The UK government directs what needs to be done to help keep people safe and healthy. Hence in the UK we have our regulator, the Health & Safety Executive.
As part of this the HSE create an overall strategy for helping to improve health and safety in the workplace. At present we have the Helping Great Britain Work Well campaign as part of this. A number of key elements get built into the overall strategy and at present there are three main focus areas for the HSE:
- Occupational lung disease
- Musculoskeletal disorders
- Occupational stress
To help achieve the overall goals a number of information sources are used to build up a knowledge base to help find areas where additional efforts are required to meet the goals. Analysing information from enforcement actions & prosecutions, reporting groups such as SWORD, THORS and other research including the Long Latency Health Risks Project undertaken with UK foundry volunteers and more, all contribute towards proactive measures (planned interventions) for the HSE to undertake each year as part of achieving the overall strategy of the UK government and HSE to help keep us safe at work.
The current plan for the 2019/20 operational year has been published and can be downloaded from this page. Foundries are due to receive visits between October and December 2019. The plan details in sections 5.1.3 welding fume, 5.1.4 metalworking fluids & 5.1.6 molten metals the key areas where inspectors will be reviewing foundry operations. Those foundries with pattern shops should also be mindful of section 5.1.2 woodworking.
The plan contains key tables which show what the inspectors will be looking for and the initial enforcement expectation (IEE) should material breaches be found. These tables are useful tools for conducting gap analysis reviews to see where if any, shortfalls may exist in foundry controls. They contain the information necessary for foundries to ensure that operational processes and the potential hazards arising from them are effectively controlled, to ensure the on-going occupational health and physical safety of UK foundry employees.
If you are a UK foundry and would like to know more about the planned intervention, or more information about the SHIFT initiative and how to get involved please contact Richard Heath on 0121 809 3500, or visit the website: https://shift-initiative.org.uk/