Archive for month

In 1993 I started working in a Night-club in North Wales, the premises had ‘issues’ with the Police and Licensing Authority that needed fixing. I was able to bring a couple of totally off the wall solutions that not only fixed the problem but over the following years turned the venue into a massive success – weekly hours worked around 50-70 hours per week!

2001 I moved and bought a share in a large Liverpool based venue, this again was doing two things – 1. expanding, 2. having issues with Police and Local Authority (same senior Directors – same issues)! – Average hours now 80-90 to 110 hours per week.!

Again – new solutions and bring the venue from the ‘old’ ways to the ‘new ways’.

2005 – We are suffering a huge hike in Insurance claims, almost one per day, 90% claims are fake (remember the Accident Group), our excess is now £5,000.00 per claim and insurance renewal excess of £78,000.00, changes HAD to be made rapidly.

2005 I become a Consultant for a Compliance Management system that covers Health & Safety, Fire risk assessment, Risk assessments, staff training and much more. I introduce a total accident and reporting system, everything that occurs gets reported and investigated. I am now able to start defending these claims.

2006 – After a huge row with our insurers over the settlement of fake claims I had had enough and I change over to NDML Insurance, our agent Mike Dawson, promised faithfully that they had a different approach and defended cases strongly, WHAT A DIFFERENCE THAT MADE!

By this time if we get a claim for slip/trip I can immediately (15 minutes is close enough), I was able to provide from the Cloud around 120 pages of due diligence, staff training, checks, maintenance etc

2007 to 2018 – NOT one claim has been paid out in 11 years after we defended the first two claims then the number of claims received dropped off a cliff, I realised that the Insurance Companies who provided ‘after event’ insurance must have realised we strongly defended and went elsewhere to easier targets

2014 – I took part in the development of ISITCHECKED, our own real-time checklist system, this really closed the loop on potential claims. As an example, if you have a paper list in a toilet people will check the toilet and sign a piece of paper every half hour, 6 hours open 12 checks signed. With ISITCHECKED, you have a QR code outside the toilet, any staff checking the toilets, whether cleaners, security or managers scan and record a check. So 6 hours open around 84 different checks, so only minutes apart, all signed and time-stamped with GPS tag.

One of the unexpected results from ISITCHECKED system is that unlike a paper checklist no-one can see when the toilet or other check has been done, so if a Manager checks the toilets for instance 5 minutes after a cleaner and then a member of security checks 2 minutes later all three have recorded their checks in the past 10 minutes.

So IF you want to be as claim-free as possible, reduce claims against your business, reduce your insurance premiums, stop paying insurance excesses then get in touch!

This also applies if you have had conditions placed on your premises licence by the Police or LA that you need to evidence that you have completed, this system, if used correctly, will give you the protection you need.

Another of our Clients today passed a Fire Inspection with minimum fuss and a message of satisfaction from the Fire Officer.

This inspection follows a fire safety audit which identified a number of points that ‘may’ come up during a full fire inspection, having this completed a week before the actual inspections help our Clients to successfully correct any issues and relieve the stress of an inspection, which could have caused them additional inspections.

The use of our checklist system and Compliance Management system was commended by the Fire Officer

IF you don’t have our Compliance Management System then a ‘Stand-alone’ Fire Risk. Assessment can be prepared on your behalf by us.

HSADD SAYS: How many times have I repeated ‘IF you fake a report, training, checklists, eventually it will send you to Jail’!! For some reason lots of people, Managers and business owners seem to think that the Courts will be fooled by these practices – far from it, the evidence HAS TO BE irrebuttable high-quality defence – or you lose!!

• 2 hours ago

A roofing boss forged the signature of a worker who fell to his death to cover up safety errors, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Mark Francis Bray, 38, of Warrington, was jailed for two years after admitting health and safety laws and perverting the course of justice.

Ken Drake, 54, fell through a fragile roof in Rochdale in September 2015 and died from severe head injuries.

Det Ch Insp Richard Eales said Bray’s “sole thought was to cover his tracks”.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said Mr Drake was working for Roofing Consultants Limited when he was killed and Bray was its contracts manager.

The company should have taken practical steps such as installing netting, said Health and Safety Executive investigators, but Bray insisted it was not needed

Experts who assessed the site advised that if the netting had been installed at an estimated cost of about £1,250, it would have saved Mr Drake’s life.

‘Cutting corners’

Detectives who examined Bray’s computer found he altered a risk assessment document “to contain Ken’s forged signature” in an attempt to justify his actions.

Mr Drake’s wife Ingrid said: “We shared so many memories and it’s heartbreaking to know we can’t share any more.”

“It’s sad to know he’s missed out on such magical moments in our lives, like watching our daughter get married.”

Det Ch Insp Eales said: “Cutting corners in this way is dangerous and can ultimately rip families apart because it was these actions that had absolutely cataclysmic consequences.”

Roofing Consultants Limited was fined £100,000 with £30,000 costs after admitting breaching health and safety legislation.

Another company, High Ridge Roofing Solutions Limited, was fined £12,000 with £33,000 costs after its conviction for breaching design regulations.

Story credit from – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-51109926?at_custom1=link&at_medium=custom7&at_custom2=twitter&at_custom3=Regional+BBC+North+West&at_custom4=4B4F8B32-3702-11EA-A263-F9E6FCA12A29&at_campaign=64

Carbon saving will be the next ‘TAX’

It is without now really apparent that with few other things to tax and the raising of global warming issues throughout the world that Governments will be looking to raise revenue from businesses and individuals

UK Government is already ramping up the pressure on diesel car owners making it more and more difficult for owners to their vehicles through the MOT test, this effectively causes the owner to sell the car at pennies and buy a new one.

All ‘New’ petrol or hybrid vehicles have road tax applied unless it is fully electric, then the road tax is free – at the moment! Sooner or later when everyone has slipped into fully electric cars then they will need to recover the lost taxes, ‘Carbon Tax’ will then really start cutting in.

First will be Businesses, starting at the bigger ones first, on top of your tax returns you will be asked to show your ‘Carbon’ footprint, then a value will be attached to those using X carbon per year. To counter this (like VAT input/output) you will show your carbon savings, all of which will be subject to auditing!

See https://hsadd.co.uk/carbon-savings-from-just-a-few-pages-of-a4-per-day/ as an example of what a simple and easy change can save you.