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Posts Tagged ‘health<’
Posted in General Building on Jul 30
Here at Mr-Skill, we really take the subject of safety very seriously. Our message goes out to all employers and workers and of course the home handyman, DIY-type too. We firmly believe that by observing some basic down-to-earth safety rules, you can tackle any job without the risk and threat of personal harm. Any injury is one too many, and don’t forget that you can find a general builder right now on Mr-Skill’s website. 
Illustrating the Point
One of our London General Builders found the following interesting report back on the HSE website. HSE stands for the Health and Safety Executive, and is the independent national watchdog for work-related health, safety and illness. They are an independent regulator, and act in the public interest to reduce work-related death and serious injury across Great Britain’s workplaces.
“A Birmingham metal recycling company has been prosecuted after a worker trapped and broke his arm in an unguarded conveyor belt.”
“Two firms have been prosecuted after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was struck by a pipe and fell from a stepladder.”
“A Nottinghamshire die-casting firm has been fined after an employee suffered severe burns when he fell into a furnace.”
“A tour operator and a ship management firm have been fined after workers were exposed to asbestos fibres during refurbishment work on board a cruise ship.”
“A Derbyshire recycling firm has been fined after an employee was crushed in a machine at their depot at Griffon Road, Ilkeston.”
“Two workers were fortunate to escape with only minor injuries when they fell from a school roof in Didsbury, a court has heard.”
“A Bolton fabric manufacturer has been sentenced after one of its employees lost a finger when his hand became trapped by a rotating cog.”
Mr-Skill acknowledges with thanks, the above contribution from the HSE.
A Clear Message
We again remind all readers that before undertaking any job around your home or business, you should always think about safety issues first. If you intend appointing a contractor to do the work for you, make absolutely certain that they are safety conscious and fully compliant with Health and Safety issues at all times.
Mr-Skill has many members ready to provide a general building quote right now. If you are doing the work yourself, don’t cut corners and take chances. Accidents are all too common-place, and can be avoided simply by observing basic safety rules at all times.
Tags: accident, burns, care, compliant, contractor, DIY, find a general builder, general building quote quote, harm, health, Health & Safety Executive, illness, injury, job, London general builder, safety, safety conscious, safety rules, work, workplace deaths
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Posted in Handyman Services on Jun 13
A handyman is a great ally in an emergency. This is because they are often available at immediate notice and should charge less that a qualified person.  By all means Find a Handyman and use them for replacing taps and changing fuses. Never use them for highly skilled work where a licensed person is required though, because this might lead to trouble in several ways.
o You are breaking the law if you allow a non-registered technician to alter the electrical layout in your home or lay a new drain. There are practical reasons for this, including compatibility with council services. Stick to the rules and stay out of trouble.
o You could be compromising your health and safety and that is a foolish thing to do to save a few pounds. A badly sloping drain can cause germs to accumulate that cause sickness. What’s worse reversed polarity on a switch could kill. Play it safe. Remain legal.
o  An illegal piece of work that triggers an insurable event can lead to a refusal by the insurer to compensate, and this is happening daily. Imagine how you would feel if your house burned down because of an illegal connection and they refused to pay. Penny wise, pound foolish is the motto of many Handymen in London. Better you believe this.
It is far wiser to determine whether you need a skilled and registered tradesperson to do a job of work first, before considering a Handyman Quote. Besides, at Mr-Skill our tradespeople often come in at a third below prevailing prices, which may well make up the difference.
Tags: burn, council, drain, electric, emergency, find a handyman, fuse, germ, handyman, handyman london, handyman quote, health, illegal, insurance, insure, kill, law, license, polarity, qualified, reason, refuse, register, rule, safety, service, sickness, skilled, tap, technician, trouble, wire
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Posted in Kitchen Fitting on Apr 06
There is a great deal going around these days about what constitutes a perfect kitchen. Is it a work-study practitioners  dream with everything placed perfectly? Is it a fashion statement? Is it the expressions of the cook’s personality? Perhaps a kitchen is the place where the family gathers to share special times. The ideal kitchen could be all these things and far, far more. Remember this, when asking for a Kitchen Fitting Quote.
- A perfect kitchen is a place where a cat can soak up the sun on a windowsill. Somewhere to grow a pot of herbs, somewhere to read a good book.
- A perfect kitchen is also a place for a child to come home to after school, where they will find a welcoming note from mother and a tasty meal prepared.
 A perfect kitchen has enough room for the whole family to gather after work to discuss the day and plan the evening. It should be a welcoming place, full of laughter, the hub of home.
- A perfect kitchen should also be the source of healthy wholesome meals. A place where kids can pop by with their friends and receive a genuine welcome too.
- Finally, a kitchen should express the whole heart of the family. It must be full of love, full of the smell of good food a-cooking, welcoming everyone.
After you decide what all that means for you, and have written down everything, Mr-Skill can help you Find a Kitchen Fitter. Remember there are no wrong kitchens, and we do need happy cooks.
Tags: book, cat, child, cook, family, fashion, find a kitchen fitter, food, health, heart, herb, home, kitchen, kitchen fitter london, kitchen fitter quote, kitchen fitting london, kitchen fitting quotes, laugh, meal, perfect, personality, welcome, wholesome
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 As reported in many trade journals, the Health and Safety Executive and the Building Control Alliance have signed an agreement to work more closely to improve health and safety standards on construction sites. The arrangement means that the HSE and building control professionals will co-operate to help and support each other by providing health and safety advice to on-site builders in London.
Philip White, HSE’s chief inspector of construction, was quoted as saying “Today’s agreement does not change a duty holder’s responsibility to protect workers health and safety, but has created another opportunity to get potentially life-saving advice to those responsible for health and safety standards on construction sites.” Meanwhile Diane Marshall, group head of building control at NHBC, was equally as gushing -“Building Control professionals are ideally placed to raise awareness of health and safety issues on construction sites during the course of their inspections. This agreement creates a mechanism for Building Control professionals to discharge their professional duty of care in a simple and straightforward manner by working closely with our HSE colleagues.”
However, builders in London, although keen to make any health and safety improvements in their industry were not so enthusiastic about the proposals. Commenting in the online builder.co.uk magazine, Colin McNeil wrote –
“Great, another feather in the cap for the great and good who govern Building Control, when was the last time that any of these people went on site? So as a Building Control Surveyor you are supposed to have good technical knowledge of Structures and structural stability, have a intimate knowledge of fire safety and means of escape, thermal performance and CO2 emissions and access into and around buildings for people with disabilities, a comprehensive knowledge of damp protection and prevention of water ingress, methods of preventing sound transfer, drainage systems and knowledge of staircases and guardings. Together with a good knowledge of boiler systems and building services generally, Then there are the requirements to check planning conditions etc all this for the generous salary of about £30000 to £35000 a year. (sic)”
It does seem to be that building control surveyors already have enough on their plates, and with three new sets of building regulations coming into force this week will find it difficult to integrate health and safety regulations into their already overloaded schedules. Maybe Mr White and Ms Marshall should get their patent leather shoes out of their ivory towers and have a look at what actually goes on at ground level.
Tags: builder, Building Control, building regulations, CO2 emissions, Construction, Construction Safety, damp proofing, drainage system, Find a Builder in London, General Builders, health, Health & Safety Executive, safety standards, thermal performance
Posted in General Building, Handyman Services | Comments Off
 Hackney Council have been active in alerting their council housing tenants to the dangers of CO (Carbon Monoxide) and have supplied and fitted carbon monoxide alarms to safeguard their tenants from the silent killer. They have also followed up at each home fitted with the alarm with regular inspections and servicing, however when they had a high amount of alarms being triggered, the inspection team wanted to know if they had a faulty batch of CO detectors or something more sinister was going on in people’s homes.
It transpired to be a more common cause than anticipated. Certain forms of cooking were in fact triggering the alarms to go off as Carbon monoxide is produced when fossil fuels are burnt – i.e. charcoal, gas or oil – in an area without the correct amount of ventilation. This can cause a build up of carbon monoxide, which in turn can result in feelings of illness and even death. The council carried out an investigation and they found that the problems was caused by cooking oil in pans in badly ventilated kitchen areas starving the area of oxygen in turn creating a dangerous level of CO.
The CIPHE (The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering) and Carbon Monoxide Awareness Ltd recommend that areas are well ventilated and suggest not using aluminium foil inside trays under grill pans, as this stops the air flow in the cooking, despite it being a popular method of keeping drip trays clean.
If you have concerns about inadequate ventilation in your home, or would like a carbon monoxide detector installed in your kitchen, please speak with one of the local handymen in London featured in our Tradesmen’s Directory and attract competitive quotes from handymen in London with our “Post-a-Job” facility at the top of this page.
Tags: alarm detectors, carbon monoxide, cooking, fossil fuels, health, kitchen, security, ventilation
Posted in General Building, Handyman Services, Kitchen Fitting, Plumbing, Heating & Gas | Comments Off
Posted in General Building on Aug 18
 You could be driving this family around in your saloon as well! A bad smell coming from your car air-conditioning should not be ignored as it could indicate health- endangering mould in the ventilation system, states the German technical testing authority TUeV.
“Modern air conditioning systems have the advantage of cleansing the air coming from the outside into the car but that can only work if the filter system is clean and has not become infected with bacteria,” according to TUeV expert Hans-Ulrich Sander. The odour may be noticed particularly in the summer months when motorists turn the air conditioning on full after starting the car and it is a good idea to occasionally switch the system on at different times of the year to blow air through the vents and prevent condensation from building up.
Mould typically develops in humid conditions caused by condensation that has become trapped in the ventilation system and therefore it is recommended to change the filter and check the hoses for leaks at least once a year. According to the TUeV, the optimum temperature in a car should be at least two to three degrees Celsius below the outside temperature – a compromise between the feel-good factor and sensible economics.
In much the same way as a domestic air-conditioning system will not work efficiently when the filters and hoses are blocked with dirt, the air-conditioning system in your car will use less fuel when free of mould and muck – it will smell nicer too!
There are certain measures you can take to get rid of bad odours in your air-conditioning system and prevent the development of health-threatening bacteria and mould. Most motoring shops sell treatments that are sprayed into the ventilation system and pollen filters which cost little more than a tenner.
If you are unsure about how to clean your car ventilation system or change a pollen filter, ask a local handyman in London to help you out. It should not take much more than an hour and he will be able to deal with removing bad smells and harmful bacteria from your car for the sake of your comfort and health.
“Image courtesy of the Lewis Lab at Northeastern University. Image created by Anthony D’Onofrio, William H. Fowle, Eric J. Stewart and Kim Lewis.”
Tags: air conditioning, bacteria, car, climate control, condensation, find a handyman in London, health, temperature, ventilation
Posted in General Building | Comments Off
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