Like any health facility, the Pontypridd and Rhondda NHS Trust have many areas where hazardous substances are in use. Committed to an effective health and safety culture and determined to ensure they are providing a safe working environment, the Trust, which comprises five hospitals and fourteen health centres/clinics, wanted to establish if they were meeting the DSEAR (Dangerous Substances & Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2006) which now apply to all workplaces.
Under the new DSEAR, it is the responsibility of employers to find out what dangerous substances are in their workplace and what the fire and explosion risks are and put control measures in place to either remove those risks or, where this is not possible, control them. In addition, employers must put controls in place to reduce the effects of any incidents involving dangerous substances and prepare plans and procedures to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies involving dangerous substances. They must also be properly informed about and trained to control or deal with the risks from the dangerous substances. Finally, employers must identify and classify areas of the workplace where explosive atmospheres may occur and avoid ignition sources (from unprotected equipment, for example) in those areas.
However, meeting these responsibilities requires very specialist professional advice, which is unlikely to be available in-house in even the largest organisations. Therefore, the Trust went out to tender to a number of health and safety specialists and Connaught were chosen to undertake the analysis after providing professional and detailed proposals demonstrating a proven track record of expertise in this specialist area.
One of Connaught' Senior Health and Safety Consultants, Cathy Cave carried out the initial GAP analysis over a period of 2½ days, checking the various sites and holding discussions with key personnel. Cathy produced a comprehensive report which proposed a number of recommendations and as a result of this, the Trust went ahead with the Hazardous Area Classification (HAC) in compliance with DSEAR on the Combined Heat and Power Plant, where dangerous substances are handled at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant. The main consideration for the HAC was the natural gas supply lines and these were carefully examined.
Equipment which was in direct contact with the gas supply train or within zoning distance was rated into categories and recommendations for the electrical and instrumentation items usage and advice on interpretation of the HAC zoning were also provided as appendices in the report.
By complying with the new DSEAR, Pontypridd and Rhondda NHS Trust have ensured that the premises are safe for patients, staff and the public.
With regards to Connaught' approach, Tim Burns, Assistant Director of Estates, commented,
"I was extremely pleased with the work carried out by Connaught for the Trust. From the initial scoping documents to the final reports the work was carried out in a professional, timely and 'user friendly' manner. The contents of the reports are clear, concise and easily translated into the practical workplace." | 
