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Health and Safety

Health and Safety Policy

Cotel Telecom (UK) Rental acknowledges and accepts its legal responsibilities for securing the health, safety and welfare of all its employees, including sub-contractors working on its behalf and all others affected by their activities.
It is the intent of Cotel Telecom (UK) Rental to provide safe and healthy working conditions for all our employees by:

It is also the intent of Cotel Telecom (UK) Rental to enlist the support of all employees towards achieving the safest possible working conditions and to encourage consultation on all health ans safety matters. Support, co-operations and consultation will also be sought from clients, other contractors and any other persons who might reasonably be expected to be included in such discussions. To this end, regular health and safety discussions will be held. By monitoring, reviewing and measuring performance targets, it is possible to learn and improve on the achievement of the past. To this end, there is a continuous cycle of improvement and development.
The Company accepts its responsibility for the health and safety of other people who may be affected by our activities including: clients, employees, other contractors and members of the public. The Company also accepts responsibility for any affects our activities may have on the environment.

The Allocation of duties for safety matters and the particular arrangements, which will be made to implement this policy, are set out on this page. This policy will be kept up to date particularly as regards any changes in activities or the nature or size of the business and will be reviewed at annual meetings.

Overall responsibility for health and safety rests firmly with the highest management within the business (Company Director). However, ALL individuals within the workforce have to accept a certain duty for health and safety towards themselves and others who might be affected by their acts or omissions. ALL health and safety matters will be communicated to ALL staff.

Head of Company

The Company Director has overall responsibility for health and safety within the company, and will:

Health and Safety Co-coordinator / Representative

The person responsible for H&S is the Company Director. Health and Safety Experience of the Company Director is monitored by regular H&S training attendance. The Health and Safety Co-Coordinator / Representative will undertake and be responsible for:

Employees

It shall be the duty of every employee while at work -

  1. To take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and of other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work
  2. As regards any duty or requirement imposed on their employer or any other person by or under of the relevant statutory provisions, to co-operate with themselves so far as is necessary to enable that duty or requirement to be performed or complied with. In order for all employees to comply with their legal duties, they will undertake and be responsible for:

Health and Safety Executive: Lone Working

This is an extract from the Health and Safety Executive of which provides guidance on how to keep lone workers healthy and safe. It is aimed at anyone who employs or engages lone workers, and also at self-employed people who work alone. Following the guidance in the leaflet is not compulsory, but it should help employers understand what they need to do to comply with their legal duties towards lone workers under:

Is it legal to work alone and is it safe?

Working alone is not in itself against the law and it will often be safe to do so. However, the law requires employers to consider carefully, and then deal with, any health and safety risks for people working alone.
Employers are responsible for the health, safety and welfare at work of all their workers. They also have responsibility for the health and safety of any contractors or self-employed people doing work for them.
These responsibilities cannot be transferred to any other person, including those people who work alone.
Workers have responsibilities to take reasonable care of themselves and other people affected by their work activities and to co-operate with their employers in meeting their legal obligations.

Who are lone workers and what jobs do they do?

Lone workers are those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision, for example:

In fixed establishments

As mobile workers working away from their fixed base

How must employers control the risks?

Employers have a duty to assess risks to lone workers and take steps to avoid or control risks where necessary. This must include:

This may include:

Risk assessment should help employers decide on the right level of supervision. There are some high-risk activities where at least one other person may need to be present. Examples include:

Employers who have five or more employees must record the significant findings of all risk assessments.
Employers also need to be aware of any specific law that prohibits lone working applying in their industry. Examples include supervision in diving operations, vehicles carrying explosives and fumigation work.

What must employers consult on?

By law, employers must consult all their employees on health and safety matters.
Effective consultation will also help ensure that relevant hazards are identified, and appropriate and proportionate control measures are chosen.

Which particular problems affect lone workers?

Lone workers should not be put at more risk than other employees. Establishing a healthy and safe working environment for lone workers can be different from organising the health and safety of other employees. Some of the issues that need special attention when planning safe working arrangements are set out in the following pages, but your risk assessment process should identify the issues relevant to your circumstances.

Can one person adequately control the risks of the job?

Employers should take account of normal work and foreseeable emergencies, eg fire, equipment failure, illness and accidents. Employers should identify situations where people work alone and consider the following:

If a person has a medical condition, are they able to work alone?

Employers should seek medical advice if necessary. Consider both routine work and foreseeable emergencies that may impose additional physical and mental burdens on an individual.

Why is training particularly important for lone workers?

Training is particularly important where there is limited supervision to control, guide and help in uncertain situations.
Training may also be crucial in enabling people to cope in unexpected circumstances and with potential exposure to violence and aggression.
Lone workers are unable to ask more experienced colleagues for help, so extra training may be appropriate. They need to be sufficiently experienced and fully understand the risks and precautions involved in their work and the location that they work in.
Employers should set the limits to what can and cannot be done while working alone. They should ensure workers are competent to deal with the requirements of the job and are able to recognise when to seek advice from elsewhere.

How will the person be supervised?

The extent of supervision required depends on the risks involved and the ability of the lone worker to identify and handle health and safety issues.
The level of supervision needed is a management decision, which should be based on the findings of a risk assessment, ie the higher the risk, the greater the level of supervision required. It should not be left to individuals to decide whether they need assistance.

Where a worker is new to a job, undergoing training, doing a job that presents specific risks, or dealing with new situations, it may be advisable for them to be accompanied when they first take up the post.

Monitoring

Procedures must be put in place to monitor lone workers as effective means of communication are essential. These may include:

What happens if a person becomes ill, has an accident, or there is an emergency?

Your assessment of the risks should identify foreseeable events. Emergency procedures should be established and employees trained in them.
Information regarding emergency procedures should be given to lone workers. Your risk assessment may indicate that mobile workers should carry first-aid kits and/or that lone workers need first-aid training. They should also have access to adequate first-aid facilities.

Find out more

hse.gov.uk

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