The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), is 50 years old this year. The HSE is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety; the HSE’s role is to prevent work-related death, injury, and ill health.
The HSE conducts workplace inspections and investigations which could result in prosecutions and convictions.
At Lawgistics we assist our members with legal solutions, but we also can assist in other matters, such as Health and Safety.
Unfortunately, due to various reasons, for a lot of companies, Health and Safety do not receive the necessary attention that is required. This has been evidenced by some startling facts issued by the HSE on a regular basis.
“In total, 24 workers in the motor vehicle repair industry have been killed in work-related accidents in the last five years, with the fatal injury rate in the motor vehicle repair industry around five times the average rate across all industries. Recent research suggests that over half of all fatal injuries in the sector were caused by work under a poorly supported vehicle.”
Only recently, a dealership was fined £200,000 when one of their technicians died in a workplace accident. The HSE identified that the dealership had not carried out a proper risk assessment and hadn’t provided the technician with the necessary equipment and safeguards for the job.
If you are unsure about how to conduct risk assessments, the HSE website has examples of how you can conduct your own risk assessments at https://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/risk/
Health and safety risk assessments must be completed by individuals who possess the necessary training and experience relevant to the specific risks being assessed. These assessments must be “suitable and sufficient” and, therefore, must be conducted by a competent person.
The HSE website has dedicated guidance for the automotive industry, which is HSG261 Health and safety in motor vehicle repair and associated industries.
Lawgistics cannot conduct your health and safety risk assessments. However, we are here if you have any queries about health and safety requirements and can also review your health and safety paperwork.
On average 55 vulnerabilities are identified daily.
What can I do?
Review your organisations priorities and ask ‘can we afford a breach?’. What do I do during an incident? Who do I involve? When do I involve the ICO?
If you’re unable to answers these questions, you need help from the experts.
