HandS update: Gas/Cylinders/Compressed Gas Safety

HandS UK Health and Safety Resources has been updated today with the inclusion of a new section on compressed gas safety, titled Gas/Cylinders.

Compressed gas cylinders can be extremely hazardous when misused or abused. They present a variety of safety hazards due to their pressure and/or content. Depending on the particular gas, there is a potential for simultaneous exposure to both mechanical and chemical hazards, many of which can be fatal.  Due to their size, shape and weight, there are also hazards from manual handling.

The main hazards of compressed gas cylinders are:
* Impact from the blast of a gas cylinder explosion or rapid release of compressed gas.
* Impact from parts of gas cylinders or valves that fail, or any flying debris.
* Contact with the released gas or fluid.
* Fire resulting from the escape of flammable gas or fluid
* Impact from falling cylinders
* Manual handling injuries.

Careful procedures are necessary for handling the various compressed gases, cylinders, regulators or valves used to control gas flow, and the piping used to confine gases during flow. Anyone who examines, fills or uses gas cylinders should be suitably trained and have the necessary skills to carry out their job safely. They should be aware of the risks associated with gas cylinders and their contents.  In particular, employers should ensure that employees who are required to work with compressed gas cylinders receive adequate training. Employees involved in the handling of compressed gas cylinders should also receive manual handling training.  It is essential, of course, that all activities involving compressed gas cylinders — including their manual movement, or vehicular transport — are suitably risk assessed.

As usual, the new page contains links to the main UK statutes that apply to the use and transport of gas cylinders; links to a number of internet sites containing valuable information on gas cylinders and gas safety; and a long list of downloads that you may collect for your personal information and use.

A live button to the new page can be found in Expanded Topics near the top of the main HandS page, and two links to the page are also available in the Downloads & Links section, as ‘Cylinders – Compressed Gas’ and further down, as ‘Gas/Cylinders/Compressed Gas Safety’.

I hope you’ll find the new page useful in your work.

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Safety reps in warehouses

Retail union Usdaw has produced a guide for safety reps working in warehouses. ‘Distributing safety’ says 10,000 work-related accidents in storage, warehousing and road haulage were reported to health and safety watchdog HSE in 2005/6. Over 1,700 of these accidents were classified as major injuries such as fractures and amputations. The main causes of deaths are being run over by workplace vehicles and falls from height. The union says it has over 20,000 members working in the sector. The guide contains guidance on slips and trips, manual handling, vehicle movements, lift trucks, falls from height, work in chillers and freezers, storage systems and welfare.

• Usdaw news release and Distributing safety guide.

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Warehousing and storage: new guide from the HSE

The HSE has published a new, free advice guide to health and safety in warehousing and storage. The pamphlet tackles all the most common causes of accidents, such as slips and trips, falls from height, manual handling and injuries linked to vehicles.  The Adobe PDF pamphlet can be downloaded here:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg412.pdf

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Two companies heavily fined

Lessons to learn, about lessons that haven’t been learned, appear in two items of news in the recent Risks bulletin from Rory O’Neill of Hazards Magazine:

Firm fined after forklift worker is paralysed
A Berwick upon Tweed firm has been fined £20,000 after a worker was paralysed in a forklift truck incident. Silvery Tweed Cereals Ltd was fined and ordered to pay costs of £5,397 at Berwick upon Tweed Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to breaching workplace safety laws. Steven Rogers, 29, suffered the injuries in June 2006 after was pinned to the floor when a bin he was attempting to empty fell from the forks. Commenting on the case, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Martin Baillie said: ‘In this case Silvery Tweed Cereals Ltd did not ensure the load was adequately secured, nor did they make a suitable risk assessment and they did not ensure that all of their operators received adequate forklift truck training.’ He added: ‘The tragic result was that one of the employees, Steven Rogers aged 29 of Berwick, sustained injuries which have left him permanently paralysed after a downgrade bin which he was attempting to empty fell from the forks of a forklift truck and pinned him to the ground.’ The HSE inspector said forklift trucks were responsible for just under 2,000 reportable incidents last year, including seven deaths. ‘Risks include being struck by a moving truck, crushed by an overturning vehicle, becoming trapped between a truck and an object or, as in this case being crushed by a falling load,’ he said. ‘Employers must ensure they assess the risks involved in any use of these vehicles and take appropriate steps to counter those risks. They must also provide adequate health and safety training for any employees operating forklift trucks.’

HSE news release

House manufacturer fined £65,000 for death
A Birmingham firm manufacturing new build homes has been fined £65,000 after a worker was crushed by a machine. Space 4 Limited, the timber frame manufacturing subsidiary of house building giant Persimmon Homes, was fined £65,000 with costs of £60,000 at Birmingham Crown Court following a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The case was brought after the death of Philip Macken, who was killed on 10 December 2001. Following a problem with an automated foam injection machine, he entered the enclosure to make an adjustment. While he was inside the enclosure the machine started automatically and Mr Macken was trapped against the machine and received fatal crush injuries. Speaking after the case, HSE investigating inspector Tony Mitchell said: ‘Companies need to ensure that all safety devices are fully operational. In this case properly fitted interlocks would have prevented access to the enclosure, and saved Mr Macken’s life.’ He added: ‘Guarding and fencing of automated machinery is a basic requirement and the standards are well known. Simple checks should be carried out to ensure workers are protected from dangerous parts and that safety features are fitted and in good order.’

HSE news release

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