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A mezzanine floor is a good solution to creating extra space in work premises. When designing a mezzanine floor or working with a mezzanine floor installer there are several design decisions that are needed.

First, you need to review what the load on the floor will be. A mezzanine floor for storing heavy equipment will need to carry heavier loads than one used for extra office space. A structural engineer will calculate how much load your floor needs to carry and whether your existing buildi...

When it comes to a health and safety risk assessment, it is important to ensure that fire exits are clearly signed and are fully functional, otherwise this could lead to problems.

A woman in China was killed when she stepped out of a door marked with a fire exit safety sign, but behind the door was a five-story drop which caused her death.

This case is extreme but highlights the need to make sure that fire exits are functional. No British business would be thoughtless enough to label a d...

Every year, millions of workers are injured through back pain and other musculoskeletal ailments caused by manual handling.

One obvious solution is to abolish manual handling, but while automation and lifting equipment can replace a lot of manual handling, it is doubtful whether all manual handling can be avoided. Nevertheless, steps can be taken to lessen risks.

Injuries can be caused by loads that are too heavy. If possible, split large loads into smaller ones. If the load is difficult to ...

A pub owner and the licensee of a Burnley, Lancashire pub were fined after a blaze. The pub’s smoke alarms were not working, and fire safety signs were broken.

Because the fire alarm was not working, a resident who lived in a flat above the pub did not wake up until after the fire had been burning for some time. They had to be rescued by firefighters. Luckily, no one was injured in the incident.

Inspections after the fire highlighted serious health and safety breaches. These included bro...

Office space designers often focus on the look and quality of the office furniture. What they may neglect to do is ask what employees want from their office, as this will impact on their ability and attitude to work.

One of the main goals of office design should be employee satisfaction. These are the people that will be there daily, so taking their thoughts into account is a way to potentially increase productivity in the workplace.

A key to enabling this is cooperation and interaction....

To Grit or Not to Grit?

That is the question on everyone’s lips with the current weather hitting the UK. With the increase of personal damage law suits what really is best?

Local councils across Britain have a legal obligation to clear roads and keep traffic moving, however residents and business owners are often unaware what their obligation is.

Every winter this is the ongoing debate, after a colleague slipped yesterday at a local hotel and when they queried why the path ways had not been ...

Working with large trees usually involves men climbing the trees or using elevated platforms. This involves risks from falling branches and injuries from lifting heavy cutting machinery.

A New Zealand tree company is pioneering technology that uses remote controlled saws and shears attached to long booms. All the tree work is operated from the rear of a truck by an operator using wireless controllers.

Bill Coulter, the CEO of Safe Tree Zones, described the dangers of working on trees next to ...

Fire regulations and fire safety can appear complex, but are essentially straightforward and not difficult to implement.

Every business needs to appoint a staff member responsible for fire safety, and should have a fire risk assessment. If you have five or more employees, the assessment must be written down. You can use a professional fire assessor, though this is not mandatory.

The accessor will identify potential fire risks, and assess the state of the alarms and escape routes used to evacu...

Two recent court cases appearing on the website Lexology.com have acted as a reminder that stacking boxes above head height can be a dangerous practice.

The first case involved a retail store that used trolleys to transport goods from the storeroom to the shop floor where retail assistants had to stock shelves. One assistant was faced with a trolley that had boxes stacked above her height. She asked for assistance, but no one helped her. She then lifted a box off the trolley from above head hei...

Fire safety is of paramount importance for all industries, which is why regular surveys need to be made. A UK company is using Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed reality system to make fire surveys quicker and more accurate.

Technology company Luminous has developed the RIVO system, which starts with a technician digital mapping a building. After this, a technician wears a HoloLens that overlays the real world view of the world with computer graphics. The technician then tags fire-related safety items ...