For health and safety, Sypol is first for Forth

About FETA

The Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) was established by the Scottish Executive in 2001. Its aim is to provide reliable, integrated, safe and sustainable travel choices across the Forth for both strategic and local journeys, making optimum use of the Forth Crossings and other associated transport infrastructure. 

The Forth Road Bridge regularly  carries 70,000 vehicles daily and over 100    people are employed in bridge maintenance, toll collection, traffic control and administration..

Choosing Sypol

While it's a common misconception that the Forth Road Bridge is constantly being painted, it's a significant feat to keep the 2.5km span well maintained and to manage the health and safety of those involved in this process. Paint is just one of the many potentially hazardous substances used by FETA employees. It was the need to ensure that exposure to this and other substances did not cause ill effects to workers' health that led the organisation to subscribe to the leading software based COSHH management system - Sypol's CMS.

FETA Health and Safety Manager Mick Grimmer comments:

"Our use of hazardous substances can be complicated. The various ways in which they are employed by different people means that we need to provide advice on safe exposure levels that take into account a wide range of information including timescales and the environment in which they are being utilised."

An integral part of the FETA team

Having installed the basic CMS system from Sypol, FETA staff are able to use the system to drill down and input additional information on specific usage scenarios so that workers are provided with relevant advice on how to minimise risks to health.

Mick Grimmer continues:
"Using the internet based version of CMS means that managers are provided with online access to all the information they need to be certain that their teams are safe when using hazardous substances. It also gives me a credible source of information to back my recommendations on control measures such as the wearing of PPE suitable for identified exposure times."

Hard copies of appropriate COSHH assessments have been distributed to FETA's various offices and stores, so that staff can quickly access information relevant to them.  Processes have also been devised and implemented to check that workers have read the information. For example, paint is not issued from FETA's stores without the relevant CMS unique reference number being quoted to make sure that the painters are aware of its COSHH assessment and its implications for use of the paint.

In common with many subscribers to CMS, FETA shows the system to HSE inspectors when they visit and is pleased that it is seen as a key part of its effective management of health and safety. Sypol's wide ranging expertise across health, safety and environmental issues also means that its COSHH advice is integrated with support in other areas. So, for example, its assessment links in engineering controls as well as allowing FETA's occupational health nurse to tailor a specific monitoring regime.

From strength to strength

Having been impressed with how Sypol's CMS enabled it to be proactively in control of COSHH management, FETA has commissioned Sypol consultants to assist with other areas of its business. This includes occupational air monitoring, asbestos surveys and Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) testing.