ACCROSS SAFE AND SAFETY

Health and safety statistics 2013/14 1.2 million people who worked during the last year were suffering

from an illness (long-standing as well as new cases) they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work. 0.5 million of these were new conditions which started during the year.

133 workers were killed at work.

77 593 other injuries to employees were reported under RIDDOR.

629 000 injuries occurred at work according to the Labour Force Survey, of which 148 000 led to over-7-days absence.

28.2 million days were lost due to work-related ill health or injury (16 days per case).

Health and Safety at ACCROSSIn principle Health and Safety at ACCROSS is managed though risk assessments. These are undertaken to identify risk, and result in sensible measures being implemented to

control the identified risk and then monitored to ensure risk remains controlled

The College Health and Safety Officer is the Deputy Facilities Manager Daniel Laming contactable on 01254 35 4040 or dlaming@accross.ac.uk other useful contacts include: sduring@accross.ac.uk jcrowthr@accross.ac.uk hgordon@accross.ac.uk

Accross Health and safety policyIs available to view on the intranet under -Health and Safety > Policies and Procedures

The policy is a “statement of intent”

It is signed by the most senior person in the college – Sue Taylor

Shows the colleges aims and goals for health and safety

Sets the organisational responsibilities for health and safety

Details the reporting lines for health and safety

Includes an explanation of risk assessment, first aid arrangements and accident reporting

Provides advice on what to do in the event of an accident/fire/evacuation

Outlines reporting a hazard or incident

Please take the time to read the Policy and its contents

Health and safety legislation is applied to ensure:

- No one puts themselves or others in danger - A satisfactory work environment is provided - Appropriate precautions are taken to prevent people from being harmed by work or becoming ill - The public is protected from workplace dangers

Health and safety Employer responsibilities Employers and the self employed are required to assess the risk at

work

Employers should have a written health and safety policy and record significant findings from risk assessments

Employers should involve their employees or their representative on health and safety matters

Employers should provide free health and safety training or [protective equipment for employees where needed.

Employees are required to report any dangerous situations they may encounter

If you notice any Health and Safety issues or experience any problems please call Daniel Laming 01254 35 4040 or email dlaming@accross.ac.uk.

Responsibility – employeesYour most important responsibilities are:

To take care of your own health and safety

To be aware of potential dangers from jewellery, loose clothing and long hair when operating machinery

Not to put other people at risk by what is done, or not done, in work

To cooperate with management, making sure proper training is received and the colleges health and safety policies followed

Not to interfere with or misuse anything that has been provided for health, safety or welfare

To report any injuries, strains or illnesses suffered as a result of work

To tell us if something happens that might affect your ability to work

Employee responsibilitiesEmployees must:

Take reasonable care of their own and other people’s health and

safety

Cooperate with their employer on health and safety issuesTell manager or health and

safety representative if it is felt that work, or

inadequate precautions, are putting anyone's

health and safety at risk.

Follow the training received when using any work items provided by

the employer

Rights – employeesIt is an employees right under law to work in a safe and healthy environment. The most important rights are:

As far as possible, to have any risks to health and safety properly controlled

To be provided, free of charge with any Personal Protective Equipment or safety equipment needed

To stop work and leave the work area, without being disciplined if an employee has reasonable concerns about safety

To get in touch with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or the Local Authority if the employer won’t listen to concerns

To have rest breaks during the working day, to request and have time off from work during the working week, and to have annual paid holiday

ACCROSS employee concernsIf employees are worried about health and safety in their workplace, they should:

Talk with their manager/H&S officer or union

Look at the HSE website for general information about health and safety at work

For urgent issues call 01254 354040

The basis for British health and safety

The primary regulation is the Health and Safety at work act 1974 which applies the principle of “so far as is reasonably practicable”

It is an act of parliament, setting out employer and employee duties and the rights of the enforcement officers, which include Environmental Health officers.

It is split into sections and subsections – Regulations/Codes of practice/Guidance notes

Regulations

Codes of practice

Interpret the regulations in terms of what is required as a minimum Are not the law, BUT non-compliance would demonstrate a breach of the law Approved Codes of practice (ACOPs) are what an enforcement officer may take as a guide,

if in their opinion regulations are not being complied with. They are written in more readily understandable language than regulations

Guidance notes As the name implies , are for guidance only

Carry no legal status

Provide examples of best practice

Areas where additional regulations applyIn addition to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, individual regulations cover specific areas of health and safety law across the workplace.

Display screen equipment Regulations 1992: sets out the requirements for work with Visual Display units (VDUs)

Personal Protective equipment at work regulations 1992: require employers to provide appropriate protective clothing and equipment for their employees

Provision and use of work equipment 1998: require that equipment provided for use at work, including machinery is safe.

Manual Handling Operations regulations 1992: Cover the moving of objects by hand or bodily force

Health and Safety (First Aid) regulations 1981: cover the requirements for first aid

Areas where additional regulations apply Information for Employees 1989: Require employers to display a poster telling

employees what they need to know about health and safety

Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR): require employers to notify certain occupational injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences

Noise at work Regulations 2005: require employers to take action to protect employees from damage to hearing

Electricity at Work regulations 1989: require people in control of electrical systems to ensure they are safe to use and maintained in a safe condition

Control of \substances hazardous to health 2002 (COSHH): require employers to assess the risk from hazardous substances and take appropriate precautions

Particular areas of Health and SafetyHazardou

s chemical supply

Asbestos

Construction

Major hazardsGas safety

Lead at work

Explosives

For information in these areas seek guidance from the Health and

Safety Officer or the HSE website

Safety issuesin addition to Health and Safety in the Workplace, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare regulations) 1992 also cover welfare facilities

Smoking – Accross must ensure that non-smoking employees are not subject to passive smoking and that smoking is only permitted in designated areas. (The College smoking policy is available on share-point under the Health and Safety Page ) All members of staff have a responsibility to enforce the smoking policy

Health - Ventilation, temperature ,lighting, cleanliness, waste materials, room dimensions, space, workstations and seating must all be considered.

Welfare – Sanitary conveniences and washing facilities, drinking water, accommodation for clothing and changing, facilities for rest and eating must all be considered

Safety – maintenance of the workplace and equipment, devices and systems, condition of floors, protection against falls or falling objects, highlighting transparent surfaces, window and skylight design, doors, gates escalators must be undertaken

All these areas within the college fall under the remit of the Premises Manager, if you notice any Health and Safety issues or experience any problems please call Daniel Laming 01254 35 4040 or email dlaming@accross.ac.uk.

TerminologyHealth

• A persons mental or physical condition

Safety

• The condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury.

Accident or

Near

miss

• An accident is “any unplanned event that resulted in injury or ill health of people, or damage or loss to property, plant, materials or the environment or a loss of business opportunity”.

• A near-miss” can be defined as: “any event, which under slightly different circumstances, may have resulted in injury or ill health of people, or damage or loss to property, plant, materials or the environment or a loss of business opportunity”.

Hazard

• A hazard is something (e.g. an object, a phenomenon or an activity) that can cause adverse effects. For example: Water on a staircase is a hazard, because you could slip on it, fall and hurt yourself.

Risk

• A risk is the likelihood that a hazard will actually cause its adverse effects,

First aid / accident bookRecords to be kept in a first aid or accident book:

Date, time and place of the incident

Name and job of the injured or ill person

Details of the injury/illness and what first aid was given

What happened to the person immediately afterwards (back to work, home, hospital etc.)

Name and signature of the first aider or person dealing with the incident

It is a legal requirement that these records are maintained

Any accident/Incident or near miss must be reported to the premises team. Please use the orange form, the form can be found at reception or share-point

First aid – what is first aid at work?The health and Safety (First Aid ) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide a minimum first aid provision on any work site. The minimum being:

A suitably stocked first aid box

An appointed person to take charge of first aid arrangements

Information for employees about first aid arrangements:

Any one who needs first aid and is not an emergency can be directed to the main reception desk where a first aider will meet them.

If the casualty cannot make it to reception and again it is not an emergency please call reception by dialling 0 on a College phone and request a first aider to your location.

If you think the first aid is an emergency situation then call 999 and ask for an ambulance. Once the call to the emergency services is over you must call reception and inform them of what has happened and what you have done.

First aid

There are a number of first aid trained personnel in College. A list of all first aiders is held at reception.

A first A first aider is someone who has undertaken training and has a qualification the HSE approves. This means that they hold a valid certificate of competence in :

Either

First Aid at Work (FAW) issued by a training organisation approved by the HSE

or

Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW). Issued by a training provider approved by the HSE or a recognised Awarding body of Ofqual/Scottish Qualifications authority

First aid – what might be required?Additional training for first aiders to deal with injuries

caused by particular hazards.

Cover for shifts or extended working

arrangements

A system for informing the

emergency servicesA suitably

stocked first aid kit

The provision of trained first aiders

Additional first aid equipment

To restock a first aid box please call the premises team on 01254 354040 and inform them of the location of the first aid box.

Health and Safety CommitteeAccross have a Health and Safety committee made up from a cross section of College staff.

The committee meets on a regular basis to discuss and review College Health and Safety policies, systems and practice to ensure that they are operating effectively and are in line with the current legislation.The minutes and members of this committee are listed on the intranet under Health and Safety>Safety Committee Meeting Minutes

Employee issues can be raised at these meetings by submitting your concerns to your manager, H&S officer, member of the Health and Safety committee or union representative

Health and Safety benefits A safe and healthy workplace will create many benefits:

Good employee morale