Hastings Direct to give demonstrations on how to sneeze safely

And to get the message home, staff at Hastings Direct will even be given demonstrations of how to sneeze in a safe way to avoid back injury and spreading infections.

The insurance company is running daily competitions among its 700 employees as part of European Health and Safety at Work Week which begins on Monday (October 19).

The firm is now working closely with outside experts from RB Health and Safety in Hastings and staff can expect a fun-filled 'HS Factor' programme that includes quizzes, on-line games, displays and live demonstrations.

The week is the brainchild of Hastings Direct's trainer Darren Ford, working with the firm's programme director John Dunne and the Health and Safety committee.

It is Darren who will be sneezing around various departments of the building.

He said: "We are trying to make Health and Safety fun. It is a big part of our daily life here and it is the simple things that are often overlooked - hence the sneezing demonstration.

"We know that professional footballers, highly trained athletes, have put their backs out with a violent sneeze in the past and what we are doing is showing our staff how best to avoid this.

"Obviously, it has other connotations now too, with the prevalence of swine flu. It's one aspect of the week's programme only, but it shows how thorough we are being."

Each day there will be a quiz with prizes for the winners, a 'Whose desk is it Anyway' competition, with recreations of celebrity desk tops and health and safety-based computer games the staff can play.

On Tuesday (October 20) Darren will be running a 'Which Substance is the Highest Risk' task and will be doing the sneeze test on Wednesday.

The whole week culminates in a prize giving on Friday when the winners of the various competitions will be announced and awarded their certificates and trophies.

Mike Hills, health and safety manager for RB Health and Safety, is now acting as Hastings Direct's external advisor on all such matters.

He said: "I have to pay tribute to Darren and his committee for coming up with such an excellent programme. It is varied and it will also be fun to do.

"But the underlying message is serious. Health and Safety is vital to prevent accidents and this European week will get this message across to all of the member states.

"As Darren will show with his sneeze demonstration, health and safety is not to be sniffed at."