One Day...

One Day...

I work for one of the country’s leading waste management, recycling and energy- from waste-companies. We operate across the country, providing expert services in the collection, recycling and disposal of waste as well as municipal cleansing. Our businesses stretch from Kent and London to as far north as Merseyside and as far south as Cornwall. Our transfer stations are based in London and Cirencester. In all we have thirty three sites.

I am based in the Essex office and work for Compliance also known as Health & Safety. I am a compliance officer and work in a team of 10 people. We carry out Compliance work on the behalf of our businesses .We assist and guide the staff and management with their health, safety and environmental issues.

Cory Environmental is the only company that transfers waste on the River Thames, keeping over 100,000 HGVs off the capital’s already congested roads each year. The rubbish is compacted on our transfer stations then collected and transferred down the river by container barges to our landfill site which is appropriately named Mucking down in Essex.

The full article, including photos of the waste transfer operation, can be downloaded in pdf format by clicking the following link.

One Day...

Rochelle of Cory Environmental

HSfB Owner Runs the Edinburgh Marathon for CHAS - 16 March 2008

Site News

• John Johnston, the owner of Health and Safety for Beginners and employee of FMC Technologies, will run the full Edinburgh Marathon on 25 May 2008 with two other colleagues from FMC Technologies - Alan and Sheena - in aid of The Children's Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS). The team building event, which is being backed by FMC Technologies, began in November 2007.

  Alan, Sheena and John form the HSE Group at FMC Technologies and are aiming to help raise awareness for healthy living for the 600 strong workforce as well as raise money for a worthy cause.

  CHAS is a Scottish charity established to provide hospice services in Scotland for children with life-limiting conditions. The hospice offers professional care, practical help and emotional support to the whole family from the day they are referred until the death of their child and beyond.

  A blog has been set up to keep track of the event called First Time Marathon - http://www.firsttimemarathon.blog.co.uk/

  The target for fundraising has been set at £3,000. If you would like to make a donation to help meet the target, you can donate securely online using the dedicated fundraising page at JustGiving - http://www.justgiving.com/firsttimemarathon

  The First Time Marathon team would like to thank you for your support.

Health and Safety for Beginners Time Management Tool

Health and Safety for Beginners Time Management Tool

Published on HSfB 7 March 2008

If like me you try to juggle 101 things in the air at the same time, it won’t be too long before you begin to forget important things at your work or in your studies. Your stress levels begin to build up and you start to get overwhelmed with tasks, even small incidentals. Then one day something undoubtedly gives way or you simply plod along aimlessly trying to cope and never really get anywhere.

Sound familiar?

This time management tool is one of many methods you can use to help take control of your daily and weekly tasks, both at work and in study. It will help you to prioritise and arrange tasks in a logical manner and will also help you to become much more productive as a direct result. All you need to do is simply follow these three easy steps using the planning sheets provided.

Download the time management planning sheets and guide here - HSfB Time Management Tool

Step 1

First, use the Time Management Journal – Step 1 document for the first full week. Use a separate sheet for work and home life.

The journal in this step is an honest and accurate account of your use of time each day. When you start a task, fill in the start time, end time, a description of the task and any interruptions you have during the task. Interruptions can be your boss asking you to do something for him/her, or it could be an accident investigation, or even a toilet break/ciggie break etc. Write them all in the interruptions column and analyse the results at the end of the week.

By the end of the week, you will see the common interruptions and obviously the interruptions you have no control over, which will happen every week and that's ok. Deal with those interruptions! If the interruptions are people just having a chat, then have a chat with them, but be ready to explain to them that you need to get on with your work and they should leave you in peace! Be nice though ;) You may also uncover various patterns of your work colleagues where they could perhaps improve their own productivity at work.

Step 2

Next is to use the Time Management – Task Planning – Step 2 document.

There are three key priorities to use in this document –

• A – Jobs that must be done.
• B – Jobs that ought to be done but can be delayed if necessary.
• C – Jobs that are easy/enjoyable but don’t directly achieve objectives.

You should complete this sheet on a weekly basis and update it as the week progresses and tasks are completed or progressed.

Add in your task description, give it a priority, update the status and add in a time you think you will need to complete the task. This helps to focus your mind on the task and is your living document that helps you psychologically.

All these things are in your head all at once, which makes your stress levels increase as you feel you never get near the end of the list. But, if you write them down and show your progress, even minor progress, you begin to see and feel the positive effects of your efforts, which is an amazing feeling.

Step 3

Next is to use the Time Management – Daily Plan – Step 3 document. This is your daily plan for your tasks. First thing in the morning, set your plan of action for the day and try to stick to it as best you can. Don't try to fill each slot of time with something to do, give yourself some floating time in there as things rarely go to plan, but again it helps you focus. Each day, start a new sheet and refer back to the previous day's sheet to see what jobs still need attention.

Refer to the task planning document from step 2 and allocate time to your top priority tasks (and lower priority jobs if you can). For example, if you need to do risk assessments on four machines and you think it will take you about 5 hours in total, allocate 1 or 2 hours to the task for that day, then move on to something else of high priority. Unless of course the task needs to be carried out until complete. Only you can decide how much time to give each priority, but remember there are only so many hours in a day for work/study and you can only do so much. You are only human!

Hints and Tips

• The biggest challenge to start with is to find the time to populate your time management sheets! Once you do start and you see the benefits, you will be amazed at how much it helps and how much you will rely on the sheets to help you focus.

• Archive all of your sheets when finished with them and look back now and again to see how they have helped you manage your time. It helps keep you focused.

• I have attached another sheet which is a study planning sheet and is used purely for study time. Wherever you can steal time for studying, at work or home, fill in your study sheet and stick to it as best you can using the principles explained in this guide.

• Be realistic.

• When using the tool for study, work out what time you have available for study and don’t forget to make time for sleeping, eating, recreation, etc. You still have a life.

• Try to plan ahead - do not leave everything to the last minute, remember assignments and reports need research time, so start early.

• Prioritise - do not do the easiest task first, but the one that really needs to be done first.

• Set objectives which are reasonable, and make sure that they are somewhere you can see them. You could keep a wall planner chart if you have a spare wall.

• Break large tasks into manageable sub-tasks and set target dates against each sub-task i.e. for an assignment: research; research evaluation; draft copy; and final copy.

• Try doing the most difficult things when you feel at your best.

• Remember the unexpected always happens, so be flexible and don't get angry when plans have to change. Just change them ;)

REMEMBER YOU ARE IN CONTROL!

Download the time management planning sheets and guide here - HSfB Time Management Tool

HSfB - Important Site News 6 January 2008

6 January 2008

New Health and Safety Discussion Forums Launched

We are proud to announce that on Thursday 20 December 2007, HSfB launched its new look health, safety and environmental discussion forums which you can view here - Health and Safety Discussion Forums

The new discussion forums are based on the phpBB style which has been vastly improved in many ways by the phpBB team. Both security and functionality have been improved giving our members and visitors an excellent online experience.

A list of new features can be found on the phpBB website here - phpBB3 Gold Features

Here is just a sample of some of the new features and options now available to our members -

• User preferences offering a wide range of user defined customisations.
• Private messaging system which can be fully managed by users, including creating new folders and moving saved messages.
• Various anti-spam techniques have been added to allow administrators to keep our forums a nice place to be, including; CAPTCHA Visual Confirmation; blacklists; banning; warnings; user logging and many more.
• Users can now report individual posts to the moderator team at the touch of a button.
• Users can now attach multiple files to their posts.
• Users can save a draft of their posts allowing the post to be completed at a later time.
• More advanced search facility.
• Unread post flags are not lost after closing browser or logging off.
• Users can bookmark individual topics for future reference.
• Print topic functionality added.
• Email topic to a friend functionality added.
• Add friends/foes to user control panel.
• Users can manage private message and draft posts.
• And many more...

One side effect of the new upgrade is that members may have some difficulty in logging on to the new forums for the first time due to incorrect passwords. This is a known bug with the conversion/upgrade software. If you are affected by this unavoidable side effect, please Contact Us to have your account manually reactivated. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Another side effect is that our discussion forums RSS feed is temporarily unavailable for the time being.

All that remains for us to say is thank you for your continued support and we hope you enjoy your new health, safety and environmental discussion forums.

HSfB - Site News 30 September 2007

Site News

Health & Safety for Beginners had entries to be posted on their website forum www.healthandsafetytips.co.uk that cans of Evo-Stik Expanding Foam, produced by Bostik Limited, are bursting for no reason or when shaken. Bostik has informed Health & Safety for Beginners that their product does not burst for any reason and therefore the forum discussion may wrongly give the impression that this was the cause of a fatal accident.

Health & Safety for Beginners are not responsible for the forum entries and do not endorse their content.

Health & Safety for Beginners has been subsequently informed by Bostik that the product is safe to use when the user follows the instructions on both the pack and the accompanying safety data sheets. The cans do not just burst of their own volition.

The fatal accident is currently being investigated by HSE who have not released a statement. Any safety alerts that you may have seen have not been endorsed by the HSE.

Hearth & Safety for Beginners acknowledge Bostik's assertion that Evo-Stik Expanding Foam is not a faulty product. The manufacturers have asked us to take this opportunity to remind all members to ensure full compliance with the instructions and guidance booklets contained in any products before use. Members should be highlighting to all employees and contractors the importance of reading fully the instructions for use, if they fail to do so there may be serious potential consequences if these instructions are not adhered which could include personal injury and or even a fatality.

Fake HSfB Email Alert - Press Release

Fake HSfB Email Alert - Press Release

Fake HSfB Email Alert

It has come to our attention that fake emails are circulating the internet claiming to be from healthandsafetytips.co.uk. These emails appear to come from our website, but we can assure you that they do not. The fraudulent spammers are using a technique which allows their email to disguise itself as another domain name, i.e. healthandsafetytips.co.uk.

Examples of the email will include the following (there may be more we are not aware of).......

Possible subject headings of - 'awels' or '*DETECTED* Online User Violation' or 'Warning Message: Your services near to be closed' or 'You have successfully updated your password' or 'WARNING MESSAGE: YOUR SERVICES NEAR TO BE CLOSED' or 'SECURITY MEASURES' or 'Important Notification' or a series of random letters.

The message content of the emails will be similar to the following:

Dear user andrew,

You have successfully updated the password of your Healthandsafetytips account.

If you did not authorize this change or if you need assistance with your account, please contact Healthandsafetytips customer service at: support@healthandsafetytips.co.uk

Thank you for using Healthandsafetytips!
The Healthandsafetytips Support Team






+++ Attachment: No Virus (Clean)
+++ Healthandsafetytips Antivirus - www.healthandsafetytips.co.uk

The emails will contain a zipped attachment which contains the virus - W32.Mytob.EA@mm and when opened it will infect your pc.

Please delete these emails.

HSfB will never send you emails with attachments unless we have prior consent from you first. Only open emails from HSfB containing attachments when you expect us to send you an attachment.

On the plus side, if you have your anti virus software up to date and set to scan incoming emails, then this virus should get picked up and deleted straight away.

NEBOSH General Exam Tips by Phil

General Exam Tips

ARRIVE ON TIME AND RELAXED

Don’t rush into the exam room with minutes to spare. Make sure you have had a good nights rest, eaten well and don’t have a hangover.

BE PREPARED

The old scouts motto. Don’t turn up with one dodgy biro. It WILL run out before you get your name on the paper.

GET A GOOD POSITION IN THE EXAM ROOM

Don’t grab a seat too close to the heaters, halfway through the exam you will wish you had picked somewhere cooler. Similarly seats by the window can be too hot or cause glare in the summer, too cold in the winter and cause distractions. Get a comfortable table with good lighting.

READ THE QUESTIONS

Read the questions carefully. Pay particular attention to the action verbs …

Define, Describe, Explain, Give, Identify, List, Outline, Sketch and State.

… learn what they mean. These will identify the depth you should go into with your answer. There are no extra points for providing an in-depth essay answer to a request for a list.

BE AWARE OF HOW MANY POINTS ARE AVAILABLE

Don’t give an in-depth answer to a 2 point section of the question and skim over the part with 6 points on offer.

READ THE QUESTION AGAIN

Make sure you answer the question they ask, not what you would like it to ask.

Some questions will give you a scenario. These scenarios may or may not be relevant to the question asked. Make sure you know which.

If the question asks for mechanical hazards providing information on other types of hazards will not get points

If a question starts with ‘Other than’ it means other than. Don’t include anything in your answer that is excluded in the question.

READ THE WHOLE QUESTION

If it is a two-part question read all of it. There have been questions where the first part asks you to simply list something while the second part asks you to go into more depth on the items you have just listed. If you listed something you don’t know a lot about you will have to go back and change your answer to the first part.

DON’T ANSWER ANY MORE THAN THE QUESTION ASKS

If the question is on Sanitary and washing facilities write about toilets, sinks and soap etc. They don’t want information on drinking water, lockers or first aid kits.

ALL WORDS ARE THERE FOR A REASON

If the question mentions ‘storage and handling of small containers of flammable solvents‘ you can be pretty sure that an essay on manual handling is not what they are looking for. If the question refers to precautions don’t just list the hazards.

Don’t confuse similar words like employee’s and employer.

DON’T USE VAGUE TERMS

One of the diseases caused by asbestos is Lung Cancer. You would not get a mark for simply putting Cancer. Similarly do not refer to airborne pollutants simply as pollution. Try and use the correct terminology.

MANAGE YOUR TIME

Be aware of how many marks are available for each question and plan your time around it. Don’t spend too much time trying to squeeze every last mark out of a question.

Answer the questions you know first. Don’t sit and ponder a question for ten minutes then realise that the answer isn’t going to come to you. Go to one you can answer and come back to the original later.

If you have 100 marks available in the 2 hour exam and spend the 30 minutes recommended on the long question (20 marks) you are left with nine minutes each for the other ten questions.

ATTEMPT ALL THE QUESTIONS

If time allows try and get an answer down for all the questions. Every mark counts. If you are very short of time get the main points down. There are no marks for things you knew but didn’t write.

WRITE LEGIBLY

Nobody is expecting illuminated manuscripts but you could provide perfect answers to all the questions and it would come to nothing if your handwriting cannot be deciphered.

USE ALL THE TIME AVAILABLE

If by some miracle you find you have finished the exam with time to spare don’t flee the exam room. Go over your answers and see if there are any you could improve or anything that you have missed (If you do finish before time you have probably missed about three questions).

DON’T PANIC

You do know the answers. It’s just a question of getting them out of your head and onto the paper in a form the examiner will recognise.

Phil