Although this edition is devoted entirely to safety matters, we continue to provide advice on quality and environmental management systems, and we will resume coverage of these areas in future issues.

Contents:

• An inspector calls!
• Inspectors to focus on Falls from Height Hazards
• Investigating accidents and incidents
• Health and safety of homeworkers: good practice case studies
• Maintaining portable and transportable electrical equipment
• Warning over trenches following recent deaths

The visit of an inspector from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) can be a daunting experience for companies who have failed to take safety seriously, as data from the HSE's own website shows. Not only do HSE inspectors have powers to enter a workplace at any time, but they also have powers to stop work activities that they consider to be unsafe and to require improvements to improve safety within a defined time. These sanctions can have major impacts on businesses that have avoided their responsibilities for safeguarding their workers and the public.

QES Connect Ltd has recently carried out an analysis of the data published by the HSE on its enforcement activities in the Eastern Region in the first 6 months of 2004. During this period, 153 immediate prohibition notices and 246 improvement notices were served. Both types of notice will have an immediate impact on the operations of the employer concerned, by stopping activities, or requiring immediate expenditure on improvement activities. In some cases, the impact on the company is so drastic that the company goes out of business: this was the case following several of the notices in our review. These figures show only part of the picture, as local authority health and safety inspectors cover some industry sectors such as warehouses, retail stores and offices. For the survey, QES Connect concentrated on the notices served in the manufacturing, engineering and transport industries, where it provides health and safety assistance, although the problems are likely to be similar in other industry sectors.

Of the 153 prohibition notices in the survey, 42 related to the industry sectors of interest. (The majority of prohibitions occurred in the construction and demolition industries.) The most common causes of prohibition notices were inadequate or inoperable machine guards and interlocks (19), followed by unsafe electrical equipment (7), inadequately guarded work at height (6), and lifting equipment not inspected by a competent person (4). These were clearly serious incidents found by the inspectors, justifying the immediate stoppage of work on the affected process, but similar problems also appear in the list of improvement notices, where the employer was allowed to continue work, but required to make improvements within a given time.

In the case of improvement notices, we looked at 144 notices served on various industry types, but mainly manufacturing, engineering and transport. Once again, inadequate or inoperative guards on machinery topped the list with 31 notices served. Other notices required employers to carry out risk assessments, provide training (especially in relation to fork lift truck operation) and to have statutory inspections carried out on lifting equipment. The hazards from moving vehicles and falling from heights also led to several notices being issued, either because the risks had not been assessed, or because no action had been taken.

Clearly the businesses concerned were affected by the costs of dealing with these notices. The costs of remedying the problems had to be met in the timescale imposed by the inspector, not necessarily in line with the businesses' cash flow plans, and then there were the avoidable additional costs of lost production, and diverted management time, not unlike the costs when an accident occurs.

QES Connect Ltd provides health and safety assistance to help its clients to avoid these costs. Many of the items which incurred improvement notices, such as not having carried out risk assessments, or not having competent health and safety assistance, would not have affected QES Connect clients. But even when companies have the advice on what they should do, they need to implement it. Two of the companies in the survey received improvement notices to implement control measures that had already been identified in risk assessments!

If you are not already a client of QES Connect, and would like to avoid the disruption associated with receiving a prohibition or improvement notice, contact QES Connect Ltd (01449 711024) to see how we could help you. Our services include:

• Preparation of Policy and Risk Assessment
• Work equipment assessment
• Welfare facilities surveys
• Noise surveys
• COSHH assessment

We can also meet the requirement for management to have competent health and safety advisors.

The message about the hazards from unprotected edges where falls could occur is reinforced in the following press release issued by HSE in July.

"HSE inspectors in the North West are going to be taking a strict approach to unprotected open edges from which people could fall. The initiative is part of the Health and Safety Commission's (HSC's) strategy to reduce fall from height accidents.

According to the HSE, such accidents caused almost 50 fatalities and 4,500 serious major injuries in 2002-03. In the North West, people falling from a height of over two metres caused 1,200 serious injuries.

During routine visits, HSE inspectors will be looking in particular for cases where reasonably practicable precautions are not in place and will apply the HSC's enforcement policy in these workplaces. Employers are required by law to take suitable and effective measures to prevent people falling more than two metres".

Although the warning relates to HSE activity in the North West, there is no reason to believe this will not also be followed up in East Anglia. If you are unsure about hazards in your own business, contact QES Connect for advice.

New guidance on how to investigate accidents and incidents, including near misses, has been published by the HSE. It is aimed mainly at small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) where developing an expertise in investigating can be difficult. The guidance is intended to be a first step in introducing organisations to the benefits of undertaking investigations and the methods by which accidents should be reported, investigated, and the findings acted upon.

The guidance takes the reader step-by-step through the investigation process, which is represented by the following stages:

• the gathering of information:
• the analysing of information:
• identifying risk control measures:
  • identifying those that are missing or inadequate;
  • comparing conditions as they were with those required by law;
  • identifying additional measures;
  • providing meaningful recommendations that can be implemented
• the action plan and its implementation:
  • 'SMART' objectives (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic, and Time-scaled);
  • dealing effectively with the root causes, including lessons that can be applied to prevent the adverse event reoccurring.

The guidance includes worked examples and blank template forms for accident analysis, and is available from HSE Books, publication no. HSG245, £9.50

For more information about the benefits of investigating incidents at work, speak to QES Connect Ltd.

HSE has published a second edition of its guide on the maintenance of portable and transportable electrical equipment. It contains updated advice and new sections on cables and repair/replacement.

Almost a quarter of all reportable electrical accidents involve portable equipment, with the majority of these accidents resulting in electric shock. The guidance covers equipment that may be connected to the fixed mains supply, or to a locally generated supply, and could lead to an electric shock or burn, or fire due to damage, wear or misuse. The equipment covered includes:

• electric drills
• extension leads
• portable hand lamps
• portable grinders
• pressure water cleaners
• floor cleaners
• electric kettles and similar equipment.

Advice is also given on the legal requirements for the maintenance of such equipment. It discusses the action to be taken to maintain the equipment in a safe condition and help prevent danger arising. The maintenance strategy suggested is based on an inexpensive system of visual inspection that can be carried out by an employee.

The guidance can be obtained from HSE Books (publication no. HSG107) price £7.95.

Following recent fatalities caused by trench collapses, the HSE has issued a reminder to construction workers about the dangers of working in excavations. There have been three accidents since April where workers have been killed as a result of trenches collapsing on top of them. These could have been avoided if the appropriate safety measures had been taken, says the HSE.

Practical advice on working in excavations includes:

• if appropriate, using trench-less technology such as directional drilling or impact moling, to avoid the need to excavate a trench in the first place
• if a trench is used, prevent the sides and the ends of trenches from collapsing by battering them to a safe angle or supporting them with proprietary support systems, trench sheets or timber
• providing suitable edge protection to prevent persons or materials falling into the excavation, and not entering unsupported excavations
• avoiding surcharging the ground adjacent to the excavation with plant, stored materials, spoil or foundation loads from existing structures
• never working ahead of the support
• ensuring there is a suitable means of access and egress
• remembering that even work in shallow trenches can be dangerous, for instance if the work involves bending or kneeling in the trench
• locating existing services in the vicinity of and above the line of the excavation.

Recent fatalities caused by trench collapses include the following:

• the death of a man in Scotland in April when the 2.5 metre unsupported trench he was working in collapsed on top of him.
• a man was killed whilst working on a conservation development in East Sussex in May when he jumped into a three metre deep trench which then collapsed on him.
• one man was killed and another injured in Yorkshire in July when a three metre deep trench collapsed on them in an unsupported area of work.

QES Connect Ltd. has helped many clients to understand the risks associated with their business activities. We also help to involve management and workers to develop and implement methods for controlling those risks.

Produced by QES Connect Ltd. Except where stated, the material included in the newsletter is taken from freely available public sources. It may be reproduced without permission for non-commercial purposes.