Category: Health & Safety

Working at height refers to any task performed in a place where a person could fall, including tasks on ladders, scaffolds, Mobile Elevated Work Platforms (MEWPs), rooftops, or near fragile surfaces.

Even with precautions taken to prevent, or minimise the distance or consequences, a fall from height can still occur resulting in the suspension, injury, or incapacitation of a worker. Workers can also become injured, unwell, or incapacitated at height without falling. Where work at height is carried out, there should be an appropriate emergency procedure in place to rescue any such worker. 

A work at height rescue plan is a pre-planned procedure designed to safely retrieve someone who has fallen and is suspended, is injured, ill, or incapacitated at height.

Written by Daniel Prosser, MSc CMIOSH L4DipFRA OSHCR
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Professional

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A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a documented set of procedures and strategies that outlines how an organisation will respond to and recover from disruptive incidents. These events can range from natural disasters (floods, fires) and technological failures (cyberattacks, system outages) to human-caused incidents (pandemics, supply chain disruptions).

Essentially, a BCP aims to ensure that critical business elements can continue to operate or be quickly resumed in the event of an interruption, minimizing the negative impact on the organisation’s operations, reputation, and financial stability.

Key components typically included in a BCP are: –

• Risk Assessment: Identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities that could disrupt business operations
• Business Impact Analysis (BIA): Determining the critical business elements and the potential impact of their disruption (financial, operational, legal, reputational)
• Recovery Strategies: Developing specific plans and procedures for recovering critical elements, including data backup and recovery, alternative site locations, communication, and staff roles and responsibilities
• Contingency Plans: Outlining alternative processes and workarounds to maintain essential operations during a disruption
• Testing and Exercising: Regularly testing and practicing the BCP to identify weaknesses and ensure its effectiveness
• Maintenance and Review: Periodically reviewing and updating the BCP to reflect changes in the business environment, technology, and potential threats

Implementing and regularly tested a BCP offers significant benefits to an organization, including: –

• Minimises operational downtime by having pre-defined recovery strategies
• Protects Revenue and Profitability
• Safeguards Reputation and Customer Trust
• Ensures Regulatory Compliance
• Enhances Organisational Resilience
• Improves Stakeholder Confidence
• Provides Competitive Advantage
• Protects Employees and Assets
• Facilitates Faster and More Effective Recovery

Written by Daniel Prosser, MSc CMIOSH L4DipFRA OSHCR
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Profesisonal

LinkedIn

Managing Health and Safety in the construction industry presents a unique and formidable set of challenges. This sector, characterized by its dynamic environments, heavy machinery, diverse and interacting workforce, and often time-sensitive projects, faces a heightened risk of accidents and injuries.

From the initial stages of site preparation to the final touches of a building, every phase introduces potential hazards, demanding meticulous preparation, planning, organisation, execution and monitoring. The importance of effective H&S management cannot be overstated; it’s not merely about compliance with regulations, but about safeguarding the lives and well-being of workers, preventing costly project delays, and maintaining a positive reputation.

Written by Daniel Prosser, MSc CMIOSH L4DipFRA OSHCR
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Profesisonal

LinkedIn

Work activities and processes may result in harmful substances contaminating the air in the form of dust, mist, vapour, gas or fume. For example, when: –

• Cutting a material such as stone or wood
• Using a product containing volatile solvents
• Handling a dusty powder
• Welding

Workers may also need to work in areas where oxygen levels are or may become low, for example, in confined spaces, trenches, or silos.

Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) is a particular type of personal protective equipment (PPE) designed to protect the wearer from breathing in harmful substances or from oxygen-deficient atmospheres when other controls are either not possible or insufficient on their own.

If you require further information, or guidance in relation to this subject, please contact KGS Ltd via email: enquiries@keygroupservices.com or Tel: 01443 740306.

Written by Daniel Prosser, MSc CMIOSH L4DipFRA OSHCR
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Professional

LinkedIn

THE HSE RELEASE OF A VIDEO ON THE FACEFIT RESPIRATOR DEMONSTRATOR MODEL (FFRED)

In partnership with the British Safety Industry Federation (BSFI), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published a refreshed version of a video on the FaceFit Respirator Demonstrator model (FFRED).

The video is for tight-fitting Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE). It provides information for workers and their employers about:

• why it is important for individuals to have face fit tests for tight-fitting masks, such as disposable filtering face pieces (FFPs) and reusable half-face mask types
• the importance of it having a good seal to the face

The video also shows workers what happens if the respirator does not fit properly, for example:

• if the straps or nose clip are not tightened or not in the correct position
• if it has ear loop straps
• if you are not clean shaven
• if it is damaged
• you are wearing other personal protective equipment (PPE) on your head which interferes with the mask

You can watch the video on the FaceFit Respirator Demonstrator model (FFRED).

If you require further information, or guidance in relation to this subject, please contact KGS Ltd via email: enquiries@keygroupservices.com or Tel: 01443 740306.  

Written by Daniel Prosser, MSc CMIOSH L4DipFRA OSHCR
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Professional

LinkedIn

A pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) is used in the procurement stage when a buyer is identifying suitable suppliers of a service, and it helps the buyer to determine who meets the requirements of that role. On completion of the PQQ, it is at this point a supplier may be invited to tender.
 
Specifically, their purpose is to: –

• Shortlist suppliers: PQQs help contractors and procurement teams identify suitable suppliers and contractors
• Ensure compliance: PQQs help ensure suppliers meet the minimum requirements of the contract
• Set expectations: PQQs help set expectations for the standard of work and competition

PQQs are used by: –

• Public sector: PQQs are a standard part of the public sector tendering process
• Construction industry: PQQs are commonly used in the construction industry
• Other Industries: PQQs are increasingly being used in other industries to ensure standards are met in relation to supply chain compliance, and Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)

A PQQ is a list of questions that potential suppliers answer to demonstrate their suitability for a contract. A PQQ may include: –

• Name of the company, financial compliance, and exclusionary grounds
• Technical references
• Contract examples and technical references to assess the supplier’s ability to deliver the work
• Health and safety, quality, and environmental questions
• Questions about how the supplier ensures quality and environmental compliance
• Memberships and accreditations
• Questions about whether the supplier has the required memberships and accreditations

TYPE OF SUPPLIER
 
Specific to ‘construction works’, and when using an online platform to complete a PQQ, there will be varying requirements dependent on whether you are a contractor, principal contractor, designer, principal designer, or a non-construction works supplier.
 
Ensuring you correctly identify what type of supplier you are will mean you only have to answer questions and provide evidence related to your level of duty as defined in the Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) Regulations 2015.
 
WORK CATEGORIES
 
There may be additional requirements above the core H&S criteria dependant on the type of ‘Construction works’ you carry out to ensure you meet the minimum standard for the industry or work activities you provide.
 
Work categories that required the provision of additional information and evidence include: –

• Working at height
• Electrical installations and communication installations
• Work on gas installations
• Confined space work
• Work with Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM)

Ensuring you correctly identify what type of work category you come under will mean you only have to answer questions and provide evidence related to the hazards relevant to your undertakings.

Written by Daniel Prosser, MSc CMIOSH L4DipFRA OSHCR
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Professional

LinkedIn

Stress is the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them. We all experience pressure regularly. It’s healthy and essential that people experience challenges within their lives that cause levels of pressure, for example, the need to make decisions quickly when faced with a dangerous situation. It can motivate us to perform at our best. It is when we experience too much pressure and feel unable to cope that stress can result.

It’s also important to remember that every individual is different and their experience of pressure, and when that can tip into stress, will vary.

Work-related stress is a major cause of occupational ill health which can cause severe physical and psychological conditions in employees. It can also lead to poor productivity and human error, increased sickness absence, increases in accidents, high staff turnover, and poor performance in the organisation.

Work-related stress has been identified as having a major impact on employee’s lives. Recent statistics indicate that: –

• Approx. 250,000 people suffered from work-related stress in 2023/24
• Approx. 5.5 million working days are lost due to work-related stress in 2023/24
• 55% of workers feel that work is getting more intense and demanding
• 61% of workers say they feel exhausted at the end of most working days
• Deloitte reported that 64% of managers have considered quitting for a job that would better support their wellbeing
• 70% of managers cited organisational barriers to supporting staff wellbeing, including company policy, heavy workload, unsupportive workplace culture, and not being equipped with the right skills

Written by Daniel Prosser, MSc CMIOSH L4DipFRA OSHCR
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Professional

LinkedIn

DSEAR require employers and the self-employed to control the risks, as far as is reasonably practicable, to safety within the workplace, of employees and members of the public who may be affected by hazards posed by work processes that may result in fire, explosions or the corrosion of metals.

The applicable legislation that places this duty on employers and the self-employed is the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) 2002.

The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) 2002 apply to the majority of workplaces, including moveable structures, outdoor areas and domestic premises, where: –

• Work is being carried out by an employer or self-employed person
• A dangerous substance is present (or is likely to be present or generated) at the workplace
• A potentially explosive atmosphere may occur
• The dangerous substance and/or a potentially explosive atmosphere could be a risk to the safety of people as a result of fires, explosions or similar energetic events

For example, DSEAR covers the following scenarios:

• storage and use of flammable liquids including paints and inks, cleaning products, and fuels
• storage and use of LPG
• storage and use of oxygen
• storage and transport of powders in pharmaceutical and food industries
• storage and display of flammable goods, such as paints in shops
• handling and storage of flammable waste materials
• welding or other ‘hot work’ on tanks and drums that have contained flammable material
• use of flammable gases, such as acetylene, for welding or flame cutting
• use of flammable solvents or other substances in laboratories
• transport of flammable substances in containers around a workplace
• deliveries from road tankers, such as flammable liquids, gases and bulk powders
• chemical manufacturing, processing, and warehousing
• Distillation of alcohol products
• Creation of dusts during work processes such as wood cutting
• Charging of electric FLT

• Storage and use of Substances corrosive to metal
• The use of gas appliances designed for use in industrial processes on industrial premises and appliances that heat water to a temperature greater than 105 °C

Written by Daniel Prosser, MSc CMIOSH L4DipFRA OSHCR
Safety, Health and Wellbeing Professional

LinkedIn

The current situation?

The UK Government is continuing to meet its commitment to phase out the use of PFOAs from firefighting products. PFOAs are known as “forever chemicals” due to their lasting harmful impact on the environment.

This phase out is being achieved through measures restricting or prohibiting the manufacture, placing on the market and use of PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds used in fire-fighting foam for liquid fuel vapour suppression and Class B fires. It will include the use of aqueous film forming foams (AFFF) fire extinguishers.

What are “forever chemicals”?

“Forever chemicals” have been widely used across the world since the 1940s, from fire-fighting foams to industrial applications and consumer products. Their high thermal and chemical stability and water and oil-repellent nature means they have been heavily used in cosmetics, coatings for textiles and paper including food contact materials.

They comprise per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) which is the collective name given to a group of fluorinated compounds.

PFAS are everywhere in nature due to their inability to break down. The long history of their use has resulted in “a legacy of environmental contamination that is challenging to remediate”, according to the Environment Agency, and their toxic nature has been linked to health problems since the 1990s. They are a large group of synthetic, environmentally persistent and potentially toxic chemicals, which can build up in living organisms through a process called bioaccumulation.

The best-known examples of PFAS are PFOAs and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), both of which are now subject to regulatory restrictions because of their harmful properties.

What legislation do you need to know?

Assimilated Regulation 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (the UK POPs Regulation) bans the production, placing on the market and use of substances, mixtures and articles containing PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds.

They have previously been used as active ingredients in Class B firefighting foams, and particularly so within AFFFs, in the main due to their surfactant properties. They may also be present in foams as a contaminant.

Exemptions and deadlines?

There was a recent restriction from 1 January 2023, where the use of the fire-fighting foam was only allowed in sites where all releases can be contained.

The use of PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds in firefighting foams for Class B fires will be banned on the 4th of July 2025.

What you need to do?

Assess your current fire safety equipment and plan for the switch to safer alternatives. It is essential that you find out whether the foam in your extinguishers contains PFOA, its salts and/or PFOA-related compounds.

You can do this by:

• checking the safety data sheet for the foam
• contacting the supplier or manufacturer of the foam
• getting the foam analysed by a suitable lab

If your fire extinguishers have been regularly serviced, refilled or replaced every five years, its likely they do not contain PFOS or PFOA.

However, if your extinguishers are very old with no service or refill record, then it should be assumed to be potentially containing PFOS or PFOA and environmentally disposed of.

In addition, if you intend to use, or have a stockpile of Class B foam already installed in systems which contains or may contain PFOA, its salts and/or PFOA-related compounds, you must comply with the following conditions –

• holders of stockpiles greater than 50kg must notify the appropriate regulator by completing a stockpile notification form, as soon as possible
• the fire-fighting foam must not be used for training
• the fire-fighting foam must not be used for testing unless all releases are contained

Written by Daniel Prosser, MSc CMIOSH L4DipFRA OSHCR
Safety, Health and Wellbeing Professional

LinkedIn