The 7 strong team want to raise £700 for the When you wish upon a Star charity, whose aim is to make magical memories for very brave and courageous children, suffering from life threatening illnesses and their families.

Included in the team will be Shieldyourself’s Managing Director Mark Flanagan, who will be running and walking the race as their Compliance Centre character, Square Ed.

Mark said: “As our chosen Charity, we aim to support the When you wish upon a Star charity and raise as much money as we can, for the really valuable work that they do. This year, we have been able to enter a team of 7 staff, which is fantastic and we have nearly hit our donation target which makes it all worthwhile”.

The BUPA 10k Manchester run is one of the nation’s favourite running charity event with up to 40,000 runners on the streets of Manchester each year. The event will be shown live on the BBC.

Mark added “Our core values at Shieldyourself include teamwork and fun. We have enjoyed training for the event as a team and as I will be running or should I say walking the course, as Square Ed our Compliance Centre character, so if you see a 7 foot tall green robot, it will be me”.

To sponsor Team Shieldyourself, please visit www.justgiving.com/shieldyourself

Risk assessments are a really important part of any businesses’ safety policies and are a legal requirement for businesses operating within the UK.

A risk assessment identifies the risks associated with your business and the control measures required to reduce these risks to an acceptable level. Businesses of all sizes need to carry out health and safety risk assessments to ensure that they are doing everything they can reduce risks to an acceptable level. Businesses that employ more than 5 people are legally required to record this assessment.

Most businesses are aware of what they need to do and document the results accordingly, some businesses aren’t always 100% certain as to what they need to do and how to go about it. So whose best to carry the risk assessment out, from a time, money or legal perspective.

The risk assessment should follow the following 5 steps;
1.Identify any problems that may have the potential to cause harm, such as slippy floors, faulty or loose wires etc.
2.Ascertain whether any employees or person on the premises might be at risk from the potential risk identified in Step 1.
3.Access the degree of danger involved and how likely (and severe) any accidents might be.
4.Identify and assess whether there are already any existing controls in place relating to the potential risk.
5.Record the results of steps 1 -4 within a document or form.

Completing a risk assessment correctly needs time and focus, using an experienced consultant can have significant benefits; not least the fact that if you get it wrong, you may face serious consequences both legally and in terms of the health and safety of your employees, visitors and customers. Working with a highly reputable company like Shieldyourself and our team of experienced Environmental Health Practitioners, you will be supported and guided through the whole process; we will meet with you and visit your premises to ascertain the background to the assessment itself, before undertaking a full risk assessment for your business, upon your behalf.

Sales of norovirus-free oysters from a particular Shellfish Company have grown by a whopping 100%, since a Food Standards Agency study published in November 2011 revealed that three-quarters of all UK oysters carried the virus.

The study discovered that 76% of 8,000 oysters tested, from 39 harvesting areas in the UK had traces of the infectious norovirus, otherwise known as the winter vomiting bug. Currently up to 1 million people in the UK catch norovirus every year.

So if you or your clients enjoy eating raw oysters and you want to continue to offer them on your menu, then there are options available, but at a premium of roughly 60% vs. standard oysters.

Norovirus outbreaks tend to peak about this time of year and there have been several recent cases of the virus within Hospitals and Hotels. There was also a highly publicised severe outbreak of food poisoning in Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in 2009.

To ensure compliance with food legislation, avoid interventions and food poisoning allegations, it is vital that there is an efficient Food Safety Management System in place, including your own tailored Food Safety Diary which outlines all your checks, controls and working practices.

Providing suitable accredited Food Safety training to managers and staff to ensure they operate good standards of food hygiene and personal hygiene whilst at work is also a key part, either by eLearning or workshop based training courses.

For more information, then please call a member of the team to discuss your needs and identify potential solutions for your business.

In simple terms; it enables you as a business to know where you are, in relation to safety compliance for your business, versus where you need and want to be.

The general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organisation, system, process, enterprise, project or product. Health and safety and food safety audits are undertaken to identify any areas of non-compliance with current legislation and company policy, what action or actions are required and a justification why.

Food safety legislation requires food businesses to ensure that food prepared for consumption is safe to eat. It is also a legal requirement that all employers provide safe and healthy working conditions for their employees. A positioning audit will establish the level of compliance within your organisation and includes a review of the effectiveness of the current systems in place such as your Food Safety Management System, Health and Safety Management System, risk assessments, training and other procedures. It is also extremely useful when looking to establish training needs of management and staff, to ensure that employees observe health and safety and food safety practices within the workplace, at consistent levels across your business. It is also an effective way of monitoring the safety performance of the business as a whole and getting a real feel for what’s truly happening within the workplace, across multiple locations.

A positioning audit should be easy to understand, jargon free and written in plain English. It should be carried out by an experienced and qualified environmental health professional, who can truly evaluate the safety standards and procedures for your business, including your existing Health and Safety policy and your Food Safety Management System.

The audit should be scored and graded vs. the predetermined criteria as agreed before delivery of the Audit itself. Each non-conformance will receive a score, a further deduction will be applied if the non-conformance is likely to result in formal action by an enforcement body and a higher level deduction will be applied if the non-conformance is likely to result in imminent danger or potential prosecution.

Shieldyourself operate a Red, Amber, Green coding for audit action points. The audit report should include an executive summary of the general safety status of your business, detailing the nature of any deficiencies and what is needed to rectify the situation. If using a compliance solution, such as the Audit App within the Compliance Centre, your audit can be uploaded for review remotely with specific action points being delegated to relevant colleagues within your business.

Moving forward, audit action points can be reviewed and monitored, to ensure that they are being carried out correctly; you can even reinstate closed actions which haven’t been completed to your satisfaction. Having a robust Health and Safety Management System and a Food Safety Management System in place ensures that all your safety compliance needs are managed, ensuring the correct policies, procedures and systems are in place across your business, improving operational performance and saving time and money.

Did you know that using the Shieldyourself Compliance Centre will help your business demonstrate to insurers and enforcement officers that accidents are being not only recorded, but thoroughly investigated too?  The Helpline App allows managers to log cases and attach photos, statements and update cases in real time and show which are closed and any that are ongoing.  The Helpline App is managed by the Shieldyourself Compliance team who are always on stand-by 24/7 with advice and information to help your managers undertake accident investigations.

For further information on the changes to RIDDOR reporting, you can download a guidance document from the HSE website.  For information on the Compliance Centre and Helpline App, contact a member of the team at Shieldyourself.

The current asbestos regulations are set to change in April 2012 subject to parliamentary approval.  Recently it was highlighted that the previous Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 had not fully implemented the European Directive.  The EC have given the UK Government two months to bring the legislation into line.  The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have accepted this opinion and propose the following changes.

1. Article 4 relates to notification – there will be a new notification system relating to three new categories (Licenced and notifiable; non-licensed and notifiable; and non-licensed and non-notifiable)
2. Article 15 relates to medical surveillance
3. Article 16 relates to exposure records

The main change is that employers carrying out some types of non-licensed work will now be required to notify the enforcing authority of that work, ensure workers have medical examinations at least once every 3 years and keep a record of the work done by each worker.  Another change to be considered is that there will be a three year transition period to April 2015, before the new requirement for workers carrying out some types of non-licensed work to have a medical examination comes into force.

The need to undertake a risk assessment will remain unchanged from the previous Regulations, as will the necessity to implement the identified control measures and train employees.  The work for which a licence is required and the requirements relating to licensed workers will also remain the same.

The proposed changes will not be in the form of an amendment but as a completely new set of Regulations entitled the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.  The HSE are planning to produce a series of guidance documents to accompany the new Regs.

Schmallenberg virus was first detected last summer in the German town after which it was named. It is thought that the virus has been brought to the UK via midges from affected areas in Europe. The virus, which affects sheep, cows and goats can cause reduced milk yield and diarrhoea in adult animals and still birth or birth defects in the young of affected animals. The virus has been present in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands since last summer but only became evident in the UK, in January this year.

As a new virus, there are still many unknowns. However, the Health Protection Agency (HPA), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have  this week sought
to reassure the public that there is no evidence that Schmallenberg  Virus causes illness in humans. Although human infection cannot yet be excluded, recent risk assessments conducted by the ECDC have concluded that despite some uncertainties, the risk to human health from this virus is likely to be very low.

In all cases, food should be handled, prepared and cooked using good hygiene practices to reduce the risk of illness from harmful microorganisms. Businesses should ensure that their Food Safety Management Systems are relevant, effective and fully implemented in order to ensure that the food they sell is safe.

If you are concerned that your Food Safety Management System (FSMS) is lacking and you would like help to develop or implement your system give the team at Shieldyourself a call and see how we can help.

The conference theme is ‘Health and safety: Changing perceptions’ and the agenda will focus on providing takeaway solutions to health and safety challenges, learning from real experiences, and maintaining core skills in both health and safety.

Mark Flanagan, Shieldyourself’s Managing Director said “We are thrilled to be exhibiting at the IOSH Conference.  The theme really does fit what we always try to achieve for our clients; providing a range of world class compliance management solutions which make businesses more efficient, whilst saving costs and dramatically improving compliance levels across multiple location.  Plus we always try to make health and safety fun”.

At Shieldyourself’s stand B17, they will be showcasing their range of solutions
including their unique online system, the Compliance Centre; accessible via any
web enabled device, tailored to meet the specific health and safety compliance
needs of multiple location businesses, via a range of Apps.

Shieldyourself will be launching their new Helpline App; designed to provide professional support and advice in response to an accident, incident, food poisoning or foreign body allegation or a regulatory visit. Users have instant access to a range of forms, information, expert personal advice and guidance, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Helpline App ensures that there are no delays in reporting a case, as each case can be logged and uploaded via the web enabled platform, ensuring that cases can be managed and reviewed at any time, on demand. Supporting information such as RIDDOR notification forms, witness statements, photographs etc. can all be uploaded, ensuring that a comprehensive case file is available, instantly.

Visitors will also be able to meet and discuss compliance management solutions including Shieldyourself’s range of Compliance Diaries; unique, pre-printed diaries which list all compliance checks, changes in legislation, company policies and procedures for businesses throughout the UK.

Mark added “We have so much to show visitors to the Conference; we have just produced our 8,000th printed Compliance Diary, which just shows our much our clients like them, but also the tangible difference they make, to their business. We will have examples on our Stand so that visitors can see for themselves the benefits that a Compliance Diary can deliver”.

Shieldyourself offer a comprehensive range of both health and safety training and eLearning courses, as they are a registered CIEH training centre and an approved distributor of CIEH eLearning courses.

This case demonstrates the level of seriousness with which the court views health and safety offences and highlights the importance of a health and safety culture which starts at head office. Health and safety is not just the responsibility of the person unlucky enough to have been made health and safety rep, it is the responsibility of everyone within an organisation, starting at the top and working its way down. We understand how difficult this can be in a multisite business where the managing director has many things to keep track of, that’s why we developed our Compliance Centre. Within our Compliance Centre, businesses can manage all their compliance needs centrally. By utilising a variety of Apps, businesses can receive automated alerts and notifications, when things need to be done, access compliance forms, policies and audits. Our Apps also allow businesses to set and prioritise tasks, flag certificate renewal dates and training needs, across multiple locations.

Risk assessments are an essential element of health and safety and when completed correctly act to protect employees from risks to their health and safety and employers from hefty fines and even prison sentences. There are many myths about health and safety which have resulted in a misunderstanding of what is required by law. At Shieldyourself we work with clients to develop risk assessments which are specific to their business, we also run training courses which provide employers with the skills to write and tailor risk assessments to suit their needs.

So if reading this makes you realise that health and safety within your organisation falls well below what is expected and you are not sure what is required of you or how you will achieve it, give the team at Shieldyourself a call and see how we can help!

At present, there are no specific legal requirements  on employers in relation to lone working, but if you do employ people there is a duty to maintain safe working arrangements for them under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.   The Health and Safety Executive have estimated taht it can cost £20,000 just to investigate a serious workplace incident which puts greater pressure on organisations to ensure their health and safety arrangements are robust.

The HSE defines a ‘lone worker’ as someone who works by themselves without close or direct supervision.  This includes people working away from the office base, employees travelling between sites or locations and those who work outside traditional office hours.

It has been determined that ‘lone workers’ could fit into three main categories

• Public facing lone workers - these are people who may be required to meet clients or members of the public
• Mobile lone workers – those who are not based in one location e.g. regional manager
• On site lone workers – these are people who have limited contact with others e.g. a maintenance man or a back office receptionist

Legally employers are obliged to undertake the following activities: -

• Assess the foreseeable risks to the health and safety of employees
• Identify and implement appropriate risk control measures to ensure safety so far as is reasonably practicable
• Provide information to employees on risks and control procedures that affect their personal safety
• Involve employees in the process
• Provide protective and preventative measures to reduce the risks
• Ensure training for all employees
• Provide a safe system of work including procedures for what should be done if an incident arises

Don’t feel all of the onus is on the employer though.  The employee has obligations as well.  If you provide training an employee is obliged to attend and adhere to what they learned, they must read your policies and procedures, advise you if the measures in place are impractical, report all accidents and near misses and inform their line manager of risks that could compromise safety.

If you employ ‘lone workers’ you may find the services offered by Shieldyourself beneficial.  These include undertaking a risk assessment for your business or writing you a policy to deal with these matters.  After all its far better to be safe than sorry