Health & Safety

Asbestos - risks exaggerated?

Will Mann — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:41:02 GMT

Some interesting views from one of our readers here, who reckons the dangers of asbestos are greatly overplayed.

What do ConstructionSpace members think?

Asbestos Watchdog has for the last ten years being trying to get the HSE to accept that white asbestos cement is not a risk akin to radio active anthrax. Unfortunately all our submissions of scientific data have been ignored [this is in breach of the HSE’s own charter ] and the only reply we have had has been to subject us to a well co-ordinated dirty tricks and smear campaign.

It was a tremendous support to our campaign when the Advertising Standards Authority [ ASA ] examined all the scientific evidence from us and the HSE and correctly concluded that 4500 workers do not die each year from asbestos exposure. For our part we only submitted science papers produced by the HSE itself, rather than from the vast body of independent research worldwide which also supports our claim.

This first proper examination of the HSE’s assessment of the asbestos risks is just the start of a number of opportunities we are organising to get a full public debate into this expensive deception. Firstly let’s put the problem into an easy analogy. With all poisons the danger is in the size of the dose. If one aspirin can cure a headache and a bottle full can kill, then just how safe are aspirins? If the HSE assessed the risks of aspirins based on a whole bottleful being consumed every time then would a total ban based on this evidence be acceptable?

This in fact is exactly what they have done over white asbestos. [ The one fibre kills mantra is total rubbish ]. In doing so the HSE have become nothing more than the sales and marketing arm of the vested interests. The HSE state that this ASA’s decision is only a technical glitch involving only one complainant and they intend to appeal. This is neither a small matter nor a glitch and Asbestos Watchdog is not alone but shares its views with the main body of asbestos science worldwide.

As for an appeal the HSE had over a 9 month period sent the ASA masses of evidence to support their position but failed. However, the HSE will be pleased to know that they will be required to present their case publicly as we are planning to have a full enquiry organised by opposition MPs. We would also like to know who actually paid the £1.48 million for the HSE’s campaign. The individuals behind the dirty tricks and smears against anyone who dares to question the HSE’s asbestos regulations are now to come under a police investigation to see if there has been any criminal deception involved and, in addition, offences under the new law of Aggressive Harassment may have occurred.

The Unions are also objecting to the ASA ruling but they will have to answer questions about how much commission they earn from referrals of their members to claims lawyers. At least 2 MPs are to be questioned [ both have had to leave the Labour Party over expenses fraud etc ]. Aggrieved doctors and scientists supporting the 4000 + deaths from asbestos will have to disclose how much the claim lawyers are paying them to support this deception.

As for the HSE’s claim that this campaign was an award winner, it turns out that this ‘award’ was in fact only a nomination for the advert of the month by the in house Awards for National Newspapers Advertising [ ANNA ] who have confirmed that they do not issue awards of the week. More exaggerated smoke and mirrors as usual.

So there is much debate to come on this issue. Meanwhile, all we want is for the HSE to make some small changes to the regulations and guidance notes that will make sure no one is put at risk but will stop the regulations which are at present being used as a ‘cowboy’s charter’. Most important of all we want to stop the claims culture from sucking the available compensation away from genuine victims and save businesses from being crippled by unnecessary asbestos removal. The HSE have refused to consider any alterations to the regulations and continue to avoid any public debate to explain their position. Now with the debate becoming public this deception will finally end. “

IOSH who a member and why?

Stock.. — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:20:34 GMT

I am considering joining this organisation ?,Who here is a member and what benefits have you gained since becoming a member?,would you recommend it ?

Laing O'Rourke / SGB fine for T5 death

Fred20 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:10:54 GMT

Thought it quite interesting that SGB got rapped with a hefty fine (35k), even though the faulty TSAs (Threaded Shoring Adaptors) had come from another manufacturer.

Obviously its SGB's duty as supplier to have proper QA on everything it supplies, but should the manufacturer get away scott-free in a case like this?

Full story: Laing O'Rourke and SGB hit with T5 death fine

Tories to ban HSE inspectors from construction sites?

Fred20 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:25:38 GMT

I'm all for cutting red tape, but I'm not sure about allowing externally-audited safety inspections - how can you be sure the inspections will be suitably rigorous?

Tories plan to bar HSE from sites

Are faulty ladders a big problem?

barry08 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:10:25 GMT

I notice Speedy Hire is now doing an exchange deal for old and faulty ladders at its access depots.

Are faulty ladders a big problem, do people think?

I'm seeing ladders less and less on big sites anyway, so it's not a problem I'm especially aware of.

Safety gloves policy

Fred20 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:40:01 GMT

I know most of the major contractors have made wearing safety gloves policy as mandatory, but I'm wondering if it's common on smaller sites.

Is it difficult to enforce? Are there statistics to suggest it has reduced injuries?

Health & Safety file?

Dazzler — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:43:44 GMT

Hi - I've been asked to put together the health and safety file for a project which we are about to complete, and wondered if anyone had any guidance on what it should look like in terms of sequencing, etc. Is there an accepted template?

Dangers of hydrogen explosions from foam concrete

Fred20 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:20:30 GMT

I have been reading about the dangers of working with foamed concrete and the potential build-up of hydrogen, and wondered if anyone had any experience of this and tips for working with the stuff.

In one instance, foamed concrete was used on a water works decommissioning project and sparks from an angle grinder ignited a build-up of hydrogen under the concrete. Workers were injured in the explosion that resulted.

I'm worried about the possibility of something similar happening on a project we have coming up.

Does anyone have any experience of using foam concrete?

How many deaths are caused by foreign workers?

TonyRed — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:37:23 GMT

How many deaths and serious injuries are caused by the massive influx of foreign workers who can not understand English? To all you managers who induct a foreigner to work on site and know he can not understand what you are saying and still allow him to enter the work place, you are culpable. If it happens on your site, make sure you report it to the HSE. These irresponsible fools who run our sites and put money before lives, need putting behind bars.

another fall at weatherwise

tea belly — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:37:53 GMT

there was another fall at weatherwise's head office in chester on tuesday the 21.07.09,the companys health and safety manager ask an agency worker to climb up the racking to get a reference number from a pallet when the worker pointed out there was no access equipment and the forklift truck was being used the health and safety manager then instructed him to climb up the racking which is 2.5m he did he then reached out to grab hold of the pallet the piece of wood came off and he fell backwards,i am waiting to hear how he is and what injuries he has sustained i have been banging on since january about this company to the HSE but they just won't heed the warnings.

Another example of lack of training contributing to an accident

Fred20 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:41:54 GMT

And a big contractor like Carillion was the culprit in this case.

Construction Nurses versus Agency Nurses...... does the industry know the difference?

redsetter — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:58:55 GMT

The introduction of an innovative primary care service to many sites in the UK has dramatically reduced incidents and accidents,has improved the working conditions of the workforce.

However what the industry lacks is an understanding of nursing and the experience required to function safely on a site.

The new site nurse does not sit in a medical room reading Heat Magazine,doing her knitting..... the Construction Nurse is Trauma trained/Nebosh and is a pro active member of the Site managment team.To implement a pro active approach to Health Information Education/Training.

The agancy nurse, usually has no A/E training, no recent Hospital experience,recieves no professional support or training.Is given no guidance as to how to treat/document and follow up the patients seen and presents a potential threat to patient and construction company.

Be warned..... a Nurse.... is not always the right nurse for your site.

Liverpool crane collapse operator left paralysed

Fred20 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:10:04 GMT

Anyone wondering why regular health and safety inspections are an absolute necessity, eg. Tories, should watch this video.

Poor sod: Crane collapse operator paralysed

Removal of artex / asbestos textured coatings

danny boy — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:11:08 GMT

Hi - is anyone able to clarify the laws regarding asbestos removal when it's artex / textured coatings?

I am under the impression that they are considered 'safe' enough for a licensed contractor not to be needed - is that right?

Ten die building Commonwealth Games

Minder — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:01:11 GMT

From here

The race to complete venues for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi has cost the lives of at least 10 construction workers, while hundreds have been injured.

The Sunday Times reported that after one labourer, Shailendra Kumar, 28, was killed by a falling crane, there were two days of violent protests by those working to build the athletes’ village. Kumar was said to have warned his employers the crane was in dangerous condition.

The Commonwealth Games Federation has denied any responsibility for safety at the 19 sites. Michael Hooper, its chief executive, said he had no comment about workers’ deaths or health and safety.

"You need to talk to the relevant authorities. Each country has its own health and safety rules and monitoring system," he said.

Am alone in finding the abrogation of any responsibility for Health & Safety at the Commonwealth Games Sites by the Games Federation and Michael Hooper extremely distasteful?

The Games Federation made a decision to hold the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010. The process of choosing the host is not a lottery. Inherent in making the decision must be some reflection on the delivery of suitable venues and construction practices in the host city. It cannot be acceptable that a client chooses to ignore H&S records or practices that would not be acceptable in the UK.

For the 2012 Olympic Games, the ODA's stated aims on health and safety is to be "extremely intrusive" in ensuring best practice is embedded through out its supply chains. If the ODA can lead with such an example, why is it that the Commonwealth Games Federation can wash it's hands of Health and Safety for the 2010 Games? Different Clients behave differently? Or is life cheaper in India?

Those famous old photos of construction workers on New York skyscrapers

Frank Heaven — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:15:47 GMT

Steam Boss was saying on another thread about how health and safety standards have changed, and mentioned those famous old photos of construction workers perching precariously on New York skyscrapers in the 1930s.

I thought it would good to remind ourselves how different things were back then!

What actually happened in the Croydon crane collapse?

steam boss — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:49:43 GMT

it would help to know what actually happened to cause the accident as this might help prevent future accidents.

this is a recent case "Select Plant revamps after Croydon crane collapse"

we get all the details of the fines imposed, injuries sustained, training dvds and computer safety matrix - but what actually happened?

the erectors in this case made mistakes that led to the collapse of the crane - a lack of training would have contributed but is not the whole story.

did the erectors have the crane erection manual - if so did they all understand the instructions.

was the method statement good enough for the erectors to follow - not the usual bits about PPE and everyone will wear fall arrestors while unloading the climbing frame from the trailer etc - but the nitty gritty bits such as "before you undo this bolt make sure this pin is in this hole - because if you dont put this pin in this hole the crane will fall over"

did the erectors get a chat from their manager to find out how confident they where before setting off to climb the crane - (if it was their first time they would have been worried believe me)

steam boss

MEWPs are safest form of access, says Laing O'Rourke

barry08 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:04:59 GMT

Also the most efficient. See article here.

Anyone agree?

IPAF powered access 'spot the mistake' video

barry08 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:56:36 GMT

I quite like this video from IPAF, apart from the dodgy 80s music.

How many people can actually spot the mistakes though?

Instability of mini-excavators?

barry08 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:06:05 GMT

Does anyone think there's an instability problem with mini-excavators?

Apparently OPERC are going to investigate after being contacted by Morgan Est.

THE RIDDOR PROCEDURE FOR REPORTING ACCIDENTS

tea belly — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:28:31 GMT

This is about an accident i suffered in July 2008 myself and a work mate were instructed to build a racking system to store granite for a job in Liverpool the company i work for is based near Chester its a well established roofing company, the racking system had to be 2.5m in height and when completed we had to fix scaff boards on the top to create a flat surface.we requested a aluminium tower to be hired to access the top bearing in mind the outer perimeter of the racking had no handrail erected,we were refused the tower by our health and safety manager based purley on the cost of the hire.The h&s manager then found some tower and told us to use that so upon his guidence the tower was erected but it then became apparent that we had been given an assortment of different towers,so when the thing was finished it only had three sides no handrail and not enough bracings,i refused to work off this tower so we lost about a weeks production on the racking.I was then called to the MD office for my PDR (personnel deveplopement record) the MD's words were 'if the racking system is not finished on time there will be a cull of personnel',so i started to use the tower and after about a week i fell from the top and shattered my heel on my left foot,i spent two weeks in hospital had to have major surgery.the accident was bad enough but what was to follow in my veiw was even worse,the health and safety manager filed a accident report ref.no 02220667 and to but it bluntly it was a pack of lies it was brought to my attention in january of this year while i was still recovering so i filed my own report to RIDDOR ref.no 02436772 in the hope that the company would be investigated by the HSE.I got as far as the chief executive for the north west region and basically told because of the time that had passed they could not investigate so they then passed it over to the local authority which in turn gave the company two weeks notice they were coming to look at the premises the day before the visit everything was moved out of the warehouse and the inspector gave the place a clean bill of health as the inspector was driving off the grounds three fork lift trucks were bringing everything back.the point i want to make is RIDDOR and the HSE stipulate it is the responsability of the employer to report an accident and quite right but as i said to the HSE when they recieve a report all it would take is one phone call to the injured person to verify what had actually happened and i should have known it all comes down to cost and so my company have swept the accident under the carpet and the HSE have helped them do it a company will try to cover up its actions when they are cutting corners to save money why on earth the person who has actually suffered the pain and anguish should not be able to give his or her account of events is in this day and age staggering but at the end of the day it is all about PROFITS. I would love to name and shame my company but they would just nail me to the floor and their is so much more that is still going on today and it has to be STOPPED.

Hand-arm vibration

Fred20 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:27:14 GMT

It's four years since the regulations for Control of Risks from Noise and Vibration at work came in. What's the general feeling as to how much vibration-related injuries or ill health have reduced on sites?

Has there been a noticeable reduction and if so what do you put it down to?

Are all accidents really avoidable?

Rialto — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:28:52 GMT

Are all accidents avoidable? Well, obviously not. We can carry out risk assessments til we're blue in teh face but there'll always be the unforeseen circumstance to slip through all the saefty measures put in place.

Achieving zero accidents is almost certainly impossible but the aim is what makes the difference. By aiming for absolutely no accidents the odds are there will be a significant reduction in the number of accidents that could have taken lpace.

H&S gets such a bad rap so often for being over cautious, zealous even... That 'zeal' has svaed countless lives! It might not save them all, but it'll save a lot more than a lazy defeatist attitude towards H&S and the men and women who champion it.

Building site manager to be sentenced after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence.

Molevalleyman — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:04:18 GMT

"Described as having a ‘Laissez Fair' attitude to Health and Safety."

Whilst the untimely death of that young Man is wholly inexcusable, as agreed by us all, both the industry and the media need to take just one step back and take a long hard look at this excuse for an industry generally.

It's now a complete shambles with all manner of ‘money-manic' organisations sticking their oars in and perhaps more frighteningly, being believed by those in charge, as being the answer in combating the obvious mentality shortfall in Safety awareness.

Back in the murky 80's, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher advocated a return to Victorian Values quoting ‘Laissez Faire' a French term meaning ‘Leave to do' or ‘leave alone'.

It relates to economic policies that rely on the power of unregulated markets to deliver the goods. The goods were secure economic growth, high levels of unemployment and international competitiveness. Applied to social policy, it indicates minimal government involvement.

Left to their own devices, according to that particular argument, people will develop habits of sturdy self-reliance, but if they are supported by the state, people will rapidly sink into a mode of dependency. As Samuel Smiles, the greatest propagandist of the self-help ideal, put it in 1859:

"Whatever is done for men or classes, to a certain extent takes away the stimulus and necessity of doing for themselves; and where men are subjected to over-guidance and over-government, the inevitable tendency is to render them comparatively helpless."

Clearly this is the case with Health and Safety, over the past thirty years I have seen it go from ‘risky' but controlled to down right dodgy and a complete bureaucratic mystery. The CSCS nonsense, whilst giving Alicjafar Faryniars reasonable recognition in being perhaps aware of the correct centres for placing traffic cones, is otherwise totally meaningless - purely another money-making exercise that has failed miserably.

The only limits of our endeavour are the limits of our imagination and that statement, coupled with the fact that British culture isn't strong enough to force changes, will leave us all at risk until the experts return to their drawing boards and design an alternative plan to overcome this tiresome waste of life and as I have mentioned a couple of times on this forum over the past year or so, I was a Senior Site Manager for over twenty six years and then a Contracts Manager and never killed anyone, "Lucky you" I hear you say.

But it wasn't luck, it was a case of being aware, it was a case of leading from the front, not hiding behind some ten thousand page manual telling me what time to visit the crapper, no Hi-viz, no gloves, hard-hats or goggles required, just common sense without any threat of a compensation claim if you hit your finger with your hammer and couldn't work - non of this modern stupidity was ever required so ....why is it now?

Answer - Because we're no longer any good at what we do, and of course - Money Greed.

Govt to unveil plans to mark Workers' Memorial Day

Molevalleyman — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:02:45 GMT

A new bank holiday could be announced by the Government to commemorate those killed at work.

According to the Daily Mirror, work and pensions secretary Yvette Cooper will today announce that Britain will officially recognise Workers' Memorial Day.

The day is already marked on 28 April by several countries around the world.

One proposal is to recognise the day on the Saturday nearest to the date, but Ms Cooper said she would also listen to calls to create a new bank holiday.

Former work secretary James Purnell launched a consultation in April on how Workers Memorial Day could be officially recognised.

Currently British workers only have *eight bank holidays a year, compared to 16 in Italy, 14 in Portugal and 13 in the USA.

Ok, so I have a question or three - What is the reason for the entire country to assemble in Hi-Viz to commemorate those killed at work apart from feeding the incessant human species' need, to mourn what we should never have allowed to happen in the first place?

Why have the premature deaths of countless workers culminated in a mathematical equation to determine why British workers only have *eight bank holidays a year?

Why would we wish to celebrate failure on the part of safety systems that clearly do not work?

This is worrying and to a certain degree, very wrong, we need to, at some time in the future, have a bank holiday to celebrate zero losses of life in the workplace, through us all being competent in what it is that we do.

Regards

MVM