Accidents & Risk.

Accident Prevention.
For most of my life accident prevention has been a part of my day to day activities, not something special and unique. Most of the accidents we have are of a minor nature and in most cases we learn from our experiences, but is this enough. A cut or scratch or an amputation could all be the result of working with machinery. A bruise or a fracture or a fatality could be the end result of a collision between moving vehicles, or a moving vehicle and a fixed object.A fall, on the same level, from a ladder or from the top of a building, can result in cuts and bruises, fractures and fatalities. Once the 'accident' or as I prefer to call it 'the unplanned event' has occurred the result is a matter of chance.

Risk Assessment
The term 'accident prevention' is something we all believe we understand and adhere to and yet we see friends and relatives wearing bandages, or plaster casts, or using crutches or even wheel chairs to move around and when you ask what happened, the reply is usually 'I had an accident'. Just to show how little we know of accident prevention almost all hospitals have large signs marked A & E showing the way to the 'Accident & Emergency' department. This is probably the only department in the hospital that is open 24hours a day, 7 days a week and 52 weeks of the year.
So let us put 'accident prevention' to one side, and look at all the things we do, at work, in the home, on the road, on holiday, in sport and in our hobbies, and determine if there is a risk to what we do. The answer to our research will almost certainly be, yes there is a risk.
We then need to assess the risk and from that decide what safeguards are necessary to reduce that risk to an acceptable level.

Risk Management
Having decided on the action required Risk Management in required to ensure that Hazards identified during rhe risk assessment are controlled to the agreed acceptable level. Risk Management is an activity rather than a badge of office.
If the activity is taking place in a block of offices, or in a factory, then there should be instructions on what are usually described as 'safe systems of work'. It is expected that the work to be done will be done in accordance with the safe systems. Employees will be properly trained to operate within the system and the supervisor will, among his many duties, ensure that the 'safe systems of work' is followed, at all times, within his department.

We will move from the corporate activity, to your home and to 'Do It Yourself'. A fall from a ladder at home could, like a fall from a ladder at work, be fatal or crippling, so a 'Risk Assessment Survey' is required and a person needs to be appointed to 'Manage' the job. That person could be you!

The Task to be Assessed
You are considering painting the exterior walls of your two storey detached house. The building was erected in 1928 and a previous owner had the front and side elevations of the building stuccoed and painted white. It is possible that it has been painted several times, the last time was about seven years ago, two years before you purchased it. Stucco is one of many types of plaster or cement used for coating or decorating the outside walls of a building, and when the plaster has dried it is often painted, the most popular colours seem to be white or cream.

The Preliminary Inspection.
This may be a general observation from ground level. The white paintwork looks grubby, and seems to be stained where rain has run off the window sills. The building appears to be of single glazed sash windows in painted wooden frames, a closer inspection of the window frames, and the doors and door frames can be made from inside the building.
From the ground the chimney stack appears to be well pointed and the slate roof in good condition. The guttering along the roof edge and the downpipes leading from it certainly require painting. If the guttering and pipes are original equipment, they are probably cast iron and over eighty years of exposure to the elements could indicate that corrosion is unseating the paintwork.
If there are any cracks in the stucco, or pieces are missing, regardless of size, it is possible that over the years rain, snow, ice and sunshine have broken the seal between the bricks and the stucco, and areas need to be cleared and replastered. A thorough inspection by a competent person, a Building Inspector, is required.


Summary
This preliminary inspection should have indicated the timescale of a thorough inspection, the means of access, the tools and equipment required and any need for professional expertise. I believe that the house, which is also the 'family' home, and which is the biggest financial undertaking most of us ever take, is not just a 'DIY' project, it's part of our life. Engage a Building Surveyor to do the thorough inspection, and from his report decide the timescale and the expertise required to do a satisfactory job, Obtain quotes and from the data collected decide what part of the project becomes your 'DIY' contribution.

Later.
I will  be coming back to risk assessment later, but I would like to close this section by asking you to consider two possible activities and the risks that might occur:-

1. You and the family are going to the local supermarket for the weekly shopping. You go by car, so you are using a main road. You park in the supermarket car park, along with many other shoppers. You collect your trolly and go into the store. You go up and down the gangways between the racks, putting the things you need into the trolly. You go to the cash desk, then  you take the shopping out to your car, pack it into the boot, return the trolly to its parking place and drive home. What hazards and risks have you been exposed to.

2. You have friends from abroad staying with you for a few days, they have expressed a wish to visit Stratford upon Avon and Warwick Castle. You have to decide if you can do both venues in one day. Visit each on seperate days, or book into a hotel in Stratford for the night of day one and if tickets are avilable take them to the theatre. On day two you can spend the whole day at Warwick Castle.

What hazards and risks do you believe you will be exposed to.