INTRODUCTION At the request of HSQE Manager, a health and safety inspection of company name (Principal Contractor) worksite at location, including welfare facilities, was carried out on the afternoon of 8th June 2011. The purpose of the inspection was to highlight areas of good working practice and to identify hazards and breaches in current health and safety legislation. The inspection was carried out by HSE Advisor. At the time of the inspection there was 1 x supervisor present and 8 x employees, this site is spread over a ? mile radius that encompasses small sections of operational railway.The works taking place include cable containment and installation of cable containment bridging which required small excavations using hand tools; there was also the intermittent use of an abrasive wheel which was used to cut concrete troughs.
SUMMARY Numerous hazards have been identified within the worksite, some of which require immediate action, as they are in breach of current health and safety legislation and provide unsafe working conditions for employees, sub-contractors, visitors and other organizations that wish to transit through the site.If the issues raised in this report are ignored, there is the possibility that a serious accident could occur with the potential to generate prosecutions followed by substantial fines and or possible imprisonment of up to 2 years as identified in the “Health and Safety etc Act 1974 Section 33” IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED 1. Transport Management and Control The worksite had a number of access roads through the worksite that were being used on a frequent basis by employees and other Organizations. Upon inspection it was noted that the traffic management controls were inadequate. This was due to ineffective traffic control signage and management.When other organizations were accessing the site, there was no direction given as to what action is required i.
e. to sign in/out, traffic controls and site briefings. This action was putting employees at risk from being struck by vehicles whilst walking or working. Due to inadequate control measures in place the site is in breach of the “Health and Safety at Work etc Regulations 1974 Section 2” and “The Workplace Regulations 1992 Section 17”. In order to rectify the above breaches, adequate site signage should be put in place to highlight what is required when vehicles enter the worksite; this can be implemented at a cost of around ? 00 for the signs.
Also the need for suitable and sufficient pedestrian segregation is required, this can be achieved by hiring pedestrian barrier at a cost of ? 450 pounds up to the completion of the project. I feel that the costs mentioned are justified due to the cost that could be imposed onto the company from any potential action/prosecution from the HSE or the ORR. 2. Personal Protective Equipment During the inspection it was noted that an employee failed to wear the appropriate eye protection when he was cutting concrete with an abrasive wheel whilst the duty supervisor was present.
The above non-conformance exposed the employee to potential minor to major injuries including possible blindness. The above findings breach the “Health and Safety etc Act 1974 Section 7”, “Construction (Head Protection) Regulations”, and “Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations”. Due to the severity of the above issues I feel that the supervisor be re-briefed with regard to his health and safety responsibilities and a tool box talk be given to remind employees of the importance of wearing Personal Protective Equipment.The total cost of this recommendation will be ? 450 which will be a lost time cost due to 1 days re-briefing for the supervisor and 1 hrs re-briefing/tool box talk for all employees onsite, these briefings need to be formally recorded. I feel that the recommendations are carried out with immediate effect to ensure the safety of employees on site.
3. First Aid Provisions During the inspection of the first aid provisions it was noticed that there was no competent first aider onsite or adequate first aid provisions.The above finding is in breach of “Health and Safety First Aid Regulations”. If there had been an accident requiring first aid, appropriate first aid would not have been given, changing the potential outcome of the accident and the injured person. A responsible employee needs to be train in first aid at work with a HSE approved trainer at the cost of ? 600, and new first aid box needs to be purchased that is adequate and follows guidance given in the first aid risk assessment; this can be purchased at the price of ? 80.This cost is minimal compared to the cost that could potentially be paid out, if, following an accident/incident investigation, the HSE or ORR decided to prosecute due to the above mentioned breach and any potential compensation payouts following prosecution.
4. Site Safety When the storage area was inspected it was noted that there were 4 pallets of waste timber, the timbers had large nails protruding from them, and this has the potential to cause lacerations and potential infection to employees and anybody else exposed to the nails.The above issue breaches the “Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 Section 2” and “Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007”. This issue can be temporarily solved by segregating the pallets with the use of a barrier i. e.
hazard tape to highlight the hazard and keep employees away from the timber, and then a permanent fix would be to appoint 2 employees to de-nail the timber with the appropriate tooling. It would be relevant to re-brief site personal via a tool box talk, about the importance of maintaining a safe site, this should be formally recorded.CONCLUSION It is advised that the recommendations included in this report are implemented in order to improve health and safety on the worksite, this will ensure that the site is compliant with legal requirements and will enhance morale amongst employees as they will see that employer has an active involvement in ensuring that their health, safety and wellbeing has paramount importance. All improvements should be monitored and reviewed to establish their success.There are financial costs involved to implement the above health and safety improvements which are detailed in this report, with a small outlay company can avert more costly fines and compensation payouts that could be generated through potential prosecutions and claims for compensation.
RECOMMENDATIONS |Recommendations |Likely Resource Implications |Priority |Review Date | |Adequate site signage for traffic |? 00 |Immediately |2 days (48hrs) | |control and direction | | | | |Suitable and sufficient pedestrian|? 450 |1 Week |7 days | |segregation | | | | |Supervisor to be re-briefed with |? 50 which will be a lost time |Immediately |2 days (48hrs) | |regard to health and safety |cost due to 1 days re-briefing | | | |responsibilities. Tool box talk to|for the supervisor and 1 hrs | | | |be given to remind employees of |re-briefing/tool box talk for | | | |the importance of wearing Personal|all employees onsite. | | |Protective Equipment | | | | |A responsible employee needs to be|? 600 |Immediately |7 days | |train in first aid at work with a | | | | |HSE approved trainer | | | | |First aid box |? 0 |Immediately |2 days (48hrs) | |Hazard tape to segregate timber |? 10 |Immediately |2 days (48hrs) | |with protruding nails | | | | |2 employees to de-nail the timber |? 200 for 2 labourers |2 Weeks |14 days | Thank you for taking the time to read this report. Note this is only an example and should be used for revision purposes only.
