Every year we celebrate UK Health and Safety Week, an annual observance that aims to celebrate and promote the importance of health and safety, while highlighting improvements that could still be made. The main even of UK Health and Safety Week is the Safety & Health Expo.
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?
Yet, 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 a wide range of blogs dedicated to refuting such silly safety myths as "shop assistants can't use scissors" and "balloons are unsuitable for children's parties".
Here at SafetyLiftinGear we're passionate about safety and would like 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!
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.
If you work on scaffolding, a scaffold hoist can be extremely helpful and when it comes to lifting your tools and other materials. Using a hoist to raise and lower the items in question can save a lot of time and energy, and SafetyLiftinGear's remote controlled scaffold hoist is particularly effective in this respect.
This 110 volt hoist has a reach of 25 metres and a maximum capacity of 200kg, making it ideal for moving toolboxes, mortar, and other common items. Since it's remote-controlled, you can activate the hoist from anywhere within a 100 metre range, saving you the hassle of going back and forth every time you need to hoist something.
Here are some more useful facts and figures:
The remote-controlled hoist comes with a lifting arm and two scaffold brackets for easy attachment. The radio control is extremely sturdy, and it has an emergency stop button that allows you to quickly halt the hoist's movement if necessary.
This deluxe scaffold hoist is perfect for a wide array of purposes in world of construction. It is currently available at the discounted price of £1,169.82* (including VAT) - click here to order yours!
*Price correct at time of writing.
Summer has well and truly arrived, and you know what that means: festival season! Countless massive music festivals will be taking place throughout the UK over the next three months or so, and if you're planning to attend any of these events, we at SafetyLiftinGear have the perfect accessory for you:
Strapping young lads not included.
Our garden carts are designed for use on farms and construction sites, but they're equally well-suited to the grassy terrain on which most festivals take place. These heavy-duty (yet reasonably priced) carts are ideal for:
Be warned, though: we sell a lot of garden carts at this time of year, so you'll have to be quick if you want to get your hands on a cart of your own! We've already sold dozens of carts to people headed for Glastonbury and Download, and we're expecting to sell plenty more before long. Don't miss out!
Which do YOU have tickets for?
We never shy away from a high-profile project here at SafetyLiftinGear, and this one's a humdinger. Our lifting equipment is currently being used in the ongoing expansion of Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, which will see the stadium's seating capacity increased to approximately 61,000.
Once completed, this gargantuan project will see the Etihad overtake Arenal's Emirates Stadium to become the 2nd largest ground in the Premier League (Manchester City's local rivals Man United have the #1 spot; Old Trafford has a capacity of more than 75,000). According to mcfc.co.uk, Man City's official website, the aim of the expansion is to "ensure everyone can enjoy watching the Boys in Blue score goals", and additional tickets will be available from the start of the 2015/16 season in August.
Here's what SafetyLiftinGear have provided for this ambitious infrastructure project:
We are very excited about this project and wish Man City all the best in the 2015/16 season!
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