British Safety Council Launches 'Working Well' campaign

Health and safety generates polarised views. Some see health and safety regulation as key to preventing injury and ill health; others see it as a burden on business, driving risk aversion and undermining our collective sense of responsibility.

Over the past year health and safety regulation has been under scrutiny from the government and the press have frequently highlighted misapplication of these regulations.

What is clear is that, too many people are still being killed, injured or made ill by work. In Britain in 2010/11 there were 26,000 major injuries, 26.4 million working days lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury and globally 2.2 million workers are being killed each year. In Britain this is estimated to cost the economy £22 billion and internationally the economic impact is estimated at 4% of global gross domestic product. 

As a response to this, the British Safety Council is launching its manifesto for workplace health and safety, Working Well, in the House of Commons on 23 April 2012 at an event hosted by Member of Parliament, Andy Slaughter.

Alex Botha, chief executive of the British Safety Council, announcing the launch of the manifesto said: “Our vision is that no-one should be killed, injured or made ill through work activities. Our goal is to bring together influential players, including politicians and opinion formers, to help focus on what we need to do make that vision a reality.

Health and safety, when properly and sensibly managed, produces immense business, economic and social benefits. “Working Well outlines the actions businesses and others can take now and is a call to action in the UK and worldwide. The manifesto is a long-term road-map, setting out a number of actions in five steps that will bring together all those with an interest in health and safety to deliver. For Britain more regulation and enforcement is not the answer. Better sharing of knowledge and expertise, as well as a more risk educated society, is.

“The British Safety Council is looking to shift the direction of the debate away from the silly stories that fixate on ill-informed or misguided decisions, supposedly made in the name of health and safety, which stifle lawful activity. The manifesto will help us focus on what we need to do in our society to better understand and manage risk. We are calling on business, employers and other interested stakeholders to actively and publicly support and promote the manifesto.”

Download a copy of the Working Well Manifesto

Go to www.britsafe.org/manifesto to give your support. 

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Top Ten Health and Safety Myths

Story from HSE - News

There is no shortage of daft decisions being blamed on health and safety. Over the years, the Health and Safety Executive has tackled some quite incredible myths about what health and safety bans or orders people to do.

It's hard to tell where some of these ridiculous and baffling myths originate, but they all have one crucial thing in common - they are not required by health and safety law.

To mark the launch of the new Myth Busters Challenge Panel, HSE has published its top ten worst myths. We want people to work with us to challenge these myths - the time has come to end the madness!

Children being banned from playing conkers unless they are wearing goggles

Office workers being banned from putting up Christmas decorations

Trapeze artists being ordered to wear hard hats

Pin the tail on the donkey games being deemed a health and safety risk

Candy floss on a stick being banned in case people trip and impale themselves

Hanging baskets being banned in case people bump their heads on them

Schoolchildren being ordered to wear clip on ties in case they are choked by traditional neckwear

Park benches must be replaced because they are three inches too low

Flip flops being banned from the workplace

Graduates ordered not to throw their mortar boards in the air

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Croydon site 'Potential death trap' Kent construction company fined

A construction company has been fined for continuing unsafe working practices at a site in Upper Norwood, Croydon, after repeatedly ignoring safety warnings.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified multiple failings at a project on Sylvan Hill run by Unicorn Services Limited, where the Kent-based firm was building a four-storey block of flats.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers said:

"Unicorn Services Limited blatantly ignored enforcement notices and continued to neglect its duty of care to its workforce, most of whom were vulnerable migrant workers.

"The construction site at Sylvan Hill was a potential death trap, with scant regard for safety or employee welfare. Even though there were no reported incidents at the site, serious safety breaches were routinely committed that could have resulted in death or serious injury.

"The work was underpinned by poor management and appallingly inadequate paperwork - total recklessness according to the court. General standards fell well below those expected of a competent principal contractor, which the Health and Safety Executive will simply not tolerate."

Magistrates' Court heard yesterday (25 April) that on 26 September 2011 a HSE inspector served eight Prohibition Notices to stop dangerous practices at the site after identifying serious safety breaches.

The Notices covered dangerous scaffolding, people working unsafely at height, fire-related hazards and dangerous electrical equipment.

Unicorn also supplied "appallingly inadequate" documentation for risk assessments and project management.

HSE returned to the construction site in October and discovered little or no improvement had been made to many of the illegal practices. An Improvement Notice was subsequently served requiring the site manager to arrange adequate training in order to safely manage construction operations. However, the manager in question failed to meet a compliance date of late November.

Unicorn Services Limited, of Montpellier Avenue, Bexley, was found guilty of breaching Regulation 26(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 for its poor site management and failure to adhere to enforcement action. The company was fined £20,000 and was also ordered to pay £5,940 in costs.

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F100 Winner Amanda Houchen

April comes to a close, with our F100 Winner Amanda Houchen. Amanda captured this shot of the Nifty HR125, when passing by the Royal Arcade Piccadilly.

The photograph sees this access platform as being just the job for restoring one of London's oldest, most charming shopping arcades, with its ornate ceilings and hanging lanterns, located in the heart of Piccadilly.

Congratulations to Amanda for getting this shot. Everyone can enter the F100 competition - so if you too happen to glimpse one of our machines, why not take a picture and  you could win £100!

View High Res Image

Enter f100 Competition

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IPAF launches new 'Ready Reckoner' conversion tool

A new interactive conversion tool launched by IPAF, helps operators to calculate the correct spreader plate sizes for powered access equipment. This tool is part of the IPAF 'Spread the load' campaign, which states that; spreader plates should always be used with boom-type mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), when fully supported on their outriggers.

These spreader plates should be used with all other MEWPs that have outriggers, unless these are proven unnecessary by a risk assessment. The 'Spread the Load!' campaign sets out clear and practical guidance on when and how spreader plates should be used, to avoid incorrect set-up, (as a result of inadequate ground assessment, poor selection of spreader plates and incorrect positioning of outriggers), which can lead to a MEWP overturning.

This 'Ready Reckoner' conversion tool allows operators to quickly see the weights and loadings that need to be considered when using spreader plates. Through putting in the weights of machines and identifying the different soil types, operators are then able to identify the appropriate size and specification of spreader plates needed. The spreader plates should have the necessary size, stiffness and strength to spread the load over the required area.

“A significant problem is that manufacturers currently use a variety of units for measuring relative bearing pressures,” said IPAF technical officer Chris Wraith.

“The new conversion tool makes it clear and simple for operators looking for ready guidance. The campaign message is straightforward: Always do a risk assessment and check ground conditions. Know the weight of machines and be aware of machine point loadings and ground load-bearing capacities.”

Please go here for more information on the 'Ready Reckoner' and you can find the conversion tool here

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Don't be fooled by health and safety cheats and proxy testing

The CITB-Construction Skills is urging us to watch out for health and safety fraud, known as proxy testing - where workers are using other people's identification passes with their own photograph. 

This issue has come to light after two men were jailed for 18 months, for taking multiple health and safety tests on behalf of other construction workers. They were caught by staff at CITB-ConstructionSkills' test centre in Luton, Bedfordshire and sentenced for 9 months each. These men are foreign nationals and after serving their sentence, they will be deported.

CITB-ConstructionSkills’ Product Delivery Manager Chris Little said;

"Both men were being paid to take the test by other candidates, and it soon became clear to us that the same men were taking the test for other people each time."

CITB-ConstructionSkills Chief Executive Mark Farrar commented;

“I’m glad the vigilance of CITB-ConstructionSkills staff caught and put a stop to this illegal activity. We support the industry by continually investigating test fraud, and we take it very seriously indeed. Proxy testing is self-defeating because it both endangers the lives of the people who solicit it and their colleagues on construction sites. Those who are found to be proxy testing will be reported to the police and could face prosecution.”

This addresses the need to be extra vigilant when it comes to identity checks and proxy testing - something that could jeopardise safe practice, putting lives in danger.

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Results of the 2012 Great Easter Egg Hunt Competition

We're pleased to say that the 2012 Great Easter Egg Hunt Competition has been a resounding success, with everyone hot on the the trail of eggs around the Facelift website. 

There were more than 900 entries overall, with over 300 people finding all 12 eggs. A really big thank you to everyone who entered the competition to tackle the egg hunt. For the first 50 pulled from the draw, you'll be notified within the next week. And then, we're excited to say - your very own die cast scale model scissor lift or boom lift will be making its way to you.

We would really like to see the lucky winners of the Great Easter Egg Competition - so please post a photograph of you and your very own boom on our Facebook page. 

Please see below a list of all the correct pages to the competition, but don't kick yourself if you didn't get them all this time around..there'll be plenty more Facelift competitions to enter in the future.

Egg 1 - Home page

Egg 2 - Depot finder page

Egg 3 - London depot page

Egg 4 - 61m Bronto page

Egg 5 - Moog 230 page

Egg 6 - Machine Servicing Team page

Egg 7 - Free MEWP User Guide page

Egg 8 - Rogues Gallery page

Egg 9 - Rail Team page

Egg 10 - Liverpool depot page

Egg 11 - Ladder training course page

Egg 12 - Ascendant 17m page

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Intermat 2012 attracts record numbers in Paris

Intermat is a leading global event for professionals in the construction and public works sector, that takes place every three years and isn't short of visitors. This global event attracts major players in the construction industry - exhibiting new equipment and techniques for the civil engineering and construction industries and boasts a large range of the latest powered access equipment. This year it ran from the 16-21 April 2012 and took place in Paris, at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre. 

The event has over 355,000 square metres of exhibition space and is the only show like it to have an outside demonstration area of 10,000 square metres - that's used as an enormous open-air construction area for exhibitors' machines. 

IPAF commissioned two graffiti artists to to create a piece of urban art at the event, celebrating aerial platform safety. The artists from Wet Paint Productions, sprayed two 7m x 4m canvasses over six days at the construction show, working from a boom and scissor lift.

According to its organiser, Comexposium, the event attracted record numbers of people this year - with over 200,000 people, (previously in 2006, the event has attracted 209,000 people). Comexposium also said that the number of identified trade visitors this year had increased by 15.8 per cent, at 145,082 people - with 34.2 per cent (49620) coming from the outside of France.

Companies with exhibition space at Intermat totalled 1350, two thirds of whom were from outside France and there were significant orders signed throughout the exhibition;

Exhibition manager Maryvonne Lanoe said; "The total value of the equipment on display over the six days was estimated at 2 billion dollars, some 5 per cent of which translated into orders, an equivalent of approximately 100 million dollars."

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Construction firm fined after worker's narrow escape

A construction worker had a narrow escape, after falling four metres from the cage of a 20-tonne cherry picker into the path of an oncoming bus, which then pushed him another 15 metres down the Euston Road.

The national construction company firm Galliford Try Construction Ltd has been prosecuted by the HSE for serious safety failings, resulting in the worker being severely injured. The two-man team was brought in by Galliford Try to fix snagging issues at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel and Chambers - which had just had a £103 million restoration by the company.

They had been instructed to remove the tape from the outside of an apartment window on the third floor of the residential block on 4 March 2011, in the early morning. The contractors needed to use a cherry picker for the job, as scaffolding had been removed from the site and had to move the cherry picker from a compound in Euston Road to one in Midland Road. As Mr Soltysiak proceeded to reverse the machine out of the exit onto the Euston Road and raised his operator platform to clear the fencing, he backed out unaware that a double-decker bus had just turned into the road.

Despite the other contractor waving to try and get the bus to stop, as it was dark the driver did not see. As a result, the top of the bus hit the operator platform overhanging the road, forcing the jib to slew across and hit a brick gate post. The driver was then catapulted from the platform and fell in front of the moving bus. Thinking he had hit a tree, the bus driver braked and stopped 15 metres further along. Mr Soltysiak was found half underneath the front nearside, suffering serious injuries to his head, arm, pelvis and legs - and was only able to return to work earlier this year.

After investigating the incident, HSE proved that the incident could have been avoided had Galliford Try properly planned and supervised the work. Following the hearing, HSE inspector Paul Herris explained that this series of events could have proved fatal.

"This worker narrowly escaped death after a series of events which almost seem unbelievable but in fact could have proved fatal."

"A 14-metres long slow-moving machine, not suitable for use on a public highway, was moved against the flow of traffic on to a three-lane road. Both workers were without high visibility clothing and there were no visible warning lights on the cherry picker despite it being early morning and still dark, which made it, and the men, effectively invisible to the bus driver.

The dangers involved using cherry-pickers are well known and yet the company failed to ensure the safe movement of the vehicle between different compounds at the site.

The company also failed to provide adequate and relevant information and instruction to their employees."

Galliford Try Construction Ltd have pleaded guilty to two serious breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and have been fined £12000, having to pay costs of £16,459.70.

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HSE publishes research on occupational health provision during the London 2012 Olympics

The HSE has published a report on a research project focussed on the occupational health (OH) provision at the Olympic Park and Athletes' Village. The OH service was set up by The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), to show its commitment to the health and safety of all contractors at the Olympics. The ODA is recognised as having a strong commitment to safety and has an impressive safety record, with a five-star safety award from the British Safety Council. 

The research report is funded by the Health and Safety Executive and the ODA.This service offers support to managers, from a multi-disciplinary occupational health team - working together to promote a healthy work practice and to prevent ill health - addressing issues such as vibration, noise, respiratory, hazardous substances and manual handling. The approach devised by the OH team is for 'health like safety', which puts good OH management practice into daily working - through use of existing safety management tools, such as near-miss reporting and maturity matrices - as a means to target health risks.

The research aims to identify the effect of occupational health interventions on the general attitude and behaviour towards health risks of contractors on-site, both during the project and in their future practice. The project aims to explore how successfully this occupational health model has been implemented on-site and whether the model follows the cost-benefit evidence of similar services elsewhere.

Data about their work was collected and analysed by the occupational health provider - collected from interviews and surveys, and includes views from managers and workers. Interviews were also carried out with external stakeholders from the construction industry, occupational health profession and on-site  HSE inspectors. 

You can download the HSE  report here

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