Provisions for Health and Safety include:
- Ensuring all plant and equipment is properly maintained and does not pose a hazard to health.
- Ensuring procedures are followed for the safe handling, transport and storage of all materials.
- Ensuring that all staff are properly instructed, trained and when necessary supervised in Health and Safety procedures.
- Ensuring the places of work do not pose health and safety risk to employees.
- Ensuring that exits and entrances to work pose no risk to the health and safety.
- Ensuring that the welfare of staff in the work place.
- Ensuring that LGV HGV and fork lift drivers operate under required legislation.
The director and management of Albany Tree Care are responsible for Health & Safety but need active cooperation from their staff to make these policies work. Employees have a duty to follow health and safety policy at all times and need to ensure that everything is done to prevent injury to themselves and others.
Awareness training for medical health construction problems
All staff receive awareness training as regards the early signs of exposure to hazardous materials and equipment required to carry out construction tasks.
Medical Awareness training includes:
- The use of materials hazardous to health – COSHH – Asthma and Occupational Dermatitis.
- The effects of exposure to R42 products, Bitumen,Petrol, Diesel, Cement, Petrol, Thinners, Paints and Tack Sprays.
- Hearing Loss due to exposure to constant exposure to noise levels above 85 dBA.
- Hand Arm Whole Body Vibration Syndrome caused by hand held vibrating tools such jack hammers and grinders etc.
Staff Training
Albany Tree Care ensures that adequate training is in place for all staff in order to comply with Environmental and Health & Safety legislation. From time to time, new operating procedures are introduced and Albany Tree Care ensure that staff receive the appropriate training.
Dependant on their role within the business staff are required to have the following skills, training or qualifications
- CSCS CARDS CPCS CARDS
- NPORS – DUMPER AND ROLLER TRAINING PROCEDURES
- SITE MANAGERS SITE SAFETY TRAINING SCHEME ( SMSTS)
- NVQ LEVEL 4 or in 5 OHSP ( OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PRACTICE)
- CPCS – 360 AND 180 TRACK AND JCB TRAINING
- RISK ASSESSMENT
- FIRST AID TRAINING
- ABRASIVE WHEEL
- HAND ARM VIBRATION
- MANUAL HANDLING PRODURES
- COSHH
- CONSTRUCTION SITE SAFETY AWARNESS
- CHERRY PICKER SAFETY PROCEDURES
All staff undergo a yearly appraisal in order to identify further training needs and to ensure that their day to day work practices are not causing Health & Safety risks to themselves and others.
ISO STANDARDS
All works are carried out in accordance with the following Management Systems and Standards:
ISO9001: Quality, ISO14001: Environmental, ISO18001: Health & Safety
BRITISH STANDARD
Works are undertaken to the following British Standards:
British Standard 3998:1989 ‘British Standard Recommendations for Tree Work’
British Standard 5837:1991 ‘Trees in Relation to Construction’
INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICE
All work is conducted using the following AFAG (Arboriculture & Forestry Advisory Group) guides as the industry best practice Click on the links below to view the appropriate document in pdf format:
- AFAG 203 – Clearing saw
- AFAG 204 – Flails and mulchers in tree work
- AFAG 301 – Using petrol driven chainsaws
- AFAG 302 – Basic chainsaw felling and manual takedown
- AFAG 303 – Chainsaw snedding
- AFAG 304 – Crosscutting and manual stacking
- AFAG 306 – Chainsaw clearance of windblow
- AFAG 307 – Chainsaw felling of large trees
- AFAG 308 – Top handled chainsaws
- AFAG 310 – Use of winches in directional felling and takedown
- AFAG 401 – Tree climbing operations
- AFAG 402 – Aerial tree rescue
- AFAG 501 – Tractor units in tree work
- AFAG 502 – Extraction by skidder
- AFAG 503 – Extraction by forwarder
- AFAG 604 – Woodchippers
- AFAG 606 – Mobile stump grinders
- AFAG 702 – All-terrain vehicles
- AFAG 802 – Emergency planning