HSE Press Release: E103-04 - 19 July 2004

HSE Kerbs Forum - progress meeting in London

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) hosted the second meeting of its 'Kerbs Forum' in London on 15 July 2004. Over 80 stakeholders including kerb manufacturers, contractors and Local Authorities reviewed progress on the HSE initiative to encourage industry to change from traditional methods that involves laying kerbs by hand to systems where the kerb is carried by machine.

The 'Kerbs Forum' was first convened, in response to an industry request, in December 2003. The December Forum agreed transitional timeframes during which the change from manual to machine assisted kerb handling would take place. Specifically, for new builds this would be by June 2004, with 'spot' kerbing phased in by January 2005. The Forum agreed to reconvene half way between these two dates to review progress, hence the latest meeting in July.

HSE Principal Inspector Richard Boland, who chaired the July Forum, said:

"I am happy to report that we found no problems in achieving either deadline. For new build work the change has already taken place and HSE inspectors will be expecting to see machine assisted kerb laying throughout GB. For 'spot' kerbing and maintenance I can report good progress and that we are on target to meet the January 2005 deadline.

"The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 have now been in force for 12 years and require employers to avoid the need for manual handling where possible, and control the risk of injury where manual handling cannot be avoided. For kerbs and similar products, aids such as vacuum lifters and grabs are widely available and therefore industry should be looking to use them where possible.

He continued:

"Given the statistics, it is right that industry should be tackling this problem now, and HSE will continue to work with our stakeholders to bring about this necessary change. Rather than taking an enforcement-led approach to changing industry practice, HSE is working with the relevant contractors and intermediary bodies to ensure that a gradual change takes place within agreed time limits."

Andy Sneddon from the Construction Confederation said:

"Setting deadlines and agreeing an 'enforcement line' with the HSE gave the industry assurances that all stakeholders, particularly clients, would be taking forward changes at the same time. I am pleased to report that the July Kerbs Forum showed that there was considerable enthusiasm for the new way of working. At a time when the Health and Safety Commission is championing the case for sensible health and safety controls that are sensibly applied, it is refreshing to attend a meeting where construction clients are being engaged directly on such a key issue. I hope that we can use this approach and work together on other health and safety issues in the future."

Barry Evans from JDM Accord added:

"JDM Accord is a contractor working with many Local Authorities on term maintenance contracts, primarily in busy city centres. We have found that 'spot' kerb maintenance has been a particular challenge because we must ensure that we minimise the disruption to the public. We have worked in partnership with our clients, the Local Authorities, to find a workable solution and also found that adopting mechanical lifting has brought business as well as health and safety benefits."

Notes to editors

1. Regulation 4 of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 states:

4 (1) Each employer shall:

(a) so far as is reasonably practicable, avoid the need for his employees to undertake any manual handling operations at work which involve a risk of their being injured."

(b) where it is not reasonably practicable to avoid the need for his employees to undertake any manual handling operations at work which involve a risk of their being injured:-

(i) make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of all such manual handling operations to be undertaken by them….

(ii) take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of injury to those employees arising out of their undertaking any such manual handling operations to the lowest level reasonably practicable, …….

2. Statistics for manual handling in construction show that around 90,000 workers suffered musculoskeletal injuries during 2000/01, which is double the all-industry average. A typical kerbstone weighs around 67kg (c. the weight of the average man) and kerbs are manually handled at least three times from arrival on site to their final positioning.

3. Background Information: the following documents are available from HSE press office:

• The agreement reached at the first meeting, including timescales;
  
• The draft HSE guidance on kerb laying that was circulated for comment at the July Kerbs Forum meeting.

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