Phoenix Health and Safety Blog

Risk assessments are a hugely important part of firms’ safety policies. Indeed, it is a legal requirement for all organisations with five or more members of staff to conduct documented assessments of this kind that take into account all the relevant hazards.If your company needs to undertake such endeavours, you might be feeling a little nervous. After all, the process of completing assessments like this is highly specific and if you get in wrong, you may face serious consequences, both legally and in terms of the suffering of your workers.So, instead of going it alone and running the risk of making errors, you can instead come to the experts here at Phoenix Health & Safety. We are specialists when it comes to workplace risk assessment and there is nothing our team does not know about such matters.If you do opt to utilise our knowledge and skills, you have a choice concerning the nature of the assistance you receive. One option is to simply let us carry out the assessment for you. This frees you of the task and allows you to get on with your other important duties.Alternatively, if you wish to be more involved in the process, you can enlist our help to support you through the process by providing the appropriate forms and training members of staff who will carry out the assessments. This can be seen as a more long-term approach as it may leave you feeling confident enough to tackle the challenge yourself in future. Whatever kind of health and safety advice you are after, we may well be the perfect firm to head to.

When the term ‘manual handling’ is mentioned, most people automatically think of workers in warehouses methodically bending and extending themselves to avoid any injury to their backs. However, it is worth remembering that effective lifting and handling is not just an issue for people who work in warehouses. Indeed, employees in practically all workplaces, whether they be offices, building sites, schools or shops will need to move and handle items at some stage of their working day.

Injuries

Certainly, manual handling training is just as important to the safety of those who only occasionally move and handle items as it is to those who perform such tasks on a more frequent basis. In fact, back injuries are incredibly common amongst workers who do not routinely lift heavy weights or perform hard physical work as their muscles have not been strengthened by regular work.

Assessment

Handling tasks such as heavy lifting, pushing and pulling need to be included in routine health and safety risk assessments within all workplaces. Indeed, doing do so will ensure that secretaries, retail assistants, builders, school teachers and any other workers who need to can move and handle items in ways that will present minimal risk to their physical well-being. To learn more about the potential risks associated with occupational moving and handling, and to find out how relevant training can benefit employees who have to address such issues in their day to day work, explore our pages further.

Business organisations of all kinds need to carry out health and safety risk assessments so that they can be sure they are doing all they can to keep on top of any potential safety concerns. However, while most businesses will be all too aware that they need to conduct workplace risk assessments and document the results, some smaller or fledgling companies may not be certain of how to go about it. One option available to a company is to carry out their own workplace risk assessment. This typically involves following five separate steps:• Step one involves identifying any problems that may have the potential to cause harm. Common examples may include faulty electrical equipment, slippery floors, etc.• In step two, it needs to be ascertained whether any person on the premises might be at risk from the potential risk identified in step one. • Step three assesses the degree of danger involved and how likely (and severe) any accidents might be.• Step four involves identifying and assessing whether there are already any existing controls in place relating to the potential risk. • Finally, step five requires all the results of steps 1 -4 to be recorded on a suitable form.The other option available, and one that can be particularly beneficial to smaller or fledgling companies, is to utilise the services of our expert health and safety consultants here at Phoenix Health and Safety.

Call us now to find out more.

Offices are Not Risk Free Workplaces

It is a common misconception that most occupational accidents happen in workplaces where employees carry out their tasks at height or use industrial machinery, hazardous chemicals etc. In fact, most people who work in ‘everyday’ workplaces such as offices really do believe that serious accidents are strictly limited to industries such as construction as manufacturing.

However, this is not accurate. Although they may not be as overtly hazardous as some other environments, offices are far from risk-free. Indeed, there are risks and dangers inherent in any workplace, so assuming you and your staff will never be at risk because you sit behind desks all day long really is akin to burying your head in the sand.

To this end, you really do need to take health and safety risk assessments far more seriously. These are a legal obligation for a reason, and not implementing them properly can lead to your staff members having to face risk levels that are simply unacceptable.

We here at Phoenix Health and Safety can help by providing your company with all the necessary assessments, inspections and health and safety training that it may need. Our experienced and skilful operatives will ensure all areas of your premises are up to speed regarding safety and therefore provide you and your employees with a peace of mind that comes from facts rather than ignorance.

Our services really can help to drastically improve your employee health and safety. Explore our pages further to find out more.

If you run a business with five or more members of staff, regular risk assessments are essential. But, it isn’t just a legal requirement – understanding the risks involved is vital if you want to run a safe and productive workplace, and putting measures in place to prevent such risks is a key component of business management. Staying on top of any potential risks is vital in any kind of workplace, because it isn’t just in hazardous environments that accidents can occur. A regular office can be fraught with hazards if you aren’t careful, and that’s why regular assessments are so essential. They’re used to identify and evaluate any hazards before putting controls in place to reduce them, and they’ll also assess current measures to see if anything can be improved. These assessments are of course vital for the protection of employees but they’re just as important to remember should your business play host to visitors, contractors or members of the public, especially if they’re vulnerable. If regular assessments weren’t carried out or if you didn’t put the necessary measures in place you’d not only be breaking the law but could also be putting people’s health at risk, so it’s vital that you follow the necessary regulations.But, it isn’t always as easy as that, and you could well need to enlist the services of risk assessment consultants to help. That’s where we come in. We understand the importance of these assessments and can help in a number of different ways, whether you want us to undertake the assessment for you or want to invest in the training of personnel, so never underestimate the importance of health and safety risk assessments and you can be sure that everything is under control.

Do you need risk assessment training? If you work for a company or own a company that needs to have risk assessments, why not do them from within your company? If your company has five or more members of staff, by law you are required to carry out risk assessments of all significant hazards. Once you have the required training, which can be in house training, you can carry out these assessments yourself. We offer two different options for companies who need training in health and safety risk assessments or want the assessments done. For the first option, we will carry out your risk assessments for you. This is a good option for companies who don’t have a lot of staff with extra time to do things like assessments. The other option is to have us help you through the process of the assessment. We will provide you with the necessary forms, and we can also train your staff to be able to conduct the risk assessments themselves in the future. In training and our assessments, we follow the 5 step approach laid out by the Health and Safety Executive guidance. This includes identifying hazards, identifying people at risk of hazards, evaluating the risk, recording the findings, and reviewing the risk assessment regularly. For more information about how Phoenix Health and Safety can help your work place with risk assessments, get in touch today via our handy online contact form, or give us a ring to speak to a member of staff: 0845 500 8811.

Fire risk assessments are important because there are many different ways that a fire can start. Whether your company’s properties consist of older buildings or new ones, there can often be many dangers and fire hazards that can go undetected if regular risk assessments are not undertaken. Faulty, damaged, or out of date electrical wires are one of the main causes of fires starting. This can often happen without anyone even realizing there is a problem. This is just one of the many reasons fires can start in the workplace. If you are in charge of health and safety and risk assessment at your company, it’s important that you ensure all laws and guidelines are abided by. This will include ensuring that all staff receive the necessary health and safety training required by law. But it may also require that you get fire safety risk assessment training. Besides the obvious risk to your employees’ health and safety, if you do not undergo the required assessments and checks, you may also face an unlimited company fine, individual fine, personal prosecution, imprisonment, director disqualifications and publicity of persecutions. Simply put, not followed the regulations is simply not worth it. Here at Phoenix Health and Safety you can get all the health and safety and fire risk assessment courses you need, whether you intend to carry out assessments yourself or you simply want some training to better promote health and safety in your workplace. For more information about our training courses, or about how we can do assessments for you, get in touch today.

When you’re setting up on your own, it can seem as though your to-do list is nearly endless. Many small business owners report that they don’t even understand how they survived in the first few years of going into business when they had no choice but to be their own secretary, their own accountant, and even make the coffee! Of course, although delegating is the only way to stay on top, becoming an employer only adds to the paperwork pile; suddenly you’re dealing with recruitment, training, payroll, human resources and the dreaded health and safety. With common sense a thing of the past and compensation culture on the risk, it can be hard for even the best bosses to protect themselves against litigation! Even if you trust your workforce, it’s important to stay safe in the workplace, which is where professional, affordable risk assessments are essential to the wellbeing of your business.

Save money and paperwork by using a consultancy service as and when you need help with any aspect of health and safety procedures, legislation or training. We offer all the latest courses for all staff members, delivered in a variety of settings and styles. Come to us for COSHH risk assessment training for your health and safety rep in the office, and send the fire marshall along while you’re at it for fire risk assessment training as recommended by fire safety experts. Money is of course no object when it comes to staff safety, but nonetheless you won’t beat our prices!

With the emphasis of health and safety present in all areas of work every hazard must be identified and procedures taken to reduce risk. Risk assessments are subject to the nature of the business and there are many different types available. There are numerous legal obligations a business needs to meet and simply ensuring you have a fully completed risk assessment is a step towards fulfilling the requirements that are placed on your company. We offer different risk assessments for all aspects of health and safety. Our display screen equipment risk assessments are designed for office and corporate businesses where there are usually high numbers of display screen equipment users. Work place risk assessment is not solely concerned with office based premises, however, and can be undertaken in all manner of work environments. For companies that rely on or use manual labour our manual handling risk assessments may be a necessity. Many jobs and industries also work with hazardous substances which need a specific risk assessment. Aside from the more obvious chemicals, fumes and dust, even handling plants, flowers or vegetables can be considered a health risk which may benefit from our Control of Substances Hazardous to Health