Throughout the UK and Europe there are a multitude of workplaces still clad in asbestos cement from roofing to rainwater to any number of other similar items. Back in the 50’s and 60’s this ‘wonder material’ was marketed as a solution to all building problems due to its characteristics for strength, lightness and fire resistance.…
Read more
Controlling construction dusts has really hit the headlines as a requirements in recent years – and with good reason. Deaths related to dust inhalation through COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and the effects of exposure to RCS (respirable crystalline silica) are estimated to be in the thousands each year. HSE estimates that over 100 people…
Read more
Hand Arm Vibration (HAVS) is something which we have covered many times before but an area in which many still have a way to go. The following prosecution illustrates just how many are still getting it wrong and the suffering which is resulting from this. If you’re a safety advisor or manager within an organisation…
Read more
You might well find the following report of interest if you’re in construction, particularly if you’re CDM Principal Designer. For those of you living in the South-west you might be interested to know that Bristol came second in the list for most enforcement notices issued under CDM 2015 (just behind Hammersmith in London)! We’ve just…
Read more
We’ve now had the first full calendar year of the updated CDM Regulations in place with some very big changes in terms of Clients duties. Some things have changed and designers, architects in the main, have begun to feel the pinch of the regulations. Contractors seem happy to proceed largely on the same basis as…
Read more
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations and its requirement for a Client to appoint Principal Contractor are long-established having been first issued in 1994 but more recent changes in the 2015 update are catching out some clients. We think that as time progresses HSE will be looking to enforce more regularly on client duties in…
Read more
This recent case involving a Bristol construction firm highlights two common misconceptions; You have to have an accident to get prosecuted and fined by the HSE; Most inspections come through random HSE visits. This case disproves both of these assumptions. Firstly, the case was prosecuted based on the risk of the breach rather than based…
Read more
HSE often attends sites which have been reported as dangerous by members of the public. In fact, we hear of these visits quite regularly and they can be as a result of genuine concerns or perhaps as a result of noise, dust and other disturbances causes nuisance to neighbours. The case below relates to a…
Read more
Many construction site managers may remember hearing a statistic being talked about on past training courses that one person a month dies just walking past a construction site, it often forms part of the CITB Site Managers Safety Training Course This statistic has been brought tragically to life by an accident which occurred in Hanover…
Read more
We are all used to HSE visiting site and reviewing our arrangements on safety. If these fall below expected standards we typically see Fee for Intervention costs (FFI) and the possibility of the serving of Improvement or even Prohibition notices. What’s unusual is when a HSE Inspection results directly in prosecution. HSE launches several campaigns…
Read more