PHSC Health and Safety News

Issue: December 2008

New and changing legislation

Planned changes to First-aid Regulations

Following extensive consultation, the Health and Safety Executive have announced that they plan to amend the training requirements under the Health and Safety (First-aid) Regulations 1981 with effect from October 2009.

The most significant difference is that the current four-day course and examination required to become a qualified first-aider will become a three-day course and examination. Requalification will still be required every three years and that will involve a minimum of 12 hours tuition followed by an examination, effectively a two-day course.

A second category of first-aider training is introduced, called Emergency First-aid at Work. This involves a one day course and examination every three years and is similar to the current (non-regulated) Appointed Person course. For both types of first-aider, a new requirement is that after the first and second year of a certificate’s validity, first-aiders will be expected to undergo a skills update course lasting a minimum of three hours. HSE plan to issue revised guidance to help employers decide which course is more suitable.

Updated notification under CDM

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, known as CDM, contain obligations to notify the Health and Safety Executive of certain projects, eg those lasting 30 days or more, or involving more than 500 ‘person days’ of work.

When the regulations first took effect, they carried forward the paper-based notification system that prevailed in the earlier (1994) version of the law. This is now amended to enable electronic notification as an option. Both the new e-form, and the paper version of F10 for those who prefer the traditional manual input method, can be accessed at https://www.hse.gov.uk/ forms/notification/index.htm

New guidance on diesel engine exhaust emissions

A second edition of Health and Safety Executive booklet HSG187 ‘Control of diesel engine exhaust emissions in the workplace’ has been published. There are two parts to the booklet: the first is about how to assess risk and introduce appropriate control measures; the second part is a selection of good working practices suitable for areas such as warehouses, garages etc.

The document is available from HSE Books ISBN 9780717663064 (tel: 01787 881165) at a cost of £8.95

Enforcement action

Jailed for manslaughter

In August 2008, Norwich Crown Court ordered that Sharaz Butt, director of Alcon Construction Ltd, be sent to prison for 12 months after he pleaded guilty to a charge under s.37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The case follows the death of an employee, Wu Zhu Weng, who fell four metres through a skylight in January and died as a result of his injuries.

The court heard that Butt had a flagrant disregard for workers’ safety and had not prepared a risk assessment or method statement for the work. There had been no training, and there was no safe way of accessing the workplace. It transpired that the dead man had also been illegally employed. This conviction demonstrates that legislation pre-dating the much-heralded Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 can be effectively used against rogue directors.

Extended jail risk for drivers using mobiles

New guidelines have been published by the Sentencing Guidelines Council, which courts are obliged to follow, concerning the punishment for causing death by dangerous driving when using a mobile phone. The sentence can now be up to seven years imprisonment where the seriousness merits this, such as texting whilst driving. In addition, a prison term is advocated for drivers who cause deaths because they were briefly distracted by a mobile phone or some other avoidable activity, even though they may not have been engaged in a conversation.

Ladder owner avoids liability for user’s fall

At the Court of Appeal, an employer has successfully challenged a Queen’s Bench judge’s ruling that he was partly to blame for an injury to a contractor who fell off a ladder found at his premises.The facts were that a contractor had been sent to service electrical equipment that was on the wall of a room owned by East Potential Ltd. He accessed the equipment by use of a ladder he found in the room. His own employer, Satelcom, claimed that the host employer was partly to blame because the ladder came within that employer’s control, and the original judgment agreed with this.

At appeal, however, the court said that in the absence of a finding that East Potential owned the ladder, it was hard to see what they could have done other than ensure it was not in anyone’s way. For the purposes of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, they had control of the ladder only to the extent that they could have moved it or affixed a sign saying it was not to be used. Full liability for the injury was therefore passed to Satelcom Ltd and Intact Networks Limited and no blame attached to the host employer on this occasion.

Fire safety contravention leads to large fine

Hendon Magistrates’ Court handed down fines and costs totalling £23,500 to retailer JJB Sports after a fire brigade inspection discovered six breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. These included locked fire escapes, and escape routes obstructed by stock. Employees were found not to have had any fire prevention training. The company had already had a visit two years previously and had been ordered to improve, but clearly they did not take the necessary actions and this will have influenced the decision to prosecute and the severity of the penalty.

Industry news

Asbestos awareness campaign

The Health and Safety Executive are spearheading a national campaign to raise awareness amongst tradesmen of the hidden dangers from asbestos. Starting on 13 October, there will be adverts in national newspapers, on national radio, and via leaflet distribution.

There will also be case studies in trade magazines. All of this is to make workers aware that they may be at greater risk than they think, and to offer advice on finding out more about asbestos and the necessary precautions.

CoRGI’s bark to fall silent

The Council of Registered Gas Installers, CoRGI, has lost out in a bid to carry on running the registration scheme for those involved in gas installations and maintenance. The Health and Safety Executive has awarded the new contract to Capita, and it is due to start in April 2009.

European Week of Safety & Health

European Week runs from 20-24 October, and the theme is the demystifying of risk assessments to show that they are necessary and worthwhile and not an overly-complicated process. Organisations will be encouraged to make informed decisions, and to concentrate on risks that cause real harm and suffering as opposed to trivial and everyday risks of little consequence. Further details, and free ‘action packs’ are available from HSE’s website at www.hse.gov.uk/campaigns/index.htm

IOSH survey says workers approve of safety laws

According to the findings of a YouGov survey commissioned by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), 65% of respondents said they believed that health and safety at work either saved people’s lives or helped to prevent ill-health and injury. Around 28% thought it was about red tape, unnecessary European laws, or preventing people from going about their daily lives. Nearly seven out of ten people said that compliance with workplace health and safety rules and regulations did not interfere with their ability to do the job.

In a separate survey also run by YouGov for IOSH, more than a quarter of employees said that they would report their employer to the enforcement authority if the organisation had broken safety laws.

Fire safety of common areas in residential accommodation

A guidance booklet has been published by the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) to try and explain how to improve fire safety in certain types of residential buildings in England. The guidance was necessary to avoid possible conflict and duplication of enforcement – there is a legislative overlap between the Housing Act 2004 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

The guidance affects, for example: single household properties, shared houses, sheltered accommodation in which personal care is not provided. It applies to these premises regardless of tenure (e.g private ownership, social housing and the private rented sector). Importantly, premises built or converted to standards in the Building Regulations 1991, and still meeting those standards, are not subject to the new guidance.

The 82-page booklet entitled “Housing – Fire Safety, Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing” costs £20 from LACORS (tel: 020 7665 3888).

TUC says economic downturn may affect workers’ health

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has warned that health, as well as ongoing employment, is likely to be put at risk in the current economic climate. With up to 3.3 million employees said to be concerned that they may not still have a job this time next year, attention has been drawn to the correlation between insecurity and higher rates of work-related accidents, sickness and heart disease. Employers should be vigilant and ensure that management strategies for minimising and recognising stress at work are sufficiently robust.

In the courts

Stress award upheld

Telephone company O2 were unsuccessful when they appealed against an order to pay £110,000 compensation for psychiatric illness brought on by workplace stress. The claimant, Susan Dickens, had progressed to a role as Regulatory Finance Manager but pressure of work became so intense that she couldn’t cope.

In the original judgment at Oxford County Court, the judge said that her employers would reasonably have been expected to foresee the illness, but O2 felt that they shouldn’t be held liable. The Court of Appeal rejected O2’s contention that their conduct had not led to the illness, and that they had no prior warning signs that Ms Dickens was suffering as a result of work demands. Ms Dickens said that she had previously warned management that the pressure was excessive but they did nothing to assist.

Jail term for driver after fatal coach crash

Oxford Crown Court sentenced Philip Rooney, a 49-year-old National Express driver, to five years imprisonment for causing a crash that killed three people and injured scores more. The case relates to an Aberdeen-bound coach that overturned on the M4/M25 slip road near Heathrow last year. Rooney, who was also ordered to take an extended driving test when he is released, had been driving at 55mph around a 40mph bend and was making an announcement on the public address system at the same time.

Retailer failed to assess risks

Warwick District Council took proceedings against clothing outlet River Island after a member of staff suffered a head injury when changing a window display. The accident happened because management had failed to assess the risks associated with accessing the area, which was reached via trap doors. The prosecution resulted in fines and costs totalling £11,000.

Asbestos surveyors fined for shoddy work

Normandie Analytical Services had to pay fines and costs of £39,000 after their inadequate survey led to people being put at risk from exposure to white asbestos. The company had been commissioned to identify asbestos at Cardinal Newman School in Pontypridd, but they wrongly assumed that the insulation board used for ceiling tiles did not contain asbestos. The error came to light when builders unintentionally disturbed the material during works last year.

An HSE spokesman emphasised that “asbestos surveys need to be accurate, thorough and comprehensive, so that asbestos in buildings can be properly managed. Exposure can only be prevented if the location of the material is known”.

Two companies penalised after elderly resident injured

An 81-year-old woman fell through a hatch in her hallway, left open by a contractor who was installing an oil-fired central heating system as part of the Scottish Government Central Heating Programme. British Gas Services were managing the programme. The hatch was left open while work was going on elsewhere in the property, but the woman walked into the hallway to go to her front door and fell down. A Health and Safety Executive spokesman said that this was the fourth accident involving elderly women falling down hatches or holes left exposed and unprotected where a contractor carried out plumbing, heating or gas replacement work in their properties.

British Gas was fined £2,000 at Perth Sheriff Court, and ordered to pay compensation of £2,700. Adrian Newth, trading as Perthshire Oil Heating, was ordered to pay £300 in compensation. Both admitted charges under section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

And finally

Conveying the wrong message…

Workers in the baggage handling section of Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport had a bit of a surprise on 26 August when an elderly woman came through the baggage chute for sorting. It seems she mistook instructions at check-in, and thought that she was supposed to get to the plane by conveyor! The 78-year-old lady was en-route to Germany when she sat down on the on the unmanned belt and was promptly whisked off to the baggage handling centre. Staff helped get her back to the correct location and, uninjured, she made her flight as planned. There are no reports as to what became of her luggage!

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