This means you get our quality Asbestos Awareness course, fully accredited by UKATA without the travelling, at your own computer and in only one and a half hours plus you can print your certificate off immediately after you finish your course.
So no travelling costs or taking time off of work and at only £35+vat our Asbestos Awareness Elearning package is a cost effective way of ensuring you have this vital qualification.

This course is suitable for making you aware of the dangers of asbestos associated with unknowingly coming into contact with asbestos it DOES NOT cover licenced and non licensed removal of asbestos.
On completion of this course you will:
1. Have increased awareness of the nature & properties of asbestos
2. The effect of asbestos on health
3. Be familiar with the different types of asbestos and its use
4. How to avoid risks from asbestos, where to gain information and advice and how to work safely with asbestos including emergency procedures

Click here then follow the directions to register, log in and pay and away you go.

If your job means you need to drill, sand, demolish, refurbish, hammer, extend, rewire, re-plumb (I could go on…) then this course is for you. If you have any questions as to whether this is the course you need then please Contact Us.

SAMS Ltd – Protecting YOUR future – TODAY

This system of charging is known as Fee For Intervention (FFI) and is one of several changes that are coming in on 6^th April this year.

When will FII be applied?  Unlike at present, the HSE will be more intelligence led and as such they will mainly only call on those businesses where they have been made aware of a problem (e.g. RIDDOR report, information from other enforcement agencies etc). On attending, if the HSE Inspector identifies a material breach of safety regulations which requires the writing of a letter, issuing of an enforcement notice or prosecution, then the FII kicks in and the clock starts running.

Is there a ball park sum?

In short each case will be taken on its own merits but a ball park figure around the service of an enforcement notice could cost the Directors in the region of £1500:00p which is in addition to any costs incurred to put things right. As can be expected this sum will significantly increase in the event of a prosecution. We can only guess at the figures involved in the event of a death of a worker leading to a prosecution by the HSE.

As we are only too well aware the East Kent area is not the wealthiest area within the UK and as such there are not many businesses or organisations which could bear this additional financial burden and so it is the best interests to make sure that you have a reasonable and cost safety system in place, which at SAMS Ltd we specialise in.

During the original blog on this issue we asked if this was a first step towards a fixed penalty ticket approach the enforcement of health and safety, after all the CPS currently only prosecute the more serious cases and expect the police to issue fixed penalties to lesser offenders!

How long it will be before the powers ask that very question?

Finally it will only be a question of time before the adverts start to drop onto you e mails or doorsteps warning of the severe financial burden you are risking from a visit from the HSE. Our advice is to ignore the foreseers of financial ruin and damnation and get on with what you do and if you are unsure or have a concern then give us a call.

At SAMS Ltd we got bored one morning and had a conversation about what this actually means which resulted in much searching of dictionaries and management books to find out.

We are therefore grateful to a Mr Bennett who in writing to a professional trade magazine who provided no less than 2 definitions of common sense being:

“the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18”

or

“A scattered and often contradictory hodgepodge of accumulated advice, experiences, aphorisms, cultural norms, received wisdom, inherited beliefs and introspection”   (Physics World magazine October 2011)

If the above are somewhere near the truth then for managers to trust staff to apply common sense to manage risk is about as reliable as standing in a road and expecting drivers to do the right thing to miss you. At SAMS Ltd we have been involved in the investigation of a number of accidents in the Thanet and Canterbury areas where the managers could not believe that their staff did something which was so obviously dangerous but they still did it.

The application of common sense is dependent upon having faith in people to do the right thing at the right time, but with all the baggage they carry in respect of culture, belief and perceptions of danger all of which differ from person to person.

Surely it’s better that work place risks are identified and managed with clear understanding of what the issues are rather than relying on the belief of an 18 year old who is immortal or a 60 year old who has done it this way for years.

Your call!!!!!!

On 8^th September 2006, Mr Clive Hall was carrying out repairs in a cut and grease machine used in the manufacturing of packaging at a factory in Glossop, Derbyshire.

The 50 year old was working in the delivery end of the machine, when it was switched on by an operator who was not aware that Mr Hall was inside.  As the machine powered up Mr Hall was hit on the head by the transfer bars which carry cardboard through the machine and he was killed instantly.

Mr Hall’s death could have so easily been avoided by implementing a few simple control measures….. (Training and padlocks).

Both machine operators and maintenance workers should be given adequate training.  If a simple procedure for cutting the power supply to the machine had been followed then Mr Hall’s death could have been avoided.

Padlocks were issued to each machine operator with instructions stating that machinery must be locked off during repair and maintenance activities.

Health and safety doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive, effective management and training is something that SAMS Ltd can provide you and your staff with to keep you safe.

We at SAMS provide policies and procedures, general and fire assessments, method statements, training and help with most employment issues.  Our prices are extremely competitive and we aim to keep you within the current legal framework.

The factory owners appeared at Chesterfield Magistrates Ct on 21^st May 2010 and pleaded guilty to breaching various aspects of the HSAW Act 1974.  They were fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £76,150. 

Of course sadly behind every statistic and story there is a bereaved family. Following the hearing Mr Hall’s wife Pam said, “His children have been totally devastated by Clive’s death and continue to miss him terribly.

If you know someone who would benefit from the services that SAMS can offer then give us a call, visit the website or e-mail us on info@samsltd.co.uk .

“There is an obsession with health and safety that has eroded

people’s willingness to act according to common sense”  (SHP-Sept 2011)

To challenge this obsession the Lofstedt review into safety is seeking opportunities to reduce the health and safety burden through consolidating, simplifying or abolishing Regulations.

The real risk to health and safety is not so much the outcome of this review but the message that it may send out which, if not carefully handled, will be that safety within the work place is no longer regarded as important. This is of course a real concern to those who have an interest in the subject including  the HSE and Unions especially as a significant rise in deaths on construction sites was seen in the first year of the coalition Governments term in office.

People whether staff, bosses or casual observers will always put their own interpretation on what is going on and safety is no exception. In responding to the Lofstedt review IOSH takes a view that, through their own research and evidence, the health and safety laws are not at fault with the root problem being the way in which they are interpreted and applied.

At SAMS Ltd we have first-hand experience of this both within the public and private sectors where people have tried to advance their own agendas with phrases such as “Health and Safety says” or you can’t do that because of Health and Safety. “   What nonsense and in expressing such a view does water down what safety laws are all about.

Safety laws are not about stopping bosses or staff doing things, they are about managing your work place, managing staff and your day to day business so that the people who work for you do the most important thing they will ever do at work and that is to go home at the end of their working day. By managing safety a good working environment is created and preserved which helps keep the No Win – No Fee solicitors at bay and subsequent avoidance of fines, costs and compensation.

At SAMS Ltd we believe that whether you work in agriculture in Thanet, run a small vehicle workshop in Canterbury or large manufacturing unit in Ashford a sensible and pragmatic application of some easily applied principals allow you the freedom to manage you own affairs, a concept which is actively encouraged within the safety laws that we currently have. 

If you need help with any of the issues mentioned, please contact us.

He works on building sites,

He’s just about to drill a wall,

When he saw a funny sight.

He see’s this big red sticker ,

That looked  a bit like this,          

He calls his boss on over  who says,

 “lets give this wall a miss.”

“‘cos that sticker mean asbestos,

Is lurking behind there,

A specialist will drill that wall

With the right equipment and much care.”

His boss says, “aren’t you glad Joe,

That you’ve been trained to see,

The warning signs, just like this,

So you can work safely?”

Joe says, “yes I am boss,

No asbestosis for Joe,

But what about the other lads,

The ones that do not know?”

His boss said, “well its simple,

To SAMS I will send them,

They’ll train ‘em up, just like you,

And I’ll have well trained men.”

So the moral of this story,

To save you from much strife,

Book a place, on our course,

It might just save your life!

Asbestos Awareness and Contractors training is taking place in October here at SAMS, for more info contact claire or visit our training page

We also offer a consultancy service where we can attend and offer advice and guidance to clients who would like to start up a food business so that they can effectively plan and prepare what is required saving both time and expense and which will meet environment health
officer requirements.

We have a CIEH Level Two Food Safety course running on the 3rd November 2011 at our Manston Road premises
and there are spaces available. Please contact us on 01843 821403 or visit our training page for further information.

At present an HSE officer may just decide, while passing by a work place, to pay an unannounced visit and then deal with anything that they may find by way of advice, guidance or the issuing of an enforcement notice.
As of April 2012 HSE staff will mainly undertake visits when they have specific information or intelligence that unsafe working practice may be in place which includes an accident report, information received from another agency such as police, fire service or local authority officers or reports from the public or staff. Being specifically focused visits the HSE will be seeking to recoup their costs by levying a charge, currently being stated at £133 per hour on the Directors of the company subject of the visit, which may include travel and administration time and would be in addition to any costs associated to meet the requirements of any notices issued or any fines or costs incurred as a result of a guilty finding in any subsequent court case.

We, at SAMS, see this is a major step in how the enforcement of safety will take place in the future and this change may create a situation where the HSE may be seen as acting as the judge and jury on all issues concerning safety management. This is all very well until the investigation of an accident shows, as we at SAMS have experienced, that the Company was not at fault. In this particular case the Company subjected to an on-site HSE investigation which lasted 5 hours (plus travel time and reports being prepared) and were eventually exonerated from blame and therefore not penalised in any way, shape or form which, in the future will clearly not be the case. If the proposed changes were in place at that time then the cost to the company for this investigation would have amounted to a sum of not less than £1064. At this time the basis of any appeal procedure is not known and it remains to be seen how such a system will work in reality especially when the inspectors want to undertake follow up visits which could give rise to some quite interesting bargaining and bartering taking place.

Is this the first move towards a fixed penalty ticket approach the enforcement of health and safety??

Under the terms of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 there is a legal requirement for business owners to take responsibility for, and manage, fire prevention within their premises. This point has been recently highlighted by some significant fines being levied on HMO and care home owners who had failed to take reasonable steps to manage fire risk and put in place reasonable provisions to enable persons to escape. Given the number of such premises around the Margate and Ramsgate areas this activity by the fire authorities is certainly something that is going to have an impact. 

All of these factors are changing the way in which fire management is being treated within the UK and it would certainly appear that the impact of   Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is beginning to be felt. This has been seen within the Margate area where fire officers and local authority staff are presently undertaking such visits and highlighting a number of failings within the fire arrangements of the above highlighted areas.

At SAMS we can offer assistance in this matter and ensure that advise and support is given in the right areas. Contact us to see how we can assist you.