Celebrating a triple contract award

We are celebrating a strong start to the season, with 3 new clients coming onboard.

The diversity of our offer enables us to provide training to Cowal Design based in Dunoon and Oban and on-going H&S consultancy services to MMG Contracts Scotland Ltd based in Clydebank. In addition, we are delighted to be delivering training and H&S support to the 20National Piping Centre in Glasgow.

The variety of our client base is testament to our flexibility of offer and acknowledgement that each business is unique and deserves a service that reflects that.

If you would like any further information on the services we offer please contact us at info@amalgamate-safety.com or on 0141 244 0181.

The Turnbull report and beyond

Over recent years the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has broadly welcomed new guidelines, which describe how risk management assessments must be included in the accounts of every company listed on the London Stock Exchange. However, at Amalgamate we are concerned that they do not place enough emphasis on occupational health and safety issues.

The guidelines contained in the ‘Turnbull report’ issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), spell out how to comply with the London Stock Exchange Combined Code. The code requires all listed companies to have appropriate controls in place to manage significant risks to their businesses, including those related to occupational 20health and safety.

It is easy to disregard the significance of managing health and safety effectively but considering the following questions may change that opinion:

Does senior management feel confident that it understands the business’ risk exposure & the nature of its risk-return relationships?
How comfortable is senior management with the risks being taken by the business?
Does senior management feel confident that it could defend its risk-return decisions after a safety incident or a disaster?
Where do the major health & safety risks arising from its business processes rank in relation to other business risks?
What would senior management hate to see reported in the media?
What safety incidents & near misses have already happened to the business or its competitors in recent years?

While we welcome the guidelines contained in the Combined Code and Turnbull report as an opportunity to give a higher profile to issues of risk assessment and corporate governance, we would have liked both to contain a more explicit statement on the importance of health and safety.

Site safety in procurement

Amalgamate continue to support businesses aiming to develop their health and safety management systems in order to gain Site Safety in Procurement (SSIP) accreditation.

By meeting the SSIP accreditation companies can focus on their offer with the confidence that they will meet the requirements of public sector tenders thus improving their chance of success.

If you would like further information on how we can support your business contact us by email: info@amalgamate-safety.com or tel: 0141 244 0181.

Winter Driving

If it’s beginning to look a lot like winter and you’re digging out your winter woolies, then it’s time to think about the risks associated with winter driving.

A clear, frosty and sunny morning may look glorious through the window but the low winter sun can be a hazard. The low angle of the sun can make visibility a real problem. It might sound rather obvious, but remember to keep both the inside and outside of the windscreen clean – it will really make a difference to your visibility when the sun shines. Also, slow down if the sun is in your eyes.

We all prepare to some extent for the cold weather, whether it’s a boiler service or changing the tyres on your car. Here are some other things to consider for winter driving:

Check that your lights are clean and the car battery is fully charged;
Check windows are clean, both on the inside and outside;
Make sure your brakes are working well and the tyre pressure is correct; and
Check that everything is topped-up – oil, anti-freeze and windscreen wash.

Our weather in the UK can be unpredictable so don’t get caught out. Why not keep some simple kit in your car during the winter months including a warm coat or blanket, a snow shovel, wellies, a hazard warning triangle (many cars have these included), a torch and a first aid kit. Simple but effective!

If you are travelling far, for an essential cause, use your common sense – have plenty of fuel, keep your mobile phone fully charged and let someone know where you are going and when you expect to arrive.

Driving in snow

It might be a good time to consider how experienced you are in terms of driving in snow. The general advice offered is to adapt your driving to the weather conditions. Slow down, remember your stopping distances, avoid harsh braking and acceleration.

Getting stuck in snow can be a real pain. Trying to power out is not the best option; instead try to rock your car back and forth gently using a high gear. If this doesn’t work you might need someone to give you a push or get that snow shovel out and start digging.

Rain

I’m sure we are all experienced at driving in the rain, but remember it requires twice the normal braking distance; be aware of your stopping distance.

Fog

There are clearly lots of factors that influence driving conditions but we’d also like to mention fog. Here are a few tips to consider:

Switch on your headlights/fog lights if visibility is reduced;
If you can see a car behind you, they can see you and your rear fog lights could be dazzling them. Switch them off when visibility improves;
Rear lights of the car in front of you can sometimes provide a false sense of security, be careful not to get too close; and
Fog can be patchy so be careful not to speed up as soon as visibility improves slightly, you could find yourself in thick fog again very quickly.

Safe Driving!

For more information/advice on driving safely visit https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-maintenance-safety-securityor the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents

For more information on our OH&S services, give us a call on +44 (0)141 288 0181 or email info@amalgamate-safety.com.

Safety notice – Management of the risks from legionella

Legionella safety – general approach

An effective approach to managing risks is set out in HSE’s Approved Code of Practice L8: Legionnaires’ disease: the control of legionella bacteria in water systems.

In July 2012, HSE issued a Health and Safety Notice in relation to legionella risks from cooling towers and evaporative condensers: “Management of the risks from legionella in cooling towers and evaporative condensers”. The advice in that notice is relevant to all water systems where legionella risks exist (i.e., where water is maintained between 20 and 45°C) and you should read that notice in addition to the information provided here.

Risk identification and control You must carry out a risk assessment. If the findings show that there is no real risk from legionella, then you do not need to do anything more. If the assessment shows there are risks relating to legionella, you need to:

Draw up and put in place a scheme of measures to prevent or control the risks of exposure to the bacteria;
The extent and complexity of your control scheme will be dictated by the level of risk;
Monitor any control measures and keep records of the results Review your assessment periodically to see whether circumstances that could alter the risk have changed;
Review your scheme of control if the level of risk has changed; and
Make sure that those people involved in the controlling the risks (including any contractors) are competent to do so and that their roles, responsibilities and reporting lines are clearly set down.

Unless you have sufficient knowledge and expertise within your company to carry out the legionella risk assessment, and to devise and implement an effective scheme of control and monitor its effectiveness, then you will need to engage specialist help.

For more information about the proper management of the risks from legionella please call us on +44 (0)141 244 0181 or email at info@amalgamate-safety.com

Summer Review

Welcome to our Summer Review, our newsletter is designed to keep you up-to-date with the Amalgamate team and our ambition to deliver effective Occupational Health and Safety solutions. It has been a busy few months since our last newsletter and we’ve had some great new clients coming on board.

Click here to read the full review.

Back to school at Govan High

In February we posted about our support of S5/6 pupils in Govan High School as part of the Brookfield Construction Independent Learning Programme.

On Friday 20th April, following a lot of hard work and effort, the students were given their opportunity to present their work in front of an audience at the Burrell Collection lecture theatre, Glasgow. They did a magnificent job!

The judging panel was made up of representatives from the University of Strathclyde, the Chartered Industry of Building, UCATT, Hoskins Architects and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

All of the school teams worked hard and presented well on the day.

Amalgamate would like to congratulate all the students who took part and in particular the winning team from Bellahouston Academy. We have certainly enjoyed being a part of this event and wish all of the students the very best for their future careers!

If you would like further information on our CDM services or our training offerings please contact us on email: info@amalgamate-safety.com or tel: 0141 244 0181