Health & Safety - January 2012
Welcome to the latest edition of the health
& safety newsletter.
Featured articles
Health and Safety Executive Fee for Intervention Scheme (FFI)
to be implemented
The outcome of the consultation on the
FFI was presented to the HSE Board on 7 December 2011 and makes
interesting reading.
The dangers posed to pedestrians by fork lift truck
operations
Every year, five to ten Britons are killed by fork lift trucks,
and around four hundred are hospitalised with major injuries
including amputations and crushing. Over a thousand more suffer
accidents requiring at least three days’ recovery time. The FLTA report stated that one in twelve UK
employees regularly works near fork lift trucks but fewer than half
of these have received the minimum recommended training for their
job. Furthermore, approximately two-thirds of those injured were on
foot.
Nail Gun Safety
Recently there was a report of a builder in Billericay being
shot in the back by a six inch nail when a nail gun went off
accidently. Such incidents are not regularly reported and
there is no specific HSE guidance on safe methods of work involving
nail guns. Perhaps our workers are
more fortunate than those in the USA where there are in excess of
30,000 hospital visits each year as a result of nail gun accidents,
over half being injuries to the hands.
The dangers involved in basement construction highlighted
HSE Inspectors visited 109 sites in four
London boroughs, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington &
Chelsea, Westminster and Wandsworth, on 15 and 16 November 2011.
They took enforcement action at 40 sites (37 per cent), serving a
total of 78 notices. Of these, four sites were closed due to
the dangerous practices found. Typical
breaches of safety regulation were risks to workers falling from
height due to unfenced excavations or unprotected floor openings,
unsupported excavation walls and a lack of sanitary facilities for
employees.