Risk in your business

Here we will be looking at the physical risks that need to be accounted for within any business planning, but hopefully will cover the general areas necessary to give you an idea of what to look out for.

Before we move on let’s be clear what we are talking about.

       

What is Risk?                                           

“Risk is the likelihood of a body or event to cause harm.”

This should not be  confused with Hazard.         

What is Hazard?            

“Hazard is the ability of a body or event to cause harm.”

From this we can see that in order to reduce the risks to our businesses we need to remove, reduce or protect against the hazards we come across. The way we do this is by carrying out a Risk Assessment

There are five steps to carrying out any risk assessment.

Step 1: Identify and record the hazards that are present, these fall broadly into five categories

Physical: such as pressure, heat, damp, noise, radiation and electricity

Chemical: such as dusts, fumes, chemicals, toxic materials and gases

Biological: such as infections, viruses and contagions

Ergonomic: work conditions, stress, RSI and man-machine interaction

The fifth one we'll come back to as it’s covered under specific legislation

Step 2: Identify the people that may be affected by the hazard

Paying particular attention to those groups that may be especially vulnerable such as the elderly, blind, young and disabled.

At this point it is possible to rank the severity of the risk, giving it a more tangible identity

Step 3: Remove, reduce the severity or Protect against, the Hazard.

The preference here is always to remove the hazard completely (rearrange items to avoid trips and impacts), if this cannot be done then reduce the severity of the hazard (use low voltage equipment or less aggressive chemicals) and as a last resort protect against the hazard (provide warnings or personal protective equipment).

Once again assuming that all the measures have been put into place, it will be possible to rank the severity of the residual risks. You can then establish whether the remaining risks are acceptable or if they need further action.

Step 4: Record, Plan, Inform and Train            

Record the significant findings from steps 1 to 3 and what actions have or need to be taken as a result.

Prepare any plans or procedures that may be required in order to facilitate the actions

Inform and instruct all relevant people, co-operate with all concerned.

Provide any necessary training that may be required as a result of the assessment.

Step 5: Review

Having carried out the assessments they must be kept relevant, which means that they should be reviewed on a regular basis or when conditions change (such as work practices, new technology, legislation or results of monitoring)

Remember any revisions to the assessments must be communicated to those that need to know the results of those revisions.

  

Why have we gone to the trouble of doing these risk assessments and putting whatever precautions in place, is it because of our genuine concern for our fellow workers safety, is it because it makes financial sense to do it or is it our legal duty?

The answer is all of the above!

a.     From a humanitarian and moral point of view, we do not want to cause or allow to be caused, harm to anybody

b.    Research shows that investing in risk reduction leads to better company performance.

c.     A good working environment is good business.

d.    Staff feel that they are valued.

e.    Your customers see a company that does it right and cares.

f.      You avoid costs associated with disruption, sickness, investigation, down time, compensation claims, increased insurance premiums and loss of goodwill

g.    And for those companies that cannot see the benefit, there are legal requirements, with quite hefty penalties for non compliance

Remember under step 1 of the risk assessment I said there was a fifth hazard, which was covered under its own legislation, this is Fire!

Potentially this one can be the most destructive, obviously to your staff, the public and visitors, but also to a business.

If your stock and premises are all destroyed, how are you going to trade?

This is why in March 2006 the “Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005” came into force, making it the responsibility of all owners or occupiers of commercial properties, to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment of those premises and put into action any necessary precautions and planning.

For the purpose of the legislation “Commercial” means anything non-domestic, so that includes churches, schools, libraries etc. In fact only military and some government buildings are exempt.

When we carry out our Fire Risk Assessment it’s worth remembering how fire works, for this we use the fire triangle.

 Fire needs 3 elements to exist firstly Fuel (flammable gases, flammable liquids or flammable solids. Secondly Oxygen (The air around us, oxidizing agents and stored oxygen) and finally Ignition (Naked flame, faulty electrical appliances, hot processes and hot machinery)… Remove any one of these and the fire goes out.

We have seen that there are many types of hazards and therefore risks, surrounding our businesses, it is essential then that we Eliminate these risks, if we cannot do this, then we should Reduce the effect of them, and finally Protect against any residual risk.

Remember none of this will work if we do not communicate your findings and plans to those who may be affected.

This way our businesses should be safe environments in which to work, be protected from the disruption and costs that incidents can bring and demonstrate to others that we are responsible and considerate business people.

All of this has to be a cost effective  benefit to all of our businesses, a benefit which you can take to the bank!

If you would like more information, then please contact us at info@anchorhands.co.uk

Why test my electrical equipment?

This is a question that we get asked a lot of times and there are several parts to the answer, so let’s look at this stage by stage.

Firstly there’s the humanitarian issue, do we want to put our staff, ourselves or the public in danger? Off course we don’t, but that’s exactly what we are doing if we do not maintain all equipment in a safe manner. According to some HSE statistics 1% of all industrial accidents are as a result of electrocution from faulty or badly maintained electrical equipment, however this 1% of accidents represents 6% of total fatalities.

Secondly there’s a business continuity issue, whilst all equipment will be out of service for a very short moment (during testing) this is minute compared to the same piece of kit electrocuting someone. At this point your production will be stopped whilst HSE and police investigate the circumstances, your man power will have been reduced (the member of staff being off sick or even killed) the piece of kit will probably need to be repaired or replaced, all this is costing the company time.

Thirdly we have an intellectual issue, having had an incident it’s almost certain that you will have a negative effect on morale within your work force, as they will feel that they are not valued enough to look after. In addition to this your professional image to your existing and potential customers will also be affected, how many of them want to be associated with a company that is careless or just doesn’t care?

Next we have the cost to the company, yes there is a cost involved in having the equipment tested and with this you get what you pay for. To test an electrical appliance properly in accordance with IET code of practice, 4th edition takes between 4 and 6 minutes (so if anyone tells you he can test more 120 in a day, then beware) If you take the cost of the testing and put it against the items we have already covered then the alternative costs involved would be; court costs in being sued for negligence or even prosecuted for corporate manslaughter, loss of production, sick pay, reduced production from remaining staff, replacement or repair of the piece of kit, HSE costs, loss of revenue and you will still need to pay for your appliances to be tested.

If by now you’re getting really depressed about this, then buckle up because there’s more. According to fire brigade statistics 26% of fires, on commercial premises, are caused by faulty electrical equipment, this means there is a potential for one in four businesses to be the victim of fire as a result. The consequences of a fire on your premises are potentially far more serious than previously explained; more injuries, more fatalities, greater loss of continuity, removal from the market place (whether this is temporary or permanent), greater costs or even total loss of your business.

“This may all be inconvenient, but our insurance will pay to get us back on our feet” check your small print, because you may find that by not carrying out your best endeavors to prevent these incidents, that you have invalidated your insurance, there may also be a clause that states you must comply with all of your legal duties.

Which brings us to the last point, “why do I need to test my electrical equipment” because it’s your legal duty, under various health and safety legislation, it is your responsibility to maintain all equipment in a safe manner and the best way to do this is employ a regime of regular inspections and testing.

We hope that we have been able to answer the question and demonstrate that having your appliances tested is not a cost, but an investment in your company’s future prosperity. Should you have further questions about this subject or any other health and safety issues, then please do not hesitate to contact us at info@anchorhands.co.uk

Get your Health & Safety in order

As a new calendar year approaches, it's time to get your Health & Safety in order. All businesses, companies and organisations will benefit from having a simple yet robust system in place to assess, control and monitor their health and safety issues. If you employ 5 or more people (employ does not necessarily mean pay, volunteers count as employed) then you are legally bound to produce a written health and safety policy, with the necessary procedures in place to make it happen, that said there is no reason why you shouldn't have the same even if you employ less than 5 people.

If you own or operate premises then you must carry out a fire risk assessment of those premises, again if you employ 5 or more people then this assessment must be formally written. A fire risk assessment will drive out any necessary actions to make the premises in which you work, safe from fire. This will include housekeeping, training and maintenance items such as servicing of extinguishers and testing of electrical appliances.

In both cases above, it is essential that once produced these documents are reviewed whenever there are any changes, which affect either the building or your work practices, or at least annually.

It may be that you already have procedures in place that might benefit from being given a review by a third party, or you might like to have an independent eye check that your systems are being operated correctly, either way now is the time to make sure that your health and safety is given the attention it needs to ensure that everyone you are responsible for, is kept safe.

For more information or advice please contact us via www.anchorhands.co.uk

Fire Safety Is Your Business

Some years after changes to fire safety law, The Fire Brigade is warning that many businesses still don’t have enough understanding of how the law affects their business or premises, and could be risking financial ruin or even prosecution.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order came into affect in October 2006 and replaced over 70 separate pieces of fire safety legislation. The Order applies to virtually all buildings, places and structures (the main exception being private homes) so includes premises like shops, restaurants, offices, nightclubs, care homes, sports venues and also communal areas, parts of blocks and houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) used in common by the occupants of more than one flat or bedsit.

The law places the responsibility for fire safety in the hands of employers and other people who have control of premises such as landlords, owners and other people with control of premises, so having an understanding of fire safety and the role you have to play is at the heart of good business management. This understanding is particularly important for small and medium size businesses and landlords who might not consider fire safety to be a top priority. Research from Touche Ross and London Chamber of Commerce estimates that up to 80 per cent of businesses fail within 12 months of suffering a major catastrophe, such as a fire.

The biggest change under the legislation is that fire risk assessment and a duty of fire safety care was introduced for most premises and replaced fire certificates for those premises that previously required them (factories, offices, shops, railway premises, hotels and larger boarding houses). If you are an employer or have control over a premises (known as the ‘responsible person’) then you are required by law to carry out a fire risk assessment and act on its findings.

The document should assess the fire risks to the property and people that work, live in or visit the premises. The risk assessment should also identify actions which need to be taken in order to protect the building from fire. It must be kept under consent review and amended if any changes are made to the premises.

The Fire Brigade carries out many fire inspections of premises each year and although the majority of buildings are managed well in regard to fire, there are still too many buildings that do not have an adequate fire risk assessment and as a result have fire exits blocked, inadequate fire alarms or poor training for staff. The Brigade can and does prosecute companies or individuals if there are breeches to fire legislation and though court action is a last resort, recent cases show that the courts will issue fines or even consider prison sentences for serious cases.

Who is responsible for fire safety?

Who is responsible for fire safety?

Generally, the employer (Responsible Person) is responsible for the fire safety of all who are lawfully on the premises (Relevant Persons). These include employees, visitors, contractors, members of the public and any person in the immediate vicinity, such as people walking past. Operational fire fighters at incidents are not included.

Responsibility for managing duties on behalf of the Responsible Person (RP) at the head of an organisation may be shared, for example, between branch or area manager, depending on the extent of control each has i.e. they must have the appropriate authority, skills and training to manage these duties. 

Is it permissible for others to carry out duties on behalf of the Responsible Persons?

Yes, the RP may nominate Competent Persons (CP). For instance, an RP may nominate others to act as fire marshals or wardens with a duty for assisting with evacuation; or an engineer might be given the task of testing fire alarms.

The RP must ensure CPs have the ability to carry out their tasks i.e. they must be properly competent, trained and equipped, or external experts may be brought in to fill any shortfall. 

Please bear in mind that delegating duties falling within the RP’s remit does not absolve a person from responsibility. It is down to the RP to put sufficient checks in place to ensure delegated duties are carried out correctly.

Do employees have responsibility?

Yes, employees must take reasonable care for the safety of themselves and others who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work e.g. wedging open a fire door. It is the RP’s responsibility to ensure employees receive training.

Who is responsible for fire safety in multi-occupied premises?

This may be shared by several people. In a multi-occupied office, the landlord/owner and tenants may be responsible for common areas with each occupier responsible for the areas they control. 

The fire alarm may be the sole responsibility of the landlord/owner if it is common to the entire premises. A tenancy agreement should identify who is responsible for each area of fire safety.

Occupiers have a duty to take reasonable steps to co-operate and co-ordinate with each other.

Who is responsible for fire safety when there is no employer?

The person in control of the premises is responsible. This could be the person or organisation paying the rent or owning the building. e.g. a charity trustee in the case of a charity shop or a parish council in case of a village hall.

Who is responsible for fire safety in an unoccupied building?

This is normally the owner of the building

For more information or help in carrying out a Fire Risk Assessment see our website www.anchorhands.co.uk

Fee For Intervention is Here

This month saw a new system for health and safety inspections come into force in the UK, which will result in companies being billed for some regulatory activity.

Under the cost recovery scheme, unveiled by the Government earlier this year, businesses failing to comply with legislation could now face heavy costs.

The Fees for Intervention (FFI) initiative is being operated by national regulator the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which will see charges introduced in a range of areas, including the production of letters and reports, evidence gathering and site visits.

They will be targeted at those organizations that break the rules and will be linked to related costs of taking enforcement action, with an hourly FFI rate of £124 set for 2012-13.

Firms that fully comply with all UK health and safety legislation will continue to incur no charges and the HSE will examine how the system is working after 12 months of operation, reporting the results of its review within three months of the scheme taking effect.

The FFI charges will be in addition to any fines and legal costs faced by businesses charged with failing to meet their health and safety obligations.

If you need help with getting your health and safety system right, then contact us via www.anchorhands.co.uk

New date for health and safety cost recovery scheme

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced that its cost recovery scheme, Fee for Intervention (FFI), is going ahead but will now not start in April 2012.

The scheme sets out to recover costs from those who break health and safety laws for the time and effort HSE spends on helping to put matters right - investigating and taking enforcement action.

Law-abiding businesses will be free from costs and will not pay a penny.

Gordon MacDonald, HSE's programme director, said:

"The Government has agreed that it is right that those who break the law should pay their fair share of the costs to put things right - and not the public purse.

"The Government intends to proceed with the FFI scheme as recommended to ministers by HSE's Board in December in response to the formal consultation that took place last Summer.

"Discussions are still taking place on the technical details of the scheme, which we expect to conclude soon.

"Therefore, FFI will not be introduced in April but at the next available opportunity, which is likely to be October 2012."

How often do I need to test my electrical appliances?

This is an interesting question as the perception is that everything should be tested every year, if only this was the case, it would make life a lot easier for those doing the tests. The fact is that there are no hard and fast rules as to when or how often items should be tested.

Let’ s look at the whole picture first, portable electrical appliances need to be inspected and tested on a regular basis, inspection frequency need not be the same as the testing frequency, in fact they should be inspected by the operator every time they are used (is the plug damaged? are there any breaks in the cable? is there any damage to the appliance casing?) In other words a common sense approach to using any electrical item. This said not every fault will be spotted by a simple inspection, therefore it is essential that a regime of thorough inspections and testing be set up.

Now we go back to the original question, how often? Although there is no hard and fast rule, there is a code of practice produced by the IEE which provides guidance for qualified testers to use, to answer this question, however the final frequency will depend upon many factors, which an experienced tester will take into account and come up with a sensible schedule.

There are three main considerations when deciding how often to test an electrical appliance:

1.    Type of premises: The conditions or type of premises will have a major effect on the frequency of testing, imagine using something as simple as an extension lead, these can be found in every environment, however we would not expect one in an office to be subject to damage as much as one in a fabrication workshop. In general we would categorise the premises into 6 sections; Construction, Industrial, Public, Schools, Hotels and Shops & Offices.

2.    Type of Equipment: The appliance itself will also dictate the frequency in which it is to be tested, some equipment is more susceptible to damage than others, for example an electric drill is more at risk than say a refrigerator, in general terms the more portable an appliance is, the more it is likely to get damaged. Appliances are generally split into 5 categories; Stationary, IT, Moveable, Portable and Hand-held.

3.    Equipment Construction: When we say construction, we mean how well the live electrical parts are separated from being able to be touched, in other words how well they are insulated. An appliance which is well insulated will need a less frequent inspection regime than one that only has basic insulation. There are four classes of insulation, class 0 which has only basic insulation and no earth, class 1 which has basic insulation and a facility to connect to earth, class 2 which has enhanced double insulation but with no earth and finally class 3 or separated extra low voltage , which uses low voltage power fed from a double insulated transformer and no earth.

As can be seen here, there are many permutations to be taken into consideration when deciding how often to test an electrical appliance, which is why a qualified PAT tester will have been trained not only how to check the equipment, but also how to manage the testing regime. So going back to the original question “how often do I need to test my electrical appliances” there are 120 possible answers for each and every appliance, so please let the experts sort it out for you.

We hope that we have been able to answer the question and demonstrate that having your appliances tested at the correct intervals is not a cost, but an investment in your company’s future prosperity. Should you have further questions about this subject or any other health and safety issues, then please do not hesitate to contact us via www.anchorhands.co.uk

Why do I need to test my electrical equipment?

This is a question that we get asked a lot of times and there are several parts to the answer, so let’s look at this stage by stage.

Firstly there’s the humanitarian issue, do we want to put our staff, ourselves or the public in danger? Off course we don’t, but that’s exactly what we are doing if we do not maintain all equipment in a safe manner. According to some HSE statistics 1% of all industrial accidents are as a result of electrocution from faulty or badly maintained electrical equipment, however this 1% of accidents represents 6% of total fatalities.

Secondly there’s a business continuity issue, whilst all equipment will be out of service for a very short moment (during testing) this is minute compared to the same piece of kit electrocuting someone. At this point your production will be stopped whilst HSE and police investigate the circumstances, your man power will have been reduced (the member of staff being off sick or even killed) the piece of kit will probably need to be repaired or replaced, all this is costing the company time.

Thirdly we have an intellectual issue, having had an incident it’s almost certain that you will have a negative effect on morale within your work force, as they will feel that they are not valued enough to look after. In addition to this your professional image to your existing and potential customers will also be affected, how many of them want to be associated with a company that is careless or just doesn’t care?

Next we have the cost to the company, yes there is a cost involved in having the equipment tested and with this you get what you pay for. To test an electrical appliance properly in accordance with IEE code of practice takes between 4 and 6 minutes (so if anyone tells you he can test more 120 in a day, then beware) If you take the cost of the testing and put it against the items we have already covered then the alternative costs involved would be; court costs in being sued for negligence or even prosecuted for corporate manslaughter, loss of production, sick pay, reduced production from remaining staff, replacement or repair of the piece of kit, HSE costs, loss of revenue and you will still need to pay for your appliances to be tested.

If by now you’re getting really depressed about this, then buckle up because there’s more. According to fire brigade statistics 26% of fires, on commercial premises, are caused by faulty electrical equipment, this means there is a potential for one in four businesses to be the victim of fire as a result. The consequences of a fire on your premises are potentially far more serious than previously explained; more injuries, more fatalities, greater loss of continuity, removal from the market place (whether this is temporary or permanent), greater costs or even total loss of your business.

“This may all be inconvenient, but our insurance will pay to get us back on our feet” check your small print, because you may find that by not carrying out your best endeavours to prevent these incidents, that you have invalidated your insurance, there may also be a clause that states you must comply with all of your legal duties.

Which brings us to the last point, “why do I need to test my electrical equipment” because it’s your legal duty, under various health and safety legislation, it is your responsibility to maintain all equipment in a safe manner and the best way to do this is employ a regime of regular inspections and testing.

We hope that we have been able to answer the question and demonstrate that having your appliances tested is not a cost, but an investment in your company’s future prosperity. Should you have further questions about this subject or any other health and safety issues, then please do not hesitate to contact us at via http://www.anchorhands.co.uk/