Some Important Snippets Which Will Be Beneficial

The Latest Health & Safety News which Switch Management Ltd thinks you will find useful

First aid Kits

There is a new British Standard for first aid kits (BS-8599). The new standard has been introduced due to changing first aid training protocols, concerns with infection control and new technology. This means the new kits are more practical than the old ones. Some of the differences are: an increase number of gloves, an increase in number of plasters, higher quality of wipes, reduced number of medium and large dressings, fewer triangular bandages, and introduction into the kit of burns gel dressings, smaller finger dressings, foil emergency blanket, mouth to mouth resuscitation device and adhesive tape instead of safety pins. Your existing first aid need not be replaced if it currently meets your needs because the employer should determine the contents. The HSE will not be making the new BS-8599 mandatory. 


Do fire blankets need formal checks? 

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 your business should have appointed a responsible person to oversee all aspects of fire safety. Just as with fire extinguishers, fire blankets should be subject to an annual inspection. Check that they are in their holders, the operating instructions are clearly visible and the container is not obviously damaged. A label indicating the date of the inspection should be attached to the blanket

Government claims to cut Health & Safety Regulation

The review carried out by Professor Ragnar Lˆfstedtwas published at the end of last year and if you were to believe some press reports, you may have thought the professor had called for wholesale changes. However the headline writers do not appear to have bothered to read the report first! The professor stated that, in general , existing health and safety laws are fit for purpose, but some need revoking and others reviewing. He also stated that the HSE should review the Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPS) that support the regulations. The government has also announced that the HSE and local authorities will be banned from completing safety inspections of low-risk premises from April 2013. There are, however, no plans to remove low-risk businesses from health & safety legislation completely. This means that the duty remains to manage significant risks. 


Portable appliance testing

The HSE has recently updated its guidance on maintaining portable appliances in low-risk environments and has also produced on its web site a page of Q&Aís. The law states you must maintain electrical equipment, if it can cause danger, but the law does not say how you must do this or how often. This does not mean that every item of equipment has to be tested annually but the frequency of test should be determined by a risk assessment foreach piece of equipment. Some of the guidance you should think about is;

1) Do not test new equipment but inspect for 
damage. 

2) Have an inspection regime to inspect cables and plugs on regular basis 

3) There is no need to test static items which are doubly insulated e.g. most computers and terminals, copying machines etc. 

4) PAT test all earthed equipment. For the full guidance visit HSE web site