Inside this issue...

-    When business and pleasure don’t mix!
-    4 instances when you must provide separate dining rooms
-    Keep an eye out for your next Health and Safety update
-    Have you visited my website?

Dear reader,

The story of Ozzy Osbourne biting the head off a live bat at a concert has to be one of the most notorious stories in Rock ‘n Roll (and this is quite achievement for a music genre that literally delights in this kind of behaviour). Accounts differ: the lady who apparently threw the animal on to the stage swears that the bat was already dead, while Ozzy himself asserts quite the contrary. He says the bat was very much alive and, before he took a chunk from it, it gave him a pretty good nip, and he needed a rabies’ shot.

Now, he may just be embellishing to up his street cred, but this doesn’t change the fact that this is quite a disgusting story. What’s more, if a Department of Labour official inspected the stage Ozzy was using, they would definitely classify it as a health hazard!

When business and pleasure don’t mix!

A basic principle of good health and safety practices is that you shouldn’t eat where you work. I know I’m sometimes guilty of having a quick munch on a sandwich at my desk, but this isn’t actually a good habit. And, if you’re working in a manufacturing or industrial environment, you really shouldn’t be eating at your work station.

If your business involves one of the following 4 activities, you MUST provide separate dining facilities for your employees…

4 instances when you must provide separate dining rooms

When there’s:

1.    Exposure to hazardous chemical substances and hazardous biological agents;
2.    Physical contact, where skin contact with any known poisonous substance is likely;
3.    Exposure of employees to dirt and harmful substances; and
4.    Handling untanned hides, skins, unwashed mohair or wool.
 
Remember: your dining area can’t be the old, disused storeroom

I know it’s tempting to try and make the most out of available space, but the old basement-like room you used to store excess stock isn’t the ideal place for your dining room. You must ensure the dining room is well ventilated!

In the name of safety,

Christel Fouché
Editor-In-Chief: Health and Safety Advisor

PS: Have you visited my website?

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