Health and Safety at Work For Dummies, UK Edition E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 711

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Are you complying with health and safety regulations in the workplace?

Making mistakes in many areas of health and safety can be both incredibly dangerous and hugely costly. So what can you do to avoid hazards and expensive, time-consuming legal battles? That's where Health & Safety at Work For Dummies comes in. Cutting through the clutter, it provides you with the practical, must-know information you need to ensure your workplace is a suitably safe environment that complies with government health and safety rules and regulations.

Did you know that in 2014, 1.2 million working people suffered from work-related illnesses, 2,535 mesothelioma deaths occurred due to past asbestos exposure and 133 workers were killed on the job? The list goes on – and the statistics are staggering. Health & Safety at Work For Dummies shows you how to keep your employees safe from becoming another statistic in this frightening data. Arming you with critical information needed to adhere to health and safety regulations, it offers expert guidance on managing and implementing health and safety in your business, controlling workplace risks, going the extra mile in following orders and much more.

• Offers an easy-to-follow overview for getting started with health and safety
• Provides tips and advice for planning your health and safety management
• Includes guidance on monitoring and reviewing your health and safety systems
• Clearly demonstrates how to organize and motivate your workforce to comply with rules and regulations

You can't afford to run a business that doesn't provide a safe work environment. Be smart, safe and proactive with the help of this essential guide.

Leseprobe

Health & Safety at Work For Dummies®

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester,www.wiley.com

This edition first published 2016

© 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Chichester, West Sussex

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ISBN 978-1-119-21093-1 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-28724-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-28725-4 (ebk)

Health & Safety at Work For Dummies®

Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/healthandsafetyuk to view this book's cheat sheet.

Table of Contents

Cover

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Getting Started with Health and Safety at Work

Chapter 1: Making Sense of Health and Safety in the Workplace

Putting Health and Safety into Context

Benefitting Your Business

Speaking the Language Like a Pro

Chapter 2: Setting Your Health and Safety Policy

Deciding Whether to Go It Alone or Seek Assistance

Navigating the Maze of Official Guidance

Preparing Your Health and Safety Policy

Implementing Your Statement of General Policy

Chapter 3: Engaging Your Workforce with Health and Safety

Developing a Positive Safety Culture in Your Workplace

Taking Control

Co-operating with Health and Safety

Talking the Talk: Communicating about Health and Safety

Investing in Your People

Chapter 4: Assessing Health and Safety Risks in the Workplace

Thinking about Risk

Conducting Your Risk Assessment

Controlling Your Risk Level

Transferring Financial Risk with Insurance

Chapter 5: Getting Your House in Order

Working Up a Healthy Sweat

Staying Safe and on the Move

Considering Employee Welfare

Part II: Managing and Implementing Health and Safety in Your Business

Chapter 6: Moving to a Recognised Safety Management System

Discovering Why Safety Doesn’t Manage Itself

Choosing a Recognised Safety Management System

Looking at Safety Management System Elements

Implementing a Recognised Safety Management System

Chapter 7: Developing Safe Systems and Procedures

Developing Safe Systems of Work

Preparing Emergency Procedures

Contracting Procedures

Chapter 8: Monitoring and Reviewing Health and Safety in the Workplace

Monitoring Your Safety Management System

Using KPIs and Targets

Conducting Inspections and Audits

Learning from Accidents

Improving Health and Safety Performance

Part III: Controlling Workplace Risks

Chapter 9: Tackling Behaviour-Based Issues: Workplace Woes

Lifting the Lid on Violence

Stressing Out

Wising Up to Drugs and Alcohol

Chapter 10: Harnessing Gravity and Managing Workplace Transport

Working at Height

Controlling Workplace Transport

Chapter 11: Unpacking Manual Handling and Other Ergonomic Risks

Introducing the Problem

Taking Practical Steps to Handle Loads Safely

Getting Comfortable with Workstations

Chapter 12: Working Safely with Machinery

Getting to Know Your Machinery’s Hazards

Controlling Machinery Risk

Making Safeguards Count

Using Your Machinery

Chapter 13: Shocking Truths: Electrical Safety

Keeping Current on Electrical Hazards

Preventing Danger: Controlling Your Electricity Risk

Chapter 14: Fanning the Flames: Fire Risk

Playing with Fire

Assessing Fire Risk

Selecting Options for Fire Prevention and Protection

Chapter 15: Getting the Chemistry Right: Controlling Hazardous Substances

Assessing the Risks to Health from Chemical Substances

Keeping Chemicals under Wraps

Getting to Know Asbestos

Chapter 16: Making Waves: Tackling Noise, Vibration and Radiation

Dealing with Noise and Vibration in the Workplace

Addressing Radiation Concerns in the Workplace

Part IV: Going the Extra Mile

Chapter 17: Wrestling with Health and Safety Law

Judging What’s Right: The UK Legal System

Drawing Out the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974

Breaking into the Management Regulations

Chapter 18: Developing a Positive Safety Culture: Factoring in Human Behaviour

Evolving Your Organisation’s Safety Culture

Anticipating the Impact of Human Factors

Chapter 19: Cracking Process Safety

Approaching Safety Differently

Breaking Down Process Safety Management

Stacking Up Some Process Safety Management System Elements

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 20: Ten Ways to Get Risk Assessment Wrong

Using a Risk Assessment to Justify Decisions You’ve Already Made

Making Your Risk Assessment Too Generic

Overcomplicating Your Risk Assessment

Ignoring Industry Standards and Good Practice

Using the Wrong Guidance

Knowing Nothing about the Activity You’re Assessing

Leaving Consultants to the Task without Getting Involved Yourself

Getting Bogged Down in Trivia

Treating Your Risk Assessment as a Paper Exercise

Assuming That Nothing Ever Changes

Chapter 21: Ten Neat Tools to Help You Assess Risks and Choose Controls

Office Risk Assessment Tool

Risk Assessment Routefinder

COSHH Essentials

Manual Handling Assessment Charts (MAC) Tool

Assessment of Repetitive Tasks (ART) Tool

Noise Exposure and Hearing Protection Calculators

Hand-Arm Vibration Exposure Calculator

Work at Height Access Equipment Information Toolkit

Asbestos Essentials Task Sheets

Stress Management Tools

Chapter 22: Ten Great Health and Safety Websites

Health and Safety Executive

Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland

Public Health England

Fire Safety in the Workplace

Legislation

Institution of Occupational Safety and Health

Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

World Health Organization

International Labour Organization’s Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety

About the Author

Cheat Sheet

Advertisement Page

Connect with Dummies

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

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Introduction

Health and safety is a surprisingly interesting topic. It combines bits of science, engineering, management, psychology, ergonomics, law and economics, giving them a safety and health spin. So, if you’ve ever studied anything or had a job of any kind, you may find that much of the information in this book is familiar and accessible (though it certainly has its techy bits).

We wrote this book because a lot of people are still a bit confused or mystified by health and safety – and we don’t want that confusion to continue! It’s partly because health and safety is surrounded by more mythology than an ancient Greek epic, and partly because it can be hard to find the information you need unless you know exactly what you’re looking for (or you’re just plain lucky).

At one extreme, you may think that health and safety is just common sense (so why all the fuss?), and at the other, you may think that it’s just too complicated. We have sympathy with both extremes because we’ve all been there. None of us started out as safety professionals (though we’ve always been professional …). We’re ordinary folk (with what we like to think of as a healthy interest in fires, explosions, drugs and alcohol).

To start you off on your health and safety journey, here are a few interesting things we, as authors, have picked up along the way that you may find useful:

Risk assessment is a core tool for health and safety. It helps you to make decisions and is a springboard for action; it isn’t supposed to be an end in itself.

Safety management systems are much easier to set up than to maintain, review and improve – people can lack the motivation for these repeat visits/checks/audits.

Using consultants can be an efficient and effective use of resources, especially when you’re dealing with something technical. But make sure that you’re clear about what you want from your consultant (in terms of end-result deliverables). A good consultant can help you work out the specifications around your needs, but this process can be tricky if you yourself have no clear idea of what you want in the first place.

Consultant fees seem only to come in units of one day, regardless of how little work is done.

No two safety experts will ever agree on the detail. Don’t let that worry you too much – health and safety work relies on professional judgement, and in reality you can find many ways to achieve the same end result. Take a holistic view.

You get better at safety the more you do it!

About This Book

Businesses have lots of things they need to do to be successful – and making sure that the money is coming in is obviously right up there. But health and safety is also an important part of managing a business. It isn’t something separate or an optional add-on – it needs to be integrated into your business’s operations, but it often isn’t.

In terms of health and safety, you and your business at least need to:

Navigate the apparently complex laws and guidance.

Discover what your priorities are – the things you must do, like write a safety policy, complete risk assessments, consult with your employees and report accidents.

Work out what you can do yourself and when you may need help – and where this help may come from (for example, from consultants).

Work out how to improve performance.

Be sensible, proportionate and realistic (rather than striving for perfection or overreacting).

This book can help you to do all these things, using the experience, wit and humour of three safety professionals (us, your authors). We can help to make health and safety real – so you can see how it can be put into practice in everyday terms. We also introduce you (in Parts III and IV) to the wider scope of safety and health. Not all of these areas will apply to you and your business, but health and safety crosses industries, sectors and continents. It’s relevant in any industry that’s interested in protecting its people, so we aim to deliver comprehensive coverage of the major topics.

You may notice a few icons in the margins as you work your way through the book – these icons help you to identify the key points, take note of some useful advice and they also indicate the stuff that’s just nice to know. You may prefer to skip some of the sidebars and ‘Technical Stuff’ icons if you’re in a hurry and need the basics fast.

Within this book, you may notice that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy – just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Foolish Assumptions

We assume that you’re either very interested in health and safety or at least need to know the basics. However, we don’t assume that you know very much about health and safety, apart from what you may have read in the newspapers. You may be a business owner, a manager or anyone who needs to get health and safety sorted in your workplace.

Icons Used in This Book

To help you sort out the important information, we use icons in the text. Here’s a quick summary of what these icons mean:

This icon indicates practical advice that we’ve discovered along the way that can make life easier for you.

This icon points out some things that are important enough for you to take note of. You may even want to write these key points down somewhere.

This icon warns you of traps that you can fall into if you’re not careful.

This icon provides you with a realistic example (sometimes from your authors’ chequered pasts) that can help you to see how things work in practice.

This icon highlights technical terms. Did you really think you’d get away with avoiding the jargon? Every topic has some subject-specific terms that need a bit more explanation, so we take the time to point them out, especially when they’re common words that have a special meaning in a health and safety context.

This icon notes specialised health and safety facts that go deeper into a topic than you may need to go. But you can skip these if you’re in a rush and still get the point.

Beyond the Book

As you navigate your way through Health and Safety at Work For Dummies, you can supplement our sublime text with some extra online goodies. You can find the book’s e-cheat sheet at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/healthandsafetyuk. And, by going to www.dummies.com/extras/healthandsafetyuk you can find some bonus articles with detail that we just couldn’t fit in the book.

Where to Go from Here

This book isn’t a novel; it’s a reference book. As such, you can start anywhere you like. But, if you have little or no safety knowledge or experience, we suggest that you start at the beginning, because the chapters in the first part provide a gentle introduction to the subject and focus on the key things you must do in a business to cover health and safety – the absolute basics.

Other than that, take a quick look at the table of contents or index and choose a topic that makes you smile – and get started!

Part I

Getting Started with Health and Safety at Work

Visit www.dummies.com for great (and free!) For Dummies content online.

In this part …

Understand what health and safety is and its benefits to you and your business.

Decide whether you need professional help or can go it alone, and take a look at your safety policy.

Set the right culture – lead from the front, consult with your employees, communicate effectively with your team and train your employees to do their jobs properly.

Assess your business risks using pragmatic and sensible approaches that are proportional to the risk.

Create a healthy and safe physical workplace environment and give attention to your employees’ welfare – that means toilets, temperature and housekeeping.

Chapter 1

Making Sense of Health and Safety in the Workplace

In This Chapter

Understanding what health and safety is

Establishing how health and safety can benefit your business

Navigating health and safety terminology

Health and safety at work isn’t a new thing. In past times, making work safer has sometimes been a by-product of not wanting to run out of a limited supply of skilled labourers. For example, gravity has always been difficult to defeat for us humans, so even the ancient civilisations (like the Greeks and Romans) thought of scaffolding and cranes (which also introduce some additional risks – choices, choices).

Things have moved on since then. Modern times bring their comforts and benefits but also new health and safety challenges for every business owner and manager. Safety standards are considerably higher today, and society won’t tolerate a business that recklessly fails to protect its employees from unnecessary risks. With modern knowledge, tools and technologies, you’re more capable than ever of managing these risks – but you may at times feel that you need to embrace a seemingly bewildering range of legislation and advice along the way. But not to worry – we’re here to help you figure out how to rise to the health and safety challenge.

In this chapter, we look at what workplace health and safety really is, why it’s important, and how good health and safety practices can help your business flourish. We also introduce you to some of the key terminology you’ll see again and again as you discover more about the wonderful world of health and safety. More than anything, we want to give you the confidence to tackle health and safety issues yourself in your own organisation.

Putting Health and Safety into Context

Health and safety can be an emotive subject. It gets a lot of bad press in the UK. Every week you hear about some nonsense or other that reinforces that health and safety is out to spoil everyone’s fun, ridiculously disproportionate or just plain silly. Or you hear lots of stories about how not enough was done, how someone or other must be held to account, and how on earth this can be happening again. It’s enough to make you want to write a strongly worded letter to The Times!

But, believe it or not, health and safety professionals get just as frustrated with this as you do – and they’re not out there to spoil your fun or to surround you with red tape. In fact, many rather like having fun themselves.