Health and safety

Health and Safety needs to be the first thing to consider when doing alterations to your home. Whether Health and Safety is in place for yourself or that of others, it is in place to ensure risk of accidents is reduced. You don’t want to be one of the 200 people that lose their lives in Britain every year and the hundreds of thousands injured due to ignoring Health and Safety Regulations.

Implementing health and safety measures doesn’t have to be time consuming, expensive or complicated. In fact, safer and more efficient working practices can often save money but, more importantly, they can help to save lives.

When working at height with ladders, risk of accidents are increased, make sure you have the appropriate equipment to ensure safety is paramount. A prime example would be working at roof level, a Roof ladder is the most appropriate ladder type to use, reducing risk and ensuring work can be carried out safely. Other specialised ladders include Telecom ladders that have been specifically designed with features such as unique aluminium 'butterfly' rung which provides excellent balance and support at the top of the ladder.        

When working for a company, the organization will have to follow more regulations than if you are carrying out work on your own. This is because what you do within a business affects a number of people not just yourself.

On the Health and Safety government website http://www.hse.gov.uk/ you will find all the legislation you must comply with. Within the Health and Safety website you will find specific sections devoted to individual departments. For instance, if you are looking for more information on ladders then the Safe use of ladders and stepladders will be the appropriate section to check. Some companies provide specific courses; in this case a Ladder Safety Course is appropriate when your job requires you to work with ladders. If such procedures are not followed then there can be serious repercussions for you and your business, such as fines and even worse, avoidable accidents. The health and Safety laws are enforced by inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or your local authority. For example:

■ HSE at factories, farms and building sites;

■ Local authorities in offices, shops, hotels and catering, and leisure activities.

Inspectors only visit workplaces to check that people are following the rules. They investigate some accidents and complaints however; they exist to help you understand the importance of staying safe and ensuring the risk of accidents are reduced.

There are many things to consider when thinking about health and safety, people may think of it as a nuisance, but it is in place to help you and your workers stay safe in the work place. If you are not already following procedures, you are required to by law. Complying with the Health and Safety regulations will ensure you reduce the risk of accidents and carry out work safely.

Subjects