After 25 successful years Health & Safety Works Ltd is undergoing a change of ownership.

With a mixture of emotions, we announce our founder David Oates, will be retiring on 31st March. Dave will continue to be part of the company, serving as an honorary ​consultant to HSW Ltd. We hope you will all take this opportunity, with us, to wish him all the best in this new chapter.

With this, we are pleased to announce that Dr William Lai will be stepping in as the new owner and director.

William brings a wealth of expertise to the business, with experience in biosciences research, academic course design and lecturing, and health & safety in the utilities space (generation, T&D, construction, sustainability). We are confident that this change will help drive the company forward, with minimal impact on the professional services we currently offer.

Additionally, last year, as many of you know we were excited to welcome Danielle Thorburn as one of our health & safety consultants. For those that haven’t met Danielle yet, Danielle specializes in biosafety and GMO health & safety, further enhancing our capabilities, together with our experienced team of consultants Laura T, Richard Morgan and Wendy Grocock.

Details of our professional services and team can continue to be found here. Or for further support, or if you have any queries specifically on the handover, please feel free to contact us at info@healthsafetyworks.co.uk

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Following the sad death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we will be closing on September 19th in line with the announced bank holiday, for her majestys funeral. We will be working as normal on Tuesday. Thank you for your service ma'am. 

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2020 has been an exceptionally challenging year for everyone. Its dramatic changes only highlighted the rampant issues there are with mental health within the working environment and communities.

As an employer your role is crucial. Mental wellbeing can be dramatically affected by the environment we are in and the stressors we are experiencing both at home and at work. At this moment in time, the lines between home and work are even more blurred adding to the negative impacts. 

As an employer, as with all hazards, action needs to be taken to ensure you are preventing risk and are supporting a healthy environment. As a part of this commitment, you need to promote efficient management of processes and people, have effective communications, and listen to the needs of those around you. When practicing this, actions to improve any work-related ill health concerns can be tackled and implemented. Imagine the positive impacts this could have to people and the business!

The ‘talking toolkit’ developed by the Health and Safety Executive is a useful resource that we often refer employers to. This toolkit can help employers have effective conversations with employees on how to prevent work-related stress, then use these discussions to act - where perhaps there are lapses.

It will also help you understand the management standards for stress, enabling you to proactively address work related ill health as part of your organisational planning. 

As we move into winter months, months which naturally wreak havoc on our general wellbeing the charity Mind, supported by The Royal Foundation and its partners have produced guidance and best practice for employers via the Mental Health at Work website another invaluable tool that can be used to tackle some of the issues present.

Please remember that talking can save lives. It also costs nothing. Something as simple as talking can lead on to effective solutions for people who may be struggling.

Let’s all keep well together.  

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Keeping safety simple is at our core. Here is our round up of how the new UKCA marking affects you. 

The UKCA marking will apply to most products and goods that are currently subject to CE marking. UKCA marking will also apply to aerosol products. if you are a manufacturer or supplier ensure you understand your responsibilities. Head over to GOV.uk to download the technical guidance that applies to you and the markets you supply too. Head over here

The UKCA marking can be used from 1 January 2021. However, to allow businesses time to adjust to these requirements, you will still be able to use the CE mark until 1 January 2022. 

It's very important to remember the UKCA mark will not be recognised outside of Great Britain and products will still need to bear a CE mark to be sold in the EU and Northern Ireland.

Key points to remember: 

From 1st January 2022, all products placed on the GB market are required to be UKCA marked unless special arrangements, such as those for medical devices, are in place.

CE marking for medical devices will continue to be recognised in Great Britain until 30 June 2023 provided that GB and EU rules remain the same.

UKCA marking does not apply to existing stock for example products manufactured and ready to place on the market before 1st January 2021. This means that the CE Marking on products manufactured and placed on the market before 1st January 2021 will still be valid. 

If you are a consumer..

Going forward, ensure your equipment is marked accordingly. Checking whether a product carries the CE/UKCA mark is pretty straightforward. Manufacturers and or suppliers must make the declaration of performance available to their customers (potential and existing) available to see.

Best practice is to show CE/UKCA marking details within the products literature, within individual product instruction manuals and even on websites. This way consumers can have quick and easy access to this information.

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Keeping COVID Secure this christmas

Whether your teams will be off, or still in over the festive period its important that remaining COVID secure continues and that everyone remains protected.

Those who are able to, they should still be working from home.

For those that cannot feasibly work from home and have to accomodate people coming to your site, ensure you keep up to date with the latest guidance.

Ensure your control measures remain in place to manage the risk from coronavirus. The key focus should continue to be: 

• Infection control: Keep cleaning and disinfecting touchpoints and surfaces frequently. Ensuring those with symptoms do not attend work or site. 
• Promote good hygiene practices: Keep washing hands frequently and sanitising as needed. 
• Cover up: Keep wearing face coverings as necessary. Remembering to dispose of them responsibly!
• Make space: Ensure social distancing continues. 

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