We are currently taking bookings for the above course, which we will be running via ‘Zoom’ on 31 March 2021.
If you wish to undertake this course, please contact us and we will take your booking.
We are currently taking bookings for the above course, which we will be running via ‘Zoom’ on 31 March 2021.
If you wish to undertake this course, please contact us and we will take your booking.
In light of the ever-increasing demand for virtual health and safety training courses, we are happy to say that we can now oblige.
All of our training courses, from 90-minute health and safety law updates to 10-day NEBOSH Certificates can now be taught virtually, online. If you prefer, we can still visit your workplace, but here are some of the main reasons to ‘go virtual’:
There’s never been a better time to get your staff trained, so get in touch today to arrange your virtual health and safety training courses with Griffin.
The 18th of January. Not a very special date; it’s in the middle of the first month of the year and isn’t particularly remarkable, apart from being renowned as the year’s most depressing day – Blue Monday.
‘Blue Monday’ as this third Monday in January has become known is so-called because it falls a couple of weeks after most people have returned to work after the Christmas break, yet is still just under 2 weeks from most people’s payday. Having probably spent a bit too much over the Christmas period, many people are feeling a bit of financial strain and may be in some debt – it’s a case of “Too much month at the end of their money.” The weather is dull and dismal; nights are long, days are short. Many people go to work and return home in the dark, never seeing the sun’s rays. Opportunities for outdoor exercise are limited.
On top of all that, we are in the grip of a global pandemic that has caused worry for millions – loved ones may be at risk, the effects of social isolation and reduced income all play their part in adding to the stresses that people may feel.
Taken together, all of these factors add up to making this time of year a time when mental health problems may be noticed more acutely and when people who have just about been able to cope really can show more obvious signs of poor mental health. This is true of any year, but is even more relevant this year with the added ‘Covid factor.’
It’s therefore all the more important to look after one’s own mental health, as well as looking out for that of colleagues, friends and family.
So here are our 5 top tips to think about using to try and help manage your mental health, not just tomorrow but throughout the rest of these winter months and beyond:
As the great Dr Frasier Craine always said at the end of his radio programme, “Here’s wishing you all good mental health.”
The current global pandemic has had a huge impact on organisations of all types. As a result, more and more employers will need training in how to assess the risks of Coronavirus. To help with this, and to help employers to meet their general duties to control risks from all hazardous substances, we have launched our new one-day CoSHH Assessment course.
Our one-day ‘CoSHH Assessment‘ course is designed to cover the essential requirements of these important Regulations in an accessible, jargon-free way. It is suitable for anybody who may be exposed to chemical or biological agents in the workplace.
Anyone who might be responsible for ensuring that workers are not harmed by chemicals or biological agents (including coronavirus) will benefit from attending this course. You will cover:
Why not contact us today to make a booking? Have questions? Call us and we’ll be happy to answer.
We have had a lot of enquiries about running a course on the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, and we’re happy to oblige!
Our one-day ‘CDM Awareness‘ course is designed to cover the essential requirements of these important Regulations in an accessible, jargon-free style. It is suitable for any organisation that is planning to build or demolish a structure, or to alter it, repair it, redecorate or maintain it.
Anyone who will be taking on the role of client, client representative, designer or contractor will benefit from attending this course. You will cover:
Why not contact us today to make a booking? Have questions? Call us and we’ll be happy to answer.
The subject of Personal Protective Equipment (‘PPE’) has rarely been off our TV screens in the past few weeks. The apparent problems with supplying the right amount of suitable PPE to protect NHS staff and others from the Covid-19 virus have been causing much debate, some of which has been ill-informed. This brief article explains the facts about PPE.
Firstly, it’s worth remembering that the use of PPE is seen as a last resort and should only be considered where it is not practical to control risks in other, more effective, ways.
The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 require employers (such as NHS Trusts) to provide suitable PPE to those who may be exposed to risks to their health or safety while at work (a similar duty applies to the self-employed, who need to ensure they give themselves the right equipment too). Employers must not charge employees for PPE.
‘Suitable PPE’ is that which:
An assessment must therefore be made so that the right equipment is provided.
If PPE is considered necessary, the employer will have to make sure that there is enough to go around. They will also need to have spares for replacement when PPE is damaged or wears out. However, risk assessments need only consider reasonably foreseeable risks.
As I understand it, the current crisis with Covid-19 was unforeseen; nobody will have stockpiled PPE “just in case”. Besides, PPE has a shelf life so there would be a lot of wastage if items were kept in stock unnecessarily. There was probably enough PPE in stock at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak to cater for normal requirements, which is all that is required. Of course, if an employer failed to have enough PPE for normal use then they will have been committing an offence.
Where several items of PPE need to be worn together, they must be compatible with each other. For example, respiratory protection and eye protection need to be compatible; one item must not conflict with the other in such a way as to make it ineffective. The employer will need to take care to purchase items that work together and don’t conflict.
Employers (and self-employed people) need to make an assessment to check that PPE will be suitable; this must be done before choosing what to provide.
Reference to ‘appropriate PPE’ in a general risk assessment is unlikely to be enough. The employer will need to show that they gave proper consideration to exactly what PPE would be suitable for the risk and the working environment. This means specifying exactly what is to be provided so that there can be no confusion when PPE is purchased.
Employers need to make sure that PPE is maintained, replaced and cleaned as appropriate. For non-disposable items, the user can do simple maintenance, such as cleaning. The employer still needs to ensure that this gets done.
Employers need to provide suitable storage for PPE when it’s not in use. This helps to protect PPE from damage and reduces the chances of cross-contamination. ‘Suitable storage’ might be a bag, a box or a locker; it won’t be good enough to simply hang the PPE up where it may be contaminated when not being worn.
Employers need to ensure that their employees know:
Use of PPE Employers need to take ‘reasonable steps’ to check that PPE is properly used.
Employees must:
So there you have it. The rules on PPE aren’t difficult or complicated. If you do need help completing your risk assessment, or if your staff need some training, why not contact us – we’ll be happy to help.
During the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of people are working from home, in isolation while others have been furloughed. This may present employers with new and different challenges regarding the mental health of workers, especially if those workers haven’t had much experience of working from home. These issues need to be assessed and managed.
This post looks at stress at work in this context and identifies some of the issues that employers now have to address.
The HSE has described stress as ‘the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed upon them’. One of the difficulties in managing stress is that it affects people differently – what may be stressful for one person may not be stressful for someone else. In these unprecedented times though, employers are entering uncharted territory where perhaps they have never before had to consider the stress that workers may experience when working from home, or when not working at all. It may be that we will see the rate of stress-related illness increase as the pandemic and associated lockdown continues, so here are some thoughts on what an employer will need to think about when assessing the risk.
What DEMANDS are being placed on workers? Have they had to face such demands before? It may be that workers are experiencing increasing demands due to reduced staff numbers, or perhaps they are having to deal with new things as their employer’s business tries to adapt to a new way of working. Some may relish the opportunity and enjoy the variety; others may feel acutely stressed and will need additional support.
How much CONTROL over their work do workers have? It seems to me that the nature of homeworking may place more control in the hands of the worker; this will be fine for some, but what about those who need a little more direction? Could they feel more stressed by having to take more control of the work that they are doing?
What degree of SUPPORT is the employer able to provide? If working remotely, it won’t be possible to seek help face-to-face, so employers will need to think about what mechanisms they might introduce to ensure that workers feel adequately supported in their work and have the right resources available. That goes for those on furlough too – it is important that they don’t feel forgotten by their employer.
What about RELATIONSHIPS? There is inevitably going to be less contact between workers. This may be a positive point in some cases, but where there is less contact could interdependence start to decline? What effect will that have on the effectiveness of the team? Could this, in turn, damage the business?
Will workers be asked to adjust to a new ROLE, or will their current role be changed? This can be stressful as it causes uncertainty and takes people away from what they are comfortable doing.
Finally, how is CHANGE being managed? We are currently undergoing massive change; with change comes uncertainty, and uncertainty causes fear and stress. So what is the employer doing to allay fears? This also applies to furloughed staff – those who may be off work with 80% salary may initially enjoy the break but will soon realise that their employer may go bust, in which case they will lose their income completely. What then? What is the employer doing to address this concern?
Employers will need to amend their risk assessment for stress at work to reflect these changed ways of working and the associated new stresses. A failure to do so could lead to problems down the line, with the spectre of legal proceedings for mental ill-health never far over the horizon.
Given the above, safety practitioners must think carefully about the advice they will be giving their employers, whilst employers must continue to take an active interest in their workers’ wellbeing, wherever they may be and whatever they may be doing.
Need some professional input on stress management? We will be happy to offer 15 minutes of free email or telephone advice. Contact us to arrange a chat.
Keeping the body physically fit and active is an important part of staying healthy and safe. If you’re at home, with no gym and finding it hard to get out at the moment, why not try the Griffin-approved 20-minute quick workout?
Easy: 10 Reps per exercise, 60 seconds rest between exercises. Moderate: 20 Reps per exercise, 45 seconds rest. Hard(ish): 30 Reps per exercise, 30 seconds rest.
#1 Jump squats (hands at floor level, explode upwards arms above head)
#2 Staggered push-ups (press up position one arm in front one behind, alternate on each rep to 30 Reps)
#3 Alternate split lunge jumps
#4 Press up claps
#5 Squats with a dumbbell held at chest height
#6 Snake push-ups
#7 Bench jumps (jump up onto bench/stair and back down to the floor, repeat)
#8 Burpees (my favourite!)
#9 Shoulder slings (using dumbbells/weight from floor level rise to overhead repeat N Reps each side)
#10 Scissor crunch (Seated on bench/step – legs out straight in front – crunch from this position)
Enjoy! Why not tweet @GriffinSafety and let us know how you got on? If you have any variations, we’d love to see them!
Stay safe and well.
Health and safety law requires employers to conduct certain types of equipment inspection or examination. Ordinarily, this isn’t a major issue – the employer just gets someone in to do it. But what about at the moment with much of the country in lockdown and strict ‘social distancing’ measures in place? What if it is currently not possible to get your usual engineer to visit? Your statutory duties are unaffected by the current crisis, so statutory inspections still need to be done. So what are your options?
‘Statutory inspections’ are needed on some types of equipment, such as lifting equipment, local exhaust ventilation systems, power presses and pressure systems. Examples of relevant inspections include the thorough examination under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, and pressure vessel examinations conducted in accordance with a written scheme of examination, as per the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000. These are often carried out by a contractor who will visit your site for the purpose.
At the moment, employers may find it hard to get hold of a suitably qualified engineer to conduct the inspection. This can impact the business if critical equipment is offline awaiting inspection – a situation that may continue for some time to come. This could tempt some employers to ignore inspection duties and to carry on regardless. But beware of that course of action – a failure to conduct a statutory inspection when one is due is an offence which may attract enforcement action, so I certainly would not advocate a ‘Carry on regardless’ approach. Having said that, these are extraordinary times so employers need to explore their options when managing this potentially tricky issue. Here are some of my thoughts:
Finally, always record a balanced, suitable and sufficient risk assessment. Doing so will help you to justify your decisions and may help to offset any blame that may later be laid at your door for a failure to conduct a ‘proper’ or ‘thorough’ statutory inspection. The risk assessment may act as mitigation provided the decision-making process has integrity and is properly thought through.
None of the above points are offered as perfect solutions. Instead, I have tried to suggest some courses of action that may help you to manage a difficult situation. Whatever you choose to do, it is important that your company is seen to be doing its best to comply with the law to the fullest extent possible in the circumstances.
Stay safe and well.
Andrew
Nothing in this brief post should be taken as legal advice – for that, you should always consult your lawyers.
The momentous changes that we have seen in workplaces up and down the land, and in society as a whole over recent weeks have got me thinking about some practical safety management issues and how to approach them in these extraordinary times. This is the first in a short series of articles addressing three areas – driving for work, statutory inspections and home working. I’d be interested in your views and invite you to share ideas on how your company has faced up to these unprecedented challenges.
First then, driving for work.
Let’s take a situation where 2-3 workers are sharing a van, like the garden centre ‘Luton’ that visited my neighbour’s house yesterday. Ordinarily, this is fine, of course. But what about at the moment? How can employers deal with this in a way that reduces the risk of infection between workers and between them and the public?
A risk assessment for normal driving operations and associated tasks should already have been done – if it hasn’t then an offence has already been committed. Until very recently, the risk of Covid-19 infection wasn’t reasonably foreseeable, but it is now. Therefore, existing risk assessments will need to be updated.
The written risk assessment will help the employer to find a reasonably practicable solution. If the worst happens and someone is harmed it will also help to insulate the employer against any criticism later on. This doesn’t mean that the employer will be let off just because they have a risk assessment; instead, they can argue in mitigation that they at least turned their minds to the risks.
When conducting or updating the risk assessment today, have in mind that someone may, in the future, look back at your decisions with the benefit of hindsight. This should inform your thinking and will act as a good sense check on the appropriateness of any decisions that are made. Always keep a written record.
The question arises as to whether an employer might be prosecuted if they fail to take reasonably practicable steps to safeguard their employees during this crisis. The answer is that it really depends on the circumstances. Technically speaking, a failure to take proper steps would be an offence, although that doesn’t automatically mean prosecution. The scale of the ‘offending’ might vary enormously, from a technical and forgivable oversight right through to blatant disregard of safe working practices.
For driving jobs, the first question to ask might be “Is the operation essential”? If it’s not and the employer insists that the work is still done and then a worker contracts Coronavirus, the employer may come in for some criticism, especially if no proper assessment has been made or precautions taken. But what of those driving jobs that are essential, what then?
Take police officers for example – is it essential that they drive for work purposes during the current epidemic? I would say that the answer is clearly ‘Yes’. So it wouldn’t be reasonably practicable to ban all police driving. Would it be reasonable to ‘single man’ vehicles in an effort to reduce infections between staff? Perhaps, but not in all cases. So where two or more workers have to share a vehicle, what reasonably practicable precautions might be taken? Here are some ideas:
Doubtless, there will be other ideas, but these might be appropriate in the right situation. The point is that the risk needs to be properly assessed and reasonable controls that recognise the risk but deal with it an appropriate way need to be put in place. A failure to act, or actions that go too far, can be counterproductive.
Stay home if possible, but always stay safe and well.
Andrew
Andrew Ashford is a health and safety practitioner, trainer and former barrister who specialises in health and safety law and risk management.
The course was superb! Really interesting and engaging! Thanks
Really engaging and made it relevant to our place of work.