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HSE targets manufacturing industries

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a new campaign to reduce the unacceptable high number of fatal and serious injuries that continue to occur in manufacturing industries.

"Machines still kill people," said Chris Flint from HSE's Manufacturing Sector. "HSE inspectors all too regularly investigate fatalities at machinery. It's not as if the risks of moving machinery are new - people need to stop and think before they work on a machine.

"It is not enough for managers providing safeguards and introducing a power isolation and lock off procedure and assuming employees will follow it. People need to be carefully trained in the procedure and supervised by a competent manager. Senior management must carry out regular checks to confirm the procedure is always followed. Anything less and people will continue to be killed."

The nationwide campaign will see HSE inspectors targeting scrap metal, rubber, paper and wood industries over the next three years to check that correct procedures are in place for working on machinery.

During the past three years over 40 people have died as a result of incidents in the manufacturing industry, most commonly when cleaning machinery blockages or carrying out running repairs without the correct safeguards. Properly managing isolation and lock off procedures to secure machinery and ensure there is no power feed to the equipment lowers the risk of serious or fatal injury.

The campaign aims to:

• raise awareness about the risks and standards required for safe isolation and lock off
• ensure, through formal enforcement, that robust isolation and lock off procedures are implemented
• ensure that employers have, or put in place, sound risk control systems for managing these procedures

The questions that inspectors will be raising with companies are being shared with relevant trade associations and their members, and are available to anyone else interested in checking their own standards before an inspector calls. To request a copy of the questionnaire, call 0113 283 4354 or e-mail: rubiac.area14@hse.gsi.gov.uk

External link

For more information about the HSE visit: www.hse.gov.uk/

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