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For anyone who has to deal
with health and safety, Nicola Coote
of PHSC Environmental has devised seven simple
steps to follow.
Health and safety is viewed as something
that conflicts with getting work done, confusing
or a downright nuisance. As a result, many bodyshops,
although they realise the importance of the subject
nevertheless, put off doing anything about setting
a health and safety policy until it cannot be
avoided any longer. The implementation of safety
procedures will be driven by the need to maintain
accreditation with work providers such as insurers
or manufacturers. For others, it will be part
of their quality management system, or because
they have experienced the consequences of not
managing safety in the past.
STEP 1 - DEFINE YOUR POLICY
The safety policy is sometimes written merely
to ensure compliance with the law. In effect,
it becomes a worthless document. A policy should
be simple and straightforward that tells your
staff, customers and other stakeholders the standard
that you want to achieve for health and safety,
and how you are going to achieve it.
Follow these rules:
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Keep it short and
simple |
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Ensure it is signed
and dated by the senior person |
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Make it known to
everyone (eg by posting it on the wall) |
Examples of phrases that may be
found in a policy statement include 'Safety is
as important to us as the quality of our service'
and 'we will produce work to a high standard without
risking the health and safety of our staff and
customers'.
It must be signed by the senior
person in the company, and dated. A few paragraphs
is all that is needed.
STEP 2. - ORGANISE
YOUR SAFETY
Identify who is responsible for doing what. The
best way of approaching this is to give simple
responsibilities to different people, and to include
this in their job description. Make a simple list
of tasks. Examples include:
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who should staff
report problems to? |
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who will deal with
fire drills, keep the fire log up to date
etc? |
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who will deal with
first aid? |
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who will arrange training and
keep records? |
Make these known to everyone, by
posting them on the wall etc or including them
in staff talks and meetings.
Ultimate responsibility must always
be with the most senior person as it is they who
have the final decision as to whether actions
are implemented, money and other resources made
available etc.
STEP 3 - PLAN WHAT
YOU NEED TO DO
The ultimate plan is to ensure the job gets done
in time, and also gets done safely. Therefore
make a list of the various hazardous tasks, and
consider the hazards and risks from doing these
(this is a basic risk assessment). Then decide
what you are going to do about them. Consider
things like:
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how are you going
to keep your tools and equipment safe and
serviceable (get someone to inspect it regularly
and keep a log book)? |
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how are you going
to allocate space (eg for welding, storage,
vehicle movement) to ensure these tasks can
be done safely? |
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what safety equipment
do you need and how are you going to plan
for replacements to be made available? |
STEP 4 - IMPLEMENT
SAFE PROCEDURES
Look at your hazardous tasks. These may include:
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welding |
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paint spraying |
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using or storing
flammable liquids or gases |
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removing engines and other
large or heavy items |
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dealing with unsatisfied customers! |
Define simple job instructions that
ensure the job is done effectively and safely.
Inform your workers accordingly, show them what
you want done and how, check that they can and
will do what you want. Keep a record for each
person confirming that they have been informed
and trained. A simple record card is all that
you need for this.
STEP 5 - MEASURE PERFORMANCE
Most vehicle repairers will be familiar with measuring
sales and other outputs. How do you measure health
and safety performance? Here are some examples:
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Check that workers
are following procedures eg over a 2-3 day
period and count the number of compliances
or breaches |
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Check whether accidents
have increased or decreased |
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Check ill-health
and absence records |
An enforcement officer's visiting
and finding no serious problems indicates that
performance is acceptable
STEP 6 - MONITOR and
REVIEW
There is no point in making a rule or procedure
unless you check it is being followed. There are
several ways of monitoring. The quickest, easiest
and cheapest is to simply 'spot check' when people
are not expecting to be monitored. Your findings
should always be actioned to make this effective
(compliment compliance/correct failings). This
will tell staff that you won't let rules be flouted.
Other monitoring techniques include:
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environmental monitoring
(eg emission testing to ensure you are not
breaching Environmental requirements) |
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Noise monitoring |
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Safety tours or
inspections of the workplace (eg housekeeping,
storage) |
STEP 7 - AUDIT
When thinking about audits, remember the old adage:
forearmed is forewarned. The purpose of a health
and safety audit is to check that the systems
and rules that you have been put in place actually
work! It enables you to:
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identify where
your gaps (ie weaknesses) are |
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identify where
your strengths lie (ie less resources needed) |
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plan ahead instead
of 'fire fighting' after a problem has arisen |
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spend your time and money where
it is most needed |
Audits are often undertaken by
professional associations as part of membership
criteria, or by manufacturers and safety will
form part of the overall audit. Specific health
and safety audits are often more detailed, but
give a clearer and more practical picture of how
you are doing.
The Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) suggest that audits should be undertaken
annually, and research has found that he savings
to your company from this proactive approach often
far outweigh the time and trouble spent in doing
the audit.
From 'Bodyshop' magazine, September 2001
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