Safe by choice ….not by chance - Morrison Utility Services · 2017-12-04 · Safe by choice...

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


The importance of 144…

The Health and Safety Executive have just published the annual statistics for fatal injuries within the workplace for the 2015 / 2016 period.

These figures show that during this period, 144 people lost their lives whilst at work.

This figure is 7% lower than the average that has been recorded for the past 5 years and continues to represent a downward trend for the UK that has been sustained for the past 20 years. However, the figures recorded in recent year’s shows this trend to be levelling off.

Over half of the fatal injuries to workers were caused by falls from height, being struck by moving vehicles or being struck by a moving object, all of which are hazards that are common to the type of work that Dyer & Butler undertakes.

No matter which way you look at the statistics, the number of people that were fatally injured at work means that 144 people never went home at the end of the day and as a result 144 families have been left devastated and disadvantaged by the loss of a close family member.

This cannot be tolerated and it should be everyone’s belief that safety hazards can be controlled to ensure that people get home safe at the end of the day.

Our systems, processes, and behavioural safety program are all geared towards identifying and correcting unsafe acts and conditions that could allow a top level event (a fatality) to occur.

We must all therefore ensure that “Safety is at the heart of everything that we do” to ensure that the causes of fatal accidents, or indeed, any type of accident are controlled and eliminated from the workplace.

Steven Broom Director of SHEQ & Training

Safety performance – July

Accident Frequency Rate – 0.213

Reportable Accidents or Incidents Nothing to report for July 2016

Unchartered Services Report During June there were 9 reports of unchartered services being encountered on site which were not damaged.

Minor Accidents and Near Misses

1/7/16 – Coldbrook FAS – The client engineer fell whilst climbing over some temporary propping claiming that he twisted his ankle.

3/7/16 – LUL Fan Replacement – A cable drum fell off of its jacks as cable was being pulled off of it where it then rolled forwards trapping an electrician’s hand causing cuts and bruising.

8/7/16 – Gatwick Yard – The latch on the main gate jammed and when freed, it struck the injured parties hand causing bruising.

13/7/16 – Green Lane, Windsor – Vandals damaged and set light to equipment within the compound during the night.

18/7/16 – Stewards Wood Bridge – Whilst attempting to climb over a wooden gate, it gave way causing the injured person to fall against a dumper causing bruising to their back.

19/7/16 – CP12 Airlock – An operative attempted to knock asphalt off of a shovel by hitting it on the ground which caused a piece to bounce off and strike them in the face.

20/7/16 – Temple Quay, Bristol – A vacuum lifter lost its grip on a kerb causing it to drop and roll forwards pinching the finger of the operative against another block. The kerb lifter was incorrectly rated for the lifting activity.

20/7/16 – Aldermaston Road – Whilst installing cables on site, a Siemens operative trapped their hand in a chamber lid after the manhole lifting key slipped allowing the lid to fall.

20/7/16 – Aldermaston Road – Whilst cutting out tarmac a section of tarmac fell onto an upturned shovel causing it to flick up and strike the forehead of an operative standing nearby causing cuts and bruising that required stitches.


20/7/16 – Idsworth Cattle Creep – A BT cable was struck and damaged during site clearance work as it had been routed through vegetation.

20/7/16 – Sycamore Tree UB – Whilst the site was unoccupied, vandals accessed the site and damaged the pontoon.

21/7/16 – Heathrow Yard – An operative was lifting buckets of material onto the back of the works vehicle when he suffered abdominal pain that is believed to be a suspected hernia.

26/7/16 – Heathrow, Stand 407 – Whilst moving a generator on site, the generator slipped and landed on the injured party’s wrist causing pain and bruising.

26/7/16 – Alderman’s Bridge – An operative was attempting to move a pump whilst stood in thick mud. As the pump was lifted, the operative could not move his feet due to the mud and this caused a sharp pain in their lower back.

28/7/16 – Landside Batcher Reinstatement – An unknown shallow cable was struck and damaged during excavation works. The cable was later identified to be redundant and had been pot ended.

Please note…Accidents and incidents must be reported by phone to the SHEQ Advisor and then be followed up with a report on Workspace. Close calls may be reported using the email address shown on the posters, the close call reporting cards, or the QR Code App.

Southern Safety Nominee

This month’s nominee to receive a safety reward within the Southern region is Terry Biles.

Terry has been highly commended by his Contracts Manager as he always maintains a diligent approach to health and safety issues on site. Terry, also ensures that his colleagues are kept safe and is proactive in suggesting simple safety improvements that can be made on site.

Well done Terry. A £25 voucher is on its way to you. Keep up the good work.

Ash Vale “Bat Hotel” Nominated for an Award

Recently, Dyer & Butler undertook a program of work to demolish a number of old signal boxes as part of the Farnham Re-signalling Project. During the works, it was identified that the old relay room at Ash Vale was a potential bat roost and therefore it was decided that this structure would be retained and turned into a “Bat Hotel”. To complete the works, the building was secured and new openings and roosting panelling was installed within the building to make it easy for the bats to roost. The floor of the building was also covered with soil to improve the temperature and humidity within the space.

Since the completion of the works, further bat surveys have been carried out which have shown that the structure is now being used as a summer roost.

The “Bat Hotel” has been entered into the “Big Biodiversity Challenge” awards that are run by CIRIA because the scheme demonstrates good environmental practice.

If you have any examples of good environmental practice on your site, please let your SHEQ Advisor know.


Are you hydrated enough..?

In recent weeks, the UK has experienced a spell of hot weather and on at least one occasion, a heatwave warning has been issued. When working in hot weather it is vital that you keep yourself hydrated otherwise you may experience the symptoms of de-hydration. The symptoms include your mouth feeling dry, your legs feeling heavy and you may even get a headache. If unchecked, these symptoms can easily lead to heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

When you are working hard, body fluid is lost through sweat. If the fluid lost through sweat is not replaced, dehydration is unavoidable. Losing even 2% of body can impair performance by increasing fatigue and affecting cognitive skills.

If you are carrying out work in hot weather, dehydration is a hazard, but it can easily be prevented by following these simple steps.

Ensure you drink before you start working, trying to catch-up for lost fluids is very difficult.

Drink before you get thirsty. By the time you're thirsty you are already dehydrated.

Water is the best things to drink. A lightly flavored drink with a small amount of sodium encourages is also good.

Avoid drinks with high sugar content such as fruit juices. These are slow to absorb into the body. In general, when you are carrying out work in hot weather and you are sweating, you should drink at least every half an hour.

The amount that you should drink can be calculated by applying the following formula.

Make sure that you stay hydrated during hot weather.

Safety Award Winner’s Day

The 3rd annual Dyer & Butler safety award winner’s day took place during August with 44 Dyer & Butler employees from across the company descending upon Bisley shooting ground in Surrey for day of organised clay pigeon shooting. The event is put on by Dyer & Butler as a way of thanking our monthly safety award winners who have demonstrated that they have “put safety at the heart of everything that they do”.

The day started well with everyone enjoying breakfast in the Victorian Clubhouse prior to receiving a short presentation from Steve Broom which looked back over the previous year’s achievements.

From there everybody made their way over to the Cottesloe Shooting ground for a competitive morning of shooting. As in previous years the competition was close with no less than seven shooters hitting a score of 20 and entering the shoot out for the prestigious ”Top Gun” Award.

The 3rd place shoot out was a particularly entertaining affair with Jon Whitehouse battling it out with Richard Gaskin over five rounds until Richard emerged the victor.

The team prize was heavily contested with Marks Marauding Manga’s taking third place, Broom’s Bouncing Bandanas taking second place and Foxy’s Flying Falcons taking the top team spot.

The individual prize trophies went to Mike Easen as the “Top Gun” with Alan Wain taking second place and Richard Gaskin taking the third place spot.


Kathryn Dyer from the South West won the highly coveted Clay Conservationist award for preserving the most clay pigeons throughout the day. After the shooting had been concluded, everyone returned to the lodge for a 3 course lunch which was washed down with the odd beer or two.

All in all, another fantastic day was had by all who attended and as usual the warm reception and service received from the staff and tutors at Bisley was exemplary.

More importantly, thanks and congratulations go out to all of our safety award winners for your hard work and continued efforts in ensuring that Dyer and Butler sites are safe and healthy places to work.

We hope to see you again next year to celebrate more of your health and safety success stories.

Lifting Equipment Testing

Hampshire Rigging Services have now completed the 6 monthly lifting equipment inspections. The ‘in-date’ colour for the next 6 month period is RED. Lifting equipment inspection boards are available for display on site. These are available from the plant department at Head Office.

If any items of lifting equipment are found on site to have anything other than a red tag on them, then these must be taken out of use and be quarantined until they can be tested.

Certificates of thorough examination confirming that the tests have been completed are available through the online records system.

If you have any difficulty in obtaining a lifting certificate, please contact Warren Rowe at Head Office.

Unexploded Ordnance - UXO

All Dyer & Butler works normally involve some form of excavation or ground penetration and whilst the dangers of underground services is well understood, the risk from unexploded ordnance is sometimes overlooked.

World War 2 left a legacy of unexploded ordnance in almost all major cities, railway stations and ports within the UK. Unexploded ordnance can also be found within areas used for wartime and peacetime training such as on Ministry of Defense (MoD) land.

Therefore it is important to check all forms of historic documentation and ordnance survey reports prior to starting work.

The majority of unexploded ordnance that are uncovered during excavation works will either have a clockwork or chemical fuse which may not have functioned properly at the time when the device was fired. Therefore any disturbance during construction work could re-start the arming mechanism and detonate the ordnance.

Therefore, if you uncover anything that you suspect to be unexploded ordnance, you must follow the following precautions…

Stop all works in the area.

Move people away from the area and prevent anyone from entering the area by placing a cordon around the site.

Do not touch the device or attempt to move it

Contact the local police or the Royal Logistics Team (Bomb Squad).

In recent weeks, a Dyer & Butler site in Wiltshire uncovered a number of viable devices that had to be removed from site before being dealt with via a controlled explosion.

Always remain vigilant for unexploded ordnance whilst you are excavating


Wales and West Safety Award Winners

The Wales and West Region has produced a flurry of safety award winners over the past month. The work site at Stewards Bridge in Dartmoor has produced two nominations.

The first involves an incident where several sheep escaped from the field on the north side of the bridge. Two local boys tried to close the gate but the sheep escaped onto the adjacent road. Knowing that this presented a hazard to road users, Neil Prout, Andy Roberts and Kathryn Dyer went to assist in herding the sheep back into the field and then helped to secure the gate with tools and material from site.

In a separate incident, a German couple on holiday got a flat tyre just outside the site entrance. Seeing that the motorist was having difficulties getting the car jacked up, Richard Gaskin and Andy Luxton managed to warn oncoming traffic of the hazard by putting out traffic management to warn passing vehicles of the obstruction. Once the area was safe, Richard and Andy then helped the motorist to change the tyre and also provided directions to the nearest garage so that they could have a new tyre fitted.

Due to their efforts those involved are invited to next year’s safety award winner’s day.

In addition to these nominations, an operative working at the Berkeley Bridge site in Gloucestershire has been nominated to receive a safety award for his relentless work to ensure that the site is safe for members of the public.

Lyndon Thomas from “Ngage” has been tirelessly carrying out activities such as lining up and monitoring the crowd control barriers, sweeping up debris and ensuring that waste on site finds its way back to the skip. Even the Client (Gloucester County Council) has commented on how clean, tidy and safe the site is.

Lyndon receives a £25 voucher but it is good to see the region being recognised for all of the good work that it is carrying out.

Sentinel Update - Delayed

Sentinel, the system used within the rail industry to control and track competencies is being updated.

Site Staff, COSS’s and SWL’s working on rail projects are already required to “swipe in” staff in using a smartphone app to record who is on site. During this “swipe in” the individual’s competencies can also be checked.

The update to the Sentinel system will add an additional layer of control which will enable the system to monitor the various “swipe in’s” relating to an individual to monitor their working times and fatigue risk. If the system identifies that the individual has worked too many hours, then the “swipe in” will be denied meaning that individual will not be granted access to the worksite to work.

The anticipated go live date for these changes to take effect has passed and Sentinel have now advised us that the following implementation plan has been put into place. User guides are due for release in September and we will be sending more details through in due course.

It is anticipated that the national go live date for the upgraded system will now take place after the end of September.

Watch this space for further updates…

For now…Keep swiping people in via the Sentinel App (even if you are not working on or near the line.

Safe by choice ….not by chance - Morrison Utility Services · 2017-12-04 · Safe by choice...

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Transcript of Safe by choice ….not by chance - Morrison Utility Services · 2017-12-04 · Safe by choice...