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Work equipment - safe system of work

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Inspecting public areas

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Council fined £1.4 million for child’s injuries

Injured

In December 2015 a six-year-old girl climbed onto a cast iron hinged bollard on a pedestrianised street in Lymington. The bollard fell over, throwing her to the ground and she was left with life threatening head injuries. As a result she spent six months in hospital. Due to her age the extent of the brain injury is not yet known.

Not quite so unexpected

Following the incident, the HSE found that the bollard, which weighed approximately 69kg, had previously sustained damage and as a result was not secure.

Hampshire County Council (H) had received a report that the bollard was faulty. However, despite this, and although monthly scheduled inspections had been carried out, H had not logged the matter for repair.

HSE inspectors also found that staff in H’s highways department had received insufficient information, instruction and training.

Had staff members who carried out ad hoc and monthly inspections been well trained, they would have identified the fault. The inspection guidance they were using was described by the HSE as “misleading”.

Tip 1. Ensure that staff carrying out safety-critical tasks have sufficient training and you have proof this was provided and refreshed regularly. A good place to start is by writing a safety procedure; use this to support initial training, and then reissue it periodically (see The next step ).

Tip 2. All training given should be recorded where you can quickly retrieve it, e.g. in personnel files. A sensible approach would be to have a copy of the safe system of work, with signatures and dates confirming the names of those trained.

Tip 3. If your employees are to carry out inspections of equipment to ensure it’s functioning correctly and safely, make sure your written guidance is detailed enough. You might need to include diagrams as well as notes, e.g. in this case an image showing a hinged bollard in an upright position and secured with a padlock or locking mechanism.

Costly mistake

H pleaded not guilty to a charge that it had breached s.3(1)Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 but was convicted and fined £1.4 million with costs of £130,632.

Tip 1. Create an inspection form which makes it simple for staff to understand what they are checking. Use our inspecting public areas checklist as a starting point (see The next step ). Amend it to suit your needs, adding details of any specific equipment as necessary.

Tip 2. Retain copies of the completed inspection forms for a minimum of three years so they can be used as evidence if needed.

For a safety procedure blank form and for an inspecting public areas checklist, visit http://tipsandadvice-healthandsafety.co.uk/download (HS 18.10.04).