News and Events Archive
|
| Open Course Programme for 2010 - CIEH Courses |
| 28/01/10 |
New Open Course Programme for 2010 - CIEH Courses
We have a new Open Course Programme for 2010 for the following courses:
CIEH Level 1 Health and Safety in the Workplace (1/2 Day)
CIEH Level 2 Health and Safety in Social Care (1 Day)
CIEH Level 2 Healthier Foods and Special Diets (1 Day)
CIEG Level 2 Food Safety in Catering (1 Day)
CIEH Level 1 Food Safety in Catering (1/2 Day)
These courses will be run at Crawley, Guildford and Newhaven.
Contact us on 01293 817226 to get further details or email us at training@thesafetymb.com
|
|
| Level 2 Award in Health and Safety in Health and Social Care |
| 15/12/09 |
We are planning to run CIEH Level 2 Award in Health and Safety in Health and Social Care training in 2010 at our offices in Crawley and other locations in the South East.
For further details and to register your interest email training@thesafetymb.com or telephone 01293 817226
View pdf for Course Syllabus
 |
 |
|
| European Occupational Safety and Health Manager (EurOSHM) |
| 21/09/10 |
The European Network of Safety & Health Professional Organisations (ENSHPO) have created two new standardised Europe-wide certifications. Eligible health and safety practitioners may use the designation EurOSHM (European Occupational Safety and Health Manager) and EurOSHT (European Occupational Safety and Health Technician). The criteria which need to be met to achieve registration as EurOSHM and EurOSHT are set out in the ENSHPO EurOSHM and EurOSHT standards.
This is a significant step forward for European health and safety professionals. The goal is to achieve a common standard of health and safety practice throughout Europe and lead to easier recognition of equivalent qualifications across member states. Creating an agreed standard is important because we all work within a common legal framework and face similar challenges requiring similar competencies, such as tackling risk assessment, occupational and major accidents, human error, risk control measures, safety management and policy, musculoskeletal disorders and stress.Increasingly, practitioners may work across borders and employers in different countries will need an easy way to identify the levels of competence of those offering their services
We are pleased to announce that Sally Robinson, Director of Consultancy Services, has been accepted as a European Occupational Safety and Health Manager (EurOSHM) one of only 168 members worldwide.
|
|
| Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations |
| 22/03/10 |
New Regulations to replace the requirements of the National Minimum Standards will be coming into force to implement essential standards of quality and safety in adult social care services.
To be registered under the new system providers will need to demonstrate that they are meeting the essential standards for quality and safety.
In addition the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have said that they will “…continuously monitor compliance with the essential standards as part of a new more dynamic, responsive and robust system of regulation.” The CQC will also have new enforcement powers to implement against providers who do not meet the essential standards.They have said that they will make short, focused unannounced site visits with direct observation of care rather than set piece inspections.
The CQC have issued new guidance about compliance entitled “Essential Standards of Quality and Safety”. The Guidance specifies a number of outcomes including:
Outcome 5 Meeting nutritional needs
Relevant staff need to be able to identify where the person who uses services is at risk of poor nutrition and what constitutes a balanced diet.Food must be handled, stored, prepared and delivered in a way that meets the requirements of the Food Safety Act 1990.
Outcome 8 Cleanliness and infection control
The registered person must ensure that appropriate standards of cleanliness and hygiene are maintained.
Outcome 10 Safety and suitability of premises
The registered person must ensure that the requirement of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 are met.
In addition the Regulations require that the registered person must have suitable arrangements in place to ensure that staff receive appropriate training and are able to obtain further qualifications appropriate to the work they perform.
The Safety Management Bureau offer accredited training courses, either in-house or at regular open courses held across the South East.
For details of our open course programme.
Bookonline.
|
|
| The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has criticised councils for failing to monitor the standards in the care homes to which they send people. |
| 03/12/2009 |
The CQC Report, Care Quality Commission, Performance Judgements for adult social services: An overview of the performance of councils in England highlights concerns over health and safety and the quality and nutrition of meals.Councils who used independent assessors to assess and improve the quality, variety and choice of meals performed well or excelled in the report.Councils that had adequately trained staff who understood and were sensitive to individual dietary requirements also performed well.
The report identified 19 councils which needed to improve in this area, particularly in the development of monitoring systems and the delivery of more balanced, nutritional meals.
The Safety Management Bureau provides regular open courses for the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) accredited Level 2 qualification in Healthier Foods and Special Diets as well as other CIEH accredited courses in Health and Safety and Food Safety.In-house courses are also available.The Safety Management Bureau provides independent monitoring of safety and food quality standards.
|
|
| The Planning Inspectorate, the first Government Agency to achieve OHSAS 18001:2007 - a Case Study |
| 30/10/09 |
For Case Study view pdf
|
|
| New Guidance on measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions |
| 07/10/2009 |
New guidance to measure and tackle greenhouse gas emissions for businesses and organisations has been published by Defra and DECC. The guidance has been published alongside advice on what it means to be carbon neutral.
Businesses produce a significant proportion of the UK’s GHG emissions and have a direct role to play in helping the UK meet its climate change commitments. The guidance helps businesses and organisations to measure and report their current emissions and set reduction targets.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said:
“Businesses have an opportunity to lead the way on the UK’s climate change agenda and this guidance helps them do that. Measuring your GHG emissions is an important first step in addressing the UK’s contribution to the UK’s total emissions. By reducing them, organisations can save money on energy costs and resource efficiencies – as well as maintaining a competitive edge through strengthening their green credentials.”
The UK committed to reduce total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 under the Climate Change Act 2008. A key requirement of the Act was to publish guidance to help organisations report on the emissions that they are responsible for.
The guidance is aimed at all sizes of business as well as public and third sector organisations.
For full Story view pdf
|
|
| Did you know that anyone can act as a health and safety consultant? |
| 16/09/09 |
There is currently no official accreditation scheme for Health and Safety Consultants, which means that anyone can set themselves up as a health and safety consultant without any qualification or test of their competence.
The Safety Management Bureau supports the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health’s (CIEH) view that a register is established that guarantees that businesses get advice from competent consultants that is accurate and proportionate.
CIEH Principal Policy Officer Andrew Griffiths said in a press release
“The CIEH is researching existing accreditation models and assessing their suitability. IOSH is doing market research into the business sector to determine its appetite for an accreditation scheme and the health and safety consultancy community. The HSE is also undertaking research into issues around how organisations access competent advice.”
The CIEH is advocating accreditation to improve the current system where anyone can act as a health and safety consultant. The CIEH envisages a voluntary system which sets a minimum standard of competence required to operate as a health and safety consultant.
The Safety Management Bureau believes that such a system is long overdue.
In the meantime... select your consultant with care. Make sure that they are appropriately qualified and ask for references.
For full Story view pdf
|
|
| Are you paying unnecessary consultancy fees to manage risks? |
| 09/09/09 |
The Risk and Regulation Advisory Council’s report ‘Health and safety in small organisations: reducing uncertainty, building confidence, improving outcomes’. found that many small organisations are uncertain and confused about health and safety.
The report also stated:
“Improving the confidence of small organisations in their health and safety practices could potentially lead t savings of around £70-140m to businesses per year from unnecessary consultancy fees and; reductions in small organisations’ management costs of around £50m per year.”
So are you paying unnecessary consultancy fees to manage risks?
The Risk and Regulation Advisory Council (RRAC) is an independent advisory group, set up by the Prime Minister, which aims to improve the understanding of public risk, and how best to respond to it, in making and implementing policy. It aims to find the appropriate balance between government and others in taking responsibility for risks, and to promote community resilience. It was asked to work with government and all relevant stakeholders throughout British society in doing this.
For full Story view pdf
|
|
| Running out of fuel on motorways |
| 09/09/09 |
The Highways Agency recently highlighted the dangers of running out of fuel on motorways.
If you employ people to drive for work, could you be liable if they run out of fuel and are involved in an accident?
According to the Highways Agency a total of 15,788 drivers ran out of fuel on England’s motorways between 1 July 2008 and 30 June 2009 — an average of 43 every day.
Commenting on the problem, the Highways Agency’s Director of Network Operations, Derek Turner, said, “The number of people breaking down simply because they have run out of fuel is alarming. It’s not only hazardous to the driver and passengers, but to other road users as well, especially if the vehicle has to stop in a live lane.” Similarly, the Driving Standards Agency’s Director for Safer Driving, Trevor Wedge, said, “Running out of fuel on a motorway can be a risky business. Stopping on the hard shoulder will place you and your passengers in a vulnerable situation that could be avoided.”
For full Story view pdf
|
|
| The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 |
| 24/08/09 |
The Act, which came into force on 6th April 2008, puts the law on corporate manslaughter (in Scotland, corporate culpable homicide) onto a new footing, setting out a new statutory offence.
An organisation will be guilty of the offence of corporate manslaughter or corporate homicide, if the way in which its activities are managed or organised causes a death and amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care to the deceased.(employees or members of the public) A substantial part of the breach must have been in the way activities were managed by senior management. The maximum penalty is an unlimited fine and the court can additionally make a publicity order requiring the organisation to publish details of its conviction and fine.
The offence addresses a key defect in the law that meant that, prior to the new offence, organisations could only be convicted of manslaughter (or culpable homicide in Scotland) if a “directing mind” at the top of the company (such as a director) was also personally liable. The reality of decision making in large organisations does not reflect this and the law therefore failed to provide proper accountability, and justice for victims.
For full Story view pdf
|
|
| home |
The Safety Management Bureau Ltd.
Company number 6131992.