Health & safety bulletin
Near Miss Follow-Up Action
5th June 2008
On 1st May 2008, two of our employees, Geoff Upton and Scott Wilson were working on an Esso site (Moleside Filling Station).
Whilst walking across the site, Geoff was almost struck by a fast moving car that had entered the site (the wrong way), through the site egress. I am pleased to report that rather than ignore the issue, our team discussed it with the site manager, who reported that this often happened. Geoff and Scott took the time to report the issue to the office, who then carried out an investigation, with a recommendation to ABB and Esso that traffic calming measures should be implemented on the site concerned.
Immediately, upon receipt, ABB and Esso independently asked me to thank our team for taking the time to report the issue. Clearly, the obligation to provide safe access and egress to and from site as specified in The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 was recognised, and by the 22nd May a Civils contractor had been sent to site, a quote had been obtained to install a speed ramp at the site egress and approval given for the work to be done. This action (for a relatively small cost) may very well save someone being seriously hurt and protect our customer from potential prosecution.
This is a great example of our employees' actions being welcomed by a very responsible and proactive customer and action being taken to ensure that nobody is hurt.
Please continue to report near misses; they are taken seriously by our more proactive customers and your actions can make a difference.