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
HSE Warning on NHS Violence
NHS Boards must tighten up their procedures for protecting staff from violent attacks, the Health and Safety Executive has said.
The warning comes after Ayrshire and Arran Health Board was fined £6,400 after pleading guilty at Ayr Sheriff Court to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. HSE's investigation identified deficiencies in the Board's systems for managing violence and aggression at the site. This included a lack of controlled access to clinical areas within the accident and emergency department at Ayr Hospital. In a July 2003 incident, an assailant entered the department and assaulted three members of staff, after producing a knife that had been concealed. HSE had previously given advice in relation to the systems for managing violence and aggression in the department.
Kerbside Collection of Recyclables - Reducing MSD Risk
The Health and Safety Laboratory have produced a report, HSL/2006/25- Manual handling in kerbside collection and sorting of recyclables, which provides recommendations and control measures in respect of MSD risks associated with the collection of recyclable items at the kerbside.
Numerous aspects of the activity are considered, including box and vehicle dimensions, box weights, receptacle and handle design, load, vehicle design and influence on posture, lifting frequency and technique, carry distance, environmental factors and work organisation.
Unions Concerned about HSE Asbestos Study
Plans by the Health and Safety Executive to take asbestos textured coatings outside of the stringent licensing requirements demanded for most other asbestos work are continuing to prove controversial. Responding to new HSE research into the fibre levels released when asbestos coatings like artex are removed, Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of the construction union UCATT said:
Despite the asbestos management regulations being in place for nearly two years there are still many instances of workers being exposed to asbestos when carrying out maintenance and repair work. If there are no licensing controls for removal of textured decorative coatings then these exposures are likely to increase, condemning another generation of workers to an early death and ill health from asbestos related diseases. HSE need to recognise the reality that for very many building and maintenance workers, their employers will not put in place the appropriate controls and that deregulating an activity that has previously been licensed will send out the wrong message about the dangers of asbestos to workers and the occupants of buildings who will be at risk from these deadly fibres.
TUC commissioners have expressed concern with the research on the subject, in particular its failure to cover sanding of artex. Even with this omission, the report showed that mean asbestos exposures were approaching the proposed limit, with HSE just indicating it was 'unlikely' the limit would be breached.
Stress the Cause of Sick Building Syndrome?
'Sick building syndrome' is a hallmark of job stress and lack of support rather than an unhealthy building, according to research.
Sick building syndrome describes a cluster of symptoms affecting the eyes, head, nose and throat and skin, all of which have been associated with the physical properties of office buildings. The syndrome costs UK businesses millions of pounds every year in lost productivity and sickness absence, but research has so far failed to identify consistent associations between particular properties of buildings and the symptoms.
The research of more than 4,000 civil servants aged between 42 and 62, working in 44 different buildings across London found that one in seven of the men and about one in five of the women reported five or more symptoms of the syndrome.
Advocates of sick building syndrome claim that high levels of symptoms are associated with temperatures outside the recommended range, poor relative humidity, airborne bacteria and dust. However, the research found that lower levels of symptoms were reported in buildings with poor air circulation and unacceptable levels of carbon dioxide, noise, fungus and volatile organic compounds.
The report, published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine magazine, found that the most significant factor associated with symptoms was high job demands and low levels of support in the workplace. The research suggests that, when sick building syndrome symptoms come to light, managers should "consider causes beyond the physical design and operation of the workplace to include the organisation of work roles and the autonomy of the workforce".
Legislation Update
Threat of Civil Action against Safety Advisers Removed
Safety advisers, and others with contracts of employment, are now less likely to face civil actions from 3rd parties resulting from their acts or omissions as employees.
An amendment to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, enabled by The Management of Health and Safety at Work (Amendment) Regulations 2006, is now in force, which changes the civil liability provisions in the 1999 Regulations. The right of third parties to take legal action against employees for contraventions of their duties under these Regulations is now excluded.
The HSE comments:
'The amendment neither creates any new duties, nor does it remove any. The practical effect will be to reduce the likelihood of claims against employees by 3rd parties.'
New Noise Regulations in Force
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 came into force on the 6th April 2006, replacing the 1989 legislation. As a result, workplaces which fell within the scope of the 1989 Regulations should already have measures in place. The main effect is likely to be a need to review risk assessments and prioritise noise-control measures. In addition, employees whose use of hearing protection under the 1989 Regulations was advisory will now have to wear the protection supplied.
Simple 'rules of thumb' enable employers to test whether the new regulations may apply:
• If employees are surrounded by intrusive noise for most of the working day
• If employees have to raise their voice to be heard by someone 2 metres away, for at least part of the day
• If employees use noisy powered tools or machinery for more than 30 minutes a day
• If employees work in a noisy industry such as construction, road repair, engineering or manufacturing
• If work causes impacts such as hammering, drop forging, pneumatic impact tools, etc.
• If employees work with explosive sources such as cartridge-operated tools, detonators, or guns
For more information visit the dedicated webpages or download a simple guide to the Regulations at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg362.pdf
Copies of Controlling noise at work L108, ISBN 0 7176 6164 4, price £13.95, are available from HSE Books.
Health and Safety Executive Update
HSE Concerns on Retractable Fall Arresters
The Health and Safety Executive have expressed concerns regarding the possible misuse of retractable type fall arresters (inertia blocks). These devices have an encased flexible and extendable lanyard that has a self-braking and locking function and an automatic return facility for the lanyard into the casing. They are used to protect workers against falls from height.
The HSE believes that they are 'commonly being misused in circumstances they have not been tested for'. Additionally, HSE says some manufacturers and suppliers in the UK provide insufficient instructions and information to use the products safely.
Advice on the use of retractable type fall arresters is given in BS 8437:2005, Code of practice for selection, use and maintenance for personal fall protection systems and equipment for use in the workplace.
HSE Leaflets, Books and Guidance
Asbestos Update for Education
Further information on managing asbestos in schools is available from the Health and Safety Executive dealing with the potential exposure of teachers and pupils.
The information covers exposure to asbestos fibres from pinning or tacking children's work to walls containing asbestos insulating board (AIB). The potential remains low, says HSE, but it is re-issuing the guidance to remind duty holders of the need to manage asbestos.
The update follows work by WATCH, (Working Group on Action to Control Chemicals) and the Health and Safety Laboratory. The WATCH conclusions were that:
• The potential level of exposure created by this practice is low; but
• Inserting and removing drawing pins into AIB or other asbestos containing material is an avoidable practice
Guidance on Metalworking Fluids
The Health and Safety Executive has published a revised guidance publication, Working safely with metalworking fluids: a guide for employees INDG365(rev1). The guidance covers:
• What are MWFs?
• Routes of entry into the body;
• The ways they can affect your health;
• The available precautions
and
• Health checks.
Risk of Children Being Injured by Powered Rolling Doors
A number of accidents, including 2 which were fatal, involving children vertically opening powered rolling doors (both shutter and grille types) has resulted in the HSE issuing an information document on the subject.
These doors are a common security feature of industrial, commercial, residential and office complexes and children frequently ride on them and become entangled.
The HSE says they have simply issued guidelines and each situation would have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. It describes the situation for existing doors, specifying new doors, modifying or refurbishing existing doors and offers other sources of information on the matter.
HSE Reports
Violence at Work Training for Healthcare Staff Evaluation
Researchers from the University of Nottingham, commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive, have produced a report, ‘RR440 - Violence and aggression management training for trainers and managers’ aimed at determining the effectiveness of training given to healthcare staff on dealing with violence at work.
Researchers found that the practical training being given to medical staff is generally yielding positive, but limited, short-term benefits. They concluded that, to achieve acceptable standards, training has to blend with other preventative systems and procedures, and should not simply focus on promoting individual skills and knowledge. They noted that 'poorly thought-out training is having a negative effect, leaving staff feeling more anxious and less capable of coping with the verbal and physical abuse aimed at them'.
In Court
Developer Guilty of Serial Bad Health and Safety Management
Property developer DTL Ltd of Haverhill, Suffolk, has been fined £32,000, with £6,233 costs, by Wisbech Magistrates after admitting 2 breaches of health and safety regulations at a construction site in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire. Six other offences were also considered.
The prosecution reflected the poor management of health and safety by DTL on several projects at the time. The Chatteris offences related to work carried out at a brown-field site requiring the demolition of a 2-storey barn and construction of 9 houses. The condition of scaffolding on the site attracted the initial attention of the enforcing authority during February 2005.
No Risk Assessment or Method Statement
Bideem Construction Ltd, part of the Sisk Group has been fined a total of £40,000 with costs of £6,763 for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.
The prosecution resulted from a manual handling accident as a result of which a maintenance operative suffered a fractured pelvis, a broken leg and ribs, a collapsed lung and extensive internal injuries. The accident victim was directed to help move a set of heavy gates onto a flat bed trailer for transportation. Three gates were successfully handled and removed, but when the fourth gate was being handled, it slipped and fell on top of him.
Drill Accident Resulting from Unsafe System of Work
Paisley Sheriff court has fined local foundry company Carlton Die Castings Ltd £5,000 for failures that led to a female employee eventually losing her hand after her gloved hand became caught up in the rotating parts of a large drill.
The company admitted failing to adequately prevent access to a dangerous zone of the equipment. The employee was wearing the glove contrary to instruction, but had done so inadvertently. An unsafe system of work resulted from a failure to implement controls derived from a suitable and sufficient risk assessment.
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.
