November News Roundup

A British retailer fined £337k after customer falls through a trapdoor

A 64-year-old woman was browsing birthday cards when she fell three metres through an open trapdoor into the store’s basement. A nearby shop employee tried to grab the woman as she was falling, but did not manage to stop her. This resulted in multiple injuries that required three operations to reconstruct her heel.

Councillor Patrick Berry, said: ‘A customer suffered serious injuries as a result of failings in safety procedures at the Taunton store. One of our top priorities is the wellbeing of people in our borough, so I hope the size of this fine serves as a warning to all businesses, that the health and safety of all who use their premises – be they customers, employees or other visitors – is paramount.’

Since the accident, the store management has locked the trapdoor. Access to the door is now only permitted upon completion of a risk assessment. At the Taunton Crown Court, the British retailer pleaded guilty and was fined £168,750 and ordered to pay £135,492 in costs for the two breaches of Health & Safety laws.

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Council fined £300k after the death of a teenager

A 15-year-old boy was crossing the road to get on the bus home when the school minibus hit him. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. The Health and Safety executive conducted an investigation into the school’s traffic arrangements and found pupils were exposed to traffic moving in both directions. This was because there wasn’t enough laybys for all the school busses during hometime, so the busses were parking on the opposite side of the road. The students then had to cross the road dodging moving vehicles in order to get on the bus.

This issue had been identified previously, but nothing was done by the Council to enlarge the laybys so the pupils could safely get on the bus from the pavement. This resulted in the HSE taking action against the Council. The Council pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and has been fined £300k and ordered to pay costs of £29k. The police also investigated the tragic accident but no charges were brought against the driver who hit the boy.

HSE inspector Helen Turner said: ‘We believe the boy’s death could have been prevented, and a series of missed opportunities meant this incident was waiting to happen. Although there had been previous near misses at the school, there was no system for these to be reported and discussed. There are some clear lessons to be learned, particularly for other modern school sites.’

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Northwich-based contractor fined £90k after labourers exposed to asbestos

A Northwich-based contractor failed to carry out an asbestos risk assessment prior to beginning refurbishment on a business centre. The contractor failed to do this even after the HSE surveyed the premises and provided recommendations. The work included sweeping and vacuuming the area which resulted in workers being exposed to asbestos.

According to the Health and Safety investigation, it found that the workers spoke very little English and had little knowledge about asbestos because asbestos training was not given to them.

The contractor was found guilty of breaching asbestos regulations and was fined £90k and ordered to pay £7k in costs. Health and Safety inspector Kasia Urbaniak said: ‘The dangers associated with asbestos, including licensed asbestos, are well-known and a wealth of advice and guidance is freely available from the HSE website. Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.’

Omnitrack user experience upgraded

As part of our commitment to providing our clients with better and more efficient products, we are pleased to announce that we have upgraded Omnitrack’s workflows. This upgrade improves many aspects of the system and simplifies workflows without changing any of the current functionality. The new version will feel instantly familiar and straightforward to existing users and should not require any new training.

What is Omnitrack?

VinciWorks’ Omnitrack is a fully flexible, fully customisable data collection tool that can be used by businesses to capture, track and manage any type of information, from registers and assessments to self-reporting forms and notifications. The Omnitrack platform has the versatility and power to log data assets, record complaints and breaches, enable whistleblowing, evidence regulatory compliance and manage other business processes internally, throughout the supply chain or on behalf of independent firms subscribing to outsourced business services.

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Competition law policy template

Businesses have a responsibility and a legal obligation to follow competition law and ensure staff have the knowledge and understanding to do that. Companies should regularly update such policies. Staff should be made aware that failure to adhere to their company’s competition law policy could result in large fines and criminal charges against individual employees and the company.

VinciWorks has created a competition law policy template that is fully compliant with the Competition Act 1998 and the Enterprise Act 2002.

Free download

What should be included in a competition law policy?

Employee obligations with regards to competition law

Employees must report any activity, transaction or dealing which they suspect may infringe upon competition law to the relevant reporting officer. They must also report all contact with competitors where there was any discussion of contracts, competitors, suppliers, sub-contractors or other relevant external bodies to the reporting officer. Full minutes should be recorded of any trade association meetings that are attended by representatives of your organisation.

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Are your Employees Travelling Safely?

When most business people think about travel, they think about the challenge to get employees to travel on-budget and effectively, so no time or money is wasted.

However, every trip also represents a risk, and organisations must consider how they protect the health and safety of employees when they are away from the office and conducting official business.

The health and safety of business travel

Risks are easier to quantify and control when employees are based in a fixed workspace. We can identify the risks to health, report on them and take steps to mitigate them. But when our colleagues travel around the country, or further afield, we cannot possibly know all the risks that they might encounter, nor can we take action to control the environment around them.

What organisations can do is prepare their employees for business trips and ensure that our colleagues make the best choices when it comes to booking travel and conducting business away from the office.

Booking accommodation

Make sure your employees are staying in reputable hotels in safe areas of their destination city. You may want to issue a list of approved hotel chains so that employees are discouraged from booking unfamiliar or untrusted accommodation.

Rental cars

Are your employees confident driving a manual transmission if they’re used to automatics? And how do they feel about driving on the other side of the road – in an unfamiliar town? Again, it may be simpler to rely on public transport, unless there is a particular need for a hire car. And if a hire car is essential, you might encourage colleagues to order a local satnav to help them travel safely and efficiently.

Public transport

Is the local public transport network reliable – and safe? Is it suitable for your employees to use alone, at different times of day? If in doubt, encourage employees to travel by private cab that they book by phone (or app) rather than a car hailed on the street.

Personal belongings

Encourage employees to leave valuables at home. They should only take the equipment and clothing they need to conduct business.

Identification

Remind employees to carry their identification on them at all times. This can be helpful if they need to prove their identity, or if they are incapacitated and need urgent medical help.

Keep in touch

Do you ask employees to keep in touch during trips abroad? From a safety and security perspective it may be useful to request an itinerary so that you always know where your colleagues are. Asking them to check in regularly, perhaps daily, also ensures you can raise the alarm should anything go wrong.

Insurance

Give your employees details of their insurance cover and who to contact in the event they need support.

Medical cover

Make sure your colleagues have cover in their destination – and that they know how to seek help in the event of an emergency – or if they need routine medical help.

Stay connected

Check that your company mobile phones will work in the destination – and that your devices are all fully charged and that employees take chargers.

Networking and socialising

Employees should be advised to stay safe when conducting business with people they don’t know – whether these are colleagues, customers or vendors. Networking, sales trips or supplier visits may involve socialising, and people should take the normal precautions they take when spending time with new people in unfamiliar places.

Destinations

It’s useful to have a plan for advising employees about the unique character and risks of particular destinations. For example, some locations may have more street crimes and pickpocketing, while other countries may be less tolerant of differences such as racial, ethnic or sexual orientation. Employees need to understand the place they are visiting, and any unique social traditions, customs or laws that must be respected.

In addition to social and legal considerations, consideration must be given to whether there are other risks, such as social unrest, political violence or natural phenomena such as tropical storms, earthquakes or volcanic activity.

See our Travel Safe eLearning course and read more about the health and safety of business travel in our knowledge base.

VinciWorks’ anti-harassment course a finalist at Learning Technology Awards 2018

Learning technology awards 2018

On Wednesday, 21 November, at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel in London, VinciWorks attended the prestigious Learning Technologies Awards 2018 as finalists in the “Best use of mobile learning” category for our #MeToo-inspired sexual harassment course, MyStory. The annual awards celebrate excellence in learning technology and this year, up against giants such as L’Oreal, Air France and winners John Lewis, we were honoured to have MyStory nominated.

In the category with the most nominees of the evening, John Lewis claimed the Gold award for their series of bite-size, self-led web app resources were made accessible via the device.

About VinciWorks’ sexual harassment training

MyStory: Harassment and Bullying at Work directly applies the powerful lessons of the recent global outcry against sexual harassment in the workplace through innovative storytelling and a mobile-first design. Soon to be available to download on app stores for free, the course changes the paradigm of previously ineffective, legalistic harassment training by bringing real stories of harassment to life. The course connects users to a global movement and provides everyone with a safe platform to raise their voice against bullying and harassment at work.

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VinciWorks releases new harassment and bullying course, MyStory

Three screenshots from harassment and bullying course MyStory

Harassment and bullying training 

VinciWorks has released a new mobile-first e-learning course on harassment and bullying at work. MyStory: Harassment and Bullying at Work has directly applied the lessons of the #MeToo movement and the wealth of research into why traditional sexual harassment training doesn’t work to create a brand new kind of anti-harassment experience.

#MeToo launched a movement against sexual harassment through the simplest but bravest act of people sharing their stories. Women and men who had been targeted by predators, subjected to appalling behaviors and victimized by their harassers said no more, enough is enough. They gave abusers nowhere to hide, and employers no room to shield the perpetrators.

Free demo

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On-demand webinar – Bias in the Boardroom and Beyond

When making any decision, from deciding what to have for dinner to buying a house, many biases can come into play. The workplace is no different, with unconscious bias affecting decisions on a daily basis. For example, the intern may have a great idea that gets shut down because “she hasn’t even graduated yet”, while the almost-retired customer relations manager may raise an important concern that isn’t taken seriously because “he doesn’t understand the system”.

In this webinar, Karla Gahan and Dean Hughes explored the biases that play a role in the workplace and how the risk of those biases clouding judgment can be mitigated.

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Using Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Safely

Screens are so intrinsic to our working life that it’s easy to forget we’re using them; however, if they’re not set up correctly they can cause a whole host of musculoskeletal issues and other physical problems. With many businesses now having a substantial number of staff working remotely at home, and perhaps the frequency and length of using Display Screen Equipment (DSE) having increased due to new working practices, this raises potential issues of compliance with DSE regulations and an area of concern for employers.

Under the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, employers have a duty to protect employees from screen-related harm, and to train people to use screens safely. Beyond the legal obligation, it makes good business sense to ensure that employees have the essential business tools needed to do their jobs, and work productively – without damaging their health.

Poorly structured workstations and work environments can lead to back, neck and shoulder pain, as well as repetitive strain injuries that can affect the hands, wrists and arms. Too much screen time can also cause damage to eyes, cause fatigue, and reduce our ability to perform our jobs well.

The law applies to all colleagues that use DSE in their work, including home workers, in-house employees and ‘hot-deskers’ – who may not have a permanent desk, but still need to have a safe, sustainable work space.

Display screen assessments

If workers use screens every day, for an hour or more, employers must complete a DSE workstation assessment to evaluate their current workstation layout. The assessment should be conducted by a trained assessor and whilst DSE specifically refers to screens in its name, the assessment should evaluate an employee’s entire workstation. This includes things such as any peripherals (e.g. keyboard and mouse) and work furniture, such as desks and chairs—as well as the screens themselves. Not only that, it should also evaluate an employee’s general environment, including the lighting, temperature, humidity and noise levels in their workstation. All of these elements can impact how the equipment is used.

Fundamentally, the assessment aims to evaluate how DSE is used and identifies any possible risks in doing so—ultimately ensuring that employees have the equipment, facilities and guidance they need to work safely and effectively.

When should you do a DSE assessment?

A DSE assessment should be carried out every time a new workstation is set up, when a new employee starts work or when there is a significant change made to an employee’s workstation.

Where workers are working from home on a temporary basis, you could simply ask them to complete an assessment checklist on their own, however for longer-term or permanent home workers, the risks are greater and as such, you should ideally have someone conduct a full workstation assessment – either in person or remotely.

What measures can an employer take to reduce DSE health risks?

Taking breaks

Encourage employees to take breaks from using DSE. This might mean attending a meeting, preparing paperwork or delivering a presentation. The key thing is that colleagues perform a variety of work tasks and take breaks from using display screens.

Ergonomic workspaces

In many modern offices, employees share desks and work from a variety of spaces, such as their home, meeting rooms, canteens and cafes. While this variety can be refreshing for our colleagues, consideration must be given to the effects of working in non-traditional spaces.

How can employees work safely if they are crouching over their laptop on a crowded train? While not all situations can be improved, employees can install flexible workspace equipment so that desks and monitors can be easily adjusted to suit different people.

Encouraging employees to use external monitors and mice can help improve posture and reduce repetitive strain injuries (RSI).

Eye tests

You must provide eye tests if employees request them. While using screens doesn’t cause eye damage, it can very tiring on eyes, and can make people aware of eye conditions that they hadn’t noticed previously. If your employees need glasses just for DSE work, then you must provide them.

DSE Training

Employers must provide training on how to use DSE safely. This training should include:

  • Understanding the risks of incorrect DES usage
  • How to set up DSE equipment
  • Reducing glare and reflections
  • Risk assessments
  • Taking breaks
  • Reporting concerns

Display screen equipment eLearning from VinciWorks

Do you need to deliver DSE training to your colleagues? Our eLearning courses make training quick and easy to deliver in any location. Online DSE courses are affordable making it easy to refresh periodically – or to provide to new starters. Contact us to arrange a demo or get a quote.

Garden Centre Fined for Failing to Control Hazardous Substances

A garden centre was recently fined £100,000 by Colchester Borough Council for failing to adequately protect employees from hazardous substances.

The prosecution followed an incident in which an employee had trouble breathing after cleaning up a spill of gardening chemicals in April 2017. The worker complained about the issue to environmental health officers in September 2017.

During the hearing it was discovered that the company, Perrywood Garden Centre, did have a health and safety policy, but they had not implemented recommendations made by their own review of health and safety procedures. One recommendation was to review their control of hazardous substances and conduct COSHH assessments for the chemical products on sale.

The garden centre pleaded guilty to all charges and was ordered to pay £104,000 in fines, costs of £3700 and a £170 victim surcharge. In sentencing, magistrates took into consideration the firm’s turnover, lack of previous convictions and their efforts to make amends following their health and safety failure. Their fines were reduced by a third because the company readily accepted their guilt.

Alan Bourne, the garden centre’s MD, said: “We take the health and safety of our team and customers extremely seriously and have a number of policies and procedures in order to safeguard everyone at the garden centre. Unfortunately, an incident did occur in 2017 concerning a current member of staff. Since then we have put additional policies and training in place to ensure that an incident like this does not occur again.”

COSHH assessments

Control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH) requires an assessment of every workplace to ensure it is free of risks and that dangerous substances are properly stored and treated, and that employees understand the risks and how to minimise them.

A COSHH assessment typically involves:

  • Visual assessment. What potential is there for exposure to hazardous substances? This might include dust, vapours, fumes, gases or liquids. Some substances have workplace exposure limits (WELs), but some will not.
  • Task analysis. How does the work affect exposure to hazardous substances? Which substances are employees using regularly? How is the work controlled and made safe?
  • Information gathering. Collect data sheets and browse the Health and Safety Executive pages for your industry to learn more about specific risks.
  • Review past accidents. Check your accident book and speak to colleagues.

COSHH training from VinciWorks

Employers have a legal obligation to give employees training on hazards in the workplace, including hazardous substances and how to manage them safely. Our Hazardous Substances eLearning course makes it easy to deliver this essential training to all employees, including contractors and temporary workers.

Learning Management Systems – creating a culture of learning

Employees are now changing jobs more frequently than ever and are thirsty to gain new skills. Having a company culture of constant learning and personal development will not only benefit the employee, but also the company.

How do you create a learning culture?

Any cultural change in a company starts with the leadership. If it becomes clear to a team that their manager has taken on a commitment, the team will begin to realise this is now something important to their manager and, indeed, their company. The next step would be to start encouraging staff to do the same. Taking time out of their workday to learn something new, be it related to compliance or simply to learn a skill that will help them improve at work, will no longer feel like they are not working. Using an LMS to do that helps automate the process of learning, making it easier to assign and manage multi-user learning.

Managers should encourage staff to discuss anything they have learnt when staff are chatting by the water cooler and single out individuals for praise when it becomes clear they are using skills and knowledge they have learnt to carry out their work.

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