The very water that customers are floating in can be a huge health and safety risk if not correctly maintained. Chemicals such as chlorine and bromine are a very important part of making sure a commercial swimming pool is a safe and healthy place for clients to enjoy their leisure time. However the chemicals can be hazardous. Commercial pools have to observe a number of safety standards in order to satisfy health and safety requirements and legal obligations.

We are well aware that in UK it is a legal requirement that an employer provides adequate equipment to enable staff handle the various chemicals in as safe a manner as possible. It is also a requirement that staff use the equipment provided, and do not cause a danger to themselves or others by careless handling of these chemicals. .

In addition, the employer must ensure that employees are aware of the necessity to use this equipment. In some circumstances, this duty may be simply discharged by the use of warning signs and notices.

As a company we are highly experienced in training and cannot stress strongly enough that familiarisation should be provided on a regular basis so that (A) the staff are made aware of the risks and dangers of handling chemicals, and (B) the staff are taught how to use the equipment in the correct and safe manner.

For more information on this and other health and safety topics please read here.

Tools and equipment.
Children like to have a go with garden tools and emulate what their parents do. Identify which tools you are happy for children to use, such as hand trowels and forks, and teach them how to use them properly. Equally make them aware of what tools they are not allowed to use, or only use under direct supervision, and keep these tools locked in tool stores or sheds when you are not using them.

Chemicals.
Many people garden with chemicals, which can be potentially hazardous to both children and to wildlife. Consider avoiding or minimising the use of chemicals whenever possible. This will open up all sorts of discussion and investigation into organic methods of crop protection and soil fertility! If there is a need for a minimum of chemicals, store them under lock and key and in their original containers.

Greenhouses.
It is still possible to buy new greenhouses fitted with non-safety glass (horticultural glass), and many existing greenhouses may be fitted with this, which if it gets broken can break into sharp shards of glass with the potential to cause cuts. Look to purchase a new greenhouse fitted with polycarbonate or acrylic glazing or toughened glass, or having the glazing in your existing greenhouse replaced with this if you are concerned. If you have young children consider where you locate your greenhouse in your garden, ideally it should be remote from where they would normally play.

Follow these simple steps and your garden will be a safe haven for everyone. Please look here for more information.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) took the metropolitan borough council to court after the employees suffered hand-arm vibration syndrome. One of the workers, Nick Bower, noticed problems after several years as a head green keeper at Hoylake Golf Course, where he often used strimmers and mowers.

“The 47-year-old was diagnosed with the syndrome in 2009, and suffers dexterity problems and intense pain in his hands during cold weather,” said the HSE. “He is on permanent medication to help with blood flow to his hands and nerve damage.”

Wirral Magistrates’ Court heard on 15 January that Bower was one of 29 employees at the council that developed the condition between 2005 and 2009. The condition leads to poor grip, numbness, tingling and acute sensitivity to cold.

Once the condition has developed, reducing or eliminating exposure to vibrating tools will prevent it from getting worse, but the damage is largely irreversible, said the HSE. Duties included grass, hedge and tree cutting, mostly with vibrating equipment. An HSE probe showed the council did not properly assess the risks staff faced using such kit or implement suitable control measures, such as limiting use of tools or providing alternatives.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £9,417 in costs after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005.

Mr Bower said after the hearing: “Before I was diagnosed I would often use vibrating machinery for long periods. When I began noticing symptoms and went to the doctor, he immediately asked what I did and made the connection. “I still have problems with loss of feeling and find it difficult to do everyday tasks such as fastening buttons. An attack can be triggered by everyday events such as a change of temperature or even taking food out of the freezer. “Although I no longer work with vibrating tools, I will have the condition for life – the nerve and blood vessel damage is irreversible.”

HSE investigating inspector Christina Goddard said: “Wirral Council failed to take action to prevent damage caused by vibrating tools, with the result that 29 workers now suffer from a debilitating condition. “The council should have limited the amount of time workers spent using vibrating equipment or provided alternative tools. If appropriate action had been taken then the workers’ condition could have been prevented.”

Wirral’s interim director of technical services Chris McCarthy said: “As an organisation, we are committed to ensuring the safety of our workforce. Lessons have been learned and communicated to further raise awareness of the risks associated with exposure to vibration in the workplace.”It is with regret that, within part of our operation, vibration exposure was not managed appropriately in the past. “We have fully co-operated with this HSE investigation to ensure a swift and appropriate resolution to this case and would like to thank all of our staff for their open and willing assistance during the investigation.”

Almost two million people in the UK work in conditions where they are at risk of developing hand-arm vibration syndrome. Information on preventing the condition is available at www.hse.gov.uk/vibration/hav

Hand arm vibration syndrome or ‘HAVS’ can be controlled by putting a health surveillance regime into position, by appropriate training and by carrying out risk assessments.  The Britrisk safety management system includes these types of controls.

If you are not controlling exposure to noise and vibration and need advice contact Jon Allbutt jon@britrisksafety.com or call him on 020 8325 0232

The APEA awards are divided into 7 categories namely, Health and Safety Performance, Environmental Protection and Improvement, Lifetime Achievement, Quality, Personal Contribution to the Industry in 2011/2012, Service Station of the year and Innovation. In order to take part the principal applicant has to be a member (individual or corporate) of the APEA.

Sponsored by Franklin Fueling Systems, the APEA Health and Safety performance Award reflects that the judges felt Britrisk Safety have the best managed health and safety or environmental program or system, demonstrating the greatest beneficial impact on the organisation, customers and the petroleum retailing industry.

The judging panel looked at criteria including supporting documentation, clear detailed descriptions of what the problems were and then the steps taken to address the problem and find the solution. In addition the applicants had to provide evidence that the solution had a beneficial impact and demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement.

Tom Searle, Managing Director of Britrisk Safety commented; “ We are delighted to have received this award as it reflects the dedication and commitment we have shown over many years to raise our standards and commitment to excellence for our clients in the petroleum retailing industry,”

Searle continues, “We constantly strive to create a safer working environment for all of our clients applying the concept of ‘business-intelligent health and safety’, but of course we understand that not only do fuel retailers operate in an ultra-competitive business environment, but also that fuel products are unseen, difficult to manage, closely regulated and potentially lethal. That’s an explosive mix. So we are delighted to have been recognised by the APEA in this way”

The recent storms have resulted in many public amenity sites, including parks and sports grounds being flooded, leaving heavy deposits of potentially contaminated silt, and worse!

As part of preparing for the inevitable cleanup operation it may be necessary to take particular care when handling these deposits. The floodwaters are likely to be contaminated with raw sewerage and possibly also decomposing dead animals. Unprotected persons (including the public) could be exposed to risks of infection by Legionella, Tetanus and other diseases.

We recommend an early inspection of the site, together with seeking advice from the local office of the Environment Agency. Early actions might include posting health warning notices and erecting barriers where appropriate.

Risk assessments under the COSHH Regulations (Biological hazards) could be needed that might require additional personal protection; it may also be necessary to seek expert advice (e.g. Your health and safety advisor, or the local Environmental Health Department) on the correct, and safe, removal and disposal of dead animals and other dangerous waste.

Storm Damage and Tree Safety:

The unusually early storms brought high winds that caused considerable damage to trees across the country. Despite the very high standards of tree care at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew a branch fell from a tree causing fatal injuries to a visitor. Following several similar tragedies, the Health and Safety Executive issued guidelines for enforcement officers (HSE SIM 01/2007/05 Tree Safety) giving guidance on an acceptable standard for the risk management of trees.

In the Introduction it states

“Each year between 5 and 6 people in the UK are killed when trees fall on them. Thus the risk of being struck and killed by a tree falling is extremely low. Around 3 people are killed each year by trees in public spaces; but as almost the entire population of the UK is exposed, the risk per person is about one in 20 million.”

Whilst it is undeniably true that risks of accidents involving trees are low, it must not be forgotten that HSE has set standards for landowners for the risk management of trees. If you have trees on your site you must ensure that this aspect is included in your safety management system and your emergency plan.

Download our bulletin here

Do I need a new pesticide certificate of competence?

If you are a user of pesticides, and/or a supervisor, and have up to date certificates of competence then you are not affected by the new regulations. Remember that you only have until November next year to become certificated otherwise you will be outside the law and in particular you will not be able to buy pesticide products. Remember that  ‘grandfather rights’ for operators, and supervisors, ends next November.

If you need someone to carry out your pesticide training—on the job—and help you arrange assessments you only have to ring our training team, or have a look at the training section on our website.

You can download our full September newsletter by clicking here

A unique aspect of the Britrisk Training service is our ability to prepare and deliver short courses to update the skills of employees who were initially trained some years ago and will now be suffering ‘skill fade’. Maintaining high levels of competence is vital for those who operate work equipment or are responsible for carrying out high risk complex tasks.

To underpin the quality of our service and to assist the employee gain a national qualification Jon joined the Greenkeepers Training Committee team of Quality Assured Training Providers so that the Britrisk training courses count as credits towards the Work Based Diploma.

We can build and deliver a training programme for you, show you how to maintain good records, prepare bespoke courses to meet particular needs you may have.

Our training team will also provide you with details of other courses and are ready to help you develop a training programme specifically to meet your needs.

This is potentially good news for employers but we must wait until these changes go through the consultative stages to become law and then to assess just what the impact will be. The team at Britrisk will be watching developments closely and will keep you informed via our newsletters and on our website.

An area of particular importance for amenity employers will be deciding whether they are operating in a ‘low risk environment’ and might be exempted from having a detailed safety management system including risk assessments. Without a competent person to assist with making these vital decisions, particularly where work equipment and chemical substances are involved, there is a risk of misinterpretation that could lead to some serious shortcomings in the employers duties

For the employer who has not yet reached an acceptable level of health and safety compliance, perhaps has lost momentum, or lost a key member of the management team, this is not good news at all. Without someone ‘looking over your shoulder’ and providing that all important nudge forward there is a very real risk of a prosecution in the event of an accident. This is particularly so where the lack of effective policies and procedures were relevant to the causes of the accident.

Britrisk Safety can provide you with a health, safety and environmental support service that is tailored to your budget and your needs, we are only a phone call away!

A weakness identified in the public amenity sector is that risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) fail to assess the risks to bystanders. The effective use of signs, barriers and clearly marked safety exclusion zones when working in public places are vital but even this may require additional staff ’on the ground’ in busy areas e.g. pavements, parks, car parks and busy public estates