We live in a Health & Safety-obsessed world. Or so it seems.

A-SAFE-health-safety-1

Schools, colleges, organisations, shops and businesses up and down the land take great pains to prove that they are ultra-conscientious about Health & Safety practices and are fully compliant with Health & Safety laws. They draw up strategies. They assess risks. They run Health & Safety courses. And – most importantly – they tick boxes.

Sometimes, though, they seem to tick boxes without thinking things through. And that can land you in all sorts of bother.

Heard the one about the office workers who were refused permission to put up Christmas decorations, for instance? Or what about the town hall that banned candy floss in case people tripped up and impaled themselves on the sticks. Then there was the university which ordered its graduates not to throw their mortar boards into the air during the customary ‘now throw your mortar boards into the air!’ photo opportunity.

Unfortunately, while these stories are infuriatingly funny, they have the regrettable side-effect of making Health & Safety seem like a joke. Sadly, it isn’t. Because there are some working environments -where vehicles and human beings meet head on, for instance – where Health & Safety isn’t a laughing matter at all. For every example of silly, jobsworth bureaucracy there’s a grisly example of a spectacular workplace transport Health & Safety failure to wipe the smile off your face.

Suddenly, with real people getting really hurt, sensible Health & Safety procedures don’t seem like such a silly idea.

Which makes you think: in industrial workplaces, do managers really understand Health & Safety requirements? Or are they content to unthinkingly tick boxes, simply for Health & Safety appearances’ sake?

Certainly the suspicion is that some managers are so busy keeping up appearances, they often don’t investigate better options. For example, it’s important for industrial workplaces to have the right safety barrier for the right application – and many managers don’t realise the potentially dire Health & Safety implications of having the wrong protective barrier in the wrong place. Put simply, it’s asking for trouble to take the attitude: ‘We’ve got a barrier to comply with Health & Safety regulations. It looks sturdy enough, so that’ll do.’

This is not necessarily the manager’s fault, mind you. Because the safety barrier they think they need may not be the one they actually need. But how can this be? How can ‘clever’ engineers not understand the physics of installing the wrong barrier and the enhanced-safety specifications of the right barrier?

A-SAFE-Health-Safety-2

Sadly, it’s probably because most industrial workplace managers simply assume that a generic metal barrier system is adequate for their Health & Safety needs. Yet metal barrier systems are usually rigid. Hit one in a vehicle and you’ll know about it. The vehicle will be damaged, the floor will be ruined and the barrier will need to be replaced.

But a UK company called A-SAFE – which makes a full range of independently-tested safety barriers – has been thinking differently about Health & Safety in the workplace and wants managers worldwide to do the same.

A-SAFE, a winner of the Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2014, has produced a world first: a modular barrier system made from a patented plastic-rubber blend called Memaplex. It’s easy to install and offers a vastly superior return in investment over traditional steel counterparts; mainly because when an A-SAFE barrier is hit by a moving vehicle it flexes on impact and springs back into shape, dissipating the force throughout the barrier. What’s more, it only transfers 20 per cent of the force to the floor, so floor damage isn’t an issue either.

And because A-SAFE are experts in their field and offer a full consultancy and back-up service, they can advise workplaces about installing the right barrier for the right situation.

In Health & Safety terms, then, it’s an absolute game-changer. And that’s no joke.

Tel: 01422 331133

Email: sales@asafe.com

asafe.com

Comments are closed.