H & S Events 2008 & Things to Ponder

Things to ponder

Deaths & Injuries: to young drivers & their passengers are on the increase.

Corporate Manslaughter: For information and Audit Tool go to: www.corporatemanslaughter.net

Young drivers - on average two young drivers and/or their passengers are killed per day.

New colour coded Met Office Weather Warnings:
Green - OK;
Yellow - Bad Weather; be aware
Amber - Severe Weather; be prepared
Red - Take Action; prepare for "Extraordinary Measures" eg evacuation

Warning - that "cold" could be caused by chronic Carbon Monoxide poisoning, due to a faulty gas appliance.


Incapacity Benefit is claimed by 100,000 addicts, about a half each from alcohol and drugs.

Tea drinking - In 1827, The Manchester Guardian advised against tea drinking for health reasons!

Smoking - And, at one time, doctors advocated smoking tobacco.

SCOHSG &
South Cumbria IOSH District
Seminar & exhibition 2006

Youth, the Workplace & the Law
Thursday 19th October 2006
The Netherwood Hotel, Grange-over-Sands
(105 delegates).

Introduction
Val Kennedy, Chairman, SCOHSG & South Cumbria IOSH District, welcomed everyone to the Seminar, and detailed the administration and emergency arrangements. She then handed over to Steve Smith, Principal Inspector, HSE, to chair the Seminar, and make his opening remarks.

Youth, the Workplace & the Law
Steve reminded us that a Child was below the minimum school leaving age (normally 16), and that a Young Person was under 18. The Management H & S at Work Regulations (MHSWRs) recognised their needs, due to non adult physical and mental capability and possibly poor risk recognition. All work must be specially risk assessed and certain work is prohibited, unless carefully controlled and supervised.

Risk Assessments must be provided to parents. A child must not work in industrial undertakings, unless on Work Experience. He recommended HSG165 for guidance.

As graphic examples of what can happen to Young Persons, Steve quoted a case of multiple amputation from a tractor PTO accident, and one involving burns due to diesel fumes from oil soaked clothing being ignited by an old type space heater.

Employment of children - the Law
Steve then introduced Mary Johnson & Janet Poultney of Cumbria County Council to discuss the Law in relation to Child Employment. They explained that their jobs arose following research reports by Paisley University, and also cover children in Entertainment.

Relevant legislation includes the Children & Young Person Acts 1933 & 1963, Child Performance Regulations 1968 (as amended), Child Protection at Work Regs 2000, MHSWRs, and County Council Byelaws 1998 (these latter vary from county to county). These laws are not anti work, but education must not be affected, health and welfare be protected.

Employers must accept responsibility, and not allow any child under 13 to work. Allowable working hours depend on age, day of week, term time or holiday, subject to a weekly maximum, and no work between 7pm and 7am. Thirteen year olds can do papers, office work, cafe work, cleaning, hairdressing, agriculture/horticulture/stables work, and shop work. They cannot work at/in/with alcohol, chemicals, butchery, fuel oils, telesales, kitchens, caring, money;3m above ground, theatres, night clubs, or refuse handling.

Children must register with the County Council and have a permit for work (parent/employer responsibility), so that they may be insured and compensated. Parents must see Risk Assessments.

Recognised benefits of work are: financial, social, gaining experience, and good for CVs. School work must not suffer, and they must be safe. Another amputation case was cited, in butchery work.

Advice is available in schools, libraries, service offices, and from the County Council. Mary and Janet rely on collaboration with other bodies involved in work, education, employment, enforcement and accidents. They wish to support employers, and look to improvements in the law, and a review of bye laws; differences between counties are under discussion.

Risk Assessment for Young Workers
Next, Brian Dobie was invited to talk about Risk Assessment for Young Persons. Brian defined this group as the 14-18 age group so as to include Work Experience. He pointed out that some would also include the early 20s, as this whole group was more prone to accidents, covered by words like apprentice, student, work experience, learner, trainee, teenager and starter.

Cumbria embraces many occupations, with some being high risk. The H & S at Work Act (HASAWA), Brian noted, called for Controls and Supervision. The MHSWRs called for Risk Assessments, and recognition of capabilities and the limitation of Young Persons - attention to human and physical factors meant that assessments had to be specific and not generic.

Young Persons showed naivety, over/under confidence, varying attitudes to authority, immaturity, inexperience, poor perception, emotion, “invincibility", reluctance to admit ignorance and often had limited social/communication skills. On the other hand supervisors needed to be equipped for their role, which should be a progressive one - from 1:1, to close oversight, to increased controlled periods without supervision.

Brian then talked of the Safe Learner; Safe Worker; Safe Supervisor concept. The first is led through general briefing, to specific induction, to progressive awareness, to competence through learning, and onto life long learning.

The safe worker receives understanding by induction, undertakes appropriate training/NVQs, progress, say, to charge hand, then by further training/NVQs and experience to supervisor - and beyond as able. Sources of training are IOSH, CIEH, and ENTO.

The safe supervisor is competent, accepting of responsibility, has coaching and mentoring skills, and possessing with a positive attitude to the role.

Young Workers in Catering
Dave Renshaw, Lancaster & Morecambe College Catering Department & Young Persons Placement Adviser, said that catering accidents were rising and that new or young workers were more at risk, but that early H & S training can help this. He summarised the problems as Slips and Trips, Manual Handling and Posture, Hot and Harmful Substances, and Contact Dermatitis (from foods like fish & other causes). Dave then identified solutions for each of these.

Slips can be addressed by speedy attention to spills and leaks, care with floor washing, & suitable footwear. Trips may result from damaged floors, lack of clearways and poor housekeeping - all amenable to solutions. Ownership of the problem (my spill) was important.

Lighter lifts - using 2 people, lifting aids, proper training and avoiding push/pull moves can deal with manual handling.

Poor posture, often in prolonged positions, must be obviated, by training and task changes. Cuts required particular attention to safe use of knives and particular care with glassware, with due regard to first aid requirements.

Training is needed in cleaning equipment and machines. To cope with hot and harmful substances, there must be awareness of hot containers and surfaces, securing of such containers, avoidance of carrying hot liquids, and safe procedures for handling fat and cleaning it up. The right clothing must be correctly worn; also, wet cloths and heat sources are incompatible. Staff must be COSHH aware.

Dave said the six Cs for catering were: Commitment
Culture (including Trust)
Competence
Communication
Cooperation &
Control.

Records of training must be kept and used as the basis for assigning tasks and authorising use of equipment. Supervisors need guidance - they need to be able to assess ability, identify hazards, do Risk Assessments, demonstrate correct procedures, assign tasks according to capability, check understanding, observe performance and respond by informing the learner, showing them where to get help.

Safe Working procedures and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) should be issued for tasks, with assessments on display. Management controls include accident monitoring, checking the work environment, training in a team context, hazard analysis/risk assessment, and COSHH controls.

Staff are the asset - what is best for them is best for you - include H&S in induction -protect them - strike a happy balance in managing them. The LSC and HSE websites have useful information.

Better Backs & Young Persons
In a late programme change, Lesley Cooper, Morecambe Bay Hospitals Trust spoke about Better Backs in the context of the HSE Better Backs Campaign and of Young People. She said 3.1 million people suffer back pain; 1.1 million are chronically disabled, and 80% of adults will suffer back pain; all this at a cost of about £5Bn.

Some back pain starts in childhood, with up to 50% suffering; in 8% schooling is affected, and 3% have chronic disability. Lesley said that things are getting worse, citing lack of exercise (due to TV and PCs) - a minimum of 1hr/dy of exercise is needed. Taller children using small school furniture is another problem! Coupled with the use of tables instead of desks and children carrying up to 30% of their own weight in rucksacks it is no wonder that there is an increase of back problems amongst children.

We then rose to do the 30 wiggles/30 stretch routine - commended for regular use, to overcome bad posture at school, work, and home. Lesley deplored the lack of back education, when schools cover alcohol, drugs, sex and diet. She quoted the usual myths -Young Persons have good backs and not me, I'm not growing old.

She said the Back Formula is about
Habits + Posture + Repetition
and followed this with diagrams of disc damage-degeneration, bulging, herniated, thinning and osteophytes; noting an increase in the incidence of 14-16s with slipped discs.

The solution, for Better Backs, is:
Good Habits + Better Furniture + Better Posture.

Attitudes must change: Young Persons are not always fit and strong. We can work with backache, there are solutions, "the man is stronger than the woman" thing is not always true, nor is choosing the younger over the older person.

Lesley showed a short video of kiddies at play, crouching naturally to lift; bad habits are learned and must be unlearned. Training and supervision of Young Persons are relevant and must be carried into the real world of work. Lesley said that these problems also occur with student nurses.

Young Workers in Construction & Outdoor Work
In a double session, divided by lunch, Roger Kendrick of Aegis Services spoke about Young Persons in Construction and Outdoor Work. Roger said he had spent 40 years with MAFF & HSE (covering both Construction & Agriculture) and had investigated about 150 fatal accidents, also noting that child deaths on farms used to run at 50-60 per year.

He said that the young are our future, but are vulnerable due to ignorance, inexperience, overconfidence, exuberance, anxiety to please, and anxiety not to show weakness, "invincibility", and lack of training. He quoted RTA figures to support this, saying that 28% of RTAs are in the 6% of young drivers, 33% of Dangerous Driving cases occur in 3% of this group, and 33% of young males write off a car in their first year of driving. The statistics are similarly biased in industry - they need the right experience.

The HASAWA calls for a Safety Policy, a safe place of work and Information, Instruction, Supervision and Training (IIST). The MHSWRs require Risk Assessments (& their review), noting capability, the limitations on and of Young Persons, and Risk Assessment information to parents.

Roger advocated a 5 x 5 Probability and Severity matrix for Risk Assessments.
His categorisation was:
1-2 no action
3-5 low risk
6-9 medium risks
10-15 high risks
16-25 unacceptable
He also mentioned possible sources of funding for training - CITB, LSC, Professional Institutions, and Local Business Partnerships.

Turning to falls at height, Roger said that numbers are down for fatals, but low falls (less than 2m) are a sizeable proportion. HSE now support mitigation (as second to prevention) - this can reduce a fatal to an injury. Major accidents are increased, especially slip, trips, and falls.

Three Day Absence Reportable Accidents have reached a plateau - over half being in construction and agriculture. Roger said the UK record for fatals is good, compared with Europe, and is comparable with Scandinavia.
So work at height is the big killer and important in major injuries.

He reminded us that work at height is any where a fall could cause harm. If possible it should be avoided, or prevented by using existing access, or mitigated by using the best method and equipment, planning, supervision, competent persons, and work in good weather.

Risks arise from unsecured work, fragile roofs, dangerous structures, defective equipment, not following procedures and lack of information about risks.

Roger repeatedly stressed that the significant hazards he was describing, which took their toll of the established workers in the sectors concerned, presented an even greater risk to the young and inexperienced persons starting and working in those sectors.

He then turned to transport as used in construction and agriculture etc... He mentioned a serendipitous outcome, with respect to tractor cabs. In the years before they became mandatory, many farmers (often working alone) were killed using tractors, when they overturned etc: These figures have been greatly reduced by the fitting of cabs (if they are properly used).

However, the legal requirement did not extend to the self-employed, but it is now difficult to purchase a tractor without a cab, as the fittings are designed in, thus all groups are protected.

Transport is the second biggest killer in Agriculture and Construction. The key points for improved safety are: carrying out a risk assessment, careful selection of equipment, proper maintenance, training leading to competence, adequate supervision, avoiding reversing, and segregation of vehicles andpedestrians. As with other equipment, unauthorised use must be prevented; the temptation to allow this in pressing situations resisted; and similarly with riding unauthorised passengers.

Manual Handling presents a significant risk in the sectors under discussion. The vulnerability of Young Persons has already been highlighted. Again, Roger said, the starting point is the Risk Assessment. All too often, the weight of the item to be lifted was not known, and the SWL of the lifting equipment and fittings also may not be clear eg with imported equipment. Lifting aids are a vital part of the solution. Less heavy alternatives may also be available eg: kerbs made of composite material, which are not solid.

Roger's final topic was lone working. He highlighted a problem aired before, about the unsupervised Young Person needing to know where to get guidance or assistance, which could be potentially difficult if injured. There could be a delay in rescue, not least if actual whereabouts are uncertain. The Risk Assessment should therefore address ID of the location, supervision, regular checks (by visit or communication), and emergency arrangements, having established that the nature of the task is amenable to lone working.

The key message, said Roger, was Risk Assess - Plan - Follow the hierarchy of controls - Priority to collective protection - and use of good practice.

Accidents at Work - Young Workers
The day's final speaker was Dr. Jim McKechnie of the Child Employment Research Group at Paisley University, speaking about Understanding Accident Injury to Young Persons at Work based on results from their 15 years of research from the YPs' perspective. The study population for the research covered children under sixteen, full time at school, in part time jobs, working in a variety of jobs, changing jobs, not always continuously in jobs, doing "adult" jobs, and not always working legally.

As a population group, they tend to be invisible, and statistics-including accident ones- are lacking. There are positive and negative outcomes from their work, but they are more likely to have accidents. There are some difficulties in defining jobs and work, eg babysitting, which sometimes extends to a mini business, run by the child, and involving other children. Statistics may involve those not currently working.

Most of what Jim had to say concerned studies in Cumbria, but they had also done larger studies in Scotland. For instance, survey reporting of having had an accident varied from 19% to 44%. Studies in Cumbria gave figures of 21% in 1992, 23% in 1994, & 38% in 2004.

In the study group described below, 45% said they had had an accident (but see below!). Looking at the statistics, about half suffered cuts and bruises, and about a quarter suffered burns. Some of those on newspaper rounds reported back pain. There was therefore a need to explore H & S aspects, training, risk perception, and the accidents themselves, although there was a tendency to describe the general scenario, rather than detailing causes and injuries.

For the Cumbria study, they chose 55 out of 530 students. In interviews, the number having accidents rose to 83%. Individual examples indicated that previous under reporting was because they carried on working (eg after falling off a bike in bad weather), or saw the accident as their fault, etc... 41/55 said they had received some training, but typically this was cursory, short, insufficient, of poor quality, and minimal with regard to H & S. The large scale study in Scotland also showed the inadequacy of H & S training.

There is evidence of risky behaviour, where risk perception was poor. This important aspect was pursued by means of a Job Risk Card Sort. The study group were challenged with nine different job descriptions, and asked to rate their risks (by implication, from their perception of the hazards) + rating the risks of their own job. This gave an overall ranking of job risks.

Importantly, those who had suffered an accident gave small but significantly decreased risk scores, compared with those who hadn't had an accident. Even their own job (where they had the accident) was scored lower.

What therefore influences perception in young people? Jim asked. They seemed to focus on physical risks, but the interview/ survey process seemed to have stimulated thought about risk. It also suggests that the minimal training received contributed little to their risk education and perception. It may also be that the Young Persons' concepts differ from adults', the latter having a wider view and better perception.

Jim said the research findings gave a clear indication that the whole aspect of training and H & S for young people needs to be addressed, and that the invisible workforce idea must be got rid of, in respect of these young people.

Concluding the Seminar, Steve Smith said he thought it had been a valuable day. He thanked the Speakers for their presentations and thanked SCOHSG and South Cumbria IOSH District Joint Committee for organising the event.

Burdened as the Delegates were with knowledge and HSE tea bags, Val Kennedy invited them to trade in their Comments Sheets for a SCOHSG ice scraper. She thanked everyone for attending and invited them to the next meeting, at 2pm on Thurs: 16th November 2006 for an Update on the Transport of Dangerous Goods.