SSE Hornsea Ltd. Pleads Guilty After Exposing 13 People to Asbestos

We've been reminded of the value of a detailed risk assessment this week after it was revealed SSE Hornsea Ltd allowed 13 employees and contractors to be exposed to asbestos fibres.

Hornsea runs a natural gas storage facility on the East Yorkshire coast and tasked a team of maintenance staff with removing a non-return valve from a compressed air distribution system. In order to remove the sealing gasket material, they fitted a wire brush to an electric drill. That worked, but filled the workshop with dust.

It turns out the dust contained chrysotile (white) asbestos, which 13 people had then come into contact with over the course of two days before the danger was revealed and the workshop closed.

The Health and Safety Executive decided to prosecute SSE Hornsea. Not only had the risk assessment failed to identify the asbestos risk, but the records held regarding the non-return valve were inadequate. Also, the maintenance team leader had not undergone asbestos awareness training.

As well as the potential impact this dust could have on the future health of the 13 exposed people, Hornsea now has to pay a £300,000 fine and £12,670.72 in costs. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2 (1) and 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc, Act 1974.

It should go without saying: train your staff! We carry out a range of training courses including asbestos awareness. Please get in touch if you would like to learn more or book places.

Source: HSE

Turban-wearing Sikhs are exempt from the need to wear head protection in the workplace

This is sure to be a question that arises on site quite often: Are turban-wearing Sikhs exempt from the need to wear head protection in the workplace?

The answer, thanks to the HSE, is "yes."

The Employment Act 1989 was amended by Section 6 of the Deregulation Act 2015 exempting turban-wearing Sikhs from any legal requirement to wear head protection at a workplace. There are a few exceptions, for example, in a situation where head protection is absolutely essential such as a fire fighter entering a burning building. Beyond the head protection exemption, Sikhs must wear all other required protective equipment.

For more details, visit the HSE website.

Working well together

Following on from C&D’s recent success at the World Demolition Awards in the Collaboration category, we are pleased to announce yet another great example of how a number of agencies working together can make a very positive difference.

In this instance we have teamed up with the Health and Safety Executive, the Working Well Together charity, and the National Demolition Training Group to provide a number of free Asbestos Awareness training sessions to local small businesses and the self-employed. We will be providing the training, the HSE and WWT will provide publicity, and the NDTG have kindly agreed to provide the UKATA approved certification.

The very good news is that all the sessions are now fully booked with over a week to go. This means that nearly 40 people will benefit from gaining this knowledge, which hopefully will prevent them from suffering from a truly horrible disease in the future.

Well done to all of us!

Two New Year's Honours awards for the Health and Safety Executive

We are very happy to discover that two members of the Health and Safety Executive were named in the New Year's Honours List for 2016.

The first is Judith Hackitt CBE, the Chair of the Health and Safety Executive. She has been made a Dame as recognition for being a health and safety role model in engineering, especially for young women.

The second is Paul Hamey, of the HSE's Chemical Regulations Directorate, who has been awarded an MBE for his services to the regulation of pesticides. He is recognised as an expert in the field, and in particular with regards to the agriculture sector.

Speaking of her honour, Judith said:

"It has come as a big surprise, but I feel very privileged to receive the honour of being made a Dame.

I am grateful for the recognition for my work as an ambassador for health and safety and engineering, but I could not have done that without having such a brilliant, world-class organisation to talk about.

It has been an honour and a privilege for me to Chair HSE for the last eight years. I am immensely proud of this organisation and what it does."

Source: HSE

New Occupational health risk management in construction guide

The new guide ‘Occupational health risk management in construction’ has been written by the Construction Industry Advisory Committee (ConIAC) Health Risks Working Group and formatted with the assistance of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

With the emphasis mainly on the prevention of accidents at work, it is a sobering thought that figures indicate a construction worker is 100 times more likely to die as a result of a disease caused by, or made worse by their work, than they are a fatal accident.

Shelley Frost, Executive Director – Policy at IOSH, said: “There have been huge advances in improving safety in the construction sector over the last 15 years but the industry has yet to generate such advances in improving the picture in occupational health. This new guide raises awareness of the occupational health issues in construction, demystifies how to best manage them and provides information as to where firms can get help and assistance."

The guidance is available to download on HSE’s and IOSH’s website:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/iacs/coniac/coniac-oh-guidance.pdf

http://www.iosh.co.uk/techguide

Free Asbestos Awareness Training Sessions January/February 2016

C&D are delighted to announce that we are, with the backing of NDTG, running free asbestos awareness training courses in Wolverhampton in 2016.

Designed for small builders, electricians, and tradesmen (who are most at risk) the training is being run via the HSE WWT campaign.

Please download the flyer for full details of the training.

Skip company and owner prosecuted for worker death

Kevin Hoare, director of South Coast Skips, has been prosecuted along with his company for the death of 66-year-old Lindsay Campbell.

Mr Campbell was working in an excavator bucket with another man (an agency worker) when it tipped. Both of them fell 9 meters down from the bucket and on to a concrete floor killing Mr Campbell and causing the other worker serious leg injuries. The incident took place at the company's Rudford Industrial Estate premises.

The bucket tipped due to a loss of hydraulic pressure. It was not designed to lift people and therefore had no safety equipment present in case such a problem occurred.

As the HSE explains:

"South Coast Skips Ltd of Rudford Industrial Estate, Ford, Arundel pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act, 1974 (HASWA,1974) was fined £65,000 and ordered to pay costs of £25,000.

Mr Kevin Hoare, 65, of Fareham, Hampshire pleaded guilty to section 37 of HASWA, 1974 and was given a 12 month custodial sentence suspended for 18 months."

This was an accident that could have very easily been avoided if the right training had been given and safe working at height practices employed. Book a work at height course now with stuart@demolishdismantle.co.uk.

Source: HSE

HSE funds study into uncontrolled movement of HGVs

The HSE has released the results of a research report, which is linked to below, entitled "Establishing direct and contributory factors to the uncontrolled movement of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) during coupling and uncoupling." It was produced by the Health and Safety Laboratory on behalf of the HSE.

Here's an excerpt from the report:

"The study explored the factors that contribute to vehicle runaways using a multi-method approach, which included: i) conducting a literature search, ii) reviewing relevant incidents reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, iii) carrying out an online consultation survey of trade association members, and iv) conducting interviews with drivers, supervisors and manufacturers.

Failure to apply the cab handbrake and/or trailer parking brake was identified as the primary reason contributing to vehicle runaways. A combination of individual, job and organisational factors were identified as affecting drivers’ behaviours, and particularly the extent to which the cab handbrake and/or trailer parking brake would be applied. Provision of easily accessible controls, physical solutions (e.g. interlocks, cab alarms), supervision and raising risk awareness were control measures identified that could help prevent vehicle runaways. "

The report can be viewed online and downloaded to read at your leisure.

Source: HSE

HSE Principal Designer introductory event being held over the next 3 months

The HSE is holding an event at three different venues over the course of November to January to introduce the new role of Principal Designer.

The dates and initial venue details for these events are as follows:

24th November 2015, Venue (TBA), Manchester

2nd December 2015, ETC Venues Marble Arch - Garfield House, 86 Edgeware Road, London W2 2EA

27th January 2016, ETC Venues, Birmingham (TBC)

The event includes:

• An introduction and overview to CDM 2015 and the duties of the Principal Designer
• The role of the construction client
• The Principal Designer's role in supporting the client
• Obtaining and using pre-construction information
• Appointment of designers and contractors
• The Principal Designer's role in ensuring designers comply with their duties
• Exploring through case study discussion the key health and safety risks construction workers can face during construction and maintenance
• Coordinating the flow of health and safety information
• The role of the Principal Contractor and liaison with the PD
• Preparing the health and safety file

Attendees will walk away with the following:

• Understand the changes introduced by CDM 2015, the policy objectives behind them, and how the Regulations enable proportionate compliance dependent on project complexity
• Know the role and duties of the Client, Principal Designer, designers, Principal Contractor, and contractors and the relationships and interfaces with the Principal Designer
• Know the key health and safety risks faced by construction workers and those maintaining a structure
• Understand the importance of pre-construction information, its limitations and the need for interpretation and further investigation in some circumstances
• Understand the importance of achieving the effective communication of and use of design information
• Understand how effective management, coordination and monitoring during the pre-construction phase can help to eliminate or reduce risks during the construction and life of the structure
• As PDs, be better placed to make decisions on the relevancy of pre-construction and design information they should provide to PCs for construction phase health & safety plans, and relevant information for health and safety file

If you would like to know more, or to book your place, then please visit the HSE official event page and read the entire description before clicking on the booking links at the bottom of the page.

HSE produces list of hundreds of materials that contain asbestos

The image you see above is the start of a rather long list compiled by the Health and Safety Executive detailing all the known materials that contain asbestos. The list has well over 100 entries and is clearly marked as "not an exhaustive list." It certainly makes you realize just how much asbestos has been used in the construction industry, and in so many different ways.

Ultimately it's the demolition industry that ends up dealing with this material in all its forms, and it's therefore very important your employees are trained to both spot and deal with it in the correct way.

Why not book your asbestos awareness course now by emailing stuart@demolishdismantle.co.uk and ensure asbestos doesn't cause you any problems whatever form it takes.

Health and Safety Executive supports APS strategy

Earlier this week we reported that our very own John Woodward had passed the APS CDM 2015 exam to work as Principal Designer and CDM Advisor. Now we are happy to report that the Health and Safety Executive has come out in support of the APS strategy.

Peter Barker, HSE Head of Construction, said during a presentation at the APS convention earlier this month that he has read and agrees with the APS strategy. The endorsement means the APS can take the lead in achieving CDM2015 objectives and key areas of CDM.

If you'd like to read full details of what happened during the APS convention, then you only need wait for the next issue of DIGEST.

HSE Leeds Construction Team announce their "Top Twenty" of Fee for Intervention Enforcement Actions

We have received a "Top Twenty" list of HSE enforcement actions that make interesting reading from a training viewpoint. How many of the twenty would have been prevented by training the workforce, supervisors or managers?

Here is the list:-

1. Poor management of temporary works (Temporary Works Course)
2. No asbestos survey (Asbestos Awareness)
3. No asbestos awareness training (Asbestos Awareness)
4. Inadequate/non existent welfare (Demolition Awareness)
5. Plant maintenance (Demolition Awareness/CPCS)
6. Inadequate Fire Provision/inadequate Fire Risk Assessment (Fire Marshall)
7. Working at Height with no rescue plan (Work at Height)
8. Electricity service live (Demolition Awareness)
9. Site unsecured (Demolition Awareness)
10. All round visibility on plant (Demolition Awareness/CPCS)
11. Safety pins missing in quick hitches (Quick hitch)
12. Removing asbestos cement without training (CAT B Asbestos)
13. Lack of public protection (Demolition Awareness)
14. No fire risk assessment (Fire Marshall)
15. Inadequate hot works procedures (Hot works)
16. Poor PRE (Face fitting of masks)
17. Inadequate risk assessment for HAV (Demolition Awareness)
18. Failure to prevent danger from unplanned structural collapse (Temporary Works)
19. Poor manual handling risk assessment (Manual Handling)
20. Insufficient controls on use of abrasive wheels (Abrasive Wheels)

Don't find yourselves "in the charts," why not book a course now and make sure that FFI does not catch you out. Enquire for dates and prices by emailing stuart@demolishdismantle.co.uk

HSE publish annual workplace fatality statistics

This week has seen the HSE publish the latest workplace fatality statistics for the period from April 2014 to March 2015, and they do not make good reading.

Yes, the long term trend is still continuing to halve the rate of fatalities over the last 20 years, but this year fatalities increased again to 142 (a rate of 0.46 fatalities per 100,000 workers).

Agricultural deaths remained the same at 33, construction deaths (and demolition deaths are in this number) decreased from 44 to 35 with waste recycling sector deaths at 5.

Deaths from Mesothelioma in 2013 (the latest statistics) were 2,538.

Full details can be found at the HSE website.

Asbestos Awareness failings at Chester firm result in court ruling

The importance of raising asbestos awareness both in the workplace and in practical environments cannot be disputed with deaths from the dangerous fibres still resulting in 4,000 deaths a year.

A Cheshire-based contracting firm have landed themselves in court for failing to adhere to the right regulations.

In July 2012 during refurbishment work for a local school’s science block, the sub-contractors were guilty of failing to take proper precautions when removing a wall and channelling the floor. As a result, they accidentally released asbestos and caused a risk of exposure to those in the vicinity.

Facing prosecution at a Magistrates Court earlier in May, it was discovered that the firm had not invested in a Refurbishment and Demolition Asbestos Survey: a requirement for such a project by law.

After pleading guilty to breaching the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 with four different misdemeanours, the company was fined a total of £34,141.

HSE Inspector David King said following the ruling:

“Failing to take action to identify asbestos while planning work, and to ensure that any contractors who may disturb asbestos are aware of the location and type of asbestos present, and not taking appropriate measures to protect the health of others, is totally inexcusable.”

Health and Safety Executive's RPE Users Guide

The HSE have recently added an excellent video guide to their YouTube channel which explains brilliantly how RPE should be chosen and looked after. This is well worth a watch:



Further details and guidance relating to Face Fitting in particular is given in the Health and Safety Executive Operational Circular 282/28. This sets out clearly how face fitting is mandatory and what sort of paperwork and records need to be kept.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/ocs/200-299/282_28.pdf

C&D have a team of four qualified Face Fit Testers who can help with this and who, working as a team, can deal with a large number of staff in a day. Minimising the time lost on site. We also have produced an information sheet that can be emailed on request.

For further advice or to book a Face Fitting session contact Stuart.

20-year-old dies first day on the job, directors receive suspended sentence

20-year-old Daniel Whiston was allowed to drive a 4-tonne dumper during his first day on the job and only after 30 minutes of training from a fellow worker. He died after the fully-loaded dumper toppled down an embankment. It was later found to have serious defects with the steering as well as having a handbrake and front brakes that didn't work.

The location of Daniel's death was Sweetings Farm near Tiverton. He was working for Wedgewood Buildings Ltd in October 2009, who were contracted to excavate a pond which was being expanded. The HSE investigated following the death and found the only other worker on site was not qualified to train Daniel or supervise him. No risk assessment was carried out, no safe system of work was used, and we've already mentioned the faulty dumper.

Wedgewood Buildings Ltd directors William Friend and Robert Plume were prosecuted and pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. They were ordered to do 180 hours community service, pay £25,000 each in costs, and had a 12 month custodial sentence suspended for 2 years. That's of little help to Daniel or his friends and family, especially when you consider how easily this tragedy could have been avoided through proper training.

A trained workforce is a safe workforce!

Source: British Safety Council

A Dilemma!

During one of our regular training courses trainer Mike Kehoe issued the operatives and staff from Inglenorth Demolition a Dilemma.

1 - 24 single bottles of oxygen have been dropped off outside the site and they had to get them to the safety cage within the site.

2 - A pack of timber sleepers have also been dropped off and left at the site entrance.

That day on site all the plant and machinery had run out of fuel and the crane driver had a day off.

This was part of a manual handling course that C&D carried out and the operatives were split into four groups to come up with the solutions to this problem.

Using the approved risk assessment T.I.L.E which is TASK, INDIVIDUAL, LOAD AND ENVIRONMENT the group task was to get the materials on site safely and controlled.

However to make matters worse Mike informed the group that the HSE inspector was also on site and wanted to inspect the Manual handling assessment sheets. After some hard work and heated discussion the group discussed the findings.

It was to the credit of Inglenorth that fantastic control measures were put in place and the HSE inspector went home happy with a C&D T-shirt!

C&D training courses always contain group discussion and exercises and “Bill Hill Health and Safety manager” commented ‘the lads were engrossed throughout the whole session and really enjoyed the group exercises’.

Remember C&D can assist in manual handling training assessments and producing all relevant site documentation.

STRESS! I haven't got time for Stress!

Stress in the workplace continues to increase and remains one of the most common causes of absence from work. In 2013 a survey undertaken for the HSE showed 10.4 million working days lost due to stress.

We all experience stress on some level, and small amounts of stress can help us focus on the task in hand and motivate us to move forward. It is when stress becomes continual and unmanageable, that physical and psychological problems occur. Generally, people are reluctant to recognise and acknowledge the sights and symptoms of stress in themselves perceiving it as a weakness. We are reluctant to acknowledge it in others as generally we are are at a loss as what to do about it! Hence, a vicious circle develops, and as is the nature of stress, it doesn't disappear - it increases.

SHP recently published an article to remind employers of their legal duties in relation to stress in the workplace. The article highlights ways in which employers must identify, monitor and evaluate stress levels among their workforce, and reminds us that protecting the health, safety and welfare of employees is a legal duty and the management of stress falls into this category.

C&D offer Stress Awareness and Stress Management Courses which are specifically aimed at helping with the identification of stress, it's both assessment and management and can be specifically tailored to accommodate your company requirements.

For more information contact jill@demolishdismantle.co.uk

3 Asbestos Roadshows announced for later this year

BOHS and HSE have jointly announced 3 Asbestos Roadshows happening later this year focused on asbestos. The roadshows are taking place on the following dates and locations:

• Thursday, 20th November in Glasgow
• Tuesday, 25th November in London
• Thursday, 4th December in Manchester

Each roadshow event will cover the following topics:

• Ventilation of asbestos removal enclosures
• The practicalities of achieving the desired airflow for removal enclosures
• The Analysts Guide in relation to Asbestos in Soils
• Asbestos in soils – the need for qualifications and proposed qualifications
• Identification of contaminated land
• Dealing with contaminated land
• UKAS accreditation for soils and analysis

You can book your place by visiting the BOHS website, with the price set at £138 for BOHS members and £174 for non-members (both prices include VAT). For more information you can also download and view the Asbestos Roadshow Flyer.

HSE target areas of concern with asbestos removal works

From time to time the HSE publishes information as to their key areas of concern with demolition related work, and this month they have published their concerns with asbestos related works. These are the key areas that inspectors will focus upon when they visit your sites.

Please take a few minutes to study the list as it clearly indicates the Regulations of concern and audit your systems. If you feel that you need help with audits please contact stuart@demolishdismantle.co.uk or if you would like to improve your knowledge why not consider a course, details can be obtained from margaret@demolishdismantle.co.uk