Health and safety news and updates
safety4business produces this completely free monthly update on health and safety news for distribution to selected clients. The update is not intended to be comprehensive, as that would clearly involve a very long and unwieldy communication. Instead, it aims to identify the most relevant items, providing you with the option to investigate further if needed.
We hope you find the news and update both interesting and effective in helping you to keep abreast of what is happening in the world of health and safety.
News
Health and Safety Executive Blitz Finds Problems
The Health and Safety Executive, following their Healthy Handling blitz, report that on far too many construction sites the risks to site personnel are being inadequately managed by duty holders. Over the period of the blitz inspectors issued 214 enforcement notices on 1,170 construction projects.
The blitz focused on:
Site order and organisation
Manual handling
The use of wet cement
Hand-held vibrating equipment and tools
Problems included:
Sites using cement without proper washing facilities
Heavy loads being handled in an unsafe manner
Vibrating tools being used when the user was unaware of the safe exposure period
Failure to control risks of falls from height
Work-related Stress Still a NHS Problem
The Healthcare Commission has published a National NHS Staff Survey 2004, covering 217,968 NHS staff from 572 organisations in England. The key findings include:
36% of those surveyed experienced work-related stress over the past year, down from 39% in 2003
27% said they had been harassed, bullied or abused at work in the past 12 months by patients or their relatives - this figure rises to 37% if bullying and harassment from colleagues is included
More than 14% were subjected to physical attacks by patients or their relatives
A report containing key findings is also available.
Computer Use Linked to DVT
People who sit for hours in front of a computer may be at risk of developing blood clots in their legs, a study a study suggests.
The condition has been associated with long-haul air travel, where it has been dubbed 'economy class syndrome', but a paper published in the New Zealand Medical Journal suggests sitting still for long periods at a computer could also cause deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The researchers, led by Professor Richard Beasley of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, have proposed the acronym SIT - Seated Immobility Thromboembolism - to cover all forms of seated immobility associated with DVT. But they caution that the link between sitting still and developing a DVT in the five case studies investigated could be coincidental. Further research is planned.
3-year Initiative for Waste and Recycling Industry
Between 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2002 there were 17 fatalities, 548 major injuries and 3,186 injuries that kept employees from work for over 3 days in the waste industry.
In a move to stem the numbers of fatal and major injuries occurring at waste and recycling sites the Health and Safety Executive has launched a 3-year initiative with the industry, covering the collection and processing of municipal waste and recycling work.
The initiative features visits by inspectors to private companies and 50% of those Local Authorities that manage their own, or contract out, services. Inspectors will assess:
- The management of health and safety
- The design, specification and management of contracts
- Workplace transport
- Manual handling
- Employee welfare
A rolling programme of advisory seminars designed to help local authorities with contract design and the management of contracts/contractors will be arranged.
Information and guidance can be obtained at:
Aircraft Air Pollution Investigated
Pilots union BALPA is calling for a major investigation into the risks posed by contaminated air in aircraft. It says almost all commercial aircraft 'bleed' air for the cockpit and passenger areas from the engines, raising concerns that cabin air could become contaminated with engine oil. Captain Mervyn Granshaw, the BALPA chair said:
'There has been concern in the civil aviation industry for a long time about the contamination of cabin air. Now we are determined to get to the bottom of it.'
BALPA has joined forces with University College, London, Imperial College, London, and others and has submitted a detailed research proposal to the UK Aviation Health Working Group, which is part of the Department of Transport.
Historic Safety Achievement at BP
For the first time in its history the BP complex at Grangemouth, Scotland has clocked up 10 million worker hours with up to 3,000 employees working a full calendar year without a single day away from work as a result of injuries.
Amicus Regional Officer Bobby Buirds and John Mellon, Chair of the Grangemouth contractors, hailed the 'historic' landmark in a joint statement:
This remarkable achievement would not have been possible without the joint efforts and engagement of the workforce of BP, contractors and the trade union site safety reps.
High Stress Risk Sectors Identified
A report, Work-related stress, by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions reveals that the health, social services and education sectors are most at risk of work-related stress. The report is based upon data from seven European countries and sought to examine the risks and consequences of work-related stress, and identify means of prevention.
Legislation Update
COSHH Changes
On Wednesday 6th April the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (Amendment) Regulations 2004 came into force. The Regulations:
- Apply the 8 principles of good practice for the control of substances hazardous to health (regardless of whether a substance has an exposure limit)
- Ensure that the Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) is not exceeded
- Ensure that exposure to substances that can cause occupational asthma, cancer, or damage to genes that can be passed from one generation to another, is reduced as low as is reasonably practicable.
The regulations introduce a new occupational exposure limit system with Maximum Exposure Limits (MEL) and Occupational Exposure Standards (OES) being replaced with a single Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL). All the old MELs, and most of the OESs become new WELs, retaining their previous numerical values.
Guidance and good practice advice on controlling chemicals is available at HSE's COSHH Essentials website. New versions of the COSHH Approved Code of Practice - EH40, and the brief guide to COSHH leaflet, will be available from HSE Books.
CDM and CHSW Consolidation
A consultation process on HSC's proposals to revise and consolidate the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM) and the Construction (Health Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 (CHSW) is underway.
The new draft Regulations aim to allocate responsibilities in a practical and proportionate way, and explain simply what duty holders need to perform. They also aim to provide a strengthened framework to facilitate and encourage more effective co-operation and communication, to this end HSC has:
Simplified the proposed Regulations, to improve clarity and therefore make it easier for duty holders to know what is expected of them
Focused on planning and management, rather than the plan and other paperwork, to emphasise active management and minimise bureaucracy
Maximised their flexibility to fit with the vast range of contractual arrangements
Strengthened the requirements regarding co-ordination and co-operation, particularly between designers and contractors, to encourage integration
Simplified the assessment of organisations' competence.
RIDDOR Review
The Health and Safety Commission has published an online discussion document dealing with the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). The HSC is looking for ways to reduce any unnecessary bureaucracy and administrative expense for those reporting and receiving reports.
The views of external stakeholders are sought on 4 proposals for possible changes following work by a Health and Safety Executive working group, and consultation with key stakeholders at a Public Forum held earlier this year.
New Explosives Regulations
The Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005, S.I. 2005 No. 1082, are before Parliament and come into force on 26th April 2005. The new Regulations will retain the fundamental features of the existing regulatory framework, but will replace most of the Explosives Act 1875 and 37 items of secondary legislation.
Health and Safety Executive Update
New HSE Websites
Health Service Slips Website
The Health and Safety Executive now has a page on its website dedicated to its
2-year campaign to reduce slips and trips in the Health Service. Concern stems from an apparent 6% increase in reported 'major injury' accidents arising from a slip or a trip, which account for 54% of all such events with that outcome.
The campaign aims to reverse the trend and bring it down at least to the national average of 34%, it features:
Visits by inspectors to health care establishments to assess standards, offer advice and enforce applicable legislation
Publicity packs specifically aimed at health services employees, including guidance, a newsletter and posters (from May 2005)
One-day seminars around the country
HSE Leaflets, Books and Guidance
Working at Height Guide
The Health and Safety Executive have published a new guidance The Work at Height Regulations 2005 - a brief guide, which outlines key requirements of the Regulations.
The Work at Height Regulations (SI2005 N0.735) came into effect on 6th April 2005, and the HSE is keen to communicate certain key messages about the Regulations and working at height safely, namely:
Those following good practice for work at height now should already be doing enough to comply with the Regulations. Follow the risk assessments that have been carried out for work at height activities and make sure all work at height is planned, organised and carried out by competent persons. Follow the hierarchy for managing risks from work at height - take steps to avoid, prevent or reduce risks. Select the right work equipment and use collective measures to prevent falls (such as guardrails and working platforms) before other measures which may only mitigate the distance and consequences of a fall (such as nets or airbags) or which may only provide personal protection from a fall.
HSE Reports
The Effect of Temperature on Manual Handling Risk
A Health and Safety Executive funded report, The effects of thermal environments on the risks associated with manual handling has arrived at a range of recommendations for persons involved in assessing risk or designing work that has a high manual handling content, especially in non-neutral thermal environments.
The study was conducted with the intention of filling a gap in knowledge relating to just how much of a bearing environmental temperature has on the magnitude of risk associated with manual handling. Researchers considered temperature ranges between 0C and 40C, with a cold environment defined as between 0C 10C (44% 60% relative humidity) and a hot environment as 29C 39C (25% - 72% relative humidity).
HSC strategy - first year report
The Health and Safety Commission has produced a report, Workplace Strategy - Moving to Delivery to the Minister for Work at the Department of Work and Pensions. The report details how the Strategy for workplace health and safety in Great Britain to 2010 and beyond has set priorities and allocated resources to areas of work that can have the greatest impact on its targets.
In Court
Double Prosecution Following Death at Tyre Shredding Site
Environmental Tyre Disposals Ltd of Taplow, Maidenhead, Berks, have been fined 70,000 after pleading guilty to a charge under s.2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974 in that it failed to take reasonably practicable precautions to ensure the safety at work of its employees.
MIDCO Waste Management Ltd of Hinckley, Leicestershire pleaded guilty to a similar charge, as well as a charge of breaching s.3(1) of HSWA in that it failed to ensure that persons not in its employment were not exposed to risks to their health and safety. For these offences MIDCO was also fined 70,000. Both companies were also ordered to pay costs of 29,982 as well as compensation totalling 10,992.
The charges arose from an incident in July 2001 at a tyre recycling site shared by the two companies when an employee of ETD was crushed to death whilst operating a telescopic reach truck used to push tyres towards a tyre shredder. HSE investigation established that both ETD and MIDCO had failed to take adequate measures to prevent or control risks arising from the use of the truck by untrained operators.
Worker Died in Metal Crusher
The proprietor of Briggs Metal of Newark, Nottinghamshire, has been fined 50,000, with costs of almost 7,000, by Nottingham Crown Court for two admitted breaches - of S.2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and r.3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.
The case arose as a result of a fatal accident occurring when an employee had been permitted to adopt an unsafe system of work by entering a crusher to change blades which involved him entering its danger zone with a hand-held remote control device without first isolating power.
Note: The information contained within this document is intended as a summary of selected items of health and safety news and information. As such, it is not offered or intended as complete, exhaustive and accurate reporting of such news and information. Safety4business accepts no responsibility for the completeness of the information, and no liability for actions resulting from it.
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