Shattered Lives
A new initiative by the Health and Safety Executive
February 2008
The Health and Safety Executive have launched a new campaign aimed at raising awareness in the prevention of slips, trips and falls in the workplace.
The "Shattered Lives" campaign covers food retail & manufacturing, catering, building and plant maintenence in addition to the construction industry.
Featuring hard hitting imagery, the campaign mainstay is a website which gives a whole host of useful information which can help prevent an accident. After all, accidents can shatter lives, and the website has case studies which investigate the repercussions of an accident - how lives change - indeed how they can be shattered. Perhaps something that we don't give much heed to when we are doing our every day jobs.
To view the website, click here...
On the positive side, the website acts as a resource to help avoid accidents, pointing out potential hazzards, often in photographical form with advice on best practice in similar situations.
Posters are available to download from the HSE website and other materials for the campaign.
Reducing the number of injuries and deaths from trips and falls is a priority for HSE to help the construction industry meet its accident target by 2010.
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) published its Strategy for workplace health and safety in Great Britain to 2010 and beyond in 2004. The strategy aims to promote a vision of health and safety as a cornerstone of a civilised society and to achieve a record of workplace health and safety that leads the world. The strategy is available at: www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/hsc/strategy.htm
HSE published the latest annual work related fatal injury statistics on 26 July 2007 which can be viewed at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatals.htm - and for the construction industry we see that were 77 fatalities in the year 2006/7 and the rate of fatal injury was 3.7 deaths per 100 000 workers. Over the last 15 years there has been a statistically significant downward trend in the rate of fatal injury to workers; on average a 3.9% year on year decrease.
The HSE have a campaign helpline available for "Shattered Lives" - simply call 0845 345 0055 for more information.
Don't chance it - change it!