Health & safety bulletins
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19th December 2007
Global Alliance Family Newsletter
This is the second edition of the Global Alliance Family Newsletter that is designed to encourage your family to think as safely as we ask you to at work. I would ask that you share this publication and involve your family as much as possible; the more we talk about safety and the more involved your family become, the more aware they will be of hazards.
17th December 2007
Housekeeping
A customer of Xmo Strata’s has recently issued a notice to all maintenance contractors advising that they are regularly finding waste material left on site after contractors have left. This waste includes signage, bricks, shelves and bags of concrete.
7th December 2007
Addressing unsafe behaviour at source
Consider this………, we see someone working unsafely – maybe on a poorly erected tower, or not using adequate barriers to protect the work environment. We ignore it because it is easier than taking the time to tell him, and in any case, he won’t like it and we are too busy……… Half an hour later, a car hits the tower and the engineer falls down and is killed……… are you then an accessory to manslaughter?
23rd November 2007
Working at height windspeed change
Please note that following guidance from PASMA (The Prefabricated Access Suppliers’ and Manufacturers’ Association) and BOSS, who manufacture the mobile aluminium towers that we use, we have reduced the maximum windspeed at which we recommend that you are able to work on Sherpascopic working platforms and mobile scaffold towers, from 24 mph (Force 5) to 17 mph (Force 4).
16th November 2007
Hearing protection
Noise is an everyday part of our lives, we rely on it, it is our primary means of communication, it is a form of entertainment, it is a means of raising an alarm, it is a sense with which we detect danger, but sometimes is it just an unwanted, unpleasant disturbance.
9th November 2007
Near miss reporting
As previously reported, we are making great progress in increasing vigilance, reporting near misses and sharing the lessons learnt. Some of our teams have expressed to management privately that they feel very uncomfortable with “reporting” that they have done something wrong, or “reporting” that they have noticed an unsafe act involving a colleague and addressing it to prevent a potential incident.
7th November 2007
Winter working: fewer daylight hours, more emphasis on staying safe
As the dark and wintry nights fall upon us, it is important to ensure that hazardous areas on-site are identified, and procedures put in place to minimise the risk of accidents. Many of the following points of advice may appear to be ‘common sense’; however, even common sense can be overlooked, potentially causing unnecessary accidents.
2nd November 2007
10 Tips to Prevent Cold and Flu the "Natural" Way
The following bulletin was supplied to Xmo Strata by a client and offers some useful tips on how to fight off seasonal viruses.
23rd October 2007
Safety harnesses
Safety Harnesses form part of the required Personal Protective Equipment supplied to every engineer working at height and as such are recorded on the company’s PPE register. Fatal accidents can occur if a harness, or indeed any equipment, is used incorrectly or absent mindedly on site.
19th October 2007
Protecting your work area
Analysis of Xmo Strata health and safety statistics shows that the highest proportion of near misses or incidents identified by its teams on site, and therefore the biggest risk of injury, relates to inadequate guards or barriers being used. Since 2004, incidents or near misses relating to inadequate guards or barriers equate to 26.1% of all incidents. In 2007, this is currently running at 27.6%.
21st September 2007
Checking deliveries
Xmo Strata recently had a near miss on a petrol filling station involving an Xmo Veritas electrician and a Heras fencing panel. If it was not for the fact that he was wearing his safety glasses, as specified in the company’s site rules, he could have been blinded in one eye.
7th September 2007
Filling station accident in Italy
On 08/06/2007 a Contractor was removing a light pole as it had been wrongly installed by Construction on a third party property. After removal of the pole with a truck mounted crane and before laying it down to the ground, the pole fell down hitting first the truck cabin and then the arm of an operator.
24th August 2007
Near miss reporting
Xmo Strata is pleased to report that it is now staring to make steady progress in recognizing and reporting near miss occurrences on site.
At this point in time, the company has identified and reported 91% more Near Misses than it did in the whole of 2006. Please note that some near misses can be categorized with more than one immediate cause or substandard condition, hence this not being reflected in the graph shown below.
16th August 2007
Holiday safety
Please see below report of an incident that occurred to a family that was on holiday in Portugal. As the holiday season is now here, please be aware that not all countries are as safety conscious as the UK, and not all emergency services are as capable. Our thanks go to David Thorman and AMEC for sharing this experience.
19th July 2007
Correct use and storage of aerosol containers
A fatality recently occurred on a housing development when an operative was using a 500ml aerosol can of Evo-Stik expanding foam in a new house. It was one of a batch of 3 boxes of 12 each purchased for the task and had just been delivered to site. The operative picked up one of the cans and gave it a shake as recommended on the can
12th July 2007
Global Alliance Newsletter
Please find below the link to a Global Alliance Newsletter. We would like to thank all of our employees and approved contractors for their continued vigilance on ALL Xmo Strata and Xmo Veritas sites. After much hard work, our near miss reporting is now improving and this is being recognised by our more proactive customers.
9th July 2007
Global Alliance Family Newsletter
The Global Alliance Family Newsletter is designed to encourage your family to think as safely as we ask you to at work. I would ask that you share this publication and involve your family as much as possible; the more we talk about safety and the more involved your family become, the more aware they will be of hazards.
5th July 2007
Vermin
Vermin is a term applied to various species regarded as pests or nuisances and especially those associated with the carrying of diseases. Pigeons and rats are two typical examples of vermin that we may encounter regularly whilst carrying out our jobs on site.
31st May 2007
Posture at workstations
Please note that this safety bulletin may be of just as much interest to your family and children, especially if they use a computer, or spend long periods sitting down. According to the British Chiropractic Association (BCA), back pain caused by poor posture at workstations is more common than back pain from excessive lifting and carrying. HSE statistics show that 5 million working days are lost each year due to back pain.
18th May 2007
Fixings, safety, quality and production
Signs are designed to withstand expected weather conditions in the country in which they are installed; this can only be guaranteed if the correct type and number of fixings are used for each component, in line with the manufacturer’s guidelines.
27th April 2007
Vehicle checks
Every year a significant number of people are killed or injured by accidents involving vehicles travelling to, from or in the workplace. With better planning and awareness, and the appropriate use of vehicles, these accidents could be avoided. Employees have a duty to look after their own Health & Safety and that of anyone affected by their work actions.
17th April 2007
Driving safely
It has been estimated that up to a third of all road traffic accidents involve somebody who is at work at the time. This may account for over 20 fatalities and 250 serious injuries every week. Many accidents happen due to inattention or distraction, a badly maintained vehicle, or failure to observe the Highway Code.
27th February 2007
Revised site rules
The following rules are designed to enforce and educate our workforce to latest statutory regulations and Company policy.
13th February 2007
Butterfly banners
Xmo Strata has recently carried out a study of the structural stability of butterfly banners when fixed to the cladding of a stanchion. It was observed that in some cases where ‘ali-tek screws’ or ‘peelback’ rivets were used that the brackets were not structurally sound and were in danger of failing. This danger is even more serious when the recent exceptionally high winds are considered.
30th January 2007
Smokefree England
On 1st July 2007, England follows Scotland to become “smokefree”. From this date almost all enclosed and substantially enclosed public places and workplaces in the country will become smokefree. These will include offices, factories, shops, pubs, bars, public transport and work vehicles that are used by more than one person.
25th January 2007
Asbestos register
The Service Orders that are sent to crews detailing job requirements have now been updated to include information on known Asbestos details at any given site. Details of Asbestos Surveys have been added to our management information system (XmoMan).