ER Guiding Principles HS&S

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Introduction

It’s important we remember that each one of us has a role to play in helping offer the best service in the country. Whether you’re a Director, a Head of Field, a Regional or Team Manager or an Engineer, we should always strive to take ownership, work as one team and do the right thing for our customers.

As the face of Sky, we have a responsibility to do the right thing in Home Service. You’ve got a responsibility to make sure you stay safe at all times, manage stock correctly, know what to do about tips and payments, and overall doing the right thing for our customers. This guide will cover:

1. Health & Safety, including:
• Working at Height
• Roof Working
• Drilling
• MFT & Risk Assessments

2. Other:
• Quality of Work
• Tips & Payment for services
• Managing Stock
• Inappropriate behaviour

It’s important to note, this guide does not replace any of Sky’s Policies and should not be read in isolation.

Health and Safety

Health & Safety

At Sky we take the Health and Safety of our employees very seriously.

We are committed to:
• Providing employees with the equipment and training they need to carry out their roles safely
• Ensuring that everyone knows what to do when they are faced with a situation that is a bit different to the norm.

When an employee chooses not to use their equipment and / or follow Health and Safety procedures, this can lead to injury and in the worst case scenario, death. This is why we must take action if an employee is seen or believed to have been working unsafely.

Your role

As an engineer it is your responsibility to keep up to date with safety documentation, ensure that you have all the equipment that you need to carry out your job safely, that the equipment is in good working order, you know how to use it, and when in doubt, you contact your Team Manager for guidance.

Your manager’s responsibility is to ensure that you have the equipment you need to work safely (and that it is in working order) that you attend regular refresher training, receive support and coaching through 121 discussions and Homesafe visits and they are available to provide advice when you need it.

Working at Height

The Safe Systems of Work manual details what equipment must be used when working on a ladder. In some situations it may be difficult to use all the equipment, for example due to the layout of the property or specific requests from the customer. If this is the case the Ladder Hierarchy should be checked for guidance. If after reviewing this, you are still unable to complete the job within the guidelines, you must call your Team Manager or Duty Team Manager to discuss the job and the options available to you.

Failure to follow the guidance within the manuals without escalating and agreeing a safe way of working will always result in an investigation being carried out, even if this has only happened once.

The Investigating Manager may carry out post checks of previous jobs completed by you as part of their investigation; this will not always be necessary and will be assessed on a case by case basis. Post checks let the Investigating Manager know if you have worked unsafely on more than one occasion. If the post checks show that there may have been breaches of Health & Safety, these will be discussed with you during the investigation.

If you have failed to follow the safe systems of work and this could result in you falling to the ground from any height, you will be suspended from work whilst the investigation is completed. We will consider this breach of Health and Safety as gross misconduct. This means that during the Conduct Meeting the decision may be made to dismiss you.

If you have failed to follow the safe systems of work, however you would not fall to the ground, following investigation a Conduct Meeting will be arranged to discuss the breach of Health and Safety further.

Roof Working

The Working Practices manual details what equipment must be used when working on different roof types.

Failure to follow the guidance within the manual and / or failure to escalate and agree a safe way of working will always result in an investigation being carried out, even if this has only happened once.

Due to the risk of injury to you from falling through or from the roof, failure to use the equipment will usually be considered gross misconduct. You may be suspended whilst the investigation is carried out and a Conduct Meeting will be arranged to discuss the situation further. During the Conduct Meeting the decision may be made to dismiss you.

Drilling

The Working Practices manual details the process that must be followed when drilling in a customers’ property.

If you fail to follow the guidance in the manual which results in any of the following, an investigation will be carried out:-

a) drilling through an electrical cable, a gas box/pipe or water pipe;
b) causing damage to the customers property;
c) causing excessive costs to be incurred by the customer;

You will not normally be suspended but will be asked to call your manager prior to drilling on every job to talk through the steps they have taken to ensure that where they are drilling is safe. You will be asked to do this until the investigation is concluded.

If you fail to escalate any of the above to your manager you may be suspended whilst an investigation is carried out. We will consider this as gross misconduct. This means that during the Conduct Meeting the decision may be made to dismiss you.

MFT & Risk Assessments

It is important that when arriving and leaving each job that the MFT job details are updated accurately to show when you’ve arrived and also when you’ve left the job to move onto your next. This allows your manager to know where you are, just in case they need to visit you onsite. You also need to be checked into a job to complete your risk assessment.

If there is an issue with the MFT device you must use paperwork (paper-based risk assessment and paper-based job sheet) and escalate to your line manager.

If you do not update your MFT accurately, and the result of this is that your risk assessments haven’t been completed, this will be investigated. As part of this investigation the telematics information from your van may be reviewed as well as post checks from the jobs that have been completed.

Tips & Payment for Services

There will be times when a customer wants to thank you for the work that you do on their property and this could mean the offer of money. At Sky we believe in doing the right thing and as the customer has already paid for the work you have carried out you must not accept this. If the customer insists on your taking the money, you must escalate this gesture to your line manager.

Some customers may also ask you to complete additional work. Payment for any work is prohibited and should be escalated to your line manager if you are in doubt.

You may be suspended whilst an investigation is carried out. We will consider this as gross misconduct. This means that during the Conduct Meeting the decision may be made to dismiss you.

Managing Stock

You all have responsibility for your own stock including ordering, receipt, issue, uplift and returns, using StockSmart.

If there’s a discrepancy with your stock, your manager or covering POD Manager will need to carry out an investigation. If this is the first time there has been a discrepancy with your stock and the discrepancy is minor, the manager will carry out a coaching conversation, if it’s not the first time there has been a discrepancy with stock, depending on the circumstances the manager will either complete a record of discussion with you or proceed to a formal hearing.

If your stock is found to have been sold or there is significant loss that cannot be accounted for, including items returned to you from a customer, we will consider this theft and Gross Misconduct. This means that during the Conduct Meeting the decision may be made to dismiss you.

Inappropriate Behaviour

When we receive complaints about you acting inappropriately towards either a customer or a work colleague we will always investigate this by speaking to the customer / colleague and you. Depending on the nature of the complaint we may decide to suspend you whilst the investigation is completed and we may consider this as gross misconduct. This means that during the Conduct Meeting the decision may be made to dismiss you.

Quality of Work

We want to offer the best service in the country, which means we need to ensure that all work is carried out to the highest standard, in line with best practice, process and procedures. You are responsible for ensuring that the work you carry out on site is to the highest quality. This is vital to enabling our customers to enjoy the best of our service and helps us deliver it right first time.

Failure to carry out work to a professional standard may result in an investigation being carried out.

Being Responsible for your Van

Every year we invest in our Sky vans to make sure they stay reliable and look good for our customers too. It is your responsibility to look after your van and keep it in the best condition you can so it’s safe on the road and stays looking smart. We also know that accidents are possible and as you’re out and about you van may get damaged along the way. This may never happen, but if it does then the van re-charge policy will apply. Excessive / frequent damage may result in further investigation in line with company policy.

It is also your responsibility to ensure your ladders are safely secured to your van. If there is evidence to suggest you have not secured your ladders correctly an investigation will be carried out. You will not normally be suspended however you will be asked to call your manager at every job to talk through the steps you have taken to ensure your ladders are secured correctly to your van. If your failure to secure the ladders has resulted in injury to you or a member of the public, we may consider this as gross misconduct. This means that during the Conduct Meeting the decision may be made to dismiss you.

You also have a responsibility to drive safely at all times. If there is evidence to suggest you have not driven safely, an investigation will be carried out. You will not normally be suspended; however this will be dependent upon the circumstances at the time.

Need Help?

Speak to your manager in the first instance.

If you need any further guidance please contact the People+ team on 0333 100 1111.

Confirmation of Understanding

By signing and returning this document I confirm that I have read and understood the information within this guide and that any questions I had in relation to this guide have been answered.
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