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. 

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. 

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.. 

 

A construction contractor has been fined £566,670 after a tipper truck driven by one of its employees struck overhead power lines. The vehicle sustained minor damage and the driver was unhurt. 

 

The driver was employed by Mick George, a company that supplies earth moving, demolition, skip hire and waste management services to the construction industry.  

 

On 9 March 2016 he was emptying a load of soil from the tipper at a construction site in Northampton.  

 

He drove forward with the dump bed still raised and touched – or almost touched – the 33kV overhead power lines.