Improving safety

Safety inspectors visit Greencore Cakes and Desserts in Sutton Fields Industrial Estate to see the non-slip safety flooring installed for workers on the cake production line.

Warehouses, vehicle repair centres, manufacturing plants and light engineering companies across the city are now safer places to work, thanks to an initiative by Hull City Council and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Inspectors from both organisations visited local employers to carry out health and safety inspections to ensure hazards such as unguarded machinery, poorly maintained electrical equipment and inadequate ventilation were dealt with.
"The inspections were not about catching businesses out, but supporting them and helping to protect the workforce and customers from injury, which in some cases may be fatal," said Trevor Todd, Hull City Council's health and safety manager.
"With the city's injury rate being in the top 25 per cent in the country, there is a need to work with employers to ensure they understand what is required of them to improve their health and safety practices."
Last year 540 people were injured in workplace accidents in Hull and the East Riding, costing employers £10 million.
But in the week-long initiative more than 130 visits were made and 14 improvement notices were served.
"The best people to make workplaces safer are the staff and managers who work in them," said inspector Chris Chambers of the HSE.
"This is why we teamed up with Hull City Council to give local businesses the encouragement and help they need to improve their workplace environments."
For more information on health and safety at work call environmental health on 300300.