Health & Safety Update (Spring 2010)

Tragic rise in agriculture deaths

New figures for the number of workers who were fatally injured in the agriculture sector have been released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They show that between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010:

• 38 agriculture workers were killed at work, marking a return to average levels of previous years in contrast to the record low in 2008/09 when 25 workers died
• the rate of fatal injuries in the sector was 8.2 per 100,000 workers, making it the most dangerous industry in which to work
• of the 38 agriculture workers killed, 17 were employees and 21 were self employed people.
• seven members of the public were also killed in work related accidents in the sector.

HSE's Head of Agriculture, Graeme Walker said:

"38 workers were killed on British farms last year, failing to come home to their families because of avoidable safety failings - proving once again that agriculture is the most dangerous way of making a living in Great Britain. The fact that many of these lives have been lost in family businesses is a double tragedy. Not only have families been ripped apart, but businesses that have been handed down through generations have been ruined. Farming and agricultural work has a poor safety record compared with other industries - we cannot let this trend continue."

Judith Hackitt, the HSE Chair, said:

"We are especially concerned to see the continuing high levels of fatalities in agriculture. No industry can or should regard high levels of death and injury as being 'part of the job'. It is time for British agriculture industry to wake up to the enormous toll of death and injury which occurs year on year and lead the way to improvement just as other sectors have shown is possible."

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First Aid At Work :

From 1 October 2009 new changes to the first aid training regime were introduced to give businesses and organisations greater flexibility. While legislation remains the same, there are changes to the supporting guidance.

So what has changed?

The guidance on first aid in the workplace has changed, but there are no changes to the underlying legislation which governs employers’ legal responsibilities. The new guidance is aimed at giving employers more flexibility in determining their first aid needs. On 1 October 2009, the mandatory four-day First Aid At Work (FAW) training courses were reduced to three days and there is also now an option for a one-day course in Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) for smaller businesses. EFAW training enables a first-aider to give emergency first aid to someone who is injured or becomes ill while at work. FAW training includes EFAW and also equips the first-aider to apply first aid to a range of specific injuries and illness. These shorter, more streamlined courses are designed to meet the needs of businesses and the standards of health and safety training that the law demands for workplaces. Compared with the four-day course, the three-day version will be simplified with less theory and more emphasis on practical aspects. A few elements in the syllabus of the four-day course will not be included in the three-day course.

Who can deliver the training?

As before, any training organisation delivering FAW courses must be approved by HSE and must follow a training standard set by HSE. As part of this process, HSE will ensure that training organisations are monitored to check compliance with the training standard. These checks will include observation of training delivery. Training organisations delivering EFAW courses must be approved by HSE or a recognised Awarding Body of Ofqual/Scottish Qualifications Authority.

Refresher training

All FAW qualified first-aiders still have to attend a two-day requalification course every three years. HSE strongly recommends annual refresher training for qualified first-aiders. Although not mandatory, it will help them maintain their basic skills and keep up to date with any changes to first aid procedures. Employers who follow this guidance will be best placed to meet their legal responsibilities.

Information for employees

Make sure you inform your employees of the first-aid arrangements you have put in place. Putting up notices telling staff who and where the first-aiders or appointed persons are and where the first-aid box is will usually be enough. You will need to make special arrangements to give first-aid information to employees with reading or language difficulties.

Further advice is contained in the free leaflets ‘First aid at work – your questions answered INDG214’, ‘Basic advice on first aid at work INDG347(rev1)’ and ‘Latex and you INDG320’. Lists of first-aid training organisations and Awarding Bodies are available from HSE’s Infoline.

(Source : HSE)

HSE Agricultural Campaign :

"Make the promise – come home safe !"

It's still happening - People are dying in needless accidents on British farms. Parents. Grandparents. Children. In the last ten years, 455 people did not come home.

WHY BE ‘PROACTIVE’ ?

P MORAL REASONS

 

Your general ‘Duty of Care’ / sense of concern for other people (i.e. nobody wants to get hurt or injured at work).

 

 

P ECONOMIC FACTORS

 

Be aware of the actual costs involved with an accident (i.e. not just ‘direct costs’ such as fines / sick pay / compensation / claims excess BUT also ‘indirect costs’ such as replacement labour / increased premiums / bad publicity etc).

 

 

P LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

 

If you don’t comply, you are breaking the law (the ‘Health & Safety at Work Act 1974’ remains the basis of all current UK legislation). In recent years, the HSE have issued more enforcement notices, plus prosecuted more offences and obtained more convictions, with the average penalty being about £15,000. 

(Source: HSE)