“Soni Sheimar has worked for Easi-Dec Systems for over four years now, so I wanted to hear what his thoughts are on some of the challenges he faces, being in the heart of a manufacturing and supply company specialising in height platforms, fragile roof walkways and ladder safety equipment.
“I was saddened to hear, but not entirely surprised, that Soni is often faced with people still not adhering to health and safety regulations – referring mainly to people who work with low level properties and lone workers. He gave the example of where ladders are being used in situations where, in order to be 100% fully compliant, a platform should be in place. Soni feels that the legislations are aimed at larger companies, as opposed to self-employed people and smaller companies and sees, more often than not, accidents waiting to happen.”
“With so much legislation in place, I asked Soni what should be done. He felt that with more press coverage and pressure from the HSE, we may see a shift. A programme has been developed by the HSE‘s Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC), called Working Well Together (WWT), which has proven to be really successful in educating and working with the industry – companies of all sizes are encouraged to learn best practise and regularly host road show events.
“This was fantastic to hear and Soni thinks it is the way forward for the industry to completely eliminate fatalities and injuries. Soni would love to see the industry doing more of this and more people engaging with the programme. He suggested the possibility of incentivising or further encouraging a community for smaller companies and lone workers who are sometimes used to doing what they have always done. This mind-set needs to be changed – which is a big challenge!
“Larger companies incur fines and negative press coverage when health and safety laws aren’t adhered, to which can be detrimental to the business. Smaller companies, such as a man in a van, are very difficult to monitor or police. Soni feels that more education, more classes and more WWT programmes are required to try and enforce change before an accident happens as opposed to afterwards, when it’s too late.”
Easi-Dec Access Systems will be exhibiting at Safety & Health Expo 2018, from 19-20 June, and can be found on Stand M370.
