How is your company handling things?

The 2010 statistics for `fatal` accidents reveal that the `Transport and Storage` sector which employs an estimated 93,000 persons is placed third, with the Construction Industry second and Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing topping the table with an astonishing 29 deaths.

While the incidents can be broken down into different areas, for the most part they can all be classified as workplace accidents.
A workplace accident is defined by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) as “where a person is injured at a place of work and cannot perform their normal work for more than 3 consecutive days, not including the day of the accident.

In 2001 a total of 9,215 non-fatal injuries were reported to the HSA and by 2010 this figure had reduced to 7,284 which remains a significant number.
While improvements have been made there is still scope for further improvement.

By far the largest single cause (31%) of workplace injury is as a result of `Manual Handling`, with injury to the back accounting for 21 percent of those injuries reported.
Much of the training undertaken in Ireland is done due to legislation and regulations being in place. We rarely appreciate the potential benefits.
Training is for other people, and while we demand that vehicle repair staff servicing trucks and buses are properly trained to the manufacturer`s standard, we have to see the need to properly train employed staff to operate such equipment and be safe in their day to day duties.

Chris Mee Safety Engineering provide very practical, hands-on Manual Handling Courses as well as RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) courses.
Call us on: 1850 315 415 or email [email protected] to find out more and ensure the safety of your employees at work.