What is a zoonosis? It’s a disease that can be transferred from an animal (or bird) to a human. Think of ‘Mad Cow Disease’ (BST) and Bird Flu – both zoonoses. Catteries, kennels, equestrian centres, zoos and farms are all places where care needs to be taken. People who look after any animals need to [...]
Young people don’t understand risk!
January 4, 2012 By
Risk management is based on following a formula – inform; instruct; train; supervise. When you have children you use this all the time when they’re young. As they get older and able to understand the implication of their actions supervision gets less and they are expected to take more responsibility. However, the move from the [...]
Saving a life v. sticking to the rules
December 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Last month a woman died after being trapped and suffering injuries at the bottom of a disused mine shaft in Strathclyde. Despite fire and rescue teams being in attendance, the decision was made not to rescue her because of the health and safety policies being followed to the letter. The inquiry identified a lack of [...]
XRay ‘vision’
December 20, 2011 By
If your industry requires the use of industrial radiography or encompasses a unit where staff are involved in conducting XRays for medical purposes, it’s important to protect the people who are involved or may be working in the adjacent areas. Knowing the key things you need to be aware of will ensure that your staff [...]
Working at height
December 6, 2011 By
You may have seen scary videos on YouTube with people skipping around 10 floors up without any apparent safety equipment, but, if you’re an employer condoning that kind of thing will only end in court. We’ve already covered stepladders at some length, but there are many other situations where people have to work at height [...]
Vicious vibration
November 22, 2011 By
Whilst vibration can be beneficial and is often used during relaxing massage sessions – constant vibration can do considerable damage, Most injuries that result from vibration occur over a period of time so what starts as minor discomfort turns into a long term chronic injury. If you (or people who work for you) handle equipment [...]
U is for UV rays
November 8, 2011 By
If you’re wondering how UV could possibly affect your workplace – UV scanners are used to check out currency for fakes and to check for faults in metals used in construction. Anyone who works outside may be affected by UV rays from the sun on those bright days. It’s often the bright, but not actually [...]
Care cutbacks can cost lives
November 3, 2011 By
The government’s latest economies are hitting people who need care to continue to live independently. This seems to be in opposition to another core ‘value’ they announced, not all that long ago – to reduce fire deaths in people’s homes. If people who need care have less care, they are more at risk in the [...]
Training for a safe workplace
October 25, 2011 By
Many people think that, in order to train people, they must attend a formal training session in a classroom environment, however, that isn’t really true. People learn by many different methods from reading a poster to learning by doing. People learn from reading posters, signs and written procedures. They can learn by working with an [...]
Signs & signals to keep people safe
October 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Travelling to and from work you see many signs and signals to warn and inform drivers, but when you arrive in the workplace are you as familiar with the signs around the building and what they mean? [...]
