HSE People - Health and Safety Community

Fatal and major accidents can, and must be reported by telephone on 0845 300 9923. Major accidents will continue to include:
Fractures, other than to digits of the hand and foot.
Amputation.
Dislocation of the shoulder, hip, knee or spine.
Loss of sight.
Chemical or hot metal burn to the eye.
Any penetrating injury to the eye.
Injury resulting from an electric shock.
Electrical burn leading to unconsciousness, or requiring resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours.
Injury leading to hypothermia.
Heat-induced illness or unconsciousness, or requiring resuscitation, or requiring admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours.
Unconsciousness caused by asphyxia.
Unconsciousness caused by exposure to a harmful substance.
Unconsciousness caused by exposure to a biological agent.
Acute illness requiring medical treatment.
Loss of consciousness arising from absorption of any substance by inhalation, ingestion or through the skin.
Acute illness requiring medical treatment where there is reason to believe that this resulted from exposure to a biological agent or its toxins or infected material.
 The reporting service is available in normal office hours (Mon-Fri 8:30-17:00). The HSE do provide an out of hours duty officer service on 0151 922 9235. The service should be used when the contact centre is closed and:

A work related incident has caused a death (or is likely to result in a death).
Following a serious accident when there is a risk that evidence would be lost if you were to wait until the contact centre was open.
Following a major incident where the severity of the incident or public concern warrants an immediate statement from the HSE or Government Ministers.
Amendments to original notification for major and fatal incidents can be made by phone or by submitting a report form online. When submitting an amendment, state “Amendment to incident reference number” and include the reference number provided by HSE. This detail should be included in the text box labelled “Describe What Happened”.

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995 are under review. A consultative document was released by the HSE in the early part of 2011. Responses to the consultation document were required for the 9th May 2011 and the consultation has now closed. Changes are expected to be included in the legal review in Spring 2011, when the Government will introduce any new health and safety legislation. It is expected that RIDDOR will be amended to extend the reporting requirement for lost time accidents and injuries from three to seven days.

In addition, on the 30th September the HSE Infoline will close. Individuals seeking advice on RIDDOR reporting will be directed to the HSE website. The HSE advise that if you are unable to find the information you require you should contact a commercial health and safety advice service or a safety consultant listed on the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register at www.oshcr.org . Subscribers to Health and Safety Adviser can submit emails to the editorial team where we will provide advice on compliance.

I wonder if their are many people  who work in our area that belive that it is not nessery to maintain the levels of first aid  training in an organisation every three year as is required.I belve its always important as treats change as more research is done. Once we were told head back for a nose bleed now the advise is head forward.Anyone rememeber other changes eg putting a spoon into the mouth of a person having a fit?

Robert Acheson
http://www.fad.ie

Everyone is responsible in some way or another for Health & Safety whether it be their own, their colleagues or anyone else they come into contact with.But how is the communicated by your business?

Everyone is responsible in some way or another for Health & Safety whether it be their own, their colleagues or anyone else they come into contact with.But how is the communicated by your business?

Don't let legislation DRIVE you mad!

Over the past few years we have seen major changes in Health & Safety Legislation with Duty of Care, Corporate Manslaughter & Homicide Act, European Time Directive, and lately the Health & Safety at Work Offences Act are phrases we are all too familiar with I’m sure, with many articles published on these subjects. Where will it end? Do you understand it all? Unfortunately it will end right on the door step of the business and more than likely the individual director or manager responsible for this area if you have not taken steps to make sure responsibility is directed to where it should be. There are not many businesses today that do not rely on motor vehicles in one form or another as part of their business activities; therefore almost all businesses will be affected.

For instance when someone starts in the factory, do you assume that they can operate the machinery they will be working on? Of course not, as you will be asking for trouble should anything happen. Then why do most businesses allow a vehicle to be used by an employee or contractor without checking the competence and compatibility of the driver and safety of the vehicle without proper Risk Assessments and checks being carried out?

Risks arising from vehicle use, need to be assessed and a Policies & Procedures management control system put in place to measure and control this area of any business that uses vehicles on behalf of their working activities.

It is getting harder by the day to manage occupational road risks and the question is how are you doing it at the moment? Not sure? Then you need to get your system checked and up to date as ignorance is not a defence should you be in the unfortunate position of an incident occurring. There are endless questions that you could ask to qualify the previous question, and it will no doubt alert you to the risks involved. However, what excuse will you make when faced with possible prosecution regarding an incident with a vehicle that one of your employees or contractors used while on your company business? Will your policy and procedure document withstand close scrutiny? Don't be under the illusion that the company vehicle / employee handbook you have issued over the years will be sufficient; you will actually require a comprehensive policy and procedure document that covers every aspect of the individuals’ responsibilities who are working on your behalf.

The lack of urgency that many businesses put on the issues raised above is amazing. There seems to be an element of fear in any proposed changes, an uncertainty of how it will affect the business, and who is supposed to be in charge of what and who makes the final decision compounded by cost implications, it is easy to see why this area is often neglected. However, could you afford an accident or investigation, or lose a key member of your operation and all the costs involved in replacing them? Putting in a management system will actually help reduce your costs in the long term.

There is no right or wrong way to procure or manage your fleet as every business is different. You know your business better than anyone, so find a company who will listen to you and give you what you require with flexibility to offer a full package of services could be best for you in the long run as they tend to be totally independent. They can offer impartial advice and bespoke the services to the businesses' specific requirements and, most important of all, allow you to stay in control by working with you.
Those individuals who drive as part of their employment are five times more likely to be killed at work than any other industrial accident. By introducing occupational road risk assessments, training and having better communication can reduce this dramatically.

Graham Primrose of Fleet Management Solutions (UK) Ltd, says that “Duty of Care” legislation needs to be taken seriously and once businesses get past the fear aspect of what it is all about and defining the different departmental responsibilities then they can move forward.

Therefore don’t let legislation DRIVE you mad; ask for help to install a satisfactory management control system that suits your business. By engaging a Fleet Management Company to carry out an audit of your current situation, will highlight the areas that will require immediate attention. Such as a driver training programme as part of your system which seems on paper a sound commercial reason to have, only 1 in 5 businesses actually operate one.

With costs continually increasing on a daily basis this is an area that can in a lot of cases make a dramatic saving as areas of inefficiency can be turned round to become more efficient and safer into the bargain very quickly.

Feel free to email me any questions that you may have and I will be happy to answer them for you.

graham@fleetmanagementsolutions.co.uk