FEATURE DON’T SLIP UP


The role of facilities management and health and safety is constantly changing. Today, managers need to meet the increased focus on safety and wellbeing, keep up to date


with best practices, environmental


requirements, and the latest innovations, all designed to create better, safer workplaces for employees and visitors.


THE CHANGING FACE OF SAFETY Over the past couple of years, health and safety managers have had to adapt to a rapidly changing world. Measures had to be put in place to protect workers during the Covid pandemic, and more recently, there’s been a greater emphasis on people’s mental health. We’ve also seen the introduction of new legislation, such as the Building Safety Act 2022. Although this primarily relates to residential and high- rise buildings, the Act can impact all buildings through the newly created Construction Products Regulator, which has the power to remove dangerous products from the market.


ENSURING HEALTH AND SAFETY IN


THE WORKPLACE Workplace health and safety legislation has largely stayed the same over the years, despite rumours that regulations would change following Brexit. As ever, legislation aims to provide a safe environment for everyone.


When it comes to workplaces, the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) remains at the heart of health and safety law. It requires employers to do everything that is ‘reasonably practicable’ to provide a safe and healthy workplace for employees and visitors. This Act is reinforced by The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 which places a duty on employers to carry out risk assessments to identify potential hazards and implement measures to control the risks.


HOW TO CONTROL RISKS Many risks in an industrial facility, such as a warehouse,


will be identified as part of your annual risk assessment or during reviews, particularly following working practices or equipment changes. As well as enabling you to identify high-risk areas, the assessment will also help you to determine who may be at risk so


18


Scott Saunders, Technical Service Manager at Watco, shares his expert advice on tackling the hidden hazards to ensure a compliant and safe facility.


that you can either remove the hazard or reduce the risk of an injury. However, this may not always be as straightforward as it seems.


HOW TO IDENTIFY HIDDEN HAZARDS Not all risks are obvious, so what happens if the hazard


is not apparent? How can you effectively eliminate the risk or lessen the consequences of an incident?


Slip and trip hazards underfoot: According to the latest HSE statistics, slips, trips and falls on the same level were one of the leading causes (33%) of non- fatal injuries in the workplace during 2020/21. Floors, steps and ramps face constant wear and tear in busy industrial facilities from vehicles, heavy machinery and foot traffic, so you must inspect them regularly.


A floor may look clean and dry but can still be slippery. For example, oil and grease often leak onto floors from vehicles and equipment. These can then be easily spread around on shoes or tyres or by using the wrong type of cleaning product. So rather than cleaning a contaminant up, it spreads it around the area, leaving a thin, slippery film.


Slippery surfaces can be easily tackled using a powerful degreaser to remove oil and grease from the surface or applying a slip retardant coating.


Signs of damage, no matter how insignificant they seem, must be dealt with as soon as they are spotted. What may appear to be a minor hole in a floor, on a stair tread, or a slightly cracked joint can quickly become a severe hazard and cause someone to trip or turn an ankle.


Filling holes and cracks with an epoxy resin mortar and repairing joints with a flexible filler will help overcome the potential for trips and prevent any minor damage from becoming a major repair job.


Moving objects: 10% of non-fatal injuries were caused by workers being struck by a moving object such as a pallet truck, trolley or automated machinery and vehicles. Sometimes the cause can be as simple as someone not looking where they’re going or pushing an overloaded trolley and then crashing into some racking because they do not have full visibility.


These risks can easily be overcome by introducing clear, demarcated routes separating pedestrians from the hazards and clearly stating maximum loads for a trolley.


Mental risks: Not all unseen hazards are physical. Mental health is fast becoming a priority for managers. Events such as the Covid pandemic have helped increase mental health awareness and push employee wellbeing to the top of many workplaces’ agendas. As a health and safety professional, you will know the early signs of stress and mental ill health and understand how to respond to these.


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