Are Blackberry's computers?

Blackberry handsets can be covered by the DSE Regulations. However, whether an individual using the blackberry is classified as a user is dependant on the duration of their use.

While there are no hard-and-fast rules on what constitutes 'prolonged' use, portable equipment (including Blackberry handsets) that is continuously in use by a DSE user for the majority of their working hours, would be covered by the DSE Regulations. While some of the specific minimum requirements in the Schedule may not be applicable to portable equipment in prolonged use, employers should still conduct a risk assessment.

A user is described in Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 as amended by the Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002 as:

• an individual who uses Blackberry devices on a daily basis continuously should be regarded as users or operators. This will include the majority of those whose job mainly involves, for example, DSE based data input or sales and order processing.

Where use is less continuous or frequent, other factors connected with the job must be assessed.

It will generally be appropriate to classify the person concerned as a user or operator if they:

• normally use DSE for continuous or near-continuous spells of an hour or more at a time; and


• use DSE in this way more or less daily; and


• have to transfer information quickly to or from the DSE; and


• need to apply high levels of attention and concentration; or


• are highly dependent on DSE or have little choice about using it;


• or need special training or skills to use the DSE

If you need any assistance with your risk assessments, Sypol’s Safety Team will help you reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries, back and eyesight problems. We can help you with your DSE risk assessments, DSE user training and information, and DSE assessor training and information.

FREE Health & Safety Seminar

Come along to our free half day health and safety seminar in Leicester on 23 March and get practical, effective answers to all those health and safety questions you have.

We will discuss the practical application of the legislation, it's real impact on the bottom line, and how it can make real savings.

During this interactive seminar, experts from the world of insurance, legal practice and health and safety will debate the issues around:

• How it feels to cause serious harm to a worker and what are the chances of it happening
• How much time and effort does it take to sleep soundly in the knowledge that you are on the right side of health and safety law
• Can getting it right really save money and add to the bottom line, and how much could that be

We will be introducing SAFETYSMART, our simple, cost effective solution to H&S compliance designed with SME's in mind.

Come along to the National Space Centre on 23rd March, starting at 9am for coffee and registration, until 1.30pm. Also included is a free ticket to walk around the Space Centre, giving you entry to six differently themed interactive galleries of the attraction after the seminar.

Click here to book on the seminar

Consider health and safety consultants for COSHH assessment

When it comes to the legal obligations of your business it is always necessary to take these seriously. It is not worth risking the future of the company on a failure to adhere to current regulations in the workplace. This is why it can be prudent to speak to the risk advisor specialists about COSHH and how it applies to you.

There is certainly help available to you in the realm of workplace risk management and you can get incredibly good value from these services which allow you to optimise the Health and Safety Executive requirements within the organisation.

The wellbeing of workers is of paramount importance to any company and so experienced health and safety consultants can look at any business environment and provide solutions to the issues faced by the firm and the management of its key processes.

By enlisting the services of health and safety consultants you can take control of your legislative responsibilities and effectively streamline the management of the business environment.

This can be done by looking at all areas of the business and, by carrying out risk assessments, the costs saved can be enormous as the price for failing to comply with regulations can be unthinkable for any business. The performance of your staff can be improved considerably through safety training, stress management and a workplace where all risks have been considered and reduced.

First let's shoot the elf!

Read our article on helping small firms understand that health and safety is not just about compliance, but business success and a moral imperative.

Read more

Reviewing UK Health & Safety Law

I am watching with interest the debate generated following the appointment by David Cameron of Lord Young of Graffham, the former trade and industry secretary, to investigate concerns about how health and safety laws are applied and the development of the compensation culture in the UK over the last 10 years.

The review, as I understand, will primarily investigate concerns over the 'application and perception' of health and safety legislation and its connections (if any) with the increasing 'compensation culture' in the United Kingdom, during the last decade.

Many of the daily national newspapers are running editorials on the subject and unsurprisingly have had great glee it would seem in publishing the ‘urban myth’ health and safety stories that we have become all too familiar with such as the trainee hairdressers not allowed to practice with scissors or the school children having to wear safety goggles when playing conkers!

Whilst it seems that we have many, many health and safety laws, quite often in my experience it is how they are being interpreted and put into action, often by over cautious employers, ever fearful of being sued. This undoubtedly has had a negative affect on the ‘minds of the British public’.

A review of health and safety law should not come at the expense of maintaining basic standards and I do not expect the outcome of Lord Young’s review to lower our standards in the UK. Hopefully the review will address the issue that these laws are primarily there to protect people and not pave the way for costly litigation even when the claims are of a spurious nature.

Tim Meese, Head of Global Consulting

Sypol says goodbye to Bill

Last Friday we said goodbye to Bill Holmes, one of our long standing health and safety consultants, who has been with us since 2001 and has finally decided its time to start his long deserved retirement.

Bill started as a Health and Safety Advisor, and worked his way up through the Safety Team to become Director of UK Regions, managing the Sypol consultancy offices in Scotland and Northern Ireland. He then became Director of Safety, responsible for the provision of EHS consultancy services in UK and Europe, before spending his last two years with us as a Principal Consultant supporting two major accounts for on-site support, auditing and inspections and the provision of services for Liberty Mutual client Seagate Technology Inc in Northern Ireland.

Bill said "I feel so fortunate to have worked at Sypol and all the wonderful people associated with the business. I will miss the camaraderie and friendship but I will however try to the best of my endeavours to make good use of my time."

Bill was presented with golf vouchers and will be spending some of them on a golf driver he has had his eye on.

We wish him all the best in his retirement and thank him for all his outstanding work over the years.

Web training - the ultimate challenge

I am now well advanced in the development of a comprehensive ‘traditional’ training package to an international and diverse workforce. Having grappled with the practical challenges of delivering such training I am now faced with another challenge – WebEx training for international delegates!

Having been on the receiving end of such training myself in the past and taken part in many conference calls where WebEx has been used, I see some challenges to delivering training successfully in this way. Those of us who have taken part in conference calls with a relatively large number of participants know only too well the ‘tell tale’ signs that somebody is not paying full attention! The sounds of computer keyboard, background conversations or even snoring do not give the facilitator much confidence that the message is being adequately received.

Technical issues aside, how to deliver health and safety training via WebEx that can be verified is an important issue for my customer. So far, we are discussing introducing a number of questions or slides into the presentation that can be put over to the delegates in order to solicit a response (and make sure they are there!) and prompt discussion. We will also issue a multi-choice questionnaire following the training which must be completed successfully in order for them to be signed off as completing the training.

A benefit of this approach is hopefully it will make them pay attention during the training session, but even if they do not they will have to go back through the presentation in order to source the correct answers. Issuing delegates with different questions will also prevent any collusion and somebody gaining accreditation without the right effort!

Tim Meese, Head of Global Consulting