Health and Safety
Flo Hendriksz
by Flo Hendriksz

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At CFL we seek to care for the whole person, addressing spiritual, emotional, physical and practical needs. We aim to develop each individual to his or her full potential and in this journey of theirs they are exposed to new situations, new tasks and challenges. It is therefore crucial for all CFL staff to understand the risks and dangers involved in these activities, whether they are physical or emotional.

All staff have regular individual supervision meetings with their line managers and Health and Safety issues relating to the specific project are discussed as a matter of routine. To equip senior managers as ‘Managers of Heath and Safety’, CFL’s external Health and Safety consultant, Ian Routh from IN2 Health and Safety recently led an IOSH Managing Safely training course which was attended by the executive committee, the Senior Managers and Julia Hinchliffe, one of our Trustees.

Ian Routh leads the IOSH Managing Safely training course.
The successful students!
This five day course ran over a three week period in October and it included an exam on day five, which was greeted with moans and groans and high levels of anxiety by all attendees! All of us also had to complete a project which summarised the content of the training course as it involved the Risk Assessment of a work area. We have since heard that no one failed and that each attendee is now the proud holder of an IOSH Managing Safely Certificate, which is a nationally recognised qualification.

This training laid the foundation for senior managers to assess the risks associated with the activities on their project, which in return helps to identify training requirements for staff and those in our care. Overall the course has raised the profile of Health and Safety at Crag House Farm and at Tindall House and Wendy Margaret Home, as the idea is to involve everyone in identifying hazards, reporting it to the appropriate people and having a mind set of safety first when working on the projects.

Ian Routh and myself are continuing to monitor the Safety and Health Improvement Plan that was documented after his audit of CFL Health and Safety management in April 2006. This enables us to keep track of work completed as well as work outstanding. The plan has timescales set against all the tasks and we report to the executive committee and the Trustees on a quarterly basis.

This task will never end! Health and Safety at Caring For Life is a continuous process, striving to provide an environment that is physically and emotionally safe for those whom Jesus has entrusted to our care.

Flo Hendriksz