Most people use some form of electricity in the workplace daily. It is this familiarity that leads to carelessness with electricity and a disregard for the risks associated with it. Common issues are overloading electricity outlets, maintaining electrical equipment while it is still connected to the power supply, using plugs fitted with the wrong fuse and using equipment that does not have a fused plug fitted.
Electricity can affect the worker in a number of ways:
The risk of injury from electricity is strongly linked to where and how it is used. In addition, there is greater risk in wet and/or damp conditions.
Once the human body comes into contact with the electricity, it can be impossible to let go of the source of electricity. If the person who is in touch with electricity gets touched by another person, the electricity will flow through the other person as well. The human body is a good conductor of electricity.
Every electric shock has the potential to kill!
This incident was reported in the UK by the Health and Safety Executive.
Refrigerated display cabinet in a café
A 19-year-old man was electrocuted and killed when he touched a refrigerated display cabinet in a café. Investigation showed that the 13A plug had been incorrectly refitted to the cabinet’s main lead.
This meant the metalwork of the cabinet, which should have been safe to touch, was dangerously live at mains voltage. The man’s sister received two shocks from the cabinet before realising what had happened to her brother.
How to avoid similar accidents
You must ensure that your electrical installation and equipment is safe. Don’t cut corners – electrical installations must be installed by someone who has the necessary training, skills and experience to carry out the work safely.
To ensure safe use of electrical equipment:
Electrical cables, flexes, tools and equipment should be regularly checked and faults reported. Portable appliances should be checked periodically by a competent person.
A high percentage of faults with electrical equipment can be found by just looking at it. Everyone can play a role in improving safety by making quick visual checks of the equipment they use.
When carrying out preventive maintenance things to look for are:
If any of these faults, or any other unusual state of the equipment can be noticed, a qualified person should undertake any necessary repairs. No electrical equipment should be used if there is any sign of damage.
Additional information can be found on Health and Safety Authority website and their Electricity pages.
A shock occurs when an electrical current passes through the body. This can interfere with the body’s own electrical impulses and may cause the heart or breathing to stop. Burns may be seen where the current enters and exits the body. There may also be deep internal damage which cannot be seen along the path of the current.
In the event of someone suffering an electric shock:
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
Effective Health and Safety management in the workplace is an important element of every organisation. Every year, accidents at work cost the Irish industry billions of euros. The effects of the injuries sustained vary from minor to major injuries. In some cases, employees will be needing an extended period of time off work. In other cases they will never be able to work again. Unfortunately, in some cases they will receive injuries that would be fatal. The fact is, many of these accidents are avoidable and should have not happened.
Much of Health and Safety relies on ensuring that the appropriate risk precautions are in place. Additional information about workplace hazards are available in our blog entry from 21 April 2023 Workplace Accidents and Their Prevention. If individuals are aware of potential hazards and adopt safe working practices, they can control the risks and reduce the number of accidents and injuries.
The work-related injuries include any injuries incurred by workers in the course of their work. These injuries can range from minor injuries to the most serious injuries that resulted in death. According to the Health and Safety Authority of Ireland and the Health and Safety Statistics they publish, the following is workplace fatalities statistics for years 2017 – 2022:
There have been 230 fatalities in Ireland since 2017.
Health and Safety in the workplace is an important aspect of any organisation. All work related fatalities are preventable through vigilance and effective Health and Safety management. All employees and persons affected by business activities deserve to go home after their work day has ended.
Whilst not all workplace accidents result in death, the majority of them will result in an injury. Common causes of accident in the workplace are often:
Work related activities can also be responsible for diseases and ill health. These, in some cases, can have long term, irreversible effects. For example:
These hazards can be controlled by assessing risks and putting in effective controls. Effective health and Safety practices will not only minimise the pain and personal consequences to individual employees, but also reduce the financial impact on employers and services funded by the taxpayer.
The costs on the business for ineffective Health and Safety in the Workplace can be significant:
These, however, can fade into insignificance when weighed against the human cost:
Safe working conditions are a prerequisite for a healthy and productive workforce.
The Health and Safety Authority reported on 26th June 2023 that the company was fined €750,000 after fatal fall from height in workplace. The fatal incident occurred when a worker stepped onto a fragile surface. The fragile surface that sealed a vertical service duct which gave way and the worker fell from a height.
Mark Cullen, Assistant Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority, commented, “Where there is a known risk in a workplace, in this case working from height, employers in control of that workplace have a duty to ensure that the appropriate precautions are in place. This will protect employees and others who may be carrying out work activity at the place of work under their control. Failure by the employer in this case has led to the tragic death of a worker. We urge employers to carry out risk assessments and engage with their employees and others to ensure that incidents like this one are prevented.”
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
Workplace accidents and their prevention are key priorities of anyone at work – employers and employees alike. Prevention of workplace accidents helps organisations prevent injuries and ill-health at work, damage to property, lost of productivity. In addition, workplace accident may cause significant legal issues. whilst accidents are usually regarded as unplanned and uncontrolled events, this is often not the case,. The truth is that many accidents can be avoided. An accident is an incident that may cause:
Each workplace has certain hazards associated with its operation. Being aware of these hazards and the control of associated risks is essential for accident prevention. You can find out about workplace hazards in our Workplace Hazards blog entry form 24 February 2023.
There are three factors that can cause problems in the workplace:
It is vital that all managing staff creates a positive attitude to health and safety matters and to make sure all members of the team take health and safety seriously. Everyone in the workplace must follow safe working procedures and must report safety issues and defects.
Employers need to be made aware of occurrences so they can be prevented from happening again. All accidents, including near misses and all incidents and ill-health must be reported. This is so these events could be investigated and corrective action taken. This is however not to ‘punish’ anyone involved, but to prevent the accident happening again and to learn from it. Employees have a legal duty to report occurrences to their employer.
Accidents and incidents can be reported in the form of of an Accident Book, which should contain, for example, the following information:
Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2016 all employers and self-employed persons are legally obliged to report the injury of an employee as a result of an accident while at work. Injuries must be reported if an employee is unable to carry out their normal work for more than three consecutive days, excluding the day of the accident.
The injury at the workplace can be reported:
The number of fatal incidents for 2020 was reported as 54. There were 38 work-related fatal incidents in 2021.
In 2021, 8,279 non-fatal injuries were reported to the Authority, an increase of 8% from the 7,652 reported in 2020. This may be due in part to revived economic activity in 2021 following the partial relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions. Of the 8,279 non-fatal injuries reported in 2021, 97% related to workers. The highest number was reported in the NACE economic sector of Human Health and Social Work Activities, which accounted for over 22% of all incidents. For non-worker incidents, the highest number was reported in Wholesale and Retail Trade (118) representing 46% of all non-worker injuries.
Workplace Injuries, Illnesses and Fatalities (2020–2021) – Full Report.
Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure 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
Personal Protective Equipment, or short PPE, is according to the Hierarchy of Risk Controls the last control method used to control risk. According to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA):
“Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) means any device or appliance designed to be worn or held by an individual for protection against one or more health and safety hazards. Respiratory Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) is a particular type of Personal Protective Equipment, used to protect the individual wearer against inhalation of hazardous substances in the workplace air.”
In other words, PPE includes any equipment or clothing intended to be held or worn by people at work to offer protection against identified problems.
Where more than one item of PPE is required to be used simultaneously, e.g. hearing defenders and safety helmet, the items must be compatible and must not interfere with the level of protection offered by the individual items. Many manufacturers offer integrated systems which might be used provided they abide to certain rules.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE ) must be provided free of charge by employers – employers cannot pass on to employees any financial costs associated with duties relating to safety, health and welfare at work.
Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 , Part 2 Chapter 3 covers Use of Personal Protective Equipment at work. Broadly speaking all Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) must:
Personal protective Equipment (PPE) must meet certain EU requirements and standards which confirm it meets specified safety and various test criteria. Generally PPE that carries CE mark will meet these criteria.
European Union (Personal Protective Equipment) Regulations 2018 provide that PPE may not be placed on the market or brought into service unless it complies with basic health and safety requirements. It is deemed to be in conformity with the Regulations if it bears the CE mark”.
It should always be remembered that PPE does not change the hazard in any way. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) offers protection for the wearer only.
When a Risk Assessment indicates that PPE should be used, it is important to choose the right type to protect different parts of the body.
Some of the types of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are:
Personal protective Equipment (PPE) should only be used if the hazard cannot be controlled any other way.
All employees required to use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) must be provided with suitable information, instruction and training (including training in the use, care or maintenance of PPE) to enable them to make proper and effective use of any PPE provided for their protection.
For additional guidance on the requirements of the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations, please refer to the relevant Personal Protective Equipment Guidance to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007.
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
