Also, later in September, HSE’s Infoline telephone service which currently provides a basic information service to callers will end.
Instead, from 30 September, those seeking information and official guidance will be directed to HSE's website which the HSE state as being a huge knowledge bank where you can access and download resources and use interactive web tools free of charge.
Many organisations might have a health and safety policy and manual but, often, they simply pay lip service to health and safety. Increasingly, prospective clients are demanding proof that health and safety controls are also effective.
OHSAS 18001 provides an approved 'best-practice' framework for delivering a practical workable solution to reduce risk across an organisation.
Those organisations that create, implement and comply with a health and safety management system compliant to OHSAS 18001 will have a structure in place that provides reassurance that all necessary policies, procedures and controls are in place to continuously , improve health and safety. Businesses that decide to achieve certification benefit from both an operational and commercial perspective. Operationally, a culture of health and safety will create a greater awareness of risks to the business, employees and stakeholders. As a result, a proactive approach to preventing incidents and reducing risk is embedded into day-to-day working life.
Commercially, organisations benefit not only by demonstrating a commitment to health and safety internally, therefore resulting in cost savings through less absenteeism and claims, but also by showing a commitment to other stakeholders, particularly clients and prospective customers. In many sectors, certification to OHSAS 18001 is so well regarded it has now become a pre-requisite to trade; Indeed, those companies not certified to OHSAS 18001 may, in certain sectors, struggle to even get on the first rung of the ladder in the tender process.
Some organisations choose OHSAS 18001 simply to get the 'badge; so it can be displayed an their company marketing literature and website. However, do not get caught out by buying a cheap certificate on the Internet, as it will be practically worthless. Certification should always be sought through a certification body approved by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).
Certification by such a body can also provide other financial benefits, such as helping to reduce insurance costs. However, one of the biggest benefits from a commercial perspective is that OHSAS 18001 certification will demonstrate credibility and confidence to support the retention of existing clients and help win new business.
Source: SHP September 2011
To this end, the HSE has signalled its intention to look at wider issues surrounding RIDDOR 12 months after the current amendment comes into effect, which is likely to be from 6 April next year.
Jason Cropper, a regulatory lawyer and director at DWF, said the move could mean that health and safety will no longer be at the forefront of duty-holders’ minds. Echoing his colleague Steffan Groch, who spoke on the proposed changes to RIDDOR at the SHP Legal Arena at the NEC in May, Mr Cropper said: “I think this change will diminish what health and safety is about, and affect how seriously it is taken in organisations.
“The quality of data collection, too, will be poorer, which will cause the HSE all sorts of problems. It will be less able to understand trends in injuries and occurrences and therefore affect how it strategically targets resources over the medium to long term.”David Liu, who runs The Dial Hotel and Market Inn, both in Mansfield, had previously pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court to 15 offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, while John O’Rourke of Mansfield Fire Protection Services pleaded guilty to two offences under the legislation.
The Judge said that the time had come to send out a message to those who conduct fire risk assessments, and to hoteliers who are prepared to put profit before safety.
Officers from Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service visited both hotels as part of a routine inspection. They found that both premises were being used to provide sleeping accommodation on the upper floors and that fire precautions, which should have been provided to safeguard the occupants in the event of a fire, were inadequate.
Due to the serious risk to life, they issued prohibition notices preventing any further use of both premises for sleeping accommodation until suitable improvements had been made.
Mr O’Rourke was prosecuted because he had prepared fire risk assessments for both premises. However the fire risk assessments failed to identify a number of significant deficiencies, said the prosecution, which would have placed the occupants at serious risk in the event of a fire.
The offences common to both hotels to which Mr Liu, as the responsible person, pleaded guilty were:
In addition at the Dial Hotel, officers found both staircases from upper levels terminating in the same ground floor area with no alternative escape routes or separation, a locked fire exit door, and exit routes obstructed by combustible materials.
The other offence at the Market Inn related to a missing fire door and a window not being fire resisting.
Mr Liu was also ordered to pay costs of £15,000.
John O’Rourke, as a person other than the responsible person who had some control of the premises, pleaded guilty to two counts (one for each hotel) of failing to provide a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. He was ordered to pay costs of £5,860.
Source: Info4Fire
