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RD Clinic Risk Assessments
In this webinar, we discussed how you review your Risk Assessments, including fire, legionella, and general risks to ensure your organisation is considering the actions and the control measures that are needed. The session covered best practices and common mistakes that are made.
View Slides HERE
December 2024
Quest X Active Insight
‘Don’t worry, they won’t be gone by March…’
Customer retention strategies as we approach the festive season
As the festive season approaches, operators often worry about the annual drop-off in engagement after January. We will be sharing Quest insight, Active Insight data, and best practices to emphasise what the sector is doing and the difference you can make
When: Tuesday 10th December at 11:00am Registration link HERE
New Products: RD Docs
If you’re a client, all our RD Docs are accessible on our online resource portal – the Right Place. If you don’t have access to the Right Place and would like it, please email staffmis@rightdirections.co.uk.
NEW: Managing Lithium-ion Batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are a type of rechargeable battery that have become the standard for powering a wide range of electronic devices, including mobile phones, laptops, electric vehicles, and even large-scale energy storage systems.
There are also a number of hazards associated with the use of lithium-ion batteries including:
• Fire and explosion
• Toxic gas emission
• Electrical shock and short-circuits
• Acid leakage
• Pressure build-up and rupture
• Environmental harm
We have written our RD Doc to outline the dangers associated with lithium-ion batteries and minimise the risks to help keep you and your teams safe.
Firework Safety
We hope our Firework Safety RD Doc was beneficial ahead of Firework Night for those who used it! Although 5th November has been and gone, this guidance note will still be applicable all-year round for those facilities/centres that are hosting displays throughout the festive season and beyond.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) estimates around 1,000 injuries annually due to fireworks, with a portion linked to improper disposal, such as relighting discarded fireworks or fires started by used fireworks not disposed of safely.
This document covers best practices for handling and displaying fireworks, important legal requirements, and tips for maintaining a safe environment.
FireworkSafety
October2024 - Issue 1
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New Products: Training
Out
Now: Transgender Awareness Training Course in partnership with BMR!
Are you making sure your workplace is an inclusive space for everyone? This means considering all different types of communities, not just the ones that are most visible or well-represented. Although the dialogue surrounding the transgender community has become more open, the community is still poorly understood after years of misgendering, misinformation and stereotyping.
We now provide online Transgender Awareness Training in partnership with BMR Health & Wellbeing, which is designed to enhance learners’ understanding of transgender identities and provide practical advice for creating a welcoming and affirming atmosphere in both professional settings and leisure facilities.
Price:
£10.00 + VAT per person for RD clients*
£15.00 + VAT per person for non-clients
Enrol HERE
Coming Soon: Online Manual Handling Training (for both managers and frontline staff)
From January, we will be providing online Manual Handling training, designed for staff to enhance their understanding of safe handling practices, reduce the risk of injury, and improve workplace safety across various industries.
Manual handling training is a legal requirement in the UK. Failure to provide this training could lead to legal action if an employee is injured as a result of improper manual handling.
This course for frontline staff: This online course aims to give frontline staff an understanding of legislation around manual handling, what injuries could be caused through improper manual handling, how to assess manual handling activities, along with reducing the risk of injury and discuss self-care & staff responsibilities.
For managers:
This course covers all of the above, plus what training an employer should put in place.
*If you are a Right Directions client, please head to the Right Place and click on the Training Information button to access the discount code for this course to get your £5 off!
National Highways has announced it will phase out the term “accident” from its communications
This is being recognised as a major advancement in acknowledging the preventable nature of road incidents.
Across the industry, terms like “crash” or “collision” are commonly used, as “accident” is seen as implying that such events are inevitable, which can obscure accountability for injuries and fatalities on the roads.
After consulting with stakeholders, the strategic roads authority confirmed that it will now use “collision” in its communications, including on social media. However, updating on-road signage, such as electronic variable message signs, will take more time. This change has been welcomed by road safety organisations.
NEWS!IMPORTANT
HSE launches asbestos campaign
HSE is currently running 2 campaigns to highlight the risks of asbestos and how to stay safe. For free resources and information, their website provides some really useful campaign pages:
• Asbestos – Your Duty provides guidance and templates to support dutyholders with the legal duty to manage asbestos in buildings
• Asbestos and You highlights the risk of asbestos to tradespeople and includes a free quick guide for tradespeople to download
The Gender Gap in CPR…
This may sound like an odd phrase but it’s a topic that St John’s Ambulance has recently been researching and campaigning for.
St John’s have uncovered that 1 in 3 people in the UK are afraid to give lifesaving CPR to a woman because they are worried about touching her breasts, exposing a gender gap in CPR in need of change.
Regardless of gender, anyone could go into cardiac arrest. Your family, a friend, a stranger. We need to treat every ‘body’ the same. Worrying about overstepping a
NEWS!IMPORTANT
boundary could be the difference between life and death! Give women CPR and forget about what’s on their chests!
If you’re a facility manager, this is a good opportunity to ask yourself:
1.) Have your team received the required training to deliver CPR if needed
2.) Have all relevant team members been trained? Consider whether you’ve taken on new staff members recently, job responsibilities have changed etc.
3.) How are you going to reiterate to your team the importance of every ‘body’ being treated the same when receiving CPR?
We provide the following face-to-face courses, all covering CPR but for different environments and responsibilities:
Safety Alert: Electrical Prosecution
Company fined after HSE inspection found serious failings
A company in Yorkshire has been fined more than £50,000 after an inspection by the HSE found serious electrical failings.
HSE Inspectors conducted an unannounced inspection at the premises on 5 July 2022. During the visit, the inspectors uncovered electrical deficiencies that posed serious risks of both electric shock and electrocution to workers.
A subsequent investigation by the HSE found there was a systemic failure within the company to address the risks identified with the electrical systems. The inadequate construction and maintenance of the electrical system at the premises presented an immediate risk of employees coming into direct contact with exposed live parts on equipment and machinery within the company premises. The company allowed the breaches to subsist over a long period of time.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4 (1) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and was fined £56,695 and ordered to pay £5,949 in costs. After the hearing, HSE inspector commented: “This case shows the importance of HSE inspections to help ensure health and safety risks are being managed effectively and protect people at work.
“It is essential that electrical wiring installations and electrical equipment are constructed and maintained in a safe condition to prevent injuries or even worse, death.
“In this case, simple inexpensive steps could have been taken to remedy the most serious defects, instead the company’s inaction has resulted in more than £60,000 in fines and costs.”
The case highlights the importance of ensuring electrical testing and maintenance is carried out at the correct intervals as well as the importance of actioning highlighted remedial works.
This serves as an important reminder to do your fixed electrical testing on time and make sure your C1s, C2s and FI are sorted! We don’t want any of our clients facing avoidable fines. Get in touch for a health & safety audit via info@rightdirections.co.uk or 01582 840098.
Quality Support in Safe Hands
Christmas Team Social
Last week at our Christmas team event, we swapped out Health &
Safety for Pinot & Picasso, attempting to replicate a Northern Lights scene on canvas - luckily we weren’t being assessed on our painting skills!
We’ll definitely be sticking to auditing and assessing for now, but it was a great chance for everyone to catch up, do something different away from the day-to-day routine and see everyone’s creativity (and competitive streaks) come through.
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
A massive congratulations and thank you to our team member Sue who’s just surpassed 20 years at Right Directions!
Thank you Sue from all of us at Right Directions and Quest for all your hard work over the years and the support you’ve given since the very beginning of RD in 2004.
It wouldn’t be the same without you Sue!
