By Safeti - Health, Safety and Environment
The podcast currently has 122 episodes available.
Thanks for joining us for this short podcast on Safety Glove Ratings | Changes to EN388. As discussed in the podcast, here is a visual depiction (see below) of the coding and a couple of examples snippets from actual safety glove ratings on the products themselves.
Here is our YouTube short showing the difference between a Cut Level 1 (Old Test) glove and a Cut Level F (New Test) glove.
If you have ever taken manual handling training, it’s likely you may have came across the manual handling TILE acronym.
In terms of manual handling, the TILE acronym stands for Task, Individual, Load, and Environment:
This is also often extended to TILEO (to include ‘Other Factors’). Sometimes, you will also hear LITE in manual handling training – it’s simply a rearranging of the letters and will usually relate to the same principles.
Before we move on to learning more about the individual elements of Manual Handling TILE principles, let’s take a quick peak at why manual handling training is so important across different industries.
In Ireland, Manual handling injuries are the most common workplace injury (see image), with over 30% physical injuries relating to the back, arm or shoulders.
For GB, in the 2020/21 business year, there were approximately 470,000 (yes, ~0.5 Million!) work-related musculoskeletal (MSK) disorder cases. 81% of these were related to the upper limbs, neck or back.
How much lost time does this equate to for the workforce I hear you ask?!
The HSE (GB) estimates that 8.9 Million working days were lost due to these MSK disorders.
Manual handling, awkward or tiring positions and keyboard work (DSE) or repetitive action are regarded as the key causes of work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
Check out bitesize Manual Handling training video right here.
Don’t forget, if you or your team would like to take our certificated online course on Manual Handling, you can enrol right now in our free Manual Handling course.
The manual handling TILE acronym that aims to help you carry out a manual handling risk assessment. Using TILE or TILEO prompts you to consider each essential area of the activity in order to reduce the risk of injury.
This means considering the manual handling activity itself, i.e. the lifting, lowering, carrying, pushing or pulling, and looking at how it may affect your health and safety.
For example, does the task involve repetitive movements, strenuous movements, long distances, or uneven weight distribution?
In most workplace manual handling scenarios, the priority should be to avoid, before assessing and reducing risk where employees are required to perform manual handling tasks.
This means considering the person who will be carrying out the manual handling activity, i.e. you or another colleague.
The physical attributes of an individual as also important to consider. For example, how strong, fit or able is the person? Is manual handling something they do on a daily or regular basis?
An essential aspect of assessing the individual is considering how much instruction and manual handling training they have received. Do they need more training before carrying out the task?
This means considering the object or person that is being moved, and looking at how this may affect health and safety.
For example, is the load particularly heavy, bulky, hard to grasp or unstable? If so, have you really considered all of the mechanical options available to you? It may be worth having another look if the option has been dismissed first glance.
If no reasonable means of lifting device can be identified, then it will be also be worth considering if the load can be split up into smaller units.
Once you have reached the optimum reasonable load or unit size, how appropriate is the load for the individual/s carrying out the task?
This means considering the area in which the load is being moved, and looking at how this could make the manual handling task unsafe.
For example, are there any space constraints? Is the floor slippery or uneven? Is there sufficient lighting? Are there any trip hazards?
O | Other factors. This means considering anything else, in addition to the task, individual, load and environment, which may impact on the safety of the manual handling activity.
For example, will personal protective equipment (PPE) make movement difficult? Is more/different PPE needed?
Perhaps there are other organisational factors such as planned work to take place on the route of travel, or strict limitations on who is authorised to carry out manual handling tasks.
These are all aspects that should be considered and typically, it is about making sure you run your plans by the right people e.g. health and safety manager, production supervisors and facilities managers.
Are you looking for a manual handling training course for your team? Check out our Training section for the different options that we currently provide, or start a conversation with us now and we will help you find the best fit.
We’ve got to the fifth and final part of our five step risk assessment process and that is simply to record and review your risk assessment. A question we often get asked is ‘When should risk assessments be reviewed?’
Once you have completed and recorded your risk assessment, it’s time to decide and determine when your risk assessment will need a review.. There is no set frequency for when risk assessments should be reviewed.
Therefore, you should make a decision that’s appropriate for the risk profile of your business. There are certain times when it’s more obvious that the risk assessment should be looked at and reviewed.
Examples of when risk assessments should be reviewed:Here are just a few common examples;
Depending on your business risk profile, industry & regulatory standards and internal management systems, it may also make sense to have a regular review of your risk assessments e.g every 12 months. Any frequency should be based on the nature of the operations and should be specific to each activity and/or organisation.
The purpose of this would be to make sure that you have not missed anything new or significant that could present a risk to employees, or others. This type of regular oversight is often complimented by other safeguards such as a management of change (MoC) process.
Now that we have tackled the ‘when should risk assessments be reviewed?’ question, let’s learn more about recording and communicating them.
In reality, the Health and Safety Executive in the UK clearly states that risk assessments should not be unnecessarily complicated and only focus on the significant hazards.
It makes sense, because you have to be able to effectively communicate the outcomes of them.
In the UK, your obligation as an employer is that you must risk assess the work activities for which your employees are involved.
If you have 5 or more employees, you have to keep a record of any risk assessment that you have done. But don’t panic, it’s not as bad as it sounds!
Sharing the key risk information effectively with the people that matter is critical.
As you’ve put the work into the risk assessment process, we must remember the importance of communicating your findings to the people that are affected.
You should take some time to consider the best way to do this for your particular business. If your team, for example, are located locally to you then it might make sense to use the risk assessment as a discussion topic during your next meeting. It makes sense to send it out to them first to have a look at before having a group discussion around what’s included in it.
In that way, it gives them an opportunity to digest the information and gives you a better chance at getting honest feedback on anything that they think has been omitted or needs to be improved on.
To make this process even better, the world is really your oyster. We like to get as creative as possible when it comes to communication, and have used anything from pub quizzes to podcasting.
Here are a few of the critical elements when thinking about risk assessment communication.
Crunch down the information into the key elements of risk and control using the least information possible and with the help of photos of the associated process, equipment etc.
It’s widely accepted that providing employees with pages and pages of risk assessment literature is a very effective way to lose their attention completely.
One way to avoid this scenario is to succinctly summarise the risk assessment findings and communicate them via a training session.
‘Going to Gemba’ is the act of visiting the shop floor in Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen.
Literally translated as ‘The Real Place’, it pushes the importance of leadership understanding what is happening at every level. Going to Gemba is also a powerful and robust strategy when it comes to communicating risk assessments.
Why not take your summarised findings and present them to those affected at the place of concern? Sounds like a great idea.
Alternatively if you have a remote team that you can’t get together in one place at one time, you may want to just send out a digital version that they can read and sign off to say that they’re happy with the content and the outcomes of the risk assessment.
However, we would recommend that you follow up with them either by a phone/video call or if they’re in the office via a one-on-one to ask them how they feel about the outcomes of the risk assessment.
Remember, communication is key.
As a manager, it is really important to be assured that your employee’s have taken the information on board.
Hopefully some of these folks that are affected have been involved in the risk assessment process itself.
That way, it won’t all be a big surprise to them once you’ve shared and communicated your risk assessment findings with all those stakeholders.
If you find that your employees doing the work have not been involved in the risk assessment process, it would be worth considering how you might involve in your risk assessment review process.
We are often asked this question by a range of Client’s, ‘How many First Aider’s do I need?‘. Let’s cut to the chase and try to answer the question….
Firstly, we need to determine if your workplace environment is considered low risk e.g. offices, shops.
Or, if you operate in a higher risk environment e.g. construction, food processing.
Secondly, we must identify how many people are employed by your business.
Once you have answered both of the questions above for your business operations, follow the appropriate guidance from Option 1 (Low Risk) and Option 2 (Higher Risk) below:
The recommendations below are for guidance purposes only. First Aider needs may vary according to the size, nature and location of a business or organisation and should be assessed by a Competent person.
The HSE recommends that if work activities are low level hazard (e.g. office or shops) and there’s fewer than 25 employees, only one appointed person as a minimum may be suitable and a first-aider may not be required at all.
If the number of employees in this scenario increases to between 25 and 50, then at least one EFAW first aider is needed. If more than 50 people are employed, then at least one first aider trained in FAW for every 100 employed.
If a workplace has higher level hazards present (e.g. warehousing, construction, food processing, heavy engineering), then at least one appointed person is required if there are fewer than five employees.
For 5 to 50, at least one first aider trained in FAW or EFAW (depending on the type of injuries that may be sustained) is suggested. When the number of employees exceeds 50, at least 1 first aider trained in FAW for every 50 employed.
The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations require employers to provide first aid facilities and support that is proportionate to their working environment.
(1) An employer shall provide, or ensure that there are provided, suchequipment and facilities as are adequate and appropriate in the circumstances forenabling first-aid to be rendered to his employees if they are injured or become ill atwork.
Employers must make sure employees get immediate help if taken ill or injured at work.
The law applies to every workplace and to the self-employed. You must have:
What ‘adequate and appropriate’ first aid arrangements are depends on the work you do and where you do it. You’re best placed to understand the nature of your work, so you should assess what your first aid needs are.
You must consider:
You might also consider:
You don’t have to write down your findings, but if you do, it will allow you to record how you’ve decided on your first aid arrangements.
An appointed person is someone who is in charge of your first aid arrangements. This includes looking after the equipment, facilities and calling the emergency services.
You can have more than one appointed person and they don’t need to have any formal training.
An appointed person must always be available whenever people are at work.
The contents of your first aid kit should be based on your first aid needs assessment. As a guide, where work activities are low-risk (for example, desk-based work) a minimum first aid kit might contain:
This is a suggested contents list.
If you are buying a kit look for British Standard (BS) 8599 – like this one. By law, your kit doesn’t have to meet this standard but you should check it contains what you’ve identified in your needs assessment.
Check your kit regularly. Many items, particularly sterile ones, are marked with expiry dates. Replace expired items, disposing of them safely. If a sterile item doesn’t have an expiry date, check with the manufacturer to find out how long it can be kept. For non-sterile items without dates, you should check that they are still fit for purpose.
As discussed above, you might decide that you need someone trained in first aid, sometimes known as a first aider.
Despite the guidance we have provided on how many first aiders you might need, there are really no hard and fast rules on how many trained first aiders you must have.
It depends on the nature of your work and its location.
First aiders are trained by a competent training provider in:
Use the findings of your first aid needs assessment to decide:
Keep training up to date with regular refresher courses.
The podcast currently has 122 episodes available.