SPOOKY SAFETY - please don't forget the safety element of Hallowe'en this year - ensure any costumes are fire retardant (especially important for children) - if you aren't sure then spray the clothes with fire retardant spray which is easily available from various suppliers on the internet.
DIVERSITY DOOM - have you an updated diversity policy? Ghosts and zombies were people once and should be included. Or perhaps that is just witchful thinking?
GHOSTLY GRIEVANCES - never summon what you cannot banish - and if you get stuck then give HR Vision a call
Bats all for now, eat, drink and be scary!
Fire Strike Saturday 19 October
Once again the Fire Brigade are striking - only this time its a Saturday. If you have employees working on Saturday then this definitely applies to you - however it is common sense to take precautions anyway.
As before, businesses need to ensure that their fire risk assessment is up to date. If you have employees working on Saturday then measures reducing the risk of fire need to be put in place and emergency plan to ensure evacuation without the need for the Fire Brigade.
Ensure you know who is working this Saturday and that you have considered their safety, delaying activities that have increased risk of fire, rescheduling deliveries of flammable substances, reducing inventories of flammable or toxic items.
Is your Business ready for the Fire Brigade's planned strike this coming Wednesday?
The Fire Brigades Union are likely to be striking this Wednesday in relation to a row over Pensions. This presents an increased risk to your business in the event of Fire.
The London Fire Brigade have issued advise and checklists summarized below:
Businesses should ensure that a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is up to date, measures reducing the risk of fire are in place, emergency plan in situ ensuring evacuation without the need for brigade, all staff have received appropriate training.
Taking additional measures such as delaying activities where possible that have increased risk of fire, rescheduling deliveries of flammable substances, reducing inventories of flammable or toxic items.
For more information:
http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/contingency-plan.asp
Asbestos (Proper planning can reduce risk and save money)
While looking at some statistics on the HSE website yesterday, it brought to mind a situation where work had to stop due to lack of Asbestos Awareness training.
Some refurbishment work was being conducted in an old building at work and I happened to be walking past the skip and saw what looked to be a fibrous board that appeared suspiciously like Asbestos. I immediately stopped the work and had the material tested and discovered that it was indeed Asbestos.
After evacuating the area I then had to conduct widespread air testing to detect any fibre released in the air - mainly to reassure employees.
This resulted in a tremendous amount of disruption to the business because after evacuating the building we then brought in a specialist 'licenced' contractor to remove the asbestos properly. Additionally, as the need was urgent, the contractor cost was double their usual rate.
We had to reassure all employees that there had been minimal exposure as only a very small amount of Asbestos had been found. To ensure that the employees understood how minimal their exposure had been, we brought in counsellors to convey this message through face to face meetings.
Asbestosis has a latency period of around 20 to 30 years after exposure - it is currently unclear as to how much Asbestos constitutes a level significant enough to lead to Asbestosis,
Work recommenced some two weeks after I sighted the Asbestos. However the matter did not stop there.
On further investigation it was found that the Asbestos was not recorded on the Asbestos Register and this led to us having to repeat a site-wide Asbestos Survey at additional cost.
We also ascertained that a number of contractors had not been properly educated as to how to recognise asbestos and what to do when discovering it.
This led to an intensive Asbestos Awareness Training Workshop which all contractors were required to attend prior to conducting any further work.
My point? With a small amount of forethought and the right kind of education and processes in place none of the above would have occurred.
So review your processes, check your employees/contractors have had appropriate Asbestos Awareness training (which needs to be refreshed every year) and if not, give HR Vision a call on 01635255202 as we hold Asbestos Awareness training on a regular basis and can educate your staff on how to recognise Asbestos and how to conduct themselves if they discover it.
Working at Height
While revising our Working at Height Training Programme, it occurred to me that managing safety while working at height does not have to be complicated or onerous.
Although working at height can be a risky business and you may well require a permit to If you are faced with regular working at height for your employees, rather than have to issue permits everytime they work at height you can control this aspect by having an Process Safety Instruction (PSI).
This system involves developing your employees to be competent in working at height so you will only need to issue a work at height permit for the most hazardous tasks. Also the same system can be adopted into a Safety at Height System (SAHS) if you have a large amount of contractors on site. However you would be wise to ensure the calibre of contractor prior to accepting them on the scheme.
A permit to work at height certificate is generally issued as working at height can involve serious risk to health.
It is recommended that annual refresher training be given to employees, whilst a contractor should receive refresher training every 6 months.
We discuss this and more at our 1/2 day training session - find out more here http://hrvision.co.uk/working-at-height