New publications this month:

HSE (HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE)

Third Edition of the Approved List of Biological Agents

What has been updated?

The HSE has revised the Third Edition of the Approved List of Biological Agents.

Background

The Approved List of Biological Agents classifies biological agents hazardous to humans into hazard groups (HG)

Prevention of fire and explosion, and emergency response on offshore installations: Approved Code of Practice and guidance (Third edition)

What has been updated?

The HSE has released the Third Edition of the Approved Code of Practice and guidance in relation to Prevention of fire and explosion, and emergency response on offshore installations.

Background

This Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and associated guidance provides practical advice on how you can comply with the Offshore Installations (Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response) Regulations (PFEER) 1995 as amended in 2005 and 2015. It provides guidance to those who own, operate or work on offshore installations and looks at how to prevent fires and explosions as well as how to protect people should they occur.

Health care and first aid on offshore installations and pipeline works: Approved Code of Practice and guidance (Third edition)

What has been updated?

The HSE has released the Third Edition of the Approved Code of Practice and guidance in relation to Health care and first aid on offshore installations and pipeline works.

Background

The Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) covers the provision of adequate first aid and basic health care for all personnel, including visitors, who are injured or become ill while on offshore installations.

Offshore first-aid qualifications: A guide for training organisations approved under the Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (First-Aid) Regulations 1989

What has been updated?

This guidance has been revised to the Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (First-Aid) Regulations 1989. The change is that by 31 March 2018 there will be an expectation that all trainers and assessors will hold appropriate qualifications that demonstrate they are competent to train and/or assess offshore first aid qualifications.

Background

This guidance explains how to gain and maintain approval to run offshore first-aid (OFA) courses. It also provides an overview on the legal aspects of offshore first-aid provision for the purposes of the Offshore Installations and Pipeline Works (First-Aid) Regulations 1989.

Explosives Regulations 2014 (Amendment) Regulations 2016 – updated guidance

The Explosives Regulations 2014 (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (ERAR2016) came into force in Great Britain on 20 April 2016 and implement the recast of the civil use explosives directive. ERAR2016 amends and updates the requirements for making civil use explosives available on the EU market.

Torquay man put lives at risk through illegal gas work

Pub worker, Geoffrey Voss, illegally installed gas pipework and a gas boiler at a flat in Torquay despite him holding no competencies in gas work and despite him having never been registered with Gas Safe Register for any gas work.

The homeowner of the flat repeatedly asked Mr Voss for the commissioning documentation for the new gas boiler that he had installed. He never produced this.

Breach

Mr Voss breached Regulation 3(3) and 33(1)(c) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations.

Regulation 3(3) states that no employer shall allow any of his employees to carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or service pipework and no self-employed person shall carry out any such work, unless the employer or self-employed person, as the case may be, is a member of a class of persons approved for the time being by the Health and Safety Executive.

Regulation 33(1)(c) states that where a person installs a gas appliance he shall immediately thereafter test its connection to the installation pipework to verify that it is gastight and examine the appliance and the gas fittings and other works for the supply of gas and any flue or means of ventilation to be used in connection with the appliance for the purpose of ascertaining whether the appliance has been installed with due regard to any manufacturer’s instructions provided to accompany the appliance.

Penalty

My Voss was sentenced to 36 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 2 years and ordered to pay £757 in costs.

Man given six month custodial sentenced after worker is fatally crushed in a trench

Mr William Ryan Evans, a self-employed contractor, has been sentenced after an employee was killed when the trench he was working in collapsed on him.

William Ryan Evans was contracted to construct a drainage field comprising of infiltration pipes laid at the bottom of deep trenches.

Breach

Mr William Ryan Evans breached Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Section 2  covers the general duties of employers, placing general duties on employers  'so far as is reasonably practicable' to protect the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees.

Penalty

Mr William Ryan Evans was given a six month custodial sentence.

Company fined after worker falls five meters from flat roof

Warburton Signs Limited has been fined after a worker fell five metres from a flat roof.

Three fitters accessed a neighbouring flat roof to fit the sign when one worker fell from the roof. He sustained life threatening injuries, including a fractured skull, several broken ribs, a collapsed lung and chipped vertebra.

Warburton Signs Limited failed to put in place any measures to prevent a fall from height.

Breach

Warburton Signs Limited breached Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005

Penalty

Warburton Signs Limited was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1538.