FM Ireland Conference – Shane Lynam Guest Speaker

FM Ireland

FM Ireland incorporates Health & Safety Ireland and Fire Safety Ireland. It is your opportunity to see and hear the latest in New Ideas, New Technologies, Best Practice, Products, Services, Suppliers and Solutions. These can help deliver safe and secure working environments that are cost effective, and which add value to an organisation.

As well as needing to be up to date with the latest relevant legislation (whether that be related to Health & Safety, Cleaning, Fire Safety, Working at Height, etc…) a modern Facility Manager with their team also have to address issues including Staff Well Being and creating an effective Work Space, which improves the well being of staff, this can have a direct impact on illness and staff retention.

As well as addressing all these issues the FM Ireland Conference will also look at how new technologies will impact the role of the Facilities Manager and the delivery of services. Whether that be drones to clean buildings and windows, autonomous robots designed to cut grass or clean floors, smart buildings and IOT delivering information on how the work space interacts with employees and occupants.

Source – FM Ireland 

Shane Lynam

Emergency safety procedures for your restaurant or bar

We at Elearn are always looking to share valuable information with our followers.  Light Speed have written a great blog on how every restaurant needs to be prepared for an emergency;

Every restaurant needs to be prepared for an emergency. To have an effective emergency plan and you need to know the types of threats your restaurant is vulnerable to. But even after completing a risk assessment for your building and creating detailed safety procedures, you still have to make sure that the plan can be executed in the moment of truth. In order to get the most out of your emergency safety procedures, be sure to that you take the following advice to heart.

Perform effective drills

It is important to keep up to date on emergency preparation. The restaurant industry has changed a lot in the last 10 years, and that has demanded changes that could leave some security planning outdated. Updated floor plans, seating arrangements and server training can all affect an emergency plan. Or at least it should. Your planning should be specific enough that changes to any of these variables will need to be addressed. In order to know if your strategy is too vague or outdated, you need to test it.

Emergency procedure drills should be run with some level of frequency. And if things about the restaurant change, drills need to happen as soon as possible. These drills can be run before opening, or after closing, so customers and daily operations are not affected. The key to making these drills effective is to take them seriously.

Make sure to:

• Check doors to make sure they are opening properly
• Test lights to see if they are secured and providing the necessary visibility … Continue reading 

Related courses

• Fire Safety Awareness / 2 hours / €35  – Course details here
• Food Safety HACCP 1 / 1-4 hours / €34 – Course details here 
• Manual Handling Awareness / 2-3 hours / €50 – Course details here

Safety Representatives – Why do you need them and what do they do?

Why do you need a Safety Representatives?

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005

It applies to all employers, employees (including fixed-term and temporary employees) and self-employed people in their workplaces. The Act sets out the rights and obligations of both employers and employees and provides for substantial fines and penalties for breaches of the health and safety legislation.

Section 25

Under Section 25 of the 2005 Act, all employees are entitled to select a safety representative to represent them on safety and health matters with their employer.

Section 26

Section 26 of this Act requires the employer to consult with employees to ensure cooperation with preventing accidents and ill health and in turn the workers can consult with their employer. Section 26 sets out the arrangements for this consultation on a range of safety and health issues.

Where a safety committee is already in existence, it can be used for this consultation process.

Regulation 23

Under Regulation 23 of the Construction Regulations where more than 20 persons are employed at any one time on a construction site, the project supervisor for the construction stage must facilitate the appointment of a safety representative.

Source – HSA.ie

What does a Safety Representative do?

Representative

Now you have assigned the role of the Safety officer, they are now representations on behalf of their members to their employer on any health and safety matter. The representative also represents their members in consultations with health and safety executive inspectors or other enforcing authorities.

Inspections

Safety representatives, after giving notice to the employer, have the right to inspect the whole or part of a workplace that they represent at a schedule agreed between them and the employer, based on the nature and extent of the hazards. A safety representative also has the right to inspect immediately where an accident or dangerous occurrence has taken place, or where there is an imminent danger or risk to the safety, health and welfare of any person. The frequency of these inspections depends on a number of factors:

• Changes to the building or layout
• The nature of work activities
• The nature of work locations
• Size of the workplace

Safety Representatives should be given learning resources and from that they will be able to ascertain the frequency of these inspections. If you are having difficulty with providing learning resources to your appointed Safety Representatives we have developed an Office Safety Package that can be tailored to your companies needs, we can also provide a bespoke package for you, just get in contact by emailing info@elearn.ie  or calling us on +353 1 693 1421.

Other responsibilities

• Recommendations – Make recommendations to the employer on safety, health and welfare at the place of work
• WorkPlace Accidents – The employer may request the Safety Representative be present when the inspector interviews an employee about an accident or dangerous occurrence that took place.
• Inspector – The Safety Representative may be asked to accompany an inspector carrying out an inspection under Section 64 of the 2005 Act, other than the investigation of an accident or dangerous occurrence, although this may be allowed at the discretion of the inspector.

If you have any further questions about Safety Representatives please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us.

Free Poster – CPL Regulation Classification and Labelling

We at Elearn are always looking to share valuable information with our followers. The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland have a handy poster that explains the classification and labelling and packaging of chemical substances. This Poster clearly explains the elements of The CPL Regulation.

What is The CPL Regulation?

The GHS has been implemented in the EU by Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (the ‘CLP Regulation’). The CLP Regulation entered into force on 20 January 2009. The deadline for substance classification according to the new rules was 1 December 2010; for mixtures, the deadline is 1 June 2015. The CLP Regulation replaces previous rules on classification, labelling and packaging of substances (Directive 67/548/EEC) and preparations (Directive 1999/45/EC) after this transitional period.

In line with the GHS standard, CLP allows for the identification of hazardous chemicals and the communication of these hazards to users through labelling. It also provides the basis for safety data sheets (SDS) regulated under the REACH Regulation, and sets requirements for the packaging of hazardous chemicals.

Source – https://ec.europa.eu

Poster Link – CLP Poster 1 (A4 size) – Classification and Labelling elements

Check out our Chemical Safety blog – How chemicals enter and effect the body

Precautionary advice on cooking frozen vegetables

This article was originally posted by Food Standards Agency

Cooking Frozen Vegetables

People should always follow manufacturers’ instructions when preparing their food. If the product is not labelled as “ready to eat”, the cooking instructions should always be followed before eating the food hot or cold.

Frozen sweetcorn is the likely source of an ongoing outbreak of listeriosis affecting five European countries including the United Kingdom. Listeriosis is a rare but serious foodborne illness caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes that can be more serious for those individuals who have… continue reading 

Hidden Health and Safety Costs that are Easily Avoidable

VDU DSE

VDU or Video Display Units  and DSE or Display screen equipment are now widely used in the workplace and have been proven to be a significant factor to workplace injuries such as;

• Repetitive strain
• Eye Strain
• Back Injury
• Neck Injury
• Stress

Along with these injuries, it can also decrease productivity of employees if they are not comfortable in work and are developing injuries. As well as reducing these sometimes hidden and underestimated health and safety costs, carrying out a VDU DSE assessment has also been proven to contribute to business success. As well as general duties under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, there is a minimum health and safety requirements for work with display screen equipment, specific duties on employers and employees.

Who is affected?

Those who are covered by the VDU DSE regulations include;

• If the employee has no choice but to use the VDU to carry out her/his work
• If the employee normally uses the VDU for continuous periods of more than one hour
• If the VDU is generally used by the employee on a daily basis

Those who are not covered by the DSE and VDU regulations include;

• Drivers’ cabs or control cabs for vehicles or machinery
• Computer systems on board a means of transport
• Computer systems mainly intended for public use
• Portable display screen equipment not in prolonged use at a workstation
• Calculators, cash registers and any equipment having a small data or measurement display required for direct use of the equipment
• Typewriters of traditional design, of the type known as “typewriter with window”

Source – HSA

Solution

Employers are required to evaluate health and safety at work stations with particular references to eyesight, physical difficulties and mental stress. Work station analysis is an important component of ensuring a safe place of work for all employees.

At Elearn we provide a VDU DSE Office course that all employers and staff who use these work stations for any length of time should do to learn how to avoid the range of adverse effects on the arm, hand and shoulder (WRULD’s) and other parts of the body. Click here to find out more information.

Why is it important to have Food Safety training?

Every restaurant needs to take pride in serving safe and great food to their customers. It is one of the most important focuses in all food establishments. A thorough understanding of food safety is essential for food handlers to demonstrate food hygiene best practice, to prevent risk of contamination or foodborne illnesses. Food handlers and food businesses are responsible for the safety of the food that they provide to consumers. Their responsibilities include ensuring food is safe for consumption, and that its quality meets expectations.

The different types of foodborne illnesses

Chemical contamination

Chemical contaminants may be harmful to health at certain levels. It is necessary to manage their levels in food and reduce exposure to consumers. This type refers to food that been contaminated with some type of chemical. Chemical contaminants can enter the food chain from multiple sources. Contamination can occur during primary production from various environmental sources including:

• Pollution
• Waste from factories
• Landfills
• Incinerators
• Fires
• During cooking and processing
• Storage – mycotoxins
• Transportation and handling
• Time, temperature and humidity

Common types of chemicals are in cleaning products you use to clean the kitchen. However there are certain chemicals that occur naturally in food. There are many natural chemicals present in our foods, including nutrients such as vitamin C as well as chemicals responsible for the aroma and flavour that we love in our foods. Natural food chemicals may also be poisonous to humans, which is why some plants are poisonous to eat.

Physical contamination

This type refers to contamination by a foreign object at some stage of the production process. These objects have the ability to injure someone and can also potentially carry harmful biological contaminants, which causes illness. Examples of physical contamination include;

• Band-aids
• Fingernails
• Pieces of cooking equipment

These are the last thing you would like to find on your meal. That is why all bandaids must be bright blue by people working with food so it is easily identifiable as its an unnatural colour in the food industry.

Biological contamination

This type refers to the food that has been contaminated by substances produced by living creatures, such as humans, rodants, pests or microorganisms. This includes bacterial contamination, viral contamination or parasite contamination that’s transferred through;

• Salvia
• Pest droppings
• Blood
• Fecal matter

Baterial contamination is thought to be the most common cause of food poisoning worldwide. Bacteria need a constant source of food to survive, especially protein. High protein foods such as meat are particularly vulnerable to biological contamination from bacteria, which means they’re considered high-risk foods.

If you are looking to get qualified in Food Safety (HACCP)  have a look at our course breakdown here.

Health and Safety checklist for SME’s

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 – All employers are required to follow this legalisation by law. The sole purpose of occupational health and safety law is to reduce the number of workplace injuries or deaths, the vast majority of which can be easily prevented by taking very straightforward safety precautions.

Under Section 8 of the Act the employer has a duty to ensure employees’ safety, health and welfare at work as far as is reasonably practicable. In order to prevent workplace injuries and ill-health the employer is required, among other things, to:

• Provide and maintain a safe workplace which uses safe plant and equipment
• Prevent risks from use of any article or substance and from exposure to physical agents, noise and vibration
• Prevent any improper conduct or behaviour likely to put the safety, health and welfare of employees at risk
• Provide instruction and training to employees on health and safety
• Provide protective clothing and equipment to employees
• Appointing a competent person as the organisation’s Safety Officer

Source – Citizen’s Information

Checklist: Work safety procedures

Assign a Safety officer

The Safety Officer is responsible for monitoring and assessing hazardous and unsafe situations and developing measures to assure personnel safety. Having someone assigned to this role will bring focus to ongoing procedures and best practices.

Identify hazards

Identify any hazard by carrying out a workplace assessment with your newly appointed Safety Officer. From this determine how employees might be at risk and evaluate these risks. If possible eradicate this hazards immediately and record and review these hazards at least once annually.

Educate and train workers

Ideally everyone in the office should be able to use a fire extinguisher, not just the Safety officer. Holding demonstrations is a great way for workers to feel confident while using extinguishers, especially in the event of a fire where nerves are high. A simple way to do this is to use the PASS method;

• P – Pull the pin on the extinguisher.
• A – Aim the hose nozzle low toward the base of the fire.
• S – Squeeze the handle to release the extinguishing agent.
• S – Sweep the nozzle from side to side at the base of the flames until extinguished.

Fire exits and procedures

Educate your staff about where the fire exits are and where they are to go in an event of a fire or other evacuation types for example; gas leaks, chemical leaks or equipment malfunctions.

Provide a First Aid box

The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide adequate and appropriate equipment, facilities and personnel to ensure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill at work. These Regulations apply to all workplaces including those with less than five employees and to the self-employed. Source – HSE 

The HSA have prepared  Guidelines on First Aid at Places of Work  as part of the Guide to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations.

Benefits of Elearning

The way we learn, consume and digest information is forever changing and improving. Elearning has significantly changed the way we learn and we teach. There are many benefits of Elearning for students;

1. Independence & Flexibility 

Lectures can be taken be taken at your own pace, you define your own speed. Its a very convenient and flexible option, you don’t have to depend on anyone. Lectures are not going to be canceled or rescheduled as with some classroom environments. Unlike classrooms, if you miss the day or hour of that lesson being taught, unfortunately you have just missed it. With elearning you can take the class any day at any time at your own pace.

2. Quick delivery of Lessons

Lessons start up and finish quickly compared to a traditional classroom setting. Lessons are kept on track, there is no set up and winding down period. This allows the individual to complete a series of lessons or a course much quicker. Learners learn what they need to know and can skip elements of the subject matter that they don’t need to learn, saving more time.

3. Lectures can be taken multiple times

If you didn’t understand something or found the lesson confusing in any way, you can go back and keep learning until you fully understand, then you can move onto the next lesson. There is ongoing access to key resources. 

4. Content is not stale or outdated

Depending on the subject, lecturers might not be up to date with the latest content or technology as they are not working in the industry. Because of the competition in the Elearning industry it has set very high standards for courses. 

5. Reduced cost and time and travel

The biggest cost of training and courses in organisations and individuals is the cost of attending the training course, rather then the direct delivery costs in terms of trainers, course materials, travel and time.  This is especially evident with companies or individuals working or living in remote locations.  There is also a reduction in cost for breaks and meals; For breaks the cost of your time might be better spent on something else especially if its a night course and you are trying to get home. You may go to a cafe or buy lunch or dinner during a break which are sometimes unexpected costs. 

6. Environment

Digital learning is an effective way to significantly reduce energy usage and your carbon footprint by up to 90%. It cuts down on travel, eliminates the need for paper or textbooks, and reduces the resources needed to maintain a facility, accommodation and equipment.