Consultants out and about…
Seen
by Rob out and about in Croydon this morning!
Health and Safety in the news this
week
Considerate Constructors to Get Competence Star Rating
Considerate constructors will
get a star rating for their competence after a new system was launched by The
Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) to boost standards and reward best
practice. Now, companies along with
their contractors, clients and workforce will be better able to demonstrate CCS
competencies including everything from the success of health and safety
policies to green initiatives and engagement with the local community.
The new star rating – based on
a level from one to five – has been developed to better reflect how well a site
is run. It will highlight how businesses
are complementing their work through onsite appearance, respect for the local
community, safety of those involved directly and indirectly, and how companies
are operating with more sustainable, environmentally friendly business
practices.
Edward Hardy, CCS’s chief
executive, says the new five-star system provides a clearer indication of
competency and is an easier, more “quantifiable way” for the industry, the
public and the local community to understand how construction businesses are
performing to the CCS’s rigorous standards. Star ratings will be clearly
displayed at each site with posters and certificates issued. Companies need to
register sites to be scored by a nominated “monitor” whose analysis will be
translated from the traditional 50-point marking system into a star rating out
of five.
Hardy believes the new rating
system from the CCS will help the construction industry develop a more positive
image in communities while its consideration for the wider environment is
rightly celebrated. The simple identification of a site’s competency for
passers-by will also encourage companies to act more responsibly and drive
internal practices to become more considerate constructors.
HSE prosecution round up:
Insulation company fined for health and safety failings – COSHH
and PUWER
A Welsh insulation company that produced natural insulation
products have been fined for health and safety failings.
Wrexham Magistrates’ Court heard that Natural Insulation Ltd
(formerly Black Mountain Insulation Limited) failed to conduct an adequate risk
assessment for the processing of hemp. They
also failed to adequately guard machinery.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into
the concerns raised anonymously found that the COSHH assessment was not
suitable and sufficient.
The company formerly at Tir Llwyd Industrial Estate, Kinmel Bay,
Rhyl, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of
Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER), and Regulation 6 of the Control of
Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, and was fined £30,000 and
ordered to pay costs of £59,000.
Waste Management firm in court after young man crushed to death
On the 7 June 2013, 24 year old
Ashley Morris, known as Will, was working at Rainbow Waste Management’s site in
Swadlincote. Mr Morris sustained fatal injuries to his head and spine
when the bucket of the loading shovel that he was operating crushed him.
Derby Crown Court heard that in
the 10 days leading up to the incident, CCTV cameras at site captured over two
hundred examples of unsafe working practices.
These practices included dangerous operations with the shovel such as
workers being lifted in the bucket and workers having to take evasive
action to avoid contact with moving vehicles.
Rainbow Waste Management
Limited of Robian Way, Swadlincote, Derbyshire pleaded guilty to breaching
Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined
£136,000 and ordered to pay £64,770 in costs.
HSE Principal Inspector
Elizabeth Hornsby said: “Rainbow Waste failed to put in place basic legal requirements
of training and supervision. The death of this young man was entirely
avoidable.”
Company fined after worker injured by machinery
A Swansea company which
manufactures plastic sheeting has been fined after an employee suffered serious
injury when his hand was caught and dragged into machinery.
Swansea Magistrates’ Court
heard that the employee was part of a maintenance crew at ITW Limited, and was
repairing a break in the plastic sheeting.
The court was told the employee
was rethreading broken plastic sheeting into a pinch roll when his gloved hand
was caught and dragged into the rollers. The first finger on his right hand was
so badly damaged it was surgically removed below the knuckle.
An investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, which occurred on 30 May 2012,
found that there was inadequate guarding along the length of the production
line, despite ITW Ltd having identified the risks.
ITW Limited, of Queensway,
Fforestfach, Swansea, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, and was fined £20,000 and
ordered to pay costs of £6,018.
HSE Health and Safety Myths
Buster
The Myth Health and safety regulations now ban the use of ladders.
The Truth
This story reappears regularly. In fact there is no ban on ladders so long as they are used safely. The Working at Height Regulations 2005 are aimed at ensuring that people do use ladders safely. This is to reduce the number of workers seriously injured or killed falling off ladders every year. Each year an average 13 workers die this way and 12,000 are seriously injured. However there is no ban on ladders so long as they are secured and used appropriately.
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