Safe by choice ….not by chance · a passing car and cracked the windscreen. Be safe…be seen Whether working on roads, runways or railways all personnel are required to wear high

Safe by choice ….not by chance 02380 742222 [email protected] www.dyerandbutler.co.uk


Focus on street works…

The majority of the works that are carried out by Dyer & Butler involve some sort of interaction with the public highway. This interaction ranges from physically working on a live carriageway to maintaining a site entrance onto the public highway.

No matter what the level of interaction is, it is vitally important that the control measures which protect our staff and members of the public who use the highway are effective, clearly defined and understood.

As a result of a rise in traffic management issues and incidents involving site vehicles, this edition of safety matters will contain some information that is designed to remind you of the requirements that need to be implemented to keep you, your team and travelling members of the public safe whilst you are carrying out works on, or near the public highway and working around moving vehicles.

Steven Broom Director of SHEQ and Training

Safety performance – May

Accident Frequency Rate – 0.152

Reportable Accidents or Incidents There were no reportable accidents or incidents during May 2016.

Unchartered Services Report During May there were 3 reports of unchartered services being encountered on site which were not damaged.

Minor Accidents and Near Misses

3/5/16 – Cynghordy Viaduct – A large stone fell from the viaduct and landed on the adjacent scaffolding. Exclusion zones have been set up.

3/5/16 – Airside Batcher Works – An operative carrying reinforcement mesh tripped and fell and in doing so cut their leg on the sharp mesh.

4/5/16 – Aldermaston Road – 3 service strikes occurred on site. 2 of these were caused by personnel not complying with the safe excavation procedures (i.e. using mechanical excavators above the location of a known service). Staff have been retrained.

9/5/16 – Peel Common Roundabout – A bobcat operator deliberately drove his machine at another site operative after a disagreement. The operator was removed from site.

12/5/16 – DBE Office – An operative was struck in the face by flying debris that was catapulted out of the skip as he placed material into the skip.

12/5/16 – NTX Baggage Extension – An excavator being transported to site made contact with the underside of an airport bridge causing minor damage to the structure.

13/5/16 – Coldbrook F.A.S – A street lighting cable was damaged when a lump of concrete attached to reinforcement bar sprang back onto the cable and severed it.

16/5/16 – Wightman Road Bridge – An Engineer fell over on a grass embankment causing a small graze to his finger. He was using an unauthorised access route.

16/5/16 – CP12 Airlock – Whilst constructing shuttering, an operative struck their thumb with a hammer causing pain and bruising.

18/5/16 – Wightman Road Bridge – A minor oil spill occurred when a hydraulic hose of the excavator got caught on a sharp piece of reinforcement mesh whilst breaking out concrete. This was dealt with via the spill kit.

19/5/16 – T3 Car Park – A tipper lorry ran over a broom which catapulted it into a bus that was parked nearby. The contact caused the glass door of the bus to smash.

21/5/16 – Lower Weybourne Lane – A large metal plate weighing 9kg’s fell through a gap in the structure where it then struck an operative standing underneath the bridge. The plate struck the operatives hard hat but still caused cuts to the top of their head which required stitches.


22/5/16 – Park & Ride Culvert Works – An employee suffered chemical burns when a bottle of cement additive tipped over in the boot of their car and soaked into their PPE. The burns occurred as they wore their PPE throughout the shift without realising that it had become contaminated.

27/5/16 – Aldermaston Road – Whilst planing out road material the chute of the planer was incorrectly placed and allowed some of the material out of the collection lorry where it struck a passing car and cracked the windscreen.

Be safe…be seen

Whether working on roads, runways or railways all personnel are required to wear high visibility clothing.

Recent inspections have found that some high visibility clothing that is being worn on site is below standard. Therefore please note that all high visibility clothing must be…

Clean (i.e. not faded or washed out or contaminated and dirty).

In good condition (i.e. fasteners working, reflective strips effective and intact)

Properly worn (i.e. properly fastened, sleeves rolled down, where required)

The effective use of any item of Personal Protective Equipment is your responsibility and you should therefore ensure that you take care of any item that is provided to you.

Please report any defects relating to the effectiveness of your high visibility clothing to your Line Manager so that any replacement items can be obtained.

The effectiveness of your high visibility clothing might be the difference to you being seen by the driver of an oncoming vehicle, so please ensure that you look after it and wear it properly.

Stop Press – LUL PPE Standards

On the 5th of June 2016, a new standard for PPE came into force across all London Underground sites which requires all personnel to wear “All Orange” high visibility clothing. This means that approved high visibility clothing must be worn on the top and bottom half of the body at all times when on site. Generally, Dyer & Butler staff comply with this requirement, but if you are called to attend a London Underground site, please ensure that you are able to comply with this revised requirement.

Face fit testing reminder

Have you been face fit tested to your Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) yet? If not, please contact your SHEQ Advisor to arrange for this to be carried out.

This is still a high priority for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and many of our clients such as Network Rail. The test takes no more than half an hour per candidate. The following items of RPE have been approved for use within Dyer & Butler.

Betafit 3030V. This is an FFP3 non reusable (disposable) type face mask.

Sundstrum SR 100 with interchangeable filters

JSP Force 8 with interchangeable filters

The Sundstrum and JSP mask require maintenance records to be kept, checked and inspected by a competent person as a minimum every three months. These checks may need to be monthly, depending on the frequency of use.


Close call excellence at NTX

The introduction of the close call reporting system within Dyer & Butler has been a great success and it is pleasing to see that some areas of the company are really starting to push the use of this system as part of the everyday safety arrangements that exists on site.

The Gatwick Airport North Terminal (NTX) Baggage Hall Extension Project has been one of the projects within the Airports Division that has pushed the hardest to instil a culture of reporting close calls.

This improvement has been led by James Willis who has personally promoted the use of the system to both employees and contractors on site. As a result close call reports are regularly received from site and this has helped to promote a positive safety culture right from the start of the project.

Thanks for all your hard work James, a well-deserved £25 voucher is on its way to you.

Fatal M4 crash - verdict

A van driver who killed three passengers in a crash on the M4 after falling asleep at the wheel has been jailed for four-and-a-half years. The driver in charge of the vehicle was driving home at the end of a night shift on a railway engineering site. The driver was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving at a previous hearing at Swindon Crown Court.

Speaking after sentencing a sergeant from Wiltshire Police, said: "Falling asleep at the wheel doesn't happen straight away, you will get tell-tale signs and that's when you must act before it's too late”. Every driver owes it to themselves, their passengers and other road users to make sure they are fit to get behind the wheel, and that includes not being too tired.

Guidance on managing driver fatigue is available within the Dyer & Butler Drivers Handbook. Do not drive tired. If you need to, Stop and take a break.

Clarity at roadwork sites

A number of incidents have been reported recently where vehicles have driven into the closed lane at Dyer & Butler road works sites. The presence of moving vehicles within a worksite is obviously a significant hazard to the safety of our workforce and as a result, additional checks and precautions need to be taken.

These incidents can sometimes be put down to mistakes on the part of the driver, but in some instances, inadequate signage, sighting distance and traffic management layouts can actually contribute to the likelihood of a vehicle incursion.

In order for the correct level of safety to be maintained at roadwork sites, the following points must always be considered…

All traffic management layouts must be properly planned in accordance with the Safety at Street Works and Road Works Code of Practice in relation to types of road, speed limits and the specified safety clearances.

Traffic management signs must be clearly understandable to oncoming drivers. Before starting work, check that your traffic management it is properly laid out.

Observe all safety clearances (minimum visibility, lead in taper, sideways safety zone) strictly throughout the works.

Do not change or alter the traffic management arrangements without fully considering the impact that this could have on approaching vehicles.

If you need any further advice relating to safe traffic management arrangements, please speak to your local SHEQ Advisor.


Reversing vehicle safety

All reversing vehicles on site have the potential to kill or injure those around them who are unaware that the vehicle is moving. Although recent advancements in technology such as reversing cameras, proximity alarms and additional mirrors have improved the quality of all round visibility for vehicle drivers, there are still blind spots around any vehicle that present a hazard when reversing activities are being carried out.

Reversing activities on site must be eliminated or if this is not possible, they should minimised and controlled.

All sites where reversing activities take place should prepare a site traffic management plan. This should provide the details of any designated traffic routes, turning points and pedestrian restriction zones. Drivers of vehicles and other staff on site should be made aware of these arrangements upon arriving at the site.

If any amount of reversing on site is necessary, a competent reversing vehicle banksman must be appointed to oversee and co-ordinate all such vehicle movements to ensure that any other pedestrians are kept away from the area.

People appointed as banksmen must be competent in reversing vehicle banksmen techniques and must have completed the Dyer & Butler Reversing Vehicle Banksman course (or equivalent). All D&B projects must manage their reversing activities on site to ensure adequate separation between people and reversing vehicles is maintained.

Innovation in action

The Rail Minor Works team in the Southern region have recently trialed an “on tool extraction” fitting that removes harmful construction dust containing silica when carrying out mortar raking activities on Network Rail projects.

It is well known that respirable silica is harmful to health and is a major cause of chronic lung conditions such as silicosis and cancer.

The fitting removes harmful construction dust as it is being produced which is a key point of the hierarchy of control measures as specified by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations. (COSHH)

The “on tool” fitting consists of a capturing hood that encompasses the blade of the disc cutter. This hood is then connected to an “H” or “M” class industrial vacuum which is capable of providing enough suction to draw the dust away from the tool.

The system is easy to use and set up and relatively cost effective. It also prevents the need to damp down the dust which can be messy.

The system has been championed by Ian Cameron, the Southern Region SHEQ Advisor who has commented that “this system not only provides maximum protection to the user but demonstrates compliance with the company’s COSHH responsibilities. A true win win situation.


Safe standards are not just for site

Over the past few months Tom Montgomery has slowly but surely been improving the condition of the yard and storage areas at the Gatwick office.

As a result his effort has not gone un-noticed and recent inspections of the yard have shown it to be “hazard free”. This truly is a benefit to all of the people that work at Gatwick and it is good to know that Tom is on top of things.

Thanks to Tom for his hard work and for going the extra mile to make this area as safe as it can be. Enjoy your £25 voucher.

COSHH Assessments vs Safety Data Sheets

There is still some confusion over what actually constitutes a COSHH assessment and many people are simply relying on the information that can be obtained on a product via the internet (i.e. the safety data sheet). A safety data sheet is a document that has to be prepared by the manufacturer of the product in order to sell the product on the UK market.

The safety data sheet can be used for reference, but the COSHH assessment must go further by reviewing the substances that will be used on your site and considering the hierarchy of control measures that could be used to eliminate the risk from that substance (i.e. can its use be eliminated, can it be substituted for a safer product, can I restrict the number of people who are exposed, etc, etc). The COSHH assessment allows this process to take place.

The SYPOL COSHH assessments provide a readily available resource for COSHH assessments to be provided. If you need any help with obtaining a COSHH assessment, please contact your local SHEQ Advisor.

Dyer & Butler team assist with a local tragedy A Dyer & Butler team consisting of Dave Bessey, Danny Bessey, Joe Osborne, Nathan Drury and Steve Jones received an emergency call out recently to a local tragedy where a young man had been fatally injured after his car left the road and fell onto the railway line at West End near Eastleigh.

The team responded quickly and assisted the emergency services by identifying and dealing with the potential site risks associated with the scene. The team then quickly and professionally helped Network Rail to make the scene safe and secure and get the line open as quickly as possible. Their actions have earned praise from the lead Network Rail representative on site.

The incident was reported in both the local and national press. The team acted professionally and responsibly in what can only be described as difficult circumstances and for this reason each and every member of the team should be commended for their actions on the day.

Our thanks to all of the team for completing their work in such difficult and traumatic circumstances.

Please note that Dyer & Butler operate a post incident management and care procedure and if you find yourself involved in a similar event, the company is able to provide support, care and counselling as appropriate.


Cleaning up our act on HAVS

A recent review of HAVS cards has revealed that we currently have 438 blank Reactec cards in circulation throughout the business. These have been issued for various reasons, but mainly for sub-contractors who have been working on our projects in the past.

These 438 cards do not have any operatives names allocated to them and in order to maintain the integrity of our records, it is important that we have a named individual allocated to a card.

Therefore, if you have recently issued any of these blank cards to an individual and have allocated a name to it, please let the Training Administrator at Head Office (Rebecca Brown) know as soon as possible.

In addition, if you have blank cards and no longer require them, please return them to Rebecca Brown.

Leadership training, safely delivered

Since the start of the year, a program of behavioural safety leadership training has been rolled out in support of the revitalised DABBS program.

The revised training package was put together with the help of Steve Wiskin, a behavioural safety consultant from Inspiring Safety Solutions.

The training has now been delivered to the 25 most senior managers within the company and all other operational personnel that hold a safety leadership position (i.e. Contracts Managers through to Supervisors and Foremen).

In total more than 150 people have received the training which covers the techniques to be used when exhibiting exemplary levels of safety leadership on site when briefing working groups and carrying out safety conversations and DABBS observations.

The two day training sessions (delivered by the SHEQ Team) have been well received and the feedback from the sessions has been very positive with the majority of people gaining some new skills from the course.

The improvements in the recording of DABBS observations within the company are already being seen and the challenge for the SHEQ Team is to now look at how the feedback from the DABBS observations and close calls can be reported on to provide a positive benefit to the safety culture of the business… More of this in next month’s edition of “Safety Matters”

The next phase of the training is now well underway and a program of half day training for all operatives is now being rolled out which will be completed by the end of the year.

Thank you on behalf of the SHEQ Team to all of our employees who have attended the courses over the past few months. Your thoughts, suggestions and feedback have really helped to shape the ongoing safety culture of our company.

Living and breathing the values

This month’s safety award for Heathrow airport goes to Gary Stewart. Gary is new to the company and was thrown in at the deep end with his first airport project. He has worked over and above his normal hours to get familiar with D&B’s procedures and airport processes to ensure he fully focus on safety aspects during operations. In his first few weeks he was challenged with accelerated programmes, asbestos on site, lots of unchartered services and working under the “spot light” due to the importance of his project in relation to the Clients expectations. Gary’s engagement with the managers and operatives that he works with is exceptional and his project performance and comments received from recent safety inspections clearly identifies that Gary has put safety at the heart of everything he does.

Congratulations Gary. A well-deserved £25 voucher will soon be with you.


Caring for our feathered friends

The staff at Cynghordy Viaduct have done it once again and this time, rather than shepherding sheep from the line, it is creatures of the feathered variety that have earned the team praise for their efforts. Whist carrying out their activities on site Lewys Parfitt noticed a nesting bird in a pile of scaffolding components. Knowing that it is an offence to disturb a bird’s nest, Lewys arranged for the site to be marked and the nest was left undisturbed.

Safety Flash – Great Western Route goes live

As a result of Lewy’s efforts, mother and chicks are doing well and it won’t be long before the chicks leave the nest which will mean that the scaffolding components can then be moved.

We will keep you updated on how our feathered family get on.

We have received notification from Network Rail that the newly installed overhead line equipment on the Great Western Route between Scours Lane and Milton Junction on the MLN1 at 37m 63ch to 54m 51ch is due to be energised with 25’000 volts from 22:30 hours on Saturday 2nd July 2016.

Live cross track feeds will also exist at 41m 64ch and 53m 56ch.

Please remember that all traction equipment (i.e. OHLE and third rail equipment) must be considered to be live and dangerous at all times.

Congratulations to Lewys. You have earned a £25 voucher for your efforts.

Documents

Safe by choice ….not by chance · a passing car and cracked the windscreen. Be safe…be seen Whether working on roads, runways or railways all personnel are required to wear high