It is shocking to think that despite all that is known about the dangers of asbestos many employers continue to put their employees lives at risk. It only takes one fibre of the deadly material to cause a potentially deadly problem, which is why it’s so important to act sensibly and carefully when dealing with demolitions, renovations and maintenance work.

One company was recently prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive for failing to protect their workers from asbestos. Superior Plumbing Installations hired a subcontractor and a site manager to work on a refurbishment project in Aberystwyth. The two men worked on the flats between November 2010 and February 2011. During that time they were not told about the presence of asbestos and were given no information regarding the environment they were working in.

Fine for Failing to Ensure Workers Safety

The principle contractor, Superior Plumbing Installations, was therefore summoned to appear at Aberystwyth Magistrates Court on December 10 2012. They were prosecuted by the HSE after it was discovered about the work being conducted during a routine inspection. The men had taken out 82 metres of cement board which contained asbestos. The board was broken with hammers, shovelled into wheelbarrows and then taken to a skip. The inspectors also discovered that the main contractors were due to work on two more properties, one of which also had asbestos present.

As the company had failed to plan the safe removal of asbestos and the manager had no training in asbestos awareness they pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. They were fined £5,000 and will have to play £3,830 in court costs.

An Asbestos Survey Can Save Lives

All contractors must ensure that there is no asbestos present before allowing work to begin. An asbestos survey will reveal whether or not the deadly material is in the building. If it is discovered the contractor must organise the right type of removal or treatment of the asbestos.

With around 4,000 people dying each year from being exposed to asbestos it is necessary to take the hazardous material very seriously. The laws are there to ensure that workers and the public are not exposed to the fibres and must be followed. Failure to do so will always result in prosecution. What’s more you may have to love with the knowledge that your lapse in judgement has resulted in individuals from contracting deadly diseases that could have easily been avoided.

Asbestos surveys are provided by health and safety consultants. This is a health and safety service that is simple to request, affordable and it will help you to save lives and comply with the law. Find out more about our asbestos surveys by speaking to us directly on 0800 1488 677

The IOSH have an abundance of excellent courses that will improve the health and safety of any organisation. One of these courses is the IOSH SHE Responsibilities within Facilities Management. This is a course that has been designed specifically for facilities managers and the personal within the department that are given roles of responsibility such as supervising.

Designed for Your Facilities Department

The content on this course is very similar to the content that is taught on the IOSH Managing Safely course that’s also awarded by the IOSH. The main difference is that this course is specifically designed for the facilities sector and this is why it’s important to make sure your facilities team attend the correct course.

There are many excellent learning outcomes that will be of great benefit for the candidate and your entire organisation.

After completing the training and passing the qualification the candidates within your facilities management team will be able to:

• Investigate any incidents that have resulted in injuries or damage. The investigation will be able to determine what caused the incident and what action now needs to be taken.
• Recognise risks and hazards found in the workplace with special focus on those areas that are more relevant for facilities managers such as: fires, electricity, substances, movement of people and vehicles, asbestos, noise and legionella.
• How to perform risk assessments and how to recommend suitable control measures based on the hazards and risks determined in the risk assessment.
• Understand the practices and basic principles of health and safety issues that are required as part of the management system.
• Monitor the workplace and spot any problems that need to be attended to regarding health and safety.
• Understand the legal framework.
• Identify common hazards and any unsafe action that could be performed by contractors.

The candidates who attend the training will have to complete an assessment in order to be awarded with the certificate. The assessment involves a short test and a practical assessment. At the end of the training and the assessment section those who are successful will gain the IOSH accredited certificate. Find out more by calling 0844 567 6750.

Fire Safety Training

A great way to prepare and reduce the risks of a fire in your workplace is to attend a suitable fire safety training course. The NEBOSH Fire Certificate is an excellent option for managers, supervisors and personnel with a level of responsibility within an organisation. This is a course that is suited for anyone that has already undertaken the NEBOSH General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety and who is looking to increase their skills and worth within the company. Anyone that has duties in fire safety will benefit from the training and be able to contribute to managing the fire risks that are always present.

During the NEBOSH Fire Certificate course the candidates will be taught about the legal framework that relates to fire and health and safety. The course also looks into how fires are investigated in a workplace and what the purpose of those investigations is. There are also other topics that are covered over three modules and these include:

• Understanding how fires are spread and how they can start
• Outlining the principles behind explosions
• Learning to identify what the causes of fires and explosions are
• Outlining the control measures used to reduce the risks

Candidates will also be given the skills they need to be able to give advice on how to prevent fires from spreading and the use of fire protection. The training also covers teaching candidates how to create and maintain an adequate fire evacuation procedure and how to conduct fire risk assessments.

All these skills are invaluable to businesses. Fire risk assessments are required by law and you must be able to show how you are putting in place and monitoring your fire safety procedures. Any of your employees that undertake the training will become a valuable asset helping to keep you and your employees and premises safe from fire and reducing the risks of prosecution for breaching legislation.

One of the assessments that are given to all candidates is the on-site assessment. This takes place on the last day of training and is completed at your premises. Many employers benefit from the assessment alone.

You can learn more by calling us on 0808 1966 830.

Your Supervisors and Managers Need Training

Make Sure Everyone Plays Their Part in the Health and Safety of Your Site

Related Construction Health and Safety Courses

• NEBOSH Construction Certificate
• SMSTS
• SSSTS
• CITB Directors Role for Health and Safety
• CITB Health & Safety Awareness
• CITB SEATS
• Temporary Works Coordinator
• Temporary Works Supervisor
• CDM 2015 in Practice
• CDM 2015 Awareness
• City & Guilds Confined Space Rescue 6150-01 (Low Risk)
• City & Guilds Confined Space Rescue 6150-02 (Medium Risk)
• City & Guilds Confined Space Rescue 6150-03 (High Risk)
• New Roads and Street Works Act for Supervisors
• New Roads and Street Works Act for Operatives
• NRSWA Reassessment

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• CITB Site Management Safety Training Scheme

There are two excellent courses that are ideal for supervisors in the construction industry. Being such a high risk industry it is necessary to provide your staff with a high level of training to reduce the health and safety risks. It’s possible to book your supervisors on the courses and help them to gain the necessary skills and qualifications they need to help you comply with legislation. Two courses for you to consider are the SSSTS and the CCNSG Supervisor course.

What is the Site Supervisors Safety Training Scheme?

The SSSTS stands for the Site Supervisors Safety Training Scheme. It’s a two day course that will focus your supervisors attention on the importance of risk assessments. They will learn vital skills such as how to communicate with other employees, how to introduce and implement control measures, how to monitor work and produce the risk assessments themselves. By the end of the training the supervisors will have gained many excellent techniques that will benefit everyone within your organisation.

What is the CCNSG Supervisor Course?

The CCNSG supervisor training last for only one day unlike the SSSTS. The idea of this course is to ensure the supervisor is aware of the legislation and what they need to do to help reduce the risks while working in line with the current health and safety legislations. The course covers risk assessments, controlling risks, monitoring, time management and it will also go over their role and responsibility as a supervisor.

Both of these courses are excellent, they will give your team of supervisors many necessary skills and a qualification that is recognised. The CCNSG is valid for three years and will need to be refreshed before the passport runs out if the candidate is to remain qualified. Similarly the SSSTS also has to be refreshed and both of these refresher courses can be organised quickly.

Call us on 0808 1966 830 whether you wish to book a place on the SSSTS, the CCNSG Safety Passport or any of the refresher courses.

Construction Health and Safety Courses

• SMSTS
• SSSTS
• CITB Health and Safety Awareness
• NEBOSH Construction Certificate

Content Other Students Find Interesting

• CITB Site Management Safety Training Scheme

At the end of the year many businesses will evaluate the past twelve months and set new targets for the year ahead. It’s a time for personal resolutions and business ones too. One of the ways to improve on the year gone by is to ensure that your health and safety training is up to date. You might be in need of furthermore up to date training, your employees may need to sit refresher courses to remain qualified or you might have new employees who are yet to attend a suitable course.

Work Morally and Legally

Reducing the risks in your workplace is good news for everyone. Not only will you be acting morally correct, you will also be working within the current legislation. One of the ways to do this is through training. You can learn how to continue working to the laws and Regulations, learn any new changes or methods that are being used, a very worthwhile way to spend a few days if you own a business.

Check the Expiry Dates

Your employees must keep their qualifications and health and safety passports up to date too. You might have sent a few employees on courses when they started, yet the certificates could be coming to their expiry date. Check your records to see who needs to attend a training refresher course this year and book their place. Many courses will need to be completely resit if you are to miss the expiry date on the current certificate.

Train Up Your New Employees

Finally you may have taken on new staff towards the end of the year, or intend to in 2013. In which case, you will have to provide them with health and safety training that is suited to their job, the industry and the work that they will be performing.

There are many health and safety courses available all over the UK. You will need to make the job of booking the right courses for you and your employees one of your top priorities in 2013. Health and safety is a constant concern, making it an important factor to focus on.

Never leave arranging health and safety courses until it’s too late. Stay on top of the training and keep your business in tip top shape.

In a terribly tragic accident, a Shropshire farmer died while working at his farm when he was struck on the head by the rotating arms of a bale wrapping machine which was defective. The company, McHale Engineering of County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive for supplying the defective piece of machinery in 2001 and failing to build equipment which met basic health and safety standards.

The worker, 48 year old George Stokes, was killed by the malfunctioning machine at his farm in May of 2009. He had been working independently, preparing the bale wrapping machine in advance of the grass cutting season. He was later discovered by his brother slumped over the machine after the accident and the ambulance crew pronounced him to be dead when they arrived. When the incident was investigated by the Health and Safety executive, it was found that the safety bar in the machine was not designed to stop the rotating arms of the bale wrapper. This meant that anyone who was operating the machine was still at risk of being hurt or killed, even if they activated the safety bar.

This design flaw allowed the rotating arm to strike Mr Stokes and cause him to suffer fatal head injuries before the safety trip even kicked in. This was a preventable death which would not have occurred if the manufacturer, McHale Engineering, had designed the safety bar on the machine to stop it in a safe manner as soon as it was activated. The safety bar on the device would have worked as it should have and Mr. Stokes would not have been struck in the head by the rotating arms of the machine.

The company was found to be guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974 and was fined a total of £45,000 as well as a total of £70,000. It is the responsibility of the equipment manufacturer to ensure that the machinery meets all health and safety requirements and is suitable for safe use. When a company fails to do this, it can result in injury and even death.

After a worker died recently at a Swansea building site, a large construction company has been found guilty of breaching health and safety regulations for working at heights. The concrete structures firm which was also involved in the incident have been sentenced as well.

The firms involved, Febrey Ltd. and Carillion Construction Ltd. were both prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after the incident. The fatal fall occurred at the development site of the Meridian Quay Apartments in January of 2008.

The worker was Russell Samuel, a 40 year old independent contractor and father of two from Porth. He had been contracted by the company to work as a scaffolder at the building site in Swansea, Wales.

He had been dismantling a scaffold platform access ladder to prepare for the installation of the roof, when he fell 19 metres to the ground below. He narrowly missed another worker; carpenter Raymond Haines, who had been working on the ground.

Mr. Samuel was taken immediately to Morriston Hospital, but he had already suffered a fractured skull along with several other serious injuries during the fall. He passed away just two days later in hospital.

The investigation into the incident found that the construction firm was inadequate in its provision of health and safety arrangements and that there was no instruction or communication for the workers. The management team which had been working on site was not trained in health and safety, although they had been previously warned to obtain these qualifications by health and safety consultants.

Carillion Construction was found guilty of breached several sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined a total of £130,000 and ordered to pay £52,500 in costs. Febrey Ltd. was also found guilty and the company has since gone into liquidation. It has been fined a total of £85, although the judge stated that before they became insolvent he would have fined them £250,000.

Falls from height are one of the biggest killers in the construction industry and without proper adherence to Work at Height safety regulations, serious and even fatal accidents can occur which affect worker’s families forever.

According to IOSH, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, health and safety procedures regarding sharp objects are not just relevant to workers who are in the medical industry. IOSH is the committee within the UK for health and safety professionals and the largest health and safety organisation in the world. They have announced recently that Sharps regulations should cover all workers who use any sharp objects or tools in their daily working environment.

The announcement was made in response to a consultation by the Health and Safety Executive. IOSH warned that excluding all non-medical workers from SHARPS regulations would be a dangerous move. These health and safety regulations are now currently under review.

Workers in the medical profession and any other workplace which involves sharp materials are in danger of injury. These harmful materials can include blades, needles and other sharp instruments. Not only can these objects cause damage, but they can also increase the risk of exposure to blood-borne viruses. Sharps injuries can leave the victim susceptible to serious illnesses such as AIDS and HIV, as well as Hepatitis C. This is especially dangerous in the medical profession where the instruments can carry traces of blood or other bodily fluids from patients who might be carrying these diseases. According to a survey of NHS staff, 2% reported that they had experience a needle sticK within the previous year.

Many hospitals and health care facilities are attempting to reduce the risks by changing to less risky practices and developing new procedures which do not require sharps to be used at all. If needleless equipment or equipment which incorporates protection can be used in a medical context, this will remove the risk of injury and therefore show that the ‘sharps’ regulations have worked in protecting workers.

According to Richard Jones, the Head of Policy and Public Affairs, all workers who are potentially at risk for injury from sharp objects on the job should receive health and safety training and be subject to the regulations; not just healthcare and hospital workers. He also proposed the option that the existing safety regulations be altered to achieve this inclusion.

The HSE has recently released the figures for workplace ill health and injury. While there has been a slight drop in the numbers compared with the previous year the information is still quite a concern. As you will see below the numbers of people falling ill or being injured highlight the need for training within your organisation and shows why first aid training is a must for immediate treatment.

HSE Statistics for 2011 – 2012

The provisional figures may make you address the level of first aid within your organisation:

Great Britain

• Major injuries 22,433 Including injuries such as burns, broken bones and amputations
• Work related illnesses 1.1 million
• Fatalities 173
• Injuries requiring more than four days off work 88,731

Scotland

• Major injuries 9,551 Including injuries such as burns, broken bones and amputations
• Work related illnesses 64,000
• Fatalities 20
• Injuries requiring more than four days off work 425.7 per 100,000

Wales

• Major injuries 1,168 Including injuries such as burns, broken bones and amputations
• Work related illnesses 55,000
• Fatalities 18
• Injuries requiring more than three days off work 4,680

How Adequate are Your First Aid Facilities

When a person falls ill or is injured at work it’s important to be able to give them instant treatment. The appointed first aider will need to have training to be able to help take over the situation until the emergency services arrive. They may need to treat someone who is unconscious, bleeding, who has broken bones, those who are in shock, feeling unwell or someone with burns or scolding. There are so many different types of injuries and courses such as the First Aid at Work can provide a large amount of techniques on how to cope and treat affected people.

The first aider will need to know what is required in their first aid kit, and know how to make records. They also have to speak to the emergency services, know when to call them or put procedures in place to take control of an emergency situation. To book your appointed person or yourself on first aid training course all you need to do is use our online booking form. You can also speak to one of our team on 0808 1966 830.