Over the last three years, on average there were an estimated 11,000 cases of hearing problems each year caused or made worse by work, according to the Labour Force Survey.¹

Noise levels can be a major factor in work-related injuries and long-term conditions, and it’s important to understand as an employer what you can do to reduce or remove the risk to employees.

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 state that it is the employer’s duty to remove or reduce risks to health and safety from noise and use hearing protection zones where necessary, which are designated areas of the workplace where access is restricted and where hearing protection is compulsory.

The regulations require you as an employer to:

• Assess the risks to your employees from noise at work
• Take action to reduce the noise exposure that produces those risks
• Provide your employees with hearing protection if you cannot reduce the noise exposure enough by using other methods
• Make sure the legal limits on noise exposure are not exceeded
• Provide your employees with information, instruction and training
• Carry out health surveillance where there is a risk to health.

There are strict legal exposure limits with regards to noise levels at work. Short-term exposure to excessive noise produces varying degrees of inner ear damage that is initially reversible but can become permanent through regular exposure. The peak sound pressure anyone can be exposed to is 137 decibels, while there are daily or weekly exposure limits of 87 decibels² and exposure action values set at 80 and 85 decibels.

Whether your team work on a glass bottling line, with freezers or wheeled trollies or are involved in milling and sawing operations, the risk to health and hearing is clear, so it’s important to have a good idea of the noise hazards around them.

Once the noise risk has been recognised, formal measures are required to reduce exposure to it. They must be implemented whenever an employee’s exposure to noise is likely to exceed the upper exposure action values of 85 decibels for daily or weekly exposure, or a peak sound pressure of 137 decibels. But remember, hearing protection should only be used as a last resort where there are risks to health and safety that cannot be controlled by other means.

As a priority, establish whether the noise exposure can be prevented or reduced by:

• Using quieter equipment or a different, quieter process
• Bringing in engineering/technical controls to reduce, at source, the noise produced by a machine or process
• Using screens, barriers, enclosures and absorbent materials to reduce the noise
• Redesigning the layout of the workplace to create quiet workstations
• Limiting the time people spend in noisy areas
• Introducing a purchasing policy for low noise machinery and equipment
• Regularly maintaining the machinery and equipment that takes account of noise

While risk remains, an employer must make hearing protection available upon request to any employee likely to be exposed above the lower action value and provide hearing protection to any employee likely to be exposed above the upper action value.

For more expert advice on noise prevention, please visit: https://www.arco.co.uk/expert-advice/noise.

As experts in safety, Arco can offer noise and hearing solutions across the full hierarchy of control, including identifying they hazards with risk assessment support, workplace site surveys to assess and monitor noise, hearing protection products, noise awareness training and ear fit testing, helping you to ensure you are fully compliant.

Our online Noise Awareness training course is aimed at all levels of employees who may be exposed to noise or managing noise in workplaces and will give both managers and employees an improved awareness of the risks associated with noise and how these can be reduced or removed. View all our training courses here: https://www.arcoservices.co.uk/training

Sources:

[1] https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/deafness/index.htm

² https://www.hse.gov.uk/noise/employers.htm#noise

• lost hillwalkers
• missing persons suffering from mental health or dementia
• injured persons who are in a location which is not easily accessible to the emergency services
• persons who are injured and need carrying to safety
• persons cut off due to flooding and many more

Accidents are “inevitable” – two fifths of construction workers believe

‘I died twice’ – the story of a North Sea oil rig accident

‘I still feel like it happened to somebody else’, says James Ramsay ahead of his Safety & Health Expo ‘Survivor’s story’.

Falling seven metres headfirst, dying twice and mistaking his parents for royalty – James Ramsay’s oil rig accident and subsequent recovery is quite the story.

James, who will recount his experiences at Safety & Health Expo in London this week, had been unloading a barrel on a North Sea oil platform when a crane knocked him off his feet, his hardhat falling off in the process.

The then 21-year-old had to be resuscitated twice on that day in 1998 – once on the rig, once in the helicopter airlifting him to hospital. Doctors gave him a 2% chance of survival.

James recalls a disorienting return to consciousness upon awaking from a nearly three-week induced coma. “Two people were sitting there who I didn’t recognize – it was my mum and dad. I asked if I had school today. They started crying – which I thought was quite strange as I didn’t know who they were.”

The scene took a surreal turn on one occasion when he mistook his parents for Princess Charles and Lady Diana. When other visitors routinely embraced his parents he surmised that “they must be something special”.

Remarkable recovery

Although the accident left him blind in one eye and deaf in one ear, his recovery has otherwise been remarkable. James had to relearn basic skills like reading, writing and talking.

He’s fulsome in praising the surgeons who rebuilt his face after “one side of my face was totally crushed. I’ve got the NHS to thank for looking like this”.

James, who says the recovery is an ongoing process, now works at his family’s Midlothian-based firm, RTR Scaffolding. Outside of work he enjoys running and doing Brazilian Jui Jitsu – “it is like human chess with no hitting to the head”, he says.

So astonishing is the story that when he gave a talk to NHS staff, one attendee told James: “Your fantasy writing is amazing – and I said, ‘that happened, that was me!’”.

Even James himself is sometimes incredulous that he is the story’s main protagonist. “On 8 July this year it will be 25 years since it happened, and I still feel like it happened to somebody else.”

Drop in the ocean

James says the driver of the crane that knocked him over wasn’t appropriately licensed.

Following an investigation a court handed the oil company, which James declines to identify, the maximum possible fine – but that only totalled £20,000. “And they were making £1.5 million a minute,” says James. “That was a big dent in their profits,” he adds sarcastically.

James says the oil company hired a 12-strong team of Queens Council (QC) lawyers – “the best” in the business, his own lawyer acknowledged.

Safety improvements

oil and gasExtracting a volatile, combustible substance from the ground in often harsh weather conditions, oil rigs present an extremely high risk working environment.

The logistical difficulty of reaching the nearest hospital elevates the risk further still. “I was 130 miles away from Aberdeen – and when you have an accident, the first five minutes is the most crucial,” points out James.

Although James believes the enormous tax revenues the industry generates for governments is a huge disincentive for tightening regulations, he acknowledges that there have been meaningful safety improvements since his accident.

The UK Health and Safety Executive reported no fatal injuries at offshore platforms within its jurisdiction in 2021 and four fatalities in the previous 10 years

The worst oil rig disasters to date occurred earlier, many in the 1980s. The highest ever fatality rate, 167 deaths, resulted from multiple explosions on the Piper Alpha North Sea oil platform in 1998.

James says the introduction of Risk Assessment Method Statements (RAMS) in 2005 was a pivotal improvement. “If you do anything wrong and something happens, then you’re in breach of what you’ve just signed, which is a legal document.”

The father of three now conducts RAMS for RTR Scaffolding. “I don’t want anybody to go through what I went through,” he says.

‘No dress rehearsal’

James is also currently completing ominously named ‘survival’ training, now a prerequisite for working offshore, so he can deliver his talk to the offshore industry.

His near-death experience – “seeing my body just lying there like it’s going up to heaven” – has given James a healthy perspective on life. “I just treat life like there’s no dress rehearsal,” he says.

Minor ailments have also been put into a different perspective, he jokes: “When somebody phones me at half six in the morning and says ‘I can’t come in today, I’ve got a really sore head…’ Sore head? I’ll give you a sore head!

Arco Issues Respiratory Health Guidance as the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) Cracks Down on Construction Dust

The UK's leading safety products and services company, Arco, shares expert advice on protecting lung health as the HSE inspects Great Britain’s construction sites

From Tuesday 21^st to Monday 27^th June, it is Love Your Lungs Week, a national campaign to promote better lung health.

This national week is an opportunity to remind those working on construction sites across Great Britain that, between Monday 6^th June and Friday 1^st July, HSE inspectors will be visiting sites as part of a month-long respiratory health initiative.

To help businesses prepare and ensure construction workers are safe at work, Arco is sharing expert advice to continue its efforts to educate business leaders about the long-term dangers of construction dust.

In the UK alone, 23 new cases of work-related respiratory diseases are diagnosed every day.[1] As active members of the Construction Dust Partnership (CDP), Arco is dedicated to reducing this figure by working with the CDP to raise awareness and by offering expert guidance to its customers. 

Those who regularly work on building sites where there is excess dust created from activities such as wall chasing, stone cutting, demolition, drilling or sweeping, are more likely to be at risk from construction dust related respiratory illnesses. However, contracting these illnesses is avoidable with effective preventative measures and the correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE) or respiratory protective equipment (RPE).

Controlling the Risks

Once the hazard has been recognised, and the concentration identified through air monitoring, reasonably practicable control measures must be developed. Depending on the risk, measures should be applied to each task to make sure workers are not exposed to levels over the workplace limits, ensuring the health and safety of the workforce. In accordance with good occupational hygiene practice, the risk assessor should adopt the hierarchy of control to reduce the risk:

1. Eliminate the use of harmful substances and remove the hazard in its entirety.
2. Consider substitution such as using a safer material.
3. Use engineering controls that work to isolate or reduce exposure of the substance, such as less powerful tools, introducing water or bringing in on-tool dust extraction.
4. Ensure there are a set of administrative controls in place, such as the implementation of an effective respiratory management programme which includes correct RPE selection, face fit testing, training, equipment inspections and maintenance, storage and record keeping. Then ensure that employees are confident to use the control measures put in place and follow procedures and systems correctly.
5. If these methods do not prevent or control the exposure, PPE in form of respiratory protective equipment will need to be issued and wearers will need to be face-fit tested.

Carrying out regular health surveillance on workers will check that control measures are working. By monitoring workers’ health, the surveillance can identify early signs of ill-health and by acting on the results helps ensure that adequate control measures are being followed.

Kevin Williams, Respiratory Manager at Arco Professional Safety Services, said: “Construction dust has been dubbed the ‘silent killer’ for a reason, as it’s responsible for an alarming number of deaths every year. We have long campaigned to raise awareness of this issue, working with industry bodies and our partners. We will continue to help employers with the guidance they need to implement better safety measures for their workforce.”

For more respiratory guidance, click here: https://www.arcoservices.co.uk/services/respiratory-protection-services

1. www.hse.gov/statistics/at-a-glace

Business advice following Health & Safety Executive (HSE) update on woodwork safety

UK’S LEADING SAFETY COMPANY ARCO SHARES EXPERT ADVICE FOLLOWING HEALTH & SAFETY EXECUTIVE (HSE) REVISIONS TO WOODWORKING SAFETY

From April 2022, woodworking businesses across the UK will be visited by HSE inspectors to ensure duty holders know the risks associated with woodworking and to inspect whether effective controls are in place to protect workers’ respiratory health.

To help businesses prepare, Arco, the UK’s leading safety company, is sharing expert advice, ahead of the Health and Safety Executive’s updates, to support employers with people involved in wood working.  

In January 2020, the HSE introduced new and revised workplace exposure limit guidance for 13 substances, including wood dust. Wood dust is a hazardous substance and inhaling the fine particles can develop into respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and occupational asthmas. Settled dust contains the fine particles that are most likely to damage the lungs and hardwood dusts, such as oak, western red cedar and iroko, are carcinogens that can cause sinonasal cancer. 

In addition to the respiratory threat posed by wood dust, it is also a fire or explosion hazard. Unconfined wood dust can ignite and spread flames across a cloud in the air, while wood dust that is contained can build up pressure when ignited and lead to destructive explosions.

The serious health and safety threats demonstrate the essential need for appropriate controls and protective measures for woodworking environments. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) guidelines sets out the legal requirements for organisations to protect their workers’ health from hazardous substances. Due to the health risks, wood dust is covered by COSHH and thus risk aversion controls are a legal requirement.

Kevin Williams, Respiratory Team Manager at Arco Professional Safety Services at Arco said: “The risk from wood dust should be minimised, ideally by using methods that do not generate wood dust or by removing it at source. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) should be issued as a last line of defence once all other control measures are in place.

“The HSE will expect to see a clear education and understanding of the control measures put in place by employers to protect workers from harm. It is also a legal requirement for all employees to receive appropriate training and supervision for any related equipment to ensure safety standards are implemented accordingly.

“Workers should also be encouraged to be involved in health and safety as they are often the best people to understand the risks and help find solutions.

“Through worker involvement you can act together to reduce accidents and ill health within the workplace, by paying attention to layout, worker movement and keeping workshops and storage areas tidy.”

Learn more about how you can make sure your workplace is safe and compliant by reading Arco’s expert guidance: www.arco.co.uk/expert-advice/respiratory-protection/hazards/wood-dust

Arco Professional Safety Services Launches New Online Awareness-based Training with New System

Arco Professional Safety Services, the UK’s leading safety training company, has launched a new Learning Management System (LMS), offering over 50 e-learning awareness courses with the ability for customers to self-serve their health and safety training requirements. These courses, which can be completed remotely, are designed to provide a basic understanding of the various hazards that may be found in the workplace and are an ideal starting point to further, more in-depth training.

All employers have a legal obligation to ensure their employees are appropriately trained for the job they do. The Arco LMS offers a wider variety of training courses beyond the experiential training and classroom learning available at their training facilities, enabling more opportunity to implement training programmes for their workforce. Starting from just £20, courses available through the LMS platform include asbestos awareness, control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH), emergency first aid at work refresher (EFAW), fire awareness, manual handling and risk assessment. Employers can review the e-learning courses available and select those most appropriate to their needs, efficiently and cost-effectively.

The system allows employers to create, view and manage appropriate training programmes suitable for specific individuals, roles or companies. This training can also be linked to a comprehensive offering including bespoke learning modules, videos, documentation, course booking options for assessing or practical application of knowledge and assessments, which can be set up by the Arco Professional Safety Services training team. View the elearning courses available at https://academy.arcoservices.co.uk/learn or contact us to arrange a bespoke training package.   

Arco’s specialist instructors have a wealth of industry experience and can provide businesses with the most relevant training to help keep workers safe. Offering a wide range of courses, Arco Professional Safety Services cover training for the below disciplines, alongside the LMS system:

• Working at Height
• Confined Spaces
• Respiratory
• Health and Safety

Brian Grunes, Training Manager says: “We have a core purpose to help keep people safe at work and have developed this new Learning Management System to make it easy for business to choose, book and deliver the most appropriate awareness-based training courses for their employees. From Fire Awareness to First Aid and Ladder Safety, our comprehensive e-learning course offering is brought together in one, simple to use, online resource to help businesses maintain a safe working environment for everyone.”

Arco Experts Support Longest Cave Rescue in Welsh History

In November 2021, nearly 300 people united to help rescue a man from the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu cave system near Penwyllt, Powys. The caver had fallen, leaving him trapped underground with severe injuries and at the centre of a rescue mission taking three gruelling days. Arco Professional Safety Service’s Equipment Department Manager, Mike Clayton, and Working at Height Training Department Instructor, Bartek Biela, were part of the rescue team as members of the Midlands Cave Rescue Organisation (MCRO).

MCRO is formed from local cavers and mine explorers who voluntarily assist others who may be lost or injured in the caves and mines of the West Midlands, Shropshire and beyond. Team members can be called day or night and undertake training in all aspects of the technical and medical requirements of underground search and rescue. In the case of the Brecon Beacons rescue, MCRO received a request to assist from the South & Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team to help bring the injured man through miles of passages to safety. As members of MCRO, Mike and Bartek were part of the response.

The 53-hour rescue demanded physical and mental strength and the right equipment techniques and teamwork. Arco Professional Safety Services sponsors MCRO’s training at its facility in Eccleshall every year, to provide the organisation’s members with realistic, practical training that simulates real-life hazards in a controlled environment. The Eccleshall site, equipped with five classrooms, offers facilities for confined spaces and working from height training. MRCO is reliant on the generosity of donors to operate and, ultimately, work to put skills into practice in a rescue scenario.

All MRCO members must have proven caving experience, whether through work, a club or as a member of the British Caving Association. At Arco Professional Safety Services, Bartek specialises in working at height and bespoke rescue training. These skills were put to immediate use during his first, 10-hour long, underground shift involving assisting with stretcher carrying and elements of rope work.

Bartek explains: “Part of my day-to-day role is teaching others how to safely access and recover casualty in an emergency access situation. Outside of work, my caving hobby started with a passion for exploring environments unlike anything that can be experienced above ground. Having this background and an understanding employer who allows us to go out to volunteer in these kinds of critical missions, means that we have the opportunity to take our work ethos of making the world a safer place to our personal life.”

Mike was tasked with rescue rigging, involving installing ropes and lowering systems to get the stretcher down safely. At Arco Professional Safety Services, Mike looks after the equipment department and advises on working at height and rescue techniques. Mike, comments: “Industrial rope access techniques were born from the sports of caving and climbing. This means a lot of the equipment is the same in industry and rescue, helping me to keep people safer at work and underground.”

Arco Professional Safety Services provide consultancy, training, services and equipment to manage the most complex and high-risk, high-hazard scenarios. Specialising in working at height, confined spaces and respiratory management, expert knowledge and experience mean the team can deliver solutions for situations with the highest risk of serious injury or irreversible damage to health.

For more information about the range of products and services provided by Arco Professional Safety Services, visit www.arcoservices.co.uk.

Photo caption: Image is for representation purposes only (cave rescue training exercise)