Around 35% of people think they work in an unsafe environment, a new survey has revealed. The Resource GB survey of a 1,000 UK office workers also found that 20% of those questioned would describe their co-workers as ‘dangerous’.

As well as safety and violence, a massive 40% of companies were revealed to have responded to the recession by cutting their cleaning and maintenance budgets. Supporting this were the responses from 28% of employees who said their workplace was dirty, with 50% adding that they found the lack of cleanliness embarrassing when clients and customers visited.

When asked what improvements they would make to their workplace, 45% of employees said they would bring in more natural light to improve productivity. Esther Wassmann, managing director of Resource GB, said: “From the results it is clear that the cuts made to cleaning and maintenance budgets are having an impact on the workforce and could be impacting on the health of employees as well as putting off potential customers at a time when every business should be trying its utmost to attract new business.”

Copyright © Press Association 2010

One of the ways in which organisations can get a decisive pay-back from good health and safety management is by maintaining positive morale and making sure their people are health, safe – and happy! Conversely poor morale leads to poor productivity.  So what’s going wrong here?  A failure to effectively consult with staff? A failure to act? A failure to listen? Something that is continuously cited in prosecutions for failures in health and safety compliance is a lack of health and safety CULTURE. You won’t find that word in any statute book, but paradoxically, it is probably the most important factor in good safety management.

West Midlands Ambulance Service had to airlift a man to hospital after a fully-loaded skip fell on his leg at a Herefordshire industrial estate.

The accident occurred at the Southern Avenue Industrial Estate, Leominster. An ambulance service vehicle, an ambulance crew and the Midlands Air Ambulance from Cosford were called to the scene.

The man, in his 30s, was taken to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham for treatment to a serious injury to his right leg,.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “The ambulance crew assessing the man, who is in his 30s, requested the attendance of the Midlands Air Ambulance due to the severity of the injury and the distance to travel to Selly Oak Hospital for the necessary treatment.

“The skip had been lifted off the man’s leg by other workers at the site. Crews lifted the patient into the helicopter. He had a serious injury to his right leg and was in a stable condition. He was flown to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham for further assessment and treatment.

“Considering the weight of a fully loaded skip, it is fortunate the leg injury wasn’t even more serious.”

Questions: Why was this guy in a position where this could have happened? Was there a risk assessment? Was there a method statement? Had he read and understood them?  Was he being supervised?  Had he been trained?  Was there any evidence of any of this? The questions go on – and on……  Call us for some advice and guidance, we’ll be pleased to help.

Companies and organisations convicted of corporate manslaughter could face fines up to millions of pounds under new guidelines that have been published.

The guidance, drawn up by The Sentencing Guidelines Council (SGC), states that those found guilty of corporate manslaughter should rarely face fines under £500,000.

Other health and safety offences that cause death should command fines which start at £100,000, it said.

The guidelines said the level of fine should not be influenced by the impact on shareholders and directors, nor consider the cost of complying with other sanctions.

However, the financial circumstances of the offending firm should be taking into account when deciding the level of fine, as should the effect on the firm’s employees and provision of services to the public, the SGC said.

Factors such as the forseeability of serious injury, whether non-compliance was common and widespread in the firm, and how high up the company responsibility for the breach went, could increase the seriousness of the offence, it said.

The guidelines come into effect from 15 February.

Corporate responsibility for safety starts right at the top in your organisation, but that doesn’t mean individual tasks and responsibilities cannon be delegated – in fact they should – via appropriately trained line management.  We can help to implement a correctly managed safety system for you.  We also recommend it’s done before that critical accident rather than after it……….

Effective safety planning for your organization is paramount, changes in these guidelines highlights the need for effective safety management in the workplace, contact us before its too late.

More than a quarter of 163 construction sites in Greater Manchester visited by safety inspectors last week failed to meet the required standards.

Health and Safety Executive inspectors carried out checks at construction sites in Manchester, Salford and Trafford and issued a total of 56 enforcement notices at 42 sites. The action meant either work was stopped immediately or in some cases improvements had to be made. Some of the companies involved could face prosecution.

Nearly half of the enforcement notices were due to unsafe work being carried out at height. Other issues included excessive dust and inadequate ventilation or failure to provide masks, dangerous electrics and the general state of sites.

New figures from the HSE show there were 498 serious injuries and one death on construction sites in Greater Manchester in 2009. There were also 45 serious injuries and one death in Warrington. The intensive two-day inspections took place as part of a month-long initiative aimed at stopping dangerous practices on building sites across the country.

The national inspection initiative is focusing on refurbishment, including roofing work. Inspectors are making unannounced visits to ensure that sites are managing refurbishment work, including work at height safely and that sites are in good order.

Polly Tomlinson, the HSE’s Principal Inspector for Construction in Greater Manchester, said: “We will continue to make unannounced visits to sites, and take enforcement action when necessary, until the message gets across. It simply isn’t worth taking risks to try and save money.”

“What jumps out at me is that ‘Nearly half of the enforcement notices were due to unsafe work being carried out at height.’  First, let’s be clear about what constitutes  ‘Work at height’.  It  is a place where there is the potential for a person to fall a distance and possibly sustain injury including a place at or below ground level; or whilst obtaining access to or egress from such place while at work, except by a staircase in a permanent workplace.  Once we’re clear about this, what follows is a risk assessment and implementation of measures to control the risk of falls.  Guys – this is not rocket science.  If your people are not applying the right rules on site – as stated in risk assessments and method statements – it should be a disciplinary matter with yellow and red cards being used to focus minds.  We specialise in site checks and audits to provide feedback and help our clients.  If we can help let me know” Tom Searle, Britrisk Safety.

Britrisk specialize in working within the construction sector to continually improve best working practices, site risk and safety assessments, call us for more details.

A Sunderland children’s park featuring a path made from crushed glass has been closed after being dubbed a death trap by worried parents.

The city council has ordered the “decorative surface” to be removed after complaints from parents they had cut their hands on the shards of glass. The park has been closed until urgent work has been carried out, the council added.

The Diamond Hall Pocket Park, designed to be “minimalist”, has been criticised by parents for its lack of play facilities. Parents hoped the council’s £70,000 would be put towards traditional facilities such as climbing frames and swings, but instead they were provided with concrete block ‘play features’.

Julie Gray, Head of Community Services, said: “The city council is working with the landscape designers, the main contractor and their specialist sub contractor, who laid the surface, to resolve the recent problem.

“Contractors were due on site this morning to remove the decorative surface which will be replaced as soon as possible.

“Health and safety at all our parks and play areas is of paramount concern and all reports of public concern are taken seriously.

“We hope that once it is completed Millfield Pocket Park will become another valuable community asset successfully provided through the Play Pathfinder project.”

It’s often stated that safety compliance is just a cost burden, but in this instance an increased level of safety awareness would have prevented unnecessary expenditure.