Health and Safety, "A Common Sense!" | Health and Safety

Health and Safety, "A Common Sense!" 

"If you see a child in a dangerous situation would you stop him before anything happened!!!"

Yes, of course, This is the most important thing to remember when considering health and safety. Don't allow yourself to be put in a dangerous situation. When it comes to health and safety, you may only get one chance, health and safety is not something to be scared of, it is not just a term thought up by employers to confuse workers. It is government legislation that aims to ensure that the workforce is safe. There are guidelines that employers have to follow, however, it is also your responsibility, the health and safety at Work Act in 1974 states it shall be the duty of every employee while at work to take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work. This means that you have to think about health and safety and not just leave it to your designated health and safety officer. This discussion will give you a good understanding of the areas you have to consider when thinking about health and safety. These include fire safety, workplace safety, personal protective equipment PPE and control of substances hazardous to health COSHH workplace safety.

If you follow these golden rules, you'll be less likely to be injured or to suffer illness at work tidy in order to keep yourself safe and working efficiently. You need to keep your workspace clean and tidy. Working in an untidy Manor or workplace is stressful and frustrating, not to mention inefficient get training. One of the ways of reducing accidents in the workplace training you will be instructed in the safe use of equipment, machinery, and safe working practices be familiar with your workplace. You should be familiar with your workplace and the task or jobs you have to carry out. It is essential to know where the fire exits core points and fire extinguishers are located. Read the labels before using any product. Always read the label for instructions and directions for its safe use, handling, and storage. Do what the signs say, signs in the workplace are put up for a purpose to obey them. They are there for your safety. Never obscure signs, add graffiti or remove them. 

Regular maintenance and servicing keeping your plant, machinery, and equipment serviced and in good repair is good business sense. It will also reduce failure breakdowns and reduce the risk of accident, and injury. Always disconnect and lock-off equipment before starting maintenance work. 

Never try to fix equipment if you are not trained to do so. Report all accidents, incidents, and breakdowns. You should report all accidents, incidents and near misses to the supervisor or manager, it is also good practice to report all equipment faults breakdowns and so on in the workplace that you think could be dangerous work within the safety guidelines. For every task there should be safe working practices, most of these will be based on common sense, never take shortcuts or try to modify your tasks or equipment. Don’t fall around your workplace has many hazards, hundreds of people are injured every year when foolish actions go wrong. 

Use your common sense, many accidents are caused by human error and many can be prevented by common-sense over the years of experience at school, at play and the artwork you have built up a vast knowledge of what is and what isn't dangerous.

Slips Trips and Falls-

Slips and trips are often seen as a joke, however, in reality, nothing could be further from the truth slips and trips are the most common causes of major injuries at work. They occur in almost all workplaces and 95% of major slips result in broken bones and they can also be the initial causes for a range of other accidents such as falls from height. most slips occur in wet or contaminated conditions, most trips are due to poor housekeeping, the solutions to both are often simple and cost-effective, your workplace will have many hazards, some of which are obvious and some that are not.

These are some of the most common causes of slips trips and falls-

Liquid Spills- if you spill liquid or see a liquid spill, whether it is water or any other liquid, clean it up immediately because the next person might not see it and slip.

Footwear- always wear suitable footwear for the job you are doing, uneven surfaces and stairs if floor surfaces or stairs are worn or cracked, they can be a danger and need to be reported to your health and safety officer. Loose mats are also a danger, make sure loose mats have good gripping properties.

Objects on Floors- if you drop something or see something lying around, pick it up because something as small as a pen can cause serious damage when slipped on.

Bad Weather- take care when working outside excessive water and ice can be serious hazards.

Cables- trailing cables are the most common causes of trips but the easiest one to avoid if possible reroute the cable to a safer place if the cable must be in a walkway use a cable bridge or warning sign.

Ladders- if you've not been trained to use a ladder at work then don't use it if you have always inspected it to see that it's safe to look for worn or missing rungs. Always place the ladder on a firm and flat base, secure the ladder at top and bottom. If you can't secure it at the bottom assign someone to foot the ladder.

Desks and Chairs- using desks and chairs to work at height is extremely unsafe and should never be done. Spin chairs are extremely dangerous when used as a step fixed installations climbing on machines or racking to gain height for work is dangerous, they are not designed for people to climb on, and you could be breaking the law, don't do it. 

Preventing slips trips and falls is not difficult. It is based on safe working practices and just plain old commonsense common sense can mean fewer accidents less suffering fewer working days, lost increased production and increased profit common sense also helps save lives.

Manual Handling

Manual Handling- lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling are things we do every day without thinking, but these manual activities are one of the greatest causes of industrial injury within the workplace. If we think again about our little friend. we should realize that we shouldn’t put ourselves in a dangerous situation. There are many things that you need to remember when thinking about the four categories of manual handling lifting. Stop and think if you don't feel you can lift it, don't if however you feel you can place yourself in a good position, bend the knees and keep your back straight, take a grip on the load, and start to lift in a smooth upward movement, if you think at the start of the lift that the load is too heavy, don't continue. When you arrive at your destination you need to reverse the lifting procedure to put your load down.

Carrying- when carrying keep the load close to your body and always maintain control. If there is one side of the load that is heavier than the other, then the heavier side should be closest to your body.

Pushing- there are many products designed to help you move loads from pallet trucks to wheelbarrows. However, the techniques are the same for all. Having checked that the route you are going to take is clear from people and obstructions. Take a firm grip on the handle or handles. Take the weight of the load to lean forward and use the power in your legs to push off.

Pulling- pulling is the least acceptable method of moving a load but sometimes it’s just unavoidable. If you find that you have to pull a load, maintain a straight back grip on the trolley or truck. Firmly take the weight and use the power from your legs to start the movement slowly, smoothly and in a controlled manner to recap. Always use the correct technique and remember manual handling is your last resort. Use a mechanical aid if you can.

Fire Safety

Fire Safety- Fire can have devastating effects, it kills injures, destroys property and destroys the business. Under the law, your employer has a duty to undergo a range of fire prevention and risk reduction procedures, such as fire risk assessment. Regular and adequate fire training of staff, safe and adequate means of escape, installation of fire safety equipment, and fire emergency procedures. It can be reasonably easy to reduce the risk of fire, simple housekeeping seriously. reduces the risk of a fire breaking outfit’s usually when negligence takes place that fire hazards develop the accumulation of rubbish is a potential fire hazard and is unnecessary if you see a situation which you feel is a potential fire hazard, tell your supervisor or designated fire officer when you start work either for a new company or in a new building. You must find out where the emergency exits are located and also where any fire extinguishers are positioned, and take notice of fire safety signs. You also need to know where your fire assembly point is. During a fire emergency, there are several important things that you need to do. Raise the alarm make sure the alarm has been raised, don’t assume that someone else has done it, contact the emergency services, some systems are linked directly to the fire brigade, if yours is not, then call them as soon as possible. It is safe to evacuate the area, only fight the fire if it is safe to do so if it is safe to make sure you select the correct extinguisher.

Red (water) - for use with fires such as wood textiles and paper never on electrical fires.

Black (CO2) - very good general-purpose fire extinguisher especially electrical fires.

Blue (Dry Powder) - very good general-purpose fire extinguisher can, however, leave deep-seated fires to smolder only to reignite later.

Cream (Foam) - suitable for most flammable liquid fires.

If it is not safe to fight the fire, leave immediately don’t stop to pick up any personal items and never return to a burning building. If you can shut doors and windows in order to starve the fire from the oxygen, it needs to spread.

COSHH or control of substances hazardous to health- 

COSHH- hazardous substances in the workplace is a potential threat to our short and long-term health. Every year there are hundreds of serious accidents involving hazardous substances and in some cases leading to long-term permanent injury or illness and in some cases even death.

What is a hazardous substance?

Hazardous substances come in many different forms such as liquids, solids, gases, powders, dust, bacteria & viruses, and vapor & fumes. All of these are equally dangerous and can affect many parts of your body, they could affect your skin, skin can be burned to develop rashes or absorb substances. The heart can be damaged by a wide range of substances such as metal fumes that could have been inhaled. Many substances that can be inhaled will damage your lungs, kidneys. A lot of substances that get into your body will be filtered through your kidneys. During that process, you can suffer damage to these vital organs.

Nervous system- your nervous system is vital for your survival as the substances can have a deadly effect. As an employee, you must follow the safe working practices laid down by your employer. It is also up to your employer to make sure that if your job requires it, you have relevant training and instruction. The most important thing for you to remember whilst thinking about COSHH is your personal protection. If a job is a risk to your health, then you must make sure that these risks are monitored by competent staff, you must also be provided with and wear the correct 

Personal Protective Equipment PPE.

PPE- the personal protective equipment at work regulations 1992 states that every employer shall ensure that suitable personal protective equipment is provided to his employees, who may be exposed to a risk to their health and safety. PPE is available to protect all parts of your body, including your eyes' ears and respiratory system. The selection of PPE should be appropriate to the task and hazards. It may present the following criteria should be taken into consideration when choosing PPE for a particular job. The protective equipment should be suitable for the job and it should give the user the right level of protection. It should take into account the needs of the user, that is considered to comfort and movement, and it should also be used and designed for the type of hazard that you're working with. as well as this PPE needs to conform to British standards taking into account specific regulations and specific job requirements, there is personal protective equipment to cover every part of the body head (hard hats and hairnets) eyes (goggles, safety glasses or full-face protection such as welding masks) noise and your (hearing ear defenders or earplugs) inhalation of fumes (dust masks, breathing apparatus, and full-face shields) hands and arms (gloves) upper body (high visibility jackets, overalls, thermal clothing, harnesses) lower body protective (trousers, kneepads, footwear, strengthened toe caps slip-resistant soles) specialist disposable gear. Certain PPE is meant as single wear only or disposable after use, it is vital that these types of PPE are only used once, they may present a contamination risk to you or other people if reused, use it and dispose of it properly.

Electrical Safety

Electrical Safety- electricity is one of the most dangerous things that you will come into contact within your working life, but something most people use every day. There are certain do's and don’ts when you work with electricity. Report any faults immediately to your supervisor. Only work with properly connected and tested equipment. Pay attention to all safety signs. Ensure that any equipment you use is properly maintained. Inspect your electrical equipment, cables, and connections before switching on. Only use CO2 fire extinguishers when fighting electrical fires. Don’t overload circuits and sockets, never work with poorly maintained or faulty equipment. Don’t use electrical equipment in damp or wet conditions. Don’t work on any equipment that you have not been trained on. Don’t make your own repairs leave them for qualified electricians.

That brings us to the end of the basics of health and safety.

"I hope we have proved that health and safety are not something that you need to be scared of, and thinking simply about a situation, often shows us what we need to know."