Articles of interest

We have to do more!
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning both employers and drivers about the consequences of not taking reasonable care for the safety of others after a council employee was killed.
Dudley Metropolitan Council was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Michael Lilley, a council employee and the driver of the vehicle, pleaded guilty to two breaches of Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £750 and ordered to pay £500 in costs.
The man killed was George Pagett, a council employee who was described as a well-liked professional manager. He was struck and killed by a wheeled shovel loader, driven by Mr Lilley, in Dudley MBC's Lister Road Depot in Netherton on 27 October 2006. Wolverhampton Court, sitting at the Waterfront, Brierley Hill, heard how Mr Lilley drove against the direction of the site's one-way system and had the loading shovel at a height that meant he couldn't see in front properly. He also didn't take suitable precautions to make sure he didn't damage any other vehicles or harm pedestrians.
Mr Pagett had been wearing a high visibility jacket and was facing the oncoming traffic in the yard when he was hit in the upper back by the blade of the wheeled loader shovel's bucket. Other employees tried to warn Mr Pagett and divert Mr Lilley, but the vehicle did not stop until after the front wheel had run him over.
HSE inspector David Price said:
" This was a terrible incident that could so easily have been prevented. Mr Pagett's untimely death has brought great grief to his family, and to many of his work colleagues.
" Depots and loading yards are potentially dangerous places, with vehicles often required to manoeuvre in tight or enclosed spaces. Employers need to provide set routes, to keep pedestrians and vehicles safely apart. They also need to check their site rules and systems of work are both appropriate and adequately enforced.
" Drivers need to obey signs and instructions in workplaces, just as closely as they would obey them on a public highway. In driving at over 8mph against the one-way system, with the unnecessarily raised bucket obscuring much of his view through the windscreen, Michael Lilley failed to take reasonable care for the health and safety of Mr Pagett."

Safety Tips.

While vehicle manufacturers can make improvements to vehicles and incorporate the latest safety technologies the most crucial influence on road safety is driver behaviour. It is not just the obvious and often repeated tips on visibility and warnings to car drivers to be aware of the difficulties faced by truckers. These include lane changing, braking distances, headlamp dipping and indicating. Other factors which help to improve traffic safety include;
• Drive actively, in other words, be aware of traffic risks, plan your driving and pay continuous attention to other road users.
• Always wear your seat belt
• Stop for a rest at regular intervals and do a few relaxing exercises.
• Be sure to get a proper sleep every 24 hours. A well rested driver is a better and more active one.
• Drive efficiently and save fuel. Brake as little as possible to minimise brake wear.
• A well maintained truck is a safer truck. Just like it’s driver.
• Be kind to your body, avoid fatty foods and soft drinks

Tired?

Driver tiredness is the biggest killer on our roads, particularly on motorways and other monotonous roads. One in five crashes on these roads is estimated to have been caused by drivers nodding off at the wheel and the ratio of serious injuries is even higher because a sleeping driver doesn’t brake before an accident. Driving at night or during the afternoon dip are the most dangerous times.
Some of the things people do when they are feeling tired whilst driving are opening a window, turning up the volume of the radio or just trying to fight sleep off. They don’t prevent sleep, especially the “microsleeps” of just a few seconds.

The Government’s recommendations if you feel tired while driving are:
• Drink two cups of coffee or, ideally, a high-caffeine drink.
• Take a ten minute snooze to give the caffeine time to kick in.
• If you are still tired don’t drive any further.

The advice adds that the effect of the caffeine only last 60 – 90 minutes and the only real solution is not to be tired in the first place.

Some of the things that can be done are:
• Get enough sleep – Obvious enough but it is impossible to stop yourself eventually falling asleep if you are shattered.
• Let people know if you are having trouble sleeping and take it into account when planning journeys.
• Make sure that any medication you take doesn’t cause drowsiness.
• Drive carefully and calmly and think about any possible hazards (like the nutter who is swapping lanes and cutting up cars in front of you to get wherever they are going a minute quicker, if they are lucky). It helps prevent boredom if nothing else.
• Be especially alert on long monotonous roads. Cruise control is a nice technological advance but can make it even easier to fall asleep.
• Be especially careful and if possible avoid driving at the most dangerous times, between midnight and 6am and 2pm to 4pm.

Romania - A Romanian train driver is facing disciplinary action after he stopped his train to get out for a cigarette. He stopped in the middle of the countryside and he also allowed passengers to get off the train.
Smoking was recently banned on trains in Romania, reports the Evenimentul Zilei newspaper.
The incident happened on the Blue Arrow, supposedly the country's fastest and most modern train
The train had just passed the city of Timisoara when the driver announced: "Passengers may get off now, we'll take a five minutes cigarette break."
One of the passengers, Adina-Nicoleta B, told the newspaper: "I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the announcement about the cigarette break.
" We were not traveling by bus. It was supposed to be a fast train but it stopped in the middle of nowhere and people led by the driver went out to have a smoke."
Railway officials said the engine driver admitted making the stop but claimed there were technical reasons for it. However, they admitted the driver should not have let passengers off the train and he faces disciplinary action.

Driving to or for work in bad weather
New health and safety research has suggested that employees may be putting themselves at risk by driving in adverse weather conditions. Employers are reminded that they have a duty of care towards their staff if they operate company car schemes to lease or hire vehicles for work and if they encourage staff to use their own vehicles on work-related journeys.
A survey carried out by the insurance group Royal Sun Alliance has found that nearly two thirds of employees
have driven in bad weather, because they felt obligated to do so.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents: RoSPA, states that businesses must assess the risk of driving on
company business in the same way that it must carry out risk assessments on other work activities. The employer must address the hazards associated with driving when the risk to road traffic is greatly increased by extremes of fog, snow or ice. The assessment must consider ‘those who may be affected’, the driver plus any passengers but also other road users and pedestrians. Fleet operators already have a requirement for control measures such as vehicle checks and regular servicing to manufacturers’ standards, but service intervals are increasing, typically to every 18,000 miles in some instances, which extends the time between inspections.
Casual drivers who use their own vehicles are less likely to be as thorough as a trained mechanic and tyre pressures and depth of tread, for instance, are critical to road safety. RoSPA recommend a minimum tread of 3mm against the legal limit of 1.6mm and some police forces allow for 4mm depth on operational vehicles.

Sensible advice to all people who drive as a condition of their work is to:
• Ask yourself the question: “is my journey really necessary?”
• Take sensible clothing
• Check that the vehicle is roadworthy before setting off.
• Check levels of oil and windscreen wash
• Carry out a quick visual inspection of tyres and lights
• Clean road grime and salt off light covers front and rear
• Plan the journey and schedule breaks every 100 miles or at two hour intervals
• Check the weather forecast and wear appropriate clothing, in case of a beak-down
• Carry a torch in the vehicle and take bottled water on long journeys
• Take a mobile phone, in case you get stranded

H2Eau?
A campaign championed by the trade union Unison, seeks to encourage the consumption of tap water at work, rather than the more costly and less environmentally friendly use of bottled water.
The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 require the provision of “an adequate supply of
wholesome drinking water for all persons at work in the workplace”. The ACoP specifies that: "Water should only be provided in refillable containers where it cannot be obtained directly from a mains supply" and in addition that such containers be refilled daily.
The General Secretary of Unison, Dave Prentis launching the campaign Water@Work said that “bottled water is no better than mains water and the effect on the environment of transporting it around the country in large plastic bottles is enormous”.
Mains water has the advantage that it is readily available and is unlikely to run dry. It is a much cheaper option than paying for the delivery and collection of plastic bottles and there is no requirement for a manual handling risk assessment prior to refill! Bottled water is sometimes found to be not up to the high standard of quality found in tap water in the UK. Certain high-profile producers of bottled waters have, in the past, had to recall their products, because of suspected contamination or higher levels of minerals than are acceptable, whereas l’eu du chateau pompe is a safe and dependable alternative way to quench a thirst; always on tap, without costing the earth.
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), which is also supporting the campaign, alongside Unison and Water UK, states that 33 million working days are lost annually due to occupational ill health, at a cost to employers of £11bn a year. The Chief executive of Water UK, Pamela Taylor, says that good hydration can help prevent minor health complications that lead to lost productivity and absence from work. Drinking an adequate amount of water (about
two litres per day) also improves concentration, reduces headaches and stops feelings of tiredness. Good hydration is critical for our well-being.

Fire, Fire - Fired?
You might remember a few years ago the company that dismissed their staff by text message. Bosses at Robb’s Department Store in Hexam, deliberately set off the fire bell to clear the building of customers and get staff together in one place. At the fire assembly point they informed the 140 staff that the store would be closing in two weeks time.
The store's administrators called the decision "efficient and practical". They thought it was "the most efficient and practical method of informing their colleagues of this business development was by using the fire alarm". A spokesman for the company said: "It is at the discretion of the store management how the staff are given the news. The fire alarm was set off to clear the store of members of the public."
Not the best use of the fire alarm and not a very good way to pass on the bad news to the employees. Although not called to the fire Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service said they would be investigating the circumstances of the fire alarm being used in this way.

Fine Increased on Appeal.

A recent appeal case in Scotland’s High Court, HM Advocate v Munro & Sons (Highland) Ltd, has examined the factors to be taken into account when determining the appropriate sentence for health and safety offences.

Munro & Sons (Highland) Ltd (“Munro”), a haulage and disposal contractor, was involved in transporting a heavy wheeled loader on a low loaded trailer. The loader was secured by use of a parking brake and two securing chains. It later transpired that the parking brake had a serious defect and that the two securing chains were of insufficient strength. As the road began to incline, the chains broke, releasing the loader. The loader then rolled backwards and crushed the car behind, injuring one of its occupants and killing the other. On first instance, the sentencing judge fixed a starting point fine of £5,000, discounted by 25 per cent to £3,750 to reflect the early plea of guilty. HM Advocate (the “Crown”) then appealed on the basis that the sentence was unduly lenient, and on 28 January 2009, the appeal court found in their favour.

The initial sentence was held to be far too low, taking inadequate account of the nature of the offence and the need for appropriate punishment in the public interest. There was a clear - foreseeable - risk to public safety if the loader rolled off the trailer, so by allowing there to be a defective handbrake and inadequate securing chains, Munro had failed to comply with its statutory duties to members of the public under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. The appeal court found that an appropriate starting point would actually have been £40,000, discounted by 25 per cent, and a fine of £30,000 was substituted.

Client Home Page | Regulatory Update | transafe online | FAQ's | Articles of Interest | Useful External Links