Dean Howells Essential Safety, Health & Safety Blog

New Ergonomic Consultant Joins Essential Safety

We are delighted to welcome Cathie Madigan to the Essential team as our new Ergonomic Associate.
Cathie brings a wealth of experience and expertise as a General Practitioner Nurse and neurosurgical intensive care Sister.

Cathie has more recently gone on to specialise in back care, spending 5 years as a Senior Ergonomic and Manual Handling Consultant at the Royal Free Hospital, London, during which time she provided expert advice and guidance for complex patient manual handling issues.

Cathie will provide specialist consultancy services to our Clients on a wide range of ergonomic and manual handling issues including:

• Manual handling assessments & training
• Display Screen Equipment (DSE) assessments & training
• Ergonomic workplace & product assessments & evaluation
• Specialist ergonomic advisory services for employee / client handling issues.

Cathie’s services and advice will benefit organisations with general ergonomic / manual handling requirements, or those with specific employee issues which they may have otherwise found difficult to resolve.

Forthcoming Health & Safety Legal Requirement for Eyesight Tests for Drivers

Whilst most employers are aware of the legal requirement to provide eyesight tests for Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Users, very few will have considered the need to ensure that their employees who drive as part of their work can see clearly enough to drive safely. 

But that may be set to change as new legislation passed in the European Parliament in 2006 is due to be implemented  by member states in 2011. This new legislation could result in commercial drivers being required to have their eyes tested every 5 years, and private licence holders every 10-15 years. It is expected that eyesight tests may be required more frequently for those over 50, or with certain medical conditions.