Guidance notes for inspecting medium hazard areas.doc

guidance notes for inspecting medium hazard areasthe guidance notes below are to be used as a prompt when undertaking the 3 monthly inspections of medium hazard schools/departments. please be aware that the notes are not exhaustive and these are not the only factors that should be considered.slips/trips are there obvious trip hazards? consider uneven surfaces, trailing cables, regular removal of waste products, edges of floor coverings, etc. if personal belongings are present are they tidied away do they have to be in the work area? consider lighting conditions is it sufficient? if cleaning of surface is required, ensure it is according to the manufacturers instructions if there is a history of slipping accidents despite precautions, consider suitability of floor surfacefire hazards control combustible materials by regular removal of rubbish, good housekeeping, suitable safe storage for flammable materials, etc. are potential ignition sources identified and adequately controlled heat sources, electrical equipment inspected and maintained, etc.? minimise the use extension sockets and overloading of electrical sockets to prevent electrical fire are staff aware of procedures to adopt in event of discovering a fire, or upon hearing the alarm? is area secure to prevent out of hours and unauthorised access are fire extinguishers in their correct location, unobstructed, within their certificate date and not being used as door stopschemical hazards the presence of chemicals may require control under the coshh regulations. remember not only the main substance, but all intermediate and end products will need to be assessed ensure that the coshh assessment is detailed enough and considers the 8 principles of good practice to ensure exposure is adequately controlled. if controls are recommended ensure that these are in place, operated accordingly and inspected and maintained appropriately if controls include lev, this will require routine inspection. if ppe/rpe provided, then this must be verified as suitable, including face fit testing if appropriatepowered fixed machinery if the machinery is a power press, lifting equipment or woodworking machine then specific legislation applies further information can be sought from appropriate hse guidance or from the ohs departmentmoving machinery/power tools inspect the appropriateness of guards i.e. if required they are present, prevent access to moving parts, cannot be by-passed and protect the operator check that any safe operating procedure highlights guarding requirements. for higher risk activities guard may be linked into the operation of the machine, if so ensure machine cannot be operated without guard if risk of material being ejected at speed, then consider eye/face protection for operator, but also consider how other room users are protected, if necessary ensure that only suitably trained and competent personnel operate machinerywork/storage at height if undertaken, consider the hierarchy of controls for working at height;o avoid working at height if possibleo use work equipment/other measures to prevent fallso where risk of falls cannot be eliminated use equipment/other measures to minimise distance and consequence of falls protection used should be collective rather than for the individual falls from height below 1.5m conventionally considered low risk, however consider tasks that may increase the likelihood of falling (handling items) and the consequences of the fall i.e. falling onto or against what all work where there is a risk of falling which is liable to cause injury needs to be planned, organised and conducted by a competent personpressure systems ensure that there exists a planned inspection and maintenance programme consider;o are operating conditions known, suitable protective devices fitted and do they work?o are operators suitably trained? also consider anything that may inadvertently become pressurised and how this is currently preventedvehicle movements in areas where there are vehicle movements consider;o segregation of vehicles and pedestrians, preferably by physical meanso introduce one way systems to minimise reversing. if reversing is necessary determine if banksmen are required to guide vehicles ensure suitable and sufficient lighting to eliminate dark spots and that site signage is visible and comprehensive if mobile work equipment is supplied (e.g. fork lift trucks) these will be regulated under specific regulationsmanual handling prior to any manual handling procedure being conducted the manual handling risk filter should be consulted to determine if a manual handling risk assessment is required if hazardous manual handling is identified, ensure risk assessments have been conducted note that any use of handling aids (manual or powered) will introduce other hazards and risks that will need to be assessed mechanical handling/lifting appliances mechanical handling aids are regulated under specific regulations and require to be suitably inspected and maintained lifting appliances and associated items (e.g. slings, blocks, hooks, etc) are regulated by specific regulations and require inspection, maintenance and certificationenvironmental considerations consider light, temperature, ventilation, space requirements, etc. lighting, temperature and ventilation should be suitable for the task and lighting and ventilation should preferably be natural. additional light sources may be required e.g. task lighting work areas should have sufficient space to allow staff to move around with ease. ensure that there is enough space for emergency evacuationnoise under control of noise at work regulations (2005) if work areas experience any of the following it is likely that investigations into the noise level will be required;o noise intrusive for most of the working day, do staff need to raise voices to conduct normal conversation when 2m apart?o are noisy power tools/machinery used for more than 30 minutes a day, are there noises due to impacts or explosive sources? if so, then a noise risk assessment will be required to;o identify source of noise and persons likely to be affectedo contain reliable estimate of employees exposure o identify controls and/or hearing protection requiredo identify employees requiring health surveillance and whether any are at particular risk a noise risk assessment will require the assistance of the ohs departmentelectricity electrical equipment should be safe, suitable for the working environment and have a regular maintenance/inspection appropriate for the working environment including pat if applicable if possible, use reduced voltage and/or fit a residual current device check for trailing cables, obvious damage or unauthorised equipment and untested modifications. be aware for overloaded socketsnon-powered hand tools specific regulations apply to any item of work equipment supplied, however adopt a common sense and risk based approach use of craft knives, hammers, chisels, etc. warrant attention, but office staplers and letter openers do not! regulations require that equipment is suitable, maintained and inspected to ensure that it is safe and remains to be safe. it also requires that risks arising from equipment use are eliminated or controlled and operators have received adequate training, instruction and information. these regulations also covers equipment that employees bring into work from outside the universityvibration two types of vibration should be considered:o hand arm vibration, from using power tools o whole body vibration, transmitted via feet or vehicle seat for hand arm vibration, manufacturers data on weighted acceleration will help to inform whether there is a risk control of vibration risk is normally achieved by limiting exposure time, but it may be necessary to consider alternative equipmentlack of space ensure there is sufficient space in the working environment to allow all tasks to be conducted in a safe manner. this should ensure that staff can access workstations and machinery and move around the room with ease also ensure that there is suitable space to allow emergency evacuation of the work spacedse if dse equipment is present and staff have a user account, then a dse assessment will be required an online dse assessment is to be conducted and if there are issues that need clarification then the ohs department should be contactedlone working certain activities conducted in medium hazard areas will, under the lone working policy, be classed as high hazard. as a result these activities will not be allowed to be conducted by a lone worker therefore is essential that any instances of lone working in medium hazard areas follow the correct procedure outlined in the lone working policy and a