Health & Safety Poster

The original Health & Safety Poster must be replaced by no later than 5th April 2014.

HSS Health and Safety Services offer the new Health and Safety Posters.

CDM Regulations 2015 – Understanding the New Regulations & How It Affects You

We are now getting calls from clients on at least a weekly basis asking about what they need to do to comply with the CDM Regulations 2015 which came into force on 6th April 2015.

The reality of the situation is becoming more evident that Government & HSE have truly made things very awkward and unjustifiably more problematic and less understandable. The CDM Regulations 2015 have taken some drastic changes which effect all of us and personally, we feel, not for the better. The CDM 2015 Regulations are now harder to comprehend and put into practice than ever before and responsibilities have been passed to potentially the incorrect persons. But judgement aside, please click on the link below to read our full evaluation of changes and how this may affect you…

CDM 2015 Overview – Free Download

A new Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) – L5 Sixth Edition – has been produced which is intended to be more user friendly.

Download a free version of The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (L5 Sixth Edition) here – Amended 2013

A roofing company has been fined for safety failings after a worker fell to his death from an unsuitable and poorly maintained ladder whilst undertaking roofline repairs at a two storey domestic property in Milton Keynes on 14th January 2012. The self employed sub-contractor fell 5 metres to the ground sustaining a fatal head injury.

The company was prosecuted on 20th November 2013 by the HSE after finding that there were serious concerns with work equipment.

Evidence from the investigation found that the exact circumstances were unclear but the sub-contractor fell due to failing to maintain a secure contact with the ladder and the building as he was working. The ladder was found to be in-appropriate for the intended purpose and that a more rigid system should have been supplied i.e. a tower scaffold. Inspectors also found that the ladder had damaged rungs and missed footers. If the ladder had been included in a regular inspection regime the incident may not have occurred.

The roofing company was fined a total of £11,672 after pleading guilty to several breaches of Health & Safety Law including two breaches of the Work At Height Regulations 2005.

A message to come away from this horrific accident is that all ladders and access equipment must be included on a strict inspection and maintenance regime which is recorded.

Download a Free HSS Health & Safety Services Ladder Inspection Record from our Download Page – Click here to be sent to the page

New amendments have been to the Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1992 which came into effect on 18th November 2013.

The revised version of the Regulations take into account the changes to other legislation since its previous publish date. The new version will help all employers understand their legal duties for providing suitable and sufficient welfare provisions and what provisions can be implemented to ensure that a healthy & safe environment is provided to all employees.

This revised and updated version takes account of changes to legislation since the previous edition was published, including:

Quarries Miscellaneous Health and Safety Provisions Regulations 1995
Quarries Regulations 1999
Work at Height Regulations 2005
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007
Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002

The revised version of the Workplace Health, Safety & Welfare Regulations 1992 – 3rd Amendment 2013 can be downloaded from here

As of 1 October 2013, the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 have been amended (3rd Edition), removing the requirement for HSE to approve first aid training and qualifications (regulation 3(2)). All in all this small change means that businesses now have more flexibility in who you engage to conduct training sessions on your behalf and how you manage the provision of first aid in the workplace.

An employer will still need to make an assessment of their first-aid requirements to establish what provision for first aid is required. This will depend upon the workplace, taking into account, the number of employees, size, location and work activity (plus other factors).

HSE have published the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 (3rd Edition) which can be downloaded from here.

Book your First Aid Training requirements at HSS Health & Safety Services by clicking here.

The Electricity at Work Regualtions have been amended and published.

The new Regulations provide updated guidance and additional information on requirements for all persons who carry out work on/ with Electricity.

A copy of the new Regulations can be downloaded from here

The HSE have implemented changes to RIDDOR in order to simplify the mandatory reporting of workplace injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences for all businesses.

Changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995 have been made to calridy and simplify the reporting requirements, whilst ensuring that the data collected provides an accurate and useful picture of workplace incidents.

The change affects all employers including Self Employed.

The main changes are:

The classification of major injuries to workers has been replaced with a shorter list of specified injuries
The existing schedule detailing 47 types of industrial diseases have been replaced with just eight categories of reportable work related illness
Fewer categories of dangerous occurrences which require reporting

There are no significant changes to the reporting requirements and therefore the following is still required on each occassion:

Fatal Accidents Details
Accidents to non-employed persons including members of the public
Accidents resulting in a worker being unable to perform their normal range of duties for more than seven days
How an incident at work is reported and the criteria that determines whether an incident should be investigated

All accidents require a thorough investigation, no matter how minor, to prevent any re-occurrence. It is proven to be more cost effective by acting responsibly and pro-active and not re-active as costs for injured employees, lost time, fewer resources, fines and legal costs can multiply to excessive amounts.

RIDDOR compliance is a legal requirement for all companies. There are no changes to the method of reporting incidents at work and the principles of the Regulations remain the same.

A new HSE brief guide has been produced to help provide advice for managers which can be downloaded from here

The full RIDDOR 2013 document can also be downloaded from here – (This is the final document but has not yet been produced into a hard format)

Reporting an accident, injury and/or dangerous occurrence – please follow this link to the HSE Reporting page