Chemical spills can have serious, and sometimes devastating, consequences including human health issues, environmental pollution, structural building damage or contamination, and threats to corporate image and reputation.
Emergency procedures should be in place to provide a safe response by trained teams of staff, contractors or emergency services, using appropriate personal protective equipment to tackle any leak or seepage of dangerous substances or hazardous chemicals.
Our range of chemical hazard warning signs can be used to identify the type of risk posed by such chemicals including toxicity, flammability, explosion or corrosion. Thus, the risks can be assessed from chemical contact with skin or eyes, causing irritation or burns, or from internal injuries caused by inhalation or ingestion. The personal protective equipment, such as gloves, goggles, clothing and respirators should be used before tackling any spill, and first aid should be available to treat any contaminated personnel.
Our spill kit signs can be used to provide contact details for spill supervisors, and the emergency services. These cover different types of chemicals; non-aggressive fluids and oil or fuel (on land); oil or fuel on land and water; and aggressive fluids such as acids and alkalis. They cover the types of containment and neutralising agents for dispersal and disposal. One key task is to prevent chemical release to the atmosphere, water course or to soil. Spill areas can be cordoned off using our barrier tapes to prevent other workers or the general public from entry.
In addition, our dangerous substance storage containment signs can itemise chemicals, waste and any special waste, to allow emergency staff to assess the immediate risks.
As of late, the health and safety culture has come under fire from a number of angles due to some rather questionable 'health and safety' stories making the national press. Indeed, over the past few months the papers have been full of peculiar decisions by businesses which are reportedly due to health and safety - including Newcastle racecourse banning picnics due to visitors' chairs supposedly presenting a health and safety issue. Similarly, it was reported that factory workers in Plymouth were left in tears after their wedding rings were cut off due to health and safety.
To many, these decisions seem unfair, unjust and perhaps even a little bit silly. Many have spoken out about how our health and safety culture has 'gone mad' or is 'ruining childhood'. The truth is, however, that it isn't the health and safety culture which has run amok - rather, it is the businesses who are willing to use health and safety as an excuse for their decisions. The health and safety blame game has developed in such a way that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has developed a myth-busting panel who will independently challenge advice or decisions supposedly made in the name of health and safety they believe to be inaccurate or disproportionate.
Indeed, the HSE Myth Busters have spoken out about some ludicrous decisions made in the name of health and safety - including the Newcastle racecourse example we mentioned at the beginning of this blog - condemning these decisions, and stating that in fact these decisions have not been made in the name of health and safety.
As well as being damaging to the HSE's reputation, the health and safety blame game also presents us with a further problem with regards to health and safety itself. Blaming business decisions on health and safety is extremely damaging to health and safety as a whole; there are health and safety rules and legislations for any business and indeed almost any public place, and the rules are in place to save lives, protect safety and minimise any risk. It is vital that health and safety legislations are respected and followed - otherwise, we could be at risk of an increase in accidents and, potentially, fatalities.
Purchase your Safety Signs to make sure your place of work is complying with the health and safety legislations here.
COSHH stands for Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health. COSHH is a set of regulations that, since 2002, has governed the use of hazardous substances and chemicals in the UK.
The regulations were put into place so as to protect workers and other people from potentially dangerous substances. They state that employers must not expose their staff to such substances without first carrying out a risk assessment and taking steps to minimise the danger.
This can mean making changes that will make the substances themselves safer (e.g. using solids rather than liquids to prevent splashes and spills), but it also means identifying and labelling hazards so that everyone is aware of them.
This should be achieved through the use of COSHH-approved signs and tapes, which are specifically designed to effectively warn of substance-related dangers. These clearly marked and highly visible warning products can alert workers to a variety of hazards, including:
- Flammable goods
- Toxic substances
- Corrosives and irritants
- Biohazards
- Radioactive materials
COSHH signs should also be used to...
- ...remind workers of the appropriate precautions (e.g. keeping doors shut)
- ...advise the use of PPE
- ...warn of the presence of hazardous substances
- ...give additional information on the safe use of these substances
The COSHH regulations are designed to keep you, your employees, and everyone around you safe. Please visit the HSE website for further details, or select one of the links below to see our range of COSHH safety products.
Contaminated land poses a number of safety issues ranging from impact on human and animal health, infection of soil, plants and fauna, and pollution of surface water or groundwater.
These sites of former industrial activity such as steelworks, refineries, mines or factories leaving residues of heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium; or mines and landfill sites producing methane gas; or special sites blighted with asbestos, radioactive substances or explosives.
These site pose dangers to workers, contractors and the general public from exposure to carcinogen and mutagenic elements through breathing or skin contact; from the ingestion of plants or vegetation ; damage to aquatic stock through soil contamination leaching into water courses, as well as other risks from corrosive, explosive or flammable waste; or asphyxiation from gases.
These zones need to be clearly marked to deter entry, and to warn of the hazards and dangers from entry into designated contaminated land sites.
Over the past year or so, it appears that the health and safety culture has been heavily scrutinised both in the press and by the public. Health and safety is being blamed for questionable decisions in the workplace left right and centre, which has called for the Health and Safety Executive to call for putting a stop on the health and safety blame game. We recently wrote a blog post about this titled 'Is Health and Safety Taking the Blame' discussing all these points, and since then it appears health and safety have come under fire yet again.
This time, the focus is around health and safety ruining childhood. In this piece in The Telegraph Judith Hackitt, head of the Health and Safety Executive called for children not to be wrapped in cotton wool, stating that they must be allowed to hurt themselves during play to avoid them becoming 'risk naive' in later life.
In another Telegraph piece, TV personality Bear Grylls has claimed that the health and safety culture is ruining childhood. He argues that children should be banned from playing computer games and should take more risks in the outdoors.
Indeed, both articles make good points about the digital world we live in. It's undeniable that spending too much time in front of a laptop of TV screens is detrimental to children - and we completely agree that there is such a wealth of experience and knowledge gained by playing outdoors and actually engaging face to face with your peers. Children should go out and play whilst still taking advantage of the incredible and educational technological developments we're fortunate enough to experience. They should be allowed to experience things first hand in the great outdoors...But is health and safety culture ruining childhood? We certainly don't think so.
On the contrary, in fact. The importance of health and safety legislations should be ingrained in our children from a young age. It's very important we don't turn children against the health and safety culture because it will be so dramatically important for them in life. Indeed, whether you work on a construction site or in an office - every business establishment has set health and safety legislations which are put in place to protect our lives, and indeed the lives of others.
It is far too often that we hear of tragic accidents in the workplace due to breaches of health and safety - either resulting in serious injury or at the worst case, death. Companies are being sued for thousands of pounds weekly due to not complying with health and safety - though we completely agree occasionally people will use health and safety as an excuse for a bad decision - it is vital that legislations are respected and followed.
We think that children should be allowed to be children and encouraged to grow and play outdoors, but they should be urged to respect the health and safety rules and legislations put in place to protect them. What do you think? We'd love to hear your views! Tweet us @LabelSourceUK to continue the discussion.
