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OCTOBER 2013 PRO INSTALLER
PRO BUSINESS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
ARE YOUR FIRST
AID PROCEDURES
IN GOOD HEALTH?
First aid legislation
can be confusing and
with the majority of
businesses forced to
self-regulate, many
organisations are failing to meet the legal
requirements according to a warning from
workplace equipment
supplier Slingsby.
Under The Health and
Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 employers must
provide ‘adequate and
appropriate’ first-aid equipment, facilities and training
so that anyone who has an
accident can receive immediate help.
on specific hazards. Plus
all employers should have
at least one trained first
aider, although businesses
in high-risk industries and
those with large numbers of
employees require considerably more.
Lee Wright, Marketing Director at Slingsby, explains:
“Every workplace has to undertake a thorough assessment of first-aid needs on a
regular basis and someone
needs to be made respon-
sible for first-aid. Typically,
the appointed person will
look after all first aid equipment and be responsible
for calling the emergency
services in the event of an
accident.”
Lee adds: “It’s important to
make all employees aware
of the first aid procedures
and notices should be
displayed explaining where
first aid equipment is kept
and who the relevant people are to administer it.”
CUTS TO RED
TAPE MARK
‘FREEDOM
DAY’ FOR UK
BUSINESSES
Business Minister Michael Fallon announced good
news for the growth prospects of UK companies as
more common sense cuts to red tape are implemented.
The reforms are part of the government’s drive to make the UK the best
place to start and grow a business.
Major reforms to reduce burdens on employers include:
• freeing responsible employers from being
held liable for workplace accidents and
injuries where they have taken all reasonable steps to protect their employees,
through reforms to civil liability rules for
breaches of health and safety law
• simplifying the mandatory reporting of
workplace injuries for businesses, while
ensuring that the data collected gives an
accurate picture of workplace incidents
• improving third party harassment legislation, so that employers will no longer be
explicitly liable for third party harassment
of staff, for example by customers or
member of the public
‘Every workplace
has to undertake
a thorough
assessment of
first-aid needs’
As part of this legislation all workplaces must
provide a first aid box
that is appropriate to the
number of employees and
suitably stocked depending
• removing the requirement for the Health
and Safety Executive to approve training
and qualifications of appointed first-aid
personnel
• simplifying company reporting requirements, including replacing a raft of redundant and unnecessary statutory forms
with more flexible systems that are better
suited to business needs
• Primary Authority extended to cover more
regulations and be more accessible to
small businesses
Business Minister Michael Fallon said: “For
small firms, less time spent filling in forms
means more time planning the next project,
winning the next contract or looking for the
next young recruit.”
Construction Industry Boom Could Be
Strangled By Lack Of Skilled Labour
Antony Rowe, managing director of Barker
Ross Recruitment,
talks about his experience of the recruitment market in construction and building
so far this year: “The
construction industry
is improving and I have
no hesitation in saying
that the sector is back
on track.
“As a recruiter, it is great
to see the job market
improving compared to
the past few years, but we
may now be faced with
a new problem, a lack of
skilled labour. We have
to work harder than ever
to fill client’s vacancies as
skilled construction workers have left the industry
or retired and, because
of the downturn, the new
generation haven’t entered
the sector.
“We have started to see
more permanent positions
becoming available, which
is another sign of confidence returning, as clients
are keen to secure the best
people for the long term.
We are starting to also
see the demand for highly
skilled labour increasing
for both the civil engineering and construction
sectors.
“However, seven years
of low levels of activity
has driven people to seek
jobs outside the industry
and also not encouraged
young people to train in
the trades we need. In a
recent survey of leading
construction companies by
industry analysts Glenigan,
it emerged that the key
fear in the construction
industry was the shortage
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