Business owners beware, if your employees fall and injure themselves whilst working at height, unless you can prove that you have provided the correct access safety equipment, staff training and regular maintenance of that equipment, you could be in line for an expensive outcome!

Two prevalent issues plague businesses nationwide: accidents potentially causing injuries to employees and visitors and theft within the premises. Despite the reduction in theft from a peak of 17,700 offences in 2002/03 to 6,558 in 2022/23, any level of theft remains unacceptable.

Our fast-paced industrial world often means that long hours of standing are becoming commonplace. Business owners should be aware that the well-being of their employees is always paramount. Studies have shown that prolonged standing at benches, workstations or assembly points can lead to many health issues, including backaches, knee problems and general fatigue. However, there is a simple yet effective solution that can significantly improve the health and comfort of industrial workers and that is the use of anti-fatigue matting.

No matter how much we try to avoid spillages within the workplace or in public areas, unfortunately they can still happen! Common spills involve substances such as diesel, oil, solvents and cleaning chemicals. While small, in-house spills might be easy to clean up quickly, some fluids can be toxic when ingested or exposed to skin and can be very hazardous to the environment.

In today's fast-paced work environments, maintaining a safe workplace is paramount. The one key aspect of this that is often overlooked, is the proper handling and use of safety equipment. Whether it's protective goggles, helmets, gloves or respiratory masks, these all play a crucial role in safeguarding employees from potential hazards.

Manhole covers are an essential component of the UK’s drainage and sewerage infrastructure, providing access to underground systems for maintenance and repair.

We all love seeing and hearing the wonderful array of birds that reside in the UK, with many of us putting out food daily in our gardens for them. As a nation we spend £250m a year on wild bird food, such as seeds, peanuts and fats. However, the cost and disruption to industry from our feathered friends is often disregarded.

One-in-three accidents at work are caused by manual handling. In 2022 out of the 1.8 million working people suffering from a work-related illness, 477,000 of them experienced problems from a job-related musculoskeletal disorder according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Furthermore, 300,000 people in the UK were troubled with back pain caused by manual handling incidents!

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) spells out the plain facts of how important it is for us to look after the health of our hearts. However sadly, heart disease will still kill around one in four people in the UK.

More than ever before, employers have the safety of their employees at the forefront of their businesses. Gone are the days of the most senior member of staff ‘showing the ropes’ to the latest recruits. Providing proper training for the handling and movement of goods is seen as a worthwhile investment which ensures the workforce are safer when using handling lifting equipment.

Particularly as we move into the winter months, we should consider our health and wellbeing as a means of safeguarding against many of the things that are no doubt on the way: bad weather with colder temperatures, long dark nights and of course the seemingly ever-increasing pressures of the cost-of-living crisis. Some simple adjustments can make a big difference though.

Is there a definitive origin for the art of queueing? The word queue comes from the 12th century Old French word 'cue' meaning tail of an animal, which originates from the Latin word 'cauda'. So when did queueing start in Britain? During the early 19th century queues had become common occurrences as masses of people had migrated from the countryside to the towns to find work during the Industrial Revolution.

It is a well known fact that unhappy employees leave companies. So what can be done to help prevent that from happening?

Recent events have shown how vulnerable we can be to fires when the temperature rises. Bonfires, BBQs, electrical faults or even a simply discarded cigarette stub can start what can turn out to be a catastrophe.

Based in Haverhill, Suffolk are a European company that provides top quality products for conveying varying types of sports equipment on vehicles, camping vehicle accessories, backpacks and luggage plus all types of strollers and bike trailers to enable family holidays and days out.

There are 113 new products that have been launched onto the market this month. We have a section on our website where all these products are showcased.

England’s longest zip line runs for 720m and is based at Bluewater Shopping and Leisure Centre in Kent. Safety is of prime importance on this 60mph high rise adrenalin thrill activity!

Business owners generally know that they have an obvious responsibility to ensure health and safety in the workplace and to keep their employees wellbeing at the forefront of any decision making. But do they know how to implement best practises and put processes in place for continued safety?

As someone who has spent virtually their whole working life in offices, I am starting to remember that the winter months were always a 'growing season' for colds and flu. For so many years it was just a given that when a colleague sneezed or coughed, then the whole office went down with the same thing! Also, in the summer months when unfortunate workers were suffering from hay fever and asthma, this could be a facilitator for the spread of other respiratory diseases not associated with their particular suffering.

Sometimes we are just all so busy that we overlook the simple things in business. Maintenance and servicing of equipment is an area that is often overlooked, yet with a little help from your friends at Action Handling Equipment this can be a scheduled event that you do not have to worry about.

PVC strip curtains have a variety of uses when installed in factory, warehouse or despatch areas. They can be used to keep the heat out in the summer and keep the heated air within the area during the colder months. They provide segregation between different work areas allowing for various processes to take place without disrupting each other. Keeping dust, debris, insects and even pests away from the workplace is very important and these curtains can help to achieve this as well.

When there is a pile of goods that are needed to be moved from one area to another, there are various ways in which that can be achieved. You can either handball each item or place the goods onto a truck or trolley of some description and push or pull them to their new location.

You know it's going to happen and then you find yourself hunting around for an old and no doubt part damaged broom! You remember back to last year when you swore that you would be better prepared this year. Well, you still have time provided you act quickly!

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK lockdown from March 23rd 2020. Three months later he then reported that lockdown easing measures would start to be implemented from July 4th with the re-opening of some of the hospitality industry and other public spaces.

Moving the drums around in small confined areas is another process that requires careful consideration. The simple and most economical way is by using a drum dolly or drum truck.

As the lockdown eases across the UK, thousands of businesses and public buildings are having to consider how they can minimise the risk of infection from entering their premises.

The lunchtime rest period or tea break is normally seen as a social time for employees in the UK. Businesses are having to adapt in light of the Coronavirus epidemic, whilst still managing to provide that vital time for workers to take a well earned break from daily work duties and to recuperate in time for the tasks ahead.

We are having to get used to very different rules and guidance in our daily lives regarding the Coronavirus epidemic. This is no more illustrated than in the workplace with businesses having to adapt their working practises and define policies that allow for social distancing and safe practises. Indeed, the front entrance to a building is now being seen as the first line of defence.

From May 13th lock-down procedures are being eased across England in an effort to help stimulate the economy. Those who can easily work from home are still advised to do so but for many, returning to their place of work has now become a reality.

Action Handling Equipment offer the service of Thorough Examinations, repairs, servicing and the maintenance of lifting equipment. So what should happen during the Coronavirus outbreak? 

We are living in very strange times. Every day brings yet another challenge to test us all, both individually and collectively. Things that we took for granted just a few weeks ago are no longer just as straight forward. This was clearly highlighted this week by one of our long-standing customers.

Coronavirus (Covid-19)
The events of the last few weeks has made us all acutely aware of how important safety through hygiene and personal protection is needed to help prevent the spread of Covid-19. We have amazing key-workers including staff behind counters at supermarkets, pharmacies and hospital administrators who are facing customers multiple times a day.

These are extraordinary times and our absolute priority is to ensure the health and safety of our customers and employees.

A high street discounter supermarket and a logistics giant both called on Action Handling to supply floor marking tapes to mark out areas where customers and staff should stand for social distancing.

Action Handling are proud to be helping the UK's communications and media services infrastructure. Our service teams have been carrying out 'Thorough Examinations' on lifting equipment across the whole of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. 

Staying conversant with current health and safety law can be a difficult and time consuming task but have you considered that you may also need to be up to date with road traffic law too? If your business delivers goods, then a full understanding of the laws governing their safe transport and handling is a must.

Knock on the door, ring the bell, ring it well, wipe your feet and walk in.  It’s a rhyme I was recently reminded of, that my great grandfather shared with us as we grew up. I am sure if you are from the Sheffield area, it’s a rhyme you might have heard of too. It then got me thinking about entrance matting and how it relates to the rhyme.

Manhole covers or maintenance hole covers are removable plates that form the lid over an opening of a manhole. This is an opening that a person can pass through or maintenance can be conducted from. It usually gains access to a utility vault, pipe or void and can be rectangular, square or circular, whilst coming in a whole variety of sizes.

Human nature often leads us to act in haste but needlessly means we sometimes end up repenting at leisure! We have all tried at one time or other to pick up some awkward load that we wish we hadn’t. Either we end up with a back injury, suffer a fall or damage the load in question. If we had stopped for one minute to ponder what help was at hand, then we might well have saved ourselves from avoidable anguish.

An analysis of work injuries across all job types, shows that slips, trips and falls are the most common cause of physical harm. The degree of harm sustained depends on the hazard in place and the height at which it occurs. A simple stumble can result in anything from a minor mishap to a serious accident which may involve dangerous machinery, or even a person falling from height to death.

Why you should choose a company that offers much more than just e-commerce.

Businesses are often faced with the need to provide new or additional materials handling or access procedures in order to deal with trading expansion, health and safety implementation or new legal requirements. It is very easy to overlook the existing equipment that you already have within your organisation, that could easily be adapted to suit the task in hand.

Podium steps are considered a safer method of low-level access than conventional stepladders and platform steps. They comprise of a climbing ladder frame but fitted with a 360° fully enclosed working platform area and normally come with the option of having outrigged stabilisers fitted in order to increase base stability.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) now account for over a third of all work related illness and the loss of more than 10 million days each year. Although often associated with back pain, the term MSD covers a wide range of ailments and can affect joints and tissue in many parts of the body.

PVC strip door curtains are a very cost-effective way to save your business money and improve working conditions. They can be introduced both internally and externally around your buildings with the minimum of ease.

Stunning colours! But if you have company premises, then falling leaves can be a big problem to handle. There's no escaping them, even at home the decaying foliage becomes an unwanted headache to have to deal with.

Were you prepared when the temperatures soared? Why is it that UK companies never quite seem to get ahead with extreme weather planning? In the latest heat wave, suppliers across the country ran out of fans, air conditioning units, water coolers and even cold drink machines. To avoid this happening again, Action Handling advise their clients to put in place a strategic plan to cover all the seasons and all the possible extreme weather problems that can happen.

The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) say that a risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you should identify sensible measures to control the risks in your workplace.

Whilst farmers are well adept at growing, picking, processing and packing their fruit and vegetables, ready for delivery, when it comes to making a work site safe, they need assistance. Action Handling have lots of experience with this industry and we were glad to be able to help a Kent based grower.

Traditionally we always associate that the work of a fork lift truck or stacker truck is confined to lifting palletised loads on and off from delivery vehicles on to pallet racking or direct to the shop floor. Whilst it is true that this is their primary function, we at Action Handling Equipment encourage customers to view their lifting trucks as a much more versatile tool than just that.

Figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that an estimated 4.5 million working days were lost in the UK in 2015/16 due to self-reported workplace injuries. Whilst the general trend is that the number of reported injuries occurring at work is reducing over time, the HSE also note that due to the widespread underreporting of incidents, those figures are likely to be considerably higher in reality.

According to LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations), a lifting operation is defined as 'an operation concerned with the lifting or lowering of a load'. The load can be any item, including people, and the equipment used to undertake this operation is defined as 'lifting equipment'.

Do you know that there are Egyptian tombs and Mesolithic sites with symbolic representations showing that ladders were being used around the world some 10,000 years ago according to the most recent archaeological evidence! I reckon I might have one of these ladders in my garden shed but then that’s another story altogether!

Safety of personnel in environments where there are slippery surfaces is absolutely vital. When a sub-contractor of British Waterways noticed an increase in injuries and sick-leave at one particular site, they decided to investigate.

Few things look more unsightly around your workplace than discarded cigarette butts, yet it’s estimated that 79% of all public places in the UK are blighted by them. Since the smoking ban which prohibits smoking inside any public space came into force in 2007, littering is a problem which seems to have escalated.

Anti-fatigue mats are predominantly used in industrial and commercial working environments to provide worker comfort. Standing for lengthy periods of time during your work shift on hard and sometimes cold floors causes general fatigue plus health problems such as poor blood circulation, aches in joints, and pains in feet, hips and back. Standing for long periods is also bad for health because of the strain on the lower limbs. The problems caused with feet can include corns, bunions, flat feet and heel spurs. Medical professionals also link standing for long periods day in day out to varicose veins. These causes to health problems can be easily reduced by providing a comfortable working environment, and anti-fatigue mats also reduce slips, trips and falls. As we know slips, trips and falls mean a decrease in staff productivity, absenteeism and ultimately can cost employers millions of pounds each year.  

Cylinders are generally awkward to handle, move, position and then place in storage. By their very design they do not lend themselves to being exactly user friendly. However, companies would be well advised to consider the general implications that the use of cylinders have within the work place.

The first issue is to establish and recognise what type of gases the cylinders are actually containing. Identification and recording of the results should be a part of your risk assessment within workplace safety procedures.

So who is smarter, you or the birds? That is a question that commercial building owners are often left scratching their heads over. Early Spring is the time when you should not only think about but indeed put into action your preventative measures to help dissuade birds from roosting or nesting on and around your buildings.

We often cite Health and Safety requirements in our blog posts – after, all, they are an integral part of doing business in the UK. The information we cite is for general purposes only – each business should have their own policy in place and all staff should be aware of what it is. However, there are several basic rules that can apply to most companies, such as:

• Proper staff training
• Using the correct equipment for the job
• Keeping equipment maintained and up to date with regular safety checks
• Providing a clean work environment

Having to move heavy goods and products is a part of most handling industries, whether in factories or distribution companies. However, not all heavy lifting is created alike – depending on the business and goods to be moved, lifting equipment specific to the task at hand is crucial to completing the task.

In the modern workplace, employee Health and Safety is an ongoing concern. Providing the right equipment, environment and training is key to keeping staff at their best, as well as your business in compliance with the law. However, despite new information and training, back injuries are still one of the most common workplace incidents, especially in warehouse and handling environments. Lifting incorrectly is a common contributor to such accidents, through over-reaching, cutting corners to save time, or by simply not having the correct equipment in place.

Action Handling believe that safety should be the fundamental objective in any workplace environment. Almost a decade ago, regulations for personnel ‘working-at-height’ came back into play, the aim being to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries caused by the improper use of steps, ladders and other devices whilst loading/unloading goods onto shelving and racking systems. However, although these regulations have been in force for a number of years, there are still many people who choose to ignore them when working with stepladders.

Winter is coming. Oh, I don’t mean

that sort of winter – rather an onslaught of snow and ice and freezing rain coming down from the north. It’s a different kind of magic that winter brings, one that makes pavements and car parks such dangerous places, turning vehicles into weapons and unwitting pedestrians into ice dancers.

Your warehouse health and safety checklist is important to maintain because it ensures a solid framework within which staff should operate. When staff spend several hours a day working in pallet racking areas it’s extremely important to manage health & safety in order to avoid serious accidents. The only way in which an employer can make their premises less prone to accidents is through a comprehensive assessment and production of a safety program, and every business should have a health and safety checklist to help identify any risks in the work environment and how best to reduce them.

Manual materials handling carries a risk of strain and injury to employees, so is governed by the Manual Handling Operations Regulations. These are designed to apply to a wide range of manual handling activities such as lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling or carrying, including the movement of loads up or down stairs, a common occurrence in many workplaces.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy solution to extended work-at-height jobs, our Smart Podium may be just the thing. Available in two platform heights, this mobile podium comes with a fully protected guardrail and gate. It’s ideal for quick jobs around site, plus is compliant with current working-at-height legislation. 

Action Handling supply a wide range of premium quality Mobile Safety Steps at value-for-money prices, all designed to suit different levels of industry requirements.

Complying with Health & Safety regulations and keeping your employees safe is one of the top priorities for any business. If shortcuts are taken (intentionally or not) and accidents occur as a result, the consequences can be dire. In a worst-case scenario, people are badly injured or even lose their lives, leading to serious legal repercussions for the employers and business

Safety steps are one of the most frequently used pieces of handling equipment. They come in several different formats and, if used appropriately for the job at hand, play a great role in reducing the risk of work place injuries caused by improper handling.

At one point or another during our lives, we’ve all found ourselves on a ladder. Whether it’s while painting the house, climbing into the loft or reaching for something on a high shelf, ladders are a simple way to climb up when objects are out of reach.

However, if you spend time on a ladder as part of your working life, the risk of falls can increase, especially if basic health and safety steps aren’t implemented.

Safety first. Two small words, yet so very important, especially when it comes to preventing workplace accidents or injuries. Safety lies with the user, and also with making sure correct procedures are set in place and followed. Risk increases when working at height, so any such work should be undertaken only by those competent enough to do so, and with adequate supervision.

We share this planet with a multitude of creatures in the air, the water and the ground. Seeing animals in their natural habitat is a wonderful experience, and there are whole tourist industries built up around doing so. However, there are also times when we don’t want to share our spaces with animals – when keeping them pest-free is essential to safe working conditions.

While ladders are useful in many instances of working at height, Health and Safety UK recommend that, if your work will take more than thirty minutes to complete, you consider using other equipment. However, time duration should not be the only consideration when selecting the correct platform to use when working at height – whether a task takes five minutes or five hours, safe use of equipment at all times should be the main priority.

Maintaining a healthy back and strong posture is beneficial throughout our lives, allowing us to stay active for as long as possible. The British Chiropractic Organisations recommends managing back health by incorporating daily stretches and movement and taking care of any issues as they arise, rather than letting them get worse.

There’s been a lot of discussion in the media recently about the benefits of spending more time standing while at work. Sedentary desk jobs have been shown to decrease life expectancy and increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer, even if you do take regular exercise in line with daily recommendations.

When you think about it, we humans are a complex and ingenious bunch. If an activity is dangerous yet also offers a benefit, rather than consider the danger and avoid the activity, we choose instead to work out ways to protect ourselves. Helmets, padding and, in extreme cases, body armour, have all been devised to minimise the risk and maximise the experience.

We’ve written a few posts recently discussing employer obligations when it comes to providing a safe workplace for employees. Sufficient training and supervision, equipment suited to the task at hand and implementation of procedures are all part of the process. In the end, however, it comes down to the individual employee to work responsibly, employ correct equipment and act in a safe manner at work.

It’s the responsibility of every employer to provide a safe workplace for their employees, combining training, implementation and physical safety features to minimise risk. At Action Handling, we supply a vast range of different items designed to improve safety on site, as well as maximise employee productivity and workflow. One area in which we specialise is the supply of safety barriers and markings. When you have a workplace that combines personnel with workplace vehicle access, it’s vitally important that separate areas for each are created and clearly marked, to eliminate the risk of accident.

Repetitive strain injury, or RSI, can be defined as pain or discomfort caused by repeating the same physical task over and over again. It’s also a growing area of concern for many businesses, with almost half a million British workers affected with pain or musculoskeletal injuries, according to recent statistics.

The bad weather period is upon us again! How many times do we get caught out in this country waiting until it’s too late to make proper preparations for what could be several days or many weeks of bad weather disruption?  Clearly businesses need to have specific plans in place that can be used to avert the problems caused by such events. A business continuity policy should have ‘bad weather’ inclusion to ensure that your company can cope with a crisis.

Prevention of hazardous spills should be the initial aim so the correct identification of chemicals and materials that constitute the label of being hazardous should be the first challenge. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) gives good information on what constitutes being hazardous and  explains how to control hazardous substances at work and comply with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002.