THE COMMON LEGISLATIONS FOR FM

Managing asbestos as a FM function

The duties in regulation 4 rest with the person in control of maintenance activities in the non-domestic premises. The duty to manage asbestos requires the dutyholder to manage the risk from asbestos. Surveys can be carried out by in-house personnel or a third party. In each case the surveyor must be competent to carry out the work required. 

A confined space is a place which is substantially enclosed (though not always entirely), and where serious injury can occur from hazardous substances or conditions within the space or nearby (e.g. lack of oxygen).

Under these Regulations a ‘confined space’ must have both of the following defining features:

• it must be a space which is substantially (though not always entirely) enclosed; and
• one or more of the specified risks must be present or reasonably foreseeable.
• Safe work in confined spaces ACOP

The hazards

• Flammable substances and oxygen enrichment
• Excessive heat
• Toxic gas, fume or vapour
• Oxygen deficiency
• The ingress or presence of liquids
• Solid materials which can flow
• Other hazards not specific to confined spaces

COSHH is the law that requires employers to control substances that are hazardous to health. You can prevent or reduce workers exposure to hazardous substances by:

• finding out what the health hazards are;
• deciding how to prevent harm to health (risk assessment);
• providing control measures to reduce harm to health;
• making sure they are used ; 
• keeping all control measures in good working order; 
• providing information, instruction and training for employees and others; 
• providing monitoring and health surveillance in appropriate cases; 
• planning for emergencies.

Key points to remember

• Ensure that workers know how to use the electrical equipment safely
• Make sure enough sockets are available. Check that socket outlets are not overloaded by using unfused adaptors as this can cause fires
• Ensure there are no trailing cables that can cause people to trip or fall
• Switch off and unplug appliances before cleaning or adjusting them
• Ensure everyone looks for electrical wires, cables or equipment near where they are going to work and check for signs warning of dangers from electricity, or any other hazard. Checks should be made around the job, and remember that electrical cables may be within walls, floors and ceilings (especially when drilling into these locations) etc
• Make sure anyone working with electricity has sufficient skills, knowledge and experience to do so. Incorrectly wiring a plug can be dangerous and lead to fatal accidents or fires
• Stop using equipment immediately if it appears to be faulty – have it checked by a competent person
• Ensure any electrical equipment brought to work by employees, or any hired or borrowed, is suitable for use before using it and remains suitable by being maintained as necessary
• Consider using a residual current device (RCD) between the electrical supply and the equipment, especially when working outdoors, or within a wet or confined place (see HSE's electrical safety at work site)

Make arrangements for inspecting and testing fixed wiring installations, ie the circuits from the meter and consumer unit supplying light switches, sockets, wired-in equipment (eg cookers, hairdryers) etc, to be carried out regularly so there is little chance of deterioration leading to danger. This work should normally be carried out by a competent person, usually an electrician

Fluorinated greenhouse gases (F gases) include:

• hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
• perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
• sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)

This guidance affects anyone who:

• uses or services equipment that contains F gases, like refrigeration and air conditioning systems, solvents or aerosols
• produces, imports, exports or sells F gas or equipment containing F gas

HFC 404A is the gas most affected by the ban. It’s used in:

• industrial refrigeration systems
• medium and large commercial refrigeration systems, such as central pack systems in supermarkets
• large transport refrigeration systems, such as on trains or ships

• carry out a fire-risk assessment identifying any possible dangers and risks;
• consider who may be especially at risk;
• get rid of or reduce the risk from fire as far as is reasonably possible and provide general fire precautions to deal with any possible risk left;
• take other measures to make sure there is protection if flammable or explosive materials are used or stored;
• create a plan to deal with any emergency and, in most cases, keep a record of your findings; and 
• review your findings when necessary.

The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require you to provide adequate and appropriate first-aid equipment, facilities and people so your employees can be given immediate help if they are injured or taken ill at work.

What is ‘adequate and appropriate’ will depend on the circumstances in your workplace and you should assess what your first-aid needs are.

The minimum first-aid provision on any work site is:

• a suitably stocked first-aid kit;
• an appointed person to take charge of first-aid arrangements;
• information for employees about first-aid arrangements.

If gas appliances, such as ovens, cookers and boilers, are not properly installed and maintained, there is a danger of fire, explosion, gas leaks and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.

Employers need to comply with the relevant regulations to help ensure worker and public safety. You can do this by following our advice on maintaining and servicing gas appliances, by using a Gas Safe registered engineer or a competent person.

The basics

• Use a competent engineer to install, maintain or repair your appliances 
• Ensure that your gas pipework, appliances and flues are regularly maintained
• Check that all rooms with gas appliances have adequate ventilation – don’t block air inlets to prevent draughts, and don’t obstruct flues and chimneys

Are there Legionella risks in my workplace?

Any water system, with the right environmental conditions, could be a source for legionella bacteria growth. There is a reasonably foreseeable legionella risk if your water system:

• has a water temperature between 20–45 °C 
• creates and/or spreads breathable droplets, e.g. aerosol created by a cooling tower, or water outlets 
• stores and/or re-circulates water
• likely to contain a source of nutrients for the organism to grow, e.g. rust, sludge, scale, organic matter and biofilms 

The most common sources of legionella are in man-made water systems including:

• cooling tower and evaporative condensers
• hot and cold water systems
• spa pools

All lifting operations involving lifting equipment must be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner. LOLER also requires that all equipment used for lifting is fit for purpose, appropriate for the task, suitably marked and, in many cases, subject to statutory periodic 'thorough examination'. Records must be kept of all thorough examinations and any defects found must be reported to both the person responsible for the equipment and the relevant enforcing authority.

You have the same health and safety responsibilities for homeworkers and the same liability for accident or injury as for any other workers. 

This means you must provide supervision, education and training, as well as implementing enough control measures to protect the homeworker.

Risks that particularly affect lone workers include: 

• violence in the workplace 
• stress and mental health or wellbeing
• a person’s medical suitability to work alone
• the workplace itself, for example if it's in a rural or isolated area

Powered door and gate safety is not just about the individual components making up the product, but about the way they are combined together to fit a particular set of circumstances, and what is done over time to maintain safety.

At all times a powered gate must respond in a safe way when any person interacts with it. It’s design must take into account that foreseeable interactions may go well beyond normal use (eg children playing around or with / on the powered gate), as well as normal wear and tear, and adverse environmental influences, particular wind and rain / snow and other debris that can impair function.

Risk assessment, competence and training

Whilst there may be standard components, even final products, the huge range of locations in which they are installed and variable environmental conditions to which they are exposed mean that most powered gates will be unique products requiring some form of specific risk assessment, both for installation and subsequent use. It is therefore not possible to define standard solutions for safety: each powered gate must be considered individually and holistically, employing suitable risk assessment tools and knowledge / expertise to manage the risks on a case by case basis.