Welcome to the March edition of North Durham Safety Limited latest news.
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In this edition we look at……
Company news
Welcome to the September edition of North Durham Safety Limited latest news.
• North Durham Safety Limited have recently entered their 8th business year, and we wanted to say a big thank you to our
customers and partners who have helped us achieve this. We have single person customers and multi national
organisations, but we always try to treat every business the same and provide proportionate advice.
• We are still supporting local football (sponsoring two local teams).
• Due to demand we have purchased a dedicated 3rd work vehicle to support our travels far and wide.
• We would like to congratulate our employee, Ryan Saunders who recently qualified at NVQ level six and is now at
Graduate Membership of IOSH having completed the qualification in near record time.
• We also want to welcome Ryan Farthing to the business. Ryan very recently joined us and has a domestic building
background.
• Did you know we are now CHAS (Contractor Health & Safety Assessment Scheme) accredited? We have increasingly been
asked to help some construction based customers to achieve this important accreditation and although we have never
been asked to hold this, we thought it important to show we are also paid up members.
• Finally, as we write this, North Durham Safety LTD are moving in to new dedicated premise in Consett, County Durham.
The new premises has great office space for our growing staff base, with a meeting/training room and dedicated face fit
testing station.
Working Minds – HSE Stress campaign to help HGV drivers
More needs to be done to protect Britain’s truckers from work–related stress.
This is the view of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), whose Working Minds campaign is now targeting HGV drivers and employers to promote positive mental health whilst at work.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) on Thursday 10 August, joined as a campaign partner. Long hours away from home, demanding delivery times and limited access to toilets and showers are common causes of stress for drivers.
When safe to do so, drivers can text “BeAMate” for free confidential health support at all hours of every day. This service is provided by Working Minds campaign partner, Mates in Mind. HSE’s view is that HGV drivers keep the country and the economy moving. It’s therefore important that employers meet their legal duty to ensure risks of stress and mental ill health are factored into risk assessments.
Initiatives such as ‘BeAMate’ are helpful for people needing individual help, but they would like to see more focus on preventing work–related stress at an organisational level, to stop it developing into negative mental health. Driving a HGV naturally comes with pressure. Problems arise when there is excessive pressure which workers are unable to cope with.”
Material and advice from the Working Minds campaign for drivers and employers can be found at https://workright.campaign.gov.uk/campaigns/working–minds–sectors/working–minds–transport/
The Road Haulage Association recognise that employees mental health wellbeing is not just a personal concern to them but a vital component of everyone’s collective success as an organisation.
Work-related stress is on the rise
HSE and the Working Minds campaign warns that the scale of work-related stress across the
economy has increased in recent years. Stress, depression or anxiety is now the number one cause of work-related ill-health in Great Britain.
Within the transportation and storage sector as a whole (which includes road haulage), around four in ten cases of work-related ill-health are due to stress, depression or anxiety.
Mates in Mind: Help is available
As a charity, Mates in Mind works with many businesses within the sector, including Wincanton and Palletways, that have made the commitment to raising awareness and supporting their teams by developing a positive culture towards mental health and
wellbeing. Their anonymous text service is proving popular particularly with those on the road, to communicate any worries or personal challenges with advice lines open available 24/7.
If you want to know more about how Mates in Mind can provide expert support in co-creating your mental health strategy and proactive plan, including workforce awareness sessions, please contact us them at support@matesinmind.org.
Text “BeAMate”: If you or someone you know needs help or support, you can use our “BeAMate” text support service. To use the service, simply text “BeAMate” to 85258 and trained volunteers can help with issues including anxiety, stress, loneliness or depression and are available 24/7.
WHO’S IN THE DOCK
Transport company fined after worker fractures skull
A transport company has been fined £255,000 after a worker fell from a lorry and fractured his skull.
The man, who was working as a delivery driver for B Taylor & Sons Transport Limited, had been delivering glass to a customer when the incident occurred in Hinckley, Leicestershire on 4 December 2020.
As no forklift truck was available, the man was passing panes of glass from a stillage in the lorry to another worker on the ground.
The man then fell from the lorry, fracturing his skull, left hand, nose and right eye socket. He also sustained two bleeds on the brain, a 12 centimetre gash on his forehead and dislocated his right elbow.
B Taylor & Sons Transport Limited, of Export Drive, Huthwaite, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work
Construction company fined after Shropshire bricklayer fractures skull
A construction company has been fined £12,000 after a Shropshire bricklayer fell through a stairwell opening and fractured his skull.
Scott Ife, 30, from Bridgnorth, was working for 2 Counties Construction (Midlands) Ltd when the incident took place on 8 June 2020. The company had been hired as the principal contractor overseeing the refurbishment of agricultural barns into houses on Humber Lane in Telford.
Working alongside another employee, Mr Ife, who was 27 at the time, was laying the blocks to form the gable walls for a two-storey extension. The pair set up a working platform using Youngman boards on the first floor of the property. As there was an unprotected stairwell opening in the property, one end of the Youngman boards was unsupported.
While leaning over to point up the blocks in the gable walls, the worker lost his balance before falling onto the unsupported Youngman boards and through the stairwell opening.
He fell four-and-a-half metres onto the concrete floor below, fracturing his skull and damaging his facial nerve.
Company fined after worker’s fingers sliced off
A vape liquid manufacturing company in Manchester has been fined after a worker lost two fingers and a thumb while clearing a blockage in a packaging machine. The agency worker at VN Labs Ltd was operating a nicotine liquid pod packaging machine at
the firm’s premises on Beacon Road, Trafford Park, when it became blocked on 22 October 2020.
While removing the plastic that was causing the blockage, the machine’s blade was freed and sliced the worker’s right hand
VN Labs Limited, of Beacon Road, Trafford Park, Manchester, pleaded guilty to breaches of Section 2 (1) and 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £180,000 and ordered to pay £7,490.05 in costs at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on 16 June 2023.
Major transport firm hit with £1.9m fine after worker killed by HGV
Two major transport companies have been fined a combined total of £2.2m after ‘a loving dad and husband’ was killed when he was hit by a HGV in Birmingham.
Neil Roberts, 60, was a depot manager of Turners (Soham) Limited when he was struck by a reversing HGV on 30 August 2019. The incident happened at the premises of The Haulage Group Ltd (previously known as Howell Group Ltd), on Inkerman Street, when the vehicle reversed out of a parking space in the transport yard.
Turners (Soham) Limited of Fordham Road, Newmarket, Suffolk pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £1.9m and ordered to pay costs of £7,300.
The Haulage Group Ltd of Unit 28 Maybrook Business Park, Minworth, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,300.
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2023/05/18/major-transport-firm-hit-with-1-9m-fine-after-worker
-killed-by-hgv/
HSE launches manufacturing inspection initiative focusing on respiratory risks from silica
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors have begun a targeted inspection initiative focusing on manufacturing businesses where materials that contain silica are used. This includes brick and tile manufacturers and foundries.
Exposure to airborne particles of respirable crystalline silica (RCS) can lead to life-changing respiratory conditions such as silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
The inspections, which started on Monday 3 July, are checking that employers and workers know the risks involved when dealing with RCS and that businesses have control measures in place to protect workers’ respiratory health.
Employers have a legal duty to create suitable arrangements to manage health and safety and ensure they comply with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations HSE launches manufacturing inspection initiative focusing on respiratory risks from silica
Work–related fatality figures published
One hundred and thirty-five workers were killed in work-related incidents in Great Britain in the last year, according to figures published on Thursday July 6 2023 by the Health and Safety Executive.
The industries with the highest deaths were construction (45), agriculture, forestry, and fishing (21), manufacturing (15), and transportation and storage (15). Agriculture, forestry, and fishing has the highest rate of fatal injury per 100,000 workers of all the main industrial sectors followed by waste and recycling.
The three most common causes of fatal injuries are falls from height, being struck by a moving object, and being struck by a moving vehicle.
If you want more information regarding anything in this publication or need support please give us a call on 0333 2228959 or email at info@northdurhamsafety.com