04Oct 2021 by lucas

7 Reasons to Appoint a Health and Safety Representative at Work

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Appointing a Health and Safety Representative in your business as laid out in the 1977 Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations (Outlined in the Health and Safety at Work Act) is an important part of keeping a lot of aspects of Health and Safety in the workplace in check. Whether it’s incident investigations, or following up a fellow employee’s complaint, they have a key role to play. Here are seven reasons why Health and Safety Representatives are crucial for your business: 1.   Safety Inspections A Health and Safety Representative should carry out a safety inspection at least once every three months in order to ensure that all policies are being adhered to, all potential hazards are noted and dealt with appropriately, and that the safety of the staff is not…
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21Sep 2021 by lucas

The most common issues with paper checklists (and how to avoid them)

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Checking In      It’s safe to say we’ve all filled out our fair share of checklists; daily task lists, risk assessments, accident reports, or maybe extra toppings on a pizza order. But even with the promise of extra pepperoni, checklists can present a number of problems, especially in paper form. Here are our techniques for making checklists much more effective within the workplace. Checklist Check...lost      If you have ever spent time and energy filling out a paper daily task list only to have it "tidied away" and have to start from scratch, then you will understand how frustrating this can be. Not only does it take up valuable time, but you can also lose track of important information relevant to the list; whether it is a daily task, or…
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31Aug 2021 by lucas

5 tips on managing Accident and Incident Reports in 2021

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     Nowadays it seems like there is a form for everything; from signing up for a newsletter, all the way down to what kind of sprinkles you’d like on your ice cream. So, when it comes to filling out an accident report form, it can seem a little daunting. But don’t worry! We’ve got a few simple ideas to help make things easier, so let’s get straight into it. Who should fill out the report?      It’s important to have the right person fill out the incident report form; it wouldn’t be any use for Joe from I.T to fill it out while he’s working from home! If anyone witnessed the incident, and can give a good, accurate account of what happened, then they should be the one to jot…
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19Jul 2021 by Christopher John Grice

Working in the Heatwave.

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HSE guidance suggests a minimum of 16ºC or 13ºC if employees are doing physical work, although believe it or not there is no guidance for a maximum temperature limit, That said though the Health and Safety at Work regulations says that employers must: • keep the temperature at a comfortable level• provide clean and fresh air So without further ado here are our tips for keeping your employees cool (and happy) in the workplace: Relaxed Dress Code There is nothing worse than sitting in a 3 piece suit in the blazing sun, especially as most formalwear here in the UK is made of wool blends. Where appropriate you may want to relax the company dress code and allow workers to adorn more casual loose fitting clothes, obviously make Sure that…
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07Jul 2021 by Christopher John Grice

So, I’m the Health and Safety Lead… Now what?

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Whatever you decide to do either outsourcing or keeping your health and safety in house you have a legal duty to ensure that you have competent Health and Safety support. As an employer you must ensure that people are safe which include staff, contractors and the general public during the employers business activities, and that all employees have a proportionate level of health and safety understanding. Organisations have a legal duty to provide competent health and safety support The ever-changing legislation is wide-ranging and industry-specific. Your health and safety ‘competent person’ has a challenging role, so there are many benefits of outsourcing the support. Are you aware of the challenges of managing health and safety in-house 1. Making sense and keeping up with the ever evolving HSE legislation and regulations…
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01Jun 2021 by Martin Griffiths No Comments

Introduction to Fire Audits

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In this blog we look at Fire Audits and how they fit into your sites Health and Safety obligations, what the stages are and how software can take the pain out of the process.We all should know that best practise would recommend that fire risk assessments should be completed annually it is the responsible persons responsibility to complete or to instruct a competently qualified person to complete the fire risk assessment at least once per year or when there has been a significant change in the environment as mentioned in Article 9, (3) of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. But what about a Fire safety audit is it the same as a fire risk assessment? the answer is no a fire risk assessment looks at 5 areas Stage 1: Identify Fire Hazards.Identify…
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10May 2021 by Martin Griffiths No Comments

Why is Legionnaires’ Disease a risk when I re-open my business?

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Why is Legionnaires' Disease a risk when I re-open my business? Legionella bacteria in ideal conditions will grow, if you put legionella on an agar plate and incubate it for 7 – 10 days with a temperature range of between 20˚C and 50˚C, a colony will form of millions of bacteria that you will be able to see. What is Legionnaires' disease? Legionnaires' disease is a type of pneumonia caused by bacteria. How do You usually get it? By breathing in mist from water that contains the bacteria. Where will I find it? Legionella are relatively resistant to standard water disinfection procedures and, can occur in portable water (safe to drink; drinkable). Legionella bacteria have been found in water distribution systems of: Hospitals, Hotels, Clubs, Public buildings, Homes, Factories. The Health & Safety Executive's HSG274 Legionnaires' Disease: states that storage tanks, water heaters, pipework…
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26Apr 2021 by Martin Griffiths No Comments

Fire Safety in the Health and Social Care Sector 

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Fire safety is important in all sectors, but especially so in the Health and Social Care Sector where you may have a number of individuals with mobility issues who are unable to vacate the premises by themselves. Prevention is without doubt the best course of action, however unfortunately fires do sometimes occur no matter what precautions have been taken. Should the worst happen, here are a number of small steps which can be taken regularly, to help minimise the impact of any fires which do start on the premises.     The first and most important step to take is to ensure your premises have an ‘appropriate fire risk assessment’. A fire risk assessment is a legal requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and will allow you to decide which steps to take next and the appropriate detection system needed.    …
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10Apr 2021 by Martin Griffiths No Comments

Covid-19 Re-opening help and support

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Are you Thinking about re-opening the workplace This guidance will assist employers, businesses, and their staff in re-opening safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) and as the lockdown is softened. Acton Health and Safety understand that employers and businesses may have concerns about how they can re-open for business safely and play their part in preventing the spread of the virus. All employees should be encouraged to work from home unless it is impossible for them to do so. Not everyone can work from home: certain jobs require people to travel to, from and for their work – for instance to operate machinery, work in construction or manufacturing, or to deliver front line services. We at Acton Health and Safety want to help you re-open your business with the most practical help…
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12Mar 2021 by Martin Griffiths No Comments

Self-assessment for Health and Safety in small businesses

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Do you shudder when you hear the phrase Health and Safety? For many the very idea immediately brings with it feelings of anxiety and fear. Not only does the responsibility weigh heavy on the mind of most business owners, but the seeming minefield of dos and don’ts often feels much too difficult to traverse. However, it really does not need to be such a heavy burden. It can be broken down into small manageable chunks which are easy to navigate, with the end result being a clear, conscience plan and peace of mind that you have done all you can to ensure the safety of your employees. Did you know that in 2017/18, 1.4 million working people in Great Britain suffered from a work related illness and 147 workers were…
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