The ‘Elf and Safety 12 days of Christmas

We are 4 days into the true 12 days of Christmas, and I thought I would share the 12 days of Christmas- according to Elf and Safety

On the First day of Christmas (Christmas Day) my true love sent to me a Partridge in a Pear Tree….. This for me is all about Work at Height; the biggest cause of fatalities in the workplace; key control here is plan what you are doing – be stable and secure. Use the correct equipment, maintain stability and think about falling objects!

On the Second day of Christmas my true love sent to me Two Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree. The 2 key pieces of documentation you need in place are a Safety Policy and a Risk Assessment – the Safety Policy details your commitment, outlines responsibilities and gives specifics on key Hazard Areas; this enables you to have sensible Risk Assessments that reduce the Risk so far as is reasonably practicable.

Both documents need to be communicated to all affected by them; it is not a case of having some shiny folders in an office; but some living documents, that positively add to an effective Safety Culture.

You are getting the gist now-On the Third day of Christmas my true love sent to me Three French Hens Two Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree. There are 3 Enforcement Bodies; the Health and Safety Executive, the Local Authority Environmental Health and the Fire Officer – each has broad ranging powers to protect us all, and to ensure compliance in businesses which we all use.

The best way of not having an Enforcement Officer visit is to comply! The HSE introduced the Fee for Intervention scheme is 2012; you pay if a material breach is found- avoid this but have a great Safety Management System in place

4th day- Four Calling Birds- there are 4 elements to a Manual Handling assessment; Task, Individual, Load and Environment – Manual handling injuries/ harm still causes huge numbers of days off work, especially as we have now become more sedentary at work! Key aspect of a Manual Handling Assessment is to reduce the risk of injury, are we all guilty of poor techniques?

Five Gold Rings- there are 5 steps to Risk Assessment – identify the hazards, decide who is going to be harmed, look and what controls you have in place and decide/ evaluate whether you need to do anything else, record & review; key thoughts- focus on those tasks which are likely to cause more harm, or more frequent harm. Use someone competent to do the assessments so that control measures are suitable and sufficient!

Six Geese-a-Laying- The HSE recommends looking at six key hazard areas when approaching Stress at Work; The Risk Assessment should look at Demands, Role, Responsibility, Control, Support, Relationships and Change Stress is the biggest cause of work related ill health and there are 11.3 million days lost each year – Christmas can be a particular stressful time for some so do be mindful of this when at work

Seven Swans-a-Swimming; there are 7 main ways equipment can harm you – Entanglement, Ejection, Contact, Impact, Crushing, Electrical fault and lack of Stability. Equipment needs to be fit for purpose, maintained and serviced and used by competent persons

Eight Maids-a-Milking- There is lots of free help on the HSE’s website – including the Approved Codes of Practice – each has a Number L8 relates to Legionella; a specialised Risk Assessment Think Hot & Cold Water systems, showers as well as massive cooling towers

Nine Ladies Dancing- there are 9 points on the Hierarchy of Control; Elimination, Substitution, Isolation or Enclosure, Ventilation (Local then General) Good Housekeeping, Limiting Exposure, Good Welfare & Personal Hygiene, Information & Training & lastly Personal Protective Equipment

Ten Lords-a-Leaping – 10 days is the timescale for have to report over 7 day Injuries to the HSE under RIDDOR – reporting is now online apart from fatalities, Slips and Trips account for 63% of injuries Slips and Trips- look at floor, usage, risk of contamination, footwear, lighting, changes in level

Eleven Pipers Piping- there is a HSE Briefing note No 11 on Human Factors on Organisational Change; not exciting you may think; but the fact is our & our staff’s behaviour has a huge impact on Health and Safety; you need the 3 elements of Premises, Policies & procedures plus PEOPLE to ensure a great Health and Safety Culture (How you do things)

Twelve Drummers Drumming- this finishes with review; if there has not been a significant change your Health and Safety Management System should be reviewed every year (12 Months) Taking the Noise lead here- 12 Decibels is a quadrupling in noise levels – and would need actioning – to reduce the risk to the lowest practicable level

I hope you have enjoyed this seasonal look at Health and Safety