safe by choice ….not by chance - morrison utility services · occurred on the jockey wheel of a...

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


Spotting The Warning Signs…

Accidents and incidents are an unwelcome occurrence within any business and as part of our monitoring strategies we continually review our accident statistics to spot trends and identify any areas for improvement.

Over the past 4 months, Dyer & Butler have completed over 800,000 hours of work without incurring a reportable accident. The Accident Frequency Rate (AFR) is therefore at a very low level which illustrates that we have a good safety culture within the business. However, during the same period these accidents have incurred more than 90 hours of lost time.

The number of lost time accidents represents a worrying trend as these type of accidents could easily have led to a more serious accident. Therefore, we must all maintain our focus on preventing the cause of accidents, at source, to ensure that our worksites are maintained in a safe and health condition at all times.

Remember, once the conditions for an accident are present, the severity of the outcome are mainly down to chance.

Therefore, if you see something that could cause an accident, sort it or report it.

Steve Broom Head of Safety, Health, Environment, Quality and Training (SHEQT)

Safety Performance - August

Accident Frequency Rate – 0.081

Reportable Accidents or Incidents

None Reported During the Period

Minor Accidents and Near Misses

1/7/15 – Clevedon Marine Lake – A shutter failed during a concrete pour after a fixing was incorrectly installed.

1/7/15 – Bargoed Town Centre – A pot end was removed from a cable during excavation works

1/7/15 – Culvert Works – An operative twisted their ankle whilst walking across rough ground.

9/7/15 – Gatwick Main Runway – Strands of electrical wire were ejected from a road sweeper on the main runway causing a debris hazard.

9/7/15 – Newgate Lane – A drain cover fell onto an operative’s foot during offloading operations causing pain and bruising.

9/7/15 – Newgate Lane – An excavator was observed to slew into a live traffic lane.

9/7/15 – Gatwick Main Runway – A small oil spill occurred when a roller was being lifted onto the low loader. The oil had been spilt inside the body of the machine during previous repair works.

14/7/15 – Gatwick Pier 5 – an operative received an electric shock whilst clearing material away from a faulty cable joint

16/7/15 – Newgate Lane – A BT cable was damaged during the removal of an adjacent cable.

15/715 – Gatwick Main Runway – A small fire occurred on the jockey wheel of a set of tower lights when it was towed away with the wheel still in contact with the ground.

16/7/15 – BTM Conveyor Removal – A tipper lorry dumped 10 tonnes of material on site after failing to secure the rear tailgate during a delivery.

17/7/15 – Heathrow Yard – A diesel spill occurred when the delivery hose to a bunded tank became detached after the power to the pump was left on.

20/7/15 – Queens Roundabout – The king post fell out of an excavator due to a missing split pin on the main retaining pin.

20/7/15 – St Luke’s Rd, Drainage – Suspected asbestos was discovered on site that had been used in the original construction of a road gully.

21/7/15 – Gatwick Office – A faulty light fitting in the canteen produced smoke which set off the smoke alarms causing the office to be evacuated.

23/7/15 – National Grid Works – Japanese Knotweed was mistakenly cut down on site. Once identified, the material was bagged up and left on site for an appropriate disposal method to be determined.


27/7/15 – Bishopstoke Retaining Wall – An operative slipped when stepping up onto the back of a vehicle causing a cut to their shin.

28/6/15 – Forest Road, Fans – A report was received that children had climbed from the roof of an adjacent building and had gained access onto the scaffolding. Additional security and fencing was put into place.

31/7/15 – Brixham Road – A shallow cable was struck and damaged during excavation work.

Unchartered Services Report

During July 2015 we received 6 reports of any unchartered services being encountered on site.

ESOS – Energy Management

At the start of 2015, the Government enacted new legislation that requires all business to manage, monitor and improve their performance in relation to energy usage. Compliance with the Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) legislation must be achieved by the end of 2015.

As a result, Dyer & Butler will seek accreditation to the ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems standard (in order to achieve compliance with the ESOS) and the SHEQ Team are busy gathering up all of the information relating to the company’s electricity, gas and fuel usage.

Additional work is also planned to amend some of the company management systems in order to incorporate the methods for monitoring, measuring and reporting the company’s energy usage. These changes will be briefed out in due course. However, if you have any good ideas on how we as a company can save energy (no matter how simple your idea might seem) we are keen to hear from you.

Please send your energy saving ideas to Morwenna Vinall at Head Office…you might even get a mention in “Safety Matters”.

Signing In and Out

Recent site inspections have noted that staff and visitors to site are failing to comply with the signing in and out requirements on site.

It is vitally important that the signing in and out form is maintained to ensure that we have a physical record of site attendance for any given day. An accurate record of who and when a person is on site is also required for emergency purposes and therefore the “signing out” process is equally as important.

Please also remember to record your travelling time to allow your Site Agent to monitor and manage your total working hours so that any fatigue issues can be avoided.

Please ensure that you sign in…and out every time that you are on site.

Controlling HAVS at Laira Depot

The risk of Hand Arm Vibration has been well publicised recently and Dyer & Butler have invested heavily in technology to manage and control the risk to our workforce.

Therefore, it is pleasing to report that during a recent site visit by representatives from Network Rail to the Dyer & Butler site at Laira Depot in Plymouth, our Site Operative, Martin Pritchard was commended for maintaining an exemplary level of management in relation to the control of Hand Arm Vibration risk and the use of the Reactec system.

During the visit, it was also noted that Martin assisted the client’s representatives whilst on site and engaged in positive discussions whilst exhibiting the right level of behaviour and responsibility relating to the management of safety on site.

Congratulations to Martin on maintaining such a high level of safety performance on site. A £25 voucher is on its way.


Excavator Fires

Recently, there have been two separate incidents involving fires that have occurred within the cabs of 360° machines on site.

In both cases the fire was caused by faulty wiring that had been damaged. (Within the hinged section of the safety lever).

In both cases the fire was extinguished on site by using the fire extinguisher that was available in the cab of the machine.

Nobody was injured by the fire (and smoke) caused disruption to the site operations and local area. The exact cause of the fires is still being investigated and recommendations are being sought from the manufacturers / suppliers.

This is another timely reminder that all plant and equipment that is used on site should be visually inspected before use on a daily basis and then a thorough formal inspection should be carried out weekly. A record should accompany all formal inspections.

Please ensure that all plant and equipment is properly inspected and that any faults that are identified are reported and rectified.

Close Call Reporting System

The QR code close call reporting system is now live. Simply download a QR code reader on your smartphone and scan the QR code to make a report.

Seeing Stars

Within the past month two separate Dyer & Butler projects at Whitehouse Bridge in Oxford and Black Bridge near Cheltenham have received the coveted Blue STAR from Network Rail.

The Network Rail Blue STAR is awarded to sites that have demonstrated excellence with respect to site health, safety and environmental performance that operate within the Western Infrastructure Projects Delivery Team.

In conjunction with the award at Whitehouse Bridge, an individual safety award nomination was also made to Dan Rudman for undertaking COSS duties and controlling site access to an exemplary standard after he refused a person access to the site due to a problem with signing them in via the Sentinel card reader app.

Congratulations to both sites on receiving such an important award and recognition for your hard work.

Congratulations also go to Dan Rudman for setting the right example with regards to how the responsibilities associated with the post of COSS / SWL should be carried out. A £25 voucher is on its way to you


Good Practice - CAT Testing Area

The Dyer & Butler team at Gatwick airport have taken the requirement to test their equipment to the next level and are carrying out reassurance tests prior to using their Cable Avoidance Tools (CAT’s).

The successful identification of underground cables and services is one of the biggest risks to our workforce and this remains the highest cause of accidents and incidents within our organisation. It is therefore vitally important that the equipment that we use to seek out and confirm the location of these services is operating effectively. For this reason, the team at Gatwick have set up two separate areas where a known service exists so that the CAT can be tested on power and avoidance mode to confirm that it is operating effectively prior to use on site.

A simple idea…but one that could ensure the safety of staff carrying out excavation work around underground service.

Consistent Standards of Safety

The team at Queens Roundabout in Farnborough have nominated Jason Biles for a safety award due to his consistent drive to maintain safety standards. Jason always sets the right example by ensuring that his PPE is clean and properly worn and that all of the requirements of the safe system of work are understood and implemented.

Well done Jason, a worthy winner, a £25 voucher is winging its way to you.

Minimum Competency Standards

Our staff have been asking for guidance in relation to the minimum standard of competence that is accepted when working for Dyer & Butler. Whilst there is no “standard” answer to this (due to the differing requirements or our various clients), Dyer & Butler will aim to apply to the following minimum competency standard to all of our staff and operatives.

CSCS for general safety competence CPCS or NPORS for plant competencies CISRS for carrying out scaffold inspections PASMA – for erecting mobile scaffold towers IPAF – for using powered access equipment

Please note - in house certification for certain competencies such as manual handling and abrasive wheels are also acceptable).

For more information please speak to the Training Manager, Andrea Parker.

Rail Safety Training Charges

The Planning and Delivery of Safe Work (PDSW) training is progressing well and Dyer & Butler are now well on the way to getting all of our staff trained by the “go live” dates. However, due to an unacceptable number of “no shows”, Network Rail have now introduced charges for delegates who fail to attend their training course.

As of the 24th August 2015, charges will be applied for “no shows” or where less than 8 working days’ notice has been given for non-attendance (unless a named replacement has been provided). Please note - working days are classed as Mon - Fri.

The charges that will be applied are as follows

All SWL/M courses - £315.00 per delegate AA courses - £210.00 per delegate AA and Planner - £315.00 per delegate

Please ensure that you make every effort to attend any training that you are booked onto and if you need to cancel your training, please provide the Training team with as much notice as you can to avoid any unnecessary charges.


Driver Fatigue and Tiredness

During the past month there have been two vehicle incidents where fatigue and tiredness has been identified as the cause of the incident. Dyer & Butler carries out its activities 24 hours a day and as such, our workforce may be involved with driving at any time of the day or night.

Driving duties and journeys should be planned to avoid the possibility of tiredness and fatigue. The following should therefore always be considered.

Consider whether the journey is absolutely necessary.

Consider using other means or transport (i.e. trains, buses).

Plan working patterns to minimise the likelihood of driver fatigue and tiredness.

Drivers on long journeys should not drive for more than 2 hours without having a break. Frequent, short breaks should be planned as part of the journey.

Share the driving with other members of the team, if possible.

If someone reports that they have had insufficient rest (due to being unable to sleep), then swap the driving duties over to a person who is capable of driving.

If you feel sleepy, cannot remember part of a journey or hit the verge or rumble strips on the road, you are experiencing micro-sleep… STOP and take a break.

Driving whilst tired significantly increases your risk of having an accident and it is therefore important that you are able to recognise the signs of tiredness and fatigue so that you can take immediate action to protect yourself and your passengers. If you feel sleepy, you must take the following action.

Instead of fighting tiredness and fatigue, stop in the nearest safe place and park the vehicle.

Have an energy drink or caffeinated drink (i.e. tea of coffee, if available) – Please note, you should not rely on these drinks to keep you awake, or drink whilst driving.

Stretch your legs, get out of the vehicle and walk around as this will raise your level of alertness. Get some fresh air.

If needs be, set an alarm on your mobile phone and take a short “power – nap” to refresh yourself (around 20 minutes).

Do not drive until you are fully alert.

Where long distance driving is required, the company will provide suitable lodgings and accommodation to prevent drivers from becoming fatigued. If you require this to be arranged, please speak to your Line Manager.

As the driver of the vehicle, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure that you are fit to drive. Do not risk your life or the lives of others by driving whilst tired. STOP and take a break.

Airport Safety Award Nominations

The airports team have been busy lately and it is good to see that safety standards are being maintained as two people have been nominated for safety awards this month. Neil Burrows was nominated for the way that he dealt with uncovering unchartered services on a project at Heathrow. Mark Stanley was also nominated for maintaining excellent communications and site safety standards with the Airport Fire Service during works to install a Hex-slot drain across their access route to the Fire Station at Gatwick.

Well done, a £25 voucher is on its way to each of you.


Dyer & Butler Behavioural Safety (DABBS) Feedback

Dyer & Butler operates a behavioural safety system which involves trained “Observers” carrying out a specified number of workplace observations to identify safe and unsafe acts. One DABBS observation must be carried out for every 500 man hours that are worked.

During July 383 DABBS observations were carried out. The target was 406.

43 of the behavioural safety observations that took place during March identified unsafe acts.

A summary of the main unsafe acts raised during the DABBS observations is shown below…

Work at Height PPE Noise and Vibration

Inappropriate precautions taken to

prevent a fall

Not following the method statement for

work at height

Access to the work at height was unsuitable

Working from an unsafe platform

Personnel were not wearing the correct

level of eye protection on site

Personnel were not wearing the correct

mandatory PPE on site

The equipment used to monitor vibration was not available / not to

hand

Why…? Why…? Why…?

WHAT CAN YOU DO DIFFERENTLY ON SITE TO PREVENT THIS TYPE OF UNSAFE BEHAVIOUR..?

The most common causes of unsafe acts that has been recorded is still people who are not willing to follow the safe system of work. Why is this…? What more can we do on site to make sure that they follow the safe system of work…?

The safe system of work is the planned and agreed methods that are to be used on site to protect the safety and wellbeing of the workforce. Why is it so hard for people to comply…? Please can you discuss the reasons for these results as part of the cascade briefing and feedback any thoughts or conclusions.

safe by choice ….not by chance - morrison utility services · occurred on the jockey wheel of a...

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