PASMA Introduce New Highway Guidance Notes for Mobile Towers

PASMA (The Prefabricated Access Suppliers & Manufacturers Association) has published up-to-date guidance notes for licence applications to assemble and use a mobile access tower on the highway. Aimed at assisting both licence applicants and the local highway authorities who issue these licences, the guide has been produced in association with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Highways Agency.

Covering areas such as design, assembly, the steps that need to be taken to protect the public and traffic management, this comprehensive guide provides all the information contractors need to know about assembling and using a mobile tower on the public highway.

The guide can be downloaded from our website here: PASMA_Scaffold_Tower_Pavement_Licence_Guidance__-_April_2013

Darren Successfully Completes Powertool Instructor Training

We are very pleased to confirm that one of our leading instructors, Darren Painter, has now completed the Makita 2 Day ‘City and Guilds’ Powertool Instructor Course to further his skill set and enable him to join both Steve and David in the delivery of Powertool Safety Training Courses.

The course covered in detail workplace checks, pre-use machine checks, anti-vibration technology, personal checks, p.p.e and use of powertools including hazards arising from the use, precautions to be observed and after use checks on a range of commonly used powertools.

Makita commented that the course is aimed at delivering the user a City and Guilds course that registers them as an instructor for electrical power tools, air tools, petrol products (excluding chainsaws), or a combination of.

This will now enable Darren to facilitate the following courses in addition to the comprehensive range of course already available:

• Powertool Safety – Principles (Half Day – classroom based)
• Powertool Safety – Principles and Practice (1 Day including practical)

Kentec is praised as we pass another annual Audit

Kentec Training is dedicated to constantly improving the standard of our training in order to ensure the highest quality training is guaranteed when customers book places on our courses.

We are pleased therefore, to announced that we have successfully passed another year of annual audits fromPASMA and the Ladder Association proving our continuied compliance with the high standards set by these organisations and their auditing teams.

Zero-Tolerance Against Bogus Training Providers

Due to the undisputed recognition and popularity of the PASMA name as the sole industry-recognised training scheme for mobile access towers, the Association has been made aware that a small number of unscrupulous companies are attempting to pass themselves off as PASMA Training Members, without having shown that they meet the industry standards needed to become an accredited PASMA member.

There is certainly no guarantee that these fake PASMA training companies will offer the quality of training required and expected within the industry. Instead, training from these organisations is likely to lead to wrong or outdated information being given as well as sub-standard training, which could clearly create a very real safety risk and is, therefore, a waste of time and money.

It is also certain that training from these providers will not result in any delegate receiving a legitimate PASMA training card and certificate. The PASMA card is widely recognised as the only proof of competence for mobile access towers, and without authentic cards workers could be turned away from sites.

Peter Bennett, PASMA’s Managing Director, said: “As PASMA sets the highest standards for its training instructors and centres, delegates must ensure that they are being trained by a genuine approved centre. The popularity and renowned quality of our courses has led to some companies trying to jump on the bandwagon without having met the industry standard criteria on which PASMA insists.”

“We take this matter very seriously and are adopting a zero-tolerance approach to these fake PASMA training firms to ensure we maintain the credibility that the industry expects. We urge anybody considering PASMA training to double check the authenticity of the company and, if in any doubt, to contact PASMA.”

To avoid the risk of receiving sub-standard training from a provider, check the PASMA website, which lists authentic accredited members and training centres under the “Find A Training Centre” section.

If a company is not listed on the PASMA website but is still promoting training using the PASMA name and logo, please report this to info@pasma.co.uk. PASMA takes this issue very seriously, and will not hesitate to take legal action to combat misuse.

IOSH Managing Safely Refresher Course Now Available

We can now offer the IOSH Managing Safely Refresher course. The IOSH Managing Safely Refresher course is designed to provide continued support to managers in dealing with health and safety issues in the workplace and is fully accredited by IOSH (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health).This Managing safely refresher course is designed for managers and supervisors, of any organisation or sector and is unlike any other. Full of step-by-step guidance, and with a sharp business focus, you’ll find that the highly innovative format and content inspires delegates – critical to refresh and reinforce essential health and safety understanding.

 Course Summary

• Price: £165.00 + vat per person (£198.00 inc vat). Please call for group rates
• Max Class Size: 12
• Delivery Method: Classroom
• Duration: 1 Day, usually 9:00am to 4:00pm
• Note: No PPE required
• Award: IOSH Certificate, valid for 3 years

Who Should Attend
This one-day refresher course is aimed at managers and supervisors with health and safety responsibilities, but is equally valid for company directors, senior managment officers and health and safety officers in low risk organisations.

Pre-Requisites

Delegates must have passed and be able to provide evidence that they successfully attended the full four day IOSH Managing Safely course within the last 3 years to be eligible to attend this course

What Will You Get From This Course

This course includes the following:

• To revisit the key management responsibilities from the full IOSH Managing Safely course
• To update relevant changes in good practice guidance, health and safety legislation and standards

This course is accredited by the Institution of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH), one of Europe’s leading health and safety awarding bodies.

The course will cover relevant issues such as:-

• Revisiting managing safely
• Assessing risks
• Controlling risks
• Understanding your responsibilities
• Incident and accident investigation
• Measuring performance

The IOSH Managing Safely Refresher Course covers recognising commonly found workplace hazards and know how to control them, determining why accidents involving injury or damage occur in the workplace, it explains how aspects of human behaviour can affect health and safety at work, how to apply principles of good management to health and safety, how to use effective communication and make sure that health and safety law is obeyed within their own workplace, whilst covering the Principles of Management, Health and Safety Law, Accident Causation and Prevention, Risk Assessment and Control, Monitoring Safety Performance, Human Factors and Communications, Occupational Health Hazards, Machinery Safeguarding, Electrical Safety, Fire Prevention, and Manual and Mechanical Handling. Other subjects bespoke to company requirements can also be covered. There are many interactive exercises to enhance the learning experience.

Ladder Training up 47%

The number of people trained by the Ladder Association in the safe use of ladders reached an all-time high in 2012, passing 5,000 for the first time. This unprecedented increase of almost 50% on 2011 came during a year when, despite a reduction in deaths and injuries, falls from height remained the most common cause of fatalities in the workplace.

The increase to 5,052 people trained in 2012 marks a 47% increase on 2011’s figure of under 3,500. In training almost 1,000 people during November, the Association also reached its highest ever number trained in one month.

Don Aers, the Ladder Association’s Technical Director, said: “It is great to see that more people and organisations than ever are taking the safety message on-board and understanding that there is a vital need for people who use ladders for their work to be trained and competent. 

“There are a number of reasons for such an impressive increase, but first and foremost it is evidence of the increasing recognition within industries that ladder training is essential. One of our main goals at the Ladder Association is to make sure that industries where ladders are commonly used understand the dangers of work at height and the need for people using ladders to be competent.” 

Throughout the year, the Ladder Association bolstered this recognition through campaigns and media appearances, particularly the Ladder Exchange, a campaign previously run by the Health & Safety Executive which the Association fully took control of in 2012.

Activities relating to the Ladder Exchange included a competition which saw the public posting and voting on pictures of “Idiots on Ladders” through Facebook, and a number of interviews on BBC Radio. It was during the Ladder Exchange’s final month, November 2012, that the Association reached its record monthly total of almost 1,000 people trained.

Don Aers added: “Our campaigns throughout 2012 played a large part in getting the safety message out, and we have plans to do even more in the coming year. By the end of 2013 we are aiming for another equally sharp jump in the number of people who have the training and understanding they need to be safe at work.”

PASMA holds Seminars and AMM at Vertikal Days 2013

For the third straight year, PASMA attended the Vertikal Days lifting and access event at Merseyside’s Haydock Park on July 26-27, 2013. Located in the popular Marketplace marquee, the PASMA area offered presentations for the first time.

PASMA’s Technical Director, Don Aers, spoke on both days of the exhibition about the new PAS 250 specification for low level access platforms. A number of these podium type products were dotted around the Marketplace, with PASMA members Lyte Ladders & Towers and Planet Platforms bringing their own. Euro Towers also returned to support PASMA, constructing a tower behind the seminar area.

Mr Aers also discussed the new guidance for pavement licences. The guidance helps those building towers on a public highway – which can include pavements, footpaths, verges or any place the public has a right to pass – clarifying the licencing process required by the law.

Also speaking on behalf of PASMA was Paul Blanchard, who fell through a fragile roof and now discusses his experiences. His powerful talk on the exhibition’s second day in particular was the most popular in the PASMA seminar programme.

The association’s Annual Members’ Meeting was also held during Vertikal Days. Subjects discussed included the creation of the new Hire Assembly membership category, and PASMA’s recent international moves,