The current parliamentary session has seen some interesting written questions from MPs and members of the House of Lords related to health and safety. Most, as you would expect, relate to some aspect of Covid-19 response while others shine a welcome light on other issues. Here’s a selection: Question from Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (8th June 2020) “To ask … Read More
Workplace Fatal Injuries in Great Britain, 2020
The provisional Workplace fatal injuries in Great Britain, 2020 data were released by the HSE last week showing a decline in workplace fatalities from 149 in 2018/19 to 111 in 2019/20. While every one of the 111 fatalities is a tragic loss, the decrease in fatalities from 149, and indeed from the previous 5-year average (an annual average of 143 … Read More
Press Release – Banyard Solutions Acquired by Risk Management Expert Alcumus
Press release – Date: June 2020 Banyard Solutions Drives Success Through Buyout Southampton-based Banyard Solutions, developer of e-permits, the UK’s first and leading web-based work authorisation and permit-to-work system, has been acquired by Alcumus, the UK’s leading provider of risk management solutions. Originally devised and developed 18 years ago to support the construction of Canary Wharf and now used broadly … Read More
Alcumus Acquires Banyard Solutions
We are delighted to announce that, as of June 30, 2020, Banyard Solutions has been acquired by Alcumus, a leading provider of risk management solutions including SafeContractor, Info Exchange and Sypol. This acquisition will help Banyard Solutions, and the market leading e-permits solution, to build on our success and provide our clients with an enhanced service offering and more diverse … Read More
Managing Increased Supply Chain Complexity
More than 1 in 7 (15%) of the UK workforce were self-employed in Q1 of 2020 (according to the latest ONS labour market data), which compares with less than 1 in 8 (12%) in Q1 of 2000. How do we expect the numbers of self-employed to change post-lockdown and what are the implications for worker safety? The ONS data shows … Read More
Canary Wharf Group – Retail Case Study
The Client Canary Wharf Group (CWG) is well known for managing the urban regeneration of a great part of the Isle of Dogs in London. The company is now a fully integrated private real estate operation comprising over 7 million square feet of office space, almost 1 million square feet of retail and several hundred Build to Rent units. The … Read More
Using Predictive Analytics to Improve Safety Performance
In 2011 the New York Times reported that the Santa Cruz police department arrested two women in a downtown car park. One for possession of illegal drugs, the other had outstanding warrants, both were peering into car windows when the police arrived. What was unusual about the incident was the fact that the police were alerted by a computer program … Read More
Manufacturing Safety by the Numbers (part 2 of 2)
In the first part of this two-part post we looked at the raw numbers for safety performance in the manufacturing sector with specific focus on discrete manufacturing. We noted that discrete manufacturing in the UK has an average fatality rate over the past 5 years that is 50% higher than that for all industry sectors and a non-fatal injury rate … Read More
Manufacturing Safety by the Numbers (part 1 of 2)
It’s our contention that, along with the construction sector, manufacturing will be key to leading the UK out of recession after the coronavirus lockdown ends. It’s our hope that this return to work and growth will be achieved without compromising (non-coronavirus related) worker safety. So how has the manufacturing sector performed compared to other industry sectors over recent years? Before … Read More
Why Focusing on Safety Performance Can Enable Construction to Bounce Back
The UK construction sector is critical to the future of the economy. Despite the latest PMI figures and what was labelled a “total collapse” of the construction sector, its importance is beyond economic and is fundamental to addressing the social injustices created by decades of regional centralisation. Witness how “levelling-up” entered our discourse through the end of 2019 and into … Read More
Realigning Health and Safety in the Business
Over the last year or so we’ve posited ideas around having health and safety become a keystone habit in the business and aligning health and safety outcomes with business growth and why doing so was important. We highlighted three categorisations for how health and safety is viewed within the business: as a cost centre as delivering business benefits as a … Read More
Delivering Contractor Compliance with e-permits (part 2 of 2)
Part 2 – Issuing the Permit to Work Request, Dynamic Risk Assessments, and the Closing Process Part 1 of this 2 part post looked at the permit-to-work request and approval process. This post looks at the issue process through to the close process beginning with the contractor arriving on site. e-permits manages the whole process beginning with ascertaining if the … Read More
Delivering Contractor Compliance with e-permits (part 1 of 2)
Part 1 – The Permit to Work Request and Approval Process A key benefit of using e-permits for permit-to-work is ensuring contractor compliance or, as Greg Markham of EMCOR stated, “The best way to control contractors that I’ve ever seen”. This post is the first in a two part series looking at how e-permits delivers contractor compliance. Here we cover … Read More
Is Global Asbestos Awareness Week Still Relevant Given Covid-19?
Absolutely it is. 5,500 people die every year in the UK alone from diseases caused by exposure to asbestos. Worldwide, 742,000 die every year from work-related cancers including those caused by exposure to asbestos. Are these asbestos-related deaths in the UK just the result of legacy exposures? Or, only caused by fly-by-night operators cutting corners? No, and no. The NHS alone has … Read More
Permit-to-Work from Home
***For the duration of the current Government coronavirus lockdown, we are making the Electronic Signatures and PPE modules available to clients free of charge, thereby, enabling more people to work from home while keeping building maintenance workers safe.*** With the current Covid-19 crisis and Government lockdown many of us are forced to work from home while many are faced with … Read More
Working from Home Guidance
There have been many good, well-intentioned articles in both the print press and online over the past week about how to successfully work from home. The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday (March 17th) advocated working from 9am to 5pm to maximise overlap with colleagues and speed decision making. Google recommend creating “work” triggers for your brain such as establishing a designated … Read More
