Whirlowdale committed to Health & Safety
09/02/2012 Whirlowdale has appointed Vita Safety Ltd to act as its Health and Safety Competent Advisor and to provide consultancy services.
http://www.whirlowdale.com/news_article/23.aspxWhirlowdale Health and Safety Monitoring
The role of Vita Safety Ltd will be to assist Whirlowdale with implementing a structured and robust set of health and safety management arrangements. This includes the policy, organisation and specific assistance with improving the content and communication of risk assessments and safe working procedures.
In addition this they will act as Whirlowdale’s ‘Competent Person’ (as required by regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999), and will provide on-site advice and support with implementing new procedures and training staff in their health and safety responsibilities. This will be vital in developing their skills to complete risk assessments and monitor health and safety in their areas of responsibility.
Managing Director, Andrew Pearce comments : “The health and safety of our employees, subcontractors, clients and the people living in the communities in which we work are paramount to us at Whirlowdale. Our staff deserve a safe working environment, and we strive to minimise the risks that they and any of our subcontractors are exposed to during their working day. Safety management is integral to all our working practices.”
Whirlowdale is committed to a policy of continual improvement throughout all of its depots, and sees this appointment as a positive step forward to achieving this goal.
Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) Change – 6 April 2012
From 6 April 2012, subject to Parliamentary approval, RIDDOR’s over three day injury reporting requirement will change. From then the trigger point will increase from over three days’ to over seven days’ incapacitation (not counting the day on which the accident happened).
Incapacitation means that the worker is absent or is unable to do work that they would reasonably be expected to do as part of their normal work.
Employers and others with responsibilities under RIDDOR must still keep a record of all over three day injuries – if the employer has to keep an accident book, then this record will be enough.
The deadline by which the over seven day injury must be reported will increase to 15 days from the day of the accident.
New guidance that explains the change will be available to download from the HSE website on 16 January 2012.
Also see:http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/reporting-change.htm
Hi everyone,
Just returned from the IOSH (www.iosh.co.uk) annual food and drink manufacturers conference, which was held at the Nottingham Belfry Hotel. Once all the write-ups and photos are available I’ll be sure to share them. High points for me included Gerrard Hand’s (new IOSH President to be) summing up and excellent speaking/light hearted approach, with a serious message: health and safety professionals should be proud of our profession. We have one of the best health and safety records in Europe, which hasn’t come about through chance. Also, Simon Hatson delivered a great presentation on maintenance at Britvic and there were many other insightful speakers. Big thanks to Neil Catton (Director of Health and Safety at the Shropshire Group) and the working party for another successful conference.
Do you want to know how health and safety saves business money and saves lives? See http://www.iosh.co.uk/news_and_events/campaigns/new_campaign_life_savings.aspx
1 in 7 UK residents suffers from some type of hearing loss. According to a survey by The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) (in 2005) over 9 million are thought to suffer from some degree of hearing loss, the most common cause is age related hearing loss. The second most common is thought to be noise induced hearing loss or NIHL in short.
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Health and safety is at the very heart of any modern commercial enterprise. Whether your business is a global corporate concern or a fresh innovative start-up, it is imperative to have professional health and safety guidance and advice. This is not only because it is a statutory expectation and a moral necessity but because for any profit making organisation, it can lead to long term savings on overheads, a more efficient workforce and a respected brand in the community.
As there so many health and safety consultants available, how do you know which organisation will suit your business or industry?
The approach of the organisation says everything. Because all industries have specific needs, you need to know that they will work in partnership with you, rather than just sell you a health and safety policy, or administer a health and safety audit and then disappear into the night. An on-going business relationship will allow the health and safety consultant to comprehend your individual requirements in order to help you facilitate the perfect health and safety programme. You also need to know what role the health and safety consultant will play overall. Do you wish them to draw up a plan and be available for further advice and guidance, or will they be implementing the actions?
The first step is to check their integrity. A credible health and safety consultancy will have professional qualifications, and will be able to provide references or genuine testimonials from past clients on request. You should ensure that they are members of IOSH (Institution of Occupational Health and safety). Have they ever had direct experience working in a similar industry as your own? Do they have the appropriate indemnity insurance cover? Now, it is even more essential that they are on the new HSE register for consultants. Vita Safety has consultants who were some of the first to be place on the register, click here to view.
The next step is to consider your requirements in terms of what they can offer. The more flexible and robust the experience and services on offer, the better. You will be hopefully nurturing a long term on-going relationship with this organisation so they need to be able to be flexible and also be able to provide relevant services as your business progresses and expands. For instance can they offer training to your staff?
A final area to consider is staff turnover within their organisation. It can be very frustrating explaining the whole process of your business every time they have a new member of staff so exploring this area can be a reflection of their internal processes.
If you are interested in a no obligation review with one of our qualified consultants please give us a call on 0161 789 1400.
The health and safety performance to date at the Olympics project has been one of the best so far for such a complex project. If you want to learn more about this and other good practice case studies, see the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/london-2012-games/casestudies/involving-the-workforce.htm?ebul=hsegen&cr=7/11-jul-11
See here how a number of business leaders have found that robust health, safety and wellbeing management can cut costs, reduce absence and improve staff morale.
http://www.iosh.co.uk/news_and_events/campaigns/new_campaign_life_savings/success_stories_video.aspx
http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2011/coi-nw-03heinz.htm#?eban=rss-
This accident is something I have unfortunately seen in other companies; the use of emery cloth by hand on a rotating piece of metal on a lathe or similar machine.
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/goscience/docs/c/11-943-classification-of-chrysotile-asbestos-letter.pdf
News out today, that following further investigation, after consideration of existing research and expert advice, white asbestos (chrysotile) is still to be classified as a class 1 carcinogen.
For further details to protect your workforce see http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/
It’s been a frantic few weeks in the health and safety headline stakes, with news of the first Corporate Manslaughter charges for Cotswold Geotechnical and the news of personal gross negligence manslaughter charges against three Warwickshire fire and rescue managers.
The Geotechnical case is so surprising because the purpose, as far as I was aware, of the Corporate Manslaughter Act was to punish corporations, who had previously gone unpunished, according to societal opinion. Its use on a small business where existing law could have been used is somewhat confusing. So we await the true test case of this Act to see if it really does have teeth against the blue chips.
Quite often we hear people say that ‘health and safety is all about common sense’. If you haven’t already seen it, take a look at this excerpt of a fuel leak on the HSE website
http://www.hse.gov.uk/humanfactors/resources/case-studies/gasoline-spillage.htm
What would you do if your tanker started leaking fuel?
