Your Health & Safety Company

It has been a busy few weeks and a very varied training schedule. Loved very minute 😀

Well I’ve had a great time at the Westgrove hotel, in Co Kildare, delivering a 5-day Portable Lifting Instructors Inspection course for Lloyds/ Speedy training group.

During my visit to Durham cathedral: aThis is the cathedral’s only wooden object known to have the survived the English Civil War, purportedly because it is embellished with a thistle, the symbol of Scotland, and was therefore spared being used as firewood by the Scottish army, who used the Cathedral as barracks in the 1640s.

Over the last, busy, 38 days I have managed to; sleep in 13 different beds, visit 10 locations, which meant travelling 3240 miles, and flighting 1128 nautical miles, on 6 different journeys. I have deliver six LEI courses, a 3-day Managing Safely IOSH course and a working at height safety course, however it has not all been work, Lynne and I managed to squeeze in some leisure time and if you want to know how we did it read on:- I have had a busy few weeks and managed to pack in some great adventures along the way! It all started on the weekend on the 16th of September; I prepared to go to Southern Ireland to deliver a 5-day Lifting Equipment Inspection (LEI) course. While I was out there,Lynne, my partner, joined me to start our vacation, I had to change hotels for the last night so we stayed at Lawlors of Nass. The next day we travel across Ireland 🇮🇪 to Cleggan, Co Galway, to stay in a cottage by the sea for 5 days. We travel some of the Wild Atlantic Way and managed to fit in a visit to the Ireland of Inisbofin. We continued our ventures by visiting friends in Limerick for a couple of days before ending up in Dublin, for a night of music, dance and a little drink. We were homeward bound the next day ( this was the 2rd of October). A quick turn around was needed, but not before I took the time to delivered a 3-day Managing Safety IOSH course, for the International Centre for Life; that done, we headed off to Norwich for a 4-day metal detecting holiday at Butley Abbey. Wonderful place! But metal detecting is hard work, so Lynne and I stopped off for 2-days in Cambridge, staying at the Graduate Cambridge hotel by the river Cam, and yes we did go punting😀. Once again homeward bound, for yet again another quick turn around, arriving back on the Saturday (14th of October) to fly out to Co Kildare, R.O.I. on the Sunday. This time it was only for a 3-day course. My flight back was delayed so I arrived home in the early hours of Thursday morning. I needed to prepare for my last course on Thursday which was going to be Working at Height safety course and this was to be delivered in Doncaster on the Friday morning; this meant me driving down to Bawtry, Doncaster, on the Thursday night (no rest for the wicked they say) So back home on the Friday to prepare for one last task of this period of my life the shortest but most pain journey I will have to do, Wansbeck General Hospital, making this my 14th bed I would have slept in, in the last 38 days; well at least it is not the 13th, I think anyway 😀

Another weeks training completed in Republic of Ireland. A stay in the Lawlors hotel,Nass, as always, was a treat; so now on my way home. This was my view from the plane window as we came into land at Newcastle airport.

I had a marvellous week training, new overhead crane instructors at Unipres, Sunderland. It was a full week but very enjoyable, we even got a chance to use the super high Tec VR (Virtual Reality) crane program. It was very realistic and is intended to give novice operators sometime to get used to the remote control crane handset. If you want to buy one of these units, it’s only about £80,000!

FLT training this week on a brand new Doosan, counterbalance forklift truck. This truck 3105kg SWL, had a strange set up; you were unable to engage the gears until you released the handbrake first!? I really enjoyed training the lads from HSB Engineering Ltd, at Compass training centre, Chorley; Well done everyone who made it possible. A quick break, then off to Doncaster to complete some overhead crane training on a pendant controlled crane, for Bawtry Carbon Ltd, wish me luck 😀

Well, when I set my company up, back in 2016, it was my intention to train organisations all over UK & Europe, and I think I can honestly say I have achieved this and more; but it comes at a cost. This month (Oct 2022) my travel miles have exceeded 1450 miles, (some air miles) I have visited three countries, Southern Ireland, Scotland & Yorkshire; slept in 7 different beds, 4 hotels; delivered 9 courses to approximately 35 people! 😅 but,and they is a but, I still love doing it 😀 .yourhealthandsafetycompany.co.uk
Ironically I write this blog in a travel lodge in Doncaster so here we go again!

It is nice to see people progress & succeed during training, and if they have the right tools for the job, it is always a bonus; this is why at YHSC Ltd we like to present the delegates with a small gift to help them out. (Instructor/ Examiner course) If you would like to sign up for any of our courses, just get in touch

Well another busy week at HSCo Ltd; I drove down to Chorley and completed a couple of MEWP (scissor Lift) courses for the staff at Kerax Ltd. The machine was a Genie model GS1932 with a lift of 8 metres: Marvellous course, made that much more enjoyable by the candidates good humour and their willingness to learn; then I drove over to Doncaster; but not without incident! A motor cyclist managed to drive into my car in standing traffic, no one was hurt only metal and paint ; When you drive as much as I do “the laws of probability” with catch up with you eventually 😏). At Doncaster I trained the lads at Bawtry Carbon Ltd on their counterbalance FLT, Linde, H45D-02, SWL 4220kgs with hydraulic operated forks , this makes life a lot easier for the operators. In the end, a successful week for all, including the lads at the body shop that are going to make a fortune repairing my Mercedes

I reallly enjoyed working with the dockers at the Port of Sunderland on Tuesday. They infectious humour made my day and the day was all too quickly over. I hope to return soon

Some of the lifting equipment inspected on the LEI course, not all passed of course 😀

I’m having a very enjoyable week delivering Portable Lifting Equipment Inspection courses in Southern Ireland 🇮🇪. When ever I can , I stay at the Lawlors of Nass, in Co Kildare. The staff, food and service are always first class. A great place to visit if you are ever in the area….. and the Guinness is quite good too😀

Your Health & Safety Company now takes appointments on their Page.

Crane operations: 2200kg grab attachment. The grab is used to create lateral pressure(sideward) to equal the horizontal force to safely lift a load without any natural lifting points

MEWP training went well today even if the rain did come down quite heavy; still smiles at the end of the day from all 5 delegates who gained their certification. Make: Genie
Model: Z45/25 S.W.L. 227 kgs: Lift height of 45 feet, that’s from the ground to the platform stage.

Forklift trucks come in many sizes like this 16000kg safe working load Konecrane vehicle. The total overall weight of this truck is a massive 23000kgs. They are lots to consider when using these huge trucks, not least, ground bearing loads, manhole covers and its large turning circle. The starting procedure is somewhat unusual, as it needs the on-board computer to boot it up. Please take care when using these vehicles and get some quality training before you attempt to operate them

Your Health and Safety Company completing, Telescopic Handler training on an EFW project site, in Leicestershire, last April. This amazing machine, MT1840 telehandler, can lift loads of 4000kgs, and has a reach of 18 metres! These photos show the telescopic handler using a hydraulically connected winch which is controlled from the cab. It takes great skill but with the correct training…..

Telescopic handler training in Newcastle, in July this year. Model: JCB 540-17, capacity of 4000kgs & has a reach of up to 17 metres. The gross weight of this vehicle is 12300kgs. Only skilled, trained operates can use these types of vehicles; are you one of these people?

Great to be back at Hyster / Yale in Belfast to deliver a FLT instructor course for several of their staff

I thought this was worthy of a reshare; I hope it helps

Masks 2021
for you who do not know me, I am a freelance trainer and a health and safety consultant, and I want to help you understand face mask protection. It can get overly complicated, however, I will try to make this brief and to the point; if you find this blog interesting and need to know more just drop your question in the comments box and I will try to answer them as soon as, so here we go:

Everyone by now should understand that P.P.E. means Personal Protection Equipment, so here is another acronym for you, R.P.E is Respiratory Protective Equipment.

The standards for face masks are F.F.P. which is Face Fit Protection
Okay that is enough, now the face fit protection has a standard and the standard that we need to understand, as the general public, is EN 149, this is the European standard for these types of masks.
We have three classes of particle -filtering half masks. They are: -

FFP1, 2, & 3.
FFP1 Generally is used for DIY and is good protection for this type of work and has a protection value of 80%; meaning that this mask filters at least 80% of airborne particles.

FFP2 This mask gives protection against airborne dust particles however it also protects against solid, water-based aerosols and oil-based aerosols, giving a protection value of 94%.

FFP3 This standard of mask protection value raises to at least 99% as well as giving all the protection FFP2 gives. This type of mask is what you would expect nurses and doctors to wear as it gives a certain amount of protection against airborne transmissions of pathogens through respiratory droplets.

The first thing to say is that any face protection is good if it's regularly cleaned and covers both your mouth and nose.

EN 149 Have various markings depending on the age and the way they have been treated.
This is to do with the dolomite dust testing but we're getting too deep into specifics now so let’s move on..
Two main types are.
EN149:1991 & EN149:2001. The important difference being those marked 1991 allows testing of the respirators against solids aerosols only; where is the new version 2001 have been tested to meet the requirements to protect against, solids, and liquid aerosols, so to summarise masks marked 1991 would be ineffective against moisture droplets and transmissible viruses.
Lastly, just to cover the main points that may help you out with marking on your masks.
Masks with markings NR means, limited to one working day (8hrs) and are not reusable; masks with the additional markings of D, e.g., NR D, indicates that they may exceed an 8 hrs period but again are not reusable; masks marked with the letter R, can be used for more than one working day, therefore are reusable masks, however, I suggest only using them twice and only if they have been stored correctly.

And finally, you may come across masks marked N95, these are from The United States and are equivalent to FFP 2. The N99 masks show they are also from the United States and are the equivalent to FFP 3, similarly, markings KN95 are from China and are equivalent to FFP3 also, however, it must be noted that these masks are tested differently from The EN standards, which are a little bit too complicated for this article to go into. I really hope this has been of some help to you in choosing what type of face protection you wish to use.

Ref data:https://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr619.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ffp-standards
www.3m.com/uk/ohes

I forgot I had taken these photos back in 2019; Peel dock Liverpool and Manchester shipping canal lock gates. We were having a well earned break from crane operations training

This is my image and the reason why!
I was recently asked if I were to select one photograph that would reflect my experience of the lockdown in 2020, what would it be? I had to think long and hard about this, taking time to view, posted photographs of, nurses wearing masks, smiling children holding up their rainbows and endless pictures of clapping crowds that portrayed NHS appreciation; queuing shoppers, athletes exercising indoors, sinks of well-scrubbed fruit, my Gran would have laughed at the sight of that, but none, however, collectively, summed up this space-in-time, this moment when history was lived.
I was lucky enough to find myself in a country estate on the day Boris decided that life needed to stop and hold its breath; After that initial shock, I decided to regroup and take full advantage of the situation and found myself indulging in my newfound hobby of jogging! (took extra care with that spelling) and being in my sixties this came of more of a shock to me than everyone else. I found I had plenty of time to take the odd photograph of the outstanding scenery, here in the Northumbrian landscape, and therefore I was able to collect images of every farmer's field, narrow country roadways and the ever-extending series of hills that lay before me. The views changed and altered from brown ploughed fields, long winding pathways and, to what I can only describe as the stunning fields of yellow rapeseed. They were also numerous wildlife all around, like scurrying grey squirrels, brushy tailed foxes, and my favourite, the cautious, elegant, majestic Roe Deer. There were also, of course, an abundance of wild birds, none of which I have the intellect to be able to identify correctly, other than the magnificent coloured pheasants, which have the disconcerting ability to jump out at you at any given moment of the day or night, this always ended in the same inevitable, girl like scream, which I still cannot control.
So I hear you say plenty of opportunities to seize THE PHOTO of the more tranquil side of the lockdown but no, nothing I could capture made me want to say, look, this is it, this is the impression expressed in photographic pixels. No, the image I chose wasn’t even taken by me but by my daughter, Adele, of her daughter, Charlotte, and here is why?
Look at the photo and you can see a child sitting looking at a sky that shows off its shades of tranquillity that is only found on those days in summer when all the world seems at peace. She is gazing and watching the cumulus clouds move through the sky in wonder, without a trace of aeroplane vapour trails, even though this photo was taken, only 5 miles away from an International Airport. You don’t have to see her face to know she’s smiling, eyes wide with amazement as she sees, probably for the first time, how the ground meets the sky in a burst of greens only nature can paint. One day, as any other outcome of this scenario, my heart would be unable to consider, I will tell her that she was a COVID-19 survivor and blessed with the generation of people who will hopefully grow up to realise that our existence is so fragile and so precariously balance that life and this planet of ours deserves our attention.
This photo is a view of innocence through the eyes of an individual without the knowledge of the horrors of COVID-19 and the hope they will never have too, and so this is why, this is my COVID-19 image, sTaY SaFe
-19 .co.uk
://www.linkedin.com/company/positive-baby-books/?viewAsMember=true

Is your COVID-19 respirator face mask sealing properly?

Hi everyone,
Here is a link to the latest RPE LOcHER youtube video - 'Your respirator is your last line of defence'
https://youtu.be/SBzA3_8OOX8

It has simple, straightforward advice on the use of RPE - please share this link with your networks and help spread these important messages.

youtube.com

Updates - Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) - Guidance - GOV.UK

Hi here are the new COVID-19 Updates,

See below the link for the latest safe working practice guidelines regarding COVID 19

Please can you share with the SSG and any other person who will benefit.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/updates

gov.uk List of updates to 'Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) - Guidance'.

Your Health & Safety Company

As-salāmu ʿalaykum (Peace be upon you)
It is a phrase I’ve become very familiar with but for a very good reason!
Many people might suggest that health and safety in the Middle East are not as good as it should be, but you may be surprised to know that there is a very particular change in the mindset of organisations out in the eastern Mediterranean, especially in Kuwait.
Your Health and Safety Company has been working with a large retail organisation in Al Jahra, Kuwait to train their staff in warehouse safety. The organisation was fully committed to spending time and money to support their staff and ensure that they received quality, specific training.
We were able to deliver training on a variety of vehicles such as VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) counterbalance FLT, Reach truck, Order Pickers, as well as, risk assessments on working at height and traffic control safety.
This has taken several weeks, and we are still not finished yet but the difference to the working procedures and the changes that I have seen reaffirm my belief that sound health and safety advice, good practice and commitment go along way to producing a successful safety culture.
If you require this sort of help, we are always here to help;

wa ʿalaykumu s-salām (And peace be upon you, too)

Novembers RQF Level 3 ( SCQF Level 6) Supervising First Aid for Mental Health Course went really well with all the delegates enjoying the course and its location. If you are interested in qualifying why not contact us now ?