Health & Safety
Health & Safety Updates
HSE: Are you property developing? 38 people died last year whilst working on construction refurbishment, repair and maintenance projects. A new HSE campaign kicked off on Monday 23 March 2009 targeting property developers with the aim of increasing their awareness of their responsibilities as construction clients under the Construction Design Management Regulations 2007. Find out more
HSE: Fit3 worker involvement information published. New information on worker involvement has been added to the Fit3 site. Worker Involvement is an umbrella term used to describe a cooperative approach between employers and workers to the management of health and safety at work, it is a key goal within HSE’s new strategy. Find out more
Latest News
March 2009
CWL Health & Safety Newsletter
January 2009
CWL Health & Safety Newsletter
Health and Safety Law says you must...
Display the statutory poster "Health & Safety Law - What you should know."
Have a written Safety Policy Statement if you employ 5 or more people.
Carry out assessments of the Health and Safety risks to your employees and others, and record them if you employ more than 5 people.
Ensure employees and others are aware of your emergency and evacuation procedures.
Consult with employees before making decisions that may effect their Health and Safety.
Keep records of injuries at work.
Report to the HSE certain types of injuries, diseases or dangerous occurences.
Hear what our clients have to say...
"The service provided has taken the worry out of being sure we are covering our Health and Safety responsibilities. In addition Glenn Webb's wide experience in matters related to employment Law have been invaluable in making a number of difficult decisions related to personnel."
John Wood, Form Fab (Worcester) Ltd
"The involvement of an external specialist Health and Safety Service has enabled my Company to satisfy the very stringent requirements placed upon us by Main Contractors. Regular site safety audit visits have raised the company's overall credibility with both the main contractors and my workforce."
Paul Gracey, Paul Gracey (Brickwork) Ltd
Read more testimonials
Get in touch
Telephone 01386 765189
Email info@curranwebb.co.uk
Health & Safety Responsibilities
Every business has legal responsibilities to ensure the health and safety of employees and other people who may be affected by your business and it's activities, and also a duty to protect the environment. Curran Webb can help you prepare policies and procedures, carry out risk assessments and to put in place safe systems of work.
Managing Health and Safety
If you have five or more employees you will need to have a written Health and Safety Policy Statement. This sets out how you manage Health and Safety in your organisation.
Risk Assessments
You must carry out and maintain risk assessments whether you are a big business, a small business or a one-person operation. Risk assessments must be "suitable and sufficient". If you employ five or more employees you must keep written records.
Risks and Hazards
A hazard is anything that can cause harm. A risk is the chance that someone will be harmed by that hazard. The risk assessment will identify the hazards and evaluate the risk.
Health & Safety Updates
Stay up to date with health & safety news and changes in legislation by signing up to a Safety Service Contract with Curran Webb Limited.
We will send you regular newsletters and links to HSE campaigns and initiatives. View 'HSE updates'
Some of the key areas of risk in the workplace
Slips or trips at work
The most common cause of injuries at work is the slip or trip. Resulting falls can be serious. They happen in all kinds of businesses. Effective solutions are often simple, cheap and lead to other benefits.
Working with asbestos
Asbestos is the largest single cause of work-related fatal disease and ill health in Great Britain. Almost all asbestos-related deaths and ill health are from exposure several decades ago, but if you work with asbestos, or come into contact with it during repair and maintenance work, you are at risk. You should avoid working with asbestos if possible, but if not you must do it safely.
Working with hazardous substances
People are exposed to all kinds of hazardous substances at work. These can include chemicals that people make or work with directly, and also dust, fume and bacteria which can be present in the workplace. Exposure can happen by breathing them in, contact with the skin, splashing them into the eyes or swallowing them. If exposure is not prevented or properly controlled, it can cause serious illness, including cancer, asthma and dermatitis, and sometimes even death.
Working at height
Falls from a height account for around 70 fatalities and 4000 major injuries every year. One of the main causes is falls from ladders. To help prevent falls from height you should consider the risks to all your workers, ensure they are trained and have suitable and safe equipment for the tasks, and are properly supervised.
Suffering from sprains, strains and pains
Manual handling is transporting or supporting loads by hand. Many people hurt their back, arms, hands or feet lifting everyday loads, not just when the load is too heavy. More than a third of all over-three-day injuries reported each year to the HSE are the result of manual handling. Upper limb disorders (sometimes called repetitive strain injury or RSI) can happen in almost any workplace where people do repetitive activities, in awkward postures, for prolonged periods of time.
Using computers at work
Using a computer or other kinds of display screen equipment (visual display units) can give rise to back problems, repetitive strain injury, or other skeletal disorders. These health problems may become serious if no action is taken. They can be caused by poor design of work-stations (and associated equipment such as chairs), insufficient space, lack of training or not taking breaks from display screen work.
Workplace noise
High levels of noise at work can cause hearing loss. This can take many years to become serious. Young people can be damaged as easily as the old and premature deafness is even worse.
Electrical safety. Electricity can kill
Most deaths are caused by contact with overhead or underground power cables. Even non-fatal shocks can cause severe and permanent injury. Shocks from faulty equipment may lead to falls from ladders, scaffolding or other work platforms. Those using electricity may not be the only ones at risk. Poor electrical installations and faulty electrical appliances can lead to fires which can also result in death or injury to others.
Selection and use of work equipment
Work equipment covers an enormous range spanning process machinery, machine tools, office machines, lifting equipment, hand tools, ladders and pressure washers. Important points include: selecting the right equipment for the job, making sure equipment is safe, training employees to use equipment safely. Accidents involving work equipment happen all the time - many serious, some fatal.
Risks from transport in your workplace
Every year about 70 people are killed and about 2000 seriously injured in accidents involving vehicles at the workplace. Being struck or run over by moving vehicles, falling from vehicles, or vehicles over-turning are the most common causes. Vehicles operating in the workplace include cars and vans, lift trucks, heavy goods vehicles, dumpers, specialised vehicles or plant.
Fire Prevention
Each year many people suffer burns caused by the flammable materials they work with. The wide variety of flammable substances found in the workplace ranges from the obvious, eg heating fuel, petrol, paint thinners and welding gases to the less obvious, eg packaging materials, dusts from wood, flour and sugar.
Stress at work
HSE defines stress as "the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them". Stress at work can be tackled in the same way as any other risk health - by identifying the hazards, assessing who is at risk and the level of risk, deciding how to manage the risk and putting the plans into action.
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