Stand Down Day Promotes Sheet Piling Health & Safety
Here at Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd, health and safety compliance is not just about doing what the law expects of us. We also feel it of paramount importance to keep our on-site sheet piling teams as safe as humanly possible.
To this end, we recently hosted a health and safety ‘Safety Stand Down Day’, which saw an open and honest exploration of health and safety issues within our sheet piling world. Evaluation and discussion were key components of the day, whilst feedback was encouraged, and any issues tackled head on. The aim was to collectively consider how to improve health and safety still further, across all our operations and projects.
Through the two-way dialogue that was achieved, we explored those areas that often catch those in our sheet piling sector out – everything from slips and trips to manual handling, lifting and welding.
We explored the factors that can typically lead to accidents and reinforced the absolute necessity of complying with regulations such as LOLER, PUWER, COSHH and PPE.
One area we explored in depth was that relating to nightshift working and the impacts this can have on safety and mental health. We looked at ways to avoid fatigue becoming a factor underpinning accidents and how our sheet pile teams can take more control in this area of health and safety.
We openly discussed the need for strong communication and work planning that can relieve stress and pressures on sheet piling gangs, whilst also looking at employees’ responsibilities, as well as the employer’s, under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974). The role of the responsible person in health and safety, and how that can be adjudged to be an on-site foreman or supervisor, was also explored.
Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd’s HSEQ Adviser, Jim Kampta, says: “Our Safety Stand Down Day will become a more regular occurrences, whenever we can bring the whole team together. They allow us to benefit from the insight of those working on-site, whilst also offering a head office slant on situations, to present another point of view and promote a full and frank discussion.”
“Our aim is zero-tolerance when it comes to incidents on or off site and, by setting these demanding expectations, we can together strive for what could be deemed the lowest achievable level of incidents, given the type of work we handle.”
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Sheet Piling (UK) Limited is one of the UK's leading piling contractors. Owning and operating a comprehensive range of specialist piling equipment Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd also carry extensive stocks of new and used piles enabling rapid reaction to any urgent requirements or emergency situations.