Connect Issue 3
7 July 2008
Welcome to the third issue of Connect
Hello, and welcome to the third issue of Connect.
We start with an In Practice feature on
how the entertainment industry has been brought into line with the
2005 Control of Noise at Work Regulations – what difference
it will make and, perhaps most importantly, what you need to do
about it.
This issue also sees our first Dangerously
Safe feature, which highlights the many health and safety
professionals who work in challenging locations and circumstances.
Guy Littlemore has been a cameraman for more than 30 years, and has
filmed in countries including Sierra Leone, Kenya, and Zambia.
Before he became involved in health and safety, Guy was the
youngest TV news cameraman at ITV. Connect catches up with
him before he sets off to Beijing for this year’s Olympic
Games.
The media’s silly season for health and safety seems to have
started early this year. And IOSH has again been biting back – have
a look at what we’ve said in Quote Me.
Bruce Phillips, chair of the Ireland Branch and Area Manager at
Dublin City Council, is the latest member to take the 60 second interview challenge.
As well as all that, there’s your local branch news, group news
and events, and details of the latest jobs in your area. Oh, and
we’ve picked out a number of threads on our discussion forums for
you to look at.
Happy reading!
Shaun
Gibbons
e-Editor
Dangerously safe: bringing risk into sharp focus – part
one
In the first of our ‘Dangerously safe’ features, we talk to one of
the health and safety professionals who operate in more challenging
environments and circumstances.
TV cameraman Guy Littlemore is no stranger to challenging
locations, having filmed in countries such as Sierra Leone and
Liberia for the BBC. Connect caught up with him ahead of
his next assignment – this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing.
From rubbing shoulders with entrepreneurs from the hit TV show
'Dragon’s Den' to getting up close and personal with Anneka Rice’s
posterior in 'Challenge Anneka', Guy has experienced every type of
production and worked with every type of director. Some of his most
challenging work to date has been filming commercial divers at work
on board a dive support vessel in the North Sea for a BBC series
about extreme jobs. He had to capture the daily routine of the
divers as they lived for a month in their tiny decompression
chambers, transferring – via a series of pressurised hatches – to
diving bells so that they could get to work on the sea floor, a
cool 200 metres below the surface. For Comic Relief 2007 Guy
travelled to Kenya with Ant and Dec and Billy Connolly, filming the
lives of some of the poorest people in Africa. Ant and Dec
were getting to grips with life in one of the continent’s biggest
slums. Billy was tackling a film about the stigma still
associated with AIDS and the work that Comic Relief is funding to
support people affected by the virus. The film he shot with Ant and
Dec was shortlisted for one of this year’s One World Broadcasting
Trust Awards.
Although Guy’s work differs from one assignment to the next, the
one thing that has remained a constant throughout his 30-year
career as a TV cameraman is his concern about the industry’s
attitude to health and safety – or lack of it.
"The health and safety in TV could be a lot
better than it is at present,” said Guy from his base at Bristol.
“There are lots of things being done to try and make the industry
safer, but it’s far from being applied. Despite some high profile
cases that have clearly shown how important good health and safety
practice is to camera crews, there is still a real sense of apathy
within the freelance sector of the industry.”
Guy first got ‘hooked’ on health and safety while teaching NVQ
to cameramen nearly 10 years ago.
"I didn’t know much about it, so I thought
I’d better do some research. I found it completely
fascinating.”
Guy is a Technician member of IOSH. He has a NEBOSH National
Certificate and is currently part-way through his Diploma.
"After qualifying for my Diploma, I would
like to work with small television facility companies who can’t
afford to have health and safety departments of their own.”
Guy is qualified to produce production hazard assessments for
studio or location filming and also has his own health and safety
guidelines which include IOSH courses on working at height and
conducting dynamic risk assessments.
Guy’s qualifications for filming at sea will no doubt stand him
in good stead for his next assignment: covering the water sports at
the Olympic Games in Beijing. Along with 35 other British
cameramen, Guy will be flying out at the start of August for three
weeks. You probably won’t see him there, but you’ll no doubt be
watching his work. Guy will be part of the team supplying the world
feed for both the rowing and canoeing events.
"The Olympic organisers should have good
health and safety policies in place. There have been a number of
concerns over the air quality, for example, so it will be
interesting to see how they tackle them.”
Catch up with Guy on his return from China in part two of our
Dangerously Safe interview in Connect.
Factfile:
- Graduated in 1981 from the Polytechnic of Central London with a
BA (Hons) in Film and Photography
- In 1985, Guy became the youngest news cameraman in ITV
- Started his freelance career in 1991 as a lighting
cameraman
- Due to start filming ‘Extras – Christmas Special’, the
Emmy-winning comedy by Ricky Gervais
Related links:
60 second interview
Bruce Phillips, Ireland Branch chairman and Area Manager at
Dublin City Council, talks to Connect
What’s the hot issue in your sector right
now?
Probably new legislation.
What’s the most challenging problem you’ve had to
overcome?
Definitely resource issues!
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever had about
working in health and safety?
I would say to maintain a balanced
perspective.
What advice would you give to someone starting their
career in health and safety?
"Build relationships and develop
networks.
If you could ban the use of one piece of jargon, what
would it be?
“Bonkers conkers.”
If you weren’t a health and safety practitioner what
would you be?
"Probably a lawyer.
Do you think that children should get basic health and
safety education in school?
"Yes I do.
Do you want to be considered for a 60 Second Interview?
Contact the e-Editor.
Quote me
IOSH in the media...
Daily Mail
In a letter to the Daily Mail, IOSH president Ray Hurst
challenged the “zealots” responsible for banning school trips and
mollycoddling children.
“Young people must learn to manage risk, and
there are few better ways of doing that than by going into the big
wide world of the outdoors.”
He added:
“We see countless examples of people falling
for the bait of over-the-top fears of litigation. Often health and
safety decisions are taken by people with absolutely no
professional qualifications or experience in the subject. That
leads to ludicrous decisions as these people overly worry about
trivial risks, or miss major hazards resulting in tragedy. We’re
about sensible solutions to problems. And we want children to get
out and about.”
Ulster TV’s 'Life' programme
Ray made his TV studio debut and told UTV’s 'Life' programme
about the continuing use of health and safety as an excuse to ban
things.
"241 people were killed in Great Britain last
year. That’s 241 families who have a relative not going home at the
end of the day. It’s a serious business and that’s what we should
be concentrating on. Two million people suffered ill health caused
or made worse by their work.
"My message is aimed at anyone who runs a
business and says I’m not doing that because health and safety’s
going to stop me. They’re using it as a convenient excuse. Let’s
talk about real health and safety.”
Responding to a comment about the use of common sense, Ray
added:
"If we used common sense all the time there
wouldn’t be so many accidents which happen at the same time, in the
same way, all of the time.”
The Sun
Ray also challenged The Sun over its story about a flag
being outlawed:
“So even politicians can fall foul of ‘elf
and safety’ silliness, as Mayor of Maidstone Denise Joy found when
she was banned from flying an 8in flag on her official car.
"As president of Britain’s safety and health
professional body, let me assure Sun readers that we don’t support
silly bans and we reckon a solution can be found. Let’s fly the
flag for common sense.”
Construction News
Construction Group chairman John Lacey told Construction
News that the government must be prepared to spend to reach
its safety targets.
"To achieve a 10 per cent reduction
year-on-year, there must be adequate enforcement. There must be
enough inspectors to be a real presence on construction sites in
Britain.
"With the expected growth in the workforce,
increasing number of migrant and at risk work groups, and the
increase in construction in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics, 2017
cross-rail project and 2020's target for three million new homes,
there really does need to be a phased and eventual doubling of the
number of HSE inspectors to allow us to achieve these targets.
Without adequate funding, it just won't happen."
Western Mail
Bristol and West Branch chair Kevin Bridges responded swiftly to
a survey by Bristol City Council of nightclubs in the city.
Kevin said that he was “horrified and disappointed” at the
findings, which found that 80 per cent of the city’s clubs were
exposing staff to excessive noise, while also revealing fire safety
hazards such as blocked emergency exits.
"Having inadequate fire assessments or not
having them at all and obstructing fire exits is incredibly foolish
and potentially deadly,” he commented.
Leicester Mercury
Chief executive Rob Strange receiving the OBE in the Queen’s
Birthday Honours was, of course, a source of celebration for the
whole of IOSH. It was also something the local press picked up
on.
Rob commented in the Leicester Mercury’s Business
section:
"Receiving the OBE is a tremendous honour and
something that I did not expect, but I’m very proud to receive
it.
"This award is not about me, it’s about the
effort and determination of every single member of staff at IOSH.
More significantly, it’s about the dedicated work of the 33,000
IOSH members worldwide.”
Law: what you need to know
Control of Noise at Work Regulations
Headlines
- Control of Noise at Work Regulations now apply to music and
entertainment
- Exposure to live music can cause deafness
- Employers and freelancers need to monitor and manage their
exposure to noise
- Audiences will still be able to enjoy live entertainment
What is it?
The UK’s Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 are intended
to protect workers from noise levels which could damage their
hearing.
When is it law?
Now! It came into force on 06 April 2006 for most organisations,
and 06 April 2008 for the entertainment and music sector – that
includes places where live or recorded music is played, for example
in a restaurant, bar, club, theatre or concert hall.
This two year transitional period was agreed because of the
nature of the industry and to give time to prepare guidance in
co-operation with the sector.
Why has it been introduced?
To tackle job-related hearing loss, which is a major
occupational disease. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
estimates that there are 170,000 cases of deafness, tinnitus or
other ear conditions caused by noise at work. And over 1 million
people are at risk because they work in noisy environments.
Hearing loss is preventable but can’t be cured. Damage to
hearing not only means you can’t hear what people are saying but
you may also suffer from constant loud ringing or roaring noises in
your ears (tinnitus). Loud music can cause noise-related hearing
loss in the same way as loud machinery.
What difference will it make?
The law should help to cut hearing loss and damage with the
introduction of new “exposure action values”. Now, employers must
provide hearing protection and hearing protection zones for daily
or weekly average exposures of 85 decibels (dB(A)) and above and
must assess the risk to workers’ health and provide them with
information and training if they are exposed at or above 80dB(A).
Employees can ask for personal hearing protection if exposed at or
above this level. There’s also an exposure limit value of 87dB(A),
which means that workers should not be exposed to a noise dose
greater than 87dB(A) inside the hearing protection that’s being
used.
The key word in the legislation is “control”. Employers must
show what actions they are taking to reduce noise levels and must
cut noise to the lowest “reasonably practicable level”. Personal
hearing protection must be provided if the noise dose is likely to
be higher than 85dB(A), but it can’t be used as a long term control
measure unless it can be proved that noise control is
impractical.
There should be less reliance on protective equipment and more
emphasis on cutting down noise at source. Employers shouldn’t use
hearing protection instead of controlling noise using technical
methods or reorganising how people work.
Hearing protection manufacturers will label ear protection with
an ‘attenuation rating’. But it’s important not to rely on this.
It’s better to go by a worker’s individual attenuation rating*,
which depends on how well fitted their hearing protection is and
the accuracy of noise measurement systems. Typically, dosemeters
will show higher levels than hand held sound level meter
measurements. HSE guidance on the regulations gives information on
predicting the attenuation offered by hearing protection.
If you increase a noise level by 3dB, it represents a doubling of
the sound energy, meaning you should halve the time a worker spends
in that noise. Roughly, doubling the distance from a single noise
source can reduce the level by 3dB. This is because the sound level
drops by this amount each time the distance that a sound travels is
doubled.
This won’t mean that orchestras and bands can’t play loud music but
musicians may need more time to recover after a performance to
protect their hearing. Loud sections of an orchestra could be moved
further away from other musicians and the acoustics in venues will
need to be taken into account.
Musicians may need to get used to wearing earplugs but these
will be models specially designed for people performing live music
(uniform attenuation (flat response) earplugs). They need to
organise their working day to get a rest to protect their
hearing. For example, every hour they could take 10 minutes
away from the noise and go to a quiet place. Employers can
also provide noise havens or ‘chill out’ rooms.
A good rule of thumb is that if you have to speak loudly so
someone can hear you over the music and you’re standing at arm’s
length from them, then the music could be at hazardous loudness
levels.
What do I need to do now?
If it affects the sector you work in, brief your boss and
workforce about this new legal coverage. Review your risk
assessments to see if you need to update your controls and involve
employees in the process. If necessary, get expert advice.
To manage your noise risks you need to:
- list the noise hazards
- find out how many people are affected
- get a reliable estimate of your employees’ exposures, and
compare the exposure with the exposure action values and limit
values. If someone is exposed to noise which varies a great deal
from day to day, then the employer may use a weekly personal noise
exposure level instead of a daily personal noise exposure to make
sure they comply with the regulations
- decide what controls are necessary to protect your employees’
hearing
- record your findings and make an action plan to show how you’re
going to comply with the law
- look at ways to control the noise at source
- give out information about the risks and provide training in
how people can protect their hearing at work
- provide hearing protection if you need to, make sure it stays
in good condition and train people on fitting, using and looking
after hearing protection
- provide hearing checks for all those at risk and keep records
of this health surveillance. This is needed where the noise dose is
above 85dB(A)
- let employees know about the results of their hearing
checks
- keep health records
- make sure employees are examined by a doctor if hearing damage
is found
- review how things are working out (at least every two years or
if circumstances change). Carry out additional sound level surveys
whenever there’s a change in process, equipment or controls that
could increase noise levels.
Self-employed musicians can get a hearing check through
NHS Plus or
through Musicians’ Hearing
Services.
Watch this space
An HSE guide called ‘Sound advice’ is due out later this
year.
IOSH viewpoint
We followed the development of these Regulations closely and
voiced concerns that in some places the guidance was too technical
for non-specialists to understand. We also called for the guidance
to be a free download. We identified a number of technical
inaccuracies in the employer leaflet and guidance accompanying the
Regulations and areas that needed to be clarified. In addition, we
pressed for more emphasis on worker involvement, and a reflection
of the needs of an ageing workforce.
IOSH course
We’re running a three day course aimed at helping health and
safety professionals get to grips with new coverage of the
entertainment sector. ‘Noise at work – in the music and
entertainment industry’ aims to help delegates understand how to
assess, control and monitor noise risks and includes practical
exercises, case studies and a noise control group
project. Find out
more.
Related links:
Our thanks to David James of the Industrial Noise and Vibration
Centre for his help in writing this article.