Newport City Council - stepping up its inspections with Safetrak
Project background
On average 12 people a year die at work falling from ladders and over 1200 suffer major injuries. Ladders remain the most common piece of equipment involved and account for more than a quarter of all falls from height¹. The Working at Height Regulations (2005) clearly state that any item of equipment used for work at height must be fully inspected to ensure its safe use.
As a unitary authority, Newport City Council is responsible for all areas of local government including education, leisure, housing, social services, planning and highways. In order to manage the running of all of these areas of business, the council employs around 7,500 employees; their safety is a top priority and the issuing of stock to employees must be tightly controlled. This is why Newport City Council turned to Scafftag to streamline the process of inspecting and decommissioning its ladders and steps.
It is also a legal requirement for ladders to be inspected and registered. An effective management system should have a system of identifying when .unsafe. or not to be used. Ladders should be checked daily by a competent person prior to any use for damage, faults and wear. Each ladder should be given a unique identification mark or tag and be recorded on a suitable register that has appropriate records of inspections, repairs and maintenance.
To keep up with health and safety requirements, Newport City Council engaged Scafftag to help improve business performance through better management of its equipment in terms of safety, maintenance and location tracking. The solution was Safetrak, an electronic inspection system. Safetrak is a unique electronic system designed to transform safety, maintenance and identification activities into paperless, efficient and simplified processes.
Before Safetrak
Before implementing Safetrak in 2008, Newport City Council relied on manual records for inspecting and issuing ladders and steps. David Davis, Stores & Depot Co-ordinator at the council said: .The manual system we had in place was adequate but we wanted to move forward in the way we worked and wanted to introduce a new system that was simpler to use and more efficient.
David continues "The Safetrak system is used for ladder and step inspections and to track this equipment. Our ladders and steps are issued to a variety of locations across the borough. This means we have to keep track of where each item of equipment is and ensure that it is fully compliant with safety regulations as it is not only our workers. safety we have to consider it is the public.s as well.
The councils work encompasses both public safety and employee safety. The city council uses contractors for a wide range of activities from construction and building to care work and waste management and the council has to ensure best practice when it comes to their overall health and safety. The public is also a high priority within the council.s risk management and due to the varying activity of the council.s businesses, the public not only includes those affected by its work out on the streets but also those in its care and control such as school pupils.
Adopting Safetrak
Before implementing Safetrak in 2008, Newport City Council relied on manual records for inspecting and issuing ladders and steps. David Davis, Stores & Depot Co-ordinator at the council said: .The manual system we had in place was adequate but we wanted to move forward in the way we worked and wanted to introduce a new system that was simpler to use and more efficient.
David continues: .The Safetrak system is used for ladder and step inspections and to track this equipment. Our ladders and steps are issued to a variety of locations across the borough. This means we have to keep track of where each item of equipment is and ensure that it is fully compliant with safety regulations as it is not only our workers. safety we have to consider it is the public.s as well.
The council.s work encompasses both public safety and employee safety. The city council uses contractors for a wide range of activities from construction and building to care work and waste management and the council has to ensure best practice when it comes to their overall health and safety. The public is also a high priority within the council.s risk management and due to the varying activity of the council.s businesses, the public not only includes those affected by its work out on the streets but also those in its care and control such as school pupils.
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