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Health & Safety at Work – do you comply?

In a recent survey, IOG members were asked about their awareness, understanding and compliance with some of the legislation governing our industry.The results from the high number of respondents show that while the majority do understand and adhere to the legislation, some do not!

Everyone involved in the management and maintenance of sports and amenity turf surfaces needs to have not only an awareness of relevant health and safety legislation, but also a good working knowledge of it. Everyone has a responsibility, or a duty of care, to others in one way or another.

This article outlines what the law says and what your responsibilities are.It is not an exhaustive guide, but there are signposts for additional online resources that IOG members can access free of charge.

The basis of health and safety legislation is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, (HASAW).Additional UK health and safety regulations have subsequently been made under the Act.

HASAW gives responsibilities to both the employer and the employee and these are as follows:

Responsibilities of the employer:

The provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health;

  • Arrangements for ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, safety and absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances;
  • The provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of employees;
  • So far is reasonably practicable as regards any place of work under the employer’s control, the maintenance of it in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of means of access to and egress from it that are safe and without such risks;
  • The provision and maintenance of a working environment for employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work.
  • It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.

Responsibilities of the employee:

To take reasonable care for the health and safety of himself and of other persons who may be affected by his acts or omissions at work; and

  • As regards any duty or requirement imposed on his employer or any other person by or under any of the relevant statutory provisions, to co-operate with him so far as is necessary to enable that duty or requirement to be performed or complied with;
  • No person shall intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything provided in the interests of health, safety or welfare in pursuance of any of the relevant statutory provisions.

What do you need to have in place to comply with HASAW?

Unless your organisation employs five or more people then a written copy of an organisation’s Health and Safety Policy Document must be in place, be readily available and brought to the attention of all employees. Policy documents consist of five sections:

1. The General Statement of Intent

This declaration must be signed by the Chief Executive or Managing Director or the person who is responsible for the direction of the day to day organisation of the business. It should identify the general health and safety principles and responsibilities that are being recognised and adopted by the business.

2. The Organisation of Health & Safety Management

This section deals with the organisation of the responsibilities for health and safety, including what those responsibilities are for both management and operational personnel with regard to:

  • Planning, for example safe systems of work
  • Co-operation, for example by consultation
  • Communication, for example by the input and discussion of information
  • Competence, for example by the provision of information, instruction, training and supervision.

This may be broken down into defined areas or groups in line with the structure of the organisation, for example by department.

3. Safety Management Systems

This section identifies the procedures, practices and arrangements used to identify and control the risks to employees and others from the work carried out by the organisation.

4. Monitoring and Measuring

This section describes the means of establishing performance in relation to the implementation of the procedures and policies identified by the Health and Safety Policy, for example, carrying out and recording the results of regular health and safety inspections or the recording and investigating of accidents or near misses.

5. Review

This section describes the organisation’s process for learning from the monitoring and measuring activities that have been carried out.Reviews must be carried out at least annually.

COSHH – the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002

The basic underlying principle of COSHH Regulations is that risks associated with any substance hazardous to health must be assessed before use and the appropriate measures taken to control the risks.

Product Hazard Data Sheets are available free from all suppliers of substances that are subject to the COSHH Regulations and should be made available to the users of the product.However a Product Hazard Data Sheet is not a COSHH Assessment.

COSHH Assessments should take into account the information found on Product Hazard Data Sheets but the main aim is to assess the hazards and risks and to provide the control measure for the use of the product.The assessments should be reviewed every five years or when the product or method of use changes and should contain information on the following -

in brief, the following should be included in the assessment:

  • Product name
  • COSHH substances ie the chemical name of the particular ingredient(s)
  • Use
  • Hazards
  • Limitations to the use as stated on the package label or as defined by PHDS
  • Control measures.

It may be considered that the product is “safe for use” without qualification, or it may be decided to add qualifications for approval of use.In addition, it may be decided to recommend a substitute when stocks become exhausted, or to prohibit use of the substance altogether, or in specified circumstances.

RIDDOR – the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 deals with the requirement to notify and report specified injuries and dangerous occurrences (Regulation 3) and diseases (Regulation 5) where they have arisen ‘out of or in connection with work’.

All incidents and accidents including near misses must be reported to the Supervisor/Manager and be entered into the Organisation’s Accident Book. All entries in the Accident Book must be investigated and appropriate actions taken from the lessons learnt.

The following must be reported to the HSE under RIDDOR:

  • Injuries resulting in three days or more away from work, or being unable to do the full range of duties for more than three days are reportable under RIDDOR.
  • All major injuries must be reported to the HSE by the quickest means usually by ‘phone or, in any case, within 24 hours.Major injuries include:
  • Any fracture other than to fingers, thumb or toes
  • Any amputation
  • Dislocation of shoulder, hip, knee or spine
  • Loss of sight (whether temporary or permanent)
  • Chemical, hot metal burn or penetrating injury to the eye
  • Any injury resulting from electric shock or electric burn leading to unconsciousness, or requiring resuscitation
  • In the case of death, report as above
  • Diseases (that must be confirmed by a doctor) and reported to the HSE Include:
  • Hand-arm vibration syndrome
  • Hepatitis, Leptospirosis and Tetanus
  • Occupational Dermatitis.
  • The Dangerous Occurrences that must be reported in the same way as major injuries are:
  • Lifting machinery collapse or overturning
  • Failure of a hoist, lift, crane or mobile powered access platform, excavator, pile-driving frame or forklift truck
  • Electrical short circuit or overload attended by fire or explosion resulting in plant stoppage over 24 hours or the potential to cause the death of any person.

The duty to notify and report an event is that of the ‘responsible person’. This will usually be the employer in the case of turf maintenance operatives, groundsmen, greenkeepers and trainees in the sports and amenity turf industry.

The responsible person has to notify the enforcing authority, e.g. the local authority, by the ‘quickest practicable means’ and within 10 days send a report on an approved form.A record of the report must be kept for at least three years.

COPR – Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986

The 1986 Regulations are known as the ‘principal Regulations’ (with amendments in 1997) and require that all pesticide products must be approved and that they can only be sold, supplied, stored, advertised or used in line with the regulations.These Regulations therefore affect anyone who advertises, sells, stores, supplies or uses a pesticide, for either commercial or domestic use.

The most relevant part of the regulations to the grounds care industry is Schedule 3 which covers conditions relating to consent to the use of pesticides.The key responsibilities to users include:

  • Taking all reasonable precautions to protect the health of human beings, creatures and plants, safeguard the environment and in particular avoid the pollution of water.
  • Ensuring all users and those instructing others on their use must be competent, have received the appropriate training and guidance and have gained a certificate of competence.

A certificate of competence is only required if the person is born after 31 December 1964.

PUWER - Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 require risks to people’s health and safety, from equipment that they use at work, to be prevented or controlled.

Work equipment means any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation for use at work (whether exclusively or not), which might be used by an employee at work.

Use in relation to work equipment means any activity involving work equipment and includes starting, stopping, programming, setting, transporting, repairing, modifying, maintaining, servicing and cleaning.

Work equipment must be suitable for the task in respect of its affect on the health and safety of the user by considering the type, size, speed, weight and the conditions of use.The correct equipment should always be used so, for example, do not substitute a knife for a screwdriver or a screwdriver for a chisel.

All maintenance procedures (planned, preventative and breakdown) should be recorded for mechanical and high-risk equipment.A simple and effective approach to this task is to devise a tick sheet or information sheet for each type of equipment to aid the operative and assist in providing a uniform maintenance procedure.Regular inspections, ideally on a monthly basis, must also be carried out and recorded by a competent person. 4

Tony LeachWe asked renowned industry trainer, Tony Leach, for his take on the results of our survey; “It’s an interesting situation to find ourselves in and while a part of me is surprised by the results, I also know that until there are more inspectors out there on the ground then there will continue to be groundsmen tucked away in their sheds turning a blind eye hoping they never get a knock on the door.

“As the lead body for the industry, the IOG has a responsibility to get the message across to every person and it is every groundsman’s responsibly to ensure they are aware of, and understand, the legislation. Health & Safety legislation has been around since 1974 and is with us every day of our working lives. Pleading ignorance just isn’t acceptable and is no defence in the eyes of the law.

“As a H & S trainer I come across the two extremes – those who don’t want to know anything about Health & Safety and see it as their employer’s responsibility. Then there are those who are afraid of Health & Safety because their manager tries to pass on the responsibility to them, but of course this is illegal.

As far as Risk Assessments are concerned, only the task of carrying out a risk assessment can be delegated, not the responsibility and can only be done when the individual is deemed adequately trained and sufficiently competent to undertake risk assessment duties. There is also a degree of apathy out there and we need to re-ignite the interest in health and safety and keep groundsmen aware of developments.”

 
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