Tel 01204 772977 or 07792 400 503
Comply at Work safety snippets & business bytes One day first aid course
P3
HSE fine ÂŁ5.5m
P5
Developing Personal & Team Resilience
P7
Road Safety Week
P9
What’s On Your Keyboard
P11
Positivity P13
November 2013
Sn Saf ip ety pe ts P2 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Comply at Work
One day emergency first aid course Accredited to level 2 Friday 29th November 2013 Call us now for details! Tel 01204 772977 or 07792 400 503 Free manual and id card Hse approved and certificated Competitive price just ÂŁ85 +vat
Please let us know if you have any dietary, access or learning requirements
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
Comply at Work
HSE fines UK businesses £5.5m for health and safety failings Under the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012, companies that break health and safety laws are liable for fines to cover HSE related costs, including call-outs, inspections, investigations and taking enforcement action. It has now been revealed that businesses were fined a total of £5,532,565 for such breaches by the watchdog since October 2012. These can range from slips, trips and falls, right down to not providing enough toilets or washing facilities. The sectors that received the most fines were manufacturing (38 per cent) and construction (36 per cent). At the bottom of the table were water and waste management (three per cent) and agriculture (two per cent).
These figures show that the FFI scheme is a force to be reckoned with and that companies are clearly bearing the brunt of having poor, or even non-existent, health and safety measures in place. These fines would be easily avoidable if companies took a few simple steps to boost their in-house health and safety policies. To ensure that your company is complying with correct requirements, it is good practice to have a comprehensive plan in place for dealing with HSE inspections and that your employees know the part they have to play. Source: HSM
The HSE dispatched fives batches of invoices throughout the year at two-monthly intervals to 11,281 businesses. The region to receive the most invoices was the North West and the least the North East.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has fined UK firms more than £5.5 million for health and safety failings under its ‘Fees for Intervention’ scheme (FFI) since launching one year ago
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P5
Sn Saf ip ety pe ts Thursday 16 January 2014 To celebrate the opening of our new training facility we are offering a FREE taster session on this fun and interactive yet valuable session Personal Resilience. Places are limited and on a first come, first served basis. Please contact us as soon as possible to register your interest and further details will be issued nearer the time
P6 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Comply at Work
Developing Personal & Team Resilience Training Outline Stress and its effects are the biggest reason for staff absenteeism. More & more pressure is being placed on many of us with a less secure working environment. We are being pushed to out limits. This taster explores resilience, what it is and how we can develop skills to boost our ability to cope through testing times both as individuals and as a team.
Date: 16th January 2014
Looking at emotional strengths and developing practical and effective ways to strengthen and develop these skills. We will explore triggers to stress, habits and behaviours, our ability to communicate and the choices we make that impacts on how we ‘see’ situations. The emphasis for session is based on the understanding that developing resilience factors has a proactive approach, is sustainable and reflective of positive psychology.
9.00am – 10.30 am
Comply at Work Training Centre, Horwich , Bolton.
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P7
Sn Saf ip ety pe ts http://www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk/
P8 | Safety Snippets
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Comply at Work
Still driven to distraction?
Road Safety Week beginning 18th November, will focus on drivers avoiding distractions, such as mobile phones. Why should you promote this message to your staff? Hazard. According to police and Department for Transport reports, driver distraction remains a major cause of death and serious injury on the UK road network. Drivers are continuing to use their mobile phones, programming hand-held sat-nav systems and writing e-mails when they should be focused on the road. Work-related incidents. Research completed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents indicates that around 150 people are killed or seriously injured in crashes involving someone who was driving, riding or otherwise using the road for work purposes every week. This is many more fatalities than are recorded in the workplace. Blame the boss. When questioned by the police, drivers often state that the reason they’re answering calls etc. is because of pressure put on them by their employer. As yet, no business has been prosecuted for employees using a mobile phone etc., but there’s no reason why this couldn’t happen.
Legislation. The HSE’s position on road safety is “health and safety law applies to on-the-road work activities as to all work activities and the risks should be effectively managed within a health and safety system” . This means that in the event of a serious accident, charges could be brought under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 if you breach your duty of care towards their staff and others. If you haven’t already, implement a formal driving at work policy to set out your position. It should state that members of staff must adhere to road safety laws and not use a mobile phone while driving and use Road Safety Week (18-24 November) to remind staff about your policy. In the event of an accident it’s possible that an employer could be prosecuted if it’s proven they haven’t managed the use of phones and other gadgets. Having a driving at work policy in place is a must.
Comply at Work can assist with writing a Policy to reflect your company’s requirements. We also offer fleet driver assessments and training. Please get in touch if we can help!
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
Comply at Work
What’s on your keyboard? Nasty! It’s cold and ‘flu season again, and it appears that we’re still not doing anything like enough to stop the spread of germs around our workplaces. A recent study completed for a national newspaper, identified that computer equipment and door handles are covered with bacteria. Findings. A toilet door that was touched after staff had washed their hands had 22,000 bacteria per swab. More worrying was the fact that, on average, computer keyboards have 7,500 bacteria per swab. This is in addition to the crumbs and other debris that fester under the keys. Prevention is better than cure. It’s a bit draconian to ban staff from eating and drinking at their desks; however, it’s not unreasonable to expect them to clean up after themselves.
Tip 1. A quick Internet search, or visit to a stationery shop, will provide many options for keeping the bacteria count down on keyboards and other computer equipment. The best option is to use wipes. Make them available to staff and suggest that they use them regularly. Tip 2. In addition, make sure that your cleaners are wiping keyboards down and running a vacuum over them to remove crumbs etc. Keyboards and door handles are harbouring thousands of potentially harmful bacteria. As we’re heading into cold and ‘flu season, remind staff to wash their hands and to clean keyboards with wipes.
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Safety Snippets | P11
Bu By sin te ess s P12 | Business Bytes
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503
Positivity For those of you who live in Britain, have lived there, visited or just heard about here, you will be aware of one lasting truth; us Brits love talking about the weather. As a nation, with the possible exception of queuing, it could be our greatest talent. We can slide in a comment about the weather into any given situation. ‘How was that new restaurant last night?’, ‘Great until we had to walk back to the car bloody freezing’. Weather also doubles up as the go-to topic when all other words fail us. An instant point of rapport with a complete stranger AND an excuse for a good old moan. As you head towards winter there’s a danger of conversation becoming one-dimensional. The optimism, enthusiasm and rejuvenation that summer brings is quickly replaced by pessimism, retreat and hibernation. ‘Apparently it’s going to snow soon’ ‘I’ve had to put an extra layer on today’ ‘The dark nights are coming in’ ‘Brrr, have you felt that wind?’
Fact. Winter is one of the least surprising aspects about living here. Time to warm up those winter blues and turn the pessimism into positivity. Winter shouldn’t be an excuse to groan. It’s an opportunity. It’s not an ending, it’s a beginning. Here are ten reasons why winter is wonderful: •
Hearty soups
•
Seeing your breath
•
Eating a little too much
•
Log fires
•
Frost on trees
•
Arriving home
•
Much better telly
•
Robins
•
Snow angels
•
Christmas
It tickles me that winter is greeted with such surprise. Here’s a tip, it happened last year and it will happen next.
e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
Source: Michael Heppell
Business Bytes | P13
Comply at Work
a d v e rt ise wit h u s f or u n d er ÂŁ10 p e r m on t h
At Finchey Ltd, we aim to be your dedicated supplier. We promise to offer 100% Customer dedication followed up by our Customer Service delivery. Our Team is focused on providing Quality Products at Great Prices, we have a National Business Development Manager who has experience of working with a leading manufacturer in the industry and we believe we can carry that expertise forward to offer you the best service at the best prices. Finchey Ltd was formed as we felt that there was a gap in the market for excellent customer service and leading-edge industry advice coupled with quality products that cater for all budgets and business sizes. We fully understand your business needs & requirements for your PPE supplies, therefore we aim to give the most competitive quote in the market place for with right products that do the job. For your FREE, no obligation quote please contact our Team on 01204 417151
Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503 e-mail info@complyatwork.co.uk www.complyatwork.co.uk
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