Recent bad weather has seen flooding in a number of areas bringing with it various risks such as drowning, structures and trees collapsing, mudslides, pedestrians and vehicles being swept away by flood water, etc. While certain risks may be reduced when the water recedes others remain, if your workplace is affected by flooding it is important that any recovery and … Read More
SPRINKLERS IN HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
Following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire, the government launched an independent review of building regulations and fire safety leading in December 2018 to a call for evidence on the technical review of Approved Document B of the Building Regulations. While this review is ongoing the Government has identified certain issues that can be addressed more quickly. Currently there is a … Read More
DON’T BE A PAIN IN THE NECK – GET THE CONVERSATION STARTED
The term musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) is used to cover injury, damage or other disorders affecting the joints or other tissues in the limbs and back Work related musculoskeletal disorders are a significant problem. Figures from the HSE show that 469,000 workers were suffering from work-related MSDs (new or longstanding) in 2017/18 leading to a total of 6.6 million working days … Read More
IS YOUR EMPLOYEE’S HEALTH YOUR BUSINESS?
It is estimated that around 12.7 million working-age people in the UK have a long-term health condition including around 7.6 million disabled people. In a typical year, around 1.4 million working-age people have at least one sickness absence lasting four weeks or longer, while most people successfully return to work after a period of long-term sickness absence, disabled people are … Read More
LOOK OUT, LOOK UP CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED
Overhead powerlines are often uninsulated and may be carrying electricity at voltages up to 400kV, if a conductive item such as a scaffold pole, machine arm, ladder etc touches a powerline electricity will be conducted through it to earth. Anyone touching the item is at risk of receiving a serious or even fatal electric shock. It is not always necessary … Read More
DEAD LEG SAFETY ALERT
While medically a “dead leg” may be an injury caused by a numbing blow to a person’s leg, in terms of plumbing, a dead leg is pipework that normally has little or no significant flow including, but not limited to, piping that is no longer in use but still connected to a system. Following investigations into a recent failure which … Read More
The Health and Safety Executive issue electrical safety alert following fire
The HSE have issued a safety alert concerning high capacity electrical capacitors in industrial equipment. The alert follows investigations into a fire in 2018 that occurred in an industrial uninterruptable power supply system manufactured by Vertiv Infrastructure (previously known as Emerson / Chloride). The cause of the fire was traced to the dangerous failure of an ICAR branded capacitor. industrial … Read More
147 WORKERS FATALLY INJURED
The latest statistics just released by the HSE show that in the year 2018 to 2019 147 workers were killed as a result of accidents at work. The most common cause of fatal injury was falls from height accounting for 410 deaths, being struck by a moving vehicle resulted in 30 fatalities. Other common types of fatal accident included struck … Read More
GARDENING, GROUNDS KEEPING, HORTICULTURE – ARE YOU CONTROLLING YOUR VIBRATION RISKS?
Frequent, regular and prolonged exposure to vibration through the hands and arms can cause permanent ill health. Conditions associated with exposure to vibration include hand-arm vibration syndrome and carpal tunnel syndrome. Sufferers can experience tingling and numbness in the fingers, pain, a loss of strength in the hands and an inability to do fine work. Some examples of sources exposure … Read More
OLD TYRE CONSULTATION LAUNCHED
Concerns have been raised about the safety of older tyres especially when used on heavier vehicles. Earlier this year we reported that the Department for Transport was planning to consult on legislation to make it illegal for buses, coaches, heavy goods vehicles and mini-buses to run with a tyre aged 10 years or over. This consultation has now been launched. … Read More