Health and Safety Services

EPI provide a complete Health & safety service including:

• Consultancy
• Audits
• Risk Assessment
• Health & Safety Policy Development
• CDM
• Accident Investigation
• Asbestos Management
• Environmental Assessments
• Fire

Health & Safety

Consultancy

In an ideal world you might like to have someone employed full-time to manage your Company's health and safety requirements. In the real world you probably don't need someone full-time and, in these difficult economic times, such a commitment would be a heavy drain on finances and resourceses.

By enlisting the sevices of one of EPI's Consultants you can have your own Health & Safety Manager at a fraction of the cost of employing full-time member of staff. In addition to initial work to implement safe working practices, your Consultant can visit you on a regular basis to service your Health and Safety needs. Policy documents will need to be updated, significant risks will need to be reassessed and new risks assessed. Of course, our Consultants are also available to carry out one-off projects for you, if that better suits the needs of your business.

There may be occasions when you simply need advice. For example, if you've received a visit from the Health and Safety Executive, after an accident at work or received a solicitor's letter in relation to a potentoal insurance claim against you. Whatever the scenario, if it's health and safety related simply contact one of our Consoultants and we will help you to resolve the matter.

Our Health and Safety Consoultancy is a department within EPI Professional Services, based in Witney and with offices worldwide. Although EPI specialise in the desing and build of data centres, our Health and Safety Consultants have wide-ranging experience gained outside this industry sector. They are therefore able to advise on health and safety in a diverse range of disciplines.

Our Consultants are experienced professionals who have suitable and experience and competence for the work assigned to them and have accreditation with ROSPA, IOSH, APS and the IIRSM.

EPI Professional Services' Health & Safety Consultancy can offer a cost-effective, one-to-one approach to meeting your Company's health and safety needs. For advice or a quote please contact us.

Audits

It is essential to carry out health and safety audits in your workplace to determine whether policies, organisation and systems are achieving the right results. Audits can illustrate the reliability and effectiveness of safety systems already in place and highlight areas where standards are inadequate.

EPI's Health and Safety Consultants can carry out a full Health and Safety Audit at your office or workplace. The Audit covers all or part areas of your Company and a full report will be sent to you along with full recommendations.

Regular auditing and monitoring of the results will allow you to successfully raise health and safety standards within your Company.

Employers are required to carry out Risk Assessments on all areas of their work. Whether your work is in a factory, office or outside there will be the need to carry out Risk Assessments. These will need to be reviewed on a regular basis or whenever there is risk or work process.

Display Screen Equipment assessments are a specific type of risk assessment required for all regular computer users. Workstations require checking to ensure they are set up and adjusted correctly and staff need to be made aware of correct postures and working procedures to avoid developing health problems.

Risk Assessment

Our Health and Safety Consultants can advise on what type of risk assessments will be required by your Company, or review those you have already. We can visit your site to review your work processes and carry out or update any assessments. Afterwards we will produce the documents you require for dissemination to your workforce.

Health and Saftely Policy

Every company employing more than 5 people must have a written Health and Safety Policy. The Policy needs to contain a Statement of Intent, Organisational Responsibilities for Health and Safety and Arrangements in place for implementing the policy.

Our Consultants can work with you to develop a suitable Policity or update an existing one. Policies should be reviewed at least annually, after changes in the Company or following any serious accidents or incidents.

CDM

CDM 2007 Regulations apply to all construction work in the UK, with certain projects requiring notification to the Health & Safety Executive.

An important role in any notifiable construction project is the CDM Co-Coordinator and EPI can provide a consultant to carry out this role for you. Accredited to APS ( Association for Project Safety), EPI has wealth of experience in CDM-related matters from small refurbishments to office refits and building projects, values ranging from £10k to £1.5m. With a client base witch includes, IBM, Red Bull Racing, Aston Martin, Volkswagen, West Middlesex University Hospital, the range of projects is diverse.

Accident Investigation

By the very nature of mankind, accidents can happen at any time during a person's life. Accidents can be cause by complacency, carelessness or sometimes by deliberate actions.

All accidents have to be reported and recorded by the Company, whether there is an injury or a 'near miss'. Under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2005 certain categories of accident or near miss must be reported to the Health and Safety Executive.

Our Health and Safety Consultants can investigate your accident or near miss and produce a report of recommendations. The report can be supported with photographic evidence if required.

Asbestos Management

EPI can survey your property for any Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM) and can offer you a Type 1,2 or 3 Survey.

If you require a Type 2 or Type 3 survey the samples are sent away to an accredited testing laboratory for analysis. After any survey you will be provided with a written report incuding photographic documentation on the condition of the areas surveyed and a recommended management programme.

We also have specialist contractors available to safely remove or encapsulate your asbestos, if required.

Asbestos is a common form of silicate which was used in various construction products due to its stability and resistance to fire. Some images of asbestos types can be seen below:

Various forms of lung disease can be contracted by inhaling loose asbestos fibres or dust. Its extemely fine fibres are easily inhaled and exposure to them over a period of years has been linked to cancers of the lung or lung cavity lining and to asbestossis; a severe lung impairment.

Environmental Assessments

In the workplace it will be necessary to monitor the environment to ensure the health and safety of all employees. Assessments will be able to determine safe levels of:

• Light
• Noise
• Vibration
• Temperature
• Humidity

One of our Consultants can visit your workplace or site to perform an Environmental Survery on any one or all of the above. If a lighting survery is required we can also provide a light calculation service witch will supply you with a light fitting specification, drawing layout and lux level indication graph.

Fire

Since the introduction of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, it has been a requirement for employers to carry out their own Fire risk assessments of both fire prevention and fire precautions within their premises. This has replaced the issuing of a Fire Certificate by the Fire sevice.

Carrying out a fire risk assessment will also deliver real benefits to business. By takink a few simple steps to reduce fire risks, employers can prevent fires breaking out. When you consider that 70% of businesses who suffer a fire never re-open, or close within 3 years of the fire, it is a very sensible investment of time and effort.

Full documentary evidence of the Fire Risk Assessment needs to be kept to allow inspection at any time. The Fire Brigade can conduct adhoc ispections of business premises and would need to see evidence of an assessment, with full documentation if your business employs five or more people.

If you do not have a Fire Risk Assessment in place, one option is to get on of EPI's Health and Safety Consultants to carry out your assessment for you. This is probably suitable if;

• You do not have a Health and Safety Office, Fire Safety Manager or a responsible member of staff who is competent to carry out a fire risk assessment, or
• If you have a site considered to be 'high risk'

To find out more, please call one of our consultants on 01993 708855 or
email sales@epi-uk.com