We're currently slap-bang in the middle of UK Health & Safety Week, an annual observance that aims to celebrate and promote health and safety while highlighting improvements that could still be made. The main event is the Safety & Health Expo, which is currently taking place in London, but people all over the British Isles have been getting involved, posting 'helfies' and sharing their stories of health and safety in action.
Of course, health and safety regulations are essential to the safety of practically everyone in the country, and yet the H&S industry tends to get rather a bad rap from the British press. For example, how often do you see headlines like these?
Yes, in spite of all the lives it saves, it seems that health and safety will forever be blamed for all sorts of silly little things. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) even has an entire blog dedicated to refuting such silly safety myths as "shop assistants can't use scissors" and "balloons are unsuitable for children's parties".
This being Health & Safety Week, we at SLG just wanted to take a moment to remind everyone that health and safety isn't here to ruin your fun - it's here to save your life. Real health and safety (as opposed to the phoney kind that's almost always at the heart of silly stories like those mentioned above) is about wearing safety harnesses to prevent deadly falls and following the correct procedure when lifting dangerously heavy objects.
So next time you think of speaking ill of health and safety, just think about where we'd all be without it!
Health and safety play a vital role in every workplace, regardless of industry or job role. Whether you work in hospitality, healthcare or construction, health and safety is crucial for keeping both workers and the public safe, reducing expenses, ensuring legal compliance and a plethora of other reasons we will touch on in this article!
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A 'confined space' is defined by the law as "any place, including any chamber, tank, vat, silo, pit, trench, pipe, sewer, flue, well or other similar space in which, by virtue of its enclosed nature, there arises a reasonably foreseeable specified risk". Those who work in confined spaces face a number of potential risks, including:
These hazards make it necessary to use certain pieces of confined space safety equipment when entering, leaving, and working in enclosed areas. Here are some of the items that SafetyLiftinGear offer to keep you safe in confined spaces:
Emergency Escape Breathing Apparatus
Allows 15 minutes of normal breathing in areas with poisonous gases and/or a lack of oxygen.
Gas Detector
Measures levels of oxygen gas, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide. Also measures LEL (Lower Explosion Limit).
Confined Space Safety Harness
Prevents falls when descending and leaving confined spaces.
Confined Space Entry Tripods
These adjustable tripods allow easy entry and rescue when working in confined spaces.
If you need more information about our confined space equipment, give SafetyLiftinGear a call on 0808 123 69 69. Alternatively, click here to see our full product range.
The key piece of legislation for people who work at potentially dangerous heights in Great Britain is The Work at Height Regulations 2005. As stated on the HSE website, this legislation was put in place "to prevent death and injury caused by a fall from height". The regulations state that work at height must be:
Interestingly, the 2005 regulations do not specify any particular equipment that must be used when working at height - they simply state the need for "sufficent work equipment" and remind employers that, when selecting appropriate height safety equipment for any given task, they must take account of working conditions, fall distance, the duration of the job, and several other factors.
In a nutshell: the law doesn't state that you HAVE to use a safety harness or a fall arrest block, but you are required to have some kind of fall prevention system in place, and the aforementioned items are among the most commonly-used solutions. In the end, it is up to you to decide what kind of equipment is most appropriate for the task at hand.
If one of your employees suffers an accident whilst working at height, you may investigated by the Health and Safety Executive. If they decide that you neglected to provide the right safety equipment or otherwise failed to fulfil your duties as an employer (as prescribed by the 2005 regulations and several other pieces of legislation), you will likely be prosecuted, which can lead to hefty fines and even jail time.
So don't leave anything to chance! Plan your work properly, carry out a full risk assessment before starting, and always use the appropriate height safety equipment to minimise the risk of a fall.
Further Reading: Height Safety Checklist
We get a lot of enquiries from people looking to rent - rather than buy - our products, usually because they've got a one-off job that requires a special piece of equipment that they're unlikely to use again afterwards. Over time, equipment hire has become just as big a part of the SafetyLiftinGear service as the items we sell outright, and almost all of our products are now available to rent as well as to purchase.
If you are interested in hiring our lifting gear, our height safety equipment, or anything else you've seen on our website, give us a call on 0808 123 69 69 or email sales@safetyliftingear.com to discuss your requirements with a member of the SLG sales team. Alternatively, you're welcome to visit any of our five depots throughout the UK - click here to find your nearest.
0117 9381 600
