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Posted By Nick House
Hello
I am neither the Health and Safety Person within my organisation nor experienced in writing Risk assessments, and was wondering if any kind soul out there had a good template for writing risk assessments in an office (as opposed to industrial-style) environment.
If anyone has information on the possible risks involved with helium I would be very grateful. We have a balloon sized problem and our H and S expert is on holiday and pointed me in your direction...
Many thanks
Joe McTiernan
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Posted By Jane Blunt
Please could you describe your helium problem? We use tons of the stuff, but I suspect your requirements may be rather different from ours.
Jane
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Posted By Paul Leadbetter
Nick
Helium is a non-toxic gas which should only cause problems at high concentrations in the atmosphere as it would reduce the concentration of oxygen in a confined space. However, do not forget the manual handling aspects of moving gas cylinders around or the importance of protecting the pressure reduction valve on top of the cylinder from mechanical damage. When the cylinder is in use, it should be secured to prevent it falling over. Users should be informed of the dangers of injecting compressed gases into the skin which can happen if people are fooling around.
Paul
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Posted By Bill Morrison
Sorry but for one moment thought you wanted advice on how to carry out a risk assessment while on helium, might just help on some of them.
Bill
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Posted By Nick House
Thanks for the reply!
We are just using helium to inflate balloons for a couple of hours. As we have a normal working office here, our landlords are not used to the excitement of having a few gas canisters on site and wanted a comprehensive risk assessment carried out. As this is usually under the remit of a colleague, I found myself wondering exactly what was required and could just use somepractical advise.
Thanks
Joe
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Posted By Nick House
very funny!
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Posted By Gordon Thelwell
Hello (in a high pitched voice)
I have sent some risk assessment advice, blank template and some fun stuff....about risk assessments. Edit to your needs.
Regards,
Gordon.
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Posted By Nick House
THanks to everyone who responded to ~Joe's request. He did call me whilst I was on my hols to ask what to do - and I let him have access to my PC to contavct you all via this site.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed - especially Jane and Gordon. You got us out of a tight spot.
Best Regards
Nick.
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Posted By Andy Petrie
If your staff are constantly breathing in helium to make their voice go squeaky then you are in a bit of trouble, three or four good lungfulls and they could quite easily kill themselves.
If you are talking about a release into the office then you don't have much to worry about, the dillution effects in a reasonable sized space will mean that there are no side effects. Helium is an inert gas, essentially the same as nitrogen which makes up 79% of the atmosphere anyway.
I would watch out for manual handling issues though, i have put my back out on a cylinder before.
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