HireTrain Shines at the Safety and Health Expo 2012
The hire and rental industry’s specialist training group forum – HireTrain – took advantage of promoting its health and safety products at this year’s Safety and Health Expo held at the NEC, 15-17 May 2012. 
On display, and generating plenty of interest, were Safety Guidance Leaflets and associated products for hired equipment that are produced by HireTrain’s supporting trade association HAE. Of special interest to passers-by were the practical training courses and programmes on offer through HireTrain, from Management and Leadership Programmes to driver training and a variety of health and safety programmes. The 60 professional development courses available online through HAE also produced some lengthy discussions with visitors at the show.
Working with BSI, HSE, CHAS, CITB ConstructionSkills and HAE, HireTrain helped to develop a hire industry standard – SafeHire – focussing on key elements of health and safety in the workplace - SafeHire got some good exposure at the show. HireTrain is now working with HAE to produce an industry competence card for individuals to prove their competence in the safe use of tools and equipment available for hire.
HAE picks up prestigious award from national safety body!
HAE is truly delighted to have been commended by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) in their 2012 Occupational Health & Safety Awards
Gill Bridger received the Award on behalf of HAE at a presentational ceremony held at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham
The commendation was in recognition of HAEs work is providing assistance and support to SME members
The certificate reads “RoSPA commends Hire Association Europe for its health and safety assistance to small and medium enterprises.”
If you’re looking for the best tool or event hire companies in the UK…
… you could go to the HAE EHA website and click ‘Find A Member’.
However if you want the best of the best we suggest you look here.
Hire Awards of Excellence – Jubilations!
That’s it for another year! The guests, sponsors and nominees all flocked to the Grosvenor House Hotel last Saturday for the hire industry’s best celebration of excellence. In all 23 trophies were given to organisations and individuals including the best hire companies in the event hire and tool & plant hire sectors, as well as (and more significantly) the best people in hire.
For a full run-down of the categories, winners, highly commended and those who made the shortlist click here. Also stay tuned to Twitter for ongoing updates from 2012, including later in the year news from the Hire Achiever of the Year - the lucky Lisa Virtue of Furniture Hire UK who not only received two trophies but also gets to share her excellence and gain new experiences by taking a work placement overseas!
We’ll also tweet sponsor and winner news and messages as well as advance information about the 2013 Hire Awards of Excellence as and when it emerges. Just follow @HireAwards to be kept informed. Also look out for a large feature on the Hire Awards in the next issue of Interface, due to hit desks in the last week of May.
This year the Hire Awards supported Help For Heroes – we’re still counting up the donations and will post the final amount soon but early indications show you are a very generous bunch – thank you!
Thanks should also go to our sponsors who by donating funding or equipment enabled us to stage the most successful Hire Awards of Excellence ever.
If you have any enquiries or if you require pictures, videos (these will be made available to winners and sponsors first) or press information please contact us on 44 (0)121 380 4600 or email awards@hae.org.uk.
See you in 2013 and keep watching Twitter!
Enforcement of Load Security – Briefing Note from FTA
Background
The Vehicle Operator and Services Agency (VOSA) is introducing training for enforcement examiners with a focussed approach on load securing enabling them to identify high-risk loads as part of a roll-out from April 2012. The aim is to promote clarity and consistency for operators in enforcement of load securing. This initiative has been in development for some time following a campaign in early 2010 by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and VOSA when enforcement examiners inspected the loads of vehicles to ensure they were being transported securely. Similar spot-checks took place in early 2009. Both campaigns highlighted concerns identifying that significant numbers of vehicles were found to have loads which were not sufficiently restrained.
Supplementary Guidance
During the previous two years an industry led working group which includes representation from FTA has been involved in discussions with VOSA and the Health & Safety Laboratory (HSL) to review current load securing practice, making recommendations for VOSA enforcement staff to be adequately trained in assessing load securing and has drafted guidance for operators, consignors and drivers which will be representative of, and coincide with the training and guidelines given to VOSA examiners. The guidance is being funded and published by HSL, supported and endorsed by the industry working group representatives and will be launched at the CV show in April 2012 and expected to be available to purchase from HSL. Operators should note that the Department for Transport’s publicly available guide The Safety of Loads on Vehicles is still relevant and available to download from www.dft.gov.uk.
Roadside Enforcement
VOSA has produced a draft matrix to assist examiners in assessing load securing methods. The matrix distinguishes between various types of load and has three categories of severity for assessing load securing.
The Importance of Load Security
HSE research has shown that unsafe loads on vehicles cost UK businesses millions of pounds in damaged goods each year. Vehicles carrying unrestrained loads are also a safety risk to their drivers and other staff involved in loading and unloading them. On the road they also pose a danger to other road users and the public at large. An unrestrained load can significantly increase the risk of a vehicle rolling over or spilling its load onto the highway.
To protect drivers and other road users the (Road Vehicles) Construction & Use Regulations 1986 indicate that loads must be secured, if necessary by physical restraint other than their own weight so they don’t present a danger or nuisance. VOSA can enforce a range of regulatory powers including prohibiting the continued use of the vehicle if they feel there is serious risk to other road users, workers or to the driver, and has stated that operators who are currently complying with the Construction & Use Regulations should see no difference in VOSA’s enforcement policy from April. Minor problems in the way vehicles have been loaded and secured will be dealt with through advice rather than enforcement action wherever possible.
For further information, a summary of the enforcement matrix, or to discuss individual circumstances FTA members should contact the Member Advice Centre on 44 (0)870 60 50 000.
© Freight Transport Association March 2012.
HAE members can also contact HAE BusinessGuard on 44 (0)121 380 4612. HAE can also provide full training, on site *and online*, relating to Safe Loading and Unloading of vehicles. Contact 44 (0)121 380 4617 for more details or go to www.haelearn.com.
Ladder Association Assumes Responsibility for Ladder Exchange
WITH immediate effect, the Ladder Association, the trade body representing the ladder industry in the UK and Ireland, has assumed responsibility for delivering the annual Ladder Exchange. Since it was first launched in 2007, it has been responsible for removing over 10,000 broken, bent or damaged ladders from the workplace with the message ‘Don’t let a dodgy ladder shatter your life’.
Actively supported by the Ladder Association and its members who, throughout, have made a firm commitment to work in partnership with HSE and the access industry, the Exchange has also contributed to raising awareness and understanding of how to use ladders and stepladders safely. Under the scheme, suspect ladders can be exchanged, at a discount, at participating partners.
The Ladder Exchange is a great example of how everyone in the health and safety system can share responsibility and work together towards a common goal; namely, reducing falls from height.
Comments Cameron Clow, the new chairman of the Association: “By entrusting the running and management of the Ladder Exchange to the Ladder Association, HSE is acknowledging the increasingly important role that the Association and member organisations of the Access Industry Forum (AIF) now play in advancing safety and best practice in the work at height sector.”
“The Ladder Association is the natural and logical new home for this landmark initiative, which, at launch, created a benchmark in collaboration between the industry trade body, ladder manufacturers and suppliers, and the regulatory body. As an organisation committed to advancing knowledge, skills and safety, we are proud and delighted to have the opportunity of taking over and developing this initiative.”
Paul Cook for HSE says: ”It is widely recognised that trade associations such as the Ladder Association are well placed to promote safety in their industries, given their long established cross-sector membership and contacts. We look forward to the Ladder Association making a real success of the Ladder Exchange as it develops in future years, helping to reduce serious risks that can cost people their livelihoods and their lives.”
The 2012 Ladder Exchange will begin on 1 September and run until 30 November 2012. Full details will be posted on the Ladder Association’s website from 1 May. In the interim period, anyone wishing to register their interest in becoming a participating partner should contact jill.couttie@ladderassociation.org.uk
More Ladder Exchange details will also be available from the Association’s stand in the AIF Information Centre at this year’s Safety & Health Expo, 15-17 May, at the NEC, Birmingham.
Falls from height:
Despite a steady decline, falls from height remain the most common kind of workplace fatality. In 2010/11, a total of 38 workers died and 4,327 employees suffered a major injury as a result of a fall from height in the workplace, with a further 10,232 employees suffering an ‘over 3 day’ injury. Many of these incidents could have been avoided by people with the right training using the correct equipment that had been properly inspected and maintained.
New Asbestos Regulations Come into Force
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 will come into force on 6 April 2012, updating previous asbestos regulations to take account of the European Commission’s view that the UK had not fully implemented the EU Directive on exposure to asbestos (Directive 2009/148/EC).
In practice, the changes are fairly limited and mean that some types of non-licensed work with asbestos now have additional requirements, i.e. notification of work, medical surveillance and record keeping. All other requirements remain unchanged, e.g. relating to licensed work with asbestos, duty to manage, risk assessment, the asbestos control limit, control measures and training requirements.
Further information will be available on HSE’s Asbestos website – http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/index.htm
Temporary relaxation of the enforcement of drivers’ hours and working time rules: distribution of petrol and diesel.
In response to requests from industry, the Department for Transport has agreed to a temporary, and limited, emergency relaxation of the enforcement of EU drivers’ hours and working time rules for drivers of fuel tankers engaged in the delivery of petrol or diesel within Great Britain.
This temporary relaxation applies from 00.01 on Friday 30 March 2012 and will run until 23:59 on 05 April 2012 and will apply only to those drivers involved in the delivery of petrol or diesel within Great Britain. If circumstances change the Department may withdraw the relaxation earlier.
Ladder Association News Release (and HAE Comment)
The Ladder Association, which represents all the major manufacturers, suppliers and hirers in the UK and Ireland, is asking companies in 2012 to check that when they send delegates on a Ladder Association training course, it’s an approved Ladder Association training course they receive and not a poor imitation.
“We’re hearing of an increasing number of cases where the training provider purports to be offering a Ladder Association training course to secure the business, but on the day delivers a completely different and inferior course with different content and questionable outcomes,” says Ladder Association training manager, Stuart Hopkins.
EHA on the Big Screen at IOEX!
Earlier in March EHA created a members showcase at the International Outdoor Event Exhibition (IOEX) along with GT Trax, Higher Concept Software, Teal Patents and ArcGen Hilta.
The lovely people at Silverstream TV interviewed our very own Mark Bradshaw and kindly played the film on the big screens visible throughout the exhibition.
Click here to view us in action:
EHA and You – Stronger Together
