Safety Matters - NOVEMBER 2007

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In this issue:

Directors draw up health and safety guidance

A new offence of corporate manslaughter will enter into force on April 6, 2008, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned that the health and safety regime is hindering the growth of small businesses in the UK

UCATT slams HSE

A campaign aimed at reducing the number of accidents in the transport sector has been launched by the HSE

A police campaign to reduce the 1,000 fatal crashes a year involving work vehicles could see employers facing prosecution

Five factories issued with health and safety enforcement notices following a sweep of the Yorkshire printing industry by inspectors from the HSE

Firms are failing to tackle drinking and drug problems

Study identifies that using a mobile phone won’t damage your brain unless your driving at the time

GPs are unaware that work is good for health and wellbeing

Company ordered to pay £400,000 after fatal blast at Glasgow factory

Local authority prosecuted for not managing asbestos risks to workers

Are your company's safety systems up to scratch or are you risking prosecution? At MESH we have extensive experience of helping companies to improve their health and safety and in many cases improve their competitiveness.

Directors draw up health and safety guidance

Guidelines to remind directors that it is their responsibility to lead Health & Safety and establish policies and practices that make Health & Safety an integral part of their culture and values have been published by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and the Institute of Directors (IoD).

Supporting the guidance, Health & Safety Minister Lord McKenzie of Luton said: "The Health & Safety of employees is a moral and ethical obligation for each and every employer and this must be driven home from Board level. Only this way will we ensure that Health & Safety is taken seriously. This guidance clearly sets out the agenda for effective leadership of Health & Safety."

Adding her support, new Chair of the HSC, Judith Hackitt, said: "It is visible leadership from the top of an organisation which truly makes for an effective Health & Safety culture which in turn delivers good Health & Safety performance and much more. I am still confounded by the number of people who see 'health and safety' as a barrier to doing things, as experience and evidence shows that the reverse is true.

"The challenge before us is changing behaviour. This guidance makes it clear what directors need to do but it is their action and delivery which will really count."

Director General of the IoD, Miles Templeman, said: "The IoD believes that it's vital that board members lead the approach of their organisation to health and safety." He added that the guidance offers advice on how to plan, deliver, monitor and review Health & Safety in the workplace.

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A new offence of corporate manslaughter will enter into force on April 6, 2008, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed

Under the provisions of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, failures in the management of workplace health and safety that result in death will be liable to prosecution as corporate manslaughter.

The MoJ has published guidance for UK companies with regard to compliance with the new legislation.

The Justice Minister has commented that it is extremely important that companies and other organisations take health and safety seriously; as failure to do so can have devastating consequences - not only for the families of those affected but also for the businesses involved.

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 will ensure that there is proper accountability when very serious management failings lead to people being killed.

Businesses are urged to see this as an opportunity to make sure they have proper arrangements in place for managing health and safety.

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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned that the health and safety regime is hindering the growth of small businesses in the UK

The warning comes as the FSB published a report based on a survey of small firms analysing the impact of health and safety legislation. The report examined the burden of health and safety compliance, the impact of the new Fire Safety Order regime, the nature of health and safety inspections, Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance and health in the workplace, including the requirements of business from the NHS.

The report has uncovered obstacles to small firms expanding and hiring new staff. It also has proposals to help the Government reduce unemployment by eliminating these obstacles and recommends ways of improving the situation for both employers and employees.

Major recommendations in the report include:

• Health and safety legislation should take micro and small businesses into account;
  
• Guidance for business should be straightforward and jargon-free and be available from a central, easily accessible source;
• The Government should set a national standard for fire safety inspections so that fire services offer a consistent, nationwide, approach;
• Insurance companies should work with small firms to ensure that they take a business' health and safety record into account when setting premiums;
• NHS staff should be trained in the needs of business and more should be done to provide 'fit' notes (to set out what an employee is well enough to do) rather than sick notes.

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UCATT slams HSE

The failure of the Government to introduce tougher punishments for company directors who are found to be in breach of safety legislation has led to a substantial increase in the number of deaths occurring in the workplace, according to a critical new report from the construction industry union UCATT.

Figures from the HSE indicate that the number of workplace deaths increased by eleven per cent in the twelve months to April 2007.

UCATT contends that the increase is attributable to the lack of strong safety legislation and the voluntary approach to enforcement favoured by the HSE. The report, which was commissioned by UCATT from the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA), notes that, since the introduction of voluntary HSE guidelines in 2001, only 44 per cent of companies have appointed a director with responsibility for health and safety.

According to the report, accident levels at companies where "positive action" has been taken at boardroom level have fallen by an average of 25 per cent.

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A campaign aimed at reducing the number of accidents in the transport sector has been launched by the HSE

The HSE warns workers to take sensible precautions to minimise risks in all vehicle related work; the latest focus is to ensure that transport workers do not set themselves up for a fall.

Aimed at those responsible for buying and managing workplace vehicles, the campaign sets out simple steps that can be taken to improve the safety of vehicles. These include:

• Ensuring that vehicles are well maintained and checked regularly;
• Ensuring that procedures for loading and unloading avoid the need to work at height where possible;
• Ensuring that floor surfaces are anti-slip where possible;
• Ensuring that, if work at height is unavoidable, steps, platforms and other safety equipment is provided.

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A police campaign to reduce the 1,000 fatal crashes a year involving work vehicles could see employers facing prosecution

The Metropolitan Police is one of several forces that have decided to investigate company road-safety policies after research by the Health and Safety Executive shows that 20 people are killed and 250 seriously injured each week in crashes involving someone who is driving for work.

The Met's traffic unit identified that they are more frequently carrying out follow-up investigations with companies after collisions, to ensure that work-related road safety is embedded within company policies.

Businesses must face up to their duty-of-care responsibilities and realise that they are responsible for employees' welfare when on the road for business purposes, whether they are driving a company car or not.

The campaign will ensure that companies have carried out basic checks, such as ensuring that staff have a MoT certificate for their vehicle, are insured for business use and have a valid driving licence.

More than half of companies (53 per cent) fail to check that employees using their own cars for work have insured them for business use, according to a recent survey. Just over a quarter (26 per cent) ask employees to produce an MoT certificate and an even smaller number (17 per cent) make enquiries about whether private cars used on company business have been maintained regularly.

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Five factories issued with health and safety enforcement notices following a sweep of the Yorkshire printing industry by inspectors from the HSE

121 sites in Leeds, Wakefield and York were visited by the HSE in September; a total of nine enforcement notices were issued. Among the most frequently identified problems were poorly maintained electrical equipment, risks posed by skin irritation and dermatitis, unsatisfactory guarding on litho presses, guillotines and gluing machines and a lack of health and safety monitoring.

However, the Executive nevertheless reported that health and safety standards at the sites visited remained "better than average".

A HSE spokesperson commented that what was encouraging is that, generally speaking, employers and employees in the region's industry appear to recognise the benefits of what the HSE refer to as 'good housekeeping'. There was clearly an understanding of the importance of floor cleaning in the prevention of slips, trips and falls, and the need to avoid contact with materials and protect the skin to prevent dermatitis.

It was also identified that more effort is still needed to ensure that proactive maintenance and checking of guards - particularly on 'high risk' machinery like guillotines and platen presses - is carried out routinely.

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Firms are failing to tackle drinking and drug problems

This is despite the fact that many employers believe drinking and drugs misuse has a big impact on absenteeism and productivity. According to a survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, four out of ten employers believe this is a significant issue to their business. However few businesses have effective policies and procedures in place to deal with the problem.

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Study identifies that using a mobile phone won’t damage your brain unless you're driving at the time

The six year research programme found no link between short term mobile phone use and brain cancer. Studies on the volunteers also showed no evidence that brain function was affected by mobile phone signals, or the signals used by the emergency services (TETRA).

The biggest risk of mobile phones was found to be to those who use them whilst driving; whether hand-held or hands-free. Using a phone was found to cause impairment to performance comparable to that of other in-car distractions, but there were indications that the demand on cognitive resources from mobile phones may be greater than other distractions.

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GPs are unaware that work is good for health and wellbeing

A survey has found that two-thirds of general practitioners are not conscious that work is beneficial for physical and mental health. Some 1,500 GPs were questioned on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The survey found that many were unacquainted with evidence published last year by the DWP that being in work can help people with health problems get better. Nearly 90% said if they had known of this evidence then it would have affected the advice they gave to patients.

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The owners of the factory in which a massive explosion occurred 3 years ago killing 9 employees and injuring another 33; have been ordered to pay £400,000 in fines.

The investigation into the event identified that part of the underground pipe work carrying liquid petroleum gas (LPG) had not been properly maintained and had corroded over a period of years. This led to an escape of gas which accumulated in the factories unventilated basement before igniting, causing the blast.

It was said in court that for a cost of only £400 to have the pipe replaced then the event could have been avoided. The company in mitigation said it had never been convicted of any safety offence in its 45 year history. It said its failings were due to inadvertence rather than deliberate, reckless or negligent disregard for its statutory duties. 

However, an independent report found that health and safety standards at the factory were seriously deficient and that workers were actively discouraged from raising safety concerns.

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Local authority prosecuted for not managing asbestos risks to workers

Wear Valley District Council was fined £18,000 after pleading guilty to six offences under the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002; it was also ordered to pay costs of £7,722.

This case followed a complaint from a maintenance worker at a leisure complex, who discovered that the plant room of the Council-run centre where he had worked for many years contained asbestos.

Although an asbestos survey undertaken in 2001 had identified asbestos containing materials, it had not been communicated or acted upon. When the worker was shown the copy he issued the complaint.

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