Dr Karen McDonnell

On August 19 2014, a mechanical maintenance apprentice with Pirelli Tyres was making a trolley for a tool box at the firm’s site in Burton.

The 17 year old was making a spindle for the wheels of the trolley, using emery cloth – the spindle was fitted to a lathe, and the cloth snagged, pulling him into the lathe.

The youngster suffered several breaks to his fingers and wrist, and one finger was partially severed – he needed three operations, including metal pins, and his finger may still need to be amputated.

Pirelli pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches, were fined a total of £28,000 and, as part of the HSE investigation, it was found that training of apprentices on this kind of work was 'insufficient'.

Apprentices, particularly if they are young, are likely to be more at risk than other workers due to lack of experience and trained judgement and, on occasions, over-enthusiasm, and the subject of their health and safety is becoming ever more relevant. Apprenticeships now cover 170 industries and 1500 job roles, in sectors from nursing to graphic design and horticulture to electrical engineering, with more than 100,000 employers in more than 200,000 workplaces in England offering positions.

The need for organisers of apprenticeships to have suitable regard to their supervision and training is greater than ever.

For this reason, RoSPA’s National Occupational Safety and Health Committee (NOSHC) has been running an inquiry into the health and safety arrangements for apprentices.

As a key part of Britain’s future workforce it is vital that all apprentices should receive the kind of training and development opportunities that will equip them with the right attitudes, knowledge, skills and experience to help them stay safe and become effective health and safety leaders, both in the workplace and beyond.

So NOSHC has been assessing how well these objectives are being met, what is working well, where the gaps are, whether lessons are being learnt from accidents and incidents involving apprentices, and what more could be done, how and by whom.

Although the official consultation period has ended, this is something that RoSPA and the committee would love to hear from HSM readers about.

We believe this inquiry is helping to meet at least two of the six themes which form part of the HSE’s new Helping Great Britain Work Well strategy – 'acting together' and 'sharing our success'.

By coming together to share our knowledge of how we are currently treating the health and safety of our young workers, and by discussing how we can move forward to ensure we are looking after them to the fullest extent, we are “acting together” to improve health and safety in Great Britain’s workplaces.

And by working and communicating cross sector, we are helping to promote best practice, offer advice and guidance, and make sure no organisation is being left behind.

If you would like to find out how you can help to inform this discussion and share your experience and knowledge, please email me on [email protected].

Dr Karen McDonnell, occupational safety and health policy adviser at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), discusses the importance of looking after apprentices, and issues a call for help from HSM readers.