She Knows Health and Safety

Consultancy Services

Free Initial Consultation

At our first meeting we will look at your existing Health & Safety Policy, Risk Assessments, Management Systems, Method Statements and staff safety training. This will allow us to indentify any areas that may require attention. We can then advise you on how to remedy any gaps in your safety compliance and advise on a variety of options for you to consider. Whether this is for you want to train your own staff to manage safety or you would like SHE Knows to undertake the task by assisting you on an annual basis.

Policy writing

Health and Safety Policies

If you employ more than 5 people you are legally required to have a written Health and Safety Policy. The Policy should be communicated to your staff and regularly reviewed and revised.

SHE Knows can audit your systems and tailor a Safety Policy for your company, ensuring what you do to achieve compliance is documented, with any necessary safety targets listed within the policy and making it a true reflection of your company.

Risk Assessments

As an employer you are required to assess the risks to your employees and any other persons who could be affected by your activities such as visitors and contractors. These should be documented and reflect your H&S policy intentions.

An example of risk assessments you may have to consider for your business are:

1. Display Screen Equipment (DSE)
2. Fire Risk Assessment
3. Lone Working and Security
4. Driving at work
5. Working at height or in a position where you could fall
6. Stress
7. Use of work equipment, tools and machinery
8. Use of chemicals and cleaning products (COSHH)
9. Safe Access and Egress/parking

Staff should then be trained to enable them to understand the risks and control measures that have been identified from your risk assessments.

SHE Knows can assist you undertake this assessments and train a member of your staff to review them annually to ensure you maintain your safety compliance.

Safe Systems of Work

Once you have your risk assessments documented, SHE Knows can assist you with reviewing your safe systems of work to ensure they reflect your working practices. There is no point saying you do something if your staff don’t do it!

Stress

The overall objective of stress management is to raise awareness of the affects of work related stress and how to deal with it, without escalating a situation. We focus on communication skills as well as understanding of how to deal with a variety of situations.

CDM Consultancy (Construction, Design and Management Regulations)

CDM regulations require construction projects over 500 person workdays to be notified to the HSE. Management systems for the project need to be in place and evidenced as does the control of contractors, the creation of a construction phase plan and health and safety file.

Whether you need a safety advisor to manage your CDM duties, deal with the Designers, Clients and Sub-Contractors or need one on a CDM site to liaise with the Principal Contractor and protect your interests. Please call to discuss your options

Drug testing

This could be as part of the medical service on site or for us to a call in and undertake pre-employment screening. Random testing to demonstrate due diligence may be another option. We also possess experience in taking urine samples and conducting tests for both hard and soft drugs as well as alcohol screening.

Working time, shift patterns and fatigue

Research has shown that periods of recovery from shift work vary from industry to industry and the length of shift worked. E.g. three to four days of recovery are needed after working 12 hours per day for 12 consecutive days. However, a longer period of recovery is needed for workers on an oil rig.

SHE knows can assess your shift patterns, accident rates and consider your behaviour/risk ethos as well as the fatigue/risk indications to enable you to protect your workforce and manage your staffing budgets effectively.

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) Assessments and the Machinery Directive

This is the third amendment to the Machinery Directive, the significant changes that may affect your business are:

1. The need to re-assess any changes made to your machinery since installation or to look at partly-completed machinery, fixings for fixed guards, to ensure they have a conformity assessment.
2. To ensure that your machinery has the relevant tests and certificates that fall under/comply the measures of 'market surveillance' (i.e. enforcement) and certification;
3. Manufacturers that currently have EC type-examination certificates issued under the current Directive need to be aware that the certificates will not be valid after 29 December 2009. This means manufacturers should be contacting clients regarding machines purchased and advising on any additional works needed.

SHE Knows can assist you with your compliance, our engineers can call around to assess your machinery and offer engineering solutions needed as a result of any risk assessments undertaken.

Lifting Operations

SHE Knows can offer assistance with a crane contract lift. If you are hiring a crane to site and taking responsibility for the lift plan, we can act as your Appointed Person. This involves, planning the lift, documenting the plan - including risk assessments, method statements, & recommended briefings to those involved with the lift.

We can also deliver training on slinging and banks-man duties.

Mobile classroom/emergency facility

We can park our learning suite on any construction site, fairground or sports competition grounds and provide for both long or short term medical coverage for the site in question. This can include emergency rescue from hazardous areas (confined spaces) to life saving first aid in the event of a sports injury (e.g. horse riding accident). Our emergency staff are all industry experienced, fully trained and paid. We do not use volunteers.

Working above water - safety boat on call

McLachlan 18ft, ex RNLI in-shore rescue craft, and a hovercraft are now being utilised in the commercial safety arena. It has a fully enclosed area and 2 pilot seats, occupants are guaranteed to keep dry whilst they work. More information

Radiography and barrier auditing

During shut down, when sites have the radiographers taking films of the welds, we can provide the safety service to make sure none of your staff or contractors are put at risk by inadequate barriers or the failure to follow a robust permit system.

SHE Knows can also advise on radiation exposure levels and safe use of monitoring equipment, e.g. x-ray equipments/guns used in the scrap industry.

Portable Applaince Testing (PAT)

PAT is done in order to ascertain that the electrical equipment used by yourself and customers is safe for use. It also enables the tester to determine whether the items require maintenance. By documenting these tests, you are able to provide proof that all reasonable steps and due diligence are exercised to avoid unsafe practices.

The equipment SHE Knows uses is computerised, and stores all the electrical and visual test data, which is downloaded onto a spreadsheet. It is a legal requiremet that the following electrical equipment - fixed, portable and transportable equipment are all tested (anything with a plug).

The PAT entails a visual check of leads, sheaths, opening the plug and checking connections of wires and correct fuses/plugs to ensure compliance of British Standards etc. This precedes the electrical testing of appliance, which encompasses:-

• Earth continuity
• Insulation resistance
• Dielectric strength test
• Load test
• Operational test
• Earth leakage current measurement

SHE Knows believes in achieving reasonably practicable solutions for your business. If you have the time, we can reduce the cost of your PAT.

SHE Knows, can train your staff in the visual inspection of the equipment which will dramatically reduce the amount of time a technician, would need to spend per item. This reduces the "per item" cost substantially. This would also be a skill which your business could utilise year on year, reducing the PAT cost annually.

Environmental

Whether it’s an environmental management system you require setting up or an audit of your current systems, SHE Knows can assist with your responsibilities under the Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991 for managing your waste production.

Asbestos

If you own, occupy or have management responsibilities for a premises then you have either:

• A duty to manage possible asbestos containing materials
• A duty to comply with the person who holds this duty.

SHE Knows can deliver Asbestos Awareness training sessions or survey your premises on initial occupancy or before alterations are due to be made. This enables/permits/allows you and your staff to comply with the above duties.

Surveyors are;

• Trained to the P402 qualification, accredited by the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS)
• Equipped with full risk control equipment; should asbestos be found that is creating an immediate danger to health.
• Licensed to carry asbestos waste.
• Fully insured.
• Not linked to any asbestos removal company, so will offer impartial advice and recommendation.
• Experienced in third party supervision of asbestos removal, to ensure the client’s duty of care is upheld and business risk is reduced.
• Experienced in the formulation of a clients asbestos management plan.
• Laboratory services are UKAS accredited.

Asbestos Surveys

To assist minimising business disturbance/interference, surveys can be done out of hours. Because we operate a variety of health and safety services, dealing with your asbestos survey can be done discretely and without fuss. There are 2 types of asbestos survey; surveyors will advise you on the type of survey you require:

• Type 2, now referred to as a sampling survey = Samples are taken and analysed at the laboratory.  The identified asbestos is risk assessed by the surveyor in order to assist the duty-holder fulfil his obligations.  Areas that are inaccessible to the surveyor will be presumed to have asbestos containing materials inside.
• Type 3, now referred to as pre-demolition / major refurbishment survey = A destructive survey where samples are taken from every material that could possibly contain asbestos, e.g. pipes, inside voids.  These surveys usually precede scheduled works such as demolition or major refurbishment.