It isn’t very often that I would dare to speak on behalf of the HSE, but in this article I want to give you a bit of feedback on a recent H&S event in Wigan at which two inspectors from the HSE gave very good and well received presentations.
The event was very well attended, but it was noticeable that most of those there were either from consultancies, or from local authorities, with very few being from the skip hire sector… I am sure you will all say that this is a reflection of how busy you all are compared with the public sector!
One of the key points that the HSE were at pains (no pun intended) to emphasise was how bad the waste industry’s safety record was. They quoted a whole range of statistics of gloom at us, with one particularly sticking in my mind; based on current rates there will be one accident per year for every 40 workers in the sector. This means that statistically it is highly likely that every waste worker will have an accident at some time in their 40 year working life! This is certainly not a welcome proposition, nor something to look forward to.
There were a number of “we have drawn a line in the sand” moments during the talk. One that I think is going to pose the industry quite some difficulty is that perennial chestnut of working at height when sheeting/unsheeting or preparing loads. They were quite clear that this was no longer acceptable, so be warned!
Reversing was another one of those “must do better” issues. They emphasised the need to establish Safe Systems of Work based upon the principles of the safety hierarchy, namely:
1. Eliminate the need to reverse
2. Reduce the need to reverse
3. Use reversing aides to assist when the need to reverse is unavoidable
4. Use reversing assistants who have been properly trained
I am sure that you would agree that this is common sense, but there must be too many of us not following these principles as the HSE reinforced the need to do more, with what they felt was very poor implementation of Safe Systems of Work.
They also expressed concern about the poor level of monitoring and supervision in waste organisations. This they felt was down to poor and ineffective leadership. It can be difficult to pin point what is going wrong, but the HSE highlighted the importance of a “safety culture”, leading to what can best be described as “behavioural change”. When talking about this subject they once again set out a sequence of stages to follow…
1. Lead by example – this is absolutely essential as you have to “walk the talk” if you are going to display positive leadership. It is no good having safe walkways if you don’t follow them, or a hard hat area on site, if you don’t wear one.
2. Develop a climate of support – you may smile at this one, but it is recognised that if you want to move the company forward in H&S you need to make it through participation, training and support rather than finger pointing and blame.
3. Convince the workforce – this is a logical follow on from stage 2 and it is very important that you obtain full buy-in from everybody in your organisation.
4. Involve the workforce – again this is another logical next stage in the process. In several of my previous articles I have emphasised the importance of speaking to your staff and the HSE also recognise that this is absolutely essential.
5. Support good performance (and address poor) – it is all too easy to simply deal with what has gone wrong, rather than praising staff for showing positive behaviour, such as wearing the correct PPE, or working in a safe manner.
6. Learn from experience – as with any system it is important to pause every so often and take stock of how you are doing and whether you are moving in the right direction. If something has gone wrong, then the best thing to do is to learn from it and move on.
So, the HSE have spoken and made it quite clear that they want to see reductions in the shocking levels of deaths in the sector – this must be something that we all want, although sometimes it might not seem that way when yet another death or serious accident is reported. They also identify proactive leadership as a major factor if real improvements are to be made – will we step up to the mark and move with them on this? Only time will tell, although I am sure of one thing – they will be watching us to see how we do!
Nigel Mair is a WAMITAB assessor and verifier and runs the North West Regional Assessment Centre, delivering WAMITAB qualifications and other H&S, waste and environmental training.
If you have any questions for Nigel, please email them through to nigel@theskip.net