Hayley Stone's newest comments

Can you confirm when this change is effective from please?

Is it acceptable for your first aid room to double up as a facility for nursing mothers?

Obviously, there comes a point where, even with the best intentions, you simply run out of space, but would it be considered sufficient if these two seperate areas were combined, since the facilities requried are clearly very similar.

I wonder if you could also clear up a question for me. We give our staff 20 days paid leave plus bank holidays. Each "leave day" is 8 hours, which has been the basis for our standard day.

We now have a group of employees who work a different shift pattern. They work a 4 day week, with 2 x 8 hour days and 2 x 12 hour days. Can we effectively make them take 1.5 days leave for a 12 hour shift? This means that whether empployees work 5 x 8 hours or the varied-day shift pattern, they still have the equivalent of 4 weeks off work. It seems fair, but I'm not sure if its in line with the changes due in Oct 07.

Please help, we have to announce holiday changes this week!

It would be nice to see some real facts and figures on the likelihood of a UK pandemic, and also on how the disease has mutated over the last 12 months. Obviously there was huge publicity this time last year, however, the public profile has dropped dramatically and it now seems that whilst the risk is "higher" and "worse" we have little concept of it in this country, nor do we have a real appreciation of the effects across Europe. Information, not propaganda is what we need, before we can judge how best to prepare! Even the specialist web sites are only giving sketchy details at best. Surely we know more now than we did a year ago!

We moved our business to a new facility 18 months ago and have had 2 impromptu inspections since then. In our previous site years had gone by with no HSE inspection. We have found that the inspectors take a proactive and reasonable approach, trying to work with us, but then we are a relativley low risk industry, so it may be different in other areas.

We were lucky enough to build a new facility last year, and whilst we have an open plan office, with all the problems that entails, we made the environment better by enforcing rules which do not allow meals to be taken at desks. Staff are allowed fruit / chocolate / crisps etc. but no meals / hot food at all, and no sandwiches. This enforces the very good practice of staff taking breaks away from their desks, and has been very successful. Of course, it only works because we have the luxury of space for a seperate eating area!

Anon, 20th Dec,

I don't believe you have any option other than to formally approach this person using your disciplinary procedures, especially in light of your "food" environment.

However, as all that has been done so far is to write to him, I doubt you would "sack him" immediately. If you have read the comments posted here, you will be aware that there may be underlying medical conditions also, and to show that you have taken a sensitive approach it may be worth making an appointment for him to see your occupational nurse (if you have one).

(I am surprised you feel confident to say that he "misses every time" but this in itself could have medical causation... I don't know, we girls do things quite differently!)

At the end of the day, in a food environment, hygiene standards are set to protect the public as well as the workforce, and so you effectively have an enhanced duty of care. It is vital that this issue is cleared up.

My suggestion would be that you follow all the good guidelines mentioned above, take him to one side, etc but as he has already been spoken to, ASK him if he is aware the problem persists. Ask whether or not he has sought any medical advice, offer a meeting with the nurse. If he fails to respond, then explain that due to the potential health risks from bacteria etc, and the nature of your working environment, it is essential the problem is cleared up. Give him appropriate notice of a disciplinary hearing, and tackle the issue head on.

Disciplinary procedures can be used to good effect, even in sensitive situations, providing your ultimate aim is to correct the problem, and not to dismiss.

I would imagine your other staff will be finding this particular situation highly unpleasant, and you will need to bear in mind that it is difficult to enforce other hygiene practices, when you have such an obvious and continuing problem.

Good luck, but don't delay, and remember if you do need to resort to disciplinary measures, make sure you are procedurally correct at all times.

I fully support your views John. This case appalled me for its harsh view. It looks like we're all to blame for everything, unless of course you are the individual deliberately putting yourself at risk! This ranks right up there with trespassers as far as I'm concerned, as an example of where the law has the balance slightly wrong!

We use agency staff in our factory environment, since direct recruitment in thsi area has often proved difficult, and using agency staff allows both us and them to assess the situation, and decide if we all want to proceed with permanent work. During their "agency" period, these workers are treated in every way as if they are employees (for example many companies do not offer overtime to agency staff, preferring to offer thsi only to their own workers, we feel that all workers should be treated as part of the same team, since they are expected to perform the same duties). We have usually found this breeds a good relationship, and a settled team environment. However, it appears we are potentially "shooting ourselves in the foot" by doing this. Is their not a risk of being discriminatory against agency workers if they are set apart as suggested in the article?

I agree with Tony that many agency workers ahve had a rough ride with unscrupulous employers, which is one of the reasons we take our current approach.

How far should a reasonable employer go in being flexible about working during school holidays? Should we help wherever possible, or do we open ourselves up to allegations of discrimination if we are able to help one employee, but not another, due to the nature of the work? Do employees without children ever get upset because they are not eligible for flexible working (I imagine many people would like the occasional additional day at home during the fabulous weather we are currently enjoying!) I have an employee who ahs just announced she may have to leave because her daughters school is not running the expected kids club this summer. There is no possibility for her to work from home, so my only option is to consider unpaid leave. Any suggestions anyone??

I agree wholeheartedly that a flexible approach is required and that employers should not measure employees sucess by the amount of time they put in at their desk. In my experience, where this is the case, people can be fairly ineffective throughout the day as they can, and will make up the work during the "high profile" hours after 5pm.

I personally balance family life with a difficult job, and can honestly say that I work very hard to ensure my employer never has any compaints about my adherence to standard hours. We need to make the change from a culture where long hyours are the norm, to one where it is normal to work hard, and effectively all day, then go home and leave it all behind!

Has anyone had any real success in dealing with stress in the workplace? I am concerned about recurring stress levels, and feel worried that employees who have previously suffered carry a "fear" of recurrence which can in fact bring on the symptoms again when the pressure of work increases by only small amounts.

We have a situation like this, and I am anxious that whilst we are taking positive steps to alleviate pressure on all employees, those with a history of stress / depression may not benefit from these advances due to this "internal pressure". Has anyone any success stories to help me ont eh way with this one?

Thanks all of you. I'll take a lot of those comments on board.

Thanks for that. Sounds like it went well. I think I'll stick to simple and similar.

Cheers Fiona, good luck!

Carolyn

Hi Fiona,

Sorry I can't help you here, but I'm interested in the same issue. I'm just about to set up a committee myself, and trying to make the agenda productive, yet interesting enough to attract their attention is not as easy as it sounds. I'd also be grateful for any tips!

Are there any studies which link the number of accidents to the length of time an employee has worked, and the operation of the opt-out.

Our corporate group is beginning to look at the options in terms of drug and alcohol use / abuse. If anyone has any experience of systems / policies which have proved effective I would be interested to hear about them.

Philip, the HSE nave produced a pack called "Real Solutions, Real People" which costs £25 and actually is really good. It provides a good structure for a basis Risk Assessment on stress, and also has tons of case examples which show how other companies have acted.

Provides a guidleine for fairly simple, straightforward approach if, like me, you are in an SME where everyone has to "get their finger out" and tends to take on a bit much as a matter of course.

Good luck with it!

Carolyn

I have had experience with this issue in the past where a colleague walked to work every day, (wearing warm clothing as it was cold when he left the house). He also wore the same shirt ALL WEEK! It could be argued that there would be a certain amount of body odour resulting from his exertion on the morning, however, there is no doubt that the problem was exacerbated by his personal hygiene regime. In this case, the employee was spoken too several times, but it was only when we were out socialising and someone mentioned it to his wife that the problem went away!

On another occasion, a young lady had a similar problem, which, she was totally unaware of. The issue here was simply that to save time on a morning, she showered on an evening. This evidently did not suit her personal "requirements". The girl changed her regime,a dn the problem disappeared.

The point here, is that it IS a difficult issue, and everyone is very different. If your guy seems to be ok, and genuinely unaware, then a quick chat should be all thats needed. Just grit your teeth and go for it...

At some point we must surely ask drivers to take their own safety seriously and drive responsibly! How far away are we from regular retests. A Fork Lift truck license usually lasts a maximum of 5 years, yet you can pass a test to drive a car at 18 and not retake it until you are 70! Some of these drivers we are discussing passed tests 30-40 years ago, when there was little traffic, and even fewer distractions. Surely a review of the whole process would be beneficial. It is not just mobile phones that make drivers dangerous!