With a view to counteracting the daft decisions being blamed on Health and Safety, the HSE has decided to publish a myth of the month webpage, backed up with a myth busters challenge panel. The panel allows you to check if Health & Safety does apply to situations, or it is being used to stop sensible activities going ahead. An example of a case they investigated was where an employer wanted all employees to wear high viz tabards even when their job was regarded as low risk. The panel quickly ruled that this was outside the remit of health and safety as their job was deemed to be low risk.
Just to reassure you all about some classic ones that most of you may have come across and think it is Health & safety gone mad – children do not need to wear googles when they are playing conkers and can still pin the tail on the donkey. Please follow the link to read more of the top 10 myth busters.
Mosaic Management Systems provides health and safety site management software that offers you an online and flexible solution to on boarding, competency management, access control, asset management, stock control, fatigue management and toolbox talks.
According to HSE (RR584) construction employers should have policies which relate not only to safety but also occupational health strategy and its provision on site. Minimum standards are advised for health monitoring / surveillance for Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), Noise Induced Hearing Loss, dermatitis, Respiratory disease (sensitisers, Silicosis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), Musculoskeletal problems and Stress. They also advise minimum standards for Safety Critical Work also.
Mosaic provides a simple solution that allows secure and safe storage of confidential medical records against worker records. Operate with the peace of mind knowing that this confidential information is ring fenced and password protected allowing only designated members of the user community access. This user friendly solution allows renewal dates in line with fit for work medical records and health surveillance tests to be highlighted.
When specific medical records are approaching renewal time, Mosaic automatically electronically alerts the relevant party, albeit the contractor or subcontractor, to action a renewal with their employee. This saves considerable amount of time chasing and cuts down on paperwork as well.
The Rio Games have big shoes to fill following the London Olympics, which was statistically the safest Games ever, with a reported injury rate of 0.17 per 100,000 man-hours – far below the 0.55 building industry average in the UK. London 2012, for the first time in Olympic history, saw all projects completed without a fatality.
By contrast, 11 workers died during construction of Rio Olympic facilities or Games-related projects between January 2013 and March 2016, a report by Rio de Janeiro’s Regional Labor and Employment Office shows. The causes of death vary from electric shock to falling scaffolding. There were also cases of workers being buried and vehicles overturning.
While Rio will be a success, even though it has been plagued with bad news up until the opening ceremony, we must credit London by setting the bar high in terms of its green and health & safety credentials.
Mosaic Management Systems provides health and safety site management software that offers you an online and flexible solution to on boarding, competency management, access control, asset management, stock control, fatigue management and toolbox talks.
Rapid Electronics: Security is paramount on construction sites. It is vitally important for site managers to control who gains entry and exit, as well as obtain accurate data on timekeeping and attendance, without slowing down productivity. This is where the work of construction software specialist Biosite comes in.
From fingerprint site access, fire safety and workforce management solutions, to CCTV and manned security services – Biosite’s technology streamlines day-to-day operations, reduces cost and mitigates risk. Rapid has been helping Biosite deliver integrated technology solutions to the construction industry since 2011.
Click here to read the full article published on Rapid Electronics website.
I think it is fair to say that no one can accurately predict with any great precision what the impact of Brexit will be on the UK just yet, even though we are starting to slowly see data emerge that may give us an indication for the short term. An interesting article byEuan McLeod and Kirsteen Milne working for Shepherd & Wedderburn LLP attempts to unravel what the impact of this monumental decision will have on the construction industry, a crucial sector within the UK economy.
From a legislative perspective they feel that Brexit is unlikely to cause any immediate change, although in the future it may give the UK more flexibility in relation to its environmental and health and safety legislation in particular. The extent of any changes will be dependent on the nature of the new relationship with Europe and/or membership of the EEA/EFTA, and it remains to be seen how this will impact on workers within the construction industry.
Mosaic Management Systems provides health and safety site management software that offers you an online and flexible solution to on boarding, competency management, access control, asset management, stock control, fatigue management and toolbox talks.
In a recent article in SHP online Clinton Horn, a Health & Safety Manager at BAM Nuttall Ltd, provides a really insightful look into why a lot of organisations’ fatigue management policies do not go far enough to manage the underlying causes.
He scrutinises the available academic literature and interrogates a useful model to gauge fatigue issued entitled the Fatigue-risk trajectory model. Early in his article he concludes that fatigue management in the workplace often proves challenging for employers and, therefore, often results in “aspirational” fatigue management policies, at best, when compared against the evidence-based literature.
We welcome this kind of article that analyses the subject matter in depth and brings Fatigue Management in the construction industry to the attention of a wider audience. Mosaic has a Fatigue Management module which can bolt onto its system. When used in conjunction with access control systems, it will enter start and finish times. Using the available data, the system will instantly alert the management team by identifying any employees who are at risk of fatigue or have already breached certain controls, such as double shifting.
US Worker using a still saw with no PPE gloves, googles and dust mask
Construction contractors who take safety seriously and invest more in worker safety really do achieve better profitability than contractors who spend less on safety, according to the results of a recent US survey.
More than 250 contractors participated in the survey, which was conducted by Dodge Data & Analytics (in partnership with the Center for Construction Research and Training and United Rentals).
The study measured contractors on 33 leading indicators to determine their place on the spectrum of safety culture. Thirty-two percent of contractors scored on the high end of the spectrum, 35 percent scored in the moderate level and 33 percent scored on the low end.
The key finding were that contractors who scored higher on the safety culture spectrum reported greater business benefits from their safety investments than contractors who scored on the lower end of the spectrum.
Increased project return on investment: 75 percent (upper end) versus 38 percent (lower end)
Greater ability to attract new staff: 67 percent (upper end) versus 27 percent (lower end)
In addition the researchers compared these results to those of a similar survey conducted in 2012 and found that more contractors are recognising the role of workers in increasing project safety. Jobsite worker involvement scored as the most widely recognised aspect of a world-class safety program: 85 percent, an increase of 19 percentage points from the 2012 survey. Involve your workers in the process of safety on site and they will deliver.
Mosaic Management Systems provides health and safety site management software that offers you an online and flexible solution to on boarding, competency management, access control, asset management, stock control, fatigue management and toolbox talks.
According to an article in SHP by Nigel Crunden there has been a considerable increase in major construction projects within the emerging powerhouse economies of the world such as India and China and it is predicted that this will be where global growth emanates from to bring about recovery to the world economy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that 70 per cent of global growth will come from emerging markets over the next decade, with construction playing a considerable part in driving this forward. However, this increase has also highlighted a lack of standardised health and safety policies to protect workers, particularly in the construction sector.
While implementing a global set of health and safety policies are clearly unrealistic, there is some potential in reaching a consensus around key aspects of health and safety in construction, such as PPE (Personal Protection Equipment). Throughout many emerging markets, although health and safety policies include guidelines on PPE, sometimes these are not strongly enforced.
Regardless of the health and safety policy of specific nations, it is vital for individual companies and contractors operating on the ground to drive best practice forward when it comes to site safety. In 2013 alone, India experienced over 11,000 falls from height, many of which could have been prevented through enforcing the constant use of structural protection and, in some cases, PPE. Falling objects are a key hazard on any construction site and as well as ensuring protective headwear is worn, it is important to guard the feet through advocating the wearing of robust footwear with steel toecaps.
Visibility is crucial within any environment where ongoing construction is taking place, simply due to the high amount of personnel performing different tasks. Hi-vis clothing protects against the risks of not being seen by, for example, an oncoming vehicle. Drivers need to see hazards from further away in order for them to have enough time to react.
Introducing measures around the wearing of PPE certainly isn’t the be all and end all when it comes to completely standardising a formal, global approach to safety. However, it does help address basic health and safety requirements, which, if followed consistently throughout nations that don’t have stipulations within the law, should help in protecting workers to a greater extent than they are at present.
Mosaic Management Systems provide industry safety critical online software to aid on boarding of a workforce, competency checking and record briefings and toolbox talks. We also provide an asset tagging module that could ensure that when PPE is distributed to the workforce it is tracked. This coupled with our toolbox talk module means that the issuing and briefings around any PPE equipment can be recorded against individual records for management scrutiny.
Serious concerns have been raised over the health standards of construction workers after a series of independent inspections of construction sites found that dust masks were not being used correctly. The findings of the 10,000 visits made to sites throughout the country by the Building Safety Group (BSG – not for profit building consultancy) earlier in the year found that a significant number of workers had not fitted their masks correctly.
The BSG said that most of the breaches uncovered related to the way firms use “face fit” dust masks, which the group said was particularly concerning as these masks cut down on the risk of workers inhaling dangerous chemicals from the dust they are working with.
The substances can lead to fatal diseases such as silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and lung cancer.
Overall, the inspections carried out by the BSG discovered that occupational health non-compliance concerns went up by 28% between the first and second quarters of 2016. Furthermore, there was a 43% increase in violations concerning the control of substances hazardous to health and a 13% rise in dust fume infringements.
The findings of the research has led Paul Kimpton, BSG Managing Director, to call for construction companies to review their health and safety protocol on a regular basis to make sure that they comply with the latest legislation.
Kimpton commented: “Everyone involved in construction has a responsibility in managing risks to health, and all parties must take ownership of their part of the process. Construction dust is not just a nuisance. It can seriously damage your health and cause life-changing lung diseases.”
The findings come at a time when the construction industry is taking big steps as a whole to cut down on the risks to health and safety.
Mosaic Management Systems provide industry safety critical online software to aid on boarding of a workforce, competency checking and to record briefings and toolbox talks. By communicating health and safety expectations effectively about site procedures and standards from the outset and thereafter followed up by briefings and toolbox talks will improve site management considerably. To contact us and find out more about the services we offer please click the link.
The construction industry accident fatality rate stands at twice that of other sectors. Construction sites are therefore callenging places from a health and safety perspective – almost every conceivable hazard exists within this constantly changing working environment.
However the hazards associated with construction sites are well known and luckily most responsible employers are aware of their duty of care to employees, visitors, and those that may be affected by their activities, and will manage the site effectively, implementing appropriate accident prevention measures.
Listed below are just a few of the main hazards that are encountered on a typical construction site:
1. Working at Height
The construction of buildings invariably requires tradesmen to work at height. Fatalities and injuries involving height relating factors account for many accidents each year. The risks associated with working at a height are often increased by additional access and mobility restrictions.
2. Moving Objects
A construction site is always on the move; hazards are inherent to this industry and only increase as a construction project progress. Construction sites are busy places what with the shear volume of constantly moving vehicles and trades people – overhead lifting equipment shifting heavy loads, supply vehicles, dumper trucks everywhere, manoeuvring around a usually uneven terrain. Site layout is crucial to ensure a smooth flow or goods, materials and the workforce around it to ensure all remain safe. Correct access controls that accurately record entry and exit along with a comprehensive induction go a long way to maintaining safety on site.
4. Slips, Trips, & Falls
When you consider all the activities going on around the site at any one time it is unsurprising that slips, trips, and falls happen frequently. Construction sites are place of holes in the ground, buildings at various stages of completion, scaffolding, stored materials and equipment: you really do need to have your wits about you at all times. Proper training in the form of briefings and tool box talks can be carried out by site managers to ensure workers are made aware of these dangers in general and that can be unique to each site. These should be recorded in a useable format to ensure everyone has been briefed and the message has been tailored to different workers as well.
5. Noise
Noise is a major hazard on site. Excessive noise causes over a period can cause long term hearing problems and can be a dangerous distraction, the cause of accidents. Employers are required to carry out and document a comprehensive noise risk assessment – and issue appropriate PPE (Protective Protection Equipment).
6. Material & Manual Handling
Materials and equipment is being constantly lifted and moved around on a construction site, whether manually or by the use of lifting equipment. Different trades will involve greater demands, but all may involve some degree of risk. Where employee’s duties involve manual handling, then adequate training must be carried out. Where lifting equipment is used, then adequate training must also be carried out, but may involve some form of test, to confirm competency. Records of training must be maintained for verification and kept up to date.
Construction sites cause a lot of dust, some of which can be toxic mix of hazardous materials and fibres that can damage the lungs. Often the dust is invisible and fine. Just issuing PPE is not enough…employers have a duty to ensure protective equipment is actually used. Failure to do so could render an employee to disciplinary action and in hot water with the health and safety executive. All this activity needs to be logged in a central location for future reference.
8. Electricity
On average, three construction industry workers are electrocuted each year during refurbishment work on commercial and domestic buildings. People working near overhead power lines and cables are also at risk. There are also a growing number of electrocutions involving workers who are not qualified electricians but who are carrying electrical work, such as plumbers and joiners and decorators. Competencies need to be checked prior to contractors coming on site and off limit areas need to be highlighted as part of the induction process.
Mosaic Software – Making Site Management Easier
Behind every construction project there is a need to successfully induct workers, monitor site access and check competencies. Mosaic does all of this and more via an online Network Passport and Smart Card system. With this system one card really does open up a world of innovative site management possibilities.
Rapid Electronics: Security is paramount on construction sites. It is vitally important for site managers to control who gains entry and exit, as well as obtain accurate data on timekeeping and attendance, without slowing down productivity. This is where the work of construction software specialist Biosite comes in.
