Safety, Risk Assessment and Insurance

Transcription

1 6. Safety Safety, Risk Assessment and Insurance By law, the minimum health and safety requirement for your group is to choose an appointed person who will be responsible for taking charge when someone is ill and keeping A one day Emergency First Aid at Work Course Team will help you to assess whether further training is needed and can tell you the location of your nearest Assessing the site, Mulchaich Risk Assessment matter how minor) and all near misses should be entered into the book. You must produce a risk assessment each time you host an Adopt-a-Monument event, no You should include: number A brief description of how the accident happened Follow-up action taken (if any) Accident books can be obtained from: HSE 2WA (T: ) aider or appointed person, but someone in your group who has taken on the responsibility for the health and safety aspects of your work. Risk Assessment involves an examination of what may cause harm to people so that you can decide on the appropriate precautions to prevent accidents (follow the steps below). Remember to inform attendees of any precautions to take before they arrive (for example the need for appropriate footwear and wet weather gear). Also ensure that you take a copy of your risk assessment to the event; gather everyone together and explain the hazards at the site and the precautions they should take. A-a-M Tool-Kit 23

2 6. Safety Anyone who does not adhere to these precautions should not be permitted to take part, for their own safety and that of others. Remember that you should never work alone or undertake activities for which you do not have adequate training. Please ensure that you read your AaM Participant Agreement, which requirements for AaM projects. Wildlife (for example snakes, bees or midges) Vegetation (for example nettles or brambles) Unstable walls or fences Unstable stones (e.g. gravestones or upstanding masonry), ditches, earthworks, litter and debris (e.g. broken glass) Your tools and equipment Step 1 > Identify the Hazards A hazard is simply anything (substance, object, process, piece of equipment or event) which has the potential to cause harm. Before you list your hazards, think about the surrounding landscape, since each location presents its own dangers. Consider your proximity to water, railways. How far are you from shelter or medical help? Step 2 > Decide who is at risk and how they may be harmed Risk is the likelihood of a hazard causing harm and the likely severity of that harm. By thinking about the range of people who may attend (this includes members of the visiting public) this will help you to calculate the risk, since some hazards are more of a risk to some than others, such as children, those with special needs and nursing/pregnant mothers. STEP ONE EXAMPLES Landscape dangers (terrain and altitude) Adverse weather Concealed entrances, poorly surfaced roads Your own and other vehicles Uneven and wet ground (trip and fall hazards) Electric fences, barbed wire, rusting metal Overhead pylons or overhanging/dead branches and trees Farm machinery and livestock STEP TWO EXAMPLE Hazard: BERRY-PRODUCING TREES CHILDREN Risk: SICKNESS FROM EATING BERRIES A-a-M Tool-Kit 24

3 6. Safety Step 3 > Reduce the risks: decide upon precautions and implement them Although there is no standard way to do this, about how to reduce the likelihood of them occurring and ways of reducing their severity. Can you get rid of the hazard all together? If not, how can you control the risk so that harm is unlikely? STEP THREE EXAMPLE Hazard: BARBED WIRE ALL Risk: CUT / ABRASION Precautions: ENSURE ATTENDEES USE GATE / STILE wish to use this format, you can use the blank specimen form that can be found in the Site Resources at the back of this Tool Kit. If you wish to createyour own form or use another example, speak to the AaM Team for more help. Remember that risk assessment is a process of review; each event will present different risks and as such requires an individual risk assessment. NOTES: First aiders cannot administer medicine; patients must take medication themselves unless the situation requires urgent action (e.g. for emergency injections if anaphylactic shock has entirely disabled a patient). Claypits, Possilpark, Glasgow A-a-M Tool-Kit 25

4 Risk Assessment Form EXAMPLE Group name: Unst Archaeology Group Event leader: Rick Barton Event Supervisor(s): Jim Keddie Appointed Person/Health and Safety Officer: Helen Bradley Event location: (with NGR if remote) Sandwick Bay, Unst (200m SE of Hannigarth Farm) Name, location and telephone number of nearest hospital/medical centre: Unst Health Centre, Baltasound, Unst Gilbert Bain Hospital, Lerwick Description of Event: Four day event; archaeologists and drystane dykers to work with community volunteers to reconstruct the drystane walling of a later prehistoric site situated on the coast edge above the high tide mark. Date(s): for which Risk Assessment is valid Estimated number of attendees: 20 A-a-M Tool-Kit 26

5 Risk Assessment Form EXAMPLE Who is Hazard at risk? Risk Precautions Sea and tides All Drowning Keep a safe distance from water. Lifebelt/throw rope on site. Check tide patterns and warn of high tides Adverse weather All Illness/hypothermia Watch weather forecast, wear warm clothes, waterproofs and sturdy shoes Unstable walling All Crush injury Hard hats & steel toes if working directly with walling. No leaning on structures Uneven ground All Trip or fall injury Watch underfoot, no running, sturdy shoes Tools All Cut/bruise/abrasions Wear gloves, provide briefing in tool use Midges/insects All Stings and bites Repellent & soothe creams in first aid kit Heavy stones All Crush injury/sprain or strain Full manual handling briefing on site. Weight assessment to body size /weight. *Risk Categories: all attendees, children, people with special needs, nursing/pregnant mothers. A-a-M Tool-Kit 27

6 6. Safety Group insurance Most adoption projects will involve at least some fieldwork, which requires insurance against injury or damage to property. Whether you are carrying out conservation works, or simply visiting the site, there is always an element of risk to you, your property (such as tools or vehicles) and to any visiting members of the public. Towergate Risk Solutions Fareham (incorporating RPBM General Ltd) is a specialist insurance provider who provide cover for a wide range of both professional and amateur archaeological organisations. Of the different types of cover on offer a standard package of public liability insurance combined with personal accident insurance is sufficient for most Adopt-a- Monument projects. Useful Contacts and Websites 1. Health and Safety Executive Risk assessment advice and specimen formats: Risk assessment and control W: E: infoline@natbrit.com Advice on first aid at work: W: First aid; your questions answered document: W: 2. TCV online handbooks The Conservation Volunteers provides a very useful handbook for conservation-based outdoor community projects available from their online shop; Health and Safety overview handbook: Groups affiliated with Archaeology Scotland are offered this cover at a competitive rate. If you choose to insure against injury or damage only to third parties and not for members of your own group, in this case standard public liability insurance is all that is required. If you already hold an RPBM policy you should declare your participation in AaM so that your policy can be updated. For more information visit the CBA website at: 3. Scottish Graveyards Health and Safety Advice Working safely in graveyards guidance document: W: 4. Working in Rural Environments The Scotland s Rural Past team have produced a useful guidance note for those surveying later historic buildings in rural locations. Provides extra tips for thinking about the hazards posed by landscapes. W: 5. SNH Access Liabilty Guidelines A guide to occupiers legal liabilities in Scotland in relation to the Ourdoor Access Code W: A-a-M Tool-Kit 28