Archive News
2025
December 2025
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a consultation on proposals to improve the application of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and guidance around asbestos management. The consultation runs until 9 January 2026, being particularly relevant to dutyholders, asbestos analysts, asbestos removal contractors, asbestos surveyors and associated professions including facilities management and construction:
An investigation has been launched after the death of a worker on the Valaris 121 jackup drilling rig on Shell’s Shearwater platform 140 miles east of Aberdeen on 14 November. Lee Hulse, 32, fell from a crane. On 22 January 2023, 50-year-old Jason Thomas went missing from the Valaris 121. It is likely he fell through a hole in the deck after a grating was dislodged. His body was never found:
Shell UK Limited failed to properly maintain pipework on its Brent Charlie platform in the North Sea for seven years, as well as failing to maintain ventilation fans. That led to the release of 200kg of gas and 1,550kg of crude oil in May 2017. The company pleaded guilty to two charges under the Offshore Installations (Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response) Regulations 1995 (PFEER):
The BSI has published the first British Standard dedicated to addressing the risk of suicide and its impact in the workplace (BS 30480). The standard provides practical guidance for organisations of all sizes and sectors on how to prevent and respond to suicide risk:
Engineering services firm Doosan Babcock Ltd (now Altrad Babcock) has been fined £900,000 plus a £67,500 victim surcharge after a rigger suffered serious head and shoulder injuries when he was struck by a 130kg metal coil while he refurbished a furnace at the ExxonMobil's Mossmorran Fife Ethylene Plant, near Cowdenbeath, in July 2021:
The latest Health and Safety Executive 2025 report has shown that 511,000 UK workers are suffering from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder, resulting in 7.1 million lost working days in 2024/25. This comes as Bupa research highlights a growing health epidemic, with those suffering from back pain doing so for a staggering 106 days – that’s 3.4 months – every single year, with one in five (18%) blaming their back pain on prolonged sitting at work:
hse.gov.uk & wellbeingnews.co.uk
Manufacturing company Penn Elcom Limited has been fined £80,000 plus £4,537.32 in costs after a visiting lorry driver sustained life-changing head injuries when he fell from a trailer during loading operations at a site in County Durham on 18 November 2024. The company pleaded guilty to breaches of sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974:
His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) has released its inspection report on the HSE. While it recommended areas for improvement, it also commended the high-quality of its casework:
The launch of England’s first Men’s Health Strategy for England has highlighted persistent health inequalities among men. Howden Employee Benefits (Howden) is urging employers to respond, as men continue to seek less mental health support than women and need better workplace provisions:
HSE statistics show there were 6 fatalities in the waste sector over the past year – three workers and three members of the public. The causes were being struck by a moving vehicle or a falling/flying object, and by electrocution. The fatal injury rate in the waste sector is 3.29 per 100,000 workers, which is around 8.2 times the all industry rate. Only the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector are higher:
Manufacturer A J Wells & Sons Ltd, of Newport, Isle of Wight, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, fined £200,000 plus £9,056 in prosecution costs. This follows an employee losing a lower leg after heavy metal sheets fell on him in August 2023. A similar incident occurred in November 2021, but despite this the task of moving heavy sheet metal had still not been adequately risk assessed:
A new BSI Standards Publication - BS 8460:2025 - has been published, titled “Safe use of mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) - Code of practice”. The revised British Standard replaces BS 8460:2017 and has been fully updated to reflect BS EN 280-1:2022 and BS EN 280-2:2022:
The Health and Safety Executive is hosting a webinar on process isolations in the offshore oil and gas sector, aimed at driving improvement in this critical safety area. The free online event will take place on 4 December 2025 from 10:30 to 11:30:
November 2025
The UK's largest power plant, Drax, is facing worker lawsuits after the HSE dropped criminal charges over biomass dust in 2023, a Land and Climate Investigation reveals:
landclimate.org/asthma/ & theguardian.com
Knowles Logistics Limited, of Cambridgeshire, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after an employee suffered multiple injuries from a fall from a sugar beet conveyor in November 2023. The company was fined £133,000 plus £5,438 in costs:
Western Business Media has announced the launch of the Women in Safety & Health Awards, which will become a key part of the Health & Safety Matters portfolio. The first awards ceremony will take place on 15 October 2026:
The UK’s largest independent steel stockholder and processor Barrett Steel Limited has been fined £266,000 after an employee was crushed between two lorries, sustaining life-changing injuries at Kass Steel Stockholders in Scunthorpe in February 2022. Barrett pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act:
Senior safety professionals who can influence culture, lead transformation, and align health and safety with wider business goals are in growing demand by employers, particularly in construction, infrastructure, and manufacturing, the recruiter Irwin & Colton have said. Hybrid HSE and ESG roles are also on the increase, with roles a blend of safety with environmental and sustainability responsibilities:
Automotive components manufacturer Autostructures UK Ltd has been fined £1.3 million following the death of a maintenance technician at its Telford factory in December 2018. The employee was hit by a 10-tonne flywheel that had been operating without a protective guard for at least two years. The company was fined £1.3mn plus court costs:
Independent consultants Eunomia and the Environmental Services Association (ESA) are calling for government to press ahead with its proposal to introduce a mandatory, producer-funded universal kerbside collection regime for both portable batteries and waste electricals. They claim the scheme would reduce the number of waste fires to just over 100 incidents a year from the current figure of more than 1,200:
Waste and recycling company Stonegrave Aggregates Limited of Pocklington has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after an employee was severely injured while cleaning a waste picking line in March 2023. The company was fined £270,000 plus full costs of £15,637:
ExxonMobil has been fined £176,000 over a “preventable and unacceptable” week-long period of continuous flaring at its Mossmorran Ethylene plant in Scotland in 2019, exceeding pollution limits and failing its own standard procedures:
Waste management company Biffa Waste Services of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 after a worker was killed by a reversing skip wagon in August 2023. The company was fined £2.48 million plus full costs of £5,768.06:
fleetnews.co.uk & ioshmagazine.com
October 2025
The British Standards Institution (BSI) has published a new standard, BS 30417 Provision of Inclusive Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), to help employers ensure PPE fits all workers, addressing long-standing safety, health and retention risks linked to poorly designed kit:
An HSE inspector explains the failings that led to the death of a contractor at Tata Steel’s Port Talbot site on 25 September 2019, and the lessons for industry:
The HSE has announced the launch of a Call for Evidence (CfE) to review the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) and the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (PSSR). Input is requested from industry stakeholders, professional bodies, and organisations with relevant experience and expertise, with a deadline of 11 November 2025:
In its third webinar in a series on industrial pollution prevention and control, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) explores how Best Available Techniques (BAT) are being used to reduce industrial emissions in the cement production and waste incineration sectors. Watch the replay:
Global glass bottle manufacturer O-I Glass Limited has been fined £600,000 after a worker was burnt by molten glass and hot water at the Glasshouse Loan site in Alloa on 3 February 2024. The company pleaded guilty to Regulation 5 (1) of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and section 33(1) of Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974:
A look at workplace carcinogens, including asbestos, benzene, diesel emissions, wood dust, formaldehyde, and solar UV radiation, and the need to. implement strong controls:
Sign-fitting company WH Metals Limited of Preston has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and fined £45,000 plus costs of £4,826 after a worker fell to his death in November 2022. The company’s director pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was given a 26-week custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months:
A new report by the Fabian Society, Nye’s Lost Legacy – Towards a National Occupational Health Service to Keep People Well in Work, calls on the government to create a new Occupational Health Authority within the HSE alongside the introduction of a new growth, skills and health levy to incentivise and support employers to invest in occupational health:
One in four UK workplaces recorded noise levels that required mandatory hearing protection, yet more than 75% of employees lacked basic knowledge of how to store their equipment, check for damage, or report faults, according to the HSE:
September 2025
Businesses worldwide are increasingly recognising the benefits of investing in Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) measures as a way to protect workers and the environment, boost commercial value, and bolster organisational resilience. However, many are failing to build it into longer-term strategies and could be missing out on huge gains, according to the latest EY Global EHS Maturity Study:
Dundas Chemical Company (Mosspark) Limited has been fined £100k after a worker was permanently scarred from scalding steam during a night shift in 2019. The company pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974:
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is developing plans to allow workers in manual labour jobs to temporarily stop work during heatwaves when temperatures exceed a certain level, with employers required to provide extra support like rest breaks and access to shade and water. Unions are pushing for a maximum working temperature of 30°C generally and 27°C for manual jobs:
A new British Standards Institute (BSI) white paper, ‘Enabling the Provision of Inclusive PPE’, warns that PPE often fails women and minority groups due to ill-fitting design and unconscious bias in manufacturing and procurement, and offers pointers on how to better equip and protect a diverse workforce:
A review by Dr David Thomas, a senior lecturer in OSH at Middlesex University, of ‘Celebrating 50 years of The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974’. The book describes some of the many events over the fifty years since 1974, with chapters on leadership, major hazards, work and health, construction, public safety, and the politics of OSH here and in Europe:
The HSE issued a safety notice on 8 August to highlight the risks of potentially fatal gangway accidents to offshore workers. Serious risks have been identified where motion compensated gangways retract without warning due to power failures or control system errors:
In the sixth revision of the Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic substances Directive (CMRD), the European Commission has proposed strengthened protections for workers against hazardous chemicals. This is expected to prevent about 1,700 lung cancer cases and 19,000 other illnesses over the next 40 years, saving €1.16 billion in health-care costs:
The UK Material Handling Association has published a paper with advice on how to improve the safety of warehouse operations:
nationalforkliftsafetyday.co.uk
The use of artificial intelligence in industries regulated by the HSE – and how it could affect workers – is the focus of a new report based on approximately 250 cases of AI being developed and deployed:
An article by Dr Keith Whitehead, British Safety Council, on the major revisions to key ISO management standards setting out best practice frameworks for effectively managing occupational health and safety, environmental and quality risks and opportunities. Businesses must start planning now to meet the new requirements in order to maintain their certifications under the relevant standards:
August 2025
A damning indictment by George Monbiot of Labour's proposals on deregulating chemicals - we will all suffer the consequences:
Our collective future depends on eliminating waste through circular systems and reimagined transition pathways. As stewards of shared resources, we must repair our relationship with nature and operate within planetary boundaries:
An analysis of studies incorporating data from almost 30 million people, led by researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge has highlighted the role that air pollution – including that coming from car exhaust emissions – plays in increased risk of dementia:
Textile manufacturer The British Millerain Company Limited in Rochdale has been fined £220,000 after one of its directors was killed by a reversing HGV. The company pleaded guilty to breaching section 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974:
In a similar incident related to workplace transport arrangements, JMP Wilcox & Co Limited of Bilston, West Midlands which reclaims and processes textiles, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after a worker was hit by a telehandler. The company was fined £300,000:
IOSH Magazine is calling for new editorial contributors: “Have you encountered a technical issue in your work – a near miss, an engineering oversight, or a challenge overcome with smart safety thinking? Maybe you’ve developed a new process, discovered a better method, or just have a practical insight worth sharing”:
Data from Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) training and consultancy service Astutis have revealed that a growing number of UK employees are funding their own health and safety training from their own pockets. The white paper reveals the priorities, challenges and aspirations of HSE professionals across the globe:
A look at psychological health and safety – a critical, yet historically overlooked, component of a healthy and high-performing workplace:
West Bromwich chemical manufacturer Robinson Brothers Ltd has been fined £100,000 after failing to protect employees from the health risks associated with the use of vibrating tools. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 5(1), 6(1), 7(1) and 8(1) of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, and was fined £100,000:
A look at the implications of a growing global proportion of older employees. The ageing workforce brings with it a wealth of experience, commitment, and stability, but also critical health and safety concerns:
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has called for joined-up action to prevent people from being harmed by climate change while at work, and for businesses to ensure they have climate-related risk management in their internal policies and systems:
Download its white paper The heat is on: protecting worker health and safety from the impacts of climate change
Resource management company Veolia has launched its biggest UK plastics recycling project with a £70 million investment which will include the country’s first “tray to tray” closed loop PET recycling facility in Battlefield near Shrewsbury, Shropshire:
July 2025
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its latest annual fatality statistics, covering April 2024 to March 2025. 124 workers at work died in work-related incidents; a further 92 who were not at work were killed in work-related incidents. There were 2,218 mesothelioma deaths in 2023 through past exposure to asbestos:
Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited has admitted to breaching regulation 4(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, and section 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act after three offshore workers were trapped in a flooded lift shaft inside a platform leg on a floating production facility in December 2020. The company was fined £300,000:
Research funded by Draeger Safety UK reveals that a broad majority (96%) of people feel safe at work, but that physical safety risks are growing due to multiple factors:
Hybrid working is now “the new normal” for over one in four UK workers, according to ONS data reported by Britsafe. Organisations should update policies and risk assessments to address home-based hazards and ensure consistent safety culture across locations:
Malaysia has banned plastic waste imports from the U.S. because of America’s failure to abide by the Basel Convention treaty on international waste transfers. The U.S. is one of just a handful of countries, including Fiji and Haiti, that hasn't signed the pact:
The latest tribunal statistics have been released covering January to March 2025, revealing that Employment Tribunal claims are continuing to rise. At the end of March the open caseload sat at 45,000 claims, an increase of 32% on the same time last year. Disability discrimination claims saw the biggest increase:
Research and Development in Opening Gates Limited, of Lea Bridge Road, London has pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after multiple occasions during which its standard of health and safety management fell significantly below legal requirements. The company was fined £80,000, plus £7,495.72 in costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge:
The Sentencing Council for England and Wales has amended its guidelines for health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter, food safety and hygiene offences in a move that some commentators argue could result in very large organisations (VLOs) being handed heavier fines:
The Teesside Gas Processing Plant (TGPP), operated by px Group on behalf of North Sea Midstream Partners (NSMP), has received the Oil and Gas Sector Award from The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) in recognition of its health and safety performance in 2024:
www.hydrocarbonengineering.com
In their “All inclusive: Neurodiversity and safety” piece, RoSPA has highlighted the importance of adapting health and safety systems to accommodate neurodiverse employees, noting that inclusive measures benefit the entire workforce:
June 2025
The week of May 12-18 was designated as Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK, with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) urging businesses to implement or revisit the "5Rs" (Recognise, Respond, Recover, Re-integrate, and Return):
At the International Healthy Working Lives Summit, co-hosted by IOSH and the International Social Security Association (ISSA) this month, Dame Carol Black, Chair of the Centre for Ageing Better cited the alarming figure of 300,000 individuals who exit the workforce each year due to work-limiting health conditions:
Lloyd’s Register Foundation has launched a new Global Safety Evidence Centre to collate, create and communicate the best available safety evidence, including on workplace accidents and injuries. The evidence gathering from the independent global safety charity, its partners and other reliable and high-quality OSH sources is backed by a £15 million investment over 10 years:
After years of exposing workers to respirable crystalline silica dust, and other H&S failings, kitchen worktop manufacturer Inova Stone Ltd. of Slough has pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, as well as three counts of failing to comply with legal improvement notices. The company received a £60,000 fine plus £7,363 in court costs:
Research has shown that 96% of UK companies now invest in some level of mental health support services for employees. But beneath the progress lies the risk of neglecting a large and the fastest growing segment of the workforce – older workers:
Nat Pal Limited of Fakenham has pleaded guilty to a charge contrary to Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act, 1974, in that it failed to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of its employees, as it failed to manage the risks created by operating a wood-working business. The company was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,072:
www.theconstructionindex.co.uk
Industrial Chemicals Ltd of West Thurrock, Essex, has been fined £2.4 million in relation to charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act and a further £100,000 in relation to charges under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. The two incidents occurred in 2020, with uncontrolled releases of hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid:
The EU Green Week 2025 in Brussels 3-5 June spotlights the transformative power of circular solutions, sustainability, and environmental policy. It will delve into how circular economy practices can drive sustainable competitiveness, reduce waste, and shape the future of environmental policy across Europe:
May 2025
Cambridgeshire County Council pleaded guilty to two offences under section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It has been fined £6mn plus £292,460.90 for serious safety failings on its Guided Busway that led to three deaths and multiple injuries over a ten-year period. The Guided Busway, being a unique form of public transport infrastructure, did not fall clearly under the standard categories typically enforced by either the HSE or local authorities. This ambiguity led to initial uncertainty over which agency was responsible for its safety enforcement:
According to new research by Towergate Employee Benefits, 54% of UK employers provide support for mental and social health, 52% provide support for social wellbeing, 44% for physical health and wellbeing, and 43% for financial health. Most shockingly, 9% of employers provide no health and wellbeing support at all. With 33.86 million people currently employed in the UK, that amounts to over 3 million employees:
Two UK companies have been honoured for their innovative workplace safety designs that reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in their operations. Ainscough Crane Hire has won the MSD Risk Reduction through Design Award 2024/25, while UPM Raflatac Ltd has received the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) Recognition Award:
press.hse.gov.uk
Sussex-based Truffles Bakers and Confectioners Limited has pleaded guilty to a breach of Regulation 11(1) of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 after an employee lost part of his left index finger in machinery in December 2023. The company was fined £12,000 plus £3,045.65 costs:
press.hse.gov.uk
New research by Eunomia for the Environmental Services Association (ESA) shows that implementing universal kerbside collections for waste batteries and small electricals across the UK could save £6bn over the next decade:
Researchers from the University of Glasgow have found that slag, an industrial waste product from the steel industry, is turning into solid rock in as little as 35 years - challenging centuries of understanding of the planet’s geological processes:
The Corry Review recommends a number of changes to the way environmental regulation operates. Delivering Economic Growth and Nature Recovery: An Independent Review of Defra’s Regulatory Landscape, produced by economist Dan Corry, sets out 29 recommendations intended to have “a system level impact”:
The Department for Work and Pensions has reappointed Sarah Newton as Chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Board. Sarah Newton has led HSE since 2020. Her reappointment will last for two years starting from 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2027:
Five years on from the first UK lockdown, office brokers Click Offices have analysed data from across the UK to see the impact of burnout on the workforce:
Are comfort and safety mutually exclusive? Improving wear rates of protective uniforms, a new report from Alsico on UK industries where electrical systems are present and protective uniforms must be worn (including electrical engineers, power plant workers, and road workers), has revealed that only 40% of professionals agreed to always wearing every part of the uniform provided to them:
April 2025
The huge ‘Health & Safety Event› is on in Hall 3, NEC, Birmingham, from Tuesday 8 April until Thursday 10 April. Registration is free:
As of 31 March 2025 (31 March 2027 for micro-firms), all workplaces (businesses and non-domestic premises) in England have a legal duty to present the following wastes separated in accordance with the arrangements with their waste collector: dry recyclable materials - plastic, metal, glass, paper and card; food waste; and black bin waste (residual waste):
Surface Technik (Old Hill) Limited of Dudley (now in liquidation) has been found guilty of a breach of Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and fined £90,000 plus costs of £28,956 after a worker fell 20 feet to his death dismantling a steel cleaning machine on 29 June 2018:
press.hse.gov.uk
Work-related ill-health is costing the UK economy over £415 million a week. According to new analysis published by TUC, the number of days lost due to health conditions – including stress, depression and anxiety – has shot up by a third since 2010. In 2023 to 2024, 34 million working days were lost to work-related ill-health, compared to 22 million in 2010:
hsmsearch.com
AB Agri Limited of Weston Centre, Grosvenor Street, London, an animal feed manufacturer, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and was fined £566,000 plus costs of £6,410 after an employee’s lower arm was severed when it became entangled in a conveyor in November 2021:
press.hse.gov.uk
On 31 March 2025 the UK Chemicals Helpline telephone services line 0330 159 1985 for the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR), Prior Informed Consent Regulation (PIC) and Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation (CLP) will be closing, and support reverting to the HSE. The line will remain open for UK REACH enquiries:
press.hse.gov.uk
New data reveals that almost half of UK employees believe their job poses a risk to their eye health, yet many workplaces are failing to implement adequate safety measures:
A new blog series from IOSH looks at the growing need for occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals to help protect workers from the effects of climate change. In the opening blog, Ria Sooknarine, Communications Coordinator for the Hazardous Industries Group, assesses the health and safety challenges of rising sea levels:
Advice on selecting the right ergonomic chair to reduce musculoskeletal problems and comply with the PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment) regulations:
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its 2025 Annual Science Review highlighting the range of research that HSE scientists are working on, from the safe introduction of hydrogen technologies to assessing the evidence for safe levels of exposure to various toxicological hazards. Download here:
March 2025
West Fraser (Europe) Ltd, formerly known as Norbord, a multi-national manufacturer of wood-based products, has been fined more than £1 million after two workers were injured in separate incidents at its Cowie plant in 2020. The company failed to comply with regulations 11(1) and (2) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, and sections 33(1)(a), 33(1)(c), and 4(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974:
HSE
An inspection programme by Britain’s workplace regulator has led to major safety improvements in the offshore industry. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspected 13 production operators between January 2022 and May 2024 as part of its Process Safety Leadership Principles (PSLP) programme.
HSE
The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) is working with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and its Product Safety and Market Surveillance Unit (PSMSU) to ensure a shared understanding of emergency stop functionality requirements for Mobile Elevating Work Platforms:
Vanessa Harwood-Whitcher, the Chief Executive of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has expressed concern about the potential removal of funding for Level 7 occupational safety and health (OSH) apprenticeships:
A new White Paper from IOSH, iosh.com/about/what-we-do/white-papers/a-platform-for-success, calls on the Government to ensure gig economy workers have the same employment rights and health and safety protections as those in more secure jobs, and seeks alternatives to zero-hour contracts.
An interdisciplinary network of engineers, policymakers, industry stakeholders and social scientists, led by the University of Surrey’s Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing (CVSSP), has received funding of over £1.8 million to promote conscious design processes to address UK noise pollution:
A recent study commissioned by BKV GmbH analyses the current availability of post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials and forecasts demand up to 2030. The results show that despite expected improvements in recycling infrastructure, significant supply shortages are looming:
Cleveland Steel and Tubes Ltd has been fined £250,000 after a worker died in November 2022 after becoming trapped in an unguarded machine holding a five-tonne pipe. The company pleaded guilty to one offence under Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998:
oreaco.com
With 1.16 million workers in the UK aged 66 or older, organisations must be proactive in reassessing and adjusting their health and safety procedures, policies and measures to ensure they adequately protect and support older workers:
Circular Online examines the top 10 technological innovations that are set to shape waste management goals in sustainability and efficiency in 2025:
February 2025
A debate on the Consumer Products (Control of Biocides) Bill Second Reading was held in the House of Lords on 17 January 2025:
2024 has been a transformative year for offshore oil and gas safety, with Red Zone monitoring becoming a cornerstone of operational best practices:
David Head, Head of Safety Marketing at Draeger Safety UK, provider of medical and safety technology products, reports on five trends in workplace safety to watch in 2025:
As the UK reduces its reliance on coal and oil, Aniqah Majid speaks to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) about risk factors to look out for as assets age and operators look to repurpose them:
Builders’ merchant Travis Perkins have been fined £2m plus £85,000 costs after part of a timber load fell off one of its lorries on the A26 and into the windscreen of an oncoming car, killing the driver. The company admitted three offences contrary to the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974:
ttjonline.com
British Safety Council has teamed up with Dr. Tim Marsh, a world-leading safety psychologist, to publish a collection of his writing on health, safety and wellbeing in a book ‘Tim Marsh’s Musings: Wisdom and Wit from a Safety Psychologist’:
hsmsearch.com
IOSH’s Eloise Byrne explores the societal perceptions and potential stigma associated with refuse collection work and how occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals can influence change:
2023 marked a significant spike in suicide rates in England and Wales, reaching their highest levels since 1999. Paul Verrico, partner at Eversheds Sutherland, highlights the increasing risk of corporate manslaughter cases and regulatory interest in occupational health:
Lord Patrick Vallance has emphasised plans for a close collaboration between the government and private sector, in line with the Labour Party’s plan to reestablish the country as a clinical research hub:
The British Safety Industry Federation is urging buyers and wearers of PPE to review their stocks and replace old and damaged items after a member survey showed outdated and poorly maintained PPE is in use across UK workplaces:
The new EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) entered into force on 25 July 2024. Which businesses will be affected?:
January 2025
The UK’s national regulator for health and safety, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), celebrated its 50th Anniversary on 1 January. It was created by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and has played a central role in reducing workplace death and injury. In 1974, 651 employees were killed at work; HSE’s latest annual statistics for 2023/24 show that number had reduced to 138:
HSE
In related news, Dr. Simon Walker, senior occupational health researcher, member of the University of Glasgow’s Healthy Working Lives Group, and grandson of Labour MP Harold Walker, stands up for the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974:
In the New Year’s honours list the Chief Executive of the HSE, Sarah Albon has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Bath for her services to the public sector:
HSE
Plastics manufacturer FloPlast Limited of Sittingbourne, Kent, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined £400,000 plus £5,567 in costs after an employee was seriously injured by a forklift truck in July 2023:
HSE
2024 saw million pound or more fines for the likes of Openreach, Samworth Brothers Limited (Ginsters), and Tata Chemicals, but also for smaller firms, for unsafe working conditions, missing or insufficient risk assessments, and failing to implement their own safety policies. Here are Safety & Health Practitioner’s Top 10 health and safety prosecutions of 2024:
New data published by the Office for National Statistics shows that there has been no change in health improvement since 2011, as the percentage of people who reported being in “very good” or “good” health increased by only 1%. In response, the Royal Society for Public Health are calling for an increased proportion of the health budget to be spent on preventative services (less than 8% in 2022), rather than in acute settings:
www.hsmsearch.com
Over 1.6mn work-related illnesses have been reported in the UK during the last 12 months. Data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) reveals that mental health issues (stress, depression, and anxiety) alone accounted for 776,000 cases - 46% of all work-related illnesses. Here are actionable steps employers can take to promote health and well-being in the workplace:
International drinks manufacturer Diageo Scotland Limited has been fined £500,000 after an employee sustained burns to over 30% of his body when pot ale erupted from a pipe at 104 degrees Celsius at the Glenlossie Distillery Complex, Elgin in March 2021. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1), 2(2)(a), 2(2)(c), 33(1)(a) and 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974:
HSE
There are around 22,000 fires in the workplace across the UK each year, with a massive 25% caused by faulty or misused electrical equipment. IOSH look at the 8 most common causes and how to reduce the risks:
In December 2024, the Fulmar A platform operated by Repsol was served with a prohibition notice by the HSE. It was the fifth time the HSE had reprimanded Repsol in 2024, and the third time it had involved problems with the deluge system. The industry publication ‘Energy Voice’ had previously raised concerns about the issues on Fulmar A, and how industry use of the “fail fix” equipment test puts North Sea oil and gas workers at risk of fire:
The British Safety Council is the latest signatory to the ‘Battery Breakdown’ campaign run by Electrical First which seeks to raise awareness of risks from e-batteries and to improve their safety:
A comprehensive report from Electrical First can be downloaded www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/battery-breakdown
Surrey-based plastic manufacturing company Brand Energy and Infrastructure Services UK Ltd, trading as Lyndon SGB, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £1.6mn plus £23,194 in costs after the death of an employee during a lifting operation using a lorry mounted crane in August 2019:
www.hsmsearch.com
How to undertake a risk assessment for the use of hydrogen as an alternative energy source in a range of industries is set out in the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR):
HSE.
In related news, a new report, ‘Powering Growth – The Role of Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines in Non-Road Mobile Machinery’ provides recommendations for advancing hydrogen engines in the UK’s off-road machinery market in sectors including construction, agriculture, mining and forestry:
A health and safety manager for leading seafood supplier Orkney Fisherman's Society (now Orkney Crab Ltd) who quit the job he had held for 27 years when they ignored his repeated concerns over processing of rotting dead crabs has won an initial £9,256 in compensation for constructive and unfair dismissal. The company also failed to comply with The Transfer of Undertakings Regulations. Further compensation will be decided at a later date:
2024
December 2024
According to International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates, nearly three million people worldwide die of work-related accidents and diseases every year. Another 395 million workers sustain non-fatal injuries, particularly in hazardous industrial sectors such as agriculture and construction. Even more alarming, the Poll data suggests that globally, 49% of all cases of workplace harm go unreported:
Munira Wilson, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Education, Children & Families) requested that leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the Chief Inspector of Drinking Water to issue guidance to water companies on poly and perfluorinated alkyl substances in drinking water; and for connected purposes:
www.theyworkforyou.com. The Bill was read for the First time on 5 November, and will be read a Second time on Friday 24 January 2025, and be printed (Bill 120).
Answer by Stephen Timms, The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions, to a question by Iain Duncan Smith, Conservative, on what assessment Government has made of the potential merits of applying a weight of evidence approach when making decisions on the mandatory (a) classification and (b) labelling of chemicals:
The International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC,) the group behind a drive to improve mental health in the North Sea, has praised the response after 35 organisations working in the UK Continental Shelf sign up to its Mental Health and Well-being Charter:
Kent-based plastics manufacturer FloPlast Limited has been fined £400,000 plus £5,567 costs after an employee was seriously injured by a forklift truck on 4 July 2023. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974:
The fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-5), has begun in Busan, Republic of Korea. The session, which ends on 1 December, aims to finalise and approve the text of the instrument:
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) is calling for Government action to tackle “the scourge” of work-related ill health as new figures reveal that 1.7 million people were suffering from poor health caused by work last year, leading to 29.6 million lost working days:
Energy from Waste (EfW) company Bio Dynamic (UK) Limited of Nottingham has been fined £304,500 plus £229,988 in costs after two workers suffered ‘life changing’ injuries when a metal tank exploded at the company’s anaerobic digestion (AD) plant on 20 September 2017. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; to breaching regulation 38(2) of the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR), and s.33(1)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA):
The fatal injury rate in the waste industry is 3.65 per 100,000 workers, which is 9.1 times the all industry rate, according to the latest Health & Safety Executive (HSE) statistics for 2023/24. There were four fatal injuries to workers in the waste industry in 2023/24, and one fatal injury to a member of the public. According to the Annual Population Survey in 2023, the waste sector accounts for around 0.3% of the workforce in Great Britain:
Ginsters’ parent company, Samworth Brothers of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, has been fined £1.28mn plus £24,106 in costs following a fatal accident at The Cornwall Bakery in Callington, Cornwall. An employee on his first lone shift was crushed by a reversing lorry on 2 December 2021. There were 25 fatalities at work involving pedestrians in 2023/24:
October 2024
Based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of almost 900 responses from EHS professionals, the 2024 Health & Safety Report from RS in association with Health and Safety Matters is now available for free download, providing a definitive snapshot of health and safety across the UK and Ireland:
Craig Wiggins, chief executive of trade body Step Change in Safety, says “uncertainty” is a major concern for offshore safety, alongside “the great retirement” that stands to impact offshore workers in the high-risk environment of the North Sea:
The Lithium-ion Battery Safety Bill moves to the next step of the UK’s House of Lords by entering the Committee Stage. Since 2020, lithium-ion battery fires linked to the charging of e-bikes and e-scooters have contributed to 13 deaths in the UK, with many other people seriously injured or hospitalised:
Lithium-ion Battery Safety Bill [HL] - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament. See also: www.britsafe.org
Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) regulation and legislation differ in the US and UK. Tim Turney from monitoring solutions supplier Casella explains why, and the implications:
Overworking is a significant psychosocial hazard with serious health implications such as increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, fatigue, stress, poor mental health, sleep disturbances, and even death. IOSH's Genis Fernandes considers these impacts and how to address the issue:
iosh.com. See also Ruth Wilkinson, IOSH Head of Policy and Public Affairs, responding to the publication of the UK Employment Rights Bill: iosh.com
Delays in fixing damaged or corroded fire safety equipment in the North Sea is causing huge concern. Industry figures have called for operators to stop using “fail fix” safety equipment test processes on offshore deluge systems:
ESG Consultant Keith Hole asks “Has safety changed too much?” as he reflects on a changing profession:
The “NEBOSH Online Conference: Creating… great health and safety practice” takes place on 20 November 2024, providing aspiring and practising health and safety professionals with a free day of educational content to support their professional development. Registration is open now:
On World Mental Health Day (10 October), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) warned employers that they risk losing valued team members if they fail to manage their workers’ stress levels in the workplace. Around half of work-related ill health is down to stress, depression or anxiety with each person suffering taking an average of 19.6 days off work:
August 2024
Solicitor Beverley Sunderland asks what’s the reality of Labour’s promised sweeping changes to employment law?:
Scotland’s Just Transition Commission, an independent advisory body, has released a briefing paper on securing an orderly and just transition when Grangemouth, Scotland’s only oil refinery, closes in 2025 and is switched to being an import station for finished fuels:
Recycling company Veolia ES (UK) Limited of London, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after a demolition operative died and another was seriously injured while decommissioning a North Sea gas rig at an onshore facility in Great Yarmouth in October 2019. The company was fined £3,000,000 plus £60,000 in costs:
Circular waste management offers the potential for a net gain of more than USD 100 billion per year by 2050. To achieve this, a comprehensive framework is needed that integrates waste prevention, followed by reduction, reuse and recycling as priority measures:
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are urging offshore oil and gas companies to take a closer look at human factors with regard to safety critical tasks:
HSE
A direct link has been established between early (childhood) exposure to air pollution and bronchitic symptoms in adults without previous lung problems:
In related news, expanding London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) last August contributed to “dramatically lower” pollutant emissions across the UK capital in 2023:
The Office for the Internal Market (OIM), part of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which independently advises the UK government, launched a study of regulatory restrictions on single-use plastics, on 29 July. A short online survey, which can be found on the single-use plastics project page, will run until 16 September 2024:
In a new white paper, ‘An EPR of Everything, Starting with Batteries’, the Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM) has called for extended producer responsibility (EPR) for batteries (and products containing batteries) and a targeted deposit return scheme (DRS):
www.circularonline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/CIWM-373-Batteries-Report-Document-Final-upload-compressed.pdf & www.circularonline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/CIWM-Battery-Report-FINAL-20240718-upload.pdf
The UK’s Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 remains fit for purpose but needs updating to reflect modern working practices, say the majority of respondents to an IOSH online poll. 31 July marked half a century since the Act received Royal Assent. It has been widely credited with helping to reduce the number of fatalities in UK workplaces – from 651 in the year it was published to 138 last year:
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, industry publication ‘Safety & Health Practitioner’ (SHP) in association with the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH), has commissioned short essays from a range of people from the profession, each reflecting on the Act’s impact and its future role:
July 2024
Ruth Wilkinson, IOSH’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs, says with a new government in place it is time for a greater focus on protecting people at work:
The Dräger Safety and Health at Work Report 2024, an annual study exploring attitudes to safety and health topics in UK workplaces, has found that more than nine in ten workers believe that the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act should be overhauled, fifty years after it was introduced.
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has published the latest statistics on deaths resulting from work-related accidents in 2023/24 that were reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR): www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/assets/docs/fatalinjuries.pdf The report reveals that 50 workers died due to a fall from height in 2023/24 in Great Britain – an increase of 22% from 2022/23, which saw 41 deaths. These are the highest fatality numbers in the last 17 years:
www.hsmsearch.com
Military explosives manufacturer Chemring Countermeasures Ltd., of Romsey, Hampshire, has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and been fined £670,000 plus £12,835 costs after an employee was killed and another seriously injured in an explosion at its factory in August 2018:
HSE
An article by Dr Karen McDonnell, Head of Global Relations at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), on how vehicle-related deaths and injuries are preventable if employers take the right steps to assess the risks and implement the right control measures:
The not-for-profit International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has released its Global Safety Report 2024 which examines the primary causes of major injuries and fatalities during the operation of powered access machinery, including Mobile Elevated Work Platforms (MEWPs), Mast Climbing Working Platforms (MCWPs), and Construction Hoists (CH):
A ‘Safety & Health Practitioner’ (SHP) webinar on neurodiversity ‘You, me, and diversity – working better together – Are you bringing out the best in your entire workforce?’, which took place on 10 July, is now available on demand:
There is currently no law in the UK on maximum working temperatures. The TUC is calling for a change in the law so that employers must attempt to reduce temperatures above 24°C, plus an absolute maximum indoor working temperature of 30°C or 27°C for strenuous jobs: www.personneltoday.com/hr/maximum-working-temperature-uk-law-tuc. In the USA, the White House has unveiled a long-awaited proposal to establish the nation’s first-ever federal workplace standard for extreme heat:
June 2024
Data collected by the business insurer QBE suggests that batteries powering electric vehicles were involved in almost three fires a day in 2023, compared to under two fires a day in 2022. The findings show that 29% of lithium-ion fires involved e-bikes, but fires increased also for e-scooters, e-cars, e-trucks, and e-buses:
www.shponline.co.uk. A free e-book ‘Lithium-Ion batteries. A guide to the fire risk that isn’t going away but can be managed’ is available for download: www.shponline.co.uk/downloads/lithium-ion-batteries-guide-to-fire-risk-firechief-2024
RIDDOR guidance has been improved, providing more direct links on types of reportable incidents; who should and should not report under RIDDOR; clarity on ‘work-related’ accidents; when an occupational disease is not reportable; ‘over-7-day’ absences:
Free tickets are now available for the Environmental Services & Solutions (ESS) Expo to be held at the Birmingham NEC from 11-12 September. The Expo will showcase cutting-edge technologies and strategies in net-zero, decarbonisation, resource management, circular economy, water scarcity and management, biodiversity conservation, environmental emergency response and emissions control:
Aberdeen-based MRS Training & Rescue has issued a free downloadable White Paper on working in confined spaces following Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) findings that 15 people die per year while working in such spaces in the UK. The Paper covers current legislation, responsibilities of CEOs, HR, managers and supervisors, and risk assessments:
In a report published on 5 June, ‘The Case for a National Chemicals Agency’, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) urges the next UK government to establish a dedicated chemicals agency. It states the UK’s current system for chemicals regulation and management is inefficient, poor value for money and lacks long-term planning.
Openreach Limited has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £1.34 million plus costs of £15,858.35 after an engineer drowned in the River Aber in Abergwyngregyn whilst trying to repair a telephone line. There had been no safe system of work in place for work on or near water, and no training, information or instruction for the team of workers.
press.hse.gov.uk
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has launched a manifesto, ‘Safer, healthier, happier’, calling for the next government to prioritise improving occupational health services in order to rebuild the economy and reduce NHS waiting lists. Download:
The lifting of the cap on civil sanctions that can be imposed by the Environment Agency (EA) on companies in breach provides a meaningful alternative to prosecution. Could this be an attractive approach for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to follow?
‘The control of legionella bacteria in evaporative cooling systems’ (HSG274: Part 1), has been updated. It includes clearer advice on testing of pH and biocide levels. Free downloads:
Middlesbrough-based Esken Renewables, which generates biofuel from renewable waste, has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002, fined £160,000 plus over £5,000 in costs. The HSE brought the case over long-term risks to staff of excessive exposure to wood dust:
Nearly three quarters (74%) of employers offer more health and wellbeing support now than they did two years ago. However, it is not always effectively targeted, meaning that quiet quitting, high staff turnover, hybrid working, presenteeism, absence rates and early retirement are still threats to businesses:
The HSE has published its strategic approach to Artificial Intelligence (AI). The use of AI comes within the scope of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and so the principles of health and safety law need to be taken into account:
May 2024
Global advisory, broking and solutions company WTW’s 2024 Global Directors and Officers Survey Report identified health and safety as the top risk category in 2024 as measured across more than 50 countries:
Global Directors’ and Officers’ Survey Report 2024 - WTW (wtwco.com)
Following this year’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April 2024, which was based around the impacts of climate change on occupational safety and health, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and the UN Global Compact Network UK have united to call for corporate action:
iosh.com/news-and-opinion/protecting-workers-from-the-impacts-of-climate-change
Hull-based Niche Fused Magnesia Limited, a manufacturer of magnesium oxide, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and fined £366,500 plus costs of £7,325.82 after a worker suffered fatal crush injuries in 2018:
Company fined £360k after trapped worker loses life (shponline.co.uk)
The US Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it will ban most uses of methylene chloride which has been linked to dozens of deaths. All consumer use will be prohibited within a year, and most commercial and industrial use will be phased out within the next two years. There will be stronger worker safety protections for the remaining “critical” uses:
SHP’s bi-annual legislation update webinar on Wednesday 29 May (11.00 a.m. BST) will cover the latest Health and Safety guidance and forthcoming consultations including 50 years of the Health and Safety at Work Act; an update on Martyn’s Law; and changes around flexible working:
www.shponline.co.uk/resources/webinar-health-and-safety-legislation-update
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued an improvement notice to Diamond Offshore Drilling for failing “to provide comprehensible instructions” ahead of the collapse of equipment on the GreatWhite drilling rig West of Shetland during a storm of 1 February this year:
A report by hygiene and workwear products provider RS Safety Solutions reveals that 82% of health and safety officials agree current female PPE is unsuitable for women due to sizing and fit issues:
Health and safety officials: suitable woman PPE hard to find (foodmanufacture.co.uk)
In a related article, the British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) discusses the responsibilities of buyers of PPE and safety equipment and explains how incorporating the Registered Safety Supplier (RSS) scheme into procurement processes can help: Are you meeting your responsibilities as a buyer of PPE and safety equipment?(shponline.co.uk)
Having identified that thermites, and thermite containing articles, meeting the criteria for being classified for transport in Great Britain and the ADR area as Class 1 dangerous goods (as explosive substances and articles) are currently being transported either as non-dangerous goods or as Class 4.1 dangerous goods (flammable solids), the HSE has issued a new safety notice:
Praxis42‘s Head of Fire Safety Rob Sherman analyses the main concerns of having an Electrical Vehicle (EV) fleet, and how to minimise risk:
www.shponline.co.uk/prevention-and-protection/ev-fleet-are-electric-cars-safe
The HSE has issued Guidance on its regulatory approach to Artificial Intelligence (AI), including regulating the use of AI where it impacts on health and safety in workplaces; regulating the use of AI in design, manufacture and supply of workplace machinery, equipment and products; and where AI impacts on HSE’s role to protect people and places, including building safety, chemicals and pesticides regulation:
HSE’s regulatory approach to Artificial Intelligence (AI) – News - HSE
April 2024
Britain is becoming a toxic chemical dumping ground – yet another ‘benefit’ of Brexit, says George Monbiot:
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published the second Post Implementation Review (PIR) of RIDDOR, with a view to expanding it to include areas where HSE regulatory intervention can add value. There are five recommendations, and work is already underway on the first two regarding guidance and online reporting:
America’s Environmental Protection Agency has announced a comprehensive ban on chrysotile asbestos, the only type of asbestos currently used in or imported to the country. The aim is to reduce cancer deaths and prevent cases of lung, ovarian, colorectal, laryngeal and other cancers:
For the second time in four years Hertfordshire-based Materials Movement Limited has caused the death of an employee. Most recently, it pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 15(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 after a fatal crush injury at a site in Brampton, Cambridgeshire:
The HSE has served an improvement notice on offshore drilling service company Valaris after an 85kg sheet of Perspex was dropped on one the company’s rigs in an uncontrolled manner which had the potential to result in a serious personal injury or a fatality:
The magazine ‘Private Eye’ no. 1620 29 March-11 April 2024 [no link available] has highlighted the lack of action within the Asbestos industry on making it safer for female Analysts to use decontamination units. Several have reported intimidation, assaults, and worse, as was highlighted in this 2021 article following the Faculty of Asbestos Assessment and Management (FAAM) Conference:
The HSE Recruitment Network’s ‘The 2024 HSE Remuneration Report’ delves into the average salaries, bonus expectations, and the most valued employee benefits across various HSE roles. It reveals a clear correlation between years of experience and salary levels across different HSE roles, and that a distinct gender disparity exists within the profession:
The HSE has warned Stork Technical Services Ltd. of Aberdeen after an inspection on the Shell-operated Nelson platform that respiratory equipment worn by their painters was compromised by their facial hair. The paint used contained xylene, ethylbenzene and 4-methylpentan-2-one (also known as methyl isobutyl ketone), all of which are hazardous to human health if inhaled:
March 2024
More than 50 percent of all US medical supplies are sterilised by ethylene oxide, and there are significant health risks now coming to light:
A look at the hazards associated with offshore decommissioning:
The UK’s House of Lords environment and climate change committee is to examine the impact of methane on climate change, the benefits of delivering reduction targets and the UK’s progress on its commitments. It seeks evidence up to 15 April from the waste and waste management sector, along with agriculture and fossil fuels:
Dame Carol Black, the UK government’s new Occupational Health Tsar, will head up a Taskforce producing a voluntary occupational health framework for businesses. Just 28% of employers provide some form of occupational health, with large employers (89%) nearly three times more likely than Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (28%) to do so:
A safety-critical maintenance backlog has become a major issue for the offshore oil and gas industry, with some individual platforms having tens of thousands of outstanding hours post-Covid. The HSE warns of the risk of major accidents:
The UK’s Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget included a rise in the standard rate of landfill tax by 21% (from £103.70 a tonne to £126.15). The lower rate will rise from £3.30 to £4.05. This will take effect from 1 April 2025 and will raise around £50m a year for the Treasury:
Four out of five of the world’s workforce are estimated to lack access to basic occupational safety and health services. A two-year study part funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) will seek to gain a better understanding of the scope, reach and effectiveness of OSH around the world:
February 2024
The UK’s regression from EU environmental standards are on such a scale that environmental legislation in Britain is facing death by a thousand cuts:
The government has rejected - on the grounds it already has sufficient legal powers to enforce higher standards of air quality under the Environment Act 2021 - a private member’s bill calling for a new Clean Air Act. The government’s claim has been disputed by, amongst many others, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA):
The HSE has issued an improvement notice to the Chinese state-backed operator CNOOC over its inspection routines for process equipment on the North Sea Buzzard platform:
UK workplaces are facing “a perfect storm” when it comes to wellbeing at work, with sickness absence barely improved since the pandemic, according to the Britain’s Healthiest Workplace survey by Vitality and the Financial Times. Employers lost the equivalent of 50 days of work per employee last year because of poor physical and mental health:
Liquidated waste firm Ward Recycling Limited has been found guilty of breaching Section 1 of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007, Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £2.1mn after an agency worker was killed by a loading shovel in January 2020:
An article by fire safety experts SOCOTEC on how to safely use and store lithium-ion batteries in the workplace:
Peterborough-based Electrostatic Magic Limited has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 and Article 67 of the REACH regulation after a worker died from multiple organ failure, chemical pneumonitis and cutaneous burns from exposure to dichloromethane, hydrofluoric acid and methanol:
Tickets are now available for the WEEE Conference 2024 to be held on 21 March at the Royal College of Physicians NW1 4LE, which will focus on the latest breakthroughs in the recovery, reuse, recycling, and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment:
A retired draughtsman who had worked at the former Engelhard precious metal factory in Cinderford and subsequently at GlaxoSmithKline, died from malignant epithelial mesothelioma, the effect of asbestos exposure, in January this year:
The HSE has put Petrofac on notice after it found poor COSHH risk assessments left offshore workers on the North Sea Kittiwake platform at risk of exposure to hazardous fumes, in particular welding fumes - a known human carcinogen:
January 2024
A New Year reminder that the HSE provides an extensive collection of free updates on a vast range of topics (from Asbestos to Workplace Transport) and industries (from Agriculture to Woodworking) via an eBulletin:
A new study by non-profit organisation the Alliance to End Plastic Waste highlights potential pathways to significantly increase waste collection and plastic recycling rates globally. The Plastic Waste Management Framework has policy levers and actions that can be used to develop national action plans for advancing waste management systems.
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery fires are on the rise. Firechief Global have provided an eight-step action plan on how to mitigate the risk:
The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) has published a new guide for individuals undertaking auditing to determine whether appropriate health and safety management systems are in place and that suitable risk control systems and workplace precautions are being implemented. The NEBOSH Quick Reference Guide to Auditing for Health and Safety is available from:
Plastics recycling is vital to fight the deluge of plastic waste and plastic pollution. While mechanical recycling has been around for decades, chemical recycling is the new kid in town. But do they compete or cooperate?
There were 29 fatalities in the UK in 2022/23 caused by contact with moving vehicles or machinery. HSE guidance can be found at:
More than 100,000 people in the UK could be at risk of developing long Covid in the coming weeks as infections and hospitalisations are rising sharply during the winter months:
Alex Spencer, COO chief operating officer of energy industry-owned not-for-profit standards and training organisation OPITO examines why safety, skills and sustainability are all key for future energy workers:
2023
December 2023
Comprehensive analysis ranking 38 member states of the OECD according to the environmental impact of their waste management has been published:
sensoneo.com/global-waste-index/. The UK comes 18th. The report also draws attention to the fact that high recycling rates for plastic waste are misleading as the number is taken from the volume of waste that arrives at the recycling plants, but not everything is recycled through material recovery.
A look at how the European waste industry is preparing for the challenge of recycling millions of discarded e-vehicle batteries, and the revision of the EU Battery Directive:
The British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) is launching a new series of occupational hygiene qualifications as part of a significant overhaul of pathways into the profession:
The HSE has issued an Improvement Notice to Apache North Sea Ltd after finding nearly 26,000 hours of safety-critical maintenance work left outstanding across seven Apache North Sea platforms:
On 30 November 2023, Directive (EU) 2023/2668 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 November 2023 amending Directive 2009/148/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work was published in the Official Journal of the EU:
The HSEs annual statistics on work-related ill health and workplace injuries report that of the 1.8 million UK workers suffering from work-related ill health, 875,000 said they had suffered stress, depression or anxiety; 473,000 were suffering from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder; there has been 2,268 mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures; and 135 workers killed in work-related accidents.
November 2023
A report from Advance Market Analytics shows strong growth in the Environmental Health and Safety Market between 2022 and 2027. The report covers EHS Software:
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) explain why the King’s Speech failed to include societal wellbeing legislation that would deliver decent living and working conditions. They highlight seven key measures - ‘The Secret Seven Go Missing’:
A landmark scientific article, ‘Work-related causes of mental health conditions and interventions for their improvement in workplaces’, presents sound epidemiological evidence based on large-scale international cohort studies that adverse working conditions contribute to an increased risk of onset of depressive disorders:
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a warning to Stena Drilling of Aberdeen relating to potential risks of legionella bacteria exposure on its Stena Don installation:
www.energyvoice.com HSE guidance on Legionella and legionnaires' disease is here: www.hse.gov.uk
KPMG has released its 2023 Net Zero Readiness Report. It concludes that governments and industry are hamstrung by significant barriers to delivering transformative change on net zero, including global public debt, domestic tensions, increased opposition to decarbonisation plans, and the need to guarantee energy supply:
Electric vehicles (EVs) may reduce emissions, but the lithium-ion batteries on which they run pose a unique sustainability challenge. Here are five innovators working on making them more sustainable:
An Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) report on Preventing Fire and/or Explosion Injury from Small and Wearable Lithium Battery Powered Devices:
On 25 October ACAS launched a consultation on a draft Code of Practice on handling flexible working requests, which is intended to sit alongside the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023. The consultation ends on www.acas.org.uk. ACAS has also launched a “Flex at Work” toolkit which includes guidance, resources and training to support the implementation of the Act: www.acas.org.uk/flexible-working
A survey by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has revealed that more than two-thirds of neurodiverse workers have not told their current employer about their condition. It is estimated that as many as one in seven people are neurodiverse, with conditions including ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia:
iosh.com/news/two-thirds-of-workers-won-t-disclose-neurodiversity-to-bosses. IOSH webinars on neurodiversity are free to view on YouTube: iosh.com/health-and-safety-professionals/improve-your-knowledge/events/webinars/webinar-recordings/#neurodiversity
October 2023
If you are a ‘Responsible Person’ on whom duties are imposed under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, find out what new responsibilities you have as the result of amendments made to the Fire Safety Order by Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022. These new requirements came into force on 1 October 2023:
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has opened entries to its flagship Health and Safety Awards. Award categories include: Industry Sector Award, Achievement Award, Fleet Safety Award and Leisure Safety Award:
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there were an estimated 1 million serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) in 1999 and 2.78 million in 2017. It is a global problem overly represented in agriculture, construction, forestry, fishing/hunting, manufacturing, mining, and transportation/warehousing. Dr. Dom Cooper investigates:
From 6 April 2024, it will become law for all businesses, charities and public sector organisations in Wales to sort their waste for recycling. It also applies to all waste and recycling collectors and processors who manage household-like waste from workplaces:
Workplace recycling | GOV.WALES
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued its second warning in six months to the offshore oil and gas sector in the wake of the investigation into an incident involving 50-year-old Jason Thomas. The worker went missing from the Valaris 121, 100 miles off Aberdeen, during a rig move in January. It is believed he fell through a hole in the deck arising from a dislodged grating:
Crediton Dairy Ltd, of Crediton, admitted two charges under the 2012 Control of Asbestos Regulations and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 relating to the storage, distribution and spread of asbestos, and has been fined £300,000 plus £3,215.25 in costs and statutory surcharge:
On 3 October 2023, the European Parliament plenary session formally adopted at first reading a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2009/148/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work. 78% of occupational cancers recognised in EU member states are related to asbestos exposure, killing more than 70,000 people a year in Europe:
Research by the Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD) has led to calls for more supportive working cultures to reduce employee absence - which is at the highest rate in more than a decade. UK employees were absent an average of 7.8 days over the past year, compared to the pre-pandemic rate of 5.8 days:
On 6 September 2023, at Loughborough Magistrates’ Court, Valencia Waste Management Limited, formerly known as Viridor Waste Management Limited, was prosecuted for two fatalities. In relation to the first, it admitted breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £1 million. In terms of the second, it pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £2 million:
August 2023
Louise Hosking, Executive Director at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), says a strong collaboration between the health and safety and environmental health sectors could create safer, cleaner and healthier environments for the benefit of all:
HSE guidance on working with electric and hybrid vehicles (E&HVs):
Electric and hybrid vehicles (hse.gov.uk)
BP Exploration Operating Company Limited has been found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 after a worker died when he fell about 22m into the sea through an open grating on the Unity installation, about 112 miles (180km) north-east of Aberdeen, on 4 September 2014. The company has been fined £650,000:
www.bbc.co.uk & www.scottishlegal.com
How plastics are poisoning us: They both release & attract toxic chemicals, and appear everywhere from human placentas to chasms thirty-six thousand feet beneath the sea:
A total of 135 workers died in work-related accidents in Great Britain in 2022/23, according to the HSE’s latest data. The figure is an increase of 12 on the 123 workers who sustained fatal injuries in 2021/22:
Nick Wilson, Director of Health & Safety Services at WorkNest, attributes the latest figures on work-related fatalities in Great Britain to a combination of factors, including a culture of complacency and poor leadership:
This HSE alert aimed at wind farms and off shore platforms is worth reading if you have industrial polymer floor grating systems:
An HR alert from law firm Taylor Wessing on employees’ entitlements during heatwaves:
IOSH have called for action to improve & enforce laws around human trafficking. Download their free report “Tackling #modern #slavery together: the roles of governments, employers, professionals and the public’
July 2023
6th July marked the 35th anniversary of the 1988 Piper Alpha production platform explosion in the North Sea 120 miles NE of Aberdeen in which 167 men died. Subsequent legislation sounded the death knell of ex-side trawler standby vessels close to rigs. By 1992 these had been almost entirely replaced by ex stern trawlers, and these in turn have been superseded by purpose-built Standby Safety Vessels:
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) documents have exposed a series of concerning safety failures on 15 North Sea platforms, with operators receiving warnings. A freedom of information request has unveiled 28 inspection letters sent by HSE to North Sea firms since October.
There is significant fire and explosion risk associated with lithium-ion batteries. TÜV SÜD provide safety guidance for their use in commercial and industrial environments:
The independent UK Covid-19 Inquiry has launched a listening exercise, ‘Every Story Matters’, which seeks individual’s stories about experience of the pandemic. The stories will be submitted to each relevant investigation as evidence:
Just launched, the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) Global Safety Report 2023, covering 2012 - 2022 data, analyses the main causes of serious injuries and fatalities occurring when using powered access machines to conduct temporary work at height:
Optimising Offshore Renewables Projects, is a new guide from Black & Veatch to help organisations reduce risk and ensure successful outcomes for offshore wind and marine energy projects.
Should occupational mental health and wellbeing form part of the role of OSH professionals? That’s one of the questions posed in the 2023 Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) member survey which all members are urged to complete:
A summary of key points made by Alison Margary, British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) Past President, at the Safety & Health Expo in May this year, on why she feels women’s workplace health is neglected:
According to the HSE, an estimated 2 million tonnes of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment recycling (WEEE) items are discarded by householders and companies in the UK every year. This article explores why recycling it is so important:
June 2023
In response to a written question from Baroness McIntosh of Pickering to the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and rural Affairs, the Minister of State Lord Benyon estimated the cost to the UK chemical industry of simultaneously (1) adapting to the UK REACH programme, and (2) maintaining compliance with the EU REACH programme, as £2bn over six years:
questions-statements.parliament.uk
The North Sea Chapter of the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) is developing a mental health charter after research by the International SOS Foundation found 40% of North Sea onshore and offshore rotational workers experienced suicidal thoughts some or all of the time while on duty, and that offshore workers are 15x more likely to commit suicide than those onshore:
A global workplace insights report by Unispace, which surveyed 9,500 employees and 6,650 employers across 14 industries in 17 countries, has found that 72% of firms surveyed have mandated a return to the workplace and that this approach risks higher levels of employee attrition and reduced ability to recruit:
PSV Glass & Glazing Limited, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after a worker was crushed beneath a 700kg crate in June 2021. The company was fined £200,000 plus £4,897.05 in costs.
The University of Edinburgh’s School of Biological Sciences, with funding from the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), have created a SIM card-sized technology that could be used in sectors such as food and drink manufacturing, water monitoring, pharmaceutical development, agriculture, and aquaculture to detect toxic chemical contamination in liquids:
Details of an Oxford-based clinical trial into the efficacy of neurodynamic exercises for patients with a diagnosis of mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome:
beta.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05859412
Illegal vapes confiscated from school pupils in Kidderminster have been found to contain 2.4 times the stipulated safe exposure level to lead, 9.6 times the safe amount of nickel, and 6.6 times the safe amount of chromium, amongst other toxic substances including formaldehyde and acetaldehyde:
Every year, millions of tonnes of waste are dumped in UK landfill sites. Panorama reporter Amber Haque investigates a Staffordshire landfill which residents claim has affected their health and examines the potentially toxic legacy of historic landfill sites:
Pesticide companies, including Syngenta, Bayer, Nissan Chemical Corporation, and ISK failed to disclose a series of studies assessing brain toxicity to European regulators, according to research by Stockholm University, despite the same studies having been submitted to US regulators:
The idea of circular economy in the plastics industry is often cited as the magic bullet, but a report by Greenpeace has found that recycled plastic can be even more toxic than it was prior to recycling, and is no fix for pollution:
A new report, “Global Corporate Social Responsibility Software Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report by Deployment, Application, Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2022-2028”, states that the market is expected to reach $1.4 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 9.7% CAGR during the forecast period:
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) is calling on businesses to ensure they use the new workplace standard BS 30416 designed to support employees experiencing menopause or menstruation:
May 2023
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released its report “Health and Safety at Work - Summary statistics for Great Britain 2022”. It shows that 123 workers were killed in work-related accidents in 2021/22; 565,000 workers self-reported they had sustained a non-fatal injury; 61,713 employee non-fatal injuries were reported by employers under RIDDOR; and 6mn working days were lost due to non-fatal workplace injuries.
Risk safety consultancy Salus Technical has collated 147 inspection letters the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued during 2019, revealing recurring safety problems for the UK North Sea. A total of 1,062 non-compliances were found across 18 different inspection topics from the letters issued to 56 operators:
E-bike and e-scooter fires have injured at least 190 people in the UK and killed eight in a more than quadrupling in blazes since 2020. Overheating lithium-ion batteries create fierce fires, releasing toxic smoke, and are now occurring at the rate of at least six a week:
Work Right, a campaign by the HSE aimed at helping smaller businesses and workers, has issued guidance on asbestos. Around 5,000 people in Great Britain die every year from asbestos-related diseases as a result of past exposure, making asbestos the single greatest cause of work-related deaths:
A comprehensive look at the environmental impact of forever chemicals (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)) and the urgency of finding replacements for the aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) used in firefighting to tackle flammable liquids or Class B fires:
An article on the numbers of UK workers affected by poor or non-existent local exhaust ventilation (LEV); there are estimated to be around 13,000 UK deaths each year linked to past exposure to oil mist, dust, and fumes at work:
At the Safety & Health Expo on 16th May, James Ramsay spoke about his headfirst fall from 7m on a North Sea oil platform which left him with a lifelong brain injury:
safety-health-expo.co.uk and shponline.co.uk
April 2023
UK unions and campaign groups have called for an overhaul of whistleblowing legislation to close loopholes which mean many offshore workers receive next to no legal safeguards when raising alarms:
www.energyvoice.com
The University of Strathclyde is to launch the Strathclyde Centre for Occupational Safety and Health (SCOSH), a new centre focused on education, research, and professional development in occupational health and safety:
The HSE inspected more waste sites than planned under its waste and recycling sector workplan for 2022-23, with 610 visits against a planned 500. Inspectors discovered material breaches at 43% of sites:
Trucast Limited, of Ryde, Isle of Wight, a manufacturer of turbocharger wheels for the automotive industry, has pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for failing to assess the health risks to employees using vibrating equipment, failing to control employees’ exposure to vibration, and failing to put in place an adequate health surveillance programme to monitor its workers’ health:
PD Ports, which owns and operates Teesport, the sixth largest port in the UK, as well as 11 other key ports and logistics centres nationwide, has earned Gold Status from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) for the third consecutive year:
A survey of 250 facilities managers commissioned by Watco, a leading manufacturer of industrial strength paint, repair, and maintenance materials, has identified concerns around health and safety and the role it plays in productivity and output:
Mike Stevens, CEO of H&S specialists Praxis42, writes on ways Health & Safety specialists can confidently lead conversations at board level to drive safety culture objectives:
IOSH Research Programme Lead Dr Karen Michell writes on how organisations can meet government aims to safely retain people in the workplace as the number in the economically active age group who are no longer in employment continues to rise: iosh.com/news/six-steps-to-healthier-workforce - and yet The Treasury has been accused of hypocrisy after figures showed the average age of its staff is 33.6, while it is currently pushing for more over-50s to return to the workforce:
www.personneltoday.com/hr/treasury-average-age/
Terrill Bros. (Founders) Limited, of Hayle, Cornwall, has admitted breaching Regulation 9(1) of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017, and Regulation 8(1) of the preceding Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 after putting its employees at risk of exposure to high dose rates of ionising radiation over a ten-year period:
HSE guidance can be found at: Health and Safety: Ionising Radiation (hse.gov.uk)
Almost half UK oil spills breach permitted limits, far more than the government’s safety benchmarks, and beyond safe levels for marine life. The top five spillers were Dana, Repsol Sinopec, CNR, Shell and Apache, with each of these spilling at least half of their spilled oil beyond the limits of the permit:
March 2023
The TUC has released a report, co-authored with Long Covid Support Employment Support, into 3,000 workers’ experiences of Long Covid. It reveals that they face lack of reasonable adjustments, discrimination and unfair treatment, and one in seven lost their jobs because of the condition. They call for everyone with Long Covid to be recognised as disabled under the Equality Act 2010, and for it to be recognised as an occupational disease:
Honeywell has released Safety Watch, a real-time wearable location tool for industrial applications that uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to monitor an employee’s health, detect and sound an alarm if they have gone idle for a long period of time, and identifies if they have entered a restricted area:
According to research by Unchecked UK with support from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) among others, seven in 10 (69%) businesses are not willing to accept lower health and safety standards as part of the Retained EU Law Bill which is in the House of Lords at committee stage:
Former HSE Employment Medical Adviser and Consultant Physician, Dr Chris Ide, sets out some of the key physiological issues for employers to be aware of at a time when approximately one-third of the UK workforce is over the age of 50, pushing the average retirement age beyond 65:
A Norwegian study of offshore oil workers found those on “rollover” shift patterns working both day and nights had a markedly higher risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer to colleagues who worked only days:
Exolum Pipeline System Ltd (formerly CLH Pipeline System (CLH-PS) Ltd), a major pipeline transportation company, has been fined £2.3mn plus costs of £157,431 after workers were exposed to a leaking pressurised petrol pipeline near Holme, Lincolnshire in March 2018 in breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and an offence contrary to Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. (HSE)
A prosecution against the owners of the UK's largest power station has been dropped by the HSE. HSE alleged health and safety failings at the Drax plant relating to workers' exposure to wood dust with five employees developing asthma. However, a causal link between the occupational asthma and handling of the biomass could not be established to the criminal standard:
The British Metals Recycling Association is urging the government to lead a new campaign as figures show that the number of fires caused by exploding lithium-ion batteries in e-scooters and e-bikes soared by almost 150% in 2021:
Glasgow South West SNP MP Chris Stephens has called for the government to do more to ensure people with disabilities can work from home. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), people with disabilities make up c. 1bn, or 15% of the world’s population, about 80% being of working age:
2022
November 2022
‘Personnel Today’ has provided a helpful guide to the workplace implications of the World Cup in Qatar which will see 32 nations taking part in 64 matches from Sunday 20 November until Sunday 18 December. It covers staff mental health and morale, flexible working, productivity, human rights concerns, race discrimination, and behaviour outside work:
A call from Dr Iván Williams Jiménez, IOSH policy development manager, for urgent attention to climate change within OSH standards and frameworks. ‘A joint effort will be needed – from regulators and public health surveillance systems, to employers. We will also need to integrate OSH into long-term planning, systems and practices.’:
To make people aware of the current state of knowledge about our changing climate, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has produced a straightforward summary from one of their recent assessment reports:
ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/outreach/IPCC_AR6_WGI_SummaryForAll.pdf
Mandatory wellbeing reporting could stimulate action to support employee mental health, but it could also encourage undesirable ‘box ticking’ behaviours, employee wellbeing experts said during a session at the 5th annual MAD World Summit in London in October: personneltoday.com/hr/mandatory-employee-wellbeing-reporting-mad-world-summit-2022
An investigation has been launched by the Petroleum Safety Authority after a worker suffered a serious crush injury on an offshore drilling rig in ConocoPhillips-operated Tommeliten field in the North Sea on 10 November:
As many as 6.8 million workers are concerned about their personal safety every week. This doesn’t just apply to lone and vulnerable workers but extends to every part of life, including commuting. A watch-on-demand ‘Personnel Today’ webinar asks how this affects employee wellbeing and retention:
app.livestorm.co/p/65f643dd-beae-4c93-a06c-52008fcebe09
Logistics company Eddie Stobart has been fined £133,000 after excavation work at its freight port in Widnes exposed staff to asbestos. No asbestos survey or staff training had been carried out, and the company failed to report the incident under RIDDOR 2013. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5 of The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and Regulation 11(1) of The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. (HSE)
Sheffield-based transport firm Arnold Laver & Company Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and fined £400,000 plus costs of £19,841.99 after one of its drivers was struck and killed by his vehicle’s crane during unloading in November 2020. (HSE)
Dutch decommissioning specialist Petrodec has been taken to task by the Petroleum Safety Authority after it failed to remove oil from the Rose pipeline ahead of decommissioning the Amethyst A2D platform in the Southern North Sea. A release of “condensate and fire” subsequently arose:
July 2022
The latest release of workplace fatalities by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) showed that between April 2021 and March 2022, 123 workers died in work-related accidents in Great Britain. The industries with the highest deaths were construction (30), agriculture, forestry, and fishing (22), and manufacturing (22). A further 80 members of the public were killed following a work-related accident:
The HSE also published figures for Mesothelioma, a cancer that can be caused by past exposure to asbestos. The figures show that 2,544 people died from the disease in 2020. Current mesothelioma deaths reflect exposure to asbestos primarily occurring pre-1980s and annual deaths are expected to decline during the next decade.
Midland Steel Reinforcement Supplies (UK) Ltd, of Motherwell has pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Regulations 5(1) and 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 9(3) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 after HSE inspections in 2019 revealed injuries to two workers on separate occasions. The company was fined £450,000 plus £41,23.51 in costs:
HSE
The Work and Pensions Committee published its Sixth Report of Session 2021–22, The Health and Safety Executive’s approach to asbestos management (HC 560) on 21 April 2022. The Government’s Response was received on 18 July. The government has rejected the Committee’s key recommendation that policy makers should commit to removing all asbestos from public buildings within 40 years
Given the record-breaking temperature attained in mid-July, employers must make sure indoor workplaces remain at a reasonable temperature (there is no maximum) and manage the risk of working outdoors in hazardous heat. Indoor temperatures are covered by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to undertake a risk assessment. (HSE)
Around 110,000 people are missing work because they suffer from long Covid, according to the think tank Institute for Fiscal Studies. According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people in the UK with long Covid hit 2 million in May – or 3% of the population:
Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company has been fined £3mn with costs of £90,000 after pleading guilty to charges under sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, and regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations after a fatal accident involving the release of ammonia gas at its main UK brewery in Northampton in 2016:
The HSE recently published the UK REACH Work Programme 2022/23 which sets out the activity that HSE, supported by the Environment Agency and other relevant agencies, will carry out to operate UK REACH. To complement this, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published the rationale used for identifying particular substances for potential regulatory action under UK REACH in 2022 to 2023:
Steve Rae, a survivor of the 1988 Piper Alpha explosion, the world’s worst ever offshore disaster, spoke at the Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) HSE conference in Aberdeen in June. He urged energy bosses to share impactful ‘personal stories’ to inspire a safety culture, and alternative energy technologies must not suffer the “harsh lessons” that oil and gas has learnt:
SafetyOn, the health and safety organisation for the onshore wind sector, has released its incident data report for 2021. 593 incidents were reported across a total of 7,083,375 worked hours. There were no fatalities. 71 incidents occurred during routine maintenance; 59 working with electrical systems; and 56 working with access/egress:
June 2022
More hot weather is forecast. Employers are advised to refresh their understanding of their obligations under The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 which deal with the control of temperature and ventilation, and with the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which place an obligation on the employer to carry out a risk assessment of the workplace and act accordingly:
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its 10 year strategy ‘Protecting People and Places: HSE strategy 2022-2032’ which sets out its objectives with regard to enforcement for the next decade:
hse.gov.uk/aboutus/assets/docs/the-hse-strategy.pdf.
This was supplemented by the publication of the HSE Business Plan 2022/23 which covers the first transitional year of the strategy:
hse.gov.uk/aboutus/assets/docs/hse-business-plan.pdf
The senior managers of UK food waste recycling site Greenfeeds Ltd, which is now in liquidation, have been jailed and the firm fined £2mn after being found guilty of two counts of corporate manslaughter following the deaths of two workers in a tanker of pig feed in December 2016:
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has expressed disappointment about the lack of engagement and collaboration from the HSE with its key regulatory partners, particularly local authorities, as the HSE developed its new 10-year strategy to help cultivate safer workplaces:
The HSE has published its Annual Science Review. This year’s review illustrates the mix of activities that has helped to ensure that HSE’s response to the pandemic was informed by the best available evidence. It has also assisted HSE as an enabling regulator, and to secure justice against those who breach the law:
A study by the Co-Op and New Economics Foundation found that loneliness costs UK employers more than £2.5 billion a year: from increased sick days and time off to care for others, to lower productivity and staff retention levels. Three in five employees admitted to feeling lonely at work:
The HSE has warned TotalEnergies over a series of failures in its maintenance processes on the Gryphon Alpha Platform, leading to risks of “fire and explosion”:
In the year since Amazon pledged to become “Earth's Safest Place to Work,” the serious injury rate at the company's American warehouses rose 15%:
Seafood processing company QA Fish Ltd of Scalloway, Shetland has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and fined £80,000 after a worker died following injuries sustained when she was run over by a forklift truck in January 2018:
press.hse.gov.uk
April 2022
A brief run-down of April’s changes to employment legislation, including increases to National Minimum Wage, National Living Wage, SSP, maternity, adoption, paternity, shared parental and parental bereavement pay; the gender pay gap reporting deadline; the right-to-work checking process for biometric residence card holders; new limits on employment statutory redundancy; and IR35 checks:
The European Commission’s long-awaited proposal on corporate sustainability due diligence has been published. Under the draft law, companies with more than 500 employees will be required to prevent and mitigate harm to people and planet – such as child labour and pollution – throughout their global value chains:
A case study on Brisko Scaffolding in Ipswich, which pleaded guilty to multiple safety failings and was ordered to pay more than £515,000 after an employee sustained a life-changing crush injury in November 2019 while using a forklift truck to move a bundle of steel weighing around 1.1 MT:
Innovations in health and safety training is the topic of the first in a new series of free webinars offered by IOSH and the European Network of Safety and Health Professional Organizations (ENSHPO). It is on 7 April at 1 p.m:
BW Offshore has been served an improvement notice by the HSE after crew on the Harbour Energy’s Catcher field floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel were put in serious danger of exposure to lethal levels of toxic gas:
Research shows that women are more susceptible to burnout caused by the stresses of coping with the COVID pandemic, and one in three women has considered downshifting or leaving the workforce in the past year. Occupational health professionals need to work proactively to support women to thrive in the workplace:
The Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) has taken an important step towards the possible inclusion of occupational safety and health as a fundamental principle and right at work. The matter will be discussed at the 110th International Labour Conference in June:
Able UK Limited of Cleveland has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 2(1) of The Health and Safety at Work act 1974 and been fined £200,000 with £20,991.24 costs after a contractor suffered life threatening injuries in a fall during the dismantling of the Brent Bravo, a former North Sea oil and gas platform:
A quick look at five serious books for HR and Occupational Health professionals - with subjects ranging from tackling stress with mental resilience, creating successful hybrid workplaces and tackling worker isolation, confronting racism by encouraging anti-racist leadership, and how to embed purpose as a business ‘must-have’ at a deep level into organisations:
ACAS have published useful advice on Long-COVID for employers and employees.
Firstly, advice on sickness and absence because of Long-COVID: acas.org.uk and, secondly, whether Long-COVID is treated as a disability: acas.org.uk
Scientific evidence from Dr Theo Compernolle explains that since our thinking brain can only focus on one thing at a time, for work that requires sustained attention and concentration, all task-switching and distractions should be eliminated – especially those coming from walkie-talkies, phones and screens:
ioshmagazine.com
Regulations have been published which will amend the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (PPEWR). Certain self-employed workers not previously entitled to free PPE will need to be provided with it by the business that they work for:
A & S Metal Recycling Limited of Stourport-on-Severn has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, fined £66,000 plus costs of £8,192.55 after a 15-year-old employee suffered 22% burns following an explosion and flash fire. (HSE)
International SOS, the world's leading health and security services company, and the Workforce Resilience Council, commissioned Ipsos MORI to survey c. 1,000 risk professionals across 75 countries on health, security, and COVID-19 risks in 2022:
internationalsos.com/risk-outlook
A study of a million individuals in Rome over a 15-year period identified a positive association between long-term exposure to air pollution (NO2, PM10 and PM2.5) and risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism:
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 16 studies identified that people residing less than 5 km from a petrochemical facility (refinery or manufacturer of commercial chemicals) had a 30% higher risk of developing Leukaemia than residents from communities with none:
January 2022
Experts warn that post-Brexit UK rule changes on chemicals would change the way ‘substances of very high concern’ are dealt with by the regulator:
The Policy paper “Approach to including substances of very high concern on the UK REACH candidate list”, which was published on 9 December 2021, is available here:
AeraMax Pro AM3 and AM4 air purifiers manufactured by Fellowes have been proven to be effective in eliminating aerosolised concentration of SARS-CoV-2 by 99.9999% through a single air pass test of the purifier:
Employers need to consider any additional risks to water hygiene arising from adopting hybrid working:
Safety & Health Practitioner present their annual video round-up of the 10 biggest health and safety prosecutions of 2021:
The Society of Occupational Medicine have a large number and range of free recordings and slides of previous Webinars on key topics of interest to occupational health professionals:
There remains no removal plan in place for the cold-stacked oil rig “Ocean Princess” in the Cromarty Firth which has been boarded by thrill-seekers posting videos on YouTube:
More than 20 past and present employees of PSV Glass and Glazing Ltd of High Wycombe diagnosed with hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) have instructed specialist lawyers after the HSE brought criminal proceedings against the company for breaching the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005:
2021
December 2021
The Essar Stanlow Manufacturing Complex at Ellesmere Port has maintained its ‘Gold’ status in the renowned RoSPA Health and Safety Awards:
The UK government’s chief medical adviser Professor Chris Whitty has told businesses to invest in better ventilation to improve workers’ health in general, help to protect against future health emergencies, as well as aid recovery from the pandemic:
Research by the insurer QBE reveals that senior leaders fear claims as a consequence of Covid-driven decisions. Other concerns include financial turmoil and health and safety:
The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has approved two final reports on accidents that killed six workers. The reports concerned AB Specialty Silicones of Waukegan, Illinois, and an Evergreen Packaging paper mill in Canton, North Carolina. As the CSB’s board had only one member, and another 18 unfinished accident investigations stretching back 5 years, President Joe Biden nominated three more people to the board:
RoSPA has welcomed the government’s announcement on its ban on using handheld mobile phones for any purpose whilst driving. Drivers holding their phone are four times more likely to crash. In 2020, there were 368 collisions of all severities where use of a mobile phone was a contributory factor:
Finally, we wish all our customers and website visitors a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year.
November 2021
The UK government’s plan for managing COVID-19 through the winter is available in full here:
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
Consultancy Dekra has made available a Focus Article, Optimising Safety for the Renewable Energy Sector (sign-up required):
The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) in the UK is calling for universal access to occupational health (OH) provision by a) increasing the proportion of employers providing access to OH, and b) providing an NHS offer to ‘mop up’ those who do not those who do not have access through smaller employers (16m) and self-employed workers (4.4million):
SOM recently held an online Summit on the topic, and the recordings and accompanying slide presentations are available here:
The HSE has issued an improvement notice to Ensco Offshore UK Limited, part of Valaris, following an incident in September on one of its jack-up rigs in which a 2.3-tonne object fell from a drill pipe elevator, posing risk of “serious injury” to rig workers. The company has until 30 November 2021 to comply with the notice:
A helpful article reminding employers that reasonable adjustments can significantly improve the chances of meeting the needs, and maximising the potential of, those with disabilities:
Professor Jin Xuan, director of the UK Research and Innovation (URI) Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy, explains the centre’s ambition to transform the UK’s £32bn chemical industry into a fossil-independent circular industry by developing sector-wide solutions for efficient recycling and recovery of chemical resources, such as olefins:
October 2021
Almost a million people in the UK are suffering from Long Covid, which has potentially huge implications for Occupational Health staff. The Society of Occupational Medicine has launched a new Podcast series and provided other resources which may prove valuable:
A report on a workshop organised by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research (HSE Report number: RPS/20/03) to evaluate the impact of climate change on establishments subject to the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH Regulations), in preparation for the new UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) published in June 2021:
76% of UK utility, telecoms engineering and construction companies have experienced an incident involving a lone worker in the past three years, with a fifth of these incidents described as severe or very severe. Lone worker solution provider StaySafe have produced a useful report on this under-researched subject:
Andrea Fried, Associate Professor in Business Administration at the Linköping University, Sweden, and author of “Understanding Deviance in a World of Standards” Why do companies deviate from standards and what shall we do about it?
September 2021
The results of a new YouGov survey show that the majority (59%) of people in the UK who had to work from home at least some of the time due to coronavirus want to continue to do so. A separate survey of London workers found that 66% want to be able to work from home once the crisis is over, including 19% who want to do so full-time:
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has updated its advice on keeping workplaces safe. This section covers ventilation and air conditioning:
Lincolnshire-based potato processor AH Worth Ltd has been fined £300,000 plus c. £10,000 in costs for breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after several employees were exposed to sulphur dioxide (SO2) gas:
Researchers at Airotect have developed a new personal air-sampling system that can detect more than 100 different compounds in one device that is worn as a badge:
Medical and safety technology company Dräger Safety UK, which assesses the impact of COVID-19, Brexit and workplace culture on health and safety in UK workplaces, warns of a rising use of drugs and alcohol:
hsmsearch.com
Royal Dutch Shell, which employs 86,000 workers in more than 70 countries, is considering making it mandatory for workers in some operations to have COVID-19 vaccinations or risk being fired:
reuters.com
The HSE intends to prosecute Drax Power for failing to properly control the exposure of its workers to wood dust from the biomass pellets used as fuel at its Selby power station:
According to a report from the WHO, traffic noise alone is responsible for the loss of more than one million healthy life years annually in Western Europe as a result of noise related disability and disease, including cognitive impairment such as dementia:
August 2021
Cases of suicide clearly linked to work are going uninvestigated, unrecorded and ignored by the UK workplace safety regulator, new research by Leeds University has found. The research authors recommend including suicide in the list of work-related deaths that must be reported to the HSE under the RIDDOR reporting requirements:
Mario Possamai, a former senior adviser on the Canadian SARS outbreak, wants the WHO investigated for its failure to address the airborne nature of Covid-19 for more than a year, dooming the world to a preventable level of death and disease:
EU-OSHA has published a report “Prolonged constrained standing postures: health effects and good practice advice” on protecting workers from the health risks of prolonged standing:
EU-OSHA has published a report “Prolonged static sitting at work: health effects and good practice advice” on protecting workers from the health risks of prolonged sitting:
The recordings and resources from the Hazards Campaign Hazards Conference 2021, which took place on the weekend 31 July to 1 August are now available online. They include discussion sessions, all the workshops, plus resources posted in the Zoom chat by participants:
July 2021
The UK government’s decision to temporarily extend the number of hours that heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers can legally work has come in for criticism from several industry bodies:
In the light of new understanding of the crucial role of occupational health and safety, the European Commission is renewing its commitment to update occupational safety and health rules by adopting the EU strategic framework on health and safety at work 2021-2027:
The first global standard to provide employers with practical guidance on how to manage psychosocial risks to staff in the workplace has been published. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has made ISO 45003 free to read:
A new research report launched by medical and safety technology company Dräger Safety UK assesses the impact of Covid-19, Brexit and workplace culture on health and safety in UK workplaces, and warns of an impending crisis:
SAFETYON, the health and safety body for the onshore wind industry, has published its inaugural Annual Incident Data Report 2020. Out of the almost 7 million worked hours reported, 532 incidents were reported. There were no fatalities:
A year-long Australian population study has found that full time workers employed by organizations that fail to prioritise their employees' mental health have a threefold increased risk of being diagnosed with depression:
Over 2 million adults in England may have had long COVID according to survey data from the Imperial College London-led REACT-2 study, collected from random samples of the population:
June 2021
As part of the Government’s commitment to move towards a circular economy and net zero emissions, Defra is consulting on how to increase consistency in the collection of recyclable materials from domestic and non-domestic premises in England with the aim of raising recycling levels to an overall rate of 65%:
LED strip-light specialist Mineglow has launched what it says is the world’s first IECEx-certified explosive-proof LED strip light designed to improve safety in high-risk areas:
It is essential that employees suffering from Long Covid symptoms are provided with personalised and early support if their health issues are not to be unnecessarily prolonged:
May 2021
A new study by the University of York and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science has revealed that household aerosols now emit more harmful volatile organic compound air pollution than all UK vehicles:
The Good Law Project has renewed its application for a judicial review against the government’s refusal to hold an urgent public inquiry into the hundreds of frontline NHS staff who lost their lives to Covid-19:
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimate that 2.78 million workers die every year from work-related injuries or diseases. Now, the UN’s Guiding principles on business and human rights: implementing the United Nations ‘protect, respect and remedy’ framework (UNGP) aim to set a global standard for curbing the adverse impacts from business on human rights:
Official workplace fatality figures are hiding thousands of COVID deaths, said the GMB Union on 28 April, Workers’ Memorial Day, and the official statistics should reflect this in all forms, regardless of whether a RIDDOR notification was made or not:
The pandemic has brought occupational safety and health from the margins to the centre and should provide the context for a reinforcement of OSH and greater investment, not least because every euro invested in OSH pays back more than double for an organisation:
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