Health_and_Safety

MR. H. Chavda UNIT 6 HEALTH AND SAFETY Company Health and Safety and Welfare Year 2 HNC Lecturer Mr. A. Sarsons Contents Section 1- page 3 Section No 1: Main Health, Safety and Welfare Legislation Define the main health, safety and welfare legislation in the construction sector and the implications of non-compliance. 1. Specify the legal responsibilities of the parties involved in a given construction site situation. All workers are entitled to work in environments where risks to their health and safety are properly controlled. Under health and safety law, the primary responsibility for this is down to employers. As a worker, you have a duty to take care of your own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by your actions. Health and safety legislation, therefore, requires employers and workers to cooperate. This is all a large part of roles and responsibilities of employers and employees –not forgetting the health and safety at work act 1974 to the current date, as the legislation is changing everyday. Construction organisations will need to change and respond to support effective worker involvement. It will be necessary to examine people’s roles and the way the workforce is organised, and make adjustments to enable and encourage staff to get involved. This is all within the health and safety act 1974 and also within the parameters of CDM (construction, design and management). • Establish and maintain management control of health and safety. • Promote cooperation between individuals, representatives and groups so that health and safety becomes a collaborative effort. • Ensure the communication of information throughout the organisation. • Secure the competence of everyone to play their part. Making sure that roles and responsibilities are understood and that staff have the skills and support necessary to be fully engaged is one of the most challenging stages in improving worker involvement. It is, however, essential to establish clear and effective reporting lines to underpin any worker involvement scheme - communications, training and leadership are all important organisational elements that will contribute to effective systems i.e. K.A.T.I.E. Knowledge, attribute, technical, instruction and experience. In our company we use these questions to identify whether we are organising for successful worker involvement: Is a senior manager championing worker involvement' Research shows that sustained management commitment is one of the most necessary prerequisites for worker involvement. Are trade unions committed to and supporting worker involvement' Trade union safety reps are an important source of health and safety specialists and should be actively engaged in any scheme. They can play a key role in motivating workers to participate. Do workers know who their representatives are' Whether appointed by a recognised trade union or elected by employees who are not part of a recognised union, it is vital that workers know who their representatives are. Is there a need for a general redefinition of staff roles and responsibilities' For example, by writing health and safety responsibilities into job descriptions and performance agreements and ensuring that staff’s other duties are organised to accommodate their active involvement in health and safety. Have the staff been empowered to play an active part' For example, are employees receiving the necessary training and getting time off to attend meetings' Who should be taking the lead' Senior managers A senior manager should take responsibility for: • Ensuring that the policy to involve workers is put into practice. • Ensuring that worker involvement is properly maintained. • Ensuring that the policy is regularly reviewed. Line managers and supervisors Line managers and supervisors play a vital role in implementing worker involvement. Their responsibilities are likely to include: • Ensuring local teams know about the policy. • Ensuring the policy is put into practice – discussing ideas with local teams and piloting initiatives. • Supporting staff to get involved. • Advising senior management of resource requirements. • Championing worker involvement and health and safety through active participation and observation of health and safety rules. Workers Workers should be encouraged and supported - not compelled - to get involved. Representatives: staff who represent the workforce in health and safety should actively promote worker involvement by: • Participating in activities. • Communicating effectively and regularly with the wider workforce. • Co-operating with managers to ensure workers’ concerns are acknowledged and responded to. • Being approachable. • Being enthusiastic and creative. • Championing health and safety, for example by setting a good example. Workers: workers should be encouraged to get involved. They should play their part by: • Making suggestions for improving health and safety. • Following health and safety procedures. • Reporting unsafe conditions or practices (to a line manager or representative). Sharing information: communications Effective communications are essential to the success of worker involvement in health and safety. By communicating effectively to the workforce and encouraging two-way dialogue, you will raise the profile of health and safety and increase worker commitment and participation whilst supporting a broader culture of cooperation and openness. A mixture of informal and formal methods will be needed to underpin employee participation in health and safety. Informal communications Every organisation has its own culture that will influence the ways in which managers, safety professionals and workers share information. Informal communications – such as walkabouts by managers – are an important way of reinforcing worker involvement messages. Encouraging face-to-face meetings can encourage staff to raise ideas and concerns that might otherwise go unreported. Such opportunities should be regular and visible. Example of worker involvement through informal communications Managers in Organisation D decided that understanding workers’ concerns was key to improving health and safety standards. They agreed to have regular, informal walks around the site to encourage staff to talk to them about their concerns. The success of the approach was secured by ensuring that managers acted on what they heard, either by making changes or explaining honestly why feedback would not be acted on. 'We decided a few months ago that we needed to get out there and meet the workers. I found it daunting at first but now two of us go together… we meet the staff, find out what’s worrying them and try to fix it… or at least say why we can’t. Sometimes I ask our health and safety officer to go straight down and deal with a situation immediately after chatting to a member of staff. I think that really motivates staff and leaves an impression.' (Public sector, senior manager) Keep it light - workers are much more likely to open up about risks when managers are approachable (tool box talks). For example, one large manufacturer found that their policy to meet the workforce did not succeed until they made sure that workers could talk one-to-one with managers: 'We decided that, as management, we’d try to get out and about more and go and talk to workers but it didn’t work very well at first because we went around as a gang of eight. As you can imagine, no one approached us! Now what we do is go around individually with either a union rep or a supervisor and make an effort to chat to as many people as possible so we’re more approachable and I think it’s been a success.' (Large manufacturer, health and safety specialist) Formal communications There is a range of more organised methods of communication that can be used to share information on health and safety and encourage staff to get involved. Team meetings: Making health and safety a standard agenda item at team meetings is a proven way of raising its profile in the organisation. Managers should encourage feedback from staff and ensure that concerns and suggestions are registered and responded to. Notice boards: Use for displaying health and safety information and news. Including photos of health and safety representatives and staff with Health and Safety responsibilities is highly effective in raising the profile of worker involvement. Newsletters: Use newsletters to inform staff about health and safety and ways to get involved. You might use a specific health and safety newsletter, or include health and safety news in other newsletters. Try mixing media - e-mail updates and hard-copy newsletters increase the chances of staff receiving the message. Intranet: Giving health and safety a high profile on your staff intranet and keeping it up to date is a convenient way for staff to access information. Remember, you will need to use other more direct communications to draw attention to information on the intranet and to ensure that staff who do not regularly use computers are not excluded. Use a mixture of formal and informal communications: 'I think we’re heading towards a good system, in that we have the formal channels – the committee - and cascading through daily team meetings, the walkabouts, the notice boards for people to report anything they see immediately. I think we’ve got the formal aspects and the more face-to-face ones pretty much covered.' (Large manufacturer, health and safety specialist) Keep communications short and to the point. Whether reporting on a meeting, informing staff on health and safety procedures or letting workers know about how they can get involved, you should make the information as engaging and accessible as possible. Avoid jargon and overly complicated or formal language. Pictures, bullets and short summaries can all help make your communications effective. Building competence: training The success of any worker involvement is dependent on the experience and expertise of its participants. Targeting knowledgeable staff to get involved helps to build the effectiveness of workgroups and ensures that health and safety management systems are practical and effective. Training for worker involvement You have a legal duty to support the training of representatives: elected representatives need to be given appropriate health and safety training and be supported with paid time off to attend it; trade union safety reps must be given time off with pay to attend training provided by their union or the TUC. Training plays a vital role in building managers’ and workers’ knowledge and confidence. 'Education is central to it all. I can’t stress that enough. If people are taught the principles behind health and safety and exactly how they’re meant to put them into practice in the context of their jobs then it becomes much less of an issue.' (Large manufacturer, health and safety specialist) For effective health and safety training:- • Keep induction training concise and relevant - and remember to follow up regularly. • Use real life situations to explore how to deal with health and safety risks. • Remember the training potential of toolbox talks. • Senior managers should attend training alongside workers. • External trainers will need to tailor courses to the particular needs of your workforce. • Encourage feedback as part of a commitment to continuous improvement. • Don’t rely on written handouts – visual aids and role playing are much more effective at ensuring knowledge is retained. Although good health and safety training for all staff is essential for workers to get involved, there are a number of benefits of going beyond health and safety to build staff’s wider skills. For example, one small/medium manufacturing firm gives assertiveness training to staff as part of its policy to promote worker involvement: 'We find that sending workers on courses for assertiveness delivers good results. It’s not directly linked to health and safety but it helps them to deal with situations that may arise from asking them to get involved.' (Small/medium manufacturer, senior Manager) Examples of worker involvement in developing training Encouraging workers to share their knowledge, for example by getting involved in induction training for new starters or by advising on how best to educate staff in risk management in their specialist area, builds staff confidence, ensures learning is retained and promotes team working. There are a number of ways in which you can support staff to get involved in the design and delivery of training. For example, employees at a chemicals company are involved in developing new training packages and updating existing ones. Especially following plant modification, plant operators carry out training-needs analysis, write manuals, conduct technical reviews and provide training for their colleagues. They are supported by consultants, who give advice about the best format for the training to make it interesting and understandable. In one large company, safety champions are given additional health and safety training to the rest of the staff and are then actively involved in training their colleagues. The safety champions assist with the induction of all new staff, deliver health and safety messages and carry out toolbox talks. Whether elected by staff or appointed by trade unions, representatives should be actively involved in how health and safety training is planned and delivered. Employees rights and responsibilities This information is from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in collaboration with the Trades Union Congress (TUC). HSE is a government organisation that works to protect the health, safety and welfare of workers by enforcing health and safety law and offering advice and support. The TUC represents over 70 trade unions with over 6.5 million members. It campaigns for fairness and decent standards at work. If you are an employee (full- or part-time, temporary or permanent), this information explains what your rights are, what you should expect from your employer, what responsibilities you have and where to go for help. It also applies to you if you are a young person doing work experience, an apprentice, charity worker, mobile worker or homeworker. If you are a temporary, casual or agency worker, the employment business/agency, gangmaster, contractor or hirer you are working for has a legal duty to ensure you receive the rights set out here. You have the right: • To work in places where all the risks to your health and safety are properly controlled. • To stop working and leave the area if you think you are in danger. • To inform your employer about health and safety issues or concerns. • To contact HSE or your local authority if you still have health and safety concerns and not get into trouble • To join a trade union and be a safety representative. • To paid time off work for training if you are a safety representative. • To a rest break of at least 20 minutes if you work more than six hours at a stretch and to an annual period of paid leave. You must: • Take care of your own health and safety and that of people who may be affected by what you do (or do not do). • Co-operate with others on health and safety, and not interfere with, or misuse, anything provided for your health, safety or welfare. Your employer must tell you: • About risks to your health and safety from current or proposed working practices. • About things or changes that may harm or affect your health and safety. • How to do your job safely. • What is done to protect your health and safety. • How to get first-aid treatment. • What to do in an emergency. • Your employer must provide, free of charge: • Training to do your job safely. • Protection for you at work when necessary (such as clothing, shoes or boots, eye and ear protection, gloves, masks etc). • Health checks if there is a danger of ill health because of your work. • Regular health checks if you work nights and a check before you start. Because I am genuinely self-employed I am responsible for providing my own first-aid arrangements, training, protective equipment and health checks, and for organising my own working time. Employers responsibilities It is an employer's duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees, and other people who might be affected by their business. Your employer must do whatever is reasonably practicable to achieve this. This means making sure that you and others are protected from anything that may cause harm, effectively controlling any risks to injury or health that could arise in the workplace. Your employer has duties under health and safety law to assess risks in the workplace. Risk assessments should be carried out that address all risks that might cause harm in your workplace. Your employer must give you information about the risks in your workplace and how you are protected and instruct and train you on how to deal with the risks and also have adequate insurance for the appropriate job being carried out on a daily basis. Your employer must consult you on health and safety issues, either directly or through a safety representative that is either elected by the workforce or appointed by a trade union. Employees should be given training on their employer’s duty to:- • protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees and other people who might be affected by their business; • assess risks in the workplace; • provide employees with information about the risks in the workplace and how to deal with them; and • consult employees on health and safety issues. 2. Summarize and explain the main provisions of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and CDM Regulations. MHSW Regulations have been effective since December 1999. These Regulations are in addition to the duties laid down under Health and Safety of Work Act 1974. This would also include the 2007 health and safety at work act for employers and employees and the management regulations. The article will be useful reading if you are; • A safety representative; • A health and safety professional or; • Interested in health and safety. The MHSW regulations have been put in place in order that you take care of all those you work in conjunction with – employees, contractors, clients or customers. The aim of the regulations is to reduce damage by assessing all potential risks and to create action plans for emergencies. Compliance with industry specific regulations will normally be sufficient. However, where MHSW Regulations go further than those of more specific legislation, extra measures will be required in order to comply. Who do the regulations apply to' Employers have a duty to asses all risks for all workers, including mobile and home workers Seafarers and young people performing temporary or short-term work in family businesses or domestic service are exempt from protection. A summary of the regulations: (for employers) • You must review risk assessments periodically and make modifications if there are any significant changes in working practices or equipment • If safety procedures can ever be improved, appropriate steps should be taken accordingly. • You are expected to take reasonable steps to familiarise yourself with the hazards and risks in your workplace • Work must be organised. A set pattern of rules and regulations usually means more systematic work and less chance of accidents • Training should be given in such a way that hazardous situations can be avoided. For example: Lengthening of working day, removal of taking screening breaks etc for meeting deadlines should be avoided. • You must ensure that the significant hazards are identified, and that the actual working practices are addressed and if need be, changed so as to reduce any risk. I suggest that: • If the use of advanced technology helps in reducing risks, make use of it. • Your employees should do the work that best suits them. • Risk prevention should also show in your business policies which would in turn show how serious you are in ensuring the health and safety of your employees. • Give priority to those measures which protect the whole workplace and all those who work there; i.e. give collective protective measures priority over individual measures. • The existence of an active health and safety culture needs to be assured. Safety representatives There are numerous references to the role of safety representatives and other employee representatives in the guidance with stronger indications that consultation with representatives is required. Carrying out assessments and reviews Employers should select employees to perform health and safety tasks such as planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of health and safety arrangements. Employers are encouraged to take into account the views of employees and safety representatives. You should select the most competent employees for the job. External specialists can be used if required or a combination of internal and external personnel may be appropriate. Mistakes by competent persons do not free employers from liability for breaches of statutory duty. Employers must maintain contact with external services particularly first aid and emergency services who provide medical care and rescue work. Employers should establish written procedures for workers to follow when faced with serious and imminent danger and which acknowledge that situations arise when workers must act on their own initiative in proceeding to safety. Employers should explain clearly when workers should stop work and move to a place of safety. What an assessment must include There is a greater detail required in the new regulations. Risk assessments should identify the period of time for which they will remain valid. They should take account of the views of employees and safety representatives. A risk assessment should now: 1. Identify hazards, 2. Identify who might be harmed and how, 3. Evaluate the risks from the identified hazards, 4. Record the significant findings in a retrievable form, and 5. Provide for review and revision. The record should be retrievable for use by the employer in reviews and for safety representatives and other employee representatives and visiting inspectors. “Preventive and protective measures” The regulations focus on preventive and protective measures. These include: • avoiding risks • evaluating risks which cannot be avoided • combating risks at source • adapting work to the individual, especially as regards the design of workplaces, the choice of work equipment and the choice of working and production methods, with a view, in particular, to alleviating monotonous work and work at a pre-determined work-rate and to reducing their effect on health • adapting to technical progress • replacing the dangerous by the non-dangerous or the less dangerous • developing a coherent overall prevention policy which covers technology, organisation of work, working conditions, social relationships and the influence of factors relating to the working environment • giving collective protective measures priority over individual protective measures • giving appropriate instructions to employees. Special procedures for younger employees An employer who employs a child below school-leaving age must inform the parent or guardian of the child of the risks and the safety requirements derived from the risk assessment. The duty of employers to perform risk assessments is extended specifically to cover young workers. This must take account of their lack of experience, the absence of awareness of existing or potential risks, or the fact that they have not yet fully matured. Employers may not employ young people for some types of work unless it is necessary for training, there is competent supervision and the risk is reduced to the lowest level reasonably practicable. Risk assessments need to be carried out before young people begin work. New and expectant mothers Employers must carry out an assessment of the risks to new and expectant mothers and to their babies. When necessary on health and safety grounds, employers may change the working conditions or hours of work of new and expectant mothers. Employers may suspend on full pay new and expectant mothers from work if their safety cannot be protected in other ways. Employers may suspend on full pay new and expectant mothers who work at nights upon the production of a medical certificate. An employer need not take any action until an employee notifies them that she is pregnant, has given birth within the previous six months, or is breast feeding. Employers need to identify suitable alternative work that is available and offer it to new and expectant mothers rather than suspend them if preventive and protective measures are insufficient. Notification of an employer of pregnancy for the purpose of any statutory requirement, such as statutory maternity pay, constitutes sufficient notice under the MHSW Regulations. The employer must introduce appropriate safety measure immediately on notification. The employer can request confirmation of the pregnancy by means of a medical certificate and can discontinue safety measures if this is not produced within a reasonable time. Managerial training Host employers must ensure that people working on their premises who are self-employed or who work for other employees receive relevant safety information. This can be done by providing them with information directly or providing it to their employers, in which case the host employer must check that the information is passed on. Managers should be aware of relevant legislation and should be competent to manage health and safety effectively. All employees, including senior management, should receive relevant training. Conclusion As with much regulatory legislation, it is unlikely that you will fall foul of it, unless there is some reason for some person to investigate. In the case of H&S requirements, that is most likely to happen if either an employee complains to a tribunal or there is an accident. 3. Evaluate the penalties for non-compliance with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. HSE enforces health and safety legislation for most industry sectors in Great Britain - they cover factories, building sites, mines, farms, fairgrounds, quarries, railways, chemical plant, offshore and nuclear installations, schools, hospitals and other places where there is a work activity. Cases involving the prosecution of individuals will not appear on the prosecutions history database as they are subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Prosecution is the main means by which the health and safety enforcing authorities (mainly HSE and the local authorities) hold to account those alleged to have committed serious breaches of health and safety law. Health and safety law provides few sentencing options for the courts, and conviction usually results in a fine. However, the wider criminal justice system provides many ways by which to hold an offender to account. Some may be appropriate to health and safety offences. This is particularly true of those which could: • Provide incentives to comply with the law; • Enhance the role of victims; • Offer more restitution to the business community and employees; or • Help ensure that lessons are learnt and offences are not repeated. And alternative penalties are already used in many health and safety systems in Europe and Australia, for instance. This is why HSE is considering what the impact would be of introducing alternative penalties for health and safety offences. They have raised with some key stakeholders the possible application of restorative elements in the justice system - for example, conditional cautioning. Considerable interest was shown. They are now expanding this debate to include other alternative penalties such as administrative fines and adverse publicity orders. We also intend to commission research into the use of alternative penalties elsewhere. A report of a survey on compliance with Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI). The survey, undertaken by Greenstreet Berman, concluded that ELCI compliance was high - nearly 99.5% of those employers surveyed were ELCI compliant. The study was carried out in agreement with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to help inform the Second Stage of the ELCI Review, a report of which was published on 4 December 2003. HSE's own contact with duty holders suggested that there was a very low level of non-compliance. While we noted but disagreed with the high levels of non-compliance identified by the FSB and Axa in surveys they carried out, we were keen to get a more accurate picture. There were two elements to the survey: • A confidential postal questionnaire of 18,000 organisations - small, medium and large across all sectors in England, Scotland and Wales - to examine compliance levels; • A check of the number of ELCI policies insurers had in place in March 2002 and in Autumn 2003 to validate the self-reported levels of compliance. 2,437 respondents replied to the survey questionnaire. The survey reported 0.53% non-compliance across all firms and noticeably a variation in compliance according to size of organisation: • 0.92% of micro firms (1 to 10 employees) reported non-compliance; • 0.37% of small firms (11 to 49 employees) reported non-compliance; • 0.6% of large sized firms (250+ employees) reported non-compliance. This is a far lower level than was suggested by recent surveys by Axa (13%) and the Federation of Small Business (8%) but is in line with compliance survey findings from Aon, the OFT and the TUC. There were no significant variations in non-compliance based on sector or geographical area. The second element of the survey was a study of the number of ELCI policies in place in March 2002 compared to Autumn 2003. The survey took account of the fact the number of businesses in the UK increased over this period, (the number of VAT registered firms increased 0.4%). Data from insurers revealed that the number of ELCI policies in force appears to have increased from 930,085 in March 2002 to 1,078,788 in Autumn 2003. The study also found evidence that many firms continue to experience great difficulty in securing ELCI, on grounds of affordability, which has caused them to take cost cutting measures. The most commonly sited response to the increased cost of ELCI has been to "try and improve health and safety performance" (50% of respondents). The HSE is committed to continuing to work with the DWP, the insurance industry and other stakeholders to ensure that ELCI compliance continues to remain high. There are however mainly 2 forms of court cases. 1. Magistrates court 2. Crown court Magistrate’s courts would only be involved mostly of a small domestic minor nature. Whereas, when the HSE is involved, they are mostly inclusive with the Crown court where there could be a sense of criminal intent without the intention of any criminality until a severe accident or breach has occurred. This could mean an unlimited amount of a fine and an unlimited amount of a jail term- dependant on the offence occurred. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today published a report of a survey on compliance with Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI). The survey, undertaken by Greenstreet Berman, concluded that ELCI compliance was high - nearly 99.5% of those employers surveyed were ELCI compliant. The study was carried out in agreement with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to help inform the Second Stage of the ELCI Review, a report of which was published on 4 December 2003. HSE's own contact with duty holders suggested that there was a very low level of non-compliance. While we noted but disagreed with the high levels of non-compliance identified by the FSB and Axa in surveys they carried out, we were keen to get a more accurate picture. There were two elements to the survey: • A confidential postal questionnaire of 18,000 organisations - small, medium and large across all sectors in England, Scotland and Wales - to examine compliance levels; • A check of the number of ELCI policies insurers had in place in March 2002 and in Autumn 2003 to validate the self-reported levels of compliance. 2,437 respondents replied to the survey questionnaire. The survey reported 0.53% non-compliance across all firms and noticeably a variation in compliance according to size of organisation: • 0.92% of micro firms (1 to 10 employees) reported non-compliance; • 0.37% of small firms (11 to 49 employees) reported non-compliance; • 0.6% of large sized firms (250+ employees) reported non-compliance. This is a far lower level than was suggested by recent surveys by Axa (13%) and the Federation of Small Business (8%) but is in line with compliance survey findings from Aon, the OFT and the TUC. There were no significant variations in non-compliance based on sector or geographical area. The second element of the survey was a study of the number of ELCI policies in place in March 2002 compared to Autumn 2003. The survey took account of the fact the number of businesses in the UK increased over this period, (the number of VAT registered firms increased 0.4%). Data from insurers revealed that the number of ELCI policies in force appears to have increased from 930,085 in March 2002 to 1,078,788 in Autumn 2003. The study also found evidence that many firms continue to experience great difficulty in securing ELCI, on grounds of affordability, which has caused them to take cost cutting measures. The most commonly sited response to the increased cost of ELCI has been to "try and improve health and safety performance" (50% of respondents)(source HSE website). There are many prosecutions, like the few examples below:- Working at height warning after man dies:- • Monday, November 24th, 2008 The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning of the importance of carrying out risk assessments and implementing safe systems for working at height following the prosecution of a company and one of its employees after an incident in which an elderly man died. Pervez Mohammed Iqbal, was (on Friday 21st November) ordered, by Wolverhampton Crown Court, to pay £15,000 in fines, with £2,800 costs after earlier pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This case followed a Police and HSE joint investigation into a fatal incident on 20 April 2007. The court heard that, on that day, Mr Satnam Singh, 62, fell 5-6 metres (16-20 feet) through a fragile rooflight whilst preparing to undertake work on the roof of a textiles factory in Smethwick. Work had already been undertaken to replace plastic rooflights following a burglary at the site and further work was being undertaken by Kundi Electrical to repair recurring roof leaks. Mr Singh was working under the direction of Pervez Mohammed Iqbal who was carrying out the work for Kundi Electrical. In undertaking this roofing work, equipment and building materials were being carried across roofs, which are well known in roofing and building industries to be fragile, when Mr Singh fell through and died later in hospital from the injuries sustained. The roof of the textiles factory was being accessed up a ladder and across several different types of pitched roofs of several factory units and an adjacent engineering company, below which employees were working. At an earlier hearing, on 11th February 2008, Surjit Singh Kundi trading as Kundi Electrical, from a base in Oldbury, had been ordered, by West Bromwich Magistrates, to pay £25,000 in fines, with £2,301 costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This case followed the same investigation into the fatal incident on 20 April 2007. HSE Inspector Georgina Speake said: "The roofs which were being repaired and those being used for access were totally unprotected, exposing anyone crossing them to the most serious risks. Iqbal had failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment to identify the risks associated with the work being undertaken. Findings should have been passed on to employees so that they were aware of the hazards and then measures needed to minimise the risks put in place. The risk was wholly predictable, therefore avoidable. Such falls remain one of the biggest killers in the construction industry and last year, across the country, 45 people died after falling while working at height. "Many incidents can be avoided if employers identify a safe way of tackling a job, provide all necessary protective equipment and ensure that workers or casual employees are fully trained and properly supervised. In this instance there were a number of optional methods and routes of access which would have greatly reduced the risk. Precautions that need to be taken to prevent falls are often simple and there is free guidance readily available to help employers take the right action."(source HSE website) Corporate liability can be 5% +or – of the Gross Profit. When did the new Act come into force' The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act was given Royal assent on 26 July 2007. The offence came into force on 6 April 2008 and is called corporate manslaughter in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and corporate homicide in Scotland. Provisions in the Act which relate to publicity orders and will commence when sentencing guidelines are published. It is anticipated that this will be by Summer 2009. Provisions in the Act which relate to the management of custody and will also come into force at a later stage. It is expected that the implementation period will be between 3-5 years. Are there any new duties or obligations under the Act' There are no new duties or obligations under the Act, nor is the new offence part of health and safety law. It is, however, specifically linked to existing health and safety requirements. What do companies and organisations need to do to comply' Companies and organisations that take their obligations under health and safety law seriously are not likely to be in breach of the new provisions. Nonetheless, companies and organisations should keep their health and safety management systems under review, in particular, the way in which their activities are managed or organised by senior management. Where does health and safety legislation come in' Under the Act, health and safety legislation means "any statutory provision dealing with health and safety matters" so it will include transport (road, rail, river, sea, air) food safety and workplace safety as enforced by HSE and local authorities. Juries will be required to consider breaches of health and safety legislation in determining liability of companies and other corporate bodies for corporate manslaughter/homicide. Juries may also consider whether a company or organisation has taken account of any appropriate health and safety guidance and the extent to which the evidence shows that there were attitudes, policies, systems or accepted practices within the organisation that were likely to have encouraged any such serious management failure or have produced tolerance of it. Who will investigate and prosecute under the new offence' The police will investigate suspected cases of corporate manslaughter/homicide. Prosecution decisions will be made by the Crown Prosecution Service (England and Wales), the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (Scotland) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (Northern Ireland). What is the role of health and safety regulators like HSE, local authorities etc' As now, there will be a joint approach to work-related deaths between all the relevant regulatory authorities in line with the principles of the Work Related Deaths Protocol. Will directors, board members or other individuals be prosecuted' The offence is concerned with corporate liability and does not apply to directors or other individuals who have a senior role in the company or organisation. However, existing health and safety offences and gross negligence manslaughter will continue to apply to individuals. Prosecutions against individuals will continue to be taken where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to do so. Is there any advice or guidance for directors or board members on what they should be doing and what their responsibilities are under health and safety legislation' In conjunction with the Institute of Directors, HSE has published guidance for directors on their responsibilities for health and safety - 'The guidance sets out good practice for directors, addressing them in language and style they will find authoritative and convincing, informing Boards and their members in the public, private and third sectors, as to how to provide leadership in health and safety so as to help their organisation meet its legal obligations as an employer under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and gain the business benefits arising from effective, sensible health and safety management. It should be bourne in mind that HSE is only one of the health and safety regulators that might produce relevant health and safety guidance. Organisations and companies can also seek guidance from any regulators in their own industry or sector. What penalties will a company or organisation face' Penalties will include unlimited fines, remedial orders and publicity orders. A remedial order will require a company or organisation to take steps to remedy any management failure that led to a death. The court can also impose an order requiring the company or organisation to publicise that it has been convicted of the offence, giving the details, the amount of any fine imposed and the terms of any remedial order made. The publicity order provisions will not come into force until the Sentencing Guidelines Council has completed its work on the relevant guidance. 4. Specify responsibilities for providing welfare facilities on site, but also what facilities should be provided. Construction, health and safety regulations (chisor) please see the attached leaflet from the HSE that covers the basics required. Welfare facilities (1) It shall be the duty of any person in control of a construction site to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the requirements of this regulation are complied with in relation to that site. (2) It shall be the duty of every employer and every self-employed person to ensure that the provisions of paragraphs (3) to (8) are complied with in respect of any person at work on a construction site who is under his control. (3) Suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences shall be provided or made available at readily accessible places, which conveniences shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, comply with the provisions of paragraphs 1 to 3 of Schedule 6. (4) Suitable and sufficient washing facilities, including showers if required by the nature of the work or for health reasons, shall be provided or made available at readily accessible places, which facilities shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, comply with the provisions of paragraphs 4 to 9 of Schedule 6, save that in respect of the provision of showers, paragraph 4(a) of that Schedule shall not apply. (5) An adequate supply of wholesome drinking water shall be provided or made available at readily accessible and suitable places, which supply shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, comply with the provisions of paragraphs 10 and 11 of Schedule 6. (6) Suitable and sufficient accommodation shall be provided or made available— (a) for the clothing of any person at work on a construction site and which is not worn during working hours; and (b) for special clothing which is worn by any person at work on a construction site but which is not taken home, which accommodation shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, comply with the provisions of paragraph 12 of Schedule 6. (7) Suitable and sufficient facilities shall be provided or made available to change clothing in all cases where— (a) a person has to wear special clothing for the purpose of his work; and (b) that person cannot, for reasons of health or propriety, be expected to change elsewhere, which facilities shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, comply with the provisions set out in paragraph 13 of Schedule 6. (8) Suitable and sufficient facilities for rest shall be provided or made available at readily accessible places, which facilities shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, comply with the provisions of paragraph 14 of Schedule 6. Fresh air (11) Suitable and sufficient steps shall be taken to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that every workplace or approach thereto has sufficient fresh or purified air to ensure that the place or approach is safe and without risks to health. (12) Any plant used for the purpose of complying with paragraph (1) shall, where necessary for reasons of health or safety, include an effective device to give visible or audible warning of any failure of the plant. Temperature and weather protection (1) Suitable and sufficient steps shall be taken to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that during working hours the temperature at any indoor place of work to which these Regulations apply is reasonable having regard to the purpose for which that place is used. (2) Every place of work outdoors shall, where necessary to ensure the health and safety of persons at work there, be so arranged that, so far as is reasonably practicable and having regard to the purpose for which that place is used and any protective clothing or equipment provided for the use of any person at work there, it provides protection from adverse weather. Lighting 25.—(1) There shall be suitable and sufficient lighting in respect of every place of work and approach thereto and every traffic route, which lighting shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be by natural light. (2) The colour of any artificial lighting provided shall not adversely affect or change the perception of any sign or signal provided for the purposes of health and safety. (3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), suitable and sufficient secondary lighting shall be provided in any place where there would be a risk to the health or safety of any person in the event of failure of primary artificial lighting. Good order (1) Every part of a construction site shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be kept in good order and every part of a construction site which is used as a place of work shall be kept in a reasonable state of cleanliness. (2) Where necessary in the interests of health and safety, the perimeter of a construction site shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be identified by suitable signs and the site shall be so arranged that its extent is readily identifiable. (3) No timber or other material with projecting nails shall— (a) be used in any work in which the nails may be a source of danger to any person; or (b) be allowed to remain in any place where the nails may be a source of danger to any person. Plant and equipment (1) All plant and equipment used for the purpose of carrying out construction work shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be safe and without risks to health and shall be of good construction, of suitable and sound materials and of sufficient strength and suitability for the purpose for which it is used or provided. (2) All plant and equipment used for the purpose of carrying out construction work shall be used in such a manner and be maintained in such condition that, so far as is reasonably practicable, it remains safe and without risks to health at all times when it is being used. Training Any person who carries out any activity involving construction work where training, technical knowledge or experience is necessary to reduce the risks of injury to any person shall possess such training, knowledge or experience, or be under such degree of supervision by a person having such training, knowledge or experience, as may be appropriate having regard to the nature of the activity. Inspection (1) Subject to paragraph (2), a place of work referred to in column 1 of Schedule 7 shall be used to carry out construction work only if that place has been inspected by a competent person at the times set out in the corresponding entry in column 2 of that Schedule and the person who has carried out the inspection is satisfied that the work can be safely carried out at that place. (2) Without prejudice to paragraph (1), where the place of work is a part of a scaffold, excavation, cofferdam or caisson, any employer or any other person who controls the way in which construction work is carried out by persons using that part shall ensure that the scaffold, excavation, cofferdam or caisson is stable and of sound construction and that the safeguards required by these Regulations are in place before his employees or persons under his control first use that place of work. (3) Where the person who has carried out an inspection pursuant to paragraph (1) is not satisfied that construction work can safely be carried out at that place— (a) where the inspection was carried out on behalf of another person, he shall inform that person of any matters about which he is not satisfied; and (b) the place of work shall not be used until the matters identified have been satisfactorily remedied. (4) An inspection of a place of work carried out pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include an inspection of any plant and equipment and any materials which affect the safety of that place of work. Reports (1) Subject to paragraphs (5) and (6), where an inspection is required under regulation 29(1), the person who carries out such inspection shall, before the end of the working period within which the inspection is completed, prepare a report which shall include the particulars set out in Schedule 8. (2) A person who prepares a report under paragraph (1) shall, within 24 hours of completing the inspection to which the report relates, provide the report or a copy thereof to the person on whose behalf the inspection was carried out. (3) The report or a copy thereof prepared for the purposes of paragraph (1) shall be kept at the site of the place of work in respect of which the inspection was carried out and, after that work is completed, shall be retained at an office of the person on whose behalf the inspection was carried out for a period of 3 months from the date of such completion. (4) A report prepared for the purposes of paragraph (1) shall at all reasonable times be open to inspection by any inspector, and the person keeping such report shall send to any such inspector such extracts therefrom or copies thereof as the inspector may from time to time require for the purpose of the execution of his duties. (5) No report is required to be prepared under paragraph (1) in respect of any working platform or alternative means of support from no part of which a person is liable to fall more than 2 metres. (6) Nothing in this regulation shall require— (a) a report to be prepared in respect of any mobile tower scaffold unless it remains erected in the same place for a period of 7 days or more; (b) as regards an inspection carried out on a place of work for the purposes of paragraph 1(ii) of column 2 of Schedule 7, the preparation of more than one report on that place within any period of 24 hours; or (c) as regards an inspection carried out on a place of work for the purposes of paragraph 2(i) or 3(i) of column 2 of Schedule 7, the preparation of more than one report on that place within any period of 7 days. Exemption certificates (1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Executive may, by a certificate in writing, exempt— (a) any person or class of person; (b) any premises or class of premises; or (c) any plant and equipment, from any requirement or prohibition imposed by these Regulations and any such exemption may be granted subject to conditions and to a limit of time and may be revoked at any time by a certificate in writing. (2) The Executive shall not grant any such exemption unless, having regard to the circumstances of the case and in particular to— (a) the conditions, if any, which it proposes to attach to the exemption; and (b) any other requirements imposed by or under any enactments which apply to the case, it is satisfied that the health and safety of persons who are likely to be affected by the exemption will not be prejudiced in consequence of it.