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Xpert Guidance

30/08/2011 17:26:58

Article appeared in Professional Builder, Jul/Aug 2011

Health and safety is always in the spotlight across the UK building sites and HBXL is helping you stay the right side of the law.
Lessons learnt on building sites all over the country are being incorporated into specialist software developed to ensure builders don’t fall foul of ever increasing health and safety regulation.
HBXL is currently updating the fourth edition of its successful Health & Safety Xpert program in consultation with leading safety expert David Price.

Health conscious

The importance of up-to-date health and safety procedures was highlighted earlier this year by the prosecution of a Gloucestershire company following the death of a young geologist while working on a site in the county.
Alex Wright, 27, from Cheltenham, was killed in September 2008 when a trench collapsed at a development site he was working on in Brimscombe, near Stroud.
As a result of the case brought by the Crown Prosecution Service, Cotswold Geotechnic Holdings became the first company to be convicted of the new offence of corporate manslaughter. The company was fines a total of £385,000 in February this year.
David Price said the case illustrated the importance of builders, large and small, maintaining and observing comprehensive health and safety procedures – and the consequences of failing to comply with the regulations.
He said: “As well as being a tragedy for the young man’s family, this incident has enormous implications for building companies across the country.
“There are specific health and safety requirements regarding working around excavations or trenches. During the court case it became apparent the company’s health and safety procedures were seriously out of date.
“The latest software from HBXL ensures building firms are kept up to speed on ever changing legislation. It is yet another example of why the Heal and Safety Executive stresses the importance of considering low probability-high consequence risk.”
HBXL’s health and safety software boasts a built-in knowledge base which determines the likely tasks and risks involved on site and generates all the necessary paperwork for any job.
David Price said: “The construction industry is under close scrutiny due to the nature of the work involved and investing in software could assist builders with identifying potential safety risks on a job. It will provide the necessary paperwork to perform those checks and become compliant.
He went on: “This tragic incident demonstrates that as well as ending in disaster, non compliance with the law can also mean massive fines. It could also mean site shut downs, or even prison sentences.”
The developer of the software maintains that it cuts down dramatically the time it normally takes to produce health and safety paperwork by hand and can also help small businesses produce CHAS (The Contractors Health & Safety Assessment Scheme) compatible documents.

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