I thought I would run myth number one past you.

And to illustrate precisely what I mean, I am going to ask you to picture David Cameron if you will? Stay with me you'll end up either smiling or sighing

You've all no doubt heard in some way shape or form the term; 'Bonker-Conkers?'

This short phrase was thanks to a chap called Shaun Halfpenny, then headmaster of Cummersdale Primary School in Carlisle. Way back in 2004. What he managed in one short moment in his life was to initially make 'elf n safety a joke, for this is what SH managed to achieve, he joked and manufactured a situation which most of the UK press swooped on gloriously.

I'll not bore you with the full details (if you don't already know)...In brief Mr. 'Aitch' had a wonderful idea. He was sick and tired of filling in the endless Health and Safety Executive (HSE) paperwork accompanying his pupils' field trips (despite the fact this was for the well-being of pupils) and wanted to take a poke at the quango's red tape. He assembled a group of schoolchildren, asked them to don some laboratory goggles, and asked them to play conkers. He told the world's media that the goggles were a "sensible" step to protect children's eyes from pieces of flying chestnut.

It was some time later that he admitted it was a complete hoax. Sadly it was 'spun' almost identically by the media and hence the damage had been done.

Now of course we all know and trust that whatever a senior MP tells us is trueBut when DC decides to say: "I think we'd all concede that something has gone seriously wrong with the spirit of health and safety in the past decade. When children are made to wear goggles by their headteacher to play conkers … When village fetes are cancelled because residents can't face jumping through all the bureaucratic hoops …" et cetera! we need to be more than concerned that so late in the day he decides to bring this old manufactured hairy chestnut up again, (scuse pun analogy).

I'll also go on to say that 'Chinese-whispers' not withstanding, I'm being told that 'my-lot' will be out of a job soon when DC knocks the HSWA on the head...Oh sure of course he will. Maybe one or two minor changes within the relevant sections would be helpful to bring it in-line with the 21st century, but knock it on the head???? "My ar5e he will" commented Jim Royale!

Whilst in truth there actually have been some accidents while playing conkers, and I would never wish to trivialize any of them, manufactured stories such as this help absolutely no-one. With this one it actually set us back years.

Still, nice to know that DC has paid speech writers that clearly haven't quite caught up with the real world just yet.

I'll drop some more of these in from time to time. At least in my own way I can give 'peeps' the trufe. "Ere Dave, dju need a new spin adviser, I'm more than reasonable, not so articulate, but yee can get someone to clean it up some. At least it'll be accurate"

The reality is, we live in a 24 hour media fuelled society, which has an insatiable thirst for anything newsworthy, and us, Joe public are willing receivers that egg them on for more.

Health & Safety and political correctness are 2 of the easiest targets, with someones ridicolous interpretation blown out of all proportion, it's easy air play and gets us all moaning about it down the pub and a new urban myth is born.

The reality is, as much as I despair with some of the genuine nonsense, I believe most of it is down to interpretation. Factory machines that must have safety guards, or household appliances that must meet strict safety standards can only be a good thing, as are childrens nurseries that have trained first aiders and fire evacuation procedures, all good and positive aspects of H&S.

What I don't need, is some fly by night self badged expert scare mongering me into paying out consultancy fee's on unneeded and un-nesscary certification for my office kettle, and unfortunately, as with all trades, these cowboys are the ones that cold call and bombard us with emails

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Steve

You have raised some excellent points. One of the great problems with health & safety law is it is by its very nature very descriptive, or at least a large chunk is and through interpretation one gives a guiding light to a client. Ask to qualified practitioners the same question though and you will likely receive two differing answers. Again it is the interpretation thing.

Brussels in their wisdom fought long and hard a while back for UK based H&S to drop the;

'So far as is reasonably practicable." They wanted to see more 'absolutes,' thanks goodness for now it stays so that the law courts can decide if 'what was done was enough, or reasonable, or sufficient.'

Yes indeed, I hear it far too often that XYZ consultants wish to take your money to advise you about the CM Act. This Act carries no fear to companies already showing a commitment to workplace H&S. End of.

I heard of a tale recently where ea consultant had advised his client that he could face a severe custodial sentence if prosecuted under said corporate manslaughter act. err, catch up Mr Consultant muppet, it is in the title so a bit of a give-away there. he might have mentioned the HSWA which would have been relevant, but why use scare tactics? Far better to take a positive and proactive approach, get it all done and dusted and carry on running the business.

There is so much confusion in the business market place regarding H&S, indeed, it is a vast area and can be considered complex at times, far better to get the roots of commitment right in the first place than have me advising te board what this fatality means to them and just how much it is likely to cost them.

"Rubbish!" States the MD, it is what we have insurance for.

When I go on to explain this is restricted to the civil side and not the criminal side I see initially confused faces. if you could insure against a custodial sentence everyone would be doing it! In addition a recent client faced ruin, (no I didn't initially look after him, i was requested to advise on the probable outcome). When I pointed out no-one had ever read the t's n c'c that the underwriters had stated in one insurance policy it turned out the insurers refused to pay out or cover the civil liabilities because they had not followed the requirements of said policy!

There was nothing they could do but sit and wait ruin. I worked with one of the county's top H&S lawyers trying to pull every string for them. Sadly it was all to no avail. They closed the business shortly after, (I never got paid) and the MD and two other senior people classed as 'directing minds,' were hit with massive claims. Last I heard the criminal application was still going ahead but to what value it would be in terms of; 'public interest' I'm not certain. They may receive a £1 fine and have handed down individual prosecutions, so it just becomes yet another statistic.

Always worth a read of an insurance policy, they frequently ask you to do this or undertake regular that! This is frequently missed.

Mike

Do you have a high level checklist that an average small business office or home office should look at, or maybe a guide, if A, B or C apply, then you need to call me type of thing?

Would be useful to small businesses and start ups? Or could at least be a step in the right direction rather than keep your head down and hope for the best? Could make it a useful sticky topic maybe?

Can see a H&S forum appearing in its own right at this rate!

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You know Steve, in the majority of cases it is no-where near the degree of complexity many consultants and general scare-mongers would have you believe. I'm generalising but specifically making reference to an average 'lo-risk' industry such as clerical or generally office based (although there are still considerations).

In the case of a small or medium sized business there are areas to consider. Firstly registration (starting right at the beginning here). Since 6 April 2009, registration requirements were abolished meaning that businesses are no longer required to register with their local authority or with the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). This includes businesses that were previously required to register, such as shops, offices, factories and certain railway premises.

Of course there are still some exceptions such as; food and catering, these businesses must continue to meet food standards registration requirements, which local authorities enforce.

Other examples of businesses that may still be required to register or require a licence to operate - include those operating in high-risk industries and any that use dangerous or explosive materials in the course of any working activities. Firework production is one such example.

So, moving on then. Does the business employ more than four persons including any directors and other paid staff? Well if this is the case you move into a different category and yes some basic commitment becomes necessary.

In no particular order;

Employer liability insurance. In place for any employees not just more than four. Displayed in the office or by intranet.

Create a written health & Safety statement of intent with an orgaisation and arrangements section. Signed by the most senior person and copies provided to staff. A handbook is ideal for this. Ref; HSWA 1974 sect 2 sub section 3.

Identify all the hazards that staff will encounter at work or during their work activities. This then is what is known as 'risk-assessment.' This does not mean you should find every hazard and RA it, quite the reverse really. Example 1: You have a trailing lead from the back wall, running through the office area and across the public one as well. So this is a hazard and carries a risk (note the difference between 'H & R.') One should then consider a hierarchal approach. How best to deal with this lead? OK then loads of warning signs? Cover it with a fit for purpose sheathing? paint it bright yellow and black? No, actually none of these.

Forget all about consequence v likelihood, and should it be a qualitative or quantitative assessment of the risk, documenting the control measures, making certain everyone is aware of the potential risk. Ignore all of this and sit back to engage grey matter. Come out of the zone and think. far better if we can eliminate the hazard and any RA.

By spending a small amount of time that cable could either be run round the walls at ground level, or perhaps it has always been done like that and you have had extra sockets fitted. Maybe £100 spent on an additional socket would do the trick, either way it has been eliminated and so has the need for RA.

DSE (display Screen equipment) MH (Manual Handling) etc will all necessitate an RA, no way round it, you must. take DSE, the principal health risks associated with DSE work are physical (musculoskeletal) problems such as back pain or repetitive strain injury, visual fatigue and mental stress. Risks to typical users should be low if the DSE Regulations are complied with and ergonomic principles are taken into account in the design, selection, installation and use of the equipment; the design of the workplace; and the organisation of the task.

DSE: Display Screen Equipment is any alphanumeric or graphic display screen regardless of the display process involved.

DSE workstation: A workstation is a work area that comprises of display screen equipment, optional accessories to the display screen and any peripherals to the display screen equipment such as printer, scanner or footrest, chair and the immediate work environment.

User: A User is any employee who habitually uses display screen equipment as a significant part of their normal work. The Regulations apply to users whether they are employed to work at their own workstation, a workstation at home or hot desking. Within A.N Other Co most employees are classed as Users as for the most part people have access to, and use a computer.

(Taken from one of my own docs for clients.)

The DSE one runs to 23 pages so I'll spare you everything but that is the bare bones of it. It is something you should do and in most cases it can be carried out quite simply.

MH: The Manual Handling Regulations came into effect on the 1 January 1993 (SI 1992 No 2793), and define "manual handling operations" as any transporting or supporting of a load by hand or bodily source. This could involve pushing, pulling, carrying, moving, lifting and putting down. The Regulations refer to a load as including any person or animal. The Regulations place duties upon the employer to avoid as far as is reasonably practicable the need for employees to undertake manual handling at work which gives rise to injury. The requirement that an assessment is carried out is detailed and requires consideration of the task, the load, the working environment, individual capability and restrictions due to personnel protective equipment or clothing. The Regulations also covers employee’s duties, assessment guidelines and a specimen assessment sheet.

You will jump to the conclusion (as clients frequently do), "we don't do any manual handling!"

It takes me no more than a minute to disprove that assumption. Water bottles, files, deliveries, stationary etc some can be quite awkward and unwieldy to maneuver around, hence a RA is required.

Then moving on an employer should produce a Fire Risk Assessment (RRFSO 2005) fire certificates are no longer valid. Nothing fancy for a small low-risk operation, a couple of pages will be fine. Check exits, make sure you have extinguishers (and that peeps are trained to use them). call points (the ol break glass red boxes on walls) smoke detectors, emergency lighting and finally evacuations. You should display notices who where and what and in principal that is that one covered.

Of course in a more complex operation an assessment and log book can run into many-many pages. DO NOT consider my extremely brief explanation above as in any way definitive...it is not, I've just pointed out what is required of the company owner. In many cases some will be taken care of by the landlord or building management company; the lease will tell you what you are required t undertake or, your level of commitment and responsibility. OLA (Occupier Liability Act also plays a part in this to some degree viz, exchange and shared information)

Asbestos. Did the lease include a copy of the latest up-to-date type two survey? Perhaps it is a new build in which case no issues will be found. You need to know because you have a specific duty to manage ACM's (Asbestos Containing Materials) and should you need to have contractor in he needs to be made aware. This is a legal duty under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

Moving on then, and I am just providing some very basic information that business owners, directors need to know when employing.

Clearly thus far have just given details of the basic considerations; there are others, such as;

Working alone or sometimes referred to as 'lone-working.'
COSHH (control of substances hazardous to the health0 and yes in most cases you will have some.
Electricity including PAT (Portable appliance testing) I've covered that elsewhere.
Accident book (remember to take the entries out and file safely away) DPA. (Data Protection Act).
Display a Health & Safety law poster (and fill it in).
Visitor safety
Contractor safety. (duty of care falls on you in part the moment they enter your premises).
Driving at work. (Are people qualified and have you kept copies of ALL their records) Don't also forget those with their own car. Just a trip down to Staples for copy paper is work based and unless they hold business use insurance (and I do not mean to and from main place or work).
New and Expectant Mothers. You must produce a RA (as long as you know). After sometime it gets obvious though.
Winter welfare. Do you clear a path away to your entrance, can you be fined if not done properly?
No-smoking signs. Are they correctly displayed?
Noise may require assessment but never generally in an office based environment.
PEEPS. Personal emergency egress plans. You may have a disabled worker in a wheelchair. How do you get them down the stairs? Is there a safe haven?
Working at height? Yep, stood on steps for low duration is classed as WAH. Forget the two-metre exception, it changes back in 2005

So there then is a very brief insight to what a new or indeed existing business should do regarding workplace H&S. It is by no means definitive, I wish to make that absolutely clear. But, it will give you a darned good head start.

Mr specialist consultant comes in and states £5000 with no retention involved to get you fully compliant. Cobblers, Any decent consultant worth his onions will have a generic written system that is updated and then tailored to suit the new client. Then a tiny bit of training and awareness and it is no-where near that original figure. I quote from real examples always.

It is NOT an industry to fear, it is a sensible one. Since 1974 thousands of lives have been saved, and thousands upon thousands of accidents have been avoided due to simple risk management. Something most of us exercise on a daily basis on non-safety related subjects.

I do trust this brief snippet into my world will benefit someone.

Mike

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Myths and misconceptions about online safety are roadblocks parents and educators must overcome so as to fully understand the risks facing children on the Internet. It is easy to assume that a child knows better than to talk to a “stranger” online, that they would never share their personal information or post inappropriate or hurtful messages online. But the reality is they don’t always know better. “Strangers” quickly become friends, therefore the thought of sharing personal information isn’t that big of an issue anymore for a child. Anonymity is key, allowing a predator to manipulate a child into believing whatever they want. That same anonymity gives many kids the confidence to post those mean and hurtful messages. Understanding the Internets reality is essential to becoming more educated about protecting children.

MYTH: It is only the disobedient or sexually forward kids who are targeted online.

It actually doesn’t matter if a child is a straight A student; is considered well adjusted, and has a lot of friends. Every child has an emotional vulnerability that can be exploited if it is accessed by someone with the skills and motivations to manipulate. Trouble can find your child; even if they have done everything they think they should to protect themselves. Communication is key to helping your young-ones stay safe, so talk openly and often about where they go and what they do while they are on the Tinternet.

MYTH: Internet predators are easy to spot. They are always aggressive, rude and offensive.

Actually, Internet predators initially tend to be very friendly and even charming, claiming to understand their victims and sympathize with any issues the victim might be facing. This is called “grooming” and it lulls a child into a false sense of security. It is important to constantly communicate with your children about their Internet use and understand who they might be chatting with online.

MYTH: Child Pornography is not that big of an issue on the Internet.
According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

More than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted on the Internet every week. That means literally millions of people can see that image, making that child the victim of sexual exploitation a million times over. Images of child pornography are evidence of a crime scene. The fact is child pornography is illegal…Having it, emailing it, or posting it on a website.

MYTH: Websites created for children are always monitored and safe to use.

Never assume that something is 100% safe. You need to talk with your child about what sites they are visiting, then visit them yourself. Read all you can about the website, including the privacy policy. There are tools available to help parents monitor online activities, but no filter or software can replace a good conversation.

MYTH: Cyber-bullying, like bullying in school, is just an example of kids being kids and doesn’t really harm anyone.

Cyber-bullying can be devastating to a child, and this problem is not going away. According to i-SAFE, 53% of teens admitted they had said hurtful things to someone online, while 7% said they did it “quite often”. Keep the lines of communication open, letting the child know that they can always talk about their experiences online.

So, not the usual myth-busting post I would normally run, but one that I felt we could all do with re-familiarizing ourselves with.

Mike

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