Safety news

An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) is an inspection by a trained and competent electrical engineer to look at the fabric of the electrical installation, something which typically remains unseen.  All electrical installations will deteriorate over time, cables can become damaged and fittings can become loose or damaged.

Similarly, the design of the system itself may be out of sync with current requirements if new equipment has been added to the building. BS 7671, Regulation 135.1 recommends that every electrical installation is subject to periodic inspection and testing.

However, it should be noted that, as stated in the introduction to BS 7671, existing installations that have been constructed in accordance with earlier editions of the Standard may not comply with the current edition in every respect, but this does not
necessarily mean that they are unsafe for continued use or require upgrading.

In older buildings you might find:

• Fixed cables coated in black rubber (stopped being used in the 1960s).
• Fixed cables coated in lead or fabric (used before the 1960s).
• A fuse box with a wooden back, cast iron switches, or a mixture of fuse boxes (used before the 1960s).
• Older round pin sockets (or light switches), braided flex hanging from ceiling roses, brown (or black) switches, or sockets mounted in or no skirting boards (used before the 1960s).
• Light switches on the walls or in bathrooms (used before the 1960s).

In terms of who you use to complete this work the person would need electrical competent and is almost always an NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA registered provider, they will be looking to:

1. Record the results of the inspection and testing to make sure the electrical installation is safe to be used until the next inspection (following any work needed to make it safe)
2. Find any damage and wear and tear that might affect safety, and report it
3. Find any parts of the electrical installation that do not meet the IET Wiring Regulations
4. Help find anything that may cause electric shocks and high temperatures
5. Provide an EICR record of the installation at the time of the inspection and for inspection testing in the future.

The table below provides guidance on the frequency of formal EICR inspections of electrical installations and routine EICR checks. (Table extracted from BS7671 IET Wiring Regulations 18th Edition: 2018).

The Health and Safety Executive recently produced a short video after completing research on whether the presence of more and more battery-powered tools in the workplace has meant that overall exposure to noise and vibration (HAVS) is reduced due to these new tools being used.

A common sense ponder on this might well lead you to the conclusion that battery-powered tools would be lower in both noise and vibration (HAVS) as common sense would surely dictate that the power available to a battery versus a 110/240 volt powered tool or an air tool would be quite different. However, the advances in both battery and motor technology have meant that these battery-powered tools are surprisingly powerful, particularly in their most modern forms.

A short video here (HSE Video) gives the simple answer from HSE, some are indeed lower than their traditionally powered counterparts but some are above the levels seen for more traditional tools.  Add to this the weight of the battery power pack and you have a further aspect to consider with ergonomics, particularly for extended periods of use.

Our advice is to treat all tools as potential sources of HAVS exposure and remember, manufacturer’s data on vibration provide a useful comparative figure but will not reflect the true exposure of your staff.  USE resources such as the HSE’s own vibration data available here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/vibration/hav/source-vibration-magnitude-app3.pdf and the data from reputable data sources such as this database: https://www.thetooladvisor.com/

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for some help.  We have some innovative methods and some very useful equipment which can help you determine what your exposures are.  This isn’t an easy area in which to complete accurate assessments and gathering enough of the right data is key, contact us for further info or request a call back to speak to a consultant.

Please find some more information in the articles below from our blog:

Hand Arm Vibration: Competency for HAVS Health Surveillance

Hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) – are you really managing the risk?

£600,000 Fine for Property Developer over HAVS risk assessment

The Health and Safety Executive has recently issued new guidance covering when you will have to specify equipment which is certified to the new UKCA (UK Certification Authority) PPE standards.  This change allows CE-marked equipment to continue to be specified and put in use as PPE until 1 January 2025.  There are also two important exemptions which will continue to apply after this date:

• Qualifying Northern Ireland goods can continue to be placed on the GB market bearing the CE marking or CE and UKNI markings after 1 January 2025;
• CE-marked PPE that was placed on the UK or EU markets before 1 January 2025 (before the expiry of the Transition Period) and has not yet reached its end user may continue to circulate on either market until it reaches them and UKCA applies

As it stands all buyers will need to ensure that new PPE meets the UKCA standard after 01/01/2025 but please be aware that PPE that is CE-marked, and was placed on the market on or before 31 December 2024, can continue to be used, providing that it is otherwise suitable.

HSE has further guidance on both the above transitions and the choices of PPE in general on its website here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/ppe/product-safety-and-supply.htm

You can find further information on our blog as regards PPE at the following links:

Changes to PPE Regulations are on their way

PPE: Can staff bring in their own?

We thought it might be useful for our clients to know of instances where HSE Fee For Intervention does not apply.  Careful reading will see some contradiction with the recent instance of an individual being served an FFI notice. (updated January 2023, first publication 2013)

Application of FFI and exemptions

FFI is applied by HSE to dutyholders including employers, self-employed people who put others at risk, and some individuals acting in a capacity other than as an
employee (eg individual partners and, potentially in construction, domestic clients), where HSE is the enforcing authority for the HSW Act, including:

• public and limited companies;
• general, limited and limited liability partnerships;
• Crown and public bodies.

FFI does not apply to work where:

• another fee is payable or has been paid for the purpose of health and safety regulation, eg COMAH;
• the material breach relates only to laws that are not relevant statutory provisions as defined in the HSW Act;
• the enforcing authority is not HSE, eg local authorities.
  

Fees are not payable under the FFI scheme:

• by individuals acting in their capacity as an employee;
• by individuals who have committed an offence under sections 36 and/or 37 of the HSW Act; or,
• by self-employed people who put only themselves at risk;
• for HSE work in connection with an appeal to an employment tribunal against an Improvement or Prohibition Notice;
• for prosecutions after an Information has been laid in England and Wales, or after HSE submits a report to the Procurator Fiscal for a decision in Scotland.

How FFI works

HSE’s regulatory work includes inspecting work activities, investigating incidents resulting in death, injury and ill health, following up complaints about poor standards and taking enforcement action. A fee is payable if:

• a person is or has been contravening relevant health and safety at work law;
• an inspector is of the opinion that the person is contravening/has contravened the law;
• the inspector notifies the person in writing of that opinion.
  

The written notification must include the following information:

• the statutory provision that the inspector’s opinion relates to;
• particulars of the reasons for their opinion;
• notification that a fee is payable to HSE in accordance with the Regulations.

This document is a letter known as a Notification of Contravention. This can be provided in a templated form at the conclusion of a site visit or it can be prepared and sent via post or email.

A Notification of Contravention letter will only be sent when an inspector forms the opinion that the contravention amounts to a material breach – a contravention of health and safety at work law which is sufficiently serious to require notification in writing. ‘Seriousness’ in this context is assessed by considering the principles and factors set out in the HSE’s Enforcement Policy Statement (www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hse41.pdf) and Enforcement Management Model (www.hse.gov.uk/enforce/emm.pdf)

A Notification of Contravention letter may stand alone or be accompanied by Improvement and/or Prohibition Notices.

The Notification of Contravention letter may also include advice about matters which do not amount to a material breach and/or enforcement on contraventions of health and safety at work law for which FFI does not apply. In either case, costs for writing these elements of the letter will not be recovered from a dutyholder.

The fee will cover HSE’s costs for the time spent identifying the material breach and working with the dutyholder (eg individual, business or organisation) to put it right. Those who are complying with the law will not have to pay FFI.

When deciding whether a dutyholder is in material breach of the law, inspectors must apply this guidance, HSE’s Enforcement Policy Statement and the Enforcement Management Model. Examples of material breaches are outlined in Appendix 1.

HSE will not typically recover its costs under FFI in the following circumstances:

1. where the material breach relates only to any of the laws listed in Appendix 1 because these laws are not made under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974;
2. for HSE’s work in connection with an appeal against an improvement or prohibition notice at an employment tribunal;
3. for HSE’s work in relation to a prosecution in England and Wales after Information is laid at court – any subsequent prosecution costs will be recovered through the courts (at the courts’ discretion);
4. for HSE’s work in relation to a prosecution in Scotland after HSE submits a report to the Procurator Fiscal for a decision as to whether a prosecution should be brought. Any subsequent prosecution costs cannot be recovered under Scottish law; and for HSE’s work in relation to Crown bodies from the point where HSE formally notifies the Crown body that it would have begun FFI

If you’ve got questions or need support on safety in the industrial, contracting or construction sectors please contact us for sensible and proportionate advice on 01453 800100

Working from home has become a norm for many clients with a significant number adopting a hybrid approach post-pandemic of being in and out of the office over a typical working week.  With this in mind, the responsibilities of an employer who has working from home in place are worth exploring again.

When the pandemic was upon us the risk assessment expectation for working from home was somewhat different.  HSE were aware that businesses were having to cope with a changing set of regulation, restrictions and guidance in order to keep going and so enforcement was, understandably, a little looser than it might otherwise have been.  Now we are in more stable conditions these expectations will have risen and employers have had a greater opportunity to identify and more fully address their duties.

All of this leads us to the question: what are you doing to risk assess working from home and, is it enough?

Well, the answers are below in our Q&A with some caveats, you can also read through the HSE guidance here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/home-working/employer/risk-assessment.htm and check out some more useful links in the text below.

• Do I need to visit my staff who are working from home?
  • Not necessarily, no. It would be acceptable in most cases for staff to complete their own DSE assessment.  This would typically be supplemented by a few questions which link to this covering safety of electrical items and similar.  HSE have a useful checklist on which you can base your own surveys or you could simply adopt the HSE version.  Here’s a link to HSE document CK1: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ck1.htm  However, you might want to arrange a visit where you have something other than simply using display screen equipment or where that person has greater and more specific needs in terms of ergonomics due to an injury or condition from which they suffer.
• What hazards do I need to consider when I have staff working from home?
  • Several things come to mind for any home worker. How you will keep in touch with them, regular Teams meetings or other tools might be useful, including a time when a group of colleagues come together to speak and catch up. This also links across to the more general aspects of well-being.  Also, consider the differences between team members, younger staff may not have the space for a dedicated workspace in their accommodation.  If someone can only work from a sofa and you require 40 hours per week of output from them homeworking may not be the best solution.
• What responsibility do I have for other hazards which might be present in the home?
  
  • This is a common question.  The hazards with which you should be concerned centre on the following:
    
    • Electrical equipment, which you supply. Perhaps overloaded cables, PAT tested items for those you supply;
    • Slips, trips and falls – you can give advice and guidance on this through remote learning and toolbox talks;
    • Emergencies – contact numbers for staff should they need them and what you might do if you could not contact a homeworker;
    • Lone working – linked to the above, regular contact or perhaps a more sophisticated monitoring option if that is within your capabilities;
    • reporting of accidents and incidents – should something occur related to the work being done of the equipment being used then these requirements still apply, all the way up to RIDDOR reportables should they happen.

If you’d like to explore more about this here are some other helpful links from ACAS: https://www.acas.org.uk/working-from-home-and-hybrid-working and from the CIEHF (Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors): https://ergonomics.org.uk/static/1c6aa0e1-bbfa-43a0-ad567a98d6bef005/Working-From-Home-Infographic.pdf

There are also some useful videos here that HSE has recommended in the past for use of laptops from Vodafone: https://youtu.be/8Bp_Ury-PA4

At this time of the year, we get calls from clients, website visitors and other contacts about the heat and how this links to health and safety.  Is it too hot to work is a question that we have answered many times in the past and the truth is that we don’t have a limit set in legislation.

You may be familiar with the lower temperature limits which have been set at 13oC for active workers and 16oC for sedentary (seated) workers but there is no accepted equivalent for higher temperatures.  HSE has even produced a FAQ to cover the questions raised on temperatures here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/faq.htm  and unions have long campaigned in vain for some limits (typically a max. of 30oC) to be set for office and similar workers: https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2019/07/hns-heat/  However, we are still at a position where no higher limit applies.

You may still have questions on this and so at this time (and temperature) you may want to consult HSE’s guidance here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/index.htm You may even want to set an upper limit in your own workplace if that’s appropriate.  There’s some good guidance on how temperatures affect worker productivity here: https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-news/pages/toohottoocold.aspx but what we can’t do is tell you that one piece of information you really want to hear because there is no limit on an upper temperature in the workplace.

Guidance:  Think about fans, cool drinks, taking a break in a cooler area, staying out of the sun, starting earlier and other good practical solutions.