Did you know?

7 April 2000


Phil Jones, chief environmental consultant at National Britannia answers readers’ questions on Health and Safety.

One of my employees has just told me they have contracted scabies. What do I need to do?

Scabies is a contagious skin disease caused by a very small mite. The main symptom is severe itching, especially in the area between the thumb and index finger.

Scabies is spread only by close person-to-person contact or by sharing clothing or bedding used by a recently infected person.

You should ensure that your employee visits their doctor for treatment. Once treatment has started they are no longer infectious and can return to work.

As this may be an expected hazard in laundries the employer has a responsibilty to carry out a risk assessment and ensure that measures are in place to control the risk i.e. issue personal protective equipment and advice to staff.

I heard on the news recently that there are new laws regarding access for the disabled to a variety of workplaces. As a drycleaner with three high street shops does this impose any obligations on me?

New duties on service providers such as shops and restaurants have come into force as part of The Disability Discrimination Act. From 1 October 1999, service providers are now required to:

Make reasonable adjustments to policies, procedures or practices which exclude disabled people e.g. allowing guide dogs into a restaurant when other dogs are prohibited. Make reasonable adjustments to procedures to make it easier for disabled people to use a service.

Where a physical feature is a barrier to service, finding a reasonable alternative method of delivering the service e.g. in a shop, bringing goods to a place that the disabled person can access.

There is no requirement at the moment to make any physical alteration to the premises. That requirement will take effect from 2004. However, you may consider making changes now in anticipation of this date.

From 2004, if there is a physical feature that makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for a disabled person to use the service, service providers must establish reasonable alternative methods or take reasonable steps to remove or alter it.

Is there a legal maximum weight staff can lift?

The Manual Handling Lifting Operations Regulations do not lay down a maximum weight that someone can lift as there are many factors you need to consider before deciding what is acceptable. What might be acceptable for one person to lift is not necessarily so for another.

Lifting should be avoided if at all possible (e.g. use of mechanical means), but where this is not reasonably practicable then you must ensure you carry out an assessment of the manual handling operations.

Factors you need to consider are the individual, the load, the task and the environment. For example:

• The individual – what is their state of health? Are they pregnant or elderly?

• The load – does it have sharp edges? Is it unwieldy? Unwieldy objects may cause the lifter to adopt an awkward posture.

• The task – does it involve a twisting action of the body?

• The environment – if space is limited then there may not be sufficient room to carry out the correct lifting technique.

What does COSHH stand for? How do I make sure I am working within the guidelines?

COSHH stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999. If employees use or are exposed to any hazardous substances in the workplace, such as cleaning products, then the employer must comply with the Regulations.

In order to comply with COSHH, the employer must follow the 7 stages below:

• Assess the risk

– Decide what precautions are needed

– Prevent or adequately control exposure

– Ensure that control measures are used and maintained

• Monitor exposure

– Carry out health surveillance, where necessary

– Provide employees with suitable and sufficient information, training and supervision.



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