According to Business Zone, up to 150,000 people die every year in the UK from injuries which could have been helped with first aid treatment. And although these life threatening injuries may not be particularly common within the workplace, there are around 200,000 minor and major injuries in UK workplaces every year – which is… Read More
Working safely at height According to the Health and Safety Executive working at height means: “work in any place where, if precautions were not taken, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. You are working at height if you: ● work above ground/floor level ● could fall from an edge, through… Read More
Do you need a lone worker policy? A lone worker is an employee who works in isolation, without close or direct supervision. If your company employs lone workers then its important to remember that out of sight shouldn’t mean out of mind – you need to make sure that their needs are considered just… Read More
Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net According to the Telegraph, mental health issues account for more than 70 million lost working days each year; that’s 38% of all days lost due to sickness. Sickness causes a loss of production or output and increased pressure on remaining staff. It is very difficult to plan for sickness… Read More
Site supervision is a vital role in the construction industry, where safety is a key issue – that needs a lot of attention! As the site supervisor, it’s your job to both assess and manage safety hazards in the workplace. Responsibilities may also include managing and instructing the site workers, setting goals for the team,… Read More
Why do you need first aiders in the workplace? Workplaces can be dangerous. Whether you work in a low risk environment like an office or a library or a higher risk workplace like a warehouse, construction site or assembly plant, accidents can happen. Ensuring that you have first aiders in place can help to prevent… Read More
On 6th April 2015 the existing CDM Regulations will be repealed and replaced with the above. The changes being made are far reaching and, in our view, seek to place greater control over smaller construction projects and the role of contractors. This is a fundamental change and you are advised that having a good knowledge… Read More
Asbestos was commonly used within machinery, homes and commercial buildings up until 1999 when it was banned. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that asbestos kills approximately 5000 workers every year, more than the number of people killed on the road. It can take 15 to 60 years for any symptoms to develop after… Read More
The HSE are launching a new initiative to raise the awareness of construction works to the risks arising from exposure to asbestos. While this is not new, what is of interest is the statistics attached to the campaign and a rising number of companies being prosecuted for material breaches of safety around asbestos, this is… Read More
Employing the services of a contractor is a little bit like marriage – you don’t really know what you are getting until 12 months later! On many occasions, issues reported by the HSE on where something has gone wrong involve an external contractor. Take for example the recent incident where a construction project had to… Read More