QUARRY INDUSTRY DIGS DEEP TO MEET TARGETS
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
The quarry industry¹ has merited praise by surpassing its revitalising target of reducing all reportable injuries by 52% in 5 years (from a baseline of 655 to 317 in 2004/05). This is accompanied by a reduction in major injuries of 36% whilst over-3-day injuries have decreased by 55% in the same period, with progress made in the areas of HSE's priority programmes - falls from height; slips and trips injuries; manual handling injuries; and workplace transport injuries.
Attention was drawn to this performance by an event staged at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining last week, the news will be gratifying in particular to the members of the Quarries National Joint Advisory Committee.
In June 2000, the Committee adopted its Hard Target of halving the number of incidents in the industry by 2005, now it faces a Target Zero challenge.
Marked out for further progress are the following issues: occupational ill health; workforce involvement; working effectively with contractors and hauliers; equipment design; gaining and supporting improvements in small and medium-sized businesses; and
maintaining emphasis on the competence of all who work in the quarry industry.
COMMENT
"Well done to everybody in the industry who has risen to the challenge of the 'Hard Target'- to cut reportable injuries by 50% by 2005. The quarry industry has shown that a competent management and a genuinely involved workforce will deliver targets making it an exemplar to other traditional heavy industries." - HSC Commissioner.
¹ The quarry industry is diverse, covering coal, industrial minerals, kaolin, ball clay, brick clay, barites, gypsum, silica sands, fluorspar, china stone, slate, fullers' earth, limestone, dolomite, basalt, and aggregates. It provides a living for 25,000 direct employees, 25,000 contractors and daily 35-40,000 lorry drivers.
SCHOOL ASBESTOS INCIDENT REVEALED GAPS IN LOCAL AUTHORITY'S SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
South Gloucestershire Council and one of its appointed contractors have been prosecuted and fined over an incident in July 2004 which involved the inadvertent exposure to brown asbestos fibres of persons present during maintenance work at Hanham School.
The low-level asbestos contamination arose when contractor Ashcroft Services Ltd removed suspended ceiling tiles containing brown asbestos during weekend working. Ashcroft had extensive, legitimate experience with asbestos materials, was aware of its presence in the ceiling tiles before work started, but it did not hold a licence for work with this particular material.
At Northavon Magistrates' Court, South Gloucestershire Council was fined £25,000, with £1,044 costs, after pleading guilty to 2 charges under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Ashcroft Services admitted the same offences under the Principal Act and a further charge under the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations and was fined a total of £11,250, with £1,044 costs.
COMMENT
“We accept the court’s decision and have learned lessons from the experience. We have reviewed and tightened our procedures on how we appoint contractors to deal with substances such as asbestos. We must stress that the work was being carried out when the school was closed for the summer holiday and that at no time were children put at risk from the asbestos. We brought in a specialist contractor to clear the contamination and the clean-up was completely successful. The safety of our staff, contractors and residents is paramount and we are working hard to ensure nothing like this can happen again.” - Director of South Gloucestershire’s Direct Services Department “
SMITHKLINE BEECHAM FINED FOR ACCIDENT THAT WAS 'WAITING TO HAPPEN'
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
Slack safety management, and a failure to change a system of work the HSE had previously described as unsafe, led to a nasty hand injury for an agency worker and prosecution for SmithKline Beecham Plc at East Berkshire Magistrates' Court.
It was during December 2004 that the agency worker, _____ _____, was operating toothpaste package filling machinery at the SmithKline Beecham premises in Maidenhead when his thumb was partially severed by the equipment.
HSE investigation attributed the accident to poor site safety management. Investigators concluded that if a safe system of work had been put into place following sensible risk management and advice from the HSE, then the injury would have been avoided.
SmithKline Beecham Plc pleaded guilty to breaching S.3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for which it was fined £15,000, with £6,653 in prosecution costs.
COMMENT
"This was an accident waiting to happen because poor safety management failed to spot complacency and unsafe practices. Promoting sensible workplace safety means identifying workplace risks and involving the workforce in applying proportionate precautions.
The company had had a similar accident 3 years before, but failed to pass on HSE guidance to the workforce. This meant some workers incorrectly believed it was OK to perform routine tasks inside a moving machine with the guard doors open; and that this practice was passed on to newcomers including Mr _____." - HSE Inspector.
NON-INTEGRATED WORKING PLATFORMS ON FORKLIFTS - GUIDANCE
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
HSE has published Working platforms (non-integrated) on forklift trucks - guidance Note PM28 [3rd edition] which contains guidance that HSE says is not compulsory, allowing you freedom to take other action, but if you follow the guidance you will normally be doing enough to comply with the law.
Forklift trucks usually lift only materials but they can be used with working platforms to allow people to work at height. It is generally accepted that, in conjunction with a forklift truck, an integrated working platform provides a higher level of safety than a non-integrated type. Nevertheless, a non-integrated working platform may be used when it provides a safer means of access than, for example, improvised stairs or platforms or a ladder that would otherwise be used and it is impracticable to use an integrated working platform.
ACCESSING A ROOF WITHOUT TAKING THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
During November 2004, a man on his first day of employment was put to work on a Cardiff factory roof without any safety equipment and with little experience or training. It was only by good fortune that when he fell 5 metres through the roof and onto a concrete floor he sustained relatively minor injuries.
His employer, Almac Engineering (Air Conditioning) Ltd, of Cardiff, admitted a failure to prevent or mitigate the effects of a worker falling from height through the fragile roof light, placing it in breach of the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 for which Cardiff Magistrates fined it £1000, with costs of £1307.
COMMENT
"HSE's aim is to reduce the number of injuries, days lost and incidence of ill health, but we would really aim to prevent incidents rather than be required to prosecute afterwards.
Mr _____ was comparatively lucky in only suffering a broken finger, broken ribs and cuts and bruises. The HSE in Wales has investigated 9 fatal falls from height since April 2003, of which 5 were falls through a roof. This is 9 too many. This case must serve as a warning to others that health and safety issues should be the cornerstone of good working practice. Advice and guidance is freely available, especially on the HSE website, and from the HSE Infoline." - HSE inspector.
HSG136 EXTENSIVELY REVISED
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
HSE's extensively revised and updated guidance, HSG136 Workplace Transport Safety: An Employers' Guide¹, has been published offering advice on all aspects of workplace transport operations for managers, supervisors, safety and union representatives, contractors, the self-employed and employees.
Advice is given on ways to avoid the 4 main types of workplace transport accidents: moving vehicles hitting or running over people;
people falling off vehicles; vehicles overturning; and objects falling off vehicles.
The guide introduces workplace transport risk management, in particular providing information on assessing transport risks relating to site safety, vehicles themselves, and the people working with and around them and implementing a safe system of work, all illustrated by practical examples of risk control.
This week, HSE also published a revised INDG199(rev1) Workplace Transport: An Overview, which is a free booklet that provides employers with a brief summary of the main issues that should be considered when planning workplace transport operations.
LOCAL AUTHORITY PHASE OF HSC'S WORKER INVOLVEMENT PROGRAMME UNDERWAY
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
The UK Minister responsible for health and safety at work is urging local authorities to ensure that they make worker involvement a key element of their health and safety work programmes for 2006/7, enabling this through partnership arrangements that can make worker involvement a reality.
The Worker Involvement Programme will be working with HSE regional Partnership Managers to encourage LA's to put worker involvement into their plans of work.
A variety of tools will be developed and available to LAs next year to help them in making worker involvement central to the management of health and safety in their sector.
COMMENT
"Local authorities are responsible for enforcement in over 50% of work premises with almost half the employed workforce and the decisions you make on risk have a major impact. Our ambitions for lower rates of injury and ill-health cannot succeed without the participation and vigilance of those who work with the risks and their representative organisations, the unions.
An actively engaged workforce is one of the foundations that supports good health and safety. I would urge workers to engage with their employer in pursuit of healthier and safer workplaces." - The Minister speaking yesterday at the joint LACORS (Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services) and HSE national conference in Westminster.
NO SAFE SYSTEM FOR WORKER WHO FELL 5 METRES
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
At Sheffield Crown Court yesterday, ATD Fabrications of Monk Bretton, Barnsley, was found guilty under S.2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 of failing to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of one of its employees for which it was fined £14,000, with costs of £6,000.
The company was deemed to have failed to provide a safe system of work for an employee during work in May 2004. The worker fell 5 metres, sustaining multiple injuries when he fell through a mezzanine floor he was constructing.
COMMENT
"The injuries sustained in this particular incident were severe and indeed could have been fatal. Falls from height continue to be the greatest cause of fatal and serious injuries within the workplace generally, and it is a particular problem for a construction industry in which the accident toll is already too high.
This case sends out a very clear message and emphasises the need to ensure that safe systems of work are devised and implemented to allow persons to work at height safely.
Don't start the work until you have properly planned how you are going to do it, and you have fully considered, assessed and controlled the risks involved. Don't underestimate these - simply 'taking care' is not enough and proper precautions must be in place.
Choose the right work equipment and give serious thought as to whether it will serve to actually prevent a fall, like a guardrail or a working platform, rather than simply lessen its consequences, like a net or an airbag.
Making do without the right equipment can lead to injury or death, as well as prosecution if the law is broken." - HSE Construction Principal Inspector.
ADVICE ON WORKPLACE TRANSPORT SAFETY FOR MANAGERS AND OPERATORS - REVISED HSE PUBLICATION
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
HSE has published Workplace transport safety. An overview INDG199 (rev1) 11/05, containing information on how to improve workplace transport safety and reduce the chances of this category of accident happening.
For managers and operators, it deals in detail with the assessment of risk and identifies some of the safety problems inherent in common vehicle operations and relevant wider but important issues.
It is also available in priced packs of 5 from HSE Books, ISBN 0 7176 2821 3.
EUROPEAN GOOD PRACTICE AWARDS 2005
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
EU policymakers, social partners and leading safety and health experts met yesterday in Bilbao to consider further ways to better protect the 60 million workers in the EU considered to be exposed to excessive noise at work and award those organisations that have already managed to implement effective solutions.
At the summit, the European Good Practice Awards 2005 were presented to the best practical solutions for the prevention of noise exposure, the winners are - F.C. Nüdling Betonelemente GmbH & Co. KG & IFF Research Institute in Weimar, Germany; STBG - Steinbruchs-Berufsgenossenschaft, Germany; National Institute for Working Life, Sweden; URVOY, France; The Sector Work Environment Council for Agriculture, Denmark; Verbond Papier & Karton, the Netherlands; and the Association of British Orchestras.
The areas of work included new low-noise concrete processing methods, a night club design project from Sweden, tools to protect farmers from Denmark, a Dutch example of how to calculate the most cost-effective noise solution and a training project from the UK aimed at orchestral musicians.
COMMENT
‘Noise is a growing concern all over Europe, in workplaces from factories and farms, to entertainment and services. More than 13 million workers are reported to have suffered impaired hearing at work. And noise goes beyond hearing problems. It can cause accidents, voice loss and increase stress levels. The new EU directive, to be implemented in all Member States by mid February 2006, reduces the levels of noise to which workers can be exposed and requires employers to eliminate or reduce to a minimum the risks.
Noise-induced hearing loss is amongst the most commonly reported occupational diseases in the European Union. It is also one of the most costly, with billions of euros a year paid in compensations and in indirect costs resulting from sick leave, lower productivity and accidents due to impaired communication because of noise. The human costs are immeasurable.' - European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.
‘The occupational safety and health community in Europe is determined to take more effective steps to reduce this tragic toll and thus to improve both the quality of work and the competitiveness of European business.
Strategies and solutions presented at the summit show that effective noise prevention is possible and may be implemented in a cost-efficient way even by small companies.’ - Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
GAS FITTER JAILED FOR IGNORING PROHIBITION NOTICE
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
Leeds Crown Court has handed a 3-month custodial sentence to the self-employed proprietor of Orbital Electrical and Plumbing for defying an HSE Prohibition Notice, the terms of which expressly forbade him from working on gas appliances.
His work came to the attention of the authorities following a botched installation at a residential property in Harrogate. The man, who was untrained in gas installation work, admitted breaching the Notice. He was not registered with the Council for Registered Gas Installers and admitted breaching the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 for which he was given a conditional discharge.
NORFOLK PRINT BUSINESS FINED OVER INJURY TO TEENAGE EMPLOYEE
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
A young trainee printing worker sustained serious injury in a November 2004 industrial accident in which his arms were drawn in to a machine as he caught papers being released from it.
The accident to the 17-year-old could occur only because it was being operated without a guard being in place. The system of work adopted for the activity was also unsafe, this because no risk assessment for the specific work had been conducted.
The accident occurred at the Thorpe, Norfolk, premises of Archant Print Limited, part of the Archant Group, it was fined £8,000, with costs of £4,250, at Norwich Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to breaching s.2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
MORE ORGANISATIONS REPORTING PUBLICLY ON HEALTH AND SAFETY MATTERS
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
An HSE-funded report, the concluding one of 3 entitled The public provision of health and safety information by UK top companies and major public bodies for 2004/2005, which was prepared by System Concepts, has considered the quantity and quality of information disclosed publicly through annual reports, websites and other publicly available documents.
The study was commissioned by HSE to discover the effectiveness of Action Points 2 and 13 of HSC’s Revitalising Health and Safety Strategy Statement challenging the UK’s top companies and public bodies to publicly report on health and safety.
There appears to be evidence that HSC’s Challenge has had a positive and encouraging impact, but recommendations are made that: public bodies need further encouragement to publicly report principles, performance and targets, in particular to present higher quality health and safety performance information; a further study of the relationship between health and safety reporting and performance should be conducted; and awareness of the 'Challenge' needs to be raised.
RECKLESS CONTRACTOR RISKED LIVES
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
Schememade Limited, of Ballards Lane, London, has been prosecuted and fined for safety omissions that permitted an incident to occur that resulted in injury to 3 persons and substantial damage to a building during May 2003 in Coltishall, 10 miles north of Norwich, Norfolk.
The contracting organisation admitted failing to take steps to identify the location of gas service pipes on the highway on which it was carrying out work, despite having pipe-locating equipment at the site at its disposal. Inevitably a gas service pipe was struck, but it was not until some 2 hours later that a devastating explosion occurred that injured Transco personnel attempting to repair the pipe and a passing delivery vehicle driver. The seat of the explosion is understood to have been the cellar of a nearby public house where gas had accumulated, forming an explosive mixture that was ignited by electrical equipment.
Norwich magistrates fined the company £16,000, with £8,000 costs, for breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
IMPORTER'S LAPSES LED TO DANGEROUS ELECTRICAL GOODS AND APPLIANCES REACHING MARKET
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
A recent prosecution by Suffolk County Council Trading Standards serves as a reminder that it is still possible for unsafe electrical equipment to reach retailers. Westwoods (Garden) Limited has been fined over £6,000, with costs of £3,625, by Ipswich Magistrates after pleading guilty to 2 breaches of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994.
The prosecution was instigated by Suffolk County Council Trading Standards, following investigation of an incident in which an Ipswich man experienced a serious electrical shock. The prosecution related to a 'bug zapper' purchased by him, which retained a full mains charge of 220v for 3 hours after it was turned off. The regulations require that the voltage should drop below 34v one second after being turned off.
Christmas lights imported by Westwoods (Garden) Ltd and seized by Trading Standards officers were found to have a number of defects which could have caused an electric shock. All sets were suspended from sale, Westwoods (Garden) Ltd was fined £1,500 for this offence.
TEENAGER'S FOOT AMPUTATED
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
A 17-year-old employee of Passell UK Limited of Saltney Ferry, Flintshire, sustained a serious foot injury which eventually required amputation following an industrial accident during August this year. Working with conveying equipment used to mix concrete and deposit it into moulds, he had stepped off a moving table on to a track, below which his foot was trapped.
The practice of standing on the table to clean moulds, which led to the accident, was not sanctioned by the company, HSE investigation deemed that training and guarding was inadequate and prosecution was instigated on the basis of a failure to comply with duties under s.2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
At Flintshire Magistrates' Court Passell UK Limited admitted the breach for which it was fined £10,000, with £2,300 costs.
NEW WBV GUIDANCE PUBLISHED
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
HSE has published the guide, Whole Body Vibration: The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 L141, ISBN 0-7176-6126-1, price £10.95. The publication is described as a 'detailed, plain language guide of the regulations as they apply to whole-body vibration', it advises employers on ways to reduce and control the risks from WBV under the Control of Vibration Work Act 2005 which is now in force.
Practical advice is given on: how to do risk assessments; estimating vibration exposure; and arranging health surveillance.
A typical group of workers at risk are operators of off-road machinery and construction vehicles, indeed any industries where drivers can be exposed to shocks and jolts while travelling over rough ground, like mining and quarrying. HSE has further resources available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/vibration.
LESSONS FOR ALL IN THE 2001 HUMBER REFINERY EXPLOSION
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
On 16th April 2001, a major explosion and fire at ConocoPhillips Limited’s Saturate Gas Plant at South Killingholme occurred after 170 tonnes of highly flammable Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) escaped from a pipe which had failed, a gas cloud developed which was then ignited, causing a massive explosion and subsequent failures of pipework, resulting in further fires.
The immediate area of the refinery was devastated, buildings on site were badly damaged, as were surrounding properties. It was a matter of great fortune that the incident occurred at shift changeover on a Bank Holiday or casualties would have been expected.
Grimsby Crown Court fined ConocoPhillips Limited a total of £895,000, with £218,854 costs, after it pleaded guilty to breaches of s.2 and 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in relation to this and another incident.
LESSONS
The HSE has published a report summarising the events and the investigations carried out by it, the Environment Agency (EA) and ConocoPhillips.
The report emphasises the vital need for companies operating high-hazard sites to ensure they have in place robust and appropriate systems for inspecting pipework to detect corrosion and other defects.
In particular, the key messages for the chemical and refinery industries are: effective pipework inspection systems are essential major accident prevention measures for high-hazard pipework. Decisions on inspection intervals must be informed by suitable and sufficient information on process conditions and previous inspection findings; systematic and thorough arrangements are necessary for the effective management of corrosion. Such arrangements should ensure that any information on relevant corrosion degradation mechanisms is identified and acted on. Sufficient resources, including relevant expertise, should be applied to ensure that adequate standards are achieved and maintained; and effective communication is an important element of any safety management system. Accurate recording and effective sharing of information and data relevant to plant corrosion is essential for major accident prevention.
For the time being, HSE and EA are monitoring ConocoPhillips’ performance to ensure the safety issues identified by the investigation are adequately managed.
ITS PARTY TIME AND THE LEGAL PEOPLE ARE BY THEIR PHONES
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
How much do you know about the rights and wrongs of parties at Christmas?
What personal behaviour by an employee can an employer be held accountable for?
Courtesy of Acas, you can test your basic knowledge (below) and benefit from their advice. Acas runs training courses to cover 'Christmas issues' in more depth which would minimise the risk of employment tribunal claims similar to those potentially faced by the hundreds of organisations who call its hotline every Christmas.
COMMENT:
"If companies have policies and procedures in place which cover the key issues like discipline and grievance, bullying and harassment, discrimination and absence they are in a much better position to handle these sorts of issues which can happen at any time, not just at Christmas.
Our helpline staff are very broad-minded and with many year's experience of giving advice on employment relations the chances are they have heard it before. So if you do have any employment relations queries give them a call. I'm confident they will be able to help.
But don't let potential hazards put you off organising something for Christmas. Staff will feel valued if you treat them right. Think about asking them what they want to do and ask for suggestions on how to cater for any problems upfront." - Acas Chair.
PARTIES QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
1. What if an employee, who has clearly drunk too much at the office Christmas party, is planning to drive home. It's not your responsibility is it?
2. How can you make sure people don't get too drunk and fail to turn up for work the day after the party?
3.What if an employee suffers verbal abuse about being gay at the local pub before the party - it's not on work premises so it's a matter for them isn't it?
4. What if you can't afford to pay a Christmas bonus this year although you have paid it for the last ten years? Employees will be disappointed but there's no problem with the law is there?
1. Wrong. As an employer you have a 'duty of care' for your employees. So as it's the company's party you need to take some responsibility. Think about travel arrangements and maybe end the party before public transport stops running. Or provide the phone numbers for local registered cab companies and encourage employees to use them.
2. Make sure there are plenty of non-alcoholic drinks and enough food. Before the party ensure that all staff are aware that disciplinary action could be taken if they fail to turn up for work and there is reason to believe it is due to too much booze.
3. Wrong. Going to the pub before the office party counts as an extension of work and so all the laws covering discrimination still apply. Make sure the company has policies in place on bullying and harassment and discrimination and that everyone knows what they are.
4. Wrong. Even though the bonus is discretionary, staff can argue that it has become contractual through custom and practice. Before deciding not to pay, tell staff why you feel unable to pay it and try to agree a solution. For example, you could offer to pay a proportion of the bonus or stagger payments in the next few months. Or you could offer to pay the drinks bill at the Christmas party!
CHANCE TO ATTEND LONDON SEMINAR ON NOISE/ HAND ARM VIBRATION SYNDROME
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
A conference, the last in a series of HSE/EEF road shows on the new noise and vibration regulations, takes place on 9th December at the EEF's offices at Broadway House, Tothill St, London.
Aimed at company risk managers, managing directors, production managers, health and safety advisors and safety representatives, it will feature HSE specialists on noise and vibration, EEF advisors, and consultants from the Industrial Noise and Vibration Centre who will: explain what the new regulations will mean in practice;
give an insight into practical risk management; and advise on the steps necessary to arrange effective health surveillance for exposed employees.
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations come into force on 6th April next year.
To book a place, contact by email aclow@eef-fed.org.uk .
COMMENT:
"Excessive exposure to noise and hand-arm vibration can lead to serious and widespread occupational diseases affecting hundreds of thousands of people in Britain. Noise and vibration related diseases will increase over time if the currently high levels of exposure continue at the current rate and are not addressed. Those attending the London road show will hear what the new Noise and Vibration Regulations will mean in practice, get an insight into practical risk management, and find out what they need to do to arrange effective health surveillance for exposed employees." - head of HSE's Noise and Vibration Programme Unit.
"The event will be both informative and engaging. It is important that employers get the opportunity to talk to experts in HSE and ask questions about issues that concern them. The issues are very topical and we want a real dialogue and exchange between the audience and the experts to take place. We welcome all employers, members of trade associations and safety representatives and other interested parties." - EEF's health, safety and environmental policy adviser.
HSC/E PLAN FOR THE SIMPLER LIFE
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
The HSE has published a draft simplification plan, marking HSC/E's movement towards better regulation, reflecting its determination to 'develop legislation that is easy to understand and comply with, to help secure stronger commitment from business', its key themes include: simplification for business to help them concentrate on improving outcomes rather than bureaucratic processes; changing the culture, for example, through a campaign to tackle risk aversion;
challenging policy makers' case for taking a regulatory approach and ensuring they address the impact of proposals on small businesses;
simplifying existing legislation; joined-up enforcement, including more effective partnership with local authorities to secure a consistent, targeted approach.
To comment on the draft simplification plan, email HSE at simplification@hse.gsi.gov.uk.
HSE will further develop it over the next 3 months, taking account of stakeholder input, with the intention of publishing more developed proposals in Spring 2006.
COMMENT:
"HSE's draft simplification plan includes measures to achieve credible reductions in the regulatory burden to business. I congratulate the HSE for sharing its early thinking in a clear and concise way and for asking small businesses, what more can be done?" - Chair of the Small Business Council.
"HSE's initial simplification plan contains a number of valuable initiatives to reduce the burden of regulation. The initial plan shows that independent regulators have an important role in delivering better regulation. I welcome HSE's commitment to listen to stakeholders and develop meaningful simplification measures." - Chair of the Better Regulation Task Force.
"I congratulate HSE for identifying these early suggestions for simplifying their regulations affecting business. They will make a real difference. Early publication of this plan allows all businesses and organisations to comment and add new ideas for consideration." - Executive Chair of the Better Regulation Executive.
SAINSBURY'S PROSECUTED AND FINED OVER EMPLOYEE'S SLIP
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
Sainsbury's Supermarket Limited have been prosecuted and fined £10,000, with costs of £11,042, for breaching S.2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and r.12 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 in the circumstances of a March 2004 accident in the bakery at its retail store in Curzon Road, Sale.
Enforcing authority, Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, investigated the accident which resulted from the company's failure to control water leaking from a dough prover machine onto the store's bakery floor. The Bakery Manager at the time subsequently slipped on the water, sustaining serious neck and back injuries, an event that was preventable by laying down matting or by regularly mopping the area.
COMMENT:
"Slips and trips have been identified as a priority area in health and safety and currently Trafford's Environmental Health Team are carrying out focused visits to local businesses to highlight this issue and ensure that they are doing all that they can to control this risk. This prosecution shows that the Council take health and safety very seriously and will not hesitate to take legal proceedings where appropriate." - Trafford's Executive Member for Environmental Services.
NEW EXPOSURE LIMIT PROPOSED FOR RESPIRABLE CRYSTALLINE SILICA
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
The HSC has published a Consultative Document on a proposal for a new Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) for respirable crystalline silica (RCS) - a reduction from the current WEL of 0.3mg.m-3 for respirable crystalline silica to 0.1mg.m-3 ( 8-hour time weighted average).
Crystalline silica is present in rock, sands, clays, gravels and shales and materials composed of these, such as bricks, tiles and concrete, and in excess of 100,000 workers are believed to be regularly exposed to dusts containing RCS, working in mines and quarries, iron and steel foundries, the heavy clay industry, brick manufacture, potteries, construction, stonemason work and the industrial sand industry.
Crystalline silica is harmful to the lungs, causing the lung disease silicosis, it also brings an increased risk of lung cancer.
The document, Proposal for a Workplace Exposure Limit for Respirable Crystalline Silica, has a closing date for comment of 13th March 2006, any new WEL would be introduced later in that year, as would practical advice on how to control exposures in the workplace.
RAILWAYS SAFER
Posted Monday, December 5, 2005 by Ahmed Khan
The Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has remarked upon the achievement of the rail industry in implementing recommendations that emerged from major industry inquiries.
HSC has published a 10th progress report on recommendations made following Public Inquiries into the Southall and Ladbroke Grove rail incidents and Joint Inquiry into Train Protection Systems.
COMMENT:
"The rail industry has risen to the challenge of implementing the recommendations that are now part of the framework for the continued improvement in railway safety. Of the total of 295 recommendations arising from the 4 Public Inquiry reports into rail safety, only 4 now remain to be completed.
The Office of Rail Regulation must ensure that the process of improving safety culture on the railways continues, and both the Rail Accident Investigation Branch and the Rail Safety and Standards Board - both created following recommendations by the rail Public Inquiries - will have key roles to play. In the meantime, HSC remains committed to maintaining health and safety on the railways." - HSC chair.