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.

As health and safety consultants and experts in our field, it’s essential that we remain up to date with what’s happening in the market. Laws and regulations change. Best practices are continually evolving.

Our monthly Health and Safety News Roundup is our pick of the news items and articles that we’ve read over the past month. We hope you find this month’s selection as informative and thought-provoking as we do.

This month, the news items that have caught our attention most include two articles discussing Brexit and health and safety, and other articles that look at health and safety in offshore environments, food production and farming. Click on the headlines to read news that includes:

• Interesting technology developments that could be brought into the workplace to improve health and safety procedures and help companies comply with evolving regulations. How about using drones to prioritise health and safety, or 3D visualisations to help workers become better acquainted with new or restricted workplaces?
• A warning to farms that the HSE will be undertaking targeted inspections on farms across the country. As farming has by far the worst health and safety record in the UK, farmers would be advised to seek a health and safety consultation rather than risk a hefty fine.
• Confirmation that health and safety fines are trending up, and fast. In 2014, the average fine was £29,000. In 2017/18 this had increased to £147,000, with companies now routinely fined more than £500,000 for health and safety breaches.
• Several photos published in The Sun show how workers around the world cheat death – could these examples happen in your workplace? We hope not.
• In Brexit news (we couldn’t not mention it, could we?), companies that make or import chemicals will need to register on a new UK system that will replace REACH.

As always, plenty to get your health and safety juices flowing, whatever industry you work in. Click on the headlines to reveal the full article.

·      6 ways technology will change health and safety in the workplace

An interesting summary of health and safety law in the UK and US since 1970, followed by a look at a few products that have been introduced in line with evolving health and safety requirements. Could your company soon be using drones, AI, and autonomous vehicles in its pursuit of complying with health and safety regulations?

·      Farmers warned to be ready for health and safety inspections

Farming businesses have been warned to be ready for upcoming health and safety inspections, and those that fail to manage workplace risk will face serious penalties. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced that it will be undertaking a programme of targeted inspections on farms across the country.

·      What’s new in health and safety?

A brief look at the new laws in health and safety in the UK – including news about the increasing size of penalties for breaches of health and safety regulations, and new guidelines for gross negligence manslaughter that could lead to up to 18 years in prison if found guilty.

·      Construction company fined after fatal fall

Working at height is one of the biggest sources of accidents in UK workplaces. A London-based construction company has been fined £300,000 after being found guilty of several breaches of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which led to the death of a worker.

·     Health and safety would have a field day on these building sites

A gallery of photos from around the world shows workers seemingly cheating death.

·      Pub company fined for health and safety breaches

The UK’s fourth largest managed pub company has been fined £100,000 plus costs for an accident in which a worker broke several fingers while preparing to unload a drinks delivery.

·      UK to replace REACH if no deal on Brexit

The United Kingdom government has issued guidelines for businesses that make or import chemicals, in case of a no-deal Brexit by March 29^th. From that date, chemicals would have to be registered to a new UK system, according to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. (For health and safety tips if your company uses chemicals, read our article ‘10,300 reasons you must carry out a Risk Assessment if your employees use chemicals’.)

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As health and safety consultants and experts in our field, it’s essential that we remain up to date with what’s happening in the market. Laws and regulations change. Best practices are continually evolving.

Our monthly Health and Safety News Roundup is our pick of the news items and articles that we’ve read over the past month. We hope you find this month’s selection as informative and thought-provoking as we do.

This month’s news highlights how well UK industry is doing with health and safety, while also showing how much further we have to travel to what must be the ultimate goal: zero injuries and deaths in the workplace. Striking news includes:

• After last month’s news that Amazon has suffered 440 H&S accidents since 2015, it has been reported that Amazon’s Peterborough warehouse called for an ambulance on average once every three weeks between June 2015 and June 2018. However, Amazon quotes that the Health and Safety Executive has reported that Amazon suffers 40% fewer injuries than the UK average for transportation and warehousing companies.

• Do you think ‘early finish Friday; would stop UK construction workers taking health and safety risks and rushing jobs on a Friday afternoon to get to the pub earlier? This is what Protecting.co.uk believes, after discovering that three quarters of construction workers rush their jobs at the end of a week.

• As the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement has been finalised, if not quite signed off yet, we couldn’t not mention the ‘B’ word. British manufacturers have lobbied government via a report titled Making Health & Safety Work for UK Business – Manufacturers’ Concerns in a post-Brexit World. It wants the government to ensure that the current health and safety landscape is maintained after the UK leaves the EU.

• An article in ThisWeekinFM discusses digital innovations, and asks if they could aid health and safety, improving accountability and reducing risks and injuries. Do wearables, drones, and monitoring equipment have a place in your company to help keep remote workers and others safe?

As always, plenty to get your health and safety juices flowing, whatever industry you work in. Click on the headlines to reveal the full article.

·South Western Railway criticised by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall after …

South Western Rail is one of the only train companies in the UK which does not let … I bought a smaller cup but refused due to health and safety rules. Surprised …

·HSE releases Great Britain’s annual injury and ill health statistics

Annual statistics from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show 1.4 million … and ill-health statistics report can be found at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/

·The number of ambulances called to Amazon’s Peterborough …

“All of our sites are safe places to work and reports to the contrary are simply wrong. According to the UK Government’s Health and Safety Executive, Amazon

·UK workers admit to carrying out sloppy work on a Friday

A survey of UK construction workers undertaken by legal consultant … down the line, they also open up a can of worms when it comes to health and safety.

·INDUSTRY CALLS FOR UK TO KEEP EU HEALTH & SAFETY …

Britain’s manufacturers are appealing for the current health & safety landscape to be maintained when the UK leaves the European Union, with existing worker .

·Can Connected Systems Benefit Health & Safety?

… a great advance to the large number of mobile and remote workers in the UK. … This is revolutionising the way health and safety professionals do their jobs

·Steel fabricators fined after employee received multiple fractures

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company did not have a safe system of work in place to avoid this kind of incident.

There are several good reasons to ensure your workplace vehicles are maintained in a good condition. Well-maintained vehicles perform better, lowering your costs and increasing productivity. Most importantly, well-maintained vehicles are safer. The law, of course, doesn’t care about your costs or profitability. It does care about the safety of your workforce, customers and visitors, and, where your vehicles are used on public highways, other road users.

In this article, you’ll find a workplace transport safety checklist to help you comply with your legal obligations, making sure that your vehicles are in good working order.

Prevention is the key to workplace transport safety

Most accidents involving workplace transport (and machinery) are caused by either driver error or poor vehicle maintenance. The former is corrected by driver health and safety training and good working practices. The former is corrected by ensuring that you do all you can to prevent mechanical errors. Preventative maintenance is essential to detect vehicle wear and tear as well as ensuring vehicles are in good repair and efficient working order.

Daily checks for drivers to do

There are daily checks that all drivers should make, and these should form part of your drivers’ description of role and duties. Their workplace transport safety checklist should include a daily (start of shift) check of:

• Tyres
• Windscreen
• Windscreen wipers and washers
• Lights
• Indicators and hazard lights, and warning devices (e.g. reversing alarm)
• Mirrors

Drivers and vehicle operators should be provided with adequate training to undertake these checks, as well as a procedure to follow should any inspection of the vehicle indicate that it is less than satisfactory. There should also be a procedure in place for drivers to follow if they suspect any mechanical (or other) deficiency detected during vehicle operation.

Drivers should also be tasked to ensure that vehicles are kept clean and vision is not impaired by dangling pennants or window stickers.

Regular and planned maintenance

In addition to daily checks performed by drivers, you should ensure that regular preventative maintenance work is undertaken on your vehicles. You’ll need to consider manufacturer’s guidelines when such maintenance work should be done – for example, according to mileage or time.

This work must be carried out by a competent person, trained to work on the particular vehicle type or vehicle. Your regular vehicle maintenance checklist should include:

• Brakes
• Steering
• Tyres
• Mirrors, cameras, etc.
• Windscreens and washers
• Warning devices
• Fitted safety systems
• Pneumatic and hydraulic hoses, fittings, pistons and systems
• Lights

Stay safe when maintaining your vehicles

Any employee working on a vehicle should take precautions to ensure that they do so safely. They should:

• Apply brakes
• Check wheels
• Securely prop raised parts
• Use a tyre cage when inflating tyres on split rim wheels
• Remove tyres before carrying out any welding or heating work on a wheel
• Beware of and take precautions against the risk of explosion from fuel tanks and batteries
• Use respiration masks to protect against inhaling asbestos when working on brakes and clutches

Record keeping

It is essential to keep records of all checks and maintenance work carried out on vehicles. Provide drivers with a daily workplace transport safety checklist to complete and sign. When maintenance is carried out, ensure that it is signed off by your maintenance technician or external technician. Your records should include defects found, causes, actions taken, and who undertook the work or reported the defect.

These preventative maintenance checks help to keep your vehicles fit for purpose. This should help maintain vehicle performance, and improve performance. It will result in safer vehicles and less likelihood of injury or other health issues caused by vehicle defect.

Ensure your vehicles, machinery and equipment are correctly maintained, and that your company is compliant with the ever-changing health and safety rules and regulations. Ensure your company is admired for being a conscious employer, who puts the wellbeing of its employees at the top of its agenda. To learn how we can help you achieve all this, contact Integral Safety Management today.