Making sure that your employees benefit from good health and safety policies and practices is good business. For example, according to HSE statistics:

• There were 555,000 workplace injuries in 2017/18
• 7 million working days were lost due to work-related illnesses and workplace injuries in 2017/18
• The estimated cost of work-related illnesses and workplace injuries in the UK was £15 billion in 2016/17

If one of your employees is injured at work, the financial cost could be huge. First, there is the loss of productivity due to absence from work. On top of this, you may have to pay compensation, fines and court costs if you are discovered to be liable for the injury.

There is also reputational risk: people don’t want to work for companies that have poor health and safety track records, and customers could be deterred from awarding you contracts or spending money with you, too.

Whatever way you cut it, poor health and safety policies and procedures are a huge cost to British businesses. Which is why good companies do all they can to eliminate hazards and risks – starting with a health and safety audit in the workplace, working through risk assessments, and, if a hazard cannot be eliminated, employing appropriate working practices to reduce risk further.

As a last resort, it may be necessary to insist that your employees wear (or use) appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).

When do your employees need PPE?

There are many situations when PPE may be needed. Typical examples include when employees are at risk of:

• Contact with chemicals or hazardous substances that could cause burns or other injuries or illnesses
• Being struck by falling or flying objects
• Breathing contaminated air
• Receiving electric shocks
• Exposure to excessive vibration or excessive noise
• Eye injuries caused by flying debris or chemicals
• Cuts, abrasions and punctures to hands, arms and legs

What PPE may be needed?

A risk assessment will determine what type of PPE is needed to protect employees from the effects of workplace risks. PPE items might include:

• Safety glasses
• Gloves
• Ear defenders
• Respiratory equipment or masks
• Hard hats
• Overalls
• High-visibility jackets

The PPE provided should:

• Be of a safe design and construction and meet legal safety standards
• Be well maintained and stored correctly
• Fit well and be as comfortable to wear as possible
• Be replaced according to manufacturer’s recommendations or if damaged

Finally, it is your responsibility to provide employees with any and all necessary PPE, and ensure that it is worn and used correctly.

How do you ensure that your employees use PPE properly?

If you don’t supply appropriate PPE and ensure that it is used properly, you could face legal action should an employee experience an accident or suffer a work-related illness.

However, some employees will baulk at wearing PPE, or decide not to wear it because of comfort or speed-of-work issues. Therefore, you should train your employees with respect to PPE, so they understand:

• Why PPE is necessary
• When it is necessary
• Where it must be worn or used
• The limitations of the PPE – what it doesn’t do (eliminate the risk)
• How to wear and use PPE properly, how to store it and maintain it
• When PPE must be replaced

Those responsible for health and safety in your organisation should choose PPE so that it protects against the hazards and risks that have been identified. They will also be responsible for ensuring that your health and safety policies and use of PPE is monitored, and that they remain effective (though many companies use external health and safety consultants to do this work for them).

What if your employees refuse to use PPE?

In rare circumstances, an employee may refuse to use PPE. This is putting them at risk – and you and your organisation, because it is your responsibility to ensure that PPE is used when, where and how necessary. To avoid this liability, you should take measures to enforce PPE use:

• Make the use of PPE a contractual obligation
• Ensure that your employee handbook makes plain that non-use of PPE is a disciplinary offence
• Take disciplinary action if PPE is not used

Clauses in contracts do not absolve your responsibility to ensure that PPE is used as stipulated. However, they do give you the option of taking disciplinary action, including considering it as gross misconduct and dismissing the employee.

Not all refusals are disciplinary actions

There are always exceptions that prove a rule, and the regulations governing PPE are no different. An employee may refuse to use or wear PPE for three very specific reasons:

1. A medical condition that makes wearing PPE either uncomfortable or harmful
2. The PPE does not fit properly and may compromise safety

• Religious grounds – Sikhs who wear turbans are exempted from wearing hard hats

In cases I and II, the employer becomes responsible for finding alternative PPE so the employee may do their task more safely. If this is not possible, then the employee cannot be asked to do that task.

In all three cases, if you cannot find alternative PPE or an alternative position within the company for the employee that does not require the PPE to be used or worn, you may dismiss the employee without the fear of discrimination.

PPE is a no-brainer, but not simple

Protecting your employees is a no-brainer, but this doesn’t mean that maintaining good health and safety practices is easy.

Laws, rules and regulations change constantly. Integral SM is here to help you keep your employees safe, and make sure that you stay within the law as you do so. We provide a full range of consultancy services, including health and safety audits, risk assessments, and health and safety training. Contact Integral today to discuss all your health and safety requirements.

Construction sites are energetic and frenetic places. They are also places where the risk of accident, injury and even fatality is high. It’s the nature of the beast – heavy equipment, noise, tools, the materials in use and the site itself present many hazards.

There are more fatalities because of workplace accidents in the construction industry than any other. In 2017/18, the UK construction industry suffered 38 workers’ deaths because of workplace accidents. In addition, according to HSE construction statistics, in 2017:

• There were 58,000 work-related injuries
• 30% of these caused an absence of more than three days
• 24% resulted in an absence of seven days or longer

Though these numbers have been falling steadily in recent years, more can be done to prevent accidents on construction sites. In this article, you’ll learn five strategies to help reduce incidents on your construction sites.

What are the most common accidents on construction sites?

In 2017/18, there were 4,919 non-fatal injuries to employees on construction sites. Understanding the causes of these injuries is the first step to reducing them. The most common causes of accidents on construction sites are:

·Falls from height

In first place, and causing a third of all construction site accidents, is falls from height. Typically, these happen because of unsecured ladders or scaffolding (or failing to follow basic scaffolding regulations). Common injuries include broken bones, back injury and death.

·Slips, trips and falls on the same level

In a close second place, and the cause of 30% of construction site accidents, is slips, trips and falls on the same level. Loose cables, unmarked holes, and equipment left laying around are common reasons for these accidents. The types of injury sustained range from cuts and bruising to fatality, depending on the worker, how and where they fell, and how they landed.

·Injuries caused by handling, lifting and carrying

Typically, these types of injury are caused by poor technique or inappropriate training. Injuries may occur suddenly or over a period of time, and are most commonly either back or musculoskeletal disorders. The risk of accidents is increased by factors such as carrying loads that are too heavy, tasks involving awkward posture, and man-handling materials on uneven ground.

·Struck by moving or flying/falling objects

Materials falling from above, often when being transferred between tiers of scaffolding, are also a major cause of injury. Moving objects, such as those on cranes, can hit an injure workers, too. Typical injuries range from cuts and bruises to brain damage and death, and one of the main causes of this type of injury is poor communication.

·Vehicles

Accidents caused by construction site vehicles tend to fall into three main categories:

• Poor vehicle maintenance
• Poor driver training and work practices
• Poor communication

On construction sites, an accident involving a vehicle is likely to lead to a serious injury, leading to loss of productivity and compensation claims which the constructor is likely to lose. (See our post “Workplace transport safety checklist” for advice about vehicle maintenance to improve your health and safety processes.)

·Defective equipment

Poorly maintained tools and equipment are likely to malfunction and cause injury. If this happens, it will be deemed the owner’s responsibility. If you have supplied equipment and it causes injury because it has been poorly maintained, you will be liable for compensation.

·Excessive noise

OK, construction sites are generally noisy places. There is not a lot you can do about this – it’s not like you can reduce the noise by wrapping everything in cotton wool! However, you should provide ear defenders to help protect workers from the long-term damage caused by exposure to excessive noise.

Strategies to prevent accidents on construction sites

There are five main strategies that will help your site to reduce accidents – perhaps even become accident free.

1.      Plan to reduce the risks from on-site hazards

Before work is started, inspect the site and take action to make your workplace safer:

• Conduct a health and safety audit
• Make sure your employees understand the hazards on-site
• Carry out health and safety risk assessments
• Create a culture of health and safety in your construction business

By recognising and understanding the hazards that exist, you can plan to prevent the risks turning into accidents and injuries. This plan should be incorporated into training and team meetings.

2.      Provide health and safety training to employees and contractors

Health and safety training should be provided to all employees, no matter their experience. Give general and site-specific training to educate workers on specific risks and how to reduce them. Remember that equipment and vehicles should only be operated by trained and qualified employees.

Your training should also include training in the policies and procedures that you have produced for every job and task on-site. As part of our health and safety consultancy services here at Integral, we helps companies like yours to meet their obligations to provide health and safety training that complies with the requirements of UK health and safety laws, rules and regulations.

3.      Raise awareness with regular team meetings

Frequent team meetings are an opportunity to ensure that all workers are aware of the hazards and risks they face, and the measures and precautions they should take to mitigate them.

Make it best practice to discuss the need to be alert, discuss accidents that have occurred and how they could have been prevented, and make sure that all workers understand their role in prevention of accidents while working on the construction site.

4.      Supply personal protective equipment (PPE)

PPE is essential on construction sites, and there is a legal obligation to provide it where necessary. PPE is used as a last resort in the workplace, after all other options to eliminate the risk have been exhausted.

On construction sites, it is impossible to eliminate many hazards and risks, and so the use of PPE will help to keep your workers safe. PPE that may be required includes:

• Hard hats – to protect the head from falling/flying objects and collisions
• Hi-vis clothing – to increase visibility
• Gloves – to protect hands from sharp objects, hazardous substances, and when handling equipment and materials
• Safety footwear protective toe caps – to protect feet from heavy and sharp objects
• Safety goggles – to protect eyes from flying debris
• Ear defenders – to help prevent ear injury from excessive noise

Remember, PPE will not eliminate hazards, but is designed to reduce the seriousness of injuries should an accident occur.

5.      Keep the construction site tidy

It is difficult to keep construction sites tidy, but every effort should be made to do so. Making sure tools are stored away and that materials are not strewn around will help to prevent slips, trips and falls. Hiring a labourer to keep a site tidy could help to reduce accidents, injuries and expensive compensation claims.

Make sure, too, that scaffolding is erected properly, ladders are secured, and guardrails, toe-boards and nets are used as necessary.

In summary

The HSE has estimated that the cost of workplace injuries and work-related ill health in the construction industry totalled between £856 million and £1.27 billion in 2016/17. Around 400,000 working days are lost each year in construction because of injuries at work.

How many days is your construction business losing because of workplace-related injuries?

Contact Integral today for a no-obligation consultation, and learn how we can help you improve health and safety on your construction sites and reduce the financial impact to your business.

In this article, you’ll learn about the most common injuries caused by machinery in the workplace, and the responsibilities of employers and employees to minimise risks – as provided for in the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER).

When do the regulations apply?

PUWER applies to all equipment supplied by the employer in the workplace. Crucially, it also applies to equipment that the employer allows the employee to use. Therefore, you will need to ensure that an employee’s own equipment complies with PUWER. For the sake of PUWER, workplaces that are covered by the regulations include all those where the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 applies – including factories, offices, shops, construction sites, hotels, offshore installations, etc.

What types of injuries are caused by machinery?

Common injuries caused by workplace machinery include:

• Amputation
• Crushing
• Electric shock
• Hearing loss
• Broken limbs
• Cuts and abrasions
• Burns

Machinery causes such injuries by:

• Cutting
• Shearing
• Puncturing
• Tearing
• Stretching
• Entangling
• Burning

Why does machinery cause injuries?

Evidence as to why machinery so often causes injuries is readily available in the HSE news pages. At the time of writing this article, seven of the first 10 press releases detail fines handed out to employers because of injuries or deaths caused by machinery in the workplace – all of which could have been avoided.

Typically, reasons why machinery causes injuries include:

• Inadequate or no guarding on machines
• Guards not properly fastened or removed for maintenance
• Opening in guards that allow operators to put their hands into the machine
• Interlocked guards that open while the machine is running
• Mechanisms from switches have been removed
• Single-light beam safeguards have been switched off
• Ineffective power isolation systems

All of the above are mechanical deficiencies, and many of them are perpetrated by the employer or employee. Worryingly, accidents caused by such inadequacies are commonplace. Fortunately, there are strategies an employer can put in place to minimise the risks of accidents in the workplace caused by machinery.

How can employers minimise machinery accidents in the workplace?

The best way to deal with risks of injury in the workplace is to manage the hazard that causes the risks.  The key is to first identify all machinery hazards and conduct health and safety risk assessments. You should then seek ways to eliminate the risk (e.g. ensuring guards are fitted, checked and used correctly), and if this isn’t possible, then to minimise the risk. Strategies to minimise risks include:

• Ensuring safe working practices are used
• Training of employees in machinery use and health and safety issues
• Using PPE to help protect against risks
• Monitoring employees for adherence to health and safety at work and operational processes

The employer’s responsibility for the use of machinery

As an employer, PUWER places many responsibilities on you for the health and safety of your employees and others when either using machinery or in an area where machinery is being used. You will need to ensure (as far as is practicably possible) that you:

• Identify hazards and risks and manage them
• Train employees so they can carry out their jobs safely
• Ensure work is carried out safely, and supervise employees when and if necessary
• Provide adequate personal protective equipment
• Ensure accidents are reported and investigated, and procedures are updated to help avoid similar accidents in the future
• Have procedures for dealing with emergencies

Training and supervision – a workplace obligation

If you don’t provide adequate training to employees who use machinery and they are injured while operating that machinery, it could cost you thousands in fines and a loss of productivity due to absenteeism (plus a hit to your reputation as a business and employer). For example, in 2017, a Birmingham-based packaging company was fined £100,000 for a lack of guarding on a machine and a lack of training and supervision which led to an accident in which the operator had two fingers partially amputated.

Training on machinery must include:

• Explanation of actual and potential hazards associated with the machinery
• Safety precautions that must be taken
• Health and safety processes and procedures

The employee should be able to show that he or she can:

• Check and adjust the machine before operating it
• Stop and start the machine
• Recognise faults
• Correctly use and adjust machine guards
• Use all machine controls

In addition, the employer must:

• Have an inspection and maintenance regime in place, with work carried out by a competent person
• Take reasonable precautions to ensure that the machinery has stopped when maintenance or cleaning is carried out
• Ensure that any modifications made are completed by a competent person, and validated to meet set standards

The employee’s responsibility for the use of machinery

The employee also has health and safety responsibilities when using machinery. These responsibilities include:

• Their own health and safety
• Not harming others because of their actions or omissions
• Complying with the employer’s procedures
• Identifying and reporting hazards
• Using all PPE as needed and stipulated by the employer
• Reporting any faults

In summary

Health and safety is a joint responsibility between employer and employee. However, the buck will always stop with the employer. To ensure you comply with current health and safety regulations and that your machine operators are not put at risk unnecessarily, you should:

• Carry out an inspection and audit of your workplace
• Conduct workplace risk assessments
• Provide health and safety training to your employees

Whatever your H&S needs, we can tailor our consultancy services accordingly to help ensure your employees stay safe and the risk of injury when operating machinery is fully minimised.

To learn more and discuss your specific requirements, contact Integral Safety Management today.

If your employees may be exposed to a health or safety risk, it is your duty to supply them with suitable personal protective equipment (PPE). The only exception is if the risk has been adequately controlled by other means which are at least as effective. This is the law as it stands, and as described in Regulation 4 of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992.

In this article, we discuss how to decide the needs for PPE for employees.

PPE in the workplace – an employer’s obligations in brief

There are certain obligations that the law places on employers with regards to personal protective equipment. These can be summarised in the following bullet points:

• PPE must only be used as a last resort

• Other methods of controlling risks and reducing hazards must be explored first, and implemented where possible

• If PPE is still needed after implementation of other controls, then the employer must provide the PPE

• The employer cannot charge employees for PPE supplied

• PPE training must be provided to employees, including how it is to be used and detection and reporting of faults

Types of PPE for employees

There are many different types and categories of PPE, and their uses depend upon the potential risks.

• Eyes are prone to injury from projectiles, gases, radiation, and chemical splashes. PPE to help protect against such risks includes safety spectacles or goggles, face shields and visors. When selecting which eye protection is best, an employer should consider which offers the best combination to protect against impact and foreign bodies.

• Ears must be protected against high levels of sound, especially if exposure is for prolonged periods. Ear defenders, earplugs and canal caps are common PPE for employees who need ear protection. A tip here is to ensure that the ear protection provided reduces the noise to an acceptable level while allowing communication to still take place.

• Head and neck injuries may be caused by bumping, impact, falls, temperature, flying objects, and hair becoming tangled in machinery. Hard hats, bump caps, hairnets and helmets offer protection against these hazards. Some safety helmets are equipped with eye and/or ear protection.

• Hands and arms may be injured by cutting, abrasion, burning (hot and cold) impact, chemicals, radiation, biological hazards, electric shocks, and so on. They are probably more prone to injury than any other body part. Gloves, gauntlets and sleeving are common PPE to protect hands and arms, though care should be taken when selecting the right hand and arm protection. Separate cotton inner gloves may need to be provided, and the material of gloves should be considered by first considering the hazard – for example, some chemicals will penetrate some materials.

• Lungs are affected by inhalation of dust, gases and vapours, and in oxygen-deficient environments. Masks or respirators may need to be provided. These should be tight fitting, with the correct type of respirator attached. Filters must be renewed regularly, and according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

• Feet and legs are susceptible to injury because of extreme temperatures, slipping, tripping and falling, cuts, chemical splashes, heavy loads, etc. Appropriate footwear to help protect against such risks include safety boots with protective toecaps, penetration-resistant boots, and other specific footwear according to workplace application.

• Whole body PPE may be required in certain working environments. These include to protect against radiation and extreme temperatures, pressure leaks from spray guns, steam, and contaminated atmospheres. Options range from disposable overalls to aprons, to chemical suits.

How do you know which PPE to provide employees?

When assessing risks and deciding on which PPE is necessary in your workplace, you should take an individual and team approach. Ask of each employee or team:

• What is the exposure to risk, and who is exposed?

• For how long is the exposure to the risk?

• What is the degree of exposure to the risk?

The PPE you provide should fit the user well, and you should provide training in its use. It is essential to make clear that PPE is limited in effectiveness – no PPE provides 100% protection against risks. Additionally:

• Ensure that all PPE supplied carries the appropriate CE mark

• If two or more items of PPE are to be used at the same time, you must ensure it is safe to do so and that they are compatible

• Never allow employees not to wear PPE – include this in their job description and employee manual

Keeping PPE in good condition

PPE degrades over time and its effectiveness is affected by wear and tear. Part of the training that is given to employees should include how to check PPE. Companies should provide a safe and adequate storage space, and ensure that there is an adequate supply of spare parts (e.g. filters for respirators).

Finally, while the employee is responsible to use PPE provided, management should monitor use and take disciplinary action where PPE is not used, or used incorrectly.

PPE for employees is the last line of protection against hazards and risks in the workplace. If you do not provide the right personal protective equipment, you could be putting the lives of your employees at risk. Your health and safety record reflects upon you as an employer.

If you are in any doubt about your needs for PPE for your employees, contact Integral Safety Management today. Our expert help will ensure that your health and safety practices remain compliant with current laws, rules and regulations, and that you provide the safest working environment possible.