2014 november complyatwork newsletter s

Comply at Work

safety snippets&

business bytes

November 2014

Tel 01204 772977 or 07792 400 503

Upcoming Courses P3

What to do in the event of a fire P4-5

Electrical Safety - Overloading Sockets P6

Workplace Transport P7

In the Spotlight P14-15

P2 | Safety Snippets Tel 01204 77 29 77 mobile 07792 400 503

Safety

Snippets

Safety Snippets | P3 e-mail [email protected] www.complyatwork.co.uk

Comply at Work

UPCOMING COURSES

Thurs 20 November

Level 2 Accredited Health and Safety One day course with text book, Certification and buffet lunch

Friday 21 November from 1 pm

Manual Handling Awareness and Asbestos Awareness

Pick and Mix sessions.

Tuesday 25 November

Level 2 Emergency First aid at work One day course with text book, ID card, Certification

and buffet lunch

Please call us now for details. Places are limited don’t miss out!

Tel 01204 772977


Safety

Snippets

Source: Indicator

Do you assume that your staff will know how to respond if the fire

alarm goes off?

If so, you might be deceiving yourself. What do you need to

know?

e-mail [email protected] www.complyatwork.co.uk

Comply at Work

Safety Snippets | P5

Wasted resources. Despite investment by businesses in sensible fire precautions such as alarm systems and extinguishers, this is being considerably undermined by a lack of instruction. Whilst well-rehearsed procedures are standard practice in some businesses, many others are doing nothing. In a recent survey, 47% of employees said they hadn’t been shown or told about the fire safety procedures at work.

Does this lack of instruction affect fire safety? When respondents were asked what they would do if they heard the fire alarm, 14% said they would have a look at what everyone else was doing and go with the flow; 11% said they would go into the corridor and investigate; and a further 5% said they would assume it was a false alarm and ignore it.

Not just staff. The survey also sought feedback from 500 managers who had formal responsibility for fire safety in their organisations. Nearly half of this group (47%) were unclear about their legal obligations. This figure explains the low level of fire awareness amongst employees.

Tip 1. If you’re a business owner, senior manager, director or premises manager, you must understand your own responsibilities for fire safety, i.e. ensure there is: (1) a fire risk assessment completed by a competent person; (2) an effective way of raising the alarm; (3) a safe means of escape; (4) adequate fire-fighting equipment; (5) a practised fire procedure; and (6) monitoring and maintenance of the fire safety measures.

Tip 2. Fire awareness training must be undertaken regularly by all staff (normally annually). This must include fire prevention, an understanding of the fire precautions in your building and a run through of the fire procedures. Regular fire drills (usually every six months) will help to test and reinforce your procedures.

Avoid the associated risks by taking responsibility for fire safety including the provision of regular fire awareness training sessions and practice drills.

Please contact us if you require a fire risk assessment of fire safety awareness or Fire Marshall training. We can provide a competitive quote with no obligation.

What to do in the event of a fire


Safety

Snippets

Use our online calculator to check that you are not overloading the sockets in your home or office: http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guides-and-advice/electrical-items/overloading-sockets/


Comply at Work


Electrical Safety - Overloading sockets

Most people have extension leads in their homes, using 4-way bar adaptors to increase the number of appliances that they can plug into a wall socket.

However, although there is space to plug in four appliances, this does not mean it is always safe to do so.

You can avoid overloading sockets and risk of fire by following this simple advice:

• Check the current rating of the extension lead before plugging appliances into it. Most are rated at 13 A, but some are rated at only 10 A or less - the rating should be clearly marked on the back or underside of the extension lead. If not, refer to the manufacturer’s instructions

• Never overload an extension lead by plugging in appliances that together will exceed the maximum current rating stated for the extension lead. This could cause the plug in the wall socket to overheat and possibly cause a fire.

• Use our overload calculator (below) to check if you’re exceeding the maximum load

• For an indication only of the current ratings of commonly-used domestic appliances - check out our information about Amps and Watts

• Only use one socket extension lead per socket and never plug an extension lead into another extension lead

• Use a multi-way bar extension lead rather than a block adaptor, as this will put less strain on the wall socket. Some block adaptors do not have a fuse, which increases the risk of overloading and fire

• Consider having additional sockets installed if you regularly rely on extension leads and adaptors - and use a competent electrician to carry out the installation work

• Check regularly for the following danger signs:

- a smell of hot plastic or burning near an appliance or socket

- sparks or smoke coming from a plug or appliance

- blackness or scorch marks around a socket or plug, or on an appliance

- damaged or frayed leads

- coloured wire inside leads showing at the plug or anywhere else

- melted plastic on appliance casings or leads

- fuses that blow or circuit-breakers that operate for no obvious reason

Source: Electrical Safety First


Safety

Snippets

Source: Indicator


Comply at Work


The HSE has recently updated its guidance on Workplace transport.

This guide provides advice for employers on what they need to do to comply with the law and reduce risk. It is shorter and more streamlined than the previous edition and has been updated to take account of new advice on workplace transport safety and to reflect changes to relevant legislation.

Workplace Transport comes in various forms: fork lift trucks, dumper trucks, delivery vehicles etc. Simple precautions can reduce the risk of serious injuries, fatalities and damage to other plant, vehicles and equipment.

Check out the updated edition here: HSG136 – A guide to workplace transport safety (Third edition)

http://tinyurl.com/k6u8zkk

Workplace Transport

Comply at Work

spotlightWelcome to our new Clients this month: Advanced Aesthetics Academy

CLC Accountants and Business Advisors

Eclipse Building & Electrical Services Ltd

Engage People Ltd

Fileturn Ltd

Fortis HMS Ltd

Glazerite Windows Ltd

Heightvale Ltd

Merseyside Care NHS Trust

Perfect Confectionery Ltd

Wallace Printers Ltd

Westgate House Management Co Ltd

Comply at Work News• Tribune AVS, a recent retained client has succeeded in their CHAS

accreditation and will be training their Director and safety lead Guy Burgess is on our next accredited Health and Safety course on 20 November.

• Our ‘full house’ of Emergency First Aid delegates all passed our course last month

• Around 60 Delegates from Merseyside NHS Trust have now been trained to Level 2 Health and Safety

• Bolton NDT have once again run a successful Responsible Welders course from our Training Centre

• We are also pleased to announce that the Business Growth Hub have agreed for us to be a preferred supplier for venue hire and have booked several dates with us over the next few months. We are looking forward to working with the Hub and meeting many small and start-up businesses. We will also be upgrading our Broadband to fibre optic 152 MB to give the fastest and very best connectivity to our clients.

• Finally, we have been in the News again; for all the right reasons! Please find the article here where you can see Sue Scott (Director) and Shaneal Collier (Office Manager) busy at work…finally thanks to the support from the advertisers who made this article possible.

http://tinyurl.com/pn332dl

The Authority in Access

Ensure you meet current Working at Height (WAHR 2005)

regulations with our adhesive stickers, tags, holders and business

packs

• Site Surveys for Bespoke Access• Ladder & PASMA Training• Special Application design• On Site Ladder Inspections

Ladder Log Safety Inspection System

Services We Offer

Visit Ladderstore.comor call our team on 01204 590 232

The Authority in Access

Ensure you meet current Working at Height (WAHR 2005)

regulations with our adhesive stickers, tags, holders and business

packs

• Site Surveys for Bespoke Access• Ladder & PASMA Training• Special Application design• On Site Ladder Inspections

Ladder Log Safety Inspection System

Services We Offer

Visit Ladderstore.comor call our team on 01204 590 232

We thought that I would give you the heads up about the Ladder Exchange which starts on the 1st September and lasts until 31st December this year.

See the general details at http://www.ladderexchange.org.uk/

Ladderstore have been part of this great initiative for over 6 years and we give customers 10% off any orders that are to replace damaged ladders. If customers are unsure about the state of the ladder they can always contact us on 01204 590232 and we can advise them or if it is a large number of ladders go out to check them.

Graphic Design | Web Design | App Design | eCommerce | eMail Marketing

Give us a call to see what we can do for you on

0777 337 1020

Put simply, there are three main reasons that business owners call Rock Systems in to help them:

1. Slow, flaky, unreliable broadband - we provide businesses with fast, reliable internet connectivity that is designed specifically for business use, many businesses now have access to high-speed broadband and don’t even know it - simply email over your postcode and telephone number and we can find out if this applies to you and your business

2. Telephone bills higher than they should be - if you have five or more phones in your business, we offer a FREE audit of your telecoms expenditure, we love BT customers in particular, as they are often overpaying for what amounts to a fairly basic service - we reviewed one customer recently who was paying around £290 per month and managed to identify savings of around £140 per month, I’m not promising we can do the same for you, but you’ve nothing to lose and you may be surprised with the results!

3. Problems with emails, viruses or computers running slowly - your computer network is very important to the smooth operation of your business, we understand this and have a team of experienced, knowledgeable engineers on hand to help solve any problems, quickly and efficiently, and prevent them from happening again, we don’t believe in passing the buck and want you to focus on running your business rather than worrying about IT issues. Our customers love our fixed-fee support contracts, which includes on-site support at no extra cost.

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Tel 01204 77 29 77

mobile 07792 400 503

e-mail [email protected]

www.complyatwork.co.uk

@CCOMPLY at WORKHEALTH & SAFETY CONSULTANCY AND TRAINING

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2014 november complyatwork newsletter s