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UK News - Breaking news in the field of health and safety
ALL PUB LANDLORDS IN DORSET:- DON'T THROW A WOBBLY WHILST...
ALL PUB LANDLORDS IN DORSET:- DON'T THROW A WOBBLY WHILST CARRYING THE DRINKS!
Pub landlords might expect accidents with alcohol to happen on the opposite side of the bar from where they stand - but the Health and Safety Executive is reaching out to them to highlight the dangers posed by handling drinks in their cellars and storerooms.
Stacking crates, unloading lorries and unpacking boxes of bottles and cans may all be in a day's work for pub and club staff. Yet workers often do not realise the risk of injury from handling goods incorrectly. To raise awareness of this issue, HSE and Dorset Council is holding a cellar safety seminar for Dorset pub landlords on Tuesday 15 March.
Landlords and bar managers are invited at the event in Blandford will hear about common safety problems encountered in drinks delivery and how to prevent them. These include manual handling, slips and trips and confined spaces. Speakers include Terry Rose, Regional Director HSE, Simon Edwards, HSE Inspector, Nina Leadbeater, Environmental Health officer with Bournemouth Borough Council and Kevin Hallas from the Health & Safety Laboratory.
HSE Inspector Simon Edwards said: "Handling activities are the single largest cause of injuries and ill health in the food and drinks industries. The most common cause is stacking and de-stacking containers and this accounts for 53% of manual handling accidents. The majority of these are preventable if you take precautions.
"That's why I have urged pub landlords to attend this seminar - or send their member of staff who is responsible for drinks delivery. It can only help them to avoid hurting themselves or others. Manual handling injuries are often caused by lack of information or training, so this is an ideal opportunity for them to brush up their working practices and find out how to maintain a safe workplace."
This is a partnership with HSE working with local authorities, the brewing industry and licensed premises in Dorset to try to reduce the incidence of accidents involving dray men, customers and others visiting or working on licensed premises.
Statistics are difficult to obtain for this bit of the industry, but most involve slips and trips and manual handling injuries and being struck by moving vehicles, however there have been fatalities, including one in December 2003 when a pensioner fell to his death through some open cellar trap doors outside a pub in South Wales, other falls have occurred more recently resulting in serious injury.
The event will be followed by a number of inspections to licensed premises in Dorset involving both HSE and Local authority inspectors working together to ensure these premises have appropriate health and safety measures in place.
The seminar is full with 150 delegates due to attend, another event is planned for later in the year if this one proves to be a success.
An ergonomic expert from the HSE will also be at the seminar, along with trade suppliers of cellar safety equipment.
Notes to Editors
1. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 places a duty on employers to ensure there are effective arrangements to plan, organise, control, monitor and review preventive and protective measures against risks assessed as significant.
2. The local authorities involved are: East Dorset District, West Dorset , North Dorset, Christchurch District, Bournemouth, Poole, Purbeck District and Weymouth and Portland.
Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by Government News Network South West and Wales. All GNN press releases are at
http://www.gnn.gov.uk
Client ref 248/SWW05
