Managers Under-Rate The Risk Of Sign Work
13 October 2009
Managers in the retail industry are dangerously under-estimating their own liability in terms of health and safety risks during sign installation and maintenance.
That's the conclusion of research commissioned by sign firm Xmo Strata.
Of 100 managers questioned, 46% said that they considered sign work to be “less dangerous than work in the construction industry”.
In fact, there is no independent breakdown of health and safety issues in the sign industry - but sign engineers conduct work at height, involving electricity, over areas where traffic is likely, and in the case of work on fuel forecourts, with hazchem issues and an even higher risk of speeding traffic. Sign towers on retail parks and MID signs (carrying the prices) on forecourts, as well as other projects, frequently involve construction/civil work.
Xmo Strata managing director Steve Martin says the risks are higher than the industry seems to perceive - and the legal liability rests not just with the retailer, but potentially with individual managers. "In most data we are lumped in with the construction industry, but the reality is that the risks are sometimes greater than those on a construction site.
“One of the reasons for that is the sign industry's reluctance to professionally manage risk; there are good firms, but too few of them - generally, the industry regards health and safety as a nuisance and something to pay lip-service to, and that's it. The industry has an appalling record in terms of adherence to health and safety, and this is very easy to check out anecdotally yourself, in a few moments, if you know what you are looking for.
“We conducted a survey of sign company websites recently and found a significant number of them carried claims about the company's health and safety credentials, and yet showed photographs of their crews at work in which there were clear, and multiple breaches of (for example) the Working at Height Regulations.
“Some managers falsely believe that if they ask the question, and the sign company gives the right answer, they are in the clear. They're not. The law requires the employer (i.e. the customer) to provide a safe working environment, and if a sign fitter falls whilst working at height, because he has failed to adhere to health and safety regulations, it is entirely possible that he could sue the customer, and not his own employer. In fact he's likely to sue the biggest target with the deepest pockets, and in many cases, that won't be a sign company.”
Xmo Strata's own crews are amongst the most highly qualified sign engineers in the UK and the company has won a raft of awards from retail customers and major facilities management firms for its track record in health and safety.
More information on the research is available at www.xmostrata.com.
Mr Martin is the author of a whistle blowing book on the sign industry (Safety, Quality, Tricks and Lies: dirty tricks in the British sign industry and 100 questions your sign company doesn't want you to ask! available from Amazon, book websites and all good book shops).
