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Safe Card system saves Lincolnshire employees |
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At least one or two employees have been saved from a serious accident in the past year – because of a health and safety scheme introduced by Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue. That is the claim of health and safety staff in the service who say that statistically, at least one major injury has been avoided by acting on the 296 safety suggestions sent in by employees in the past year through its Safe Card scheme. This is a simple reporting system which encourages employees throughout the service to highlight any health and safety concerns they have. Paul Barkway, Health and Safety Advisor, said: “Most organisations struggle to get half a dozen near misses reported in a year – that’s six opportunities to put things right before somebody gets hurt. But thanks to the Safe Card system, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue staff came up with 296 suggestions last year. Statistics show that in taking action in those 300 near misses, we prevented at least one and arguably two major injuries in our workforce.” He added: “The pain and cost of a major injury has an impact on not only the person involved but also the families and friends of that person. It also has a cost to the service that we are able to provide to the general public.
“By taking the time to fill in a Safe Card, employees have saved a lot of heartbreak and I want to thank them for that and urge them to continue highlighting near misses so we can continue to act on them.” The other major changes as a result of the Safe Cards have been the portable scene lighting on all fire engines, temporary contracting of personnel to improve the crewing of fire engines, the new Holmatro road traffic collision (RTC) hydraulic intervention gear, the sun hats and trials of Wildland RTC kit and the breathing apparatus board stand, which is to be provided shortly.
The Safe Card system was introduced to improve safety awareness and encourage a culture of safety in Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue. The cards are available for use by both uniformed and support staff and can be filled in anonymously if required. They are available on the service intranet system.
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