Health and Safety Reports For a Power Station and Fabrication Company

The following principles and regulations must be followed to keep a safe working environment: Health and safety at work act 1974, PUWER 1998, LOLER 1998, Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992.

The health and safety at work act 1974 (HASAWA) lays down duties that employers must stick to. These duties are in place to ensure that their employees have a safe working environment. These duties also insure that there measures in place to protect the health of visitors and clients. The duties must be adhered to unless it is justifiable that a particular safety measure is not needed as it may not reduce any risk. The health and safety at work act also allows the government to issue regulations, guidance and Approved Codes of Practice. These are detailed responsibilities for the employer in every aspect of workplace health and safety, this means that they can apply to employees working safely with computers to them working safely with machinery.

Power plant: In a power plant there are many risks and hazards that the employer should aim to minimize. Firstly they must conduct a risk assessment to identify any potential risks and hazards, this allows the employer to put a measure in place whilst adhering to health and safety regulations to reduce the risk. An example would be a risk of injury by working near moving machinery, a measure that could take place would be putting guards on the moving parts. This change would mean that in this situation the risk is minimised and that the employers are adhering to HASAWA and also they are following another regulation named Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER).
Fabrication and welding: At a fabrication company there are many risks and hazards that the employer should aim to minimize. Firstly a risk assessment must be completed, this risk assessment gives the employer information on potential risks and hazards. This allows the employer to put measures in place to reduce the risk. An example would be whilst welding is taking place nearby workers need to be protected all be it a mask or a curtain. This change would reduce the risk of employees getting injured from the welding and will improve the safety factor of working at this company. This is what HASAWA was brought in to do. Its main purpose is to protect employees by giving employers duties to stick to. This fabrication company complies with this regulation as they are sticking to the codes of practice.
Provision and use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 1998) lays down duties that the company must comply with. These duties are in place to regulate the use of tools and machinery. To comply with these regulations the company at hand must ensure that new equipment is well examined and tested before being used and then every 6-12 months after the initial inspection. The user of the machine must also carry out safety checks to ensure the guards in place are in working order. A risk assessment must also be carried out before using the equipment and measures need to be put in place to eliminate any risk present if it is not possible to eliminate a particular risk measures must be put in place to reduce the risk factor. The main aim of PUWER is  to make working life safer for everyone operating and coming into contact with machinery and equipment, including employers, employees, contractors, suppliers, and anyone else who might use or have access to machinery in the workplace.
Power Station: In a power station there are many risks to employees that use machinery. PUWER is a legislation in place to protect these employees. Firstly whenever new machinery is bought in it needs to be thoroughly inspected to see if it is in a safe and working order. Next we would need to do a risk assessment to see what risks this new machinery may bring with it. Some of the risks can be as simple as a moving part on the machinery, of which can be eliminated by using guards. These guards must be checked by our staff to see if they are working and in good condition before operating the machine. All of our employees that work on the machinery are also trained to a competent state of work meaning that it is safe for them to operate the machinery.
Fabrication and welding: Inside the workshop of a fabrication company there are many hazards and risks that are involved when using the machinery. All companies that use man operated machinery are required to stick to the PUWER regulations. These regulations are brought in to protect the users of machinery or any other person in the workshop. When machinery is being used it needs to be fit for purpose and in good condition. If the machine is not in good condition or has a fault there is a potential for injury. Every employee that uses the machinery must also receive training on how to use the machinery. All machinery also has guards placed on them to ensure the safety of the user and everybody else in the workshop, the user must also know how to identify if a guard is working before starting the machine.
The Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 lays down the duties of the employer to ensure that employees are safe when they work in any confined area, these areas can vary from tanks, containers or pits. The employer must put measures in place to reduce the risk of employees getting harmed, the measure can consist of ventilation to allow air to flow into the confined space and PPE such as a respirator if the worker is working near hazardous gasses in a confined space. There are many dangers to workers working in a confined space, these can range from oxygen deficiency to excessive heat.
Power Station: In a powerstation there is a risk of workers getting harmed due to working in a confined space. Firstly we can have workers who need to enter tanks, these workers who enter the tanks will have a good airflow as we will not under any circumstances seal the tank while somebody is inside it. Also, we have small areas which oxygen may be displaced by other gasses, in these confined areas our workers wear respirators and also work in a buddy system.
Fabrication and Welding: Workers of our company would be at risk of harm if measures weren't put in place as they are always working in confined areas with toxic gasses. These areas can range from working inside a big project such as an enclosed job or working in a small room. The small rooms have ventilation to protect the welders from inhaling welding fumes, these fumes can cause all sorts of health issues ranging from cancer to COPD. There are also workers who work off site, these workers can work in confined and dangerous environments. For an example if a customer wants a storage tank leak fixed the employee carrying out the work needs to have a good air supply and most likely a respirator incase the oxygen is displaced inside the tank.
The aim of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 is to ensure that where risks cannot be controlled by other means personal protective equipment is put in use. The employees should not be charged by the employer for the PPE if it is needed and also the employees should not maintain the PPE as that is the employers duty.
Power Station: In a powerstation there are many risks and hazards that cannot be controlled by any means, as a result of that PPE is handed out to workers who are affected by these risks free of charge. One example is that on the factory floor of the power plant the noise exceeds 85db. As a result of the noise exceeding 85db, the employer gives the workers ear protection which in our case is ear plugs.

Fabrication and Welding: There are many dangerous tasks in a fabrication workshop and its vital that the employer provides PPE to protect the employees. The employers must provide the PPE free of charge and they must also make sure that the provided PPE is maintained. The jobs that the employees do in the workshop requires PPE. Welding will require a welding mask and welding gauntlets, whilst working with sheet metal may require safety glasses. In the workshop overalls and steel toe cap boots must be worn as there are many risks such as clothing getting soaked in oils or dropping a sheet of metal.

Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) is a legislation put in place to ensure that any business record any work related injuries. Under RIDDOR, employers are legally required to report workplace injuries. There are seven different categories of RIDDOR. These categories are: deaths, over seven day injuries, injuries to people not at work, work related diseases, specified injuries, gas incidents and dangerous occurrences.
Power Station: In a powerstation there are many risks to health of which have protection in place. But all risks are not predictable and if any incidents do occur where a worker gets injured it needs to be reported. The severity of the injury and the cause of the injury both need to be in the report. Minor injuries do not need to be reported these minor incidents can vary from burns or scalds that do not cover over 10% of the body or a small cut. In our workplace we have had injuries that have had to be reported, one of them was when an employee fractured his leg due to a pipe falling onto his leg. Once the fracture was confirmed by a professional medical practitioner the power station had to file and send a report about the injury to the HSE.
Fabrication and Welding: In the workshop there are many risks to health of which have protection in place to protect the employees. But not all injuries are preventable. When an employee has a serious injury the severity of the injury and the details of how it was caused need to be reported. The report that is filed due to an injury is then sent to the HSE. If the injury is not reported the fabrication company will be breaking the law. An example of how the procedure will be carried out would be if an employee amputates his finger on a bench guillotine the fabrication company would need to complete a report on why and how the injury occurred and send it to the HSE.