User Safety Notice

To all MSA Fall Protection Customers

MSA is issuing this User Safety Notice to inform you that MSA has received field reports of a limited number of Latchways Standard Self-Retracting Lifelines (SRL) in which some internal bolts came loose. MSA has not received any reports of injuries associated with this condition. However, we are requesting that you perform the actions outlined in this notice.
Over time, the loose bolts will be identifiable by the user as extraction of the cable from the SRL housing will no longer be possible. However, MSA’s investigation has determined that this may be preceded by a window of time in which a fall may not be arrested.
Our investigation has determined that a small percentage of the part

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REQUEST FOR INSPECTION FOR ROLLNLOCK

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Background information Safety Alert Lessons Learnt Investigation
 

• A team of three operatives were working at a height of approximately 7-8 metres underneath a viaduct.

• The operatives were competent trained rope access personnel, working from a steel cable. Each operative was attached via a harness whilst installing brackets for ducting beneath the viaduct.

• One end of the cable was anchored using a carabiner that was calculated and adjusted to hold the correct weight. • The carabiner failed whilst the operatives were working causing them to fall to the ground.

• One operative landed in the canal, one suffered a broken ankle and one had a broken wrist and femur.

• All involved (including all site personal and family members) have been offered support from the contractor and Highways England. Failure of High Access Equipment 24 August 2021 HEi266

Investigation

• A rope specialist has been brought in to carry out a full investigation and to help us understand why the carabiner failed and help improve future operations that are conducted within the same way.

• Highways England are working closely with the contractor and HSE to establish all the facts and offer support where necessary.

• The investigation is ongoing and lessons learnt will be shared once all information is gathered.

Remember

• Follow an approved Code of Practice for rope working (in this case IARTA).

• When working on high level access equipment, ensure that a specialist is on hand to;

• Plan the works thoroughly and note within the RAMS. Ask your ropes specialist to review the RAMS paying particular attention to the provision of a separate safety line for each operative.

• Manage the works continually to follow the RAMS, any changes to be signed off by a supervisor.

• Monitor – ensure correct supervision of the job throughout the process.

• Assurance and audit systems – reviewed to obtain positive affirmation that that current risk assessments, procedures and processes are being followed correctly

Don’t Walk By

• If something doesn’t look right, or feel right, or you believe there may be a different /better way to do something, stop the job and speak up.

Download pdf of article here

Article taken from The Highways Safety Hub

News Originally Released in March 2021

Mental Health Matters: Ten Recommendations to Help Managers Tackle Employee Stress

Mental distress across the nation is at an all-time high compared to pre-pandemic levels.[1] As individuals face grief, forced isolation, an economic slump and unfamiliar ways of working, organisations must make decisions that will strengthen, rather than harm, an already vulnerable workforce. Beyond the human cost, better mental health support in the workplace can save UK businesses up to £8 billion per year.[2] Arco Professional Safety Services helps businesses with mental health and wellbeing training, strategies, policy development and implementation. The safety expert is sharing a ten-point action plan to help managers support and improve mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

How much stress a team faces is dependent on factors such as resource availability, workload, corporate culture and the strength of their support system. Managers are ideally placed to help handle employee stress as they have a greater understanding of the people in their team, their roles and the stress risk factors. In as little as a day, Arco Professional Safety Services can help managers acquire the knowledge and confidence to manage mental wellbeing proactively. As part of its ‘Stress and Mental Wellbeing Training for Managers’ course, the safety expert recommends a ten-point action plan that can help managers support their teams more effectively. Key actions include:

• Move to a proactive culture rather than a reactive culture by having a company Wellbeing Strategy
• Utilise mental health and wellbeing policies, become familiar with internal processes and documents around this topic and make them easily accessible using company intranet links to enable fast access
• Identify and manage issues that are likely to cause stress before they become problematic and intervene immediately where stress or mental ill-health is identified, establishing whether the cause of stress is related to work, home or a combination of both
• If a person is absent due to ill-health, agree on a method and frequency of contact, discuss what she/he is comfortable speaking about, including what should be kept confidential, then actively engage as agreed
• Avoid giving advice; give support instead. Colleagues need to feel that they are being taken seriously, are listened to and supported.  Managers shouldn’t assume that they know how their employees feel; instead, they should ask how they feel.  If managers do not feel able to speak with their employees, it is important that they find someone who can, such as a mental health first aider
• Carry out Stress Risk Assessments based on the Health & Safety Executive’s (HSE) Stress Management Standards (HSG218) to establish and resolve the causes of stress in the workplace and use the HSE’s ‘Talking Toolkit’ to engage with individuals about the topic and make reasonable adjustments
• For non-work-related stress, managers can use a coaching approach (ask rather than tell) to help employees identify what is causing their stress, why it’s stressful to them, how they can tackle it and where they can go for help and support
• Encourage employees to complete a Wellness Action Plan (WAP), which can be used to promote wellness in already healthy employees and help those suffering or returning from a mental ill-health absence
• Reference any internal support services offered, such as employee assistance programmes, HR, Occupational Health ‘phone lines, websites or mental health first aid functions and, also, external support including websites, helplines and support groups
• Utilise phased returns, removal and gradual re-introduction of job-role elements; providing mentors and regular check-ins can all help to prevent relapse and increase the likelihood of a faster and full recovery

Mark Nixon, Senior Health, Safety and Wellbeing Consultant and Trainer at Arco Professional Safety Services, says, “I have been a passionate Occupational Health and Safety Professional since 1995, but something changed five years ago. I was fortunate enough to be able to stop a young individual from committing suicide. On hearing the phrase “you saved my life” I became instantly dedicated to improving my knowledge around the wellbeing and mental health of people, particularly the employees in our own and our clients’ organisations. I now deliver Arco’s suite of courses to clients and instruct the MHFA 2 Day Adult Mental Health First Aid course, the feedback for which is breathtakingly positive. Quite simply, these courses change lives and save lives.”

With the right support in place, positive mental health and wellbeing can be sustained. Arco Professional Safety Services offers specialist courses including Mental Health First Aid, Mental Wellbeing Awareness and Stress and Mental Wellbeing for Managers. Its highly experienced trainers can help build bespoke programmes to meet client needs, whether that means delivering training on the client’s site or at one of its national safety centres. The expert in safety can also provide training online via its specialist video conference service developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure businesses can continue training while maintaining social distancing.

For more information on the mental health and wellbeing training courses available, visit the dedicated course finder at Arco Professional Safety Services. Alternatively, to contact Arco Professional Safety Services call 0330 390 0822 or email info@arcoservices.co.uk.

Sources:

[1] https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/mind-warns-of-second-pandemic-as-it-reveals-more-people-in-mental-health-crisis-than-ever-recorded-and-helpline-calls-soar/

2 https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics/mental-health-statistics-mental-health-work

Article Originally Released in October 2020

Ben Haughton, technical director at Arco Professional Safety Services, says skills fade may lead to increased risks to health and safety in high risk industries

Everyone has a fundamental human right to go to work each day and come home to their loved ones safely. Nonetheless, statistics show that in the last year the Construction Industry was hardest hit by fatal injuries (40), followed by Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (20) and Manufacturing (15)¹. This in a year of normal work activity.

Ben Haughton, technical director at Arco Professional Safety Services, speaks out about the escalating dangers industries may face as businesses deal with the ongoing fall-out of COVID-19.
 

Which industries are in danger of becoming more susceptible to workplace risks?

Between April and June this year alone, over 32 million working days were lost to COVID-19 related absences². In addition, redundancies and fluctuating guidelines have made it increasingly difficult for organisations to provide their workers with training. Movement restrictions, company policies and lockdown have all contributed to a reduction of training over the summer months.

Businesses are doing their best to catch up but with the threat of a second wave and tighter restrictions coming into force, it is hard to see how they will keep up with training requirements. Reduced training and a reduction in task based activity (those who have extended time in furlough) will result in skills fade. The possible consequences of this in the high risk industries of confined spaces and working at height are plain. If we are to maintain skill levels in industry, we need to look at other ways of achieving it.
 

How can businesses manage rising threats to safety?

Alongside contingency plans and ‘back to work’ responses, health and safety training must be boosted to ensure that a restructured workforce can cope with high-risk environments and inevitable skill gaps that can occur.

It’s vital that this training provides workers with the right balance of knowledge and practical skills to be able to deliver their work safely. It is all too tempting for companies to provide their workers with theory only training when social distancing and movement restrictions are in place however the shortfall in practical skills could have severe consequences.

This is not to say that there is no place for training in the virtual world, there is a balance to be struck where it is safe to do so. The workforce needs the confidence to manage their day-to-day tasks safely but also not to be exposed to the increasing risk of contracting COVID-19 by receiving training in the normal classroom setting. We’ve launched several video conference courses and we are developing VR tools to help organisations keep its workforce safe whilst also maintaining the recommended social distances during COVID-19.

How has COVID-19 impacted training centres?

We understand that managing health and safety risks can be complicated, time-consuming and demand a level of technical expertise – and resources – that businesses may not have internally.  COVID-19 shouldn’t stop organisations reaching out for help, equally it doesn’t mean that training should stop. Providing practical skills is essential in high-risk industries and so we have adapted our centres to provide attendees with a safe learning environment and the reassurance they need to join critical training programmes.

We’ve introduced new precautions at all our training centres, such as pre-start COVID questionnaires, non-contact body temperature checks, staggered break times to minimise unnecessary people movement and mixing and the use of larger rooms equipped with enclosure screens to ensure adequate social distancing. Where the physical element is indispensable, in height rescue training, for example, we can still find ways to cut proximity and limit the time spent in close contact with trainers.

As a result of the pandemic has there been anything you’ve had to do differently?

There has been a stark increase in demand for all types of Personal Protective Equipment for healthcare workers and all first line Covid-19 responders, with a particular focus on Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE). Working with this equipment requires face fit testing and for many, this will be a new procedure, but a critical one, as research has found mask protection can significantly improve with fit-testing and one-to-one training on mask use, providing all correct procedures have been adhered to.³

In normal circumstances our national network of face fit test providers can deliver testing at an organisation's site, dramatically reducing the amount of employee down time. However, during the current situation, our team has also been focussed on supporting the NHS, first line responders and other key workers, providing face fit testing, whilst adhering to social distancing and the revised HSE guidelines for providing this service.

We conduct two forms of face fit testing, qualitative and quantitative, both provide an indication on whether a fit has been achieved, the quantitative test being the more sensitive of the two tests. Matching an individual’s face shape with a compatible mask and  teaching wearers how to ensure a tight seal is achieved is significantly helping to protect frontline workers during this period. We are also looking to utilise some of our 44 retail stores as drop-in clinics to support care workers, dentists, ambulance crews etc with face-fit testing.  

[i] For further information, visit https://www.arcoservices.co.uk/

The director of a scaffolding firm has been handed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after an employee sustained fatal head injuries when the structure he was working on collapsed.

On 16 February 2017, two operatives were working for Wembley Scaffolding Services, dismantling a structure on Cricklewood Broadway, London. The scaffold collapsed and one of the men fell least five metres onto the concrete pavement below. He died from his injuries a few weeks later.

The firm's director, Sean Chapple, had failed to carry out a suitable risk assessment, plan the work and provide a design for erection and dismantling of the scaffold, Southwark Crown Court was told.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigators found that Chapple himself was not knowledgeable about the measures required to do this without putting people at risk and therefore didn’t follow the correct measures to ensure safe erection and dismantling of the scaffold.

'THE CASE HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING INDUSTRY GUIDANCE IN ORDER TO DESIGN AND ERECT SCAFFOLDING IN A SAFE MANNER'

HSE inspector Saif Deen said the case highlights the importance of following industry guidance in order to design and erect scaffolding in a safe manner, to prevent risk to workers using the scaffold. 'The death could have been prevented had the employer acted to identify and manage the risks involved, and to put a safe system of work in place,' Saif added.

Chapple admitted breaching Regulation 8(2)(ii) of the Work at Height Regulations; Sections 33(1)(a) and 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act; and Section 33(2) and Schedule 3A to the Act [as amended by Section 1 of the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008]. He was fined £1000, received a 12-week prison sentence suspended for one year and was ordered to pay costs of £11,000.

Wembley Scaffolding Services pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(3)(b) and 8(b)ii of the Work at Height Regulations and Section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The company was fined £7860 and ordered to pay costs of £8940.

SOURCE

In 2017/18, the HSE released its findings summarising statistics surrounding health and safety at work. While the report outlined a variety of insightful statistics, one of the most shocking relates to the locations in which workplace fatalities take place. Indeed, while accidents happen within different industries throughout the UK, the HSE’s research found that fatalities are more likely to happen in more places than others.

In fact, based on UK averages, workers are more likely to die due to an incident in the workplace in Wales than any other part of the UK, with Scotland coming in at a close second. On the other hand, research has shown that people that live and work in the South East of England are least likely to die due to an accident at work.

5 most common causes of work-based fatalities in the UK across the 2017/18 period:

• Falls from a height (31%);

• Struck by a moving vehicle (23%);

• Struck by a moving object (20.3%);

• Trapped by something collapsing/overturning (14.2%);

• Contact with moving machinery (11.5%).

Asbestos

Figures indicate that, on average, every 40 minutes someone in the UK dies from lung disease that can be linked to past workplace exposure. Shockingly, 20% of annual lung disease deaths occur as a direct result of Asbestos-related lung cancer. Although awareness has been introduced as a key part of workplace health and safety, Asbestos related fatalities still account for a high percentage of work-related deaths.

Research also found a trend regarding work-related fatalities based on age. As to be expected, the older you are, the more likely you are to have an accident in the workplace. Specifically, figures indicate a significant increase in workplace fatalities from the age of 35, with the likelihood increasing up until retirement age, where workers who are 65 and over are 6x more likely to suffer from a fatal injury.

The report also found that men are 23 times more likely to die in the workplace than women. While the cause of the findings could be attributed to the fact that men statistically occupy more physically intensive occupations (including construction and off-shore engineering) data was drawn from a wide array of occupations in which women also work in high volume. As a result, the statistic suggests that, on average, men are more at risk of suffering a fatal workplace injury across any industry or sector.

In response to the rate of workplace fatalities, the UK government introduced increasingly legislation in late 2015/2016 in an effort to take a hard line against reduce health and safety violations and ensure that organisations adopt a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to health and safety.

Sentencing guidelines

As a result, for cases tried in a magistrates court organisations can be expected to pay anywhere between £5,000 to £20,000. However, for cases that are tried in the Crown Court, fines are unlimited. Indeed, the new sentencing guidelines have caused the total amount in fines skyrocketed from around £40 million to £72 million in 2016/17.

Increasing again to around £73 million in 2017/18.

See this infographic for more information.

Source

Carl Ward speaks about his experiences with his own mental ill health in ‘Mind Matters’, a series of mental health videos from SHP and The Healthy Work Company.

Mind Matters – Becoming a Mental Health First Aider.

Over the next few weeks, SHP and The Healthy Work Company will be publishing a series of videos featuring people speaking candidly about their personal experiences with mental health.

In the third of the series Carl Ward, Company Director at SHAW Balance Ltd, discusses his experiences with his own mental ill health.

Carl speaks about becoming a Mental Health First Aider, what it taught him about himself, how mental health was viewed in his workplace and how his experiences with mental ill health have changed him.

“I became a Mental Health First Aider three years ago,” Carl told The Healthy Work Company’s Heather Beach, “and during that course we were asked to listen non-judgmentally. After the first day I went back to my hotel room and I thought, how could I listen to somebody non-judgementally about mental if I didn’t fully understand what had happened to me emotionally, mentally and physically over the last five years?”

Carl described the experience as a real eye-opener.

When He became a Mental Health First Aider, Carl was a project manager in the construction industry and said that he found the pressure and stress was masking many other issues and emotions from his home life.

“The first thing that I started to do differently was to talk more about my emotions and feelings. I didn’t get any medical help as such. I found more relief and comfort by talking to friends and family.”

When speaking about how metal health was viewed at his work at the time, Carl said: “The construction industry is such a masculine environment, there is a ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ attitude. It’s embarrassing for people, some find it very embarrassing to talk about emotions.

“If I were to go back into that position as a project manager in the construction industry, I would let go of my emotions a lot quicker,” he added.

Click the video to be directed to YouTube

Article Source **

Become a Mental Health First Aider

We have places available for our Mental Health First Aid course on 16th – 17th April. This is a 2 day internationally recognised course is designed to teach people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis.

Details:

• Date: 16th – 17th April.
• Place: Our Enfield location
• Price: £345pp (+ VAT)
• Call 01482 611769 for more details and to book!
• Email info@arcoservices.co.uk

A property management consultancy and an asbestos surveying company have been fined a total of £13,200 after an inadequate refurbishment and demolition survey was provided for a major refurbishment project that included partial demolition.

Dudley Magistrates’ Court was told how the survey undertaken by Home Inspectors Southern Limited failed to identify asbestos cement and asbestos insulating board (AIB) containing Chrysotile and Amosite asbestos.

The HSE’s investigation revealed that the surveyor had no training in asbestos surveying or previous work experience with a suitably qualified person or accredited organisation. The survey also incorrectly advised that a non-licensed contractor could be engaged to remove the large quantity of AIB identified.

Home Inspectors Southern Limited was not asked for any information by facilities management company Vital Property Solutions Limited to demonstrate their skills, knowledge, experience and training relating to asbestos surveying prior to the job.

The charges and fines were as follows:

Vital Property Solutions Limited of Desborough Street, High Wycombe pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £8,400 and ordered to pay costs of £929.67.

Home Inspectors Southern Limited of Hawthorn Close, Brighton pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £4,800 and ordered to pay costs of £929.67.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Edward Fryer said:

“Asbestos surveyors have a duty of care to those persons who use the information they provide. The survey missed a significant amount of asbestos contaminated materials (ACMs) thus increasing the risk to workers, who would be disturbing the fabric of the buildings during the refurbishment/demolition project.

“The risk arises from workers unknowingly working on ACM, and not taking effective precautions to prevent exposure and spread of asbestos fibres. Where surveyors fall well short of the standard then HSE will take robust action.”

Asbestos Awareness online

• Venue: Online
• Course code: OLAA
• Course duration: 1 – 2 hours
• Course Audience: All levels of employees who may undertake or plan work that may be carried out in buildings and premises. This will also be beneficial for personnel responsible for the management of buildings and premises.
• Instructor student ratio: N/A

Course Aim

This course is specifically designed to help organisations and individuals meet their legal obligation to train employees whose work could lead to exposure to asbestos containing materials (ACMs). The regulations require that employers must ensure employees have undergone suitable asbestos awareness training so that they are aware of the potential dangers they may face and the procedures they must follow regarding ACMs.