20 July 2010

On 15 July 2010, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued a Safety Notice on the risks associated with working on or near lamp columns with non-standard roots during excavation works.

For the full Safety Notice please visit the HSE website.

13 July 2010

In the June issue of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Member News magazine, an article was published by Graham Barber on Low level non-ionising radiation and health.

Please click here for the full article.

Reading this as a member of the IET, I recognised this to be of interest to our CMG Members, particularly those involved in the Mobile Phone Business. Thanks to the IET for permission to publish the article on our website.

Graeme Lyall
Chair, Communications and Media Group

31 March 2010

The HSE has recently published 'HSG 264 Asbestos: The survey guide'. 

Type 1, 2 & 3 surveys are now a thing of the past. There are now only two types of survey for asbestos-containing materials (ACMs).

Management survey

The Management Survey purpose is required to manage ACMs during the normal occupation and use of premises.  The duty-holder can make a Management Survey where the premises are simple and straightforward. Otherwise, a surveyor is needed. 

A Management Survey aims to ensure that:

1. nobody is harmed by the continuing presence of ACMs in the premises or equipment;

2. that the ACMs remain in good condition; and

3. that nobody disturbs it accidentally

The Survey must locate ACMs that could be damaged or disturbed by normal activities, by foreseeable maintenance, or by installing new equipment.  It involves minor intrusion and minor asbestos disturbance to make a Materials Assessment.  This shows the ability of ACMs, if disturbed, to release fibres into the air.  It guides the client, eg in prioritising any remedial work.

Refurbishment / demolition survey

The Refurbishment / demolition Survey is required where the premises, or part of it, need upgrading, refurbishment or demolition.  The Survey does not need a record of the ACMs condition.  Normally, a surveyor is needed for Refurbishment / demolition Surveys.

A Refurbishment / demolition Survey aims to ensure that:

1. nobody will be harmed by work on ACMs in the premises or equipment;

2. such work will be done by the right contractor in the right way

The Survey must locate and identify all ACMs before any structural work begins at a stated location or on stated equipment at the premises.  It involves destructive inspection and asbestos disturbance.  The area surveyed must be vacated, and certified 'fit for reoccupation' after the survey.

04 March 2010

I am of course a bit biased but this was up there with our best yet! What could have been a dreary overview of how an HSE inspector thinks, and what you should say and what not to say was brought vividly to life by Adrian Bever and Mike Elliker of Addleshaw Goddard.

Mike, as well as defending clients, acts on behalf of the HSE in the courts while Adrian acts for clients who are being investigated or prosecuted.

It was a great opportunity to hear both sides of the coin. After lunch, where attendees were able to network, Michelle Woodward of QBE gave an overview of the world of insurance. The thorny question of insurance companies paying out instead of fighting a claim was very well answered by Michelle. What was her response? You should have been there!

Make sure you book for the next event.

The committee would like to thank the speakers and the IOSH support staff without whom the event wouldn't have taken place.

John Bartlett

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January 2010

I like to have a chuckle, let's face it we all need these in our profession, and often do so by visiting the HSE Myth of the Month.

However, the latest myth revealed by Judith Hackitt, reported in the November edition of SHP, is one not to chuckle over.  Ms Hackitt said “The HSE and Senior Police Officers want to stamp out the myth that health and safety duties prevent the police from doing their duty.”  In the same edition one commentator reported “Police Officers will run toward danger while others run away.”  As an ex-Principal H&S Officer for one of the larger police forces I can empathise with both statements.  Police Officers, and other emergency services, rely heavily on the dynamic risk assessment, often made in haste and in the face of significantly high risk.

We, in our industry, also rely on the engineer carrying out their own dynamic assessment of the situation they are faced with and, at times, do face significant risk.  The massive difference, even given the pressure of work, is that ours do not need to be made in haste.  There should be no reason for the worker to make improvisations, usually increasing the level of risk to themselves, just to get the job done.  The dynamic assessment is a tried and trusted method of ensuring risks are kept to a minimal level and these are backed up by generic risk assessments and, when required, a local on-site assessment if the engineer is in any doubt on how to proceed with the job and maintain an acceptable level of risk.

BBC Radio 2 has a feature called “Pause for a Moment” where a guest speaker will take a moment out to consider things that may affect them and others.  Isn’t this what we implore all our employees to do?  Just ‘pause for a moment to contemplate the things that may affect them and others’.  It’s not a huge ask, so why does it often fail?  Why do people stand on chairs and tables when there is a plethora of access equipment?  Why do they walk across joists and not use crawler boards?

I believe the answer lies in human logic.  It’s often easier and incidents always happen to others never to the one taking the short-cut at the time.  Unfortunately when it goes wrong at best there’s humiliation at worst a serious injury or fatality.  So please get your people to:

Pause for a while!

Dave Dixon MA MSc CMIOSH

Disclaimer - please read this

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). Where the content includes discussion and information about UK law or occupational health matters, this should not be regarded as legal or medical advice. Where legal advice is required, a suitably qualified lawyer should be consulted. Where medical advice is required, a suitably qualified medical practitioner should be consulted.

December 2009

The IOSH Communications and Media Group are holding a networking event on the 24 February 2010 at Addleshaw Goddard offices in Manchester.

The event is called 'when an inspector calls' and will be combination of presentatons, networking and an interactive session delivered by legal and insurance experts.

Please refer to the full event announcement for further information.

Wednesday, 08 April 2009

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have published new versions of its health and safety poster and leaflet.  The poster and leaflet now have a modern design and contain simple and easy to read information.

For further information please visit the HSE website.

Thursday, 21 May 2009

The Communications and Media Group (C&MG) held a networking event on behavioural safety and wellbeing on 20 May at the BT Centre in London. After a buffet lunch and the opportunity to network with like minded people Graeme Lyall, the new chair of C&MG welcomed a full audience of 50 delegates to the event and introduced the three speakers:

• Peter Hebblethwaite of Croners provided an interesting and informative overview of changing people's perception and approach to risk.
• Terry Thomson of Oxford Risk discussed why humans are bad decision makers and could human failure be predicted and avoided.
• Jill Pollock of BUPA looked at the benefits for the worker and the employer if you kept yourself fit and healthy.

The presentations are available for you to download below.

The CMG committee would like to thank all the delegates for attending and their feedback, BT for kindly donating the use of their facilities and the speakers and their organisations for authorising their attendance.

The next networking event is scheduled for Manchester in early December.

If you have any comments or ideas about future networking events please contact the C&MG Co-ordinator Petrina Beck.

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Thursday, 04 June 2009

The European Campaign for Safety and Health at Work 2008-09 will focus on promoting good practice in risk assessment.  European week itself is from 19-25 October 2009.

The campaign is aimed at a wide range of stakeholders, including employers, workers and safety representatives and is intended to promote the benefits of completing and implementing a risk assessment.

For further information please visit the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website.

Monday, 29 June 2009

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has commissioned an evidence-based review of the current guidance on first aid measures for suspension trauma.

To download the full report please visit the HSE website.

Wednesday, 15 July 2009

Outdoor working in either cold or hot environments is not easily managed using just engineering controls. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has suggested some simple administrative controls.

For further details please visit the HSE website.

Tuesday, 28 July 2009

The Department of Transport have produced a interactive driving challenge website.

To take part in the challenge please visit the Department of Transport website.

Wednesday, 29 July 2009

The mishandling of calls at a call centre allowed a fatal shock and lead to a £200,000 fine and £72,000 costs.

An 11kV power line had fallen overnight in heavy storms onto a hedge which separated a field and public footpath.  If they’d touched the ground, the circuit breakers would have shut off the current. 

On New Year's Day 2007 a member of the public was killed when he came into contact with the power line.   It is unclear how the individual was killed, either by touching the cable or he was close enough for the electricity to arc over to him.  This incident was reported on the BBC website.

Two members of the public called the power distribution company in the morning, prior to the fatality, to alert them of the fallen lines.  The calls were logged as “miscellaneous” rather than “dangerous” and an engineer was dispatched to investigate, but was diverted to homes that were without power. 

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation criticised the internal monitoring of its call centre operations as it found, employees had been trained but two years earlier monitoring system has been put in place and that had lapsed 6 months before the incident.  In addition, the HSE found that the pole (which was installed in 1948) had severely rotted at its base.  It had been subject to check within the last 10 years (within the industry guidelines) but the HSE was reviewing the frequency of such checks.

Where can I find more information?

Reported in Health and Safety at Work, January 2009.

What impact might this have for you?

• What’s the consequence of logging calls incorrectly in your business?
• How do call centre operators know how to log calls correctly?
• What happens once a call is logged to rectify a “dangerous” situation?
• How are the remediation of “dangerous situations” monitored and where necessary escalated?

Monday, 10 August 2009

Introduction

Manual handling is an activity that affects many employees within the communication and media industry.  The most recent survey carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on work-related illness, estimated that in 2001/02, 1.1 million people in Great Britain suffered from musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) caused, or made worse by, their current or past work. An estimated 12.3 million working days were lost due to these work-related MSDs. On average each sufferer took about 20 days off in that 12-month period.

So what was the problem?
Within Arqiva we have had a number of injuries resulting from poor manual handling. The types of activities employees were undertaking included:

• Bending and positioning feeder cables
• Moving feeder drums
• Maintaining equipment in racks

What action have we taken?
As a result we have launched a safety campaign ‘Back in Your Hands’ to raise awareness of the risks associated with manual handling. The campaign was launched via an article in our company magazine.  This was followed by the issue of a bulletin, which provides an overview of the campaign, a briefing pack for managers to deliver to their teams, a poster, exercise handouts and real life case studies.

The acronym LITE is being used to try and focus employees planning and risk assessment prior to any manual handling tasks.

• L is for LOAD – Is it necessary to move the load by hand? Consider the nature of the load - its size, shape, weight and stability.
• I is for INDIVIDUAL – Am I able to move the load safely? Do I need help? Do I have any existing or prior injuries that could be aggravated by the move?
• T is for TASK – Have I got all the equipment I need to carry out the move safely? Do I know how to carry out the lift using the correct manual handling techniques?
• E is for Environment - Where is the load going to be placed? Is the route clear of obstructions and other hazards? Are there places to rest if doing a long move? Is there sufficient space to manoeuvre, especially if more than one person involved in the move.

We are currently working with our occupational health provider to develop a bespoke manual handling training course based on the tasks our engineers carry out.  So instead of learning how to lift a box safely they will have real life practical examples eg how to get their tools and spare equipment from their vehicle, how to access and remove units from equipment racks that are positioned either low down or high up the rack, how to handling equipment in difficult situations ie climbing a mast or tower.

We are also trying to ensure everyone is aware of their own capabilities and limitations so that pre existing injuries are not aggravated by the work activities.

Further information
Useful information can be found on the HSE website, for example:

• Are you making the best use of lifting and handling aids INDG398
• Assessing the risk form manual handling INDG143
• Manual handling assessment chart MAC Tool

Sally Ford, Head of Health Safety and Environment, Arqiva

Disclaimer - please read this
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). Where the content of an article includes discussion and information about UK law, this should not be regarded as legal advice. Where legal advice is required, a suitably qualified lawyer should be consulted.

Monday, 14 September 2009

'Please write an article' was the request. Not being the world’s most creative writer, especially on matters such as health and safety, made me think about how we get our message across.

I recently came across ‘Sea Safety’, the complete guide issued free by the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI). What a wonderful guide to getting afloat. Clear and concise, no fancy words, very well illustrated and I would suggest if you knew nothing at all about getting afloat if you followed the RNLI’s advice you shouldn’t go far wrong with enjoying your leisure time on the water.

So why is it that health and safety, instructions, safe systems of work that are written in-house are generally pretty heavy reading and tend to put the reader off within the first few sentences? The response I normally hear is ‘it’s a pretty dull subject to start with’.

The role of the full time safety professional has to encompass many aspects of modern business. I use the term full time, as one of the biggest problems I have come across in many companies is people that have to manage health and safety as well as their day job. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) produce a mass of literature on various subjects, all of it free. For some reason companies do not issue / use this information but tend to use it as the framework for ‘in-house procedures’. It’s at this stage that we would appear to move into the lengthy and uninspiring aspect of producing information.

There is no easy answer to this. The people that produce the information for the RNLI and the HSE are at the top of their game and of course that’s all they do. Many companies also require their documents to be produced with the ‘company brand’ and will spend a fortune on marketing material but health and safety is done in-house. So the next time you are reviewing, or writing procedures stand back from your work and ask yourself:

• Is it clear and easy to understand?
• Is there information there for information’s sake?
• Why does an operator of plant and equipment need to know the date of the legislation?
  
  

For some inspiration take a look at Sea Safety on the RNLI website.

John Bartlett, Communications and Media Group web champion.

Wednesday, 30 September 2009

The Communications and Media Group (CMG) hosted its first ever web event focusing on Driving safely - reducing occupational road risk on 29th September. The event was very successful with 161 people registering to participate.

A full recording of the event will be available shortly.

The presentations are available for you to download below.

• Looking after British Gas drivers - Nigel Wilkinson
• Wheels of fortune - Dave Dixon

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