2. 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).
3. Health and Safety at ACCROSS
In 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
4. Accross Health and safety policy
Is 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
5. 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
6. 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.
7. Responsibility – employees
Your 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
8. Employee responsibilities
Employees 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
9. Rights – employees
It 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
10. ACCROSS employee concerns
If 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
11. 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
12. 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
13. Areas where additional regulations apply
In 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
14. 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
15. Particular areas of Health and Safety
Hazardous
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
16. Safety issues
in 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.
17. Terminology
Health
• 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,
18. First aid / accident book
Records 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
19. 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.
20. 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 :
First Aid at Work (FAW)
issued by a training
organisation approved
by the HSE
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
21. 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 services A 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.
22. Health and Safety Committee
Accross 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
23. Health and Safety benefits
A safe and healthy workplace will create many benefits:
Good employee
morale