Health and Safety Compliance

Did you know that in 2008/09

• 1.2 million people who worked during the year were suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past employment. 551 000 of these were new cases
• 180 workers were killed at work
• 131,895 other injuries to employees were reported under RIDDOR
• 246,000 reportable injuries occurred according to the Labour Force Survey
• 29.3 million days were lost (1.24 days per worker), 24.6 million due to work-related ill health and 4.7 million due to workplace injury

Source: HSE Health and Safety Statistics 2008/09

Whether you are a small, medium sized or large corporate organisation, your most precious asset is your staff and there is a fundamental legal requirement to maintain their health, safety and welfare whilst they are at work.

As an employer you must comply with the law (The Health, Safety and Welfare at Work Act 1974) to maintain the safety of your employees and in doing so this will also ensure that you have the organisation, systems, structure and culture in place to reduce the likelihood of litigation in both the Criminal and Civil Courts.

Do you have the following in place?

• Safety policies – identifying the roles, responsibilities and management systems to ensure safety is part of the organisation, not a bolt-on addition
• Safe systems of work - to ensure that staff carry out their work efficiently and safely whilst at work
• A safe workplace – in which to work without danger to health
• Safe equipment – to work safely without the risk of injury
• A method of training staff on Health and Safety matters, from their first induction to new information as it arises to regular refresher and update training throughout their working lives
• A Risk Assessment system that regularly identifies and records the hazards and risks within the workplace and work activities – and importantly, identifies the control measures and ensures that appropriate action is taken to remove or reduce these hazards and risks
• A regular audit process that regularly (annually or more regularly as appropriate) assesses the systems in place and identifies whether the organisation is still complying with the law and, importantly, identifies areas for action
• Health policies and systems that take into account the welfare needs of the law
• Consultation with staff – to talk to everyone who has an interest in safety

Fire Safety Compliance

DID YOU KNOW? - 80% OF BUSINESSES THAT HAVE A SERIOUS FIRE NEVER FULLY RECOVER...

Fire damage is costing commercial businesses over £2 million every day.

Many companies are seeing their hard earned profits going up in smoke. Fire is increasingly putting jobs and services at risk, and threatening the existence of some small businesses.

Fire Safety Order

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO) came into force on 1st October 2006. Under the order, anyone who has control of premises or anyone who has a degree of control over certain areas or systems may be a 'responsible person' and the law requires that the responsible person carries out a Fire Risk Assessment.

The order applies to all non-domestic premises and in order to comply with the order you must:

• Carry out a fire risk assessment identifying any possible dangers and risks, and consider who may be especially at risk
• Eliminate or reduce the risk from fire as far as is reasonably possible and provide general fire precautions to deal with any possible risk left
• Take other measures to make sure there is protection if flammable or explosive materials are used or stored
• Create a plan to deal with any significant emergency findings; and review your findings when necessary

In order to comply with the order you must take the following steps:

• Identify Fire Hazards
• Identify People At Risk
• Remove or reduce the hazards
• Record, Plan, Inform, Instruct and Train
• Review

 Partnership Working

At Corinium Human Resource Management we will work in partnership with your business to arrive at a cost effective solution to ensure both compliance with the law and create a safer working environment.

All our Fire Safety consultants are ex Fire Service officers who are professionally qualified and members of either the Institution of Fire Engineers or the Institute of Occupational Health and Safety.

Corinium Human Resource Management is an independent company who do not sell any other fire safety related products. This ensures that you only get our high quality, unbiased professional advice and service. We can often save you money by identifying savings on provision and servicing of fire related equipment.

We provide a range of comprehensive fire risk assessment services and solutions for both single and multi-site organisations.

Fire Risk Assessment

Working in partnership with you we can produce written Fire Risk Assessments which are specific to the premise or business, these are cost effective and fully compliant with legislation.

Fire Risk Audits

As part of your legal obligations you should also carry out a periodic review of your current fire risk assessment. We can undertake a Fire Risk audit to ensure you are fully up to date and compliant with current fire legislation.

Training

In order for staff at all levels to understand their roles and responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Fire Safety Reform Act 2005 and associated legislation, it is a requirement to improve their knowledge by the provision of information and training.

Improving their knowledge will not only improve their safety but will also assist in the development of the organisation becoming a safe place to work, reducing the likelihood of fire, injury or illness and therefore reducing organisational costs caused by staff being away from work.

This leads to greater efficiency and effectiveness in the workplace with the resulting benefits for the organisation.

This training can take many forms and Corinium Human Resource Management will work in partnership with you to provide cost effective training in a form that does not significantly affect the working operation of your organisation.

Following the training all staff will have a greater knowledge and understanding of Fire Safety and Health and Safety law, their roles and responsibilities as managers and staff throughout the organisation and the requirements placed on them by their employer.

They will also be able to monitor how Fire Safety and Health and Safety is managed and maintained in the workplace to ensure the reduction of fire, injury and illness, thereby making the workplace safer.

This will lead to greater effectiveness of the workforce by reducing disruption caused by safety incidents and any subsequent absences by staff caused by the safety incident.

Consultants from Corinium Human Resource Management will work with you using training events, workshops, toolbox talks, seminars or individual development opportunities to inform and promote fire, health and safety throughout the workforce.

Training can be provided in the following areas:

Fire Risk Assessment

Training senior staff, health and safety representatives or appropriate competent staff within the company how to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment. This training can be provided as a bespoke course or by working alongside the designated staff to undertake live Risk Assessments, thereby providing practical learning in the workplace. This can be cost-effective as this reduces the time that staff are away from their work.

Fire Manager

Designated managers can be provided with training in managing Fire Safety throughout the organisation either as a particular managerial role or as training for all managers to fulfil their role and responsibilities to their staff. Training managers on their legal responsibilities and the requirements of the Fire Safety Order enables them to manage fire safety as a key part of their role.

Fire Marshal

In line with the Fire Safety Order we provide training for those nominated persons who help to reduce the risk from fire and take control in an emergency. It is a requirement that Fire Marshals be appointed subject to certain requirements, once designated these staff must have recognised and appropriate training to ensure that they can act safely and appropriately.

General Fire Awareness

To meet the requirements of the Fire Safety Order all staff are required to be trained in basic fire safety awareness and the appropriate actions to take in case of an emergency. This will ensure that in the event of a fire that they will act safely in evacuating the building and calling the emergency services as required.

Fire Extinguisher

As a requirement of the Fire Safety Order, training can be provided for nominated staff in the use of fire fighting equipment. This can take the form of a theory only session but is better provided as a practical session using appropriate extinguishers on a range of fires that they are likely to find in their workplace.

Workplace Safety Management

Managers need to understand their roles and responsibilities for the organisation, policy making, control, auditing and safety management of their Health and Safety systems. This will ensure that the number of Safety Incidents is reduced to a minimum and the severity of those that may occur does not lead to significant injury or illness.

Health and Safety Risk Assessment

Undertaking Health and Safety Risk Assessments requires a specific level of knowledge and understanding of the processes needed to be carried out to fully identify the hazards and risks associated with the workplace and the work activities. This training, which is designed for staff who are appointed to undertake Risk Assessments, will provide this level of understanding and will use case studies based on the environment where the training is being carried out.

Safe Systems of Work

Only when staff members understand the effects of their work activities on themselves, their work colleagues and those affected by their work (such as the public, visitors or contractors working on-site) can they fully appreciate the Health and Safety needs of their working area. This training is aimed at all staff members and will enable them to consider their own and others safety in the workplace, it will also prepare them to consider the safety implications of changes to existing working patterns or methods.

Manual Handling Operations

Staff who have to undertake manual handling operations run the risk of muscular and skeletal injuries due to lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling loads. This staff training enables the individual to understand the mechanics of load handling, what they can do to reduce sprains, strains and injuries and what facilities there are to assist with the manual handling of loads.

Display Screen Equipment

There is a legal requirement to ensure that a Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Risk Assessment is undertaken for all new staff or when staff equipment is changed. Using Display Screen Equipment is a significant part of most occupations and can easily lead to Repetitive Strain Injuries, musco/skeletal pain and discomfort which can have a significant future effect. We can provide training for staff to undertake DSE Assessments or to provide staff with information, knowledge and methods to reduce the likelihood of these injuries occurring to them in the workplace.

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment is the foundation of Health and Safety legislation, only when hazards and risks are properly and fully identified can the appropriate action be taken to ensure that organisations are complying with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Undertaking Risk Assessments requires a particular mix of skills:

• Understanding of the Risk Assessment process
• Understanding of the activities being assessed
• Knowledge of the actions and methods that can be used to reduce any identified hazards and/or risks
• Ability to record the assessment, outcomes and recommendations

Undertaking Risk Assessments means that significant hazards and risks are identified so that action plans can be formulated to remove or reduce these hazards and risks to a safe level. This will reduce the likelihood of fire, injury and illness in the workplace and therefore reduce the costs associated with fire and health and safety incidents.

Auditing

Undertaking a Fire Safety or Health and Safety Audit is the fundamental approach to identify the existing systems for Fire Safety and Health and Safety within your workplace and whether they are appropriate, up-to-date and effective. This allows you to continue with any identified activities that conform to Fire Safety and Health and Safety law and to make any necessary changes to improve the systems where necessary.

This ensures that only relevant actions need to be taken, reducing workloads and cost in this area.