Risk assessment

[alferret]

I am looking as to the best way to inform my employer that we need to carry out a risk assessment on the factory and how we do things pertaining to the lifting of panels and timber.
This is as much for my benefit as my colleagues. I have just been signed off from work again with lower back pain, another week’s wages lost.
Any links or advice would be greatly apreaciated.




TIA


Alan

[Scrubbs]

after a quick google I found this and this for do it yourself and this for a professional company to do it.

I have done a lot in my work and found them easy to do once you understand what you are trying to achieve, like everything else in life

If you need any more help, let me know

[pabscars]

You could always ask the HSE to pay him a visit, how many people work for your company is it more than 5 ?.

If you have been off work for more than 3 days, with a work related injury your boss should be reporting it under the RIDDOR regs if memory serves.

Which can in turn provoke an early visit from (Oh look its the Elf and Safety)

You could start off by asking your boss to undertake a manual handling risk assessment which should pick up on any issues and point him in the right direction.

[soup dragon]

if there are more than 5 employees i think you must have them done by law. They must be reviewed within a time frame, usually a year, or when an incident occurs. Any work related injury that results in more than 3 days off is reportable under RIDDOR (Reporting of Incidents, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations). Anyone competent can do them.

[alferret]

Originally Posted by Scrubbs

after a quick google I found this and this for do it yourself and this for a professional company to do it.

I have done a lot in my work and found them easy to do once you understand what you are trying to achieve, like everything else in life

If you need any more help, let me know

Thanks very much Scrubbs I got a few days to perouse the pages linked to, it'll give me some idea how to go about things.

---------- Post added at 17:29 ---------- Previous post was at 17:21 ----------

Originally Posted by pabscars

You could always ask the HSE to pay him a visit, how many people work for your company is it more than 5 ?.

If you have been off work for more than 3 days, with a work related injury your boss should be reporting it under the RIDDOR regs if memory serves.

Which can in turn provoke an early visit from (Oh look its the Elf and Safety)

You could start off by asking your boss to undertake a manual handling risk assessment which should pick up on any issues and point him in the right direction.

We have around 60 employee's. We had a visit from HSE around 14 months ago, some things were mentioned by me to the HSE representative as I was the one tasked from the shop floor to speak on behalf of the employee's. Some things she said should be done have been and others still havnt. I am pretty sure that if any employee at our company has been signed off no one has been informed.
We have an independant safety advisor come round once a month who does a walk through, jots down a few notes, mainly about trip hazards, poor house keeping etc, makes a report to the owner who seldom actions any reccomendations.

---------- Post added at 17:34 ---------- Previous post was at 17:29 ----------

Originally Posted by soup dragon

if there are more than 5 employees i think you must have them done by law. They must be reviewed within a time frame, usually a year, or when an incident occurs. Any work related injury that results in more than 3 days off is reportable under RIDDOR (Reporting of Incidents, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations). Anyone competent can do them.

From what I can recall and I stand to be corrected but I was under the assumption that accidents didnt need reporting unless the incident ended up with the person hurt having to have an overnight stay at the hospital. But I am going back 9 or 10 years IIRC.

[soup dragon]

Here is the HSE page with the regulations

http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/riddor.htm

You must report:

• deaths;
• major injuries;
• over-3-day injuries – where an employee or self-employed person is away from work or unable to perform their normal work duties for more than 3 consecutive days;
• injuries to members of the public or people not at work where they are taken from the scene of an accident to hospital;
• some work-related diseases;
• dangerous occurrences – where something happens that does not result in an injury, but could have done;
• Gas Safe registered gas fitters must also report dangerous gas fittings they find, and gas conveyors/suppliers must report some flammable gas incidents.

It does sound like your employer has done something with regard to the safety advisor visits, but if he doesn't act on his recommendations then is seems like lip service tbh.

[Scrubbs]

is there a union at work? either for yourself or the office workers?
because they should have more info etc on safety matters

[alferret]

Originally Posted by Scrubbs

is there a union at work? either for yourself or the office workers?
because they should have more info etc on safety matters

No union unfortunatly

[pabscars]

You could always work out how much its costing him in sick pay and lost production a year, then come up with a plan (possibly by using manual handling equipment to make the job easier) and a cost for improvements, with any benefits in throughput.

I've hit brick walls when dealing with directors and upper management before, but when you lay down the cold hard facts about the true cost of sickness, lost production, poor staff morale etc, they usually start to listen.

A lot of people just see H+S as being an unnecessary expense, but in reality it can improve production whilst reducing risk, if applied correctly.

Is your employer aware of his legal responsibilities, couldn't hurt to remind him/her.

I get safety publications each month, and if I stumble across any director prosecutions, I ACCIDENTALLY photocopy the article and leave a copy in their pigeon hole

[Angua]

Has everyone received Manual Handling training. This is now a compulsory course for ALL employees, even desk jockeys?

Also there should be reporting of Accidents & Near misses which do not come under RIDDOR rules. This is to ensure that if someone trips on a step (for example) the H&S person does a Risk Assessment to see if there is an issue with lighting, loose stair carpet or whatever and the problem is prevented. If this is not done or followed up the company will be liable for any claims made by these injury lawyer companies on behalf of injured staff.

[Flyboy]

Your first port of call, is to bring it to the attention of the person in the company, who has responsibility for health and safety. If this person is refusing to carry out their statutory duty, then you should approach that person's line manager/director. If they refuse to conduct the risk assessments, then your next step is to talk to the HSE for advice.