David Liu, who runs two Hotels in Mansfield, was jailed for 8 months as was John O’Rourke of Mansfield Fire Protection Services, who provided David Liu with his fire risk assessments. So how did this situation come about?

Mr Liu was prosecuted because he was the ‘responsible person’ for both premises, and failed to make sure they were safe for customers staying there. Part of failing was associated with the fire risk assessment. Mr O’Rourke was prosecuted because he carried out Fire Risk Assessments at both hotels, but those assessments were ‘wholly inadequate’ the judge said.

That all appears rather harsh, but it represents what has been understood in health and safety for years – the person in charge or in control is ultimately responsible and ensuring the competency of those that they appoint either as employees or contractors.

So what should employers, or persons in charge of premises do to meet the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order or the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations?
Well Ian Taylor, Fire Protection Group Manager at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, said after the case:

“If employers are unsure about their own ability to undertake a Fire Risk Assessment within their premises they should seek advice from a competent person. In ascertaining someone’s competence to provide Fire Safety advice I would encourage people to ask for references, be aware of what Fire Safety training and qualifications they have and check to see if they are registered or accredited with an appropriate third party body.”

Praxis42 undertake over 4,000 Fire Risk Assessments a year in a variety of premises and work closely with fire authorities including having their Fire Risk Assessments scrutinised. What we understand is that it’s important to ensure that our team of advisers remain competent which doesn’t only mean a programme of learning, but also ensuring that they have mentors and coaches and that their continuing professional development is maintained.

For information on our Fire Risk Assessment service, to discuss our Fire Safety training, or any other aspect of Health and Safety, please do contact us

Everyone appreciates the need for and importance of hazard classification for chemicals. That’s a given. However, over time, different countries, continents and trade areas have developed their own labelling standards. And in a world of global trade and business this creates problems. One substance may be labelled toxic in one country, but not in another.

The Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals or GHS for short is an international system created by the United Nations. The intention is for this system to replace the uncoordinated standards that have sprung up around the world, but is it worth making the switch? Or does this just mean unnecessary hassle and expense, with no clear safety or business benefit for organisations that get on board?

GHS standards classify chemicals according to their health, physical and environmental hazards by using pictograms, hazard statements, and the signal words “Danger” and “Warning” to communicate hazard information on product labels and safety data sheets in a logical and comprehensive way.

GHS provides welcome guidance in countries without established regulatory systems and has positive implications for trade. Standardisation saves time. No more hassle dealing with multiple classification and different labelling systems, in turn resulting in more consistent regulation and reducing barriers to trade. Consistent information and guidance means safer transport, reduced handling and shipping costs, as well as better responses to chemical related safety incidents. These standards can even reduce the need for animal testing.

There is a lead in period for the use of the GHS labelling system which will run through until June 2015 and in some cases beyond that date. In the interim period there could be instances where existing European labels are present in the workplace and also the new GHS labelling system! The challenge for employers is to ensure that workers are made aware of the changes and what the new labels mean. There is an obvious need for awareness training in this area and the Praxis42 Hazardous Substances course is a good place to start.

For further information on this or any other Health and Safety issue please contact us.

A quick google search reveals any number of safety e-learning providers offering asbestos awareness courses. This must mean some sort of industry consensus and government backing for online delivery of asbestos training right? Well sort of. It’s actually not quite that simple and exercising a degree of caution when it comes to asbestos training and delivery via e-learning is completely justified as it’s probably not appropriate for the more high risk work with ACM’s .

Revisiting asbestos facts and figures makes for chilling reading. Every week in the UK 4 plumbers, 20 tradesmen, 6 electricians and 8 joiners die from the effects of this hidden killer and it’s believed to be due to them being exposed to repeated accidental exposures to ACMs in their working lives.

Any building constructed before 2000 can contain asbestos. This is not a historical problem that only affects older workers. It’s real and it’s out there. Asbestos can be present in schools, hospitals and offices and if the fibres become airborne that’s when serious problems occur. No wonder then that any kind of asbestos training receives intense scrutiny.

The HSE approves of and recognises e-learning as a valid and effective delivery method for awareness training, but with certain stipulations. The course content must satisfy the objectives set out in Regulation 10 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and the supporting Approved Code of Practice.

E-learning can really get the asbestos awareness message across and provides an easy way of being able to refresh knowledge and remind those at risk of the dangers from ACMs anytime or anywhere they can access the internet via a browser.

To discuss any Asbestos issues, information on our Asbestos Awareness or any other eLearning course please click here

Getting the message across that safety matters, both on a personal and organisational level, is a big challenge. Life becomes easier when powerful sponsors back your compliance training and risk assessment programmes.

Senior managers are more enlightened about corporate responsibility perhaps since the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 made it clear that an organisations health and safety culture will be taken into account in investigations and prosecutions. Apart from the legal stick senior management generally appreciate the financial and human benefits of a good health and safety culture.

Clever eLearning and risk assessments systems are able to send trainees bespoke emails and follow up reminders from a senior manager! That really does make people take note when they receive a personal email from the boss. E-learning and online risk assessments can also help streamline a compliance programme and protect billable time with employees completing courses and assessments in “found” time. The ultimate outcome of course is that employee behaviour is positively influenced and that a culture develops in the organisation that prevents accident and ill health occurring.

For further information or a call back on Praxis42 Health and Safety support or training please click here

Well let’s hold on and back things up a minute. Online training has been with us for over a decade now. Most people have probably been subjected to at least one unimaginative, second rate and poorly designed compliance course at some point. Maybe even a library full. The world doesn’t need any more dull health and safety e Learning. People have had their patience tested to the limit already and things have moved on from the old days of click through health and safety CBT. What’s important to remember is that it takes underpinning health and safety knowledge from practitioners plus a flair for solid instructional and educational design to create something genuinely useful, engaging and memorable which changes behaviour. That’s often harder to do when a bargain basement price is the main consideration and the developer thinks they understand what is required to meet health and safety compliance or what people need to work safely.

Do any of these new entrants really understand health and safety or have the underpinning knowledge? Do they have a proven track record of impactful safety interventions that encourage behaviour change and healthier working with a holistic approach that incorporates more than just training? Who knows and its worth asking before buying.

Is this content delivered through a robust learning management system (LMS) that tracks and records trainees progress? Designing training courses is one thing, delivering it and keeping compliance records is something else again. Content delivered without some means of managing records and running meaningful reports and communicating with trainees is hardly worth rolling out.

It’s also worth checking what technical support is given and what happens when there are legislative changes and the course needs updating? A good health and safety e Learning course and LMS has the capacity to make a genuine difference – to tick compliance boxes, make more efficient use of health and safety resources and encourage healthier working. And it takes more than low cost or budget content to achieve this. Invest a little extra and don’t risk your reputation on selecting the wrong solution.

For more information on the range Praxis42 Health and Safety e Learning click here.

Here, Mike Stevens, eLearning Director at Praxis42 and a Chartered Safety Practitioner who is responsible for training and development at Praxis42, takes a look at how widespread is the acceptance of eLearning and asks – is it really training?

I recently attended a health and safety seminar and was astounded to hear one of the presenters announce that computer based training (CBT) or as it is called now a day’s eLearning isn’t training. At the time I thought that this was a rather sweeping statement to make about a training medium that a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) showed that over 50 per cent of respondents currently use and a further 39 per cent had plans to use.

With experience, myself, in both face to face and eLearning delivery, this statement made me wonder if this perception of eLearning is a common one and whether it does have its merits in health and safety compliance and awareness?

Perceptions of eLearning

A few years ago the presenter’s statement about eLearning would not have seemed as out of place as it is today as some of the content, media and delivery methods were rather primitive back then. In terms of technology even as recently as five years ago many workers, especially older employees, were not as technology savvy as they are today; few people used computers as part of their job and fewer still had even heard of broadband.  People were trained in classrooms and PowerPoint was still considered amazing.

Then, eLearning or CBT was the next big thing; everyone was talking about it: few were doing it.  Today it is today’s big thing.  Today’s workforce consists more and more of people brought up on computers or mobile devices that have used the internet extensively as a knowledge resource.  We are increasingly a digital generation, which expects to engage in interactive learning and which can use it to its maximum potential.  Yesterday’s eLearning courses were perhaps a little bland and one dimensional whereas online training today is a media rich experience that engages, challenges and supports the awareness and learning process.

And eLearning content can only get better of course.  As today’s digitally adventurous youngsters enter the workforce, tomorrow’s computer programmers will be making eLearning programmes that will literally blow our minds away.

The benefits of eLearning

The benefits of eLearning are well documented.  Cost savings can be significant, even enormous.  Tracey Connage, Deputy Director of HR at Brent Council reported a cost saving of £116,000 when providing health and safety training for 2,500 using eLearning. * People Management magazine.

According to Training Magazine, organisations typically save between 50 and 70 per cent when replacing instructor-led training with eLearning.  Because eLearning can be taken anytime, anywhere, it doesn’t interfere with the critical operations of the employee. They can access training wherever they can interface with a computer or device, whether a desk PC, Laptop, PDA or other mobile device.  Education is available 24 hours a day when and where they need it.

There is good evidence to suggest that learners gaining knowledge online retain more than those subjected to death by PowerPoint.  When training is relevant to the job, as in health and safety, there is no such thing as boring content, only boring ways in presenting it.

The immediate nature of eLearning means that users who need to “brush up” on a particular business process can access the training module instantly, practice via simulation, test themselves on the module, and resume their work.

Health and Safety and eLearning

In organisations where mandatory or compliance based training is essential such as the financial services industry and in health and safety eLearning offers clear advantages: the messages are consistent and high volumes of people can be trained across diverse geographies as the needs of the organisation require. The progress and results of the training can also be centrally managed through a learning management system (LMS) with record and reporting management functionality.

The Health and Safety Executive itself, the statutory enforcing authority, deploy eLearning solutions to train their own employees and ensure they comply with their own legal obligations.

Instantaneous updates, hyper link to other areas of background and research, online help desks, mobile learning referred to as mLearning technology….are just a few of the many other benefits of eLearning. Couple all this with delivery flexibility and cost reduction, and it is no wonder that eLearning has become a core strategy in improving health and safety performance and changing behaviours through acquired knowledge and awareness.

Is it really training?

Well how can eLearning not be training as it has all the elements that make up any training experience? Good eLearning either ‘off the shelf’, tailored or bespoke will typically set out its purpose or aim, the learning objectives, technically accurate content to meet the objectives, opportunities to interact and become involved in understanding the content and feature formative and summative assessments that check the aims and objectives have been met.

At Praxis42 we can provide e Learning or Instructor Led Training or both, tailored to suit your individual requirements. For a quote or to discuss any of the abve please click here

Stress is a difficult area for organisations to get a handle on, but with so much for employees to contend with right now good management is essential. It manifests itself in different ways. Absenteeism or alcohol and drug misuse are common coping mechanisms.

Stress takes its toll on performance as well. Worry and pressure can make accidents more likely and increase the likelihood of stress related illness. Stress can also result in poor decision making with disastrous consequences, for the organisation, the individual and those around them.

So what to do? Managing stress is a complex issue. There’s no quick win or easy fix. However, if senior management are serious about making a difference to employee wellbeing then it is possible to make progress towards making the workplace a more effective and supportive place, which is good for employees and good for business.

Stress Awareness training is a great starting point. An eLearning stress awareness course for managers can help them recognise the signs and symptoms in others and the management interventions that will help their teams when they are dealing with pressure or coping with stress.

An eLearning stress awareness course for employees will help them understand the difference between pressure and stress, recognise signs and symptoms in themselves and others and what they can do to help themselves. It’s a great starting point and can support an organisations ongoing wellbeing programme.

For more information on Stress Awareness eLearning click here

So with such a natural fit, how can organisations end up choosing the wrong system? One that doesn’t deliver against expectations. Often decision makers don’t ask the right questions or fail to involve key stakeholders. So here are five helpful tips on getting it right first time.

1.  Understand what is needed -  undertake a pilot with a user group or key stakeholders to gain their feedback and expectations from the solution. Spending time looking at the strengths and weakness of the proposed system will pay dividends in the long term and help ensure the solution fits the organisations culture.

2.  Selection – as part of the selection process scrutinise the Learning Management System (LMS) that underpins the content and assessment – ask the right questions. What are its features? What benefits do they bring to the organisation? What reports will it provide? How easy is it to configure to match the organisation? How easy is the risk data to organise and manage? Will it manage communication with users and involve their managers?

3.  Course design – look at the  educational design aspects of the courses such as aims, objectives and how they are assessed. Are they regularly reviewed by competent practitioners and updated to meet regulatory changes? Can they be customised? How long  are the courses?

4.  Review the entire library –  it’s common to start with one course and risk assessment such as the safe use of display screen equipment (DSE) and workstation ergonomics. But what about the future? If this exercise proves successful the organisation  might need to deliver more related compliance courses and assessments. Has the whole library been reviewed or an understanding gained of the suppliers development programme? Consider the order of the roll out too.  Why start with DSE if those responsible don’t understand managing safely and need to raise their capabilities.

5.  Successful deployment and ongoing maintenance – check the ability and experience of the supplier to help deploy and deliver the solution across complex organisations. Ask to speak to existing customers or for customer references and testimonials that provide you with some assurance. Also explore how ongoing technical and customer support is provided and underpinned from competent health, safety and environment resources.  It may help to understand if the supplier operates or is accredited to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.

For a FREE demo of Praxis42 eLearning please click here or call 0870 446 4201.

And is all this time and attention absolutely necessary? Of course organisations should take the wellbeing of their workers seriously not only when they are office workers but if they are working from home, at the clients workplace or hot-desking and this post isn’t about to suggest otherwise, but surely employees can take a little more responsibility when it comes to good workstation ergonomic practice?

Managers, facility teams and advisers can often end up dealing with or being distracted by relatively trivial issues, or on a wild goose chase because of poorly defined risk ratings. If improved wellbeing or better ergonomics is simply a case of making an adjustment or cleaning a piece of equipment, is there any problem in guiding the user directly and empowering them to carry out actions themselves?

An online ergonomic self assessment can be adapted or designed to prompt these actions, to allow the user to inform those responsible that they have been recognised, resolved and corrected any potentially erroneous responses. This then leaves managers and assessors to concentrate their efforts on more serious issues that really do require an intervention from someone competent in ergonomic workstation and task design.

Just think how much time and money this could save in an organisation with multiple office, home and flexible workplaces and locations. If on average each user could close off two issues per assessment this could potentially save hundreds of hours which would otherwise be wasted on risk assessment follow ups. Hours that can be reinvested more productively elsewhere in the organisation.

For further information on our Display Screen Equipment solution or any other Health and Safety training topic click here

The study followed the introduction of our Display Screen Equipment (DSE) and User Workplace Assessment solution at information services firm ATOS, for whom 90% of employees are reported to use workstations for more than 80% of their time.

The online survey investigated the views of managers, DSE assessors and learners themselves. According to the study, 35% of managers said their teams had changed the way they worked, and 70% of them were confident their teams would adopt safe working practices after completing the e-learning and online workplace assessment.

As a result of the training, 90% of DSE assessors were satisfied that employees knew how to work safely with workstations; 67% had observed changes in working practices, and 89% felt user workplace assessments were beneficial to the business.

The survey also found that:

• 38% of learners felt changes they made as a result of training were beneficial to them;
• 24%of learners felt they were more productive as a result of these changes;
• 15% of managers felt their teams were more productive;
• 33%of DSE assessors observed an improvement in  work effectiveness; and
• 31% of managers agreed there was a reduction in the probability of employees being absent following training.

The case study supports our belief that online training interventions form an important part of any organisation’s Health and Safety culture.

For further information on our DSE solution or any other Health and Safety training topic click here