News

Safety help

Safety help

We love speaking to people in the health and safety industry about what they do and how they can help businesses meet the health and safety requirements. This month we have been speaking to Graham and Michelle from Terrain and asked them to let us know a little bit about their company. 

"Terrain provides high-quality Health and Safety support for businesses across Europe – from major household names to small enterprises. Whether you decide to outsource your whole health & safety provision to us, usually resulting in considerable cost savings, or just engage us to complete specific requirements, you can rely on expert support to help you get on with what you do best – running your business.

We don’t work like many so-called expert providers, who merely sell you a standard pack of documents (which you could have probably found yourself on the internet)! and a couple of visits from a consultant who doesn’t really understand your business. We are true business partners – the service you receive will be unique to the needs of your company, delivered by a qualified practitioner and flexible enough to grow and change as your business develops. Every company is different – Terrain HR recognizes your individual requirements and delivers honest solutions to help your business thrive.

We feature a fixed-fee, expert service that makes budgeting easy, and helps our clients to achieve their legal responsibilities simply and without fuss. Working as your business partner, Terrain will analyse your responsibilities and requirements and provide everything you need to meet the demands of the law in a commercial and understandable way. You don’t have to do it yourself – we can make it easy!

Your own qualified Health & Safety experts
Telephone and e-mail advice on tap
Bespoke documents
Provision of a Competent Person (as required by law)
Initial audit and personalised Action Plans"

If you require any more information please visit their website Terrain. 

Safety help

Health and safety fails

Health and safety fails

I see so many health and safety fail pictures on the internet whether it be through Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn but I didn't expect to actually take a photograph myself of one whilst soaking up the sun on holiday in Lanzarote!

2 maintenance men standing on the same wooden ladder (that didn't look particularly safe in the first place!) in the middle of a man made beach putting up coloured lights both with a hammer in hand. I'm not sure if it's clear enough in the picture but on the right hand side there is an electrical cable dangling into the water. Not only that, but there were kayaks and paddle boards being used by the holidaymakers, many of whom were kids, it was a miracle that no one collided with these men whilst on their dodgy ladder. The consequences could have been catastrophic!

That said! The coloured lights did look great when they were up!

Health and safety fails

Fire risk

Fire risk assessments from Firesafe-uk.com - Jack Burton

At MJN Safety Signs Ltd, we always love speaking to other companies within the health and safety industry whether it be fire equipment suppliers, health and safety training providers or fire risk assessors.

This week we have been chatting to Jack Burton about 'Risk Assessments' and what services his company can offer. Here is what he has to say; 

"Firesafe-uk.com ensures organisations remain compliant with the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005. Our Fire Risk Assessments comprise of a survey or your premises, the production of a comprehensive fire risk assessment of all the relevant areas of compliance, a list of significant findings and a action plan. Almost all organisations will have areas of non compliance, which can potentially result in a prosecution from your local fire authority.

All our consultants are former local authority fire safety officers and have experience of enforcing the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety order 2005 in all types of premises.

No organisation is exempt or too small. Ensure the reputation of your organisation and the risk of prosecution remains intact.

Firesafe-uk.com provides all the necessary protective and preventative services to do with any fire safety or fire related matter.

Training is also an essential part of compliance. We offer training in fire safety, fire marshal, first aid, manual handling, moving and handling. Emergency action plan training, Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPS), Progressing Horizontal Evacuation (PHE) and Vertical Evacuation (VE).

The areas we cover are UK nationwide.
In addition overseas projects would be considered.

Visit our website at Firesafe-uk.com and see our comprehensive services or you can contact us on 07730602243.'

Do not forget that once you have had your fire risk assessments if you find you need any health and safety signs then we can help you with those. We have all the typical fire exit signage, fire door signage, fire extinguisher ID signs, fire call point signs, fire action notices and more. We can offer them in several materials options and if you are wanting a more prestige and more aesthetically pleasing look to blend in with the surroundings then that's no problem as we have brushed brass and brushed silver effect signage which will do just the trick and these come rigid as standard and usually with an adhesive backing for easy fixing.

If it's fire equipment you need then we work with a number of fire protection companies so we can certainly point you in the right direction so that you can ensure that you have all the necessary fire equipment in place too. 

It is so important to remember that safety is paramount! Do your staff know where the exits are and what to do in an emergency? Have you got working and fully serviced fire extinguishers, fire doors and other fire protection equipment in place?  Are all the fire exits clear from obstructions in case of an emergency? Making sure that your building has all the correct signage and equipment is key! 

Fire risk assessments

Safety

Safety - Simon from Rhino Safety in Cheshire has been advising us on 'Fee For Intervention'.

Fee For Intervention (FFI), three ominous words that have recently appeared from the HSE, concerning the charges that will be imposed on employers should the HSE have cause to intervene in a business regarding Health and Safety conduct. There are lots of theories concerning the application of FFI which I hope this article will address.

The Fee For Intervention (FFI) cost recovery scheme came into effect on 1st October 2012, (under regulations 23 -25 of the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012). These Regulations place a duty on the HSE to recover costs for carrying out regulatory functions from those found to be in Material Breach of Health and Safety Law.

Duty Holders who are compliant with the law, or where a breach is deemed not Material, will not be charged FFI for actions the HSE Inspector suggests.

A Material Breach is defined, when in the opinion of the HSE Inspector there is or has been a contravention of Health and Safety Law that requires them to issue a ‘notice in writing’ of that opinion to the Duty Holder.

A Written notification from an HSE Inspector may be ‘Notification of Contravention’, an ‘Improvement or Prohibition Notice’, or a Prosecution and must include the following information:

• The law that the Inspector’s opinion relates to
• The reasons for their opinion 
• Notification that a fee is payable to HSE.

The Other question is; Who does FFI apply to? Put simply FFI applies to Duty Holders where the HSE are the enforcing authority, this includes: Employers, Self-Employed persons who put others at risk (i.e. employees or members of the public and some individuals acting in a capacity other than as an employee, (e.g. partners). It includes:

• Public and Limited Companies
• General, Limited and Limited Liability Partnerships
• Crown and Public bodies

The hourly rate (the fee payable) by Duty Holders, found to be in Material Breach of the law is £124 per hour. The total amount to be recovered is be based on the amount of time it takes HSE Inspector to identify and conclude their regulatory action, in relation to the material breach (including associated office work), multiplied by the relevant hourly rate (including part hours).

The HSE is responsible for the administration of the FFI scheme, including issuing invoices and, if where required, debt recovery. Invoices include a breakdown of what occurred, the time taken to remedy and a breakdown of the activities or services for which costs can be recovered for each member of HSE staff involved.

FFI in many ways was designed to promote Health and Safety in the Workplace, and possibly make an example of those breaching the law. Have you reviewed your current procedures) are changes required to satisfy the Inspectors scrutiny? It may be time to be prudent and conduct a thorough assessment of your working procedures, to enable you to identify any actions or inactions that may be or become problematic and to address them promptly.

Parking pet hates!

One of my pet hates is people using disabled bays and mother and toddler spaces when they clearly don't qualify for them. I was never really aware of the problem before I had children. It is really unfair that those who are entitled to use these spaces have to suffer so that some able bodied person doesn't have to walk the extra mile so as not to get wet etc.

About 6 years ago I was out shopping with my mum and my son (who was 2), being eight months pregnant with my second child, we kept circling around looking for a mother and toddler space. Firstly so that I could open the door wide enough to get my child out of the car and also so that I could get my big 'pregnant belly' out. We saw this middle aged woman returning to her car minus a child. Quick as a flash my mum was out of the car and knocking on her window. I heard her ask where her child was and advised that it was a mother and toddler space only. The lady apologised and I seriously doubt she will repeat her actions again. Don't get me wrong I don't advocate you approach anyone as in this day and age you don't know how you will be received.

Signs are there for a reason not just for show. They are to HELP you whether it is to direct you somewhere or to explain what something is for . You wouldn't go up a one way street on purpose so why would you abuse a parking space? At MJN Safety Signs Ltd we can customise signs or provide you with suitable parking signs to suit and our customer service is second to none. WE LIKE TO BE SEEN and hopefully parkers will take note Happy Driving!

Training

Training

At MJN Safety Signs we always like to chat to others within the health and safety sector. We are regularly in contact with fire equipment providers, health and safety specialists, fire risk assessors, facility management companies,  health and safety training providers, fire safety managers, safety compliance officers and many more.

This month we have been speaking to Matthew from M.R Safety Training who can help with training for first aid, food safety, COSHH, asbestos and more across a number of industries. We have asked them to tell us about their business as well as let us know about all the services that they have on offer so that we can share this with you. 

'M.R. Safety Training is a family run business based in Morley, Leeds, West Yorkshire. We provide all matters of safety training to SME's, Hotels, Restaurants, Schools, Nurseries and the voluntary sector.

We provide on site courses, and e-learning courses in First Aid, Food Safety, Health & Safety, COSHH, Asbestos, and Fire Safety all throughout the Yorkshire area.

M.R. Safety Training is regulated by numerous OFQUAL approved awarding bodies including CIEH and HABC offering high quality national accredited courses through the week and at weekends.'

To find out more and also if you would like any help please do not hesitate to contact us on:
Telephone : 0113 210 0600
Email : info@mrsafetytraining.com
Website : www.mrsafetytraining.com

First aid is such an important skill to have and most businesses have at least one nominated first aider/first aiders. Do your employees know who the trained first aider/aiders are? If not please ensure that they do. Do your employess know where the first aid kit is? If any of your staff need to be first aid trained and are based in Yorkshire then be sure to get in touch with M.R Safety Training as they can certainly help. If you are looking for first aid training out with Yorkshire then please make contact with us and we can point you in the right direction.

At MJN Safety Signs Ltd we offer signage that can be put up on the wall or notice boards advising on who the first aider is, what to do in an emergency, who the first aid marshalls are and where the first aid kit can be found. These are simple but effective signs that are very important to display.

Another thing to be aware of is that products in first aid kits can go out of date very quickly so it is so important to check them every so often particularly bandages, plasters and the antiseptic wipes and replenish them regularly. Whilst we do not offer first aid kits there are plenty of companies out there who do and we can always point you in the right direction for these too. Small first aid kits can usually be picked up in the supermarkets whilst larger kits for businesses can be picked up relatively cheaply online from any of the good stationary providers and even Amazon.

Training

Safety is a cheap and effective insurance policy!

Safety is a cheap and effective insurance policy!

Here at MJN Safety Signs Ltd we know how important it is to promote safety in the workplace. We have made sure that the signs we offer are competitive without compromising on quality. We have prestige signs for those that want to complement a more prestigious decor and surrounding. We also have self- adhesive through to heavy duty signs available in a variety of sizes. 

We have all the normal 'No smoking' and 'Warning signs' but if you need a sign such as 'site office', 'Ladies', we have them too! If you can't find what you need just contact us via Live Chat, email, the contact form or via phone. 

Don't forget ''Tomorrow - your reward for working safely today!'

Health and safety training in the construction industry. 

Have you heard of 'The Right Training Company'?

Hollie is here to tell us more about the current course available.

The Right Training Company Waterlooville are a health and safety provider, accredited by The British Safety Council, based near Portsmouth who run the Level 1 in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment, the course that is now one of the options required for construction workers who require a Green CSCS Labourers card.

One advantage is that we run a full day’s course in a compact 4 hour session, we achieve this by not taking a break every 10 minutes. We provide a high quality of training without any extra cost to our clients. A shorter course means less time off work for them, or their employees.

The four hour session includes everything the full day does but we keep it lively and interesting so time flies! All the trainers are CITB and British Safety Council qualified to deliver the course.

We currently run courses in our Waterlooville centre which run on a weekly basis from Monday-Saturday at various times to suit the candidates. Additionally we offer a ‘come to you service’ for your business. Please contact us for details. For more information please visit our website http://www.sitesafetycourse.com

Safe Workplace

Safe workplace - Do you need help with ensuring your business meets the health and safety requirements? We can help you with all your health and safety sign requirements. 

Whilst MJN Safety Signs can help you in terms of health and safety signs let us introduce you to our guest blogger this month Lorna from Safe Workplace 

Lorna from Safe Workplace has told us a little bit about her company and what they can offer your business. 

"Safe Workplace provides sensible and practical health and safety solutions to small and medium size businesses in London. We listen to our clients and explain in layman’s terms what should be in place and how improvements can be made to ensure safety and to demonstrate compliancy. We understand that employing a full-time competent person is not justifiable for a lot of companies so think of Safe Workplace as your one stop shop for all your health and safety related requirements."

If you wish to find out more please click on www.safeworkplacelondon.co.uk 

Safe workplace