On July 23rd 2018 Brighton Magistrates Court heard how an employee of SolarUK Limited fell approximately four meters through a unprotected skylight, sustaining multiple long term injuries to his wrist; whilst carrying out insulation work in Ninfield. The court heard as he stood to move he stepped onto the unprotected rooflight. An investigation by the HSE found that, although the company were aware of the risks from fragile surfaces and unprotected edges, they failed to plan or properly supervise the work, failing to ensure that access to hazardous areas were prevented; thus showing that all the workers were at risk of falls throughout the job. 

 

SolarUK Limited, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of The Working at Height Regulations 2005 and were fined £40,000 and ordered to pay an additional £2,170 to cover costs and a victim surcharge. 

Creating work experience opportunities for students and school leavers is a beneficial situation for both your company and for the young person. 

 

For employers, work experience is about giving back to society and helping the future economy by doing your bit to help preparing young people for the world of work. Employers who offer work experience give young people the opportunity to work on the company premises for a few days, giving them insight to the reality of your industry. Many young people, once they have completed or while completing their GCSEs have an idea of what they want to do as a future career, but they have no real hands on experience in the workplace. 

When you recruit young staff, does your eye skim down the application or CV in the vain hope of spotting those essential skills you are looking for? Are your new young recruits equipped to fill your vacancies? Has the degree or the qualification that your candidate has done prepared them for your opportunities? If not, is there something you could do as an employer to get your staff all on the same page. 

Providing in house training and outside courses for new and existing employees, Yes, they have qualifications under their belt, but young people and graduates are far from being the finished article when they apply for your roles. And yes, your current employees have experience at that role, but they are eager to learn more; not just specifically about their role but their industry as a whole. 

You might think logically the new financial year should coincide with the calendar year; some countries it does, but in the UK, we scramble to get our affairs in order by April 5th and the new year starting on the 6th. To understand this, we need to look back a few years… 

In the UK, the new year used to start on March 25th, also known as ‘Lady Day ’, to mark the angel Gabriel’s announcement to the virgin Mary that she would become the mother to Jesus Christ. Lady Day was one of the four most important days in the religious calendar. 

The move forward to April 6th is a result in changes from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Until 1582, Europe has used the Julian calendar established by Julius Caesar. Under the Julian calendar, the year had 11 months of 30 to 31 days, with February being an exception of only have 28 (29 every leap year). This had worked well for centuries, however because it didn’t align with the solar calendar, over time problems developed. 

They are a co-founding member of the Safety Schemes in Procurement or better known as SSIP. 

Here at Auxil Limited we have just successfully renewed SMAS for another year, 

SMAS is a recognised SSIP Accreditation which helps us keep up to date with our policies and procedures. Without this accreditation we would not be able to, in good knowledge, give the pristine and established services we are proud to provide. 

All of the assessments are undertaken in-house which enable SMAS to offer a consistent standard across all assessments, the minimum standards SMAS assess against are set out in the SSIP Core Criteria. 

This month we are celebrating a very special milestone as we are turning 5 years old, and we wanted to mark this occasion with a blogpost dedicated to how we have grown from a small idea to the thriving local business we are today. 

 

The thing with starting your own business is that you literally don’t know what you don’t know. It’s easy to head off, all gung-ho, into the entrepreneurial world but sticking at it through good times and the tough times takes strength and determination about your business’s potential success. Its hours of hard work! 

From a one-man band to a team of dedicated consultants, Auxil Ltd has come leaps and bounds from where we began. But we couldn’t have got to where we are today without you, our customers. 

CHAS was created to achieve; simple Health & Safety contractor assessments, by standardising requirements, to allow companies to avoid undergoing Health & Safety assessments for every job. 

CHAS undergoes an annual audit to achieve and maintain the HSE’s SSIP Standard. 

 

The most basic CHAS Accreditation is completed with a main Health & Safety assessment, complete with four additional SELF-CERTIFIED question sets.Health & Safety – Assessment; The assessment is carried out by one of their qualified assessors, so you can be assured that any assessment is being carried out by an assessor with the appropriate knowledge base. 

Here are a few tips on how to refresh your business for 2019: 

In order to change the way you are running your business, you need to identify the problems within your current business plan. There are many practical ways in which businesses can impose a fresh, strategic perspective. For example, we could imagine how a set of specific economic, social, and business trends will affect your business, as well as ways to capture the opportunities which may arise in 2019, only after this analysis and discussion can we then settle into the more typical planning exercise of financial forecasting and identifying strategic initiatives. 

Even when your site is inactive, you still hold a duty of care, in order to keep the general public safe. 

This checklist will help you minimise any risks posed during the break by ensuring your site is as secure as possible, during your time away: 

You need to define your site boundaries, with the use of suitable fencing; this should reflect the nature of the site and the surrounding areas. Take a quick walk round your site to ensure that fencing is secure and undamaged. Children (and thieves) will often enter construction sites during quiet periods, and the best way to keep them safe from injury is to keep them out. 

SMAS is short for Safety Management Advisory Services. 

They are a Health & Safety assessment organisation that offers a nationally recognised Health & Safety accreditation used to demonstrate your business' Health and Safety standards. They are a co-founding member of the Safety Schemes in Procurement or better known as SSIP. 

 

All of the assessments are undertaken in-house which enable SMAS to offer a consistent standard across all assessments, the minimum standards SMAS assess against are set out in the SSIP Core Criteria..