Hse E Bulletin

[Technician]

Morning everyone;

Had this E mailed to me today.

It is a regular E bulletin from the HSE.

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Engineering eBulletin 
  Welcome to the HSE's Engineering eBulletin No 5
HSE's Engineering Website


News from HSE
Draft guidance published ahead of first aid regulation changes
A review, commissioned by the Government and chaired by Professor Ragnar E Löfstedt recommended that The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 should be amended to remove the requirement for HSE to approve the training and qualifications of appointed first-aid personnel.
Removing the HSE approval process will give businesses greater flexibility to choose a training provider and first aid training that is right for their work place, and based on their individual business needs. The provider will be required to meet a certain standard, set by HSE.
The legal requirement for employers to ensure they have an adequate number of suitably trained first aiders (or appointed persons) in accordance with their first aid needs assessment will remain unchanged. More information can be found on HSE's Press Release.
New guidance on Health Surveillance in the workplace
Health surveillance allows for early identification of ill health and helps identify any corrective action                 needed. Health surveillance may be required by law if your employees are exposed to noise or vibration, solvents, fumes, dusts, biological agents and other substances hazardous to health, or work in compressed   air.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published new online guidance and guidelines on health surveillance needed where, even after all precautions are taken, there is still a risk that workers may be exposed to chemicals or other hazardous substances. View the new Guidance on HSE's Website.
Views sought on revised ACoPs
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched consultations on the revised content of two Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs). Changes to the ACOPs, Workplace health, safety and welfare regulations (L24) and Safety in the installation and use of gas systems and appliances (L56) have been developed by HSE and industry stakeholders.
The proposed changes have been made to make it easier for employers to understand and meet their legal obligations and so reduce the risks of over compliance. 
The revised drafts are now subject to a 12-week consultation ending on 30 July 2013.  Have your say by visiting HSE's Website.
Is your Mask Protecting You?
Do you or your workers wear a face mask at work and wear it when you/they should? Are the masks checked and looked after properly?
HSE have launched a new easy to follow pocket card aimed at workers. It covers the key points about wearing a face mask to make sure it is effective. Download a copy from HSE's Website.
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Statistics
Release of fatal injuries up to December 2012
These statistics cover work-related fatalities that are reportable under RIDDOR, and are updated on a quarterly basis. They are released on a provisional basis and may be subject to revision as more accurate information becomes available. More information can be found on HSE's Statistics Website.
Exposure to Lead
There was an overall reduction in the number of British workers under medical surveillance for work with lead over the past decade. Women have consistently accounted for a small proportion of the total under surveillance, and the number of young people (under 18 years) under surveillance remains low. Updated statistics relating to workers under medical surveillance because they work with lead were published last month. This years statistics also include a detailed analyis of trends in blood lead levels for workers under medical surveillance over the period 1992/93 to 2009/10.  These statistics can be viewed on HSE's Website.
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Vacancies in HSE
Dynamic Specialist Engineers and Scientist Required
Our multidisciplinary team, of engineers and scientists are in a unique position to make a real difference to people’s lives every day. This is a broad and deep challenge for high calibre specialists who ultimately facilitate and safeguard economic growth. There’s great variety and stimulation here – matching any dynamic professional role in the industrial sphere.
We would like to hear from you if you are enthused by the prospect of a positive career move that offers daily interest, stretch, development, recognition and significant rewards, both professional and monetary. Bring us your proven expertise and you will make a key contribution to a world leading and benchmark setting safety regulator operating in a government-prioritised area. Visit HSE's Careers Page for more information.
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In the News
Wearside engineering firm fined for putting workers at risk
A Wearside engineering firm has been fined for endangering workers by allowing them to use machinery on which vital safety devices had been disabled. The Washington based company kept two computer-controlled lathes in use when interlock safety devices were not working. More information on the fine can be found on HSE's Press Release.
Engineering firm fined after worker crushes finger in pneumatic press
A Leicester engineering company has been fined after an employee's finger was crushed in a pneumatic press. The worker crushed his index finger which had to be amputated. More information on the accident and fine read HSE's Press Release.
Hampshire engineering firm fined for safety failings
A Southampton engineering firm has been fined after an employee seriously injured his foot on a poorly-guarded aluminium casting machine. The 52 yr old employee had to have a toe on his right foot amputated as a result of the incident and sustained five fractures to his remaining toes and cut his head. More information on the accident and fine can be found on HSE's Press Release.
Steel manufacturer fined after workers injured
A Dudley steel tube manufacturer has been fined after two employees, including an apprentice just three weeks into a new job, were injured in separate incidents within the same month. One worker crushed his right hand when he reached through a gap in a fixed safety guard on a machine and a 20 year-old apprentice who had only been at the company for three weeks severed the end of his thumb after it was trapped in a part of a machine that slits steel coils to make tubes. Mor information can be found on HSE's Press Release.
For more information on machinery guarding and safe systems of work visit HSE's Machinery Guarding       page on the website.
Aerospace firm fined after employees left with permanent nerve damage
An aerospace firm was prosecuted for failing to heed safety regulations for at least six years, leaving a group of employees with permanent nerve damage. The Isle of Wight workers have been left with long-term damage to their circulation and nerve systems after contracting hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). More information on the fine and prosecution can be found on HSE's Press Release.  More information on hand/arm vibration can be found on HSE's HAV's Webpage.
Steel firm fined after 17-year-old worker severs fingers
A West Midlands steel products manufacturer and its director have been prosecuted for safety failings after a 17-year-old worker seriously injured his hand on a moving saw blade. The teenager, who does not wish to be named, severed the thumb, part of his little finger and all the remaining fingers on his left hand in the incident. More information can be found on HSE's Press Release
Steel manufacturer in court for safety breaches
A Portsmouth steel manufacturer has been sentenced after one of its workers suffered life-changing injuries when he was hit by a falling 1.4 tonne steel beam. The 64-year-old man, was airlifted to Southampton hospital after being crushed by the toppling steel beam. He suffered numerous injuries including a fractured skull. More on the accidnet and fine can be found in HSE's Press Release.
Cable firm fined after employee suffers electric shock
A cable manufacturer has been fined after an employee suffered a severe electric shock at its factory in Knowsley. Medics had to resuscitate the worker on the way to hospital when his heart stopped beating as the result of a cardiac arrest. He also sustained serious burns to his arms and hands. For details of the prosecution read HSE's Press Release.  More information on electrical safety at work can be found on HSE's website.

  Free guidance covering a wide range of engineering health and safety topics is available on HSE's website.
This bulletin provides a sample of the wide range of information that can be found under ‘What’s New' on HSE’s website.
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[Sharpend]

I'm glad I don't work for that lot, it's all doom and gloom, no wonder the site safety offices are miserable.

 

[Sidewinder]

Sharp,

All of these issues are easily avoidable, these situations should NEVER have happened, and we as a profession should be working toward eliminating these, think the last one was an electric shock resulting in cardiac arrest & severe burns, surely we should be working to prevent this sort of stuff everyday.

All of these are down to management incompetence, threats of job loss, pressures of "production" being more important than anything else & cost cutting without a doubt, thus putting workers who after all are there to earn a living to pay their bills, in a situation where they cannot possibly pay their bills, feed their family, pay their mortgage to put a roof over the heads of their family, why should this be the case?

I am one of the first to jump on overzealous H&S as some here can attest to, but these are all deserved cases, defeating guard interlocks, no doubt so that the company could make more money at the expense of their employees, not right, exploitation is not right.

I have to stop now.

 

[Sharpend]

Sidey whilst you are correct, I doubt our trade can work to eliminate these, without the financial backing of those with control of the purse strings, so even with the best electrician nothing will change? Now there is an argument that a diligent electrician would not allow these shortcuts to be taken however threat of losing ones job has great influence. Personally I'd take pictures of everything with recorded notes then threaten the management with exposure to HSE. But then I'm of the belief that I'll get work regardless of their action.

 

[Manator]

I have reported a factory to the HSE. I did so because I had a problem with my concience knowing that they were willing to put their workers at risk from an immediate danger. The HSE attended and gave the factory 7 days to comply with a notice. I was threatened by the factory owner, and even some of the workers verbally abused me for a while.

The end of this story was that the factory owners had to pay out and get quite a lot of remedial works done that undoubtably saved lives. Faults I witnessed were for example, a 300 tonne press with no safety guards fitted, removed because the safety cut outs interupted production. A 40 tonne shear cutter had the gaurds removed so that production could be speeded up. A welding rod was used as a fuse wire because the 30amp fuse continually blew, fault was discovered to be a bare live connection to a factory belt sander. The operative had learned never to touch any metal part of the machine. I could go on, those were some of the extreme examples other examples were what you would expect to find on any installation that had never undergone any testing since it was installed.

 

[kme]

Compulsory, regular test & inspection protocols, backed up by law, are required, for all industrial, commercial, and even domestic environs.

The problem with that is - as recent forum posts have attested to - the people doing the T&I don`t always actually understand the install they`re testing - how the hell can they expect to accurately report its condition; when they don`t know what its condition ought to be?

Until we can resolve THAT particular conundrum, there`s no point making inspections compulsory.

 

[wozz]

the HSE dont help themselves or us (as much as they could do) in what they are doing, they are like one big press department that are interested in 'busting myths' and crap like that to deflect blame for a culture they have played a part in creating but now distance themselves from due to public backlash.

One week its 'firm prosecuted for letting worker hammering pins in to ground and striking cable' next week 'BUSTED headmaster cancels school fate as does not want staff hammering pins into ground'.  

 

[Technician]

I am with Sidewinder on this.  From what I have learned,

People WILL defeat,butcher,corrupt,destroy interlocks.

The Pilz relay goes some way to getting around this but

I am convinced that some whizz kids ara capable of doing

the same thing with these.  The ONLY disincentive to do

so lies in the probable length of time to achieve it.