Safety Smart Monthly Update July 2022

If you missed out on our last newsletter – never fear! we’ve pulled together all the information in this blog post and there’s plenty to catch up on!

TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE 

Suicide doesn’t always look suicidal 

125 people die by suicide every week.

It can be hard – sometimes impossible – to notice that somebody is having suicidal thoughts.

Anybody can feel suicidal. But we can all help save a life.

By starting a conversation, we can all help stop suicide. By removing the stigma that surrounds suicide, we can make it an everyday conversation. Together we can make it easier for everyone to talk about how they’re feeling. Openly. Without judgement. Without shame. So that no one has to struggle on their own.

By starting a conversation, we can all help stop suicide. By removing the stigma that surrounds suicide, we can make it an everyday conversation. Together we can make it easier for everyone to talk about how they’re feeling. Openly. Without judgement. Without shame. So that no one has to struggle on their own.

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10 Health and Safety Policy Mistakes To Avoid 

Scott Crichton CMIOSH, principal health and safety consultant at WorkNest, identifies common health and safety policy mistakes – and how to get it right next time.

A well-considered health and safety policy is the starting point of any effective safety and health management system. Unfortunately, in our experience, these essential documents often miss the mark. They may be too long (or not long enough), missing important information, compiled incorrectly, or too generic to have any practical value. In some cases, they’re simply created as a box-ticking exercise and left to sit on a shelf.

Here are 10 areas where health and safety policies commonly fall short, and what you can do to address them.
 

Read More Here

Sun Safety -Outdoor workers ar risk of the invisible killer 

As occupational skin cancer cases increase, safety experts warn employers of the risks of UV radiation, as two out of three workers are unaware they are at risk of skin cancer, resulting in many not applying protection whilst working outdoors.

Whilst exposure to UV radiation from the sun can happen all year round, the arrival of summer is a timely reminder of the serious risks to outdoor workers’ health

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SMART LISTEN 

The Interesting Health and Safety Podcast

A lot of people see health and safety as a really boring subject. Too much red tape, and too many systems and procedures. A lot of things getting stopped by the safety police but host Colin Nottage brings a different take in this interesting and challenging listen.

Listen Here 

CASE STUDIES

Management mistakes led to life-changing injuries 

A seafood processing company has been fined after a worker died following injuries sustained when she was run over by a forklift. Karen Allen, an employee of QA Fish Ltd, suffered significant leg injuries as a pedestrian, following a vehicular collision in Scalloway, Shetland on 31 January 2018, Lerwick Sheriff Court was told.
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Competent advice could have avoided wall collapse amputation

Advice from a competent person would probably have stopped a wall collapsing onto an eight-year-old child, which led to her having her big toe amputated, said the inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) who investigated the case.
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Press Fatality – inadequate planning led to engineers death

The death of an engineer who was fatally crushed when a 20-tonne piston fell on him would not have happened had an adequate risk assessment been carried out beforehand, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector who investigated the case has told IOSH magazine.Read More