FOCUS ON SAFETY FEATURE By Katharina Busch
KATHARINA BUSCH is a content contributor for Arinite, a London-based health and safety consultancy which focuses on appropriate safety training, risk assessments and risk management in many diff erent industries.
Arinite (Health and Safety Consultancy) provides service and support to a diverse customer base including fi nancial companies, retail chains, schools, manufacturers, assembly plants, warehouses, transport companies, social enterprises, and leisure facilities across the UK and Ireland.
www.arinite.co.uk • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Shedding light on working site safety
WINTER is not only the season of bad weather conditions, but also of early nightfall and prolonged darkness, bringing with it a very diff erent array of potential dangers in the workplace. According to The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR), over 5,000 non- fatal injuries, and 30 fatal injuries were recorded in 2016/2017 due to poor occupational safety. More than 60% of those incidents were caused by falls from a height or slips, trips, and falls on the same level.
Insuffi cient edge protection and missing warning signs are a common cause for falls, slips and trips, and poor illumination contributes greatly to the risk of missing a potential hazard on site, especially at this time of year. So how do you choose adequate illumination tools for your workplace?
The consequences of poor illumination
Inadequate lighting can lead to many harmful consequences, ranging from superfi cial injuries to eye fatigue, headaches, and long-term vision impairments. In a dynamic working environment, the time it takes to focus on a fast-moving object is essential to a worker’s safety, as well as their ability to see clearly.
18 TBH February, 2019
www.toolbusiness.co.uk
Minimising distractions such as glare and fl ickering, as well as balancing levels of brightness and contrast, will be essential to providing workers with a safe, pleasant, and effi cient work space.
Diff erent types of lighting Depending on the task at hand, general lighting or local lighting might be required – or most frequently a combination of each. The amount of light and the colour of the light itself, as well as the type of light fi xture ,will all impact the workers’ vision.
When people are required to pay close attention to detail, such as when operating machinery or carrying out manual tasks, personal task light options are necessary. Spot and flood lights, headlamps or freestanding task lights use LEDs and are often powered by Lithium-ion batteries, which provides a reliable and durable solution.
On a larger scale, manoeuvring around a construction site (for example, when carrying heavy objects or driving vehicles) requires a diff erent, but equally
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