Confined space definition: A confined space is an enclosed (or mostly enclosed) place in which workers are vulnerable to certain foreseeable risks – including loss of consciousness, asphyxiation, drowning, and serious injury caused by a fire or explosion.
With the weather heating up, it's starting to look more and more like summer here in the UK. While this is a welcome prospect for most, it also brings a variety of possible safety hazards with it, many of which will impact individuals in the workplace. In order to combat these additional risks, it's important for managers and employees to prepare themselves accordingly, by following these important safety tips:
Plan & Prepare for Warm Weather if You Work Outdoors
Outdoor workers are particularly vulnerable during warmer weather, due to their enhanced exposure to the sun, along with the variety of additional hazards that may present themselves. In order to ensure that the sun and additional heat do not lead to health and safety risks for workers and members of the public, it is highly important to ensure that businesses thoroughly prepare for these conditions and act accordingly. In many cases, this may mean going beyond the usual health and safety measures; putting additional ones in place to address these risks. This can range from ensuring that workers are wearing sunscreen, to altering the way in which work operations are completed, for example: planning strenuous operations for cooler times of the day when the sun is not at its highest point.
Dress Appropriately For Warmer Conditions
Wearing the correct clothing is always an important safety measure for working adults, but this becomes even more important in hot weather, which presents several complications and potential risks. For most professions this simply means dressing in loose-fitting, breathable clothing that will keep you cool, without presenting any additional risk (e.g. causing trips, becoming caught in machinery). This is even more important for outdoor workers, due to their direct exposure to the sun and heat, along with the need for additional protective clothing and equipment. Workers must therefore be provided with clothing and equipment that not only protects them from exposure to the sun, but also remains breathable in order to avoid overheating. Companies should also ensure that PPE fits in with these seasonal requirements, offering the highest level of safety without compromising other operations requirements.
Stay Hydrated
This is a simple but important tip for all workers, and especially for those who are performing strenuous operations which cause them to sweat. To avoid the risk of dehydration, ensure that you are drinking enough water throughout the day, keeping in mind that your requirements will rise along with the temperature. If you're going to consume additional beverages, opt for something like a spots drink that will replenish your electrolytes, or even make your own.
Make Sure Workplace Temperatures are Safe
If heat levels in your workplace become dangerous, it is highly important for you to respond accordingly. For outdoor workers, this means assessing conditions before stating your operation, while also taking regular breaks in cool areas to avoid over exposure to the sun. For those working indoors, every measure should be taken to ensure that work areas are kept well ventilated and cool, to avoid temperatures reaching dangerous levels. You may need to invest in air conditioning equipment, or even send workers home if conditions become unsuitable and potentially threatening.
Pay Attention to Additional Hazards
Sun and heat also means that it is important to remain alert to additional hazards that may present themselves. For road workers, this means dealing with poor visibility on the road due to glaring sunlight, along with a range of other issues, including the possibility of encountering children playing in the streets during the summer break from school. It is therefore even more important to ensure that the correct signs and protective measures are put in place before commencing work, to ensure that every possible step has been taken to protect both the workers and the public. It is also important for all workers to remain alert to the signs of heat related illness, in both themselves and their fellow workers. Advice on spotting heat exhaustion and heatstroke can be found on the NHS website.
Since 1998, the UK's Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (often abbreviated to LOLER) have been used to enforce the safe use of lifting equipment, in order to reduce the risk of injury from using these devices to perform operations at work. It is highly important for employers to ensure that all equipment and accessories meet the safety standards imposed by these regulations, in order to ensure that they are complying with the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and to ensure that they are not placing workers at risk.
What Types of Equipment are Covered by These Regulations?
LOLER defines these products as work equipment for lifting and lowering loads, and includes smaller accessories and attachments used to perform these operations. The scope of LOLER is very broad, with items including (but not limited to) the following:
Equipment
Accessories
What do Employers Need to do in Order to Comply With the Regulations?
Employers must ensure that the equipment is strong, stable and suitable for the application and load, the suitability of which should also be assessed. Loads should be installed and positioned correctly to prevent injury, while equipment should also be marked with the correct instructions and essential information for safe use.
The operations being carried out should be planned, supervised and carried out safely by competent individuals, who have appropriate knowledge and experience. The same is also true of inspecting and maintaining the equipment, which should also be carried out by individuals with the right level of knowledge and impartiality. Equipment should be inspected before being used for the first time, and should also be inspected six-monthly when it is used to lift people, and at least annually for all other equipment. These measures should also be recorded accurately, with a written report detailing the inspection and testing process, as well as planning any follow-up actions where they need to be taken.
What Risks Do LOLER Prevent?
Working at height is one of the main causes of major injuries and fatalities in the construction industry; and common cases include falls from ladders, rooftops and fragile surfaces. HSE defines work at height as "work in any place where, if there were no precautions in place, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury".
To prevent any major or fatal injuries from happening when working at height, it's important that a risk assessment is put in place. A risk assessment is an examination of what in your workplace could cause harm, so you're able to put the right precautions in place to make sure that any work at height is properly planned, supervised and carried out in a safe manner. By law you're required to assess the risks in the workplace so that you can put a plan in place to control the risks.
With that in mind. If you're starting to create a risk assessment, here are some steps you should follow in order to ensure your assessment is accurate and as thorough as possible:
This is arguably one of the most important steps for creating your your risk assessment. When identifying the hazards in your workplace, it's important to think about the activities, processes and/or substances that are used in your workplace that could injure or harm your employees' health. Here are some tips to help you identify potential hazards:
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 state that the following need to be considered in your risk assessment:
It's important when conducting a risk assessment that you think about which people are at risk, and how they might be harmed. For each hazard you need make sure it is clear which group of people might be harmed, as this will help you identify the best way of controlling the risks. It's important to make sure you consider every person in the work area:
Having identified the potential hazards, you now have to identify the level of the risk and what precautions you need to put in place. You are not expected to eliminate all risks; but you need to make sure you're aware of them, and the things you must do to manage and prevent them. Your risk assessment should only include what you're expected to know - you are not responsible for anticipating unforeseeable risks.
Look at what you're already doing, and what control measures you have in place - and evaluate if it's possible to get rid of the hazard? And if not; how can you control the risks to reduce the chances of it doing any harm.
Some practical steps you should consider when preventing the risks of hazards:
When you're recording your findings it's important that you keep it simple and that it's easy to read. An accurate risk assessment should show the following:
To prevent any confusion, it's important that you use a new risk assessment sheet for each work place and assessment you complete. You must ensure that you have dated the risk assessment; that you have recorded details of the person who took the assessment, and that you have recorded any action due-dates and completion dates.
Workplaces are always changing and bringing in new equipment, substances and procedures that could possibly lead to new hazards. So, it's important that you review what your risk assessments every 6-12 months. It's important to check the following:
When working with height it's always important that the correct safety measures are put in place. That's why we supply a comprehensive range of Height Safety Equipment that are designed to ensure the maximum level of protection, while also providing an assuring level of comfort too. To view our range of height safety equipment, please click here.
Heavy lifting operations require the use of equipment that is highly reliable and secure, which is why we supply a variety of specially designed endless lifting slings here at SafetyLiftinGear. Each sling is made from high-quality polyester webbing which is flexible yet strong, making them an ideal alternative to lifting wires and chains, especially when the operation involves more fragile items.
In order to ensure that your sling is tailored to the demands of your operation, we also supply our endless lifting slings in a variety of lengths and weight limits, allowing you to select an item that meets the exact needs of your application. These range from slings for applications between and 1 and 6 tonne, to those which are suitable for heavy-duty applications, with a lifting ability of between 10 and 50 tonne!
Here's a closer look at one of our endless lifting slings, which is suitable for 5 tonne applications:
In addition to our slings, we also supply additional accessories to be used during the lifting process, including hooks which can be used to lift or join two slings together.
Benefits of using our slings:
To see our full selection of endless lifting slings, click here!
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