Ignore regulations at your own peril!

It will be all over bar the shouting by the time you read this. Well, I can imagine, the shouting will be going on for a lot longer but whatever the result of the Referendum, business carries on whether we are in or out, signed up to EU legislation or on our own.

In looking back over the changes in the past few years that have—seemingly subtly—become standard business practice, I think about where it is all going to lead and what working practices sign companies will have to adopt if they are to continue trading and comply with what inevitably will be the norm.

One thing I am certain of is that whether we are in or out of the EU, the move to raise standards with legislation and regulations will not falter or ever come to an end simply on the premise that these are all designed to make the product, service, and working environment a better and profitable place.

‘elf and safety’!
 
As mentioned elsewhere in previous communiqués, it can seem that this is over-burdensome particularly when you look at some of the examples of health and safety being the cause for some really ridiculous decision-making. HSE has a page on its website being updated regularly as clockwork, as it debunks some of the stupidity and lengths people will go to in order to get out of their responsibilities. It makes fine reading and should, after you have stopped laughing, make you start to consider if actually engaging with health and safety in the work environment is not essentially a bad thing.


Most of you already have engaged, but I fear there are still one or two who just ignore it all, as it is cheaper to forgo responsibilities. But try telling that to the sign company that, earlier this year, got fined just over £20,000. A fitter fell 5m off a flat roof and, our best wishes go out to the man for a speedy and full recovery, but there is a sting in the tail of this story, and harkens on not what is to come but what the reality is now.
 
The story is fully reported on the BSGA website, but the bit I want to hone in on here is that under the new sentencing guidelines for health and safety, and other offences which came into force on February 1st, the judge determined that the offence category in this case was ‘high’ and the risk of harm was ‘harm category 1’ (level A seriousness of harm risked, high likelihood of harm). The sign company held responsible was considered a micro company, providing a starting point for the fine of £160,000 (ranging from £100,000 to £250,000). The judge reduced the fine to £50,000 when considering proportionality and further reduced it to £30,000. The early guilty plea took the final fine to £20,000. This, ladies and gentlemen, is now and it is not the 'Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come’.

The message is clear; namely it is everyone’s responsibility to engage in a safer work environment. And if you ever for one moment feel that something must be attended to before carrying out any task, it is your duty to report it just as much as it is the employer’s duty to reduce the risk. And if anyone complains about the couple of hundred quid it costs to send you on a course or hire some decent equipment to do the job safely, point them in the above direction and ask if they prefer the risk of a £20,000-plus fine. If the employer prefers the risk you have to ask where exactly the employee ranks in the scheme of things.

Education, education, education

Construction Site Certificate Scheme (CSCS) cards are now widely recognised and accepted as the norm and to obtain one, the holder must have an NVQ Level 2 pass in the subject relative to the CSCS card’s licence. There can be no argument for allowing only competent and qualified people onto a construction site to do the job they are contracted to do. Period. Yes, it came as a shock at first to people with ten or more years’ experience fitting signs to be told they are not qualified and would have to go through the process if they want to obtain one of these cards. But as time passes, and importantly, as the skill levels rise just as much as the incidents of injury or fatalities on site fall, this has all become the norm and companies work with it as much as they work with HMRC and tax returns.


The changes to come, however, will be in the funding of the necessary qualifications. The current direction is apprentices, who will get the major share of funding. There will also be a new framework designed by sign industry employers to make sure that the qualification is not just fit for purpose, but actually encompasses what sign industry employers want their employees to be trained on.

This all comes into effect in the education year 2017/18 and is being worked on as I write. There will be nothing to stop you taking on and training your own apprentice outside this programme, but at the end of the day, your own in-house unassessed training will not qualify for funding. The additional kick in the ribs is that no one, especially CSCS cards and possible future employers, will recognise the level of training as adequate. Regardless of this, however, is the acceptance that a competent and qualified workforce is the way forward, not a drain on profits.


Finally, the implementation of a Construction Design Manual and the need for a Technical Construction File (CDM Regs and TCF for short). Again, as with the new sentencing guidelines, CDM regs are already in place and whilst it is affecting, in the main, those sign companies involved in major capital projects or corporate roll-outs, it will trickle down to the smaller businesses.

The thing is, if you stop for a moment and consider the implications, why would you not want to cover your backside with documentary evidence that everything you have done to design, supply, and fit a sign meets regulations and standards? Once you set up your paperwork and standard operating procedures within the business to cater for all of this, everything falls into place and it becomes part of the process of being a sign-maker. And warnings given by me at Business Workshop presentations for the last three years at Sign and Digital UK have finally come home to roost.
 
I am not exactly proud of ‘I told you so’, but the other day, I discussed an ongoing case whereby a facia panel was torn away from the sign structure in high winds. Nothing unusual in that you may say, but the lawyers are not just trying to sue the sign company for using inadequate fixings. They are also claiming that, because the sign company did not tell the customer that the sign had to be maintained and inspected—along with exactly how to do this maintenance and inspection—the sign company is even more culpable. The falling facia panel did not hit anyone or damage any property, but the next unexpected tactic of ‘it could have and therefore compensation should be greater’ is extremely concerning, and it will be more than interesting to see if this claim gets any further.

I did suggest that the sign company should be able to produce documentary evidence that the sign was designed and constructed to meet standards, and wind speeds, plus evidence that the fixings and installation methods were more than adequate for the same reasons. But then the sign was fabricated and installed four years ago, before the need of CDMs and TCFs gained any traction. We shall see what transpires.

I could go on with BS559, EN50107, REACH Regulations, Insurances, IEE regs, PLG05, RoHS, Sentinel Cards, CE marking of road traffic signs and so on, but you know I will not for now. Do not get too disheartened though, it is believe it or not, all for the good. Trust me, I was a salesman!



Public Notice:

• There is no excuse for providing inadequate training
• It is everyone’s duty to create a safe working environment
• Comply with the Construction Site Certificate Scheme
• Document sign construction and installation properly

The British Sign and Graphics Association (BSGA) history dates back more than 70 years when a group of leading sign-makers formed the Master Sign Makers Association (MSMA) with the aim of promoting the sign industry and defending its interests.
 
For more information on the issues discussed in this article visit www.bsga.co.uk or tel: 0845 338 3016

 


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