Get Protected - December 2008

The free newsletter of Tameside MBC Environmental Health and Consumer Services

Providing help and advice for consumers and businesses of Tameside

Download a copy of Get Protected - December 2008 357.92 KB

• Save energy...Save money...Do your bit for the Environment
• Workplace Health Improvement Project
• Counterfeit Christmas
• Sensible Risk – Dispelling the Myths
• Christmas and New Year Recycling
• Scam Snail Mail
• Staying safe when using Taxis at Christmas
• Do you have a Suggestion, Complaint or Compliment?

Save energy...Save money...Do your bit for the Environment...

Wasting energy can cost organisations £100’s or even £1000’s every year, and with the rising costs of utility bills this amount in set to increase. The good news is that the amount of energy that organisations use is one of their largest controllable costs, and being energy efficient is proven to lead to profitability.

Some simple steps that you can take to start saving energy in your workplace -

Make a note of the energy that you are using while your building is empty. To do this take a meter reading at the start of the day and at the end of the day – the difference is the amount of energy you are using while the building is empty…can this be accounted for?

Encourage staff to turn off lights if there is enough natural daylight to work without them on.

To cut down on wasted energy, avoid leaving equipment on standby where possible.

Check that the thermostat settings are correct for your work space. If employees are opening windows when the heating is on, this suggests that the heating is not set to the correct temperature or that it could even be turned off.

Try to encourage staff to switch off their monitors and lights when they are away from their desks during the day. If staff are going to a meeting for longer than 30 minutes, they should be encouraged to completely shut down their computer.

Every year thousands of pounds are wasted in the workplace through careless water usage. Ensure that taps are switched off when not in use and report water leaks.

Workplace Health Improvement Project

Are you interested in improving your health, the health of your staff and the health of your business?

The Workplace Health Improvement Project is for workers throughout Tameside. The project will work with local businesses to inform employers and staff about local services that they can access to improve their health and help implement strategies to encourage a healthy workforce. These services include Connect 4 Life, Weight Matters, Stop smoking services and Exercise classes.

There is strong evidence to support that healthy workplaces benefit organisations and result in:

• Improved productivity
• Reduced absenteeism
• Lower costs to recruitment
• Improved staff morale

If you would like to improve the health of your workforce and the health of your business then contact Caroline Shockledge, Workplace Health Improvement Officer to find out more on 0161 342 3472 or send a message to Caroline Shockledge.

Counterfeit Christmas

The considerable pressure on everyone, parents in particular, at Christmas time, to spend large amounts of money on the latest consumer products is immense. With the current economic climate limiting the amount of money available for most people to spend on such presents, there is a great temptation to seek out a good bargain.

As well as the old sources of car boot sales and market grounds recently many of these “bargains” can be found on websites, often claiming to be offering genuine high quality “trade marked” goods at discount prices. Invariably on receipt of the goods the promise isn’t quite as good as the reality. Even those goods that are excellent copies are usually comprised of inferior materials and are not very durable.

Examples are electrical goods that often fail to work after a short time and whose electrical safety has never been checked or clothing that either runs, shrinks or goes baggy after the first wash, even alcoholic drinks which are laced with methanol causing blindness.

When you attempt to contact the seller you will find your e-mails go unanswered and you’re left holding a set of worthless counterfeit goods with a guarantee not worth the paper it’s written on. Please remember most quality “trade marks” only allow their goods to be sold from established retail outlets. Beware buying goods on auction websites from overseas as empty promises of genuine goods are hard to reconcile when they have your money half way around the world.

Often even your personal details aren’t safe and several websites have used previous customers names and addresses to set up new websites as fast as Trading
Standards and other enforcement agencies can close them down. That’s not to say you can’t find a bargain here and there, just don’t be fooled easily and often if the price is too good to be true, then it usually is.

Have a safe, happy, fake free Christmas.

Sensible Risk – Dispelling the Myths

Local Authorities, HSE and others are too often criticised for making "nannying" health and safety decisions that stop people living their lives. This is not the case, and Local Authorities are committed to 'sensible risk management' and believe that risk management should be about practical steps to protect people from real harm and suffering - not bureaucratic back covering.

If you believe some of the stories you hear, health and safety is all about stopping any activity that might possibly lead to harm. This is not our vision of sensible health and safety - we want to save lives, not stop them. Our approach is to seek a balance between the unachievable aim of absolute safety and the kind of poor management of risk that damages lives and the economy.

Our aim is to promote the 10 Principles of Sensible Risk Management:

Sensible risk management is about:

• Ensuring that workers and the public are properly protected
  
• Providing overall benefit to society by balancing benefits and risks, with a focus on reducing real risks – both those which arise more often and those with serious consequences

• Enabling innovation and learning not stifling them
  
• Ensuring that those who create risks manage them responsibly and understand that failure to manage real risks responsibly is likely to lead to robust action
  
• Enabling individuals to understand that as well as the right to protection, they also have to exercise responsibility
  

Sensible risk management is not about:

• Creating a totally risk free society
  
• Generating useless paperwork mountains
  
• Scaring people by exaggerating or publicising trivial risks
  
• Stopping important recreational and learning activities for individuals where the risks are managed
  
• Reducing protection of people from risks that cause real harm and suffering
  

How can you help?

You can help promote a sensible approach to health and safety by:

• Letting others know about the principles of sensible risk management and 'Myth of the Month' (see HSE website)
  
• Demonstrating your support for the principles by putting them into action, in the way you manage health and safety risks.
  
• Don't be fooled by myths. If in doubt – check!
  

Have a look at the HSE website at www.hse.gov.uk  , or contact the HSE Infoline (tel: 0845 345 0055, or email: hse.infoline@natbrit.com) for advice, information and support.

Christmas and New Year Recycling

Reduce

• Stop any junk mail by signing up to the mailing preference service. To register contact www.mpsonline.org.uk 
  

Reuse

• Use pinking shears to cut old Christmas cards and make tags for presents next year.
• If your Christmas trees has roots plant in the garden in spring
  

Recycle

• Use your blue bins for recycling any paper, or cards that you dispose of (you can only dispose of wrapping paper and cards that do not contain glitter or foil).
  
• A lot more glass, cans and plastic are used over the Christmas and the New Year period, why not use the green bin provided to you by the council to dispose of all these for recycling.
  
• Don't have a blue or green bin? There are many recycling sites located across Tameside for you to take glass, cans, paper, plastic bottles and film, textiles and shoes. Alternatively take your waste to one of the household waste recycling centres located on either Bayley Street in Stalybridge or Ash Road in Droylsden for recycling.
  
• Remember to compost all those fruit and vegetable peelings. Composters can be purchased by calling 0845 077 0757 or visiting http://www.tameside.gov.uk/corpgen1/composters.htm.
  
• When you have removed all of the decorations and lights from your Christmas tree take it along to Bayley Street where it will be shredded and then used to make compost.
  
• If your area is covered by the brown bin scheme you can put your old real tree out with your bin on collection day and it will be chipped and composted to produce a mulch/soil improver.
  
• If your area is not covered by the brown bin scheme, Christmas trees can be taken to either of the HWRC'S. Willow wood Hospice is also operating a Christmas tree recycling collection this year- all proceeds will go towards hospice.

Support the Woodland Trust by taking old Christmas Cards to a W.H Smith, TK Maxx or Tesco stores during January. The cards will be recycled into paper products and proceeds will go to the trust.

Scam Snail Mail

If a card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911 (premium rate number). Do not call this number, as this is a mail scam originating from Belize.

If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed £15 for the phone call.

If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail Fraud on 0207236655 or ICSTIS (the premium rate service regulator) at www.icstis.org.uk .

Staying safe when using Taxis at Christmas

During the Christmas period many people will be enjoying the festive season by going for a drink, meal or just generally socialising. This time is a very busy period and it may be difficult to get a licensed vehicle when you want it. So Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council are encouraging you to be aware of some simple precautions so that you can travel in safety this Christmas.

Private Hire Vehicles

• Private Hire vehicles are mostly saloon type cars
  
• Display yellow plates on the front and back of the vehicle. Each vehicle has a unique number and it is important to note this should have any concerns about the journey.
  
• Must be booked in advance, either by phone or in the taxi office.
  
• A private hire vehicle cannot ply for hire or be flagged down in the same way that a Hackney Carriage can. If the journey is not pre-booked you are not insured should the vehicle be involved in an accident.

Hackney Carriages

• Hackney Carriages are more commonly known as Black or London style cabs.
  
• Display white plates on the front and back of the vehicle and again each vehicle has a unique number so it can be identified.
  
• Can be flagged down on the street in the area it is licensed in e.g. Tameside Licensed Vehicles can only pick people up in Tameside. They cannot pick people up in any other area.
  
• Hackneys can park on ranks in the area they are licensed in.
  

Limousines

Limousines should also have a licence and this is something you should check up on when making a booking.

These vehicles display gold plates, If the vehicle isn’t licensed then its very unlikely the driver has been through the rigorous checking system to ensure they are fit and proper and suitable for driving children and vulnerable people around.

Drivers

All drivers whether Hackney Carriage or Private Hire Drivers are issued with a photographic badge that has a unique number on it. They are required to wear this while driving and you should make a note of it in case you have a complaint.

All drivers have to prove they are fit and proper before the Council gives them a badge and part of this involves a Criminal Records Bureau check where all previous convictions or cautions are listed. They also have to prove to us what they know their way around the Borough.

Remember!

You should never agree to travel in an unlicensed vehicle with an unlicensed driver. The driver must be wearing his badge where it can be clearly seen by you.

If you have any reason to doubt whether the operator, vehicle or driver that you have used or propose to use is properly licensed please contact:

Licensing Office: 0161 301 3021
Or Send Licensing a Message

The following companies are licensed to operate in the Tameside area so make a note of their number in your phone.

Licensed Private Hire Operators

A1 – 0161 343 5050
A2B – 0161 308 3838
Bridge Cars – 0161 304 8000
Call a Car – 0161 320 7117
Cavalier Radio Cars – 0161 338 4055
Denton Links – 0161 336 2020
Metro Cabs – 0161 368 8888
Radio Cars – 0161 330 2090
Swift Radio Cars – 0161 303 8137
Stamford – 0161 339 4411
Tameside Cars – 0161 368 9585

Do you have a Suggestion, Complaint or Compliment?

Contact Information
Send us a Message	Environmental Services Tameside MBC Council Offices Wellington Road Ashton under Lyne OL6 6DL  View local map
0161 342 8355
0161 342 2283