SCENARIO An organisation called 'WorkSpace' (WS) wants to refurbish a kitchen and storeroom within its large office building. Two contractors will be working on the project: Contractors Type of business Tabulatum Ltd (TL) Flooring installation. Smith's Carpentry (SC) Cabinet makers The plan is for the floor to be cleared prior to the start of the project. Over the first four days, TL will remove the existing flooring, prepare the underlying surface, and re-lay all the floor areas with a vinyl floor covering. On the fifth day, SC will then fit new cupboards and shelving in the storeroom. The storeroom is at the back of the kitchen and leads to a small loading bay where deliveries are received. A side road connects the front of the building to the loading bay at the rear. Vehicular access to this side road is controlled by a lockable gate. The WS site manager arranges a site meeting to take place on the last working day of this week. This is to discuss the planned work with the contractors for the following week. Both contractors were invited to attend, but the SC representative is absent. At the meeting, the WS site manager explains that there will be short site induction sessions on the mornings of the first three days and that any new workers on site will be expected to attend on the morning they start work. The induction will cover several areas including a short, written emergency procedure. The WS site manager explains that the site is open from 08.00 each day and access to the working area for contractors must only be through the loading bay and storeroom. The site closes at 18:00, so everyone needs to be off site by then. However, vehicles can only access the loading bay until 16.00, when the side road access gate is locked. The WS site manager asks TL how they plan to do their work, and particularly if there are any health and safety concerns. The TL representative responds that the area will be fitted out with hoarding (a timber frame with uprights that run from floor to ceiling, to which heavy-duty polythene is then attached). This will prevent access from the kitchen and reduce the spread of dust when removing the existing flooring. The TL representative then provides the risk assessments that relate to this job, the qualifications of workers, and on-going cleaning and maintenance instructions for the flooring once installed. Immediately after the meeting, the WS site manager telephones SC to find out why they were absent and is told that no one would be in the office until after the weekend. The site manager is unhappy with this response, but eventually speaks to the SC manager on their mobile phone. The WS site manager discovers that the SC manager did not think that they needed to attend this meeting as it is such a small job. The WS site manager also establishes that they do not have membership of any professional or trade bodies, and they are reluctant to provide further health and safety information, or the risk assessments and methods statements (RAMS) requested. They provided risk assessments 4 years previously and consider these sufficient for this job. The WS site manager has arranged for the SC manager to call them on the morning of the second work day to discuss this further. There has been a delay in clearing the floor, so this needs to be completed on day 1 of the project. This means TL will be required to start installing the new floor on day 2. However, the flooring still needs to be completed by the end of the week. On day 2, the SC manager calls the WS site manager as previously agreed. The WS site manager asks the SC manager to talk through their risk assessment and to send through a copy, along with other supporting documentation. The WS site manager provides information about the site such as working hours and access procedures. On the same day, a team of two TL floor fitters arrive. They put up the hoarding, remove the existing flooring and apply the wet, smoothing compound (used tomake the floor level) to the kitchen and storeroom floors. They then leave the site while the compound dries. On day 3, the floor fitters return and start to install the new flooring. At 09.00 the TL representative arrives on site to carry out periodic checks that the work is progressing as planned. On day 4, the TL representative receives an update from the lead floor fitter that the storeroom area is finished. They have one more roll of vinyl floor covering to lay in the kitchen area that morning. The TL representative informs the WS site manager, who is not happy about the news. However, they advise SC to arrive on site at 10.30 the next day to start work. At the end of the day, there is one section of the vinyl flooring that is not sticking down properly. The lead floor fitter decides to leave a heavy roller on the flooring overnight to help it bond to the underlying surface. The floor fitters pack away their tools for the night, check the hoarding and leave via the storeroom and loading bay. At SC, an experienced worker and a young trainee have been allocated the carpentry job in the WS storeroom. These workers have finished a long, tiring day. They have just been told to delay their arrival at the WS site until 10.30 the next day. The experienced worker decides that to save time in the morning they will drop the materials off at the WS site now. The trainee is worried that the WS site will be closed, but the experienced worker says that it will not take long, and there will be somewhere to leave the materials. They arrive on site at 16:30. Normally, the SC workers are expected to unload the materials from their van directly into the loading bay. However, on arrival they find that the vehicle access gate is locked, so they drive to the front of the building. They unload a large sheet of wood from the van which requires the two of them to lift. As the trainee has not yet had manual handling training, they have some concerns about helping with the lift. The experienced worker laughs, saying "You don't need training to pick things up; besides, all health and safety is common sense anyway!" The trainee is keen to help so tries to grab one end of the wooden sheet. It is difficult to get a firm grip, but they tell the experienced worker they are okay. No one on reception says anything as they enter the building and head towards the kitchen. When the workers are nearly at the kitchen entrance (which is hoarded off), they turn on the lights. The experienced worker pulls away some of the plastic sheeting to gain access to the kitchen. They then squeeze through the hoarding backwards and pull the wooden sheet in behind them. The trainee worker supports the sheet of wood from the other end. The experienced worker walks backwards so does not see the roller on the floor; they fall over the roller and hit their head on the floor. They are knocked unconscious, and their head is bleeding. The trainee worker does not know what to do. The TL representative is leaving for the night, when the trainee worker comes running in shouting for help. They say that their colleague has had an accident and has a head injury. One of the receptionists is a first-aider and says they will go with the trainee. The first-aider tells the trainee to call an ambulance, while they apply first aid to the unconscious worker. The TL representative checks that the first-aider is able to stay with the unconscious worker until help arrives. They also reassure the distressed trainee and calmly escort them to the office. They close the door, make the trainee a hot drink, and sit quietly with them. When the trainee has finished their drink and seems more composed, the TL representative asks them what happened. They record what is said, on their mobile phone (with the trainee's permission). The trainee explains that they have not received any general health and safety, or manual handling training. The training has been arranged and has been postponed on many occasions. The first-aider informs the TL representative that the ambulance has arrived, and the casualty is then taken to hospital. The TL representative visits the accident scene, leaving the trainee with the firstaider. The TL representative cordons off the area and installs some prohibited access signs. They record their observations on their mobile phone and take some photographs of the accident scene. They then return to the office to check on the trainee. The TL representative also asks the first-aider for their recollection of events associated with the accident, again recording them on their mobile phone (with their permission).

Task 25: Role and responsibilities

25 In a health and safety management system, workers are given specific health and safety roles and responsibilities. Within SC what needs to be done to make sure these roles and responsibilities are carried out effectively by the managers? (10 points)

Notes: You should focus on roles and responsibilities and not the health and safety management system. You should support your answer, where applicable, using relevant information from the scenario.

Task 27: Managing contractors

27 What health and safety induction information is the WS site manager likely to give to the contractors before they are allowed to start their work? (14 points)