Chris Ball, Chairman, The Ladder Association, said:
 
“The Ladder Association fully supports this latest initiative promoting the need for timely, regular and proper maintenance in the workplace.
 
“As much of this maintenance is likely to be carried out using ladders and stepladders, it particularly welcomes the opportunity to reinforce the need for ladders to be used safely and competently through training.”
 
Lynn Edwards, Chair, BPF Health & Safety Committee, said:
 
“Even though every business is legally obliged to ensure the health and safety of its employees and persons who come in to contact with their trade, it is easy to forget how intrinsic maintenance operations are to occupational safety and health.
 
“It is evident that the smallest failure can have drastic consequences; I see this campaign as a wake-up call to those businesses that look upon maintenance as a quick fix to getting their product out of the door.
 
“For those companies that realised and have benefited from an integrated management approach then this campaign will help solidify all of the hard work that they have done. We at the British Plastics Federation will continue to support and promote the campaign on Safe Maintenance.”
 
 
For more information, visit the HSE Safe Maintenance website at
www.hse.gov.uk/safemaintenance 
 
Notes to editors:

1.      The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to prevent death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk

2.      The mission of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is to make Europe a safer, healthier and more productive place to work. EU-OSHA was set up by the European Union to help meet the information needs in the field of occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, the EU-OSHA aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues. www.osha.europa.eu 

3.      The Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2010-2011, which is coordinated by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and its partners in the 27 EU Member States and beyond, supports a wide range of activities at the national and European level that promote safe maintenance. It is backed by the EU Presidencies of Spain and Belgium in 2010 and of Hungary and Poland in 2011, by the European Parliament and the European Commission, and by the European Social Partners.

Over the two years of the campaign, many events and activities will be organised within the Member States. One of the principal activities to support the campaign is the European Good Practice Awards that is organised specifically to identify examples of good practice related to safe maintenance.

Other campaign highlights include two European Weeks for Safety and Health at Work, in October 2010 and October 2011. The European Weeks, which have been running since 2000, are annual events that promote improved safety and health in the workplace.

Organisations of all sizes can take part in the campaign.  For instance, they can organise or get involved in safety demonstrations, training events, seminars and workshops. For those pan-European or international organisations that want to be more substantially involved in the campaign and are able to multiply their efforts through their network members, there is also the opportunity to become an official EU Campaign partner. The previous Healthy Workplaces campaign attracted 43 multinationals, EU social partners, NGOs and others and EU-OSHA aims for a considerable increase in this figure for the current Safe Maintenance Campaign.

The Campaign focuses on raising awareness of the risks associated with maintenance activities, promoting good practice and supporting EU and Member State policies, activities and initiatives in this area. The campaign also highlights the importance of maintenance (of plants, equipment, machines and workplaces) to eliminate workplace hazards, and to provide safer and healthier working conditions in workplaces throughout Europe. The ultimate aim, of course, is to help to reduce the number of people who are being hurt or are experiencing ill health as a result of inadequate maintenance or lack of maintenance, now and in the future.

Press enquiries:
Laura Byrne on 0151 951 4205 or laura.byrne@hse.gsi.gov.uk
 
Public enquiries:
HSE’s Infoline 0845 345 0055
Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly, CF83 3GG