Two UK Safety Alerts have been issued. The first describes our most recent LTI where a truckmixer driver unfortunately fractured his ankle as he stepped down from a kerb after retrieving a water hose. The second relates to a high potential incident (HiPo), where a disciplinary investigation confirmed an employee on one of our ships didn’t follow isolation procedures before working on equipment and also failed to set the right example to a new temporary employee. Thankfully, the Duty Officer observed the isolation breach and Stepped In to stop the work and control the risk.

You can read the two Safety Alerts in the UK News download page:  UK Safety Alert - Truckmixer driver fractures ankle (401 downloads)   UK Safety Alert - Failure to implement isolation procedure (436 downloads)

As you will see from the first Safety Alert, behavioural and workplace factors contributed to the incident.  While the area was generally well maintained, additional improvements have been made to reduce the potential for future incidents even further.

In regards to the second Safety Alert, after the focus we have put in to ensuring effective isolation arrangements are in place following the fatality at West Calder back in 2017, the circumstances of this incident are extremely disappointing. After the disciplinary investigation, the employee has left the business.

Thanks go to the operations for sharing the details of this incident, giving us all an opportunity to remind our teams of the importance of following procedures and setting the right example to colleagues, particularly those who may be new to the business.  It also highlights the importance of Take 5 Together, encouraging us to Step In to ensure we look after ourselves and each other.

Please discuss both incidents with your teams, reminding them of their personal responsibility to look where they are walking/placing their feet, and to maintain three points of contact on steps and stairways, “Get a Grip”.  You may also want to encourage teams to take a second look at the routes/ areas where there is the most pedestrian traffic and consider whether there are additional opportunities to reduce the risk of injury.

Please review these Alerts with your teams, taking the opportunity to highlight the benefit of reporting and investigating all near misses/hazards and HiPos, and stressing that colleagues will be thanked, rather than criticised for reporting incidents… by reporting near misses and hazards we are looking after ourselves and each other!