In a recent verdict, the Stornoway Sheriff Court penalized a salmon farming company after their senior worker drowned due to the boat overturning in Loch Heather, located on the Isle of Lewis. The Court found West Minch Salmon Ltd to have violated Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and to have made several lapses in their safety procedures, which lead to the tragic death of the worker. Though the firm pleaded guilty to the charges, it was fined with £70,000.

Earlier to this, the Court had heard that Peter Kenneth Duce, aged 61 along with four of his associates was roving in a boat to check the fish cages. However, shortly afterwards the boat overturned in the waters, drowning Peter Kenneth Duce.

A HSE inquiry that was conducted soon after the tragic accident revealed that West Minch Salmon Ltd had failed in making necessary or appropriate risk valuation for their workers who went back and forth to the fish cages by boat. The salmon farming firm had also not offered functional guidelines to their workers regarding using the boat safely while carrying out their work. The HSE also found that though the firm provided a variety of buoyancy gears, no clear information and training regarding its usage was the reason for many of their workers not knowing the correct method of using it.

The Court also heard that the boat being used was always loaded with more than the required capacity. The boat’s builder had mentioned that not more than three people could use the boat at one time, which was not followed and was the main reason for the boat overturning.

Commenting on the verdict, HSE Inspector Ann Poyner stated that the entire episode could have been totally avoided if West Minch Salmon Ltd had taken adequate risk assessment. The firm should have provided their workers with a big boat that can hold more number of workers or delivered and applied safe practices on using the boat while going back and forth to the fish cages, to avoid such a tragic accident. She also stated that if the maximum capacity that the boat can hold is surpassed then it very much probable that the boat would fill with water and capsize.

Companies need to be sure that they are giving the correct instructions to employees with regard to health and safety issues; accredited IOSH Training, by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, can assist organisations to be aware of the proper health and safety procedures for all kinds of workplace situations, and make sure they are fully aware of the most up-to-date requirements.

The Chief Superintendent of the Dyfed Powys Police in West Wales, Gwyn Thomas has confirmed that a blast took place in a 730 cubic metre tank at the Chevron Oil Refinery at Pembroke Dock early yesterday evening. The police, who reached the explosion site at 6:20pm, said that four people were killed in the blast. A tank next to the said tank was also destroyed in the blast.

The police investigations are going on along with the Health and Safety Executive and the early signs reveal that it was an awful work related incident, which occurred.

The incident site has been made secure by the Police and the West Wales Fire and Rescue Officers so that proper investigations can be conducted to determine the cause of the fire explosion.

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Chris Davies said that the fire was extinguished at the earliest so that the police could start their survey immediately. Giving assurance to the public, he said that there was no risk involved to the health of the people because the matter released in the air due to the explosion was dispersed off shore away from the residential areas because of the direction of the wind.

An IEMA Certificate qualification provides an appreciation of environmental issues and an understanding of the ways in which an organisation impacts on the environment – click IEMA Associate Certificate – for instruction on how environmental issues can be incorporated into the management of an organisation.

Eyewitnesses informed the BBC that a loud blast was heard and black fumes of smoke was seen following the blast.

As per the Employee Outlook survey (by the CIPD), factors such as the fall in living standards and security over jobs are affecting the workplace morale of the employees. The research conducted for this quarter says that employees are reluctant to trust their superiors and this score is -31 when compared to -23 of last quarter. There is also drop in net score from -1 to -8 for the same period. These figures are found out by deducting the number of employees in the satisfied group (percentage) from the number of employees in the dissatisfied group.

There is a clear distinction between the employees of different sector regarding the job security. There is also increase in the job insecurity factor among the employees with 21% of them believing that they will be jobless as compared to the 20% of the previous quarter. Higher level of insecurity was observed among the public sector workers with 30% of them believing in this thought in comparison with 27% voluntary workers and 19% public sector workers. In all three sectors 21% workers said the organization they are working for is planning for lay offs and this will see a rise in 58% workers in public sector.

According to the study, in the last quarter, many employees say their living standards have gone down – from 31% workers the percent has increased up to 37%. The percent is high among the workers in public sector (47%) than that of voluntary and private sector (35%).

The CIPD Certificate, by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, provides a firm foundation in all the areas of HR and employment law and a comprehensive understanding of the law to allow organisations to set their own policies and procedures in context with effective HR policies around employment relations.

]]> http://mammamaya.net/low-morale-among-employees-of-different-sectors/feed/ 0 http://mammamaya.net/fine-for-mc-donalds-over-employee-injury/ http://mammamaya.net/fine-for-mc-donalds-over-employee-injury/#comments Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:37:02 +0000 admin http://mammamaya.net/fine-for-mc-donalds-over-employee-injury/

Mc Donald’s- the fast food giant was prosecuted after one of its employees suffered by use of an acidic cleaner and lost half vision in his left eye.

The maintenance operator was injured while he worked at the Wandsworth Drive through restaurant on 23 June 2008. He lost 55% vision of his left eye when he used a corrosive chemical drain cleaner.

Managers from the branch did no risk assessment of the involved dangers before authorizing the use of the acidic cleaner. The worker was not provided any training on the use of chemical and not even supervised while they used it. No safety equipment was provided to them for carrying out the job.

Southwestern magistrates court heard that the worker was asked to clean waste pipe to a washing machine when the incident happened. When the employee was unable to clear the blockage with hot water jet, he asked the manager and bought One Shot- a sulphuric acid based cleaner from a local store.

The corrosive chemical could not unblock the waste pipe the first pipe. The manager to get another bottle of the chemical cleaner gave money to the employee. The second time he used the cleaner, it splashed on his face and eyes. After the first aid was given to him he had to be admitted to the hospital. When the treatment was complete, the employee could only see 97% from his right eye and 55% to 60% from his left eye.

Companies need to be sure that they are giving the correct instructions to employees with regard to health and safety issues. The IOSH Managing Safely course, accredited by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, can assist companies in training staff to be aware of the proper health and safety procedures for all kinds of workplace situations.

A lighting company in Bristol was levied a £20,000 fine after an accident occurred in which a worker sustained injury to the head because of an improperly guarded machinery.

Darren Wring is the owner of the Fineline lighting company, who was charged with violation of Regulation 11(1) of Regulations for Provision and Use of Work Equipments, 1998. The court directed him to pay £1,800 towards costs as well.

On 5th February 2010, employee Rolf Weber went into the operational area of a machine to retrieve a finished piece of work and accidentally hit his head on the rotating cutter, sustaining a small injury to the head.

An HSE Inspector Christine Haberfield spoke that Mr Weber was fortunate to have been hurt so less, because the industrial sized cutter was rotating at an extremely high speed of 18,000 rpm and could have caused very serious injury or even death. Haberfield also stressed the importance of safeguarding dangerous machinery properly.

In order to prevent similar accidents in the future and spread awareness about periodic maintenance of machines and equipment, a European agency for Safety and Health at Work held an awareness week from 25th to 29th October, and talked about keeping the work area reliable and safe.

This week long workshop also drew attention to the issue of maintenance itself of heavy machinery being a dangerous task, and the need for the upkeep work to be done only by professionals.

Companies should make themselves fully aware of the most up-to-date health and safety requirements by visiting Workplace Law and looking at their highly regarded NEBOSH Course. Accredited by the National Examination Board for Occupational Safety and Health, the courses provide a valuable resource to assist companies in training staff to be aware of the proper health and safety procedures for all kinds of workplace situations.

6 million people in the UK suffer from migraine and over a quarter of the workers do not consider taking up a job due to the condition. The World Health Organisation has rated migraine as one among the top 20 disabling lifetime conditions and it appears that a large section of the society is suffering from a condition for no fault.

Migraine Action Week is aiming to provide more information and educate employers about the effects and impact of migraine at workplace. It has launched a new ‘migraine in the workplace’ information pack that provides a detailed insight into the condition.

Employers and co-workers can successfully help employees suffering from migraine by implementing simple procedures to manage migraine attacks at work. The remedial measures include basic needs of providing access to water, sufficient lighting and good ventilation.

Ms Lee Tomkins, Director of Migraine Action has commented that fear of losing jobs is a real threat in the economic recession and migraine sufferers face the negativity involved in their condition. Lack of support and empathy by co-workers and employers often become stumbling blocks to build career ambitions and work effectively.

Migraine remains a highly misunderstood condition at work with very little support due to lack of awareness. The survey by Migraine Action revealed some surprising facts that triggered the importance of launching the information pack. One third of the respondents felt that they were unable to obtain a full time job or successfully work full time. The ones who managed to find work were facing stress to take time off due to migraine attacks fearing their image at work.

In fact, over 30% of the workers felt that they were viewed with cynicism due to the migraine. Information about migration is vital and crucial to ensure that work hours are not lost and compensating employees are aware of the contribution.

For anyone involved in human resources management, training and development, a Certificate in HR Practice (CHRP), provides a firm foundation in all the areas of personnel and gain a broad grasp of employment law to successfully help employers to set their own organisation’s policies and procedures in context and to understand how to implement best practice in recruitment and selection.

There have been many studies linking excess work pressure and heart ailments in male workers. But there is not much data to show the effects of work pressure on women. Now, a survey by Occupational and Environmental Medicine shows that women who feel pressurised during work are more likely to suffer from heart ailments.

This is the second report related to occupational ailments in women after a recent HSE study showed the link between shift work and breast cancer.

The study took into account 12,000 female nurses between the ages of 45 years to 64 years and asked them about the level of work pressure they felt. It also looked at their medical records from 1993 onwards to 2008. It was found that around six hundred of them had been hospitalised during that period due to ischaemic heart disease. Out of these, there were 369 cases of angina and 138 cases of heart attacks.

Before calculating the contribution of stress, the study accounted for elements like smoking habits and other diseases. It found that those who felt excess pressure at office were 50% more prone to heart ailments. Those who felt that pressure was still a little too high were 25% more likely to suffer from heart diseases.

Companies need to be sure that they are giving the correct instructions to employees with regard to health and safety issues; accredited IOSH courses, by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, can assist organisations to be aware of the proper health and safety procedures for all kinds of workplace situations, and make sure they are fully aware of the most up-to-date requirements.

A large number of people using hands- free phone while driving assume it is safe. However, the notion has now been challenged by a new research at the University of Utah.

The study shows 97.5 per cent of people are distracted even as they talk on hands-free while driving. Researchers noted that drivers talking on hands-free take much longer to hit breaks and often fail to keep pace with the moving traffic. The study also found that phone conversations while driving reduce memory performance by 11 per cent while the ability to do math comes down by 3 per cent.

Using a driving simulator, scientists found that only 2.5 per cent of people have the mental ability to concentrate on the road even as they chat over the phone. Researchers have named this group the ’supertaskers’.

Although nearly all of us would like to think of ourselves as supertaskers, this is not the case evidently, pointed out Jason Watson of the research team. He said even their team was surprised to find that only a few people could multitask and chat over the phone while driving, especially because a significant majority of people routinely engaged in such conversations.

Commenting on the findings of the study, Ellen Booth, Campaigns Officer for road safety charity Brake, said it is about time the government made a law banning hands-free phone while driving. She also said the study had quite clearly established that the use of hands-free phone is dangerous while driving as one’s attention is more on the conversation rather than on the road. She added that just because one’s hands are free driving does not become safer since half the driver’s attention is held up by the caller and one may not be able to see something that comes up on to the road unexpectedly.

Emphasising that driving needs full attention Booth urged drivers to pull over at the road’s side if they urgently have to receive a call or read texts.

NEBOSH courses can assist companies in training staff to be aware of the proper health and safety procedures for all kinds of workplace situations. The NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health is a qualification designed to help those with health and safety responsibilities to carry out their duties at work more effectively and to protect the organisations for which they work.

In the present case, Dipak Kumar Kantial Solanki, owner of a retail shop named Melbourn Stores in Melbourn, failed to produce the required certificate when demanded by the Environmental Health Officer from South Cambridgeshire District Council during his visit in April 2009. It is pertinent to note that the employer failed to produce the certificate even after a notice was issued to him by HSE to produce the same after a period of time.

According to Andrew Saunders, HSE Inspector, businesses that are bound by the provisions of the Act should have the relevant certificate and should be able to produce the same when asked. In the present case, the employer Solanki pleaded guilty to violating section 1(1) of the Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance Act and he was asked to pay a fine of £500 for each offence and costs up to £539.60 by the Magistrates’ Court at Cambridge.

HSE, reiterating the importance of the certificate, stated that the act and its provisions are created for safeguarding the interests of the employee in case of any accident or health related problem is caused due to work, as failure to do so will result in increasing the vulnerability of the staff.

Health and safety training is essential; for managers and supervisors IOSH training is designed to provide you with the knowledge to manage safely and effectively in compliance with both your organisation