June 2009

Continuing to support the working at height safety initiative, Facelift Access Hire is offering a free full colour safety poster. The poster is designed to be a constant and professional reminder of how to work safely at height. It incorporates the eight key elements which employers and employees need to consider when setting up their access machinery. Simple display pictures and short sharp instructions really get the message across, and it’s ideal for use in site offices and more. You can either download it from the website at www.facelift.co.uk and use the health and safety navigation button on the left of the page, or email the training department at trainingposters@facelift.co.uk.

Make sure you provide your full postal address and the number of posters you require, these will then be mailed out to you free of charge. If you have any other questions or require further information you can contact the training department on 0800 072 55 72 or visit www.facelift.co.uk

If you have any other questions or require further information you can contact the training department on 0800 072 55 72 or visit www.facelift.co.uk

April 2009

The appalling toll of death and serious injury in the construction industry has been brought home to me by two meetings I have had recently.

I have had a meeting with Rita Donaghy, probably not a name you are familiar with, but she is a former President of the TUC who has been appointed by Rt Hon James Purnell MP, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to undertake an inquiry into the underlying causes of construction fatalities. Ms Donaghy is due to report back to Mr Purnell by the end of April 2009 and she has invited the FMB to present its thoughts to her. I have also had a meeting with Lord (Bill) McKenzie, the Minister responsible for Health and Safety at the Department of Work and Pensions, for a more general discussion about the implementation of safe working practices.

FMB COMMITTED TO PROMOTING SITE SAFETY

Although some improvement has been made since the 1980s and early 1990s when construction deaths were averaging 130 every year, 72 people in the industry lost their lives last year whilst at work. Falls remain the predominant cause, with accidents involving moving vehicles, plant or materials close behind. While FMB members are not so likely to be the victims of accidents involving tower cranes or on motorway maintenance sites, the evidence points to a significant proportion of accidents occurring on small sites and with smaller employers. My concern remains that the quality of data collected does not allow any differentiation between smaller employers who take their responsibilities seriously and those operating in the grey economy that treat Health and Safety in just as cavalier a fashion as paying their taxes.

My clear message to both Rita Donaghy and Bill McKenzie was that the FMB, and its members, consider Health and Safety to be the highest priority. The FMB is actively engaged with many statutory and cross industry bodies working in this area, and we offer members a range of support services for advice on health and safety. Our Information Services Department (tel: 0870 162 0947) can answer most enquiries and a specialist helpline is available for more detailed questions.

Factsheets on many aspects of Health and Safety are available on the FMB website, or can be requested in hard copy from the information department. Regular articles appear in Master Builder magazine and specialist workshops are run around the country. Above all, the FMB works closely with the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that each is aware of the needs and concerns of the other.

WORKER SAFETY ADVISOR SCHEME

But more needs to be done. Above all the statutory regime needs to be simplified. The FMB has identified 26 separate Acts of Parliament and Regulations that need to be complied with and where breaches could result in prosecution. We have long argued that whilst managing this volume of legislation may just be possible for a larger business with specialist staff available to scrutinise, explain and train, smaller companies need fewer regulations, with clearer explanations in the source documents and effective enforcement.

The FMB is also arguing for the Government to put funding into a nationwide Worker Safety Advisor scheme. The pilot run by the FMB, the Transport and General Workers Union (now Unite), and UCATT in 2005-07 was highly successful in taking specialist support to building sites to give practical advice. Rolling that scheme out now would be highly cost effective.

Another concern of the FMB is the availability of advice from the HSE. A number of publications still remain available only at a cost, and the FMB believes that high quality advice from the regulator must be freely available to all those from whom compliance is required. The FMB has offered the HSE a regular page in this magazine to put across its key messages. I hope that this offer will be taken up.

EVEN PLAYING FIELD

Finally, there is a need to tackle the informal economy. The difficulty of targeting those businesses that operate informally (who I am convinced are where a disproportionate amount of accidents occur), means that the limited resources available for enforcement remain focussed on those who work legitimately. At the same time with clients, particularly those in the domestic sector still driven almost entirely by price, responsible builders will be at a real disadvantage against those prepared to cut corners and put lives at risk. Perhaps the time has come to put domestic clients under the same liability as commercial clients for ensuring same working practices on their property.

Richard Diment

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October 2009

“I have worked on site on and off for most of my life. My back and knees seem to be complaining these days and I just wondered if there is anything I can do to make sure it doesn’t get any worse? I guess I have done the damage by just not thinking when I pick up heavy or awkward loads, but that’s life on a building site!”

Lifting - or manual handling - is a very common cause of back and joint pain. It is therefore very important not to lift more than you can easily handle, or work beyond your normal abilities and limits. Lifting heavy or bulky loads, carrying them awkwardly, pushing, pulling or dragging heavy loads, working when physically tired, stretching, twisting, reaching and prolonged periods in one position can all trigger or exacerbate back and joint problems.

If possible you should use manual handling equipment when this is available and make sure you use it correctly. When lifting heavy or bulky objects, bend your knees, keep your back straight and carry the objects close to your body, you should also make sure you have a stable base to stand on when doing this. Where possible, use two or more people for heavy or awkwardly shaped objects. Request that deliveries are made as close as possible to where you will be using them.

If you do hurt your back remember although you should take it easy, your back is designed for movement so the sooner you start doing your ordinary activities the better. A short course of manipulation can help relieve back pain for some, if done by a qualified professional.

As you improve, gradually increase your level of activity. Move about and take some walks, stretch regularly and build up your activity as you get stronger, but don’t do one thing for too long. Keep switching your activities so that you are changing position and moving around from time to time.

If you are employed, report your back pain to your employer and to your safety representative if there is one in your workplace, about how your normal work could be done in an improved way. Your employer may be able to put you in touch with occupational health support.

October 2009

It is becoming very difficult to tender for work for councils, housing associations and larger clients without submitting your company to the scrutiny of third party safety assessment auditors. The workplace has become a very litigious place to operate in and the procuring client has to reduce the risk of accidents and ill health, together with limiting the liability of a negligence claim.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 specifies a strict legal duty of care for employers, or persons instructing work, to provide safe systems of work for the benefit of the workforce and also to those who may be affected by the work process. Clients (or instructing procurement teams) in the first instance have to prove that they have appointed properly resourced companies who are trained and competent to carry out the “contracted out” function or project.

WHAT YOUR ASSESSOR OR POTENTIAL CLIENT WANTS TO SEE

A signed and dated safety policy, which includes:

1. An organisation chart showing how your company divides up its legal duties and management responsibilities

2. A list and record of the training, vocational awards, certification and certificates of accreditation for specialist skills. In-house induction training, tool box talks checklist and safety awareness records and certificates should also be sent to the assessor - they show how your company deals with organising and training your workforce

3. The CV or accreditation of your third party safety advisors and/or your in-house safety manager.

Task relevant and site specific risk assessment procedures

Risk assessing work processes forms part of the safe working procedures and management systems of a company. Date your risk assessment to show when it was carried out, and give the name of the person who undertook it. The risk assessment itself should always show what residual risk the work person will be exposed to if the control measures are carefully observed. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that it is a legal requirement to carry out risk assessments as your insurance cover is conditional on your correct identification of the inherent risks of your work.

COSHH Information
(Control of substances hazardous to health)

For some work tasks, using acid based substances or solvent based materials are unavoidable. The assessor wants to see that you take formal steps to identify and consider safe working processes to reduce the risk of working with materials that might be hazardous to the health of the work force or people in the vicinity.

The assessor needs evidence that you carry out safe systems of work which are applied in a proactive manner. Binding up generic documentation and guidance will not convince even the most inexperienced safety auditor who will probably analyse your information with software designed to ensure that your responses are coherent, and in line with CDM Regulations and other regulations which demand that a company has demonstrable safe systems of work.

This section of your tender should include your waste removal plan, to show how you deal with regulatory requirements, and that you undertake the efficient dispensation of good environmental management techniques in a way that will not harm the environment.

Environmental management

Some assessors might ask for evidence of your proactive attitude to environmental management. They may want to verify that you have reached ISO14001 standard, or that you have undertaken an independent review of waste removal, recycling and energy use (See This month's 'Princebuild' article). 

FEEDBACK PROCESS

All your policies should include a proactive feedback process that is shown to work; ie one which generates a record to form an audit trail of responses, if the safe working procedures or system of work fail.

If anything does go wrong and an accident happens, a safety investigator or the safety inspector will look at the audit trail of an event leading up to the accident, so make sure that your audit trails and records show why you made certain decisions. Not only does the law require you to keep records, it can save an enormous amount of time if the prosecuting agency decides you have not acted in a reckless manner.

OTHER DOCUMENTS

Always qualify your safety assessments with a ‘non exhaustive’ description, because each service bid will have different technical needs. The descriptions here mainly relate to the duty of care directors hold, the safe systems of work we employ in the workplace and how we proactively operate those systems; culminating in the need to keep records and show how we made decisions.

Assessors might ask to see other documents such as:

1. How you present your safety policies, new process information and workplace guidance to your workforce. (Employee handbooks, induction and management meetings etc)

2. Evidence of safety meetings attended by a good cross section of the company

3. Evidence about how you select and maintain safe working equipment and carry out PAT testing

4. Fire risk assessment in the office, workplace and mobile work site

5. Emergency procedures for staff and client’s employees

6. Risk assessment checklists which should be recorded in your company archives

7. Any job specific safety guidance manuals, specialist working procedures or common guidance for specific tasks, and information about how this knowledge is transferred to the workforce.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

• Improve your existing knowledge and safety documentation by visiting websites such as www.hse.gov.uk, www.envirowise.gov.uk

• Have discussons with your team about how you can refresh your safe working procedures and the formal information you use in the workplace

• Make your working documents eye catching - use colour and pictures to convey the safety message to users and safety auditors.

If you need help on the road to compliance, contact PH&S on 020 8778 7838 or visit www.healthandsafety.co.uk

They can mentor you, your managers and employees to help you to fill in the applications and put you on the right track.