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Management Systems for Health, Safety + Environment
health, safety and environment consultants
Health and Safety Over Christmas
It comes around just once a year but it has its own peculiar traditions with which we are all expected to comply. I’m talking, of course, about Christmas with all its festive activities. Whilst most of us recognise that festivities can sometimes get out of hand, you may well be asking what it has to do with work-related health and safety. Risks associated with excessive drinking may pose a problem for some organisations, particularly those who are heavily into transportation, for example. However, I have been thinking about something rather more mundane that affects most work places around this time of the year, namely Christmas decorations.
We’ve noticed a growing tendency when trimming offices and workshops to try and outdo last year’s efforts and even to compete with neighbouring workplaces. The result is that the traditional paper chains are often supplemented with lights and other electrically illuminated or even motorised decorations. Not only should such items be subject to the same health and safety checks as any other electrical equipment, it is important to take into account that, as temporary installations, there is a temptation to be less rigorous from a safety point of view. I don’t want to be seen as dampening the party spirit in any way. My concern, however, is that we put a great deal of effort and money into safeguarding peoples’ welfare throughout the year and the last thing we want is a serious injury at Christmas.
Electrical Hazards
What kind of hazards are we likely to encounter with Christmas decorations? For a start there are all the potential electrical hazards of possibly faulty equipment or wiring, incorrectly fitted plugs and fuses, extension cables (possibly daisy-chained), trailing cables and the like.
If electrical items are allowed in the workplace, then it is important to take a few straightforward precautions such as ensuring the equipment carries the appropriate CE mark for electrical safety, that it is carefully inspected for damage and that the connection to the mains electricity supply complies with your organisation’s rules and standards.
Register Equipment
A suggested approach for ensuring compliance is to insist that any electrical items are first registered with the nominated health and safety person or department who should make a record of all installations so that they can be monitored for safety. It is also a good idea to ask that the packaging be retained since this will provide evidence of compliance with the relevant standards, should that ever be necessary. It might even be worth asking people to retain receipts as evidence of the age of electrical decorations.
Some brief instructions can be issued at the time of registration. As well as instruction for safe installation, these should include the obvious requirements that bulbs should be kept well away from any combustible materials and everything should be isolated (i.e. plugs removed) whenever the work area is closed. If there are any problems with fuses, they should only be changed by a competent person.
A wise precaution is to have a security patrol at the end of the working day to ensure nothing is left switched on. This should not be a particularly onerous imposition for your security staff and if they find anything that is left on, a mild rebuke on the following day is usually sufficient o ensure there is no repeat.
Other Risks
There are other risks associated with Christmas decorations that are also worth mentioning in the instructions. For example, the traditional paper chains are usually highly combustible and should, therefore, be kept well away from any heat source. In fact, they should comply with the relevant BS standard for fire safety. People often need to climb onto furniture when trimming up their work areas, which is all very well as long as they follow the same rules as they do at any other time when working at height. For example, it is no safer to stand on chairs at Christmas than at any other time of year. In addition, most premises are monitored by security devices when they are not occupied and it may be possible that falling decorations might result in false alarms. The list of possibilities goes on and on but only you know what is pertinent for your premises.
As we so often state, whether it’s Christmas or any other time, the correct way to manage risks is always broadly the same. Undertake an assessment to identify the particular risks that are presented by Christmas decorations in your workplace and then implement appropriate precautions to ensure those risks don’t result in a spoiled Christmas for anyone who uses your premises. That way, my wish for all our readers to have a truly enjoyable Christmas, just might be granted.
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