News for 2005
December
"Pilot" courses for the Production Services Association - Safety Pass Alliance safety passport scheme are due to run during January, February and March 2006, STAGESAFE now expect to start running courses in April 2006. Formal announcements and details are to be made at the PSA Conference in January 2006 and on this web site.
It’s estimated that between 25 per cent and 33 per cent of road traffic accidents involve somebody who was using the road for work purposes. This means that in Great Britain between 850 and 1,100 people are killed, and 90,000 to 118,000 are seriously injured, in work-related road accidents each year. Fatigue is one of the major factors that can cause accidents. A recent study suggests that one in six British HGV drivers could suffer from a form of a sleep disorder, called Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA). With an estimated 500,000 HGV drivers on Britain's roads, if the pattern which was discovered by the study was repeated across the UK, about 80,000 drivers could be suffering from the condition.
A driver is legally responsible for his/her vigilance so an accident due to falling asleep is deemed the driver's fault. However employers should be aware that work related road safety is a shared responsibility between employer and employee. Some employers incorrectly believe that, provided they comply with road traffic law requirements such as company vehicles having a valid MOT certificate, and drivers holding a valid licence, this is enough to discharge their responsibilities.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 apply to on-the-road work activities in the same was as they do to all work activities. The risks should be effectively managed within a health and safety management system. Failure to do so can leave the employer liable for any accidents that may occur.
From 4 April 2005 the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations set out new laws relating to mobile workers. Under the new regulations, working time for such workers must not exceed an average 48 hour week, 60 hours in any single week, or 10 hours in any 24 hour period if working at night. A recent case highlights what can happen when an employer encourages their employee to break these laws. The driver involved fell asleep behind the wheel and killed a cyclist. His employer was also found liable for the death and was sentenced to three years for manslaughter, only a year less than the driver who actually committed the offence.
September
With PLASA over our attention will soon be drawn to the Showmans Show at Newbury Showground on October 19th. and 20th. We hope to see as many people as possible during the two days of the event so why not give us a call on 07831 437062 or send an email so we can arrange to meet? We will be very pleased to meet you, answer all your health and safety questions and queries with no obligation, have a pint and a chat or take bookings for future events.
Having recovered from this years PLASA show at Earls Court, STAGESAFE would like to say thanks to the following people who made the show even more special, with apologies in advance to anyone we may have forgotten: John Jones and all the staff from Lift, Turn Move, John Heni Mills from Kroos, Steve Warren from Avo-LItes, Nick Cooke, Andy Lenthall of the PSA, the team from James Thomas Engineering, John Offord, Ade Forbes Black at CM, PLASA, Jerry Gilbert, Mark Cunningham, Zero 88, John Corr from Sound Moves, Dave Smith of Specialz, the Main Event magazine, Louise Stickland, Dave Churches of Batmink, Graham Brown, Stewart Gibbons from Le Mark, Pogle, Wolf and Giles and last but not least we must not forget Bandit Lights for the very special hospitality and wonderful Guinness!
In the first campaign of its kind in the country, truckers are now able to receive text messages from the Police alerting them to crime on the road. The scheme has started in the West Midlands and Police hope it will reduce crime against trucking companies such as theft and give the Police extra pairs of eyes and ears on the roads.
Information in the text messages, which are sent to from police to industry contacts (such as trucking companies) and then to then to the drivers, includes details of stolen vehicles and crimes.
Small and medium-sized businesses are woefully ill-prepared for the expected passing of the Government’s Corporate Manslaughter Act. A new survey of 400 SEMs reveals half of have no travel policy and more than half rely on employees having their own vehicles. Some 32% of firms offer a cash-for-car scheme, but 62% of these do not perform regular maintenance checks on employees’ vehicles. A third do not check insurance and 21% do not even check driving licences.
With more businesses expected to introduce cash-for-car schemes in the next three years, National fears they could be leaving themselves open to prosecution under the new laws. It is now estimated that a third of all road accidents involve someone driving for work and small businesses are perhaps the most vulnerable to the consequences of an accident involving a member of staff.
In March 2005, after a delay of several years, the Government published a draft Bill for a new offence of Corporate Manslaughter, which it is currently consulting on.
ICE ("In case of Emergency) is a new national campaign. The idea is that you store the word " I C E " in your mobile phone address book, and against it enter the number of the person you would want to be contacted "In Case of Emergency". In an emergency situation ambulance and hospital staff will then be able to quickly find out who your next of kin are and be able to contact them. It's so simple that everyone can do it. Please do! For more than one contact name them ICE1, ICE2, ICE3 etc.
New fire safety regulations are due to be in place early in 2006, the new regulations will revoke the vast raft of current regulations and replace them with just one piece of legislation that will remove the need for Fire Certificates at some premises. The new regulations will require the need for duty holders and employers to carry out fire safety risk assessments for their premises. Why not contact STAGESAFE now for assistance with the new regulations and to carry out the required assessments?
August
Corporate manslaughter is a term we have all become so familiar with that it has become almost meaningless to the majority of people who own or manage businesses. Formal consultation on the Government’s proposed Corporate Manslaughter Bill is now over. The mass of responses they have received are currently being gestated, with a view to introducing new legislation in 2006. This development alone is one that any director or senior manager should be critically aware of. Here is what the Home Secretary said about the aims of that legislation in the consultation document: “Our proposals tackle the key difficulty with the current law: the need to find a “directing mind” of a company personally guilty of gross negligence. We propose a new test that looks more widely at failings within the senior management of an organisation. But this is not about new standards. It is not my intention to propose legislation that would increase regulatory burdens, stifle entrepreneurial activity or create a risk averse culture, and I am satisfied that these proposals do not. Organisations who already take their obligations under health and safety law seriously have nothing to fear.”
There are other current developments affecting health and safety that should make any manager – senior or not – in any organisation take note. The main development is driven by the insurance companies, who are now much more likely to chase down a party or parties who might be responsible for a health and safety failure in order to claim back any monies they have been forced to pay out on behalf of their own client. This is known as subrogation, a term we’re all much more likely to be reading about in the future.
The HSE is warning businesses that they must comply with orders to keep their workplace safe, after a Nottinghamshire company was fined £5,000 for ignoring an HSE inspector's demands. The Company admitted failing to clear up its factory floor, contravening an improvement notice served by HSE in August 2003.
An HSE Inspector said: "Slips, trips and falls account for over a third of all non fatal injuries to employees in the UK, and they can easily be prevented by keeping floor areas free of unnecessary materials and operating simple 'clear as you go' policies. This outcome sends a clear message to employers that the risks from slips, trips and falls are firmly on HSE's agenda and that courts take a serious view of a failure to comply with an improvement notice."
July
The HSE has issued two warnings recently, the first is to drivers of cars used for work purposes, it appears that drivers are failing to carry out suitable checks on their vehicles including tyres, water, oil etc. and they are also failing to carry out risk assessments both for the vehicle and the journey in question. This problem is particularly common amongst drivers of "fleet" cars. The other HSE warning concerns Risk Assessments, many employers are failing to revise and update risk assessments particularly after changes in operations, work activities or new when processes are introduced.
A number of employers have recently been prosecuted following investigations after accidents revealed that the risk assessments that exited (if any) were not "suitable sufficient" for the new work activities and operations being carried out. Risk Assessments should be revised on an annual basis or after changes in operations, work activities or new when processes are introduced.
April
Work at Height Regulations effective from 6th April
The new Regulations set out a simple hierarchy for managing and selecting equipment for work at height. Duty holders must: avoid work at height where they can; use work equipment or other measures to prevent falls where they cannot avoid working at height; and where they cannot eliminate the risk of a fall, use work equipment or other measures to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall should one occur.
Key messages of the Regulations are: those following good practice for work at height now should already be doing enough to comply with these Regulations; follow the risk assessments you have carried out for work at height activities and make sure all work at height is planned, organised and carried out by competent persons; follow the hierarchy for managing risks from work at height - take steps to avoid, prevent or reduce risks; and choose the right work equipment and select collective measures to prevent falls (such as guardrails and working platforms) before other measures which may only mitigate the distance and consequences of a fall (such as nets or airbags) or which may only provide personal protection from a fall.
February
Companies employing only their owner will not have to buy employers' liability compulsory insurance (ELCI) from Monday 28 February, when new rules come into force.
The Department for Work and Pensions undertook a review of the ELCI regulations for limited companies employing only their owner between March and June 2004. With some exceptions, the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 requires employers carrying on business in the UK to insure their liability to their employees for personal injury sustained in the course of their employment in Great Britain. There is currently a penalty of up to £2,500 for failure to insure on any day.
At the 2005 Total Production International Awards held at the Novotel in Hammersmith, Chris Hannam of STAGESAFE was awarded the Unsung Hero Award. Given in memory of the late John Peel the award recognises Chris's many years of behind the scenes work within the live production industry.
The HSE have finally announced that the Work at Height Regulations 2004 will come into force on April 6th. 2005. In future all new regulations will be announced on only two dates each year during April or October.
The SIA will start the process of issuing Licenses to Close Protection Officers (Body guards) from October 2005. These will also be required by visiting Close Protection Officers (Body guards) arriving in the UK with bands and artists. The SIA claim that those who do not have the required License when they arrive will be put on the next plane or boat home!
