Neals Notes May 2001
Campaign to Reduce Vibration from Tools
The HSE has kicked off a campaign encouraging employers to choose more carefully when buying or hiring hand-held power tools. This campaign to point out the health risks from such tools is being supported by the publication of a leaflet which "contains straight guidance on how to make the best choice".
Entitled: Power Tools- how to reduce vibration health risks it is available from HSE books on 01787 881165.
Inspectors will be visiting employers where hand-held power tools are widely used and will be looking at how risks are being managed and at company policies for tool replacement.
Long term exposure to hand-arm vibrations from using hand-held power tools such as concrete breakers, chain saws, grinders and chipping hammers is known as the cause of a range of diseases including vibration white finger, carpal tunnel syndrome, sensory nerve damage and muscle and joint damage of the hands and arms.
And, don't forget the Greening research which proved indicated that even those without physical symptoms are, in fact, incurring nerve damage!
Help for SMEs is on the way from Europe.
Every year about 5,500 people are killed in workplace accidents across the European Union and more that 4.5 million accidents result in more than three days absence from work to total 46 million lost working days. This problem seems to be particularly acute in enterprises with less than 50 workers where the fatality incident rate is double that of larger companies. This is even more striking when you consider that small and medium sized enterprises make up 90% of all Europe's Employers. The Bilbao based European Agency for Safety and Health at Work is organising a £5m scheme to tackle work-related accidents in Europe's SMEs details of the funding can be found in the official Official Journal of the European Communities and on the agency's web site http://osha.eu.int/sme/
More help for SMEs
This time in the form of chemical information. A new Internet system is being developed to help SMEs manage chemical risks in their premises. HSE and the Environment Agency are collaborating in this scheme which will eliminate the current bother of having to consult many different documents and agencies in order to ensure that SMEs gather all the information required. A feasibility study has been successfully completed.
Making inroads on Health and Safety
Bearing in mind the current national debate being initiated around the proposition that employers should be managing risks faced, and created, by employees on the road as part of health and safety at work it is appropriate that RoSPA has recently published an interesting series of four posters dedicated to "taking risk assessment out on the road". The range comprises an amusing posters covering Road Rage, one exhorting drivers to be careful to and from work, one on National speed limits and the fourth one (it re-informs all those who find it is many years since taking the Driving Test) which lists the shortest stopping distance for 20 to 70 mph. (In fact RoSPA has been campaigning for the last six years for organisations to adopt a proactive risk management to reducing the risks connected with at-work vehicle use.
Outdoor workers get anti-sun advice
The HSE has just published a leaflet for employers responsible for staff working out of doors for most of the day. Entitled "Sun protection advice for employers of outdoor workers" it is claimed to provide a tool kit for reducing the health risks for those exposed to UV radiation from the sun. This exposure has been linked with skin damage including sunburn, blistering, skin aging and skin cancer . In fact skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK with over 40,000 new cases every year. The leaflet offers a number of suggestions to help provide a safety-first attitude to skin care which includes provision of advice in general health and safety training, using a sun screen with a factor of least 15 and checking the skin for abnormalities on a regular basis. Details from HSE Books 01787 881165 or Fax 01787 313995. Single copies are free and there is a charge for packs of 20.
Asbestos Guidance for Building Maintenance workers
Two related guidance booklets have been published by the HSE in its ongoing campaign to highlight the dangers of asbestos. These booklets will provide the tools necessary to ensure that building maintenance work involving asbestos-containing materials is carried out safely and in accordance with the law. The "Introduction to Asbestos Essentials" is aimed at those likely to control or carry out maintenance work with asbestos carrying materials which includes employers, contract managers, site agents, safety representatives and self-employed contractors while "Asbestos Essentials Task Manual" is aimed at workers and provides clear and concise assistance to those likely to come into contact with asbestos during the course of their work. This booklet is designed to be taken on site and includes 25 task sheets. Details from HSE Tel 01787 881165 or Fax 01787 313995. These booklets are also available from good bookshops.
Pesky No-Win -No-Fee Personal Injury Lawyers
No-win-no-fee lawyers now seem to be advertising on daytime TV to attract those off work with an injury or busy canvassing through handing out leaflets. Personal injury claims, particularly for musculoskeletal injury, are soaring and are being reflected in insurance premiums. the OFI has set up a help line on 01372 467760 which offers professional and confidential advice on managing musculoskeletal injury issues. A leaflet contains details of other courses etc from Osteopaths For Industry.
Best in Europe
Independent research has revealed that the UK led the way when it came to the annual European Week for Safety and Health with the involvement of some 7,000 UK organisations. The message reached over 4 million employees. The research organisation said that the UK experienced more than 5,000 activities, major advertising initiatives and many other actions. This year's week will start on October 15th and the HSE has chosen "Success is no Accident" as the theme. Latest figures show that an average of 400 people are killed annually in the UK through work activities and more than a million are injured. Apart from the untold costs of human misery, it is estimated that UK PLC is losing £18 billion per year. A free action pack will soon be available from the HSE via 0541 545500.
Plenty of cells but no phones
That was the fate of anybody in the South Wales Police during the European Week for Safety and Health who was caught out by a team of "undercover" agents after on-the-spot checks to ensure health and safety laws were not being broken. Anyone found guilty was locked in a cell and made to read the regulations before parole was considered. South Wales Police became one of thirty organisations to be presented with a top National award which attracted almost a thousand entries.
Recognise the Signs, Take the Advice and Prosper
Current research into how the eyes operate shows that we pick up optical signals all the time we are awake and that our peripheral vision is a vital component in simply existing. After all we all "notice" the speed cameras flashing for drivers on the other side of the Motor way when cruising at 69 mph. This hint to carry out "A duty of care" is mirrored throughout our leisure and working life through advertisements exhorting us to typically smoke less, drink somebody's something or, even in my youth "Keep Death off the Road" This atmosphere of peripheral and centrally based information is carried on in a caring working environment by strategically placed notices, posters and wallcharts which fulfill statutory requirements and/or underline the individual and corporate requirement to pay heed to a basic duty of care.. The recent introduction of pictogram style into statutory notices has done much to widen their message to our multi-national workforce and the use of photoluminescent tapes and signs for exit and emergency has been a most welcome development.
Apart from statutory signs and notices such as the revised Health and Safety Law poster which really should now be displayed in all "places of work" there is a wide range of safety posters now available from several publishers. Some rely on humour to get the safety message across and are probably most effective when used on a running basis with a new posters every two weeks or so and other take a more prosaic approach to the problem of fulfilling part of Duty of Care such as those available in the Safety Point range., the extensive range of posters from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA.), the extensive range of posters from the recently formed
Hefti PLC of Maidenhead. Safety Point is at 0208 653 4648. RoSPA's, telephone number is 0121 248 2000 and Hefti PLC can be contacted on 01628 623621.
Work-related stress research findings.
The first research report into the HSE's three year drive on work-related stress which started on 1st November of last year is now available. Key findings are
- 79% of respondents agreed that stress should be controlled in the same way as other workplace health and safety issues.
- 40% said that their organisations had taken steps to reduce the problem of work-related stress.
- Some 35% of respondents said that their organisation used some kind of primary level intervention to tackle the problem and
- 42% od the respondents said that their organisations were unaware of any resources to assist in tackling work-related stress.
Reporting being stressed is not the same as being ill although prolonged stress can lead to ill health.
Work-related stress is defined as the adverse reaction that workers have to the excessive pressures or other demands made on them. It arises when people feel they cannot cope.
The report is available from HSE Books on 01787 881165. Ask for "Baseline measurements for the evaluation of the work-related stress campaign" ref CRR322.
This page is sponsored by Professional Health and Safety Consultants Ltd. Phone Internationally: +44 2087787838 or UK London 020 8778 7838 for all your health and safety requirements.