMA Training Special Application design On Site Ladder Inspections
Visit Ladderstore.com or call our team on 01204 590 232
C @
COMPLY at WORK HEALTH & SAFETY CONSULTANCY AND TRAINING
adve r tise with us for unde r ÂŁ10 pe r month Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503 e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk For more information call 01925 599760
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