Out-of-hours safety and security
October 1st 2007 Do you know what goes on in your workplace outof-
hours and what your associated health and
safety responsibilities are? Consider the
following situations says RRC Training
1. An employee decided to help a colleague with some
work he was doing after normal working hours. This
work was to cut up some timber for a private job using
a circular saw. Unfortunately the saw had a defective
guard and the employee was injured.
Although the employer owed a statutory duty to employees
and others out of hours, the employee was on the
premises without authority and doing his own work which
was totally disconnected with the business. The decision
was that the employer did not owe a duty with respect to
the actual equipment that was used and brought about the
injury in such an activity.
However, how many private DIY jobs proceed unnoticed
today with staff on the premises outside normal working
hours using the available tools – a person's own or
belonging to the company – when management and
supervisors may have left for the day?
2. A 22-year-old employee fell from a temporary
platform erected between two racking units in a
warehouse on the company premises in London. He
suffered a crushed vertebra and fractured pelvis.
Together with three temporary workers, he was
attempting to remove archive boxes from the higher
shelves in the warehouse.
In this situation, the contributory cause was the lack of a
competent supervisor to manage the work performed by
inexperienced workers out of normal working hours. The
HSE inspector who investigated the incident said:
"It highlights the need for companies to make sure safety
procedures are in place whenever their employees are at
work, not just during normal hours. The company should
have made a proper risk assessment prior to commencing
the job and provided a system of work incorporating a safe
means of access, together with appropriate training tailored
to the use of the equipment chosen."
The key issues were a proper risk assessment and the
necessary training that are as relevant or indeed more so
in out of hours work compared to the so-called "normal
hours". The challenges are not small, since the risk
assessment not only covers employees work out of
business hours but also the workplace conditions that
contractors (eg cleaners, service engineers and security
staff) encounter also. In a related case – where the
company involved was a contracted cleaning organisation
– it was established that an undertaking was being
conducted even if its personnel were or were not present.
3. A shop cleaning company had a contract to clean a
store loading bay which required use of the electric
scrubbing machine. This early morning work was affected
by deliveries arriving before normal shop work time, so
the machine was lent to shop staff to use, as and when
it was convenient. A store's employee was electrocuted.
In this often quoted case, it was reported that in connection
with the conduct of an undertaking:
"The employer must take reasonably practical steps to
avoid risk to the contractors' servants which arise, not
merely from the physical state of the premises (there are
separate provisions for safety of premises in s.4 HASAWA)
but also from the inadequacy of the arrangements which
the employer makes with the contractors for how they will
do the work."
There are many other health and safety risks to be
covered in and out of normal working hours, risk
assessment of work and the place of work. This must
include all support services in the risk assessment in a
24/7 mode – or ideally a 24/365 overview to include
holidays, other absences and work shut down periods.
Further it is a well appreciated fact that much of such
planning to safeguard staff would fall under the heading
of "Lone Working Risk Assessments".
Security management issues
The type of premises will dictate the particular security
arrangements for the protection of the individual worker
and the business and these will differ considerably. For
instance the issues for the research laboratory site and
grounds compared to the multi-floor office block with
underground car park will be quite different, likewise a
factory construction site and a primary school.
In general, the installation of suitable fencing,
entrances and designed landscaping can help discourage
crime through physical deterrence and a trespasser's access
time to their target delay. Combined with adequate
lighting and an observable electronic means of detection
to assist their interception, a crime may in fact not be
committed.
Occupier's liability
A Royal Commission report in 1976 decided that there was
a need to clarify the liability position towards trespassers.
In the Occupier's Liability Act 1957, the same "common
duty of care" existed towards all types of visitor. The
Occupier's Liability Act 1984 was the result which specified
that an occupier owed a restricted duty of care in respect
of personal injuries to trespassers. It is now established
that the occupier will not be liable in respect of risks of
which proper warning is given.
However notices displayed on the perimeter fence are
not legally effective against children. So consideration of
storage and concealment of equipment and property is a
wise precaution – particularly in construction work on site
– so that they are not seen as free adventure playgrounds.
4. On 7 July 2003, a young boy was playing with friends
on a building site in Leicester. Several of the 300kg
concrete retaining wall slabs he was playing on, which
were to be used for wall units, fell on top of him.
The inspector, who had investigated the death of the
young child, was quoted as saying:
"This tragedy is a sobering reminder that construction
sites are dangerous places for children, extra care needs to
be taken to ensure that sites are secure and that materials
and plant are stored safely."
What notices appear on your gates and fences regarding
site risks?
Arson problem
The problem of arson is also one where children and young
people are under the spotlight. Zurich Municipal state that
an average of 20 schools a week are damaged or destroyed
by arson. The following case study was a typical situation.
5. On 13 January 2001, youths broke into a classroom
in a school at Salford and set fire to the furniture. The
fire service was alerted straight away but 18 classrooms
were damaged by fire, heat and smoke. Five jets of
water and eight fire service appliances were used. The
school was closed and later demolished.
The Arson Prevention Bureau's research has shown that of
the individuals prosecuted, cautioned or found guilty
annually for arson offences almost 50% are 10 to 16 years
old. Notably most of these fires peak at around 11pm and
are often started outside school buildings with material
found easily to hand such as in waste bins. For an average
week in 2004, there were 2,100 deliberately set primary
fires associated with 55 injuries and two deaths.
Have the fire risk assessments in your place of work
covered all out of hour's activities and especially the
likelihood of arson? Do note that 75% of firms suffering a
significant fire were out of business within the year.
Work "out of sight"
Perhaps then "out of hours" work should not be "out of
sight" work. If you have a company health and safety role,
why not find an opportunity to "walk the floor" (weekend
or late evening perhaps), see the late shift at work, listen
to comments from contractors' employees and talk to the
new security guard. This could well be quite illuminating.
At the start of this New Year why not review the
health and safety policy statement and arrangements for
"Out of Normal Hours Work" and then make sure
everyone else knows "what
should go on"? More articles from RRC Business Training: | 
