Safety white paper
December 1st 2004 Reports list ‘workplace transport’ as the second largest cause of accidents in Britain’s factories, warehouses and other enterprises. On average, someone in the UK is involved in an accident with mobile handling equipment every working day. With the right management approach to safety issues plus using equipment designed for the task, that protects the user and operates safely, an investment in safety enhances efficiency and profitability.
A survey by the HSE revealed that industrial trucks account for some 14.5% of all transport accidents. Over the four-year period (1998 – 2001) there were 1204 accidents and incidents involving industrial trucks.
Workplace transport related incidents result in some 100 fatalities, 2500 major injuries and over 5000 ‘3-day’ injuries every year. The most common kind of accident involved pedestrians coming into contact with a moving truck, accounting for some 44% of incidents. However, falling loads and falls from height also resulted in fatalities and injuries. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable, followed by the equipment operators themselves.
Not only is business becoming more competitive but the number of smaller companies has increased. With some 90% of UK companies employing less than 10 people, health and safety is often a responsibility that is assigned to staff with other duties. These busy managers find it difficult to balance safety responsibilities with the other imperatives of the business and find it challenging to keep abreast of health and safety issues. However, even larger companies employing specialist health and safety officers find it a challenge to keep up with the raft of regulations and guidelines.
Responsibility for enforcement of safety obligations is split between local authorities and the HSE. The HSE plans to move away from producing general written guidance towards specific advice and targeted support directed to the areas of greatest need. The HSE acknowledges that many employers are deterred from checking whether they meet requirements for fear that they might be prosecuted for breaches of the statutory requirements. For this reason it has recently set up a confidential advice line to allay concerns that contacting the organisation could result in a prosecution.
Profiting from health and safety requires a company-wide commitment to create an open culture in which information about health and safety is freely available and in which lessons learned from accidents are quickly translated into better working practices. A tick box approach does not work. Safety issues need to be integrated into management guidelines so that each member of the workforce understands their personal responsibility for assessing risks and maintaining the highest standards. Managers and supervisors, in particular, must take responsibility for safety - the surest way of building a safety culture. They need to play a key role in establishing an early warning system that flags up potential sources of accidents.
Managers must ensure that they carry out regular risk assessments to identify problem areas and that they follow them up with action. Clear internal communications are essential in getting the message across.
Health and safety obligations are, for most, a balance between what is necessary to comply with the law and protect employees; and what is practical. It is not possible to guarantee total safety, because of the human element. Employers can only ensure that they take every step to implement legislative requirements and instill a culture of safety among their employees.
Managing health and safety effectively is a continuous process of identifying risks, drawing up guidelines, learning from incidents and implementing changes.
Training Choosing equipment for its performance and economy, as well as the protection it provides for the operator, is only part of the health and safety equation because, ultimately, the human element will determine whether the working environment is safe or not. Recruiting the right people and having access to professional HSE approved accredited operator training is the starting point for improved safety.
Effective training in potentially hazardous handling environments is critical in driving down accident rates and instilling greater confidence in the workforce. Well thought out training programmes ensure that safety procedures become second nature. Modern businesses have busy schedules and targets to achieve, so access to training courses either on site or in a local training centre simplifies the release of staff for training and minimises the time they are away. Training not only engenders a sense of pride in the trainees, but it also delivers dividends in terms of speedier and safer movement of goods. Operators who can pick up loads more safely and efficiently deliver higher productivity with less downtime and lower repair costs to vehicles and storage structures.
In light of the fact that operators account for 70% of the total cost of a truck over its lifetime, training is an important investment with a guaranteed return.
Auditing Theory is not enough on its own, however. It is vital that auditors and safety experts check safety procedures regularly. They must be satisfied that employees are familiar with current practice and that those suggestions for improvements made during earlier inspections have been carried out.
Health and safety is always a sound investment because it minimises the risk of injuries, or worse, and significantly reduces incidences involving damage to goods, infrastructure and equipment. The ramifications of accidents can be far reaching especially in terms of human suffering as well as bad publicity, fines and lost production. A modest investment in time and training to meet health and safety requirements can pay dividends relating to enhanced efficiency, performance and profitability. It is an opportunity to involve the entire workforce in an on-going project to provide a safer and more satisfying working environment. More articles from Linde Material Handling (UK) Ltd: | 
