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Minor Accidents and Near Misses

Safety Matters is back… For the first time since September 2014, we had to suspend the publication of “Safety Matters” due to operational reasons. A briefing pack of bulletins and alerts was sent out, and we hope that this in some way assisted with your cascade briefings. This month, “Safety Matters” is back with the usual round of news and stories to keep you up to date with what has been taking place across the company. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has submitted articles, ideas and information in the past that has been used to produce “Safety Matters”. Your input has really helped to keep this publication going. If you have anything that you would like published, then please send it to me at the following address. [email protected] I will look forwards to publishing more of your articles in future editions.

7/4/16 – Peel Common Roundabout – An operative tripped and fell on uneven ground causing and injury to their knee. 10/4/16 – East Ramp Upgrade – A D&B works group were found to be working unsafely in a live highway. The works vehicle was repositioned to provide additional safety protection to the area. 11/4/16 – Aldermaston Road – Tipper drivers removed traffic management measures leaving the closed lane open to traffic. 11/4/16 – Rodbourne Rd – A metal fragment blew into an operative’s eye (under their protective glasses) causing pain and discomfort which needed hospital treatment. 11/4/16 – Alumhurst Road – An unplanned adaption was made to the traffic management arrangements on site causing a hazard to approaching road users. 12/4/16 – Temple Quay – An excavator struck and damaged an electricity cable on site which was not shown on the plans or identified during the CAT and Genny survey.

Steven Broom Director of SHEQ and Training

13/4/16 – Peel Common Roundabout – An operative was carrying lightweight components into the compound when they tripped and fell damaging their knee ligaments.

Safety performance – April

14/4/16 – CP12 Airlock – An operative hand slipped off of a spanner and struck a nearby structure causing pain and swelling.

Accident Frequency Rate – 0.147 Reportable Accidents or Incidents 19/4/16 – Rail Minor Works – An operative stepped down off of the step at the back of the works vehicle and placed their foot into a poorly reinstated pot hole. This caused their ankle to turn over violently and as a result, the force transferred into to their leg which caused a fracture to a bone in their lower leg (fibula). This injury is classed as a Major injury which has been investigated and reported to the Health and Safety Executive.

Unchartered Services Report During April there were 6 reports of unchartered services being encountered on site which were not damaged.

14/4/16 – Cynghordy Viaduct – The lance of the pressure washer fell off of the scaffold and landed in the exclusion zone. 19/4/16 – GAL FOD Fencing – An operative sustained a cut to their forearm when the hand saw they were using slipped whilst cutting a post. 19/4/16 – Gatwick Yard – The yardman shut the door of the gas cage which was damaged. The door sprung back striking the yardman’s hand causing pain and swelling. 20/4/16 – Boundary Road – A pot ended cable from an old control unit was struck and damaged during mechanical excavation works on site. The cable was not shown on the plans and did not show up during the CAT and Genny survey.

Safe by choice ….not by chance    02380 742222       [email protected]       www.dyerandbutler.co.uk 

25/4/16 – CP12 Airlock – An excavator window smashed when a piece of asphalt flicked up and struck the window of the machine.

Quick thinking prevent disaster at Ruscombe Bridge

27/4/16 – Aldermaston Road – Whilst moving a temporary traffic signal, it overbalanced and fell into the live traffic lane.

Whilst carrying out works at Ruscombe Bridge near Reading, a Dyer & Butler gang noticed a train approaching their worksite that was emitting smoke from one of the carriages.

New temporary works and design management procedures

The COSS, Dave Lewis immediately contacted the Signaller to advise them of the incident and whilst on the phone, the train came to a stop just past their worksite.

Recently a suite of new procedures, forms and guidance notes covering design management and temporary works have been published within the Company Management System. These procedures must be implemented on all new projects and where relevant, they should be implemented on all existing projects and frameworks within the next 3 months. If any further guidance is required, the Design Manager, Nick Law should be contacted.

Dave was then able to relay the details of the incident to the Signaller who immediately blocked all of the adjacent lines and summoned the emergency services. Once the Signaller had confirmed that the adjacent lines were blocked, Dave and the team gathered up the fire extinguishers that were available on site and assisted the driver of the train to attend to the fire whilst awaiting the arrival of the emergency services.

Construction playtime at Rowledge Primary School Dyer & Butler have recently donated some construction equipment and safety clothing from the Queens Road Roundabout Project in Farnborough to Rowledge Primary School in Farnham to allow the school to set up a construction play area in the playground. After a short amount of time, the fire was extinguished without any risk to the passengers on the train and after the emergency services had checked the carriage, the train departed to complete its journey.

The children love the equipment and have had many hours of fun dressing up and pretending to be construction experts. Thanks to the team at Queens Roundabout for their help in making this happen.

The team which consisted of Dave Lewis, Simon Batey, Jamie McLaughlan, Ben Day, Gary Gibson, James Jones, Aaron Jones, Darren Morrison and James Rose should all be congratulated for keeping themselves safe and for assisting with maintaining the safety of the railway and its passengers whilst responding to this incident.

Safe by choice ….not by chance    02380 742222       [email protected]       www.dyerandbutler.co.uk 

Incident reporting Over the past month or so, we have noticed a worrying trend where accidents and incidents are not being reported at the time when they occur. This delay impacts on the company’s ability to respond to and record the details of the event to ensure that any follow up actions can be taken. Delays in reporting accidents can also lead to questions being raised about the validity of the accident and can prevent any evidence relating to the accident to become lost or distorted. It is vitally important that all accidents and incidents are reported at the time that they occur to the person in charge of the works and that on receiving such a report, that this is forwarded onto the relevant SHEQ Advisor to allow for any onward reporting and corrective action to take place. It has also been noted that some people are using the close call system to report accidents and incidents. The close call system must only be used to report close calls and near misses and any other event that results in harm, injury, damage or loss must be reported promptly in accordance with the arrangements mentioned above with the details being recorded on Workspace. Please bear this in mind for all future reports that you might need to make and should you need any further clarification, please contact your regional SHEQ Advisor. From time to time, other events that are not strictly classed as accidents or incidents may occur. These events may be associated with issues that affect the public such as roadwork delays causing disruption to traffic, possession overruns or any event that might involve adverse media coverage of the company. If any of the events that are listed above occur, please ensure that you report these in the same way as you would for an accident or incident to ensure that it can be properly managed.

Anti-vibration gloves – are they effective..? A number of enquiries have been received recently in relation to the effectiveness of so called “anti-vibration” gloves. Whilst it is claimed that this type of glove can increase trigger times and reduce the user’s exposure to harmful levels of vibration, these claims are generally false. In fact, studies have shown that the use of “antivibration” gloves can actually increase the user’s vibration dose due to the fact the user has to grip the tool harder to feel connected to the machine. For this reason, “anti-vibration” gloves should not be considered as a valid control method for reducing the effects of hand arm vibration. The use of all vibratory equipment should be properly assessed, the safe trigger times should be fully understood and the user should be informed to keep their hands warm and take regular breaks throughout the works. The daily vibration dosage of 80 points which is specified by company policy must also never be exceeded unless the exceedance has been authorised by the SHEQ Manager.

Heathrow fire main safely identified Robert (Bob) Perry has been recommended to receive a safety award for safely excavating around and identifying an unchartered fire main at Heathrow Airport. Congratulations to Bob for carrying out the works safely. A £25 voucher is on its way.

Safe by choice ….not by chance    02380 742222       [email protected]       www.dyerandbutler.co.uk 

Tending to the flock Excavation safety is a top priority A recent press release from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has confirmed the outcome of a recent court case where a company Director has been jailed for 6 months following a fatal accident that involved the collapse of an excavation.

Dyer & Butler are currently involved with work to repair and refurbish Cynghordy Viaduct. The viaduct is located in a rural area amongst the farms and mountains of Wales.

The company had been contracted to construct a drainage system in a field. The accident occurred when one of the operatives entered an unsupported trench to remove a clump of soil that had fallen into the excavation. It was at this moment that the trench collapsed, burying the operative. Frantic attempts were made to rescue the operative, but unfortunately, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The prosecuting HSE Inspector said “Work in excavations needs to be properly planned, managed and monitored to ensure that no-one enters an excavation deeper than 1.2 metres without adequate control measures being put in place to prevent a collapse”. This incident firmly places excavation safety at the top of the HSE’s agenda and we have already seen the impact of this in relation to the recent enforcement action that occurred on the Temple Quay site in Bristol. Therefore, all excavation works must be… Properly planned (which will include consideration of the relevant soil reports and any temporary works that are to be used)

The structure is covered with scaffolding and during the works, one of the site operatives who was working at the top of the scaffold noticed that a herd of sheep had broken through the fence at one of the viaduct and were making there may down onto the track. Some of the sheep had also walked onto the viaduct. This was immediately reported to the Site Agent, who contacted the Signaller. Once the lines were confirmed as being blocked, the team accessed the track at the end of the viaduct and guided the sheep back to the safety of their field. A temporary repair was then made to the fence to keep the sheep in their field and the line was reopened.

Properly supported in accordance with the planned method or be battered back or benched to provide a safe place of work

Congratulations to the team which consisted of Robert Bowen, Lee Jones, Kerry Parfitt and Craig Fletcher for their quick response to the incident.

Properly inspected (i.e. before the start of works and after any event that is liable to have affected the stability of the excavation).

It’s that time of the year again…

Have a safe means of access and egress All sites where excavation work is being undertaken should review their current processes to ensure that the works are safe. If you need any further information, please contact your regional SHEQ Advisor

Summer is finally here and with warmer weather in the forecast it is important that all teams take adequate precautions when working in hot weather to avoid the effects of heat exhaustion, heat stroke, dehydration and sunburn. The company guidance note for summer working (SE-GN-60) should be referred to if required.

Safe by choice ….not by chance    02380 742222       [email protected]       www.dyerandbutler.co.uk 

Positive identification of services Wightman Road leading the way Dyer & Butler are currently working on a project to replace a road over rail bridge at Wightman Road in North London. The project is particularly challenging due to its location, but the team have met these challenges head on and have excelled in managing all health and safety issues on site. The site team have maintained an exemplary level of close call reporting since the very start of the project and all of the safety inspections that have been carried out have been positive. Any actions that are raised during the safety inspections are rectified quickly and effectively and everyone on site shares the same proactive attitude to safety. Individual praise has also been received from a member of the public who was assisted by Chris Buttery after nearly being hit by a passing motorcycle near to the work site

We still appear to be having issues with the positive identification of underground services during excavation works. Examples have been reported recently where excavation works have been carried out in areas where services are known to exist and where the exclusion zones relating to the service location have been ignored. When excavation work is being carried out, it is a requirement of the permit to dig that all services are positively identified. This will undoubtedly include the completion of a full CAT and Genny survey, the marking of services and the completion of trial holes to confirm the location, orientation and depth of the service.

For taking the time to assist a member of the public, Chris Buttery receives a £25 voucher. Well done Chris Wightman Road Bridge is a flagship project for the Central team and it is therefore pleasing to see that the site team on the projects have firmly embraced the need not only to manage health and safety, but to exceed the norm by putting health and safety at the heart of everything that they do. Congratulations go to the site team which consist of Stuart Barge, Brian Buttery, Chris Buttery, Adam Fricker and Paul Goode for their continued efforts to maintain such a high standard of health and safety on site.

Zero trauma harness A new style of fall arrest harness has become available which reduces the amount of trauma that is suffered by the user in the event of a fall. These have recently been used on our Rodbourne Road project and the initial feedback has been good. Further information is available by visiting www.ztsafetysystems.com

Where required, horizontal digging techniques must be used to excavate alongside the anticipated location of the service before the material forming the exclusion zone can carefully be removed to positively identify the service. All sites are reminded that all underground cables and services must be positively identified prior to the commencement of excavation works. This is vital to ensure that the risk of service strikes is controlled and minimised.

Approved footwear poster A number of requests have been made for the current safety footwear poster to be published. A copy of this has been appended to the back of this edition of “Safety Matters” for reference purposes. Further information on safety footwear can be obtained from the Buying Department.

Safe by choice ….not by chance    02380 742222       [email protected]       www.dyerandbutler.co.uk 

Permit control produces results Client praise worthy of a reward Ronnie Oughton has been carrying out work on the Hidden Critical Elements (HCE) works in Kent during recent months and it would appear that the hard work and diligence that Ronnie and the rest of the team have put into the works have not gone unnoticed. Feedback has been received from Jodie Guy of Network Road which mentions Ronnie and the team and states “Thanks for all the works that you have completed to date. I always receive very positive feedback from my contractors regarding the performance of you and your team when you are out on site” Congratulations to Ronnie Oughton on being commended by the client. A £25 voucher will be on its way to you soon.

Looking after the team A Dyer & Butler team were working at Gover Park recently when it became apparent to the team that the planned safe system of work could become compromised due to the movement of some Road Rail Vehicles (RRV’s) on an adjacent track. The COSS, Ben Morgan, identified that this situation could pose a potential risk to the safety of his team and therefore the works were suspended and the team moved to a position of safety until Ben had confirmed the site safety arrangements with the Engineering Supervisor. After putting the necessary control measures into place, the safe system of work was revised and the team were re-briefed and the work was then completed without incident. Congratulations go to Ben Morgan for acting responsibly and for agreeing the measures that were required to keep your team safe. A £25 voucher is on its way to you.

 

Within the airport environment, many of the activities that Dyer & Butler carry out are governed by a permit to work. These confirm the safety arrangements that need to be in place prior to the start of works being authorised.

Recently, Danny Roberts was commended for his management of the permit systems that were in use on his site. It was found that not only were the permits properly completed and authorised, but all of the control measures that were stated on the permits were found to be in place and effective throughout the course of the works. It was also noted that all of the permits that had been used on the project had been fully signed off and cancelled by the relevant people. Congratulations to Danny Roberts for maintaining such high standards of control through the use of the permit to work system. A worthy winner of a £25 voucher.

COSHH essentials During the last month, we have had 2 significant incidents where Dyer & Butler personnel have suffered ill effects from exposure to chemicals. All personnel are reminded that whenever you are using a hazardous substance at work, you need to carefully consider and assess the hazards that are associated with the chemical and clearly establish the safety control measures that need to implemented to protect you, and any other person from harm, injury or ill health. Dyer & Butler subscribe to a COSHH assessment service that is provided by Sypol and as such COSHH assessments are freely available. If you need any assistance in obtaining a COSHH assessment, please speak to your regional SHEQ Advisor.

Safe by choice ….not by chance    02380 742222       [email protected]       www.dyerandbutler.co.uk