Workplace Health and Safety Signs

Workplace health and safety signs are essential examples of work-related information. To make sure employees, visitors and contractors are aware of health and safety issues, employers are required to clearly display relevant health and safety information.

 

Safety Signs

The Safety Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 (Chapter 1 of Part 7: Safety Signs at Places of Work) apply to safety signs. The colour and shape of the safety signs are specified in this piece of legislation. They are as follows:

• Prohibition: Red border and crossbar from top left to bottom right, on a white background (e.g., no smoking).
• Mandatory: Circular in shape with a white symbol on a blue background (e.g., wear ear protection).
• Safe Condition: Square or rectangular in shape, with a white symbol on a green background (e.g., first aid equipment).
• Warning: Yellow triangle with a black border (e.g., slippery floor).
• Information: Square or rectangular in shape, with a white symbol on a red background (e.g., fire extinguisher).

 

Additional Information

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has a number of useful resources. These resources can be accessed through the HSA website page Safety Signs.

 

Online Health and Safety Training

Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.

Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.

This is why we have established Myelearsafety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.

Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.

To find out more, please check our Courses page.

Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie

Allergenic Food Contamination

Allergenic food contamination can produce serious life threatening reactions in some people. Many people are allergic to certain foods, so you must always be aware of all the ingredients contained in the food served by your kitchen. For example, many pre-prepared foodstuffs such as ice cream contain eggs, and other foods contain traces of nuts. Be very careful when garnishing food, because even if a pre-prepared food type is allergen free, if it is garnished with chopped nuts it can become fatal to certain people.

 

Allergen Awareness Training

All members of staff must be trained in Allergen Awareness and observe the house rules. They should be able to recognise the symptoms of an allergic reaction. For a convenient fully online Managing Food Allergens course, please see eLearn Safety course on Managing Food Allergens. It is very important to make sure that food suppliers provide complete ingredient information. This is especially important if any changes to food ingredients are made. The best way to ensure your suppliers are compliant is having a robust and up-to-date Food Safety Management Systems in place. Some useful information can be found in eLearn Safety blog entry from 5th May 2023 titled Food Safety Management System (FSMS).

 

Consequences of Allergenic Food Contamination

Another important task of all food handlers is to listen carefully to customers. If an allergy sufferer asks for information about the ingredients of a certain food, it is essential that all involved in the food business have allergenic food contamination awareness so they can give an accurate response to their customers.

Naturally, there are some food handling establishments whose unique selling point is food that are classified as allergenic. Examples of such establishments are restaurants that serve sea food or dishes containing nuts. The most important word here is awareness – all staff must be aware of food ingredients in each dish. Likewise, customers must be aware that the seafood restaurant will most likely serve fish as a main offering.

Businesses cannot claim they don’t know what allergens are in the food they are serving or use ‘blanket-cover all’ expressions ‘food may contain allergens’ for all food they serve.

 

Anaphylactic Shock Symptoms

Allergic food contamination is a serious issue as allergies can cause an anaphylactic shock. Anaphylactic shock is life-threatening.

The symptoms include:

• Reddening of the skin, swelling of the lips and eyelids.
• Swelling of the throat, difficulty breathing and/or speaking.
• Feeling faint due to a serious drop in blood pressure.
• Nausea.
• Collapse and unconsciousness.

If someone suffers these symptoms, immediate medical attention must be provided. In addition, calling an ambulance is a must.

 

Allergenic Food Contamination – Food Allergens

There are 14 allergens that must be declared by law. These are:

1. Cereals containing gluten – wheat (such as spelt and khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats. Note: The cereal name, e.g., ‘wheat’, must be declared and highlighted, not ‘gluten’.
2. Crustaceans, e.g., crabs, prawns, lobsters.
3. Eggs.
4. Fish.
5. Peanuts.
6. Soybeans.
7. Milk.
8. Nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macademia/Queensland nut). Note: The name of the nut, e.g., ‘almond’, must be declared and highlighted, not ‘nuts’.
9. Celery.
10. Mustard.
11. Sesame seeds.
12. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites (at concentrations of more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/L in terms of total sulphur dioxide) – used as a preservative.
13. Lupin.
14. Molluscs e.g., mussels, oysters, squid, snails.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland published useful information in relation to Food Allergens on their web page titled Food Allergens – Advice for Consumers.

 

Online Food Safety Training

Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!

Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.

To find out more, please check our Courses page.

Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie

Equipment in the Workplace

Equipment in the workplace can be a cause for a serious accident. Unfortunately some of these accidents can be fatal. According to the Health and Safety Authority of Ireland (HSA) work equipment can be described as ‘any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation for use at work‘. This description is very broad and it demonstrates that the scope of work equipment is very extensive.

eLearn Safety offers a list of relevant courses that look into equipment in the workplace and its use. A solid starting course is Workplace Safety – Level 1. This course is ideal for every employee in any workplace that’s subject to Health and Safety Legislation. Safety in the workplace is everyone’s responsibility. It provides all employees who participate on this course with information on how to identify hazards and carry out simple risk assessments.

 

Equipment in the Workplace and the Law

The Safety Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations, 2007 sets out the requirements with regard to equipment in the workplace. It is impossible to list all the equipment that might be used in a workplace setting, but it generally includes the following:

• Plant – large fixed or mobile equipment such diggers, forklift trucks, tractors, cranes, etc.
• Machinery – seemingly harmless equipment such as printer machines, cookers, but also meat slicers, band saws, circular saws, etc.
• Tools – simple tools such as screwdrivers, knives, pliers, etc.

 

Employer and Employee Duties in Regard to Equipment in the Workplace

Both employers and employees have a number of duties under the 2005 Act in terms of equipment in the workplace. For a more comprehensive list of employer and employee duties please see HSA page titled Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. In broad terms we can describe duties as follows:

• Employers – have the responsibility to provide and maintain suitable and safe equipment in the workplace. An employer is also responsible for providing training and information on risks and precautions associated with use of the equipment in the workplace.
• Employees – have the responsibility to select the suitable machine/tool for the work to be undertaken, make sure they are trained in its use and operate the machine/tool according to the safe working procedures.

 

Main Dangers arising from the Equipment in the Workplace

Some of the dangers of the equipment in the workplace are:

• Traps and Entrapment – Moving equipment, such as presses and hydraulic jacks can trap body parts.
• Contact – Abrasions, bruising or friction burns can occur when people accidentally come into contact with moving parts.
• Impact – Moving parts may hit operators or the public if unguarded or badly sited.
• Ejection – Some unguarded equipment, e.g. drills and saws, may throw off bits of metal or wood.
• Entanglement – Moving machinery such as rollers, cogs and conveyors that can entangle hair, jewellery and clothes, even pulling whole bodies into machinery.

 

Controls

There are a number of controls that can be used to minimise dangers associated with the use of the equipment in the workplace. For additional information about Hierarchy of Controls, please see eLearn Safety blog entry from 24th February 2023 titled Workplace Hazards.

Guarding is often used as a method of controlling the risks associated with moving parts and machinery. Some guards act as a permanent barrier to prevent people from gaining access to a dangerous area. Other moveable types will prevent the machine from operating unless the guard is in place. It is important that guards and other safety features, such as emergency stop buttons and alarms are working correctly. If they are not, the machinery should not be used.

When selecting equipment in the workplace, it is important to choose the safest possible option for a work activity. All equipment must be CE marked and suitable for the task to be used for.

Some general rules for using any workplace equipment apply:

• Select the right equipment for the right job.
• Make sure the equipment is maintained and in good condition.
• Report broke, damaged or worn equipment to a supervisor.
• Only use equipment you have been trained to use.
• Use all equipment correctly.
• All equipment should be stored correctly after use.

All equipment in the workplace must be well maintained to ensure it is in safe working order. The maintenance should be carried out according to the manufacturer’s instructions by a competent person.

Equipment is only as safe as the person using it!

 

Online Health and Safety Training

Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.

Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.

This is why we have established Myelearsafety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.

Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.

To find out more, please check our Courses page.

Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie

 

Pressure and Gas at Work

Pressure and gas at work from a mains supply can be very dangerous. Gas from mains is an explosive hazard if not used correctly. In addition, poorly maintained systems can cause death from carbon monoxide poisoning. It is important to make sure anyone employed to work on gas appliances is a Registered Gas Installer (RGI). According to Gas Networks Ireland:

“A Registered Gas Installer is an installer or service engineer who has completed the required gas installation safety training, who has the necessary insurance to carry out gas installations to the legal standard and who is registered with the Register of Gas Installers of Ireland.”

You should never use an unregistered gas installer to carry out work on your gas appliances, such as gas boilers, no matter how seemingly convenient or tempting it may be. Not even if this unregistered engineer is Daniel O’Donnell.

Even if it’s Daniel – Registered Gas Installers 30 second TVC. Run time 30s.

 

Pressure Systems

A pressure vessel is a container that holds a liquid or gas under pressure. A pressure system is one or more such vessels including associated pipework. Examples of pressure systems include compressed air systems, boilers, steam heating systems and autoclaves. If a pressure system fails during operation it can kill or injure people in the area. In addition, a significant damage to the property can happen due to impact from the blast, debris from the explosion and fire from escaping flammable gases or liquids.

 

Gas Cylinders

Gas cylinders can cause the same injuries as pressure vessels should the cylinder fail or be damaged. In addition, they can cause manual handling injuries from lifting and carrying heavy cylinders and crush injuries should cylinders fail.

Basic handling precautions include:

• Securing cylinders upright so they do not fall.
• Keeping cylinders away from fire.
• Making sure cylinders are not dropped or banged.
• Moving larger cylinders with a special hand truck rather than dragging or rolling them.
• Always checking the identity of the gas before using it.

The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland (HSA) has a useful information page about gas titled Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Storage.

General Pressure and Gas at Work Controls

General controls when pressure and gas at work are in question include:

• Regular maintenance and correct repair from a competent person.
• Safe systems of work.
• Training and supervision.

 

Online Health and Safety Training

Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.

Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.

This is why we have established Myelearsafety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.

Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.

To find out more, please check our Courses page.

Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie