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Place Where People Work Continued.
At local level, the opportunity sometimes occurs for the Inspector to make
recommendations to prevent a recurrence of an accident. In one such case a locking device on
a piece of machinery, distributed nationally, was suggested to prevent an arm of the machine
falling when not in use. This was adopted and later led to the modification of all the Company's
machines.
For many years now falls have constituted the largest group of accidents reported
and the handling of goods the second. Most falls occur on the same level, usually due to
persons slipping on wet or greasy floors or tripping over small objects left lying about. In the
second group, over-reaching and lifting fairly heavy articles in an awkward manner accounted
for the resultant strains and sprains. Most of these accidents occurred in packing departments
and warehouses.
On the lighter side, one report read - 'sat on her typing chair which collapsed,
one of the legs breaking off'. Nevertheless, a serious investigation was made and the manufacturers
of the chair were asked to consider strengthening the joining of the base support arms to
the central pivot, either by additional welding or re-design.
The Act recognises that prevention is better than cure and deals with matters
such as the fencing of exposed parts of machinery, the training and supervision of persons
working at dangerous machines and the prohibition of persons under the age of 18 years
cleaning machinery if there is a risk of injury by a moving part.
Special regulations may also be made by the Minister for protecting persons
against the risk of bodily injury arising out of the use of any machinery or equipment. An
example of these are the Hoists & Lifts Regulations of 1960. These relate to any premises to
which the Act applies, where power driven or manually operated lifts are installed. The
Regulations require that such lifts are examined every six months by a competent engineer.
A copy of the engineer's report has to be sent to the person responsible for
complying with the Regulations (the occupier) and if the report shows that the lift cannot
continue to be used with safety a copy of the report has to be sent by the Engineer to the Local
Authority which is responsible for ensuring that the defects are remedied.
Through this process many lifts in the borough have had repairs carried out
although none were found to be in a seriously unsafe condition. Beer hoists in public houses
were found to need most attention due to frayed suspension ropes and worn parts. Enclosures
were also needed in the cellars to prevent persons coming into contact with the moving parts.
Further particulars of the work are included in the body of the report.
STAFF AND STRUCTURE
Unfortunately, the staff situation in the Environmental Health Section has deteriorated
and this has had its inevitable effect on the routine visiting of food premises,
slaughterhouses, factories, caravans, pet animal shops and boarding premises, riding stables,
and the many other properties which are dealt with under legislation which the Inspectorate
has a duty to enforce. Having regard to the coming reorganisation of the National Health
Service in 1974, a decision was taken to carry out a review of the staffing and organisation of
the Section with a view to correcting the staff deficiency and strengthening the structure.
This was in progress when the year ended.
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