Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

20.3.2 Specimen practical application
The specimen practical assessment took place in a small 
joinery (woodworking) facility which is situated in a self-
contained building. The facility is used to train 20 car-
pentry and joinery trainees and produce window frames 
for use on various building projects. The average age of 
the trainees is 24 although a minority of them are under 
18 years. There are 5 employees – 2 supervisors, 2 tech-
nicians and an administrator who administers the training 
scheme and liaises with the building projects.
Within the building are two workshops – a bench and 
a machine workshop, an administration offi ce, welfare 
facilities, a rest room, two lecture rooms and a store room. 
The assessment is concerned only with the workshops, 
the administration offi ce and the welfare facilities.
The following management report was submitted to 
the Chief Executive of S & J Joinery Training Workshops.

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Introduction to Health and Safety at Work
434
The management report
1.
Introduction
This report follows a health and safety inspection of the workshops, the administration offi ce and welfare facilities at 
S & J Joinery Training Workshops.
The inspection took place on 7 June 2007. The report’s aim is to highlight good practice and areas of concern 
requiring urgent action. The observations are listed in Appendix 1 attached to this report.
2.
Summary
There have been no serious accidents since records began some fi ve years ago. This good record appears to have 
led to a relaxation in the monitoring of standards. Several inexpensive improvements in the health and safety man-
agement systems are recommended.
There are some serious concerns involving fi re precautions, the machine shop, manual handling and electrical 
equipment leading to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA), the Management of Health and Safety 
at Work Regulations (MHSWR), the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (Fire Regs.), the Provision and Use of 
Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER), the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations (PPE Regs.), the 
Electricity at Work Regulations and the Workplace Regulations. Any of these breaches could attract enforcement 
action from the HSE.
All risk assessments must be reviewed as a matter of urgency.
A more detailed description of the topics requiring immediate attention is given below with reference to the obser-
vation sheets given in brackets.