Well then – who better to tell you about how provide a risk assessment training than an actual HSE Inspector! Or is it…. HSE have recently started to offer more in the way of courses and have some which cover risk assessment, others covering CDM and more are likely to arrive in the future. The…
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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…
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Almost all the people we know and work with struggle with knowing the right mix of safety aspects and operational aspects when planning work. We do have to get the job done, but let’s do it safely is a common phrase through industry and construction. However, every now and then we come across a case…
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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…
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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…
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Formwork safety continues to be an area in which many sites could improve. There are a range of courses out there which give useful qualification and skills in the management of formwork and falsework risk. A good example of this would be the Temporary Works Supervisor Training Course (TWSTC) available from CITB. For more information…
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All of us have our pet subjects. Some of us do tend to bury our heads in the sand for areas in which we’re not as competent and Hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) is all too common an example. You may, if you are honest with yourself, have a hit list of subjects which you…
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We have seen health and safety fines rise by 10-15 x over their former levels since the Sentencing Guidelines were introduced in 2016 (see our earlier article for more information). In the past few months alone there have been a number of high value, high profile fines, including: Network Rail fined £4 million for the…
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Oxygen is used throughout many sectors of industry and healthcare. This common element can be taken for granted as we are so familiar with its name and its use. Are you aware that; increasing the concentration of oxygen in air from its normal 21% to just 24% can make an enormous difference in how easily…
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It can be tempting to allow staff, particularly those who are helpful and keen, to undertake maintenance tasks within your workplace. You can sometimes hear a staff member state “I could have sorted that for you!” When you have staff which have worked in other roles through a diverse career and the work seems reasonably…
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