BSG NEWSIndustry health & safety news April 2016

THIS MONTH’S ISSUE INCLUDES:

Health & Safety News

• Road to safety

• New UK sentencing guidelines

• No time to lose campaign

Court cases

• National Crane Company fined £750,000 for two deaths after collapse

• Barnstaple gas engineer prosecuted following unsafe asbestos removal

Training/Company News

• New courses for May

• Member secure area launched

• BSG upcoming events/webinars

DOWNLOAD OUR 2016 TRAINING SCHEDULES

5 Pinkers Court, Briarlands Office Park, Gloucester Road, Rudgeway, Bristol, BS35 3QH

Tel: 0300 304 9050 Fax: 01454 415388 Email: info@bsgltd.co.uk

Construction vehicles cause a disproportionately high number of cyclist fatalities. For example, in London, despite accounting for only a tiny proportion of freight carried on the capital’s roads, they accounted for seven out of the capital’s sixteen cyclist fatalities.

This is reflected nationally. When expressed as fatalities and injuries per billion miles travelled, cycling dwarfs travel by cars and Lorries and vans. According to the latest figures, in 2014 road accidents in general killed 113 cyclists in the UK. But because relevant records are not kept, we do not know how many of these were linked to construction traffic.

But why should construction vehicles figure so prominently? A 2012 Transport for London study tried to answer this question. One of its major findings was that road risks got much less attention than on-site risks. Supporting this general conclusion were the following more specific findings:

• A lack of ownership of road risk by clients and principal contractors

• Poor data collection on collisions and near misses on the road

• Lack of common standards for the construction industry to work to

• Delivery time slots put drivers under pressure to arrive at the site between certain times

• Route planning to avoid cyclists is difficult due to temporary nature of the construction site

• It can be difficult to see cyclists to the left and in front even with mirrors properly fitted. Blind spots on construction vehicles could be larger than on general haulage vehicles

ROAD TO SAFETY

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BSG NEWS April 2016

ROAD TO SAFETY...• The sheer number of considerations demanding concentration when approaching a junction can cause the driver to lose visual awareness

• Lack of road safety awareness within the industry

Vehicle safety

Blind spots in lorry cabs are a significant source of danger. They threaten the safety of vulnerable road users (VRUs). These include pedestrians and motorcyclists as well as pedal cyclists. For HGVs blind spots are particularly significant because the driver is so high off the ground. They result in danger areas in front of the cab and along the left side where VRUs cannot be seen.

In addition to the plain and wide angle rear view mirrors therefore, HGVs are now fitted with mirrors specifically designed to help drivers see into the blind spots. The two main types are Class V and Class VI mirrors:

Class V Mirrors: aim to improve the driver’s view of the blind spot just below the passenger side of the cab i.e. the area between the cab and the curb. This area is particularly dangerous. Any VRU unlucky enough to collide with the HGV in this area could end up being dragged under the lorry and crushed by the wheels.

Class VI mirrors: because of their position on the front windscreen these are sometimes known as “Cyclops” mirrors. They help the driver see into the blind spot immediately in front of the cab. In the absence of a Cyclops mirror drivers pulling away when the lights change may only become aware of VRUs still on the crossing when they hit them.

Side guards: mirrors aim to prevent collision. Side guards provide mitigation when they don’t. They fill the space between the front and rear wheels of an HGV. Their purpose is to prevent pedal cyclists from falling under a lorry and getting crushed by the rear wheels during a collision. But side guards are less effective when a cyclist is hit by a lorry turning left. This is because the collision is likely to leave the cyclist lying on the ground so that the bottom of the sidebar clears his prone body leaving it to be crushed by the rear wheels.

Legal developments

The legal requirements to fit blind spot mirrors evolved over a number of years in a series of steps:

• Directive EU 2003/97/EC required mandatory fitting of class IV (wide angle), Class V (blind spot) and class VI (blind spot) mirrors on all new HGV vehicles over 3.5 tonnes by 2007.

• Directive 2007/38/EC required class IV and class V to be retrofitted to HGV vehicles (over 3.5 tonnes) where not already fitted. This applied only to HGVs registered after 1st January 2000.

• Section 1 of the Road Traffic Act required all HGV vehicles over 7.5 tonnes to be equipped with class VI mirrors regardless of the age of the vehicle.

Although each of these steps further tightened the legal requirements there were still exemptions e.g. for vehicles registered before 1st January 2000.

Exemptions also apply to the requirement to fit side guards. These include e.g. to tipper trucks and cement mixers. And yet these vehicles still pose risks. For example cement trucks collided fatally with cyclists in 2009 and 2010 and a tipper truck collided fatally with a cyclist in 2010. Many organisations voluntarily fit safety features even when there is no legal requirement.

London tightened the legal requirements further still by introducing the Safer Lorry Scheme in September 2015.

The scheme applies to all HGVs of 3.5 tonnes or above when they enter London’s low emission zone. Here Class V and Class VI mirrors and side guards are mandatory and enforced by £50 fines for drivers and the threat of a licence review for offending companies.

Looking ahead the scheme may examine the routes used by lorries making deliveries to major construction sites. Planning requirements may insist on delivery routes that avoid cyclists and minimise the number those dangerous left turns.

BSG OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH 2015:FOCUS ARTICLE

NEW HEALTH & SAFETY SENTENCING GUIDELINES

On February 1st 2016, new Health & Safety sentencing guide-lines for England and Wales were put into place. These guidelines cover Health & Safety, corporate manslaughter, food safety and hygiene cases. The penalties have been categorised depending on the size of the businesses. Please see the table below.

Size of organisation Maximum fine Turnover

Large Up to £10 million £50 million

Medium Up to £4 million Between £10-£50 million

Small Up to £1.6 million Between £2-£10 million

Directors of businesses that are found guilty of consent, con-venience or neglect, as an individual, are potentially subject to unlimited fines and up to two years imprisonment.

Tips to avoid Health & Safety fines:

• Review what Health & Safety policies and procedures you currently have in place and ensure they are completely up-to-date

• Make sure you have suitable and sufficient Risk Assess-ments in place and that these are communicated, followed and enforced

• Carry out internal audits in detail to make sure all proce-dures are followed

ROAD TO SAFETY...

BSG NEWS April 2016

Protecting VRUs is a big challenge that is set to grow even bigger. Thanks to Boris Johnson’s Vision for Cycling in London and the recent launch of Department for Transport’s Walking and Cycling Strategy, the numbers of VRUs is set to increase. And potential major construction projects such as HS2 and any airport expansion in London may significantly increase the number of HGVs on the roads. To make sure that this does not add up to a perfect storm, the construction industry needs a comprehensive approach to managing risks to VRUs.

Such an approach has to include areas such as awareness, training and information, route planning, consideration of safety record when selecting haulage companies employed and of course ensuring the correct mirrors and guards are fitted even perhaps when there is no specific legal requirement. The approach should also keep an eye on latest developments. For example, Fresnel lenses that promise a wider view into the blind spot, avoidance systems that prevent collisions and smoother side-guards that help fuel efficiency while giving more effective protection are already available.

And now there is also the standard whose absence was bemoaned in the 2012 report quoted at the beginning of this article. Construction Logistics and Cyclist Safety (CLOCS) is a DfT sponsored project aimed at reducing work related road risk. It is this project that has developed what is intended to be a national standard for managing the risk to cyclists and other VRUs. The CLOCS Standard covers requirements for managing operations, vehicles and drivers for construction logistic operators and construction clients. It is aligned with other schemes such as the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) which is a national accreditation scheme to help fleet operators achieve best practice. Further details can be found on the CLOCS website at cloc.org.uk.

BSG NEWS April 2016

BSG LAUNCHES NEW SECURE INFORMATION AREA

BSG ANNUAL AWARDS

Following the success of last year, the BSG Annual Awards will be taking place on October 19th 2016 at the Williams F1 Conference Centre in Oxfordshire. Further information regarding awards categories and how to self nominate will be published soon.

BSG WEBINARS

The Building Safety Group will be delivering a number of new webinars during 2016 following the success of those that were run in January.

One of the many benefits of webinars, providing you have access to the internet, is that they enable you to take part no matter where you are in the country. We are very pleased to be able to offer this service to all our members.

The topics we will be covering are:

• 20th April - Directors’ Responsibilities

• 15th June - Occupational Health

• 13th Sept - CDM2015 Update

• 19th Oct - Working at Height

If you would like to register for any of the webinars BSG are hosting, please email marketing@bsgltd.co.uk, with the title of the webinar in the subject line. Alternatively you can call 0300 304 9090. Details of how to join the webinar will be sent to you.

If there is a topic that interests you that we currently are not hosting, please email us and let us know, we would value your thoughts and ideas for particular topics you would like us to cover.

Please email topic ideas to marketing@bsgltd.co.uk

BSG has launched a new secure information area which is exclusive for our Members.

Users with access to this new facility will be able to view the latest health, safety and environmental information provided through:

BSG’s monthly newsletter HSE Blitz notices New legislation updates BSG Safety Alerts Seminar/Webinar presentations (e.g. CDM 2015 & Occupational Health)

Members can also use the area to access over 200 Health & Safety documents including our Model Health & Safety Policy, Risk Assessments, COSHH Assessments, Method Statement Forms as well as BSG’s Occupational Health guidance summary.

If you would like to register for access to the new secure information area please complete the registration form enclosed in this link: http://www.bsgltd.co.uk/secure-request/

Once your registration form has been received, we will email your login details and a link to the secure area. Please remember to check your junk/spam folder if you do not receive your login username and password within three working days.

Notes

• Only BSG members will be given access to the secure information area. Registration forms will be validated using the existing member information we have on record, so please make sure the details provided are accurate, with particular reference to the company name given (which should match the company name on your BSG certificate).

• The above new secure information area is complementary to ‘BSG Online’. It does not replace this system. Members with access to BSG Online will still login as usual to view their site inspection reports and accident statistics.

• As from May 2016 BSG News will only be available to download from this member secure area

EVENTS

BSG REFERRAL SCHEME

BSG members are being offered an incentive to encourage other construction companies to join the Building Safety Group. Existing members will be rewarded with up to £520 worth of free Health and Safety training, if they refer a company which subsequently joins BSG.

If you would like more information about this offer as well as details about the full range of training courses to choose from, please send an email to marketing@bsgltd.co.uk or call 0300 304 9090.

BSG NEWS April 2016

NATIONAL CRANE COMPANY FINED £750,000 FOR TWO DEATHS AFTER COLLAPSE

BARNSTAPLE GAS ENGINEER PROSECUTED FOLLOWING UNSAFE ASBESTOS REMOVAL

A national crane hire company has been sentenced for failings that led to the death of two men as a crane collapsed in London.

Southwark Crown Court heard crane operator Jonathan Cloke, 37, died after falling from the crane as it collapsed. It fell onto Michael Alexa, 23, a member of the public, and also killed him.

The court heard how sections of the tower crane, which was on a housing development in Thessaly Road, Battersea, separated when 24 bolts failed due to metal fatigue.

The 24 bolts were a significant safety feature on the crane’s slew ring, which connected the mast (tower) to the slew turret. This allows the arms of the crane (jib) to rotate through 360 degrees. When the bolts failed the slew turret and jib separated from the mast and fell to the ground.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the incident, in September 2006, found Falcon Crane Hire Ltd did not investigate a similar incident which happened nine weeks before, when the bolts failed on the same crane and had to be replaced.

HSE found the company had an inadequate system to manage the inspection and maintenance of their fleet of cranes. Their process to investigate the underlying cause of components’ failings was also inadequate. It told the court the particular bolts were a safety critical part of the crane. The court also heard the bolts failing previously was an exceptional and significant occurrence, which should have been recognised by Falcon Crane Hire.

A gas engineer removed potentially dangerous asbestos material during a gas boiler replacement putting himself and others at risk from exposure to asbestos fibres.

Brian Hockin, aged 58, was removing an old warm air heating system at a residential property on Williams Close, Wrafton when he disturbed a quantity of asbestos insulation board that surrounded the warm air boiler.

The tenants of the property raised their concerns with Brian Hockin that he had disturbed asbestos but he continued to remove the material bagging it and removing it from the property and storing it at his yard.

The tenants were so concerned that they contacted Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which prosecuted Brian Hockin at Barnstaple Magistrates’ court.

During the hearing the court heard that Brian Hockin used no safety measures to prevent the spread of asbestos and that he used no protective clothing or protective breathing apparatus when he was removing the asbestos.

Brian Hockin of Bickington, near Barnstaple, pleaded guilty of breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and was fined £450 and ordered to pay £921.40 in costs.

HSE Inspector Simon Jones, speaking after the trial, said: “Brian Hockin’s negligence could result in serious health effects to both him and anyone else who may have come into contact with the asbestos material that he disturbed.”

COURT CASES

TRAINING NEWS

New training courses starting soon...

• Site Managers Safety Training Scheme- 3rd May

• Site Managers Safety Training Scheme Refresher- 4th May

• Site Supervisers Safety Training Scheme (Salisbury)- 4th May

• Confined Space- 5th May

• Site Managers Safety Training Scheme Refresher (Exeter)- 5th

May

• CDM Awarenss - 9th May

BSG PHONE NUMBERS BSG have updated their phone system, please see the new numbers below Accounts: 0300 304 9060 Marketing: 0300 304 9090 Membership/Technical Support: 0300 304 9070 Training: 0300 304 9080

NO TIME TO LOSE CAMPAIGNCancer caused by what people do at work is nothing new. One of the first official cases of an occupational cancer was identified in the eighteenth century.

Asbestos is the best known carcinogen – and the biggest killer. Today, asbestos claims well over 100,000 lives a year worldwide. It’s estimated that 10 million people across the world will have died as a result of asbestos exposure before it’s been fully controlled. But there are many other carcinogenic exposures that cause cancer and claim lives – well over 50 substances are listed as known or probable causes of workplace cancer. Across the EU, 1 in 5 workers faces an occupational cancer risk. Across the world, the number of people dying from a work-caused cancer far outstrips those dying because of work accidents. It’s estimated that at least 666,000 people die worldwide every year.

Recent research has built the most comprehensive picture to date for a single country. A research team led by Dr Lesley Rushton of Imperial College, London, linked thousands of cancer deaths with different occupations. It found: • almost 14,000 new cases of cancer caused by work are registered each

year• around 8,000 deaths a year are caused by occupational cancer.

About IOSH’s campaignIOSH’s No Time to Lose campaign aims to get carcinogenic exposure issues more widely understood and help businesses take action. The campaign is working to:

• raise awareness of a significant health issue facing workers in the UK and internationally

• suggest some solutions on a UK scale to tackle the problem – a national model that can be transposed internationally

• offer free practical, original materials to businesses to help them deliver effective prevention programmes

FOLLOWDOWNLOAD OUR 2016 TRAINING SCHEDULES

5 Pinkers Court, Briarlands Office Park, Gloucester Road, Rudgeway, Bristol, BS35 3QH

Tel: 0300 304 9050 Fax: 01454 415388 Email: info@bsgltd.co.uk

BSG NEWS April 2016

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