Safety and Health Expo 2007

May is always an exciting time at RRC Training and our preparations for the 2007 Safety and Health Expo in May are now well underway. Europe’s leading annual health and safety exhibition will be taking place from 22 - 24 May at the NEC Birmingham and is set to be one of our busiest exhibitions ever.

As one of the key exhibitors, RRC will be available during all three days on Stand G40 in Hall 9. We will have exciting competitions, free giveaways and a Tutor Drop-In area so there will be lots going on.

We will be running a competition over the three days to win one of six Ipod Nanos worth £99 each. All you need do to enter is visit us on the stand and hand in your business card. It’s as simple as that.

We will also be giving away free compilation CD-roms of our successful podcasts. As RRC regulars will know, since 1 February 2007 we have been developing monthly podcasts on a range of topical health and safety issues. These take the form of amusing conversations between our Lead Tutor, Dr David Towlson, and a fictional disgruntled businessman. These podcasts take a lighthearted look at health and safety but also cover current issues, making them a great way to stay up to date.

If you haven't got your tickets already, it's not too late. You can register for free before the event by registering online at www.safety-health-expo.co.uk.

Finally, our expert tutors will be on hand throughout the whole of Expo. Whether you want to chat about the best way to progress your career in health and safety or want some last minute help with any tricky topics before the exams this summer, we’ll be there to help.

RRC Spreads its Wings During 2007

During 2007, RRC will be opening two new centres in the South-West and North West of England to make it even easier for students across the country to attend RRC courses.

The new centres will be up and running from September 2007 and will be offering a wide range of health and safety courses, from short topic introductions to our prestigious NEBOSH National Diploma programme.

Based in Exeter and Blackpool respectively, these two new centres will also run our full range of NEBOSH and IOSH courses, including our new Supervising Safely programme, plus our two new CIEH courses (Principles of COSHH and Principles of Manual Handling).

For further information on attending courses at either of these new venues, contact a Customer Adviser on +44 (0)20 8944 3100 or e-mail info@rrc.co.uk.

Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007: A Briefing

By Dr. Richard Griffiths, PhD, MSc, MEd, Cert Ed, Grad R.S.C, FRSH, FRIPH, CMIOSH, MIIRSM

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM 2007) came into effect on 6 April 2007, and the Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) provides practical guidance on complying with the duties set out in the Regulations. The new, simplified CDM Regulations revise and bring together into a single regulatory package the existing regulations (CDM 1994), the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 (CHSW), and the Construction (General Provisions) Regulations 1961, and revoke other instruments (Schedule 4; CDM 2007).

The single regulatory package now consists of the revised regulations, the supporting AcoP and a regulatory impact assessment.

Tutor Viewpoint - Brief Summary of Some Common Safety Management Systems and Related Approaches

Dr David Towlson BSc, PhD, MIOSH

HSG65

Policy

This constitutes the general objectives and intentions (vision) of the organisation – guiding principles that underpin their approach. This is demonstrated as a written statement of intent.

Organising

Successful implementation of the policy requires motivation, commitment and involvement of people, otherwise known as a positive health and safety culture. It is characterised by:

• Control – commitment from the top, allocating responsibilities and accountability to meet objectives together with instructing and supervising.
• Co-operation – consulting with and involving people, for example, in writing procedures.
• Communication – providing information.
• Competence – assessing skills and training.

New HSE Programmes Coming Soon

RRC are delighted to announce that we will soon be offering two new CIEH programmes, plus an additional IOSH qualification, to complement our existing health, safety and environmental training provision.

• Principles of Manual Handling
• Principles of COSHH
• IOSH Supervising Safely

Two New Partners for RRC

We all need quality and security these days.

RRC have recently announced two new partnerships with respected specialists in the fields of security management and quality assurance to complete our offering to clients.

Our first partnership is with ARC Training to offer RRC customers courses from the International Academy for Security Management. ARC Training are world leaders in security management training and their International Academy for Security Management specialises in preparing security professionals from all over the world to protect the challenging and rapidly changing business environments of the new century. They work closely with organisations like Skills for Security, Middlesex University, the Security Institute and ASIS International, and draw on the very best in international security management best practice and standards.

Our second partnership is with H&R Quality Services to offer RRC customers short specialist courses in the field of quality assurance. H&R Quality Services are specialists in quality assurance training, auditing and support activities to ISO level certification. RRC will be working with them to augment our existing quality assurance provision, as well as utilising their expertise to run a series of short courses.

Check out our website at www.rrc.co.uk over the coming few weeks for more information on both of these partnerships.

RRC Newsletter Reader Survey

Help us learn more about our readers and their needs and you could be the winner of a top-of-the-range iPod! RRC are offering an iPod 30GB Video and 4 iPod Shuffles as prizes in a draw into which the names of all those completing and returning the following questionnaire will be entered.

Please note that the closing date for return of the questionnaire is 1^st June 2007.

Completed questionnaires should be e-mailed to feedback@rrc.co.uk. Names of the winners will be given in the Summer edition of the e-Newsletter.

You will need to click on the link below and save the survey to your computer, before completing it. Once complete save it again and e-mail your completed questionnaire to feedback@rrc.co.uk. Names of the winners will be given in the Summer edition of the e-Newsletter.

News In Brief

• The Humberside Fire and Rescue Service was forced to review its policy on stepladders in January, following comments from trade union officials that it might be in breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Fire-fighters had been using stepladders when installing smoke alarms in people's homes but may now have to use work platforms instead.

• The HSE announced in January that it would be launching a programme of action in Britain to ensure that lessons are learned from the safety issues at BP’s US refineries following the Baker report. Process safety issues and safety culture in relation to both offshore and onshore installations will be addressed.

• A health and safety expert was seen by police to be shaving as he negotiated rush-hour traffic on the A9 near Auchterarder at 70mph. Perth Sheriff Court found him guilty of careless driving in February and he was fined £300 and banned from driving for six months. His excuse was that he was late for a first-aid course.

• A 12-year-old girl was killed in 2003 when part of a fence fell on her as she played in a park. Derby County Council was fined £42,000 and ordered to pay costs of £58,000 for the incident in February 2007. It admitted having failed to ensure that the railings were maintained.

• A building under renovation collapsed during the rush hour in East London in February, causing road closures and traffic chaos. Eight adults and a child were treated for shock and a 100-metre safety cordon had to be erected around the area.

• A woman suffering from mesothelioma through hugging her father as a child when he came home from work, is expected to receive around £100,000 in damages from the Ministry of Defence, who admitted liability. Her father worked as an asbestos lagger at the Devonport dockyard in Plymouth for five years from 1961 to 1966.

• The UK Atomic Energy Authority was fined £140,000 in February for "very grave errors" in illegally disposing of radioactive waste at a landfill site and allowing nuclear fuel particles to be released into the sea. Six of the particles were considered "very dangerous" and could have been fatal if ingested. The charges related to offences committed at the Dounreay nuclear plant in Scotland between 1963 and 1984, which is in the process of being decommissioned.

• A survey of 823 teachers by YouGov found that half had considered resigning due to the stress of the job. Lack of respect by pupils and unreasonable interference from parents were blamed by many for the excessive pressure placed on them.

• On 19th February 2007, 15 foreign migrant workers were injured in a road accident in Cornwall on the A374 near Torpoint when their vehicle plunged down a roadside bank and became suspended in trees above a waterway. Three people suffered serious injuries and had to be cut free by fire crews; two had lesser injuries and ten were slightly injured. The men were believed to be employed as daffodil pickers and were on their way to work.

• The Government plans to extend the ban on smoking to boats and ships operating in British waters. Vessels in UK waters, at sea and on inland waterways will be subject to the regulations, to protect people from second-hand smoke in public places. Smoking in cabins, by both sailors and passengers, will still be permitted. The smoking ban is to be enforced by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, with similar penalties to those on land.

• Research by the Dublin Foundation published in February found that workers in Britain are the least likely in Europe to complain about the effect of their job on their health and take time off work. The research also found, however, that British workers are the second most likely to experience violence at work, exceeded only by the Dutch.

• Management at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant were criticised by the HSE in February for “serious” breaches of regulations following investigation of a radioactive leak, which was not detected for eight months. The HSE made 55 recommendations for company improvements.

• A man cleaning trucks at Rugby Cattle Market suffered serious head injuries in February when a bull escaped from its pen and went on the rampage. It had been sold for slaughter when it broke onto the streets and ran through the railway station. The injured man was in intensive care following the incident.

• Two men died at the Pennyvenie coal mine near Dalmellington, Ayrshire, in February when a 100-tonne dumper truck drove over their Land Rover. The dumper truck driver apparently failed to see them and they were crushed to death. An investigation was ordered into the accident.

• One man was killed and another injured when a bull went on the rampage at a farm in Stoke Prior, Herefordshire, in March. Ambulance staff were at risk themselves as they tried to move the victims out of the path of the bull. The animal was said to have seriously injured another man earlier.

• On 14th March 2007, a factory worker was critically injured after suffering 95% burns in an explosion in a melting shop furnace at Transition Metals in Penistone Road, Owlerton, Sheffield. The blast involved titanium and took place when moisture got into the furnace.

• A Boeing 777 bound for Zimbabwe had to turn back to Heathrow when fuel was seen streaming from its underside during take-off. A door in the fuel tank had been removed and not put back and this was not checked as an engineer and technician responsible had no knowledge of the door and no record of its removal. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch criticised a “blame culture” at British Airways which may have concealed maintenance errors.

• Pupils at a school in Stockport, Greater Manchester, have been told to wear clip-on ties in future, as knotted ties are considered to pose a health and safety risk. The headmaster stated that this was in line with policy in the armed forces.

• A small explosion in a science laboratory at a school in South Wales in March splashed pupils and a teacher with a potentially harmful chemical. Four pupils and the teacher were taken to hospital following the experiment in a fume cupboard, but all were later given the all clear.

• As part of its “smoke-free workplace policy”, the local authority in Sunderland is to require staff to change out of any clothing which identifies them as council employees if they wish to smoke a cigarette in a public place. The rules will come into force on 1st June and will apply even outdoors during authorised breaks.

• In August 2006, an incident in the Channel involving the P&O ferry “Pride of Bilbao” led to the disappearance of a 25-foot yacht and the death of its three crew members. The officer of the watch on the ferry has been charged with three counts of manslaughter due to gross negligence and will face trial in October.

• The British Chiropractic Association reported in April that it is treating 5,000 nurses for back pain. Trade unions believe that a rise in patients’ weights is a contributing factor. The Department of Health advocates avoiding manual handling by the use of hoists, sliding aids and other specialised equipment. Manual handling should only continue if there is no risk of injury.

• A Kent waste disposal company was fined £55,000 and ordered to pay costs of £85,000 in April for illegally exporting household waste to India, China and Indonesia. Containers detained at the port of Southampton purported to contain waste paper for recycling but in fact contained decaying rubbish and a two-year investigation followed. Grosvenor Waste Management Ltd is estimated to have suffered financial losses of £400,000 as a result of the case.

• Nearly £25 million in compensation was awarded to teachers last year for stress, accidents and violence at work. Most personal injury cases involved slipping on wet surfaces, tripping over furniture or other accidents on school property. There were violent attacks by pupils, parents and intruders on school premises, both during and after school hours.

• Fourteen children playing in an indoor swimming pool at a holiday camp near Wareham in Dorset in April were taken ill when they were overcome by chlorine gas. The gas should have been discharged into the pool but is thought to have been released into the air instead.

• Figures show that 348 driving examiners were assaulted by learners who failed their test last year. 319 of the assaults were verbal and 29 physical. This represents more than doubling of the number of attacks since 1997 and test centres have increased their security.

• The owner of a Portuguese restaurant in London was fined £4,000 with costs of £2,000 in April following an accident in which a woman customer suffered extensive burns. A waiter had added too much rum to a flaming sausage dish, causing it to explode at a packed table. The owner had not carried out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, had not implemented the necessary control measures and had failed to report the accident.

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