Archive News
2020
December 2020
A new report on the Environment, Health and Safety Market, Revenue, Global Prospects by Future Growth, Cost, Key Participants and Emerging Trends predicts robust growth between 2020 and 2027:
The oil and gas industry has committed to the new Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP) framework to monitor, report and reduce anthropogenic methane emissions:
Richard Vann, CEO of specialist engineering consultancy RVA Group, looks at waste and asks whether some demolition professionals could raise their environmental game:
Waste recycling company Enva Scotland Limited has pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act after a fatal accident at its Paisley site in March 2018. The company was fined £264,000:
Food factories could be Covid-19 “super spreaders” this Christmas. TUC demand that Ministers update health and safety guidance and place a legal duty on employers to publish their risk assessments:
The European Commission has reported on the implementation of Directive 2013/30/EU on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations:
uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com (requires signing up for a free trial of Practical Law).
Rhian Greaves of Pannone Corporate outlines how to help the clinically vulnerable remain safe at work from COVID-19 after research by disability charity Scope found that 22% of disabled employees have had their requests to alter working patterns declined:
A look at how wearable and smart technologies can improve safety, including exposure to hazardous environments:
A whitepaper from Third Pillar of Health entitled ‹Sleep and fatigue in UK working populations› looks at the extent, impact and causes of tiredness and fatigue in different worker groups:
The UK’s Health and Safety Event has once again been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and will now take place on 7-9 September 2021 at the NEC, Birmingham. Registrations are open:
November 2020
Ambitious new measures to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to ensure that large businesses and public bodies tackle modern slavery risks in supply chains have been announced by the UK government:
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is carrying out spot checks and inspections on all types of businesses in all areas to ensure they are COVID-secure. As well as participating in the phone calls and visits, take a look at the HSE guidance on ensuring a COVID-secure workplace:
The draft Chemicals (Health and Safety) and Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) (Amendment etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 were laid before Parliament on 15 October 2020:
uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com
On 29 October 2020, the European Commission adopted a Roadmap announcing the adoption in Q2 of 2021 of a Communication on a new EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work for the period 2021-2027:
uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com (requires signing up for a free trial of Practical Law).
Work-related cancer claims 742,000 lives a year worldwide. The No Time to Lose campaign from the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), aims to explain the causes of occupational cancer and help businesses take action:
The HSE has provided guidance on RIDDOR reporting of COVID-19:
38% of UK employees have been struggling with their physical health according to a survey by employee engagement firm Inpulse, highlighting the need for employers to communicate with staff about building physical and emotional resilience:
In the Access Group’s latest webinar, governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) specialist Chris Chappell discusses the unique and unprecedented health and safety challenges faced by organisations across the nation in the current climate – and how to overcome them:
The HSE says its investigation into the deaths of five workers at a metal recycling site in Nechells, Birmingham, in July 2016 has been delayed by the pandemic and it is doing “all it can” to conclude the case:
Safety and Health Practitioner (SHP) Webinar Wednesdays brings you weekly free health and safety interactive webinars from October until early December. Sign up for one, several or all of them:
Some 440,000 UK manufacturing workers with health conditions that can be exacerbated by poor air quality are being exposed to potentially dangerous levels of airborne pollution, according to research by the environmental charity Global Action Plan and Zehnder Clean Air Solutions:
October 2020
A UK government COVID-19 prevention strategy based on an assumption the disease was transmitted by close contact with viral-loaded droplets was wrong, latest Public Health England (PHE) guidance suggests:
Leadec Limited of Warwick has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined £2,000,000 plus £30,000 in costs after a specialist industrial services company worker suffered a fatal injury in June 2017:
COVID-19 testing company The Doctors’ Laboratory (TDL) has been found guilty of multiple health and safety breaches. The firm, part of Sonic Healthcare and the largest independent provider of clinical laboratory diagnostic services in the UK, is a key provider of COVID-19 testing and couriers to the NHS and the Department for Health and Social Care:
As working lives have changed significantly as a result of COVID-19, IOSH is encouraging businesses to invest in mental health programmes on World Mental Health Day (10 October 2020):
The government has launched a new call for evidence on which public bodies should assist local authorities to cut air pollution. Under this new approach, public bodies who carry out duties of a public nature, are responsible for a local source of pollution or who are able to take actions to cut local air pollution, could become designated Air Quality Partners:
Dunbartonshire-based Emtelle UK Limited, a manufacturer of plastic tubing and blown fibre tubing, has found guilty of breaching Regulations 11(1) and (2) of the Provision and Use of work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998 after an employee suffered serious injuries to his left hand in November 2016:
As the world seeks a safer, better life, the Vision Zero global movement that believes all accidents, diseases and harm at work are preventable is announcing an exciting training package in collaboration with IOSH to make workplaces safer and healthier:
A multifaceted array of COVID-19-related return-to-work challenges will face Occupational health practitioners this autumn, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) ‹Health and safety in a post-COVID world: what have we learned?› webinar:
Andrew Willis, Head of Legal at Croner, offers legal guidance on what to do if employees refuse to socially distance at work:
The Health and Safety Executive is reminding employers and others in control of premises, such as landlords, to identify and control the risks associated with legionella when a building has been closed or had reduced occupancy:
Digital safeguarding of physical workspaces can help employees return to ‹normal› - and health and safety is the prime accelerator towards its adoption:
September 2020
Professor David Coggon of MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, and others have developed a risk model to provide estimates of personal vulnerability to Covid-19 according to sex, age, ethnicity, and various comorbidities. Employers can explore using the model to determine the ‹covid-age› of their workers and assess their fitness for a return to the workplace. A paper on the model can be downloaded here:
Adhesive tape manufacturer Scapa UK Limited of Ashton Under Lyne, Manchester, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and fined £120,000 plus costs after a worker was fatally injured while operating a rewind slitting machine in April 2018:
The Environment Agency has published an update on its consultation on draft technical guidance for permitted facilities that transfer or treat chemical waste:
consult.environment-agency.gov.uk
A public consultation on the international standard ISO/DIS 45003, ‘Occupational health and safety management - Psychological health and safety at work: managing psychosocial risks - Guidelines’ is open until 3 October 2020:
standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com
Biodegradable, compostable and bio-based plastic products like shopping bags, packaging or drinking cups are being increasingly promoted as greener solution than traditional plastic products for consumers. But how environmentally-friendly are they:
Leeds and Bradford Boiler Co Ltd of Stunningly, Leeds, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and been fined £120,000 plus costs after a worker suffered crush injuries while using a vertical borer machine in November 2018:
The UK government has released its proposals for new Environmental Targets which will be set through the Environment Bill in four priority areas: Air Quality, Resource Efficiency and Waste Reduction, Biodiversity and Water. It is unclear how these new ‘targets’ will relate to the existing statutory limit values contained in the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010:
The latest ‹Risks› newsletter for safety reps from the TUC:
The Environment Agency has urged businesses and organisations to sign up to a virtual panel to help shape the UK’s first comprehensive digital waste tracking system:
Research company WorkBuzz has released a free report on how Coronavirus is driving organisational change programmes, digital transformation and flexible working initiatives:
August 2020
COVID-19 is driving worldwide change. Will industrial Environment, Health, and Safety Change as well?
DeltaNet International, which specialises in health and safety and compliance, reports on the eight health and safety laws businesses could be breaking now, many carrying the potential of an unlimited fine or jail sentence:
Emma Hammett, founder of training company First Aid for Life, talks through reducing the risks of COVID-19 infection while administering first aid - including CPR:
Despite one in six workers suffering from a mental health condition, a poll conducted by HSE Network has found that 55.7% of people working in UK businesses lack access to mental health support, or even know if their business has policies to support workers with mental illness:
Perrys Motor Sales Ltd of Northamptonshire has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 8 of The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 2013 after a worker developed Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS):
Brett Hill, distribution director at insurance firm Towergate Health & Protection, urges employers to exercise caution with Covid-19 testing as part of their plans to support employees returning to work:
The British Safety Council is providing a downloadable Return to Work Guide framework to enable organisations to develop robust protocols and arrangements, plus a new COVID-19 Assurance Assessment Service, and access to the “COVID-19 Workplace Protocols: Managing return to work” webinar (recorded 11 June):
Bruce Craig, partner, litigation & health and safety expert at Pinsent Masons, asks whether Brexit will hamper the UK’s health and safety. The answer, it seems, is that it depends on the sector:
Social distancing is making public transport worse for the environment than cars but researchers at the University of Cardiff have created a new app to help fix the problem:
July 2020
Latest, provisional, figures for the 12 months to the end of March from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) show the UK recording the lowest number of workplace fatalities to date at 111. This number potentially shows the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy:
A package of changes to Britain's health and safety system designed to support the Government's growth agenda and to ease regulatory burdens on business have been announced by employment minister Chris Grayling. The TUC has expressed grave concerns over the proposals:
New research into injury incidents in the UK conducted by law firm Fletchers Serious Injury has revealed that 27.6% of people have suffered a serious injury from an accident in the workplace in the last five years:
fletchersseriousinjury.com (PDF)
Exposure to air pollution is likely linked with the occurrence or severity of COVID-19 infection, according to a report published by Defra, the Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG), and the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP):
The HSE has issued a warning over the use of KN95 masks as PPE as some are known to be counterfeit and non-compliant with standards. The safety alert does not relate to N95 masks which are manufactured to a US standard and have been given permission for use specifically in UK healthcare settings:
A special 75th Birthday edition of IOSH Magazine May/June is available to view online:
The HSE has issued new guidance to set out how the manufacturing industry can return to work safely during the pandemic:
The Health and Safety Event and its co-located shows have once again been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and will now take place on 27-28 April 2021 at NEC in Birmingham:
Safety & Health Expo and its co-located shows have been rescheduled for 18–20 May 2021 at ExCeL London:
June 2020
The UK government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has published eight guides to help employers, employees and the self-employed in England understand how to work safely during the coronavirus pandemic:
“Lessons from the crucible of crisis”, a timely article from Marcia McNutt, president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, USA:
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England's director of people, Sarah McIntosh, offers OSH professionals advice on how to manage workers' mental health during the lockdown:
American startup Strongarm Tech has developed wearable technology to track social distancing and contact-tracing to assist employers with return to work planning:
IOSH are seeking the views of its members on its recommended changes to IOSH membership grades. The survey will take 10-15 minutes to complete:
Post-Grenfell regulation aims to transform fire safety in buildings, initially to all multi-occupied residential buildings of at least 18 metres, or more than six storeys:
Oil giant BP has been handed an improvement notice by the HSE following an incident on February 18 which led to the evacuation of 66 workers from ETAP, its Central North Sea asset:
UK industry bodies AXIS Network and Step Change in Safety are partnering to develop guidance for operators and the supply chain on inclusive offshore working practices:
Resource management company Veolia has introduced new COVID-19 PPE treatment services to safely collect, contain and treat potentially contaminated items such as gloves, safety goggles, and masks:
Details released by the Scottish Greens following a Freedom of Information request revealed the HSE had serious concerns over the running of the ExxonMobil Ethylene plant complex at Mossmorran, Fife in August 2018. The Party is calling for the closure of the site:
Scientists have warned of the risks associated with the widespread use of antibody tests by employees and the wider public, saying that the tests must not be seen as a green light to reduce PPE and other protections:
May 2020
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has issued comprehensive guidance to employers about working with COVID-19:
See: HSE
The HSE and the Police are considering prosecution of employers who have failed to provide proper protection for key workers, including corporate manslaughter prosecutions:
The British Safety Council is providing free online resources to assist businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, including checklists, courses and webinars
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published guidance on the circumstances requiring RIDDOR reporting of COVID-19:
A report on research undertaken by the Institute for Employment Studies and Shell on the physical and psychological health among workers in safety-critical sectors such as maritime, aviation, nuclear and construction:
In a message marking her first International Workers’ Memorial Day on 28th April, HSE Chief Executive Sarah Albon reiterated the HSE’s mission that no-one should get ill, be injured or die because of work in Great Britain:
It may not be necessary to have worked for decades in mines to develop coal workers' pneumoconiosis:
Figures compiled by the House of Commons Library for Labour show that the number of health and safety inspectors has dropped by a third under successive Conservative governments. Funding was slashed from £239m to £136m between 2009/10 and 2017/18:
Due to Covid-19 RoSPA have extended the 2020 RoSPA Awards registration deadline to June 1, 2020:
A useful feature on the Legionella risks posed by low occupancy premises:
EGL Homecare Ltd of Shoeburyness, Essex, has been fined £80,000 plus £5,314 in costs for breaching regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations after an agency worker had his arm caught in unguarded press rollers:
The latest IOSH Covid-19 webinar, The role of the OSH professional – supporting your business throughout the Covid-19 crisis, which took place on 23rd April, is available to view in full on YouTube:
April 2020
Find UK Government guidance about coronavirus (COVID-19) for health professionals and other organisations here:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-guidance
SHP Online are also providing useful articles on the current pandemic: Coronavirus advice for employers, A guide to home working and self-isolating, COVID-19: Can employers be prosecuted if employees are exposed?, Responding to COVID-19 – What does your organisation need to do to stay on the right side of the criminal law? and Download: A guide to home working:
Personnel Today’s 90 minute Coronavirus webinar for employers, first broadcast on Thursday 19 March, is now available on-demand. Register here:
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has prosecuted contractor Renown Consultants Ltd of Milton Keynes after two men suffering with fatigue died in a road traffic accident in June 2013. This is the first time that ORR has prosecuted in relation to failures of fatigue management:
The shortlist has been announced for the Safety and Health Excellence Awards and the winners will be announced at a gala dinner on 22 September 2020:
Blackburn-based haulage specialist Speed Drop Logistics has admitted breaching regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations in May 2019 after failing to provide fall protection for workers replacing the roof of its premises. It was fined £80,000 plus costs of £1570.60:
Safety & Health Expo 2020 and its co-located events, which were originally scheduled to be staged in May 2020, will now be held at ExCeL London on 8–10 September 2020:
T M Telford Dairy Ltd of Telford has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and fined £600,000 plus costs of £14,379.45. In January 2016, two employees sustained serious injuries after a faulty valve blew off under pressure, releasing 1% nitric acid solution at 650°C:
The UK Government has announced that the Working Time (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 will amend the Working Time Regulations 1998. Workers who have not taken all of their statutory annual leave entitlement this year due to the coronavirus will be able to carry it over into the next two leave years:
Health and Safety Laboratory tests on three tool systems designed to reduce workers’ exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) have revealed large variations in their effectiveness. Download the summary report Assessment of dust extraction system solutions on hand-held electric diamond cutters to BS EN 50632:
The UK will leave the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on December 31, when the transition period ends for the country’s departure from the EU. This dashes the hopes of the UK’s aviation industry, which has collectively expressed a strong preference for staying within the EASA's jurisdiction:
March 2020
The UK government has declared coronavirus a “serious and imminent threat” to public health. Safety & Health Practitioner has published useful Coronavirus advice for employers:
Multinational logistics company Kuehne + Nagel Drinks Logistics Limited (KNDL) of Dagenham has been fined £800,000 plus £25,000 costs for breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act after one of its workers was run over by a forklift truck in July 2017:
The Health & Safety Executive is running a course on “Human Factors in Accident and Incident Investigations” on 17th-18th March (and other 2020 dates) in Buxton. With an estimated 90% of incidents involving Human Factors causes, effective investigation of the Human Factors within accidents and incidents is an essential part of improving human performance, personal safety, management systems and loss control:
Informa Markets is making available a free e-book “Courage, resilience and breaking the mould – Key trends and insights from the health and safety sector” which shares material from the seminars at Safety & Health Expo 2019. The aim is to “introduce you to new strategies for coping with an increasingly complex and global health and safety landscape”:
More than 600 Amazon workers have been seriously injured or narrowly escaped an accident in the past three years, prompting calls for a parliamentary inquiry into safety at their UK warehouses:
Following the conviction of a small business director for corporate manslaughter, Waltham Forest Trades Council spoke out about the lack of convictions for directors of larger organisations:
Free tickets are available for the Safety & Health Expo 2020 to be held at ExCel, London on 19-21 May:
London-based Peter Norris (Haulage) Ltd has pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after an agency worker suffered lower leg amputation:
Personnel Today is running a FREE 60-minute webinar on organisations’ mental health provision and strategies to support the health and wellbeing of their workforce. “Mental health: why employees don’t ask for help” is on Wednesday 1st April at 2:00 PM BST:
February 2020
Employer health and safety standards will not change because of Brexit. To support the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018, three HSE-led Statutory Instruments convert current EU regulation into domestic law:
The government has responded to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 1 report, setting out the steps being taken to implement the report’s recommendations as well as the wider work to make buildings safer:
The Top 10 health and safety prosecutions of 2019 include Chevron, DHL, Celsa, 2 Sisters Food, Clancy Docwra and Veolia:
The prosecution of chemical company LMA Services Ltd after heptane vapour caused a fire at its site in Pocklington in June 2016 is a reminder of the need to assess risks associated with flammable atmospheres:
There is an urgent need for greater knowledge of the damaging effects of harmful particulates found in construction material manufacturing and at construction worksites to reduce incidences of asthma, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, and silicosis:
DB Cargo, the UK's biggest freight operator, has been fined £1.2 million and £27,873 costs after a trespassing boy, 13, suffered a shock from 25,000-volt overhead power lines at the Bescot Yard freight terminal in Walsall in June 2017:
Prosecutions for breaching health and safety laws are at record low levels, but health and safety cases are routinely taking 3 to 4 years, often longer, to get to court:
Chesterfield Special Cylinders Ltd of Sheffield has been found guilty of breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and fined £700,000 plus full costs of £169,498.82 after a worker fatality in June 2015:
The HSE training course on Worker Fatigue Risk Management will be held in Buxton on 20 February. Fatigue is estimated to cost the UK up to £240 million per year in terms of workplace accidents alone. To book:
Wembley-based McGee Group has been found guilty of a breach of Regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and fined £500,000 plus £66,236.22 costs after a worker fatality in April 2014:
Deloitte’s report “Mental health and employers - Refreshing the case for investment”, released this month, shows that poor mental health costs UK employers up to £45bn a year, with work-related stress, anxiety, or depression now accounting for over half of all working days lost due to ill health. Download the report:
January 2020
CSR Performance Ltd wish all our customers a safe and healthy 2020.
HSE 2018-19 statistics on Health and Safety in the United Kingdom: information on fatalities, accidents and illnesses by occupation, industry, region and country, plus international comparisons:
researchbriefings.parliament.uk
The HSE report “Enforcement statistics in Great Britain, 2019” documents enforcement action taken by the HSE, local authorities and, in Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service:
HSE. A full description of the sentencing guidelines is available via the Sentencing Council at sentencingcouncil.org.uk
Responding to the Queen’s Speech (19 December), the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) says that employment law protections under the new Conservative government need to be “far more ambitious” than has been proposed:
A quarter of UK workers would put their own health at risk to ensure a work task is completed, according to a survey by the animal charity SPANA:
An HSE course is being run in Buxton on 18th-19th February to discuss the technical section of a COMAH safety report which should describe the Design, Construction, Operation, Maintenance and Modification of the COMAH site:
Fedex UK Ltd of Atherstone, Warwickshire has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and has been fined £533,000 after an employee was seriously injured by a reversing forklift truck in November 2017:
Business complexity, transformative technologies and fast-evolving workplace pressures require improved global standards and professional competencies for occupational safety and health. To mark the start of its 75th anniversary year, here is what you can expect from IOSH in 2020:
The important role that occupational health can play in helping to manage and risk manage asthma:
Urgent action is needed to reduce fatal and serious crashes involving at-work drivers, says road safety charity IAM RoadSmart:
An HSE course The Future of Gas III - informing a safe decision by 2025 is being run in Birmingham on 25th-26th March to update delegates on established major projects such as H21, H100 and HyDeploy, plus the safe production and use of hydrogen:
2019
December 2019
Richard Jones, head of policy and regulatory engagement at IOSH, argues the next government must prioritise workplace health.
See: ioshmagazine.com
The Environment Agency has prosecuted Weetabix for polluting the River Ise in Northamptonshire with 23,000 litres of diesel fuel in November 2016. The company has been fined £140,000.
See: theguardian.com
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has had “an extraordinary level of engagement” with its 2018-19 campaign ‘Healthy Workplaces Manage Dangerous Substances’.
See: iosh.com
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust has launched ‘Suzy’s Charter for Workplace Safety’ to help employers of all sizes, and their employees, identify and mitigate personal safety risks.
See: suzylamplugh.org
Property management company Places for People Homes has been fined £600,000 plus £13,995 in costs having pleaded guilty to breaching s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act for lack of HAVS surveillance.
See: press.hse.gov.uk
Research by the Energy, Resources and Marine (ERM) division of CWT, the B2B4E travel management platform, reveals that only half of global leaders in the Oil and Gas Sector say their companies have traveller health and safety programs in place.
The MD of the now-dissolved Laser Shapes (NW) Limited, manufacturer of agricultural trailers, has been sentenced to 10 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to deliberately putting his workers at risk of developing severe lung disease from exposure to aerosolised paints containing isocyanates and solvents.
See: press.hse.gov.uk
Marcus Shepheard, a senior researcher at the Institute for Government, says a royal commission is not the answer to complex policy questions such as updating health and safety legislation.
See: instituteforgovernment.org.uk
On 15 January in Buxton, Derbyshire, the HSE is running a course, aimed principally at managers and supervisors of process plant and operations, on controlling dust explosion risks under The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR).
See: hsl.gov.uk
IOSH has revealed further details about the 69 competencies in its updated framework for the OSH profession: Professional standards for safety and health at work.
See: iosh.com
Plastic packaging manufacturer, Sirap UK Limited, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 10(4) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 after an employee sustained serious injuries from falling Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers (FIBCs).
See: press.hse.gov.uk
The HSE has warned that a major incident at the Stanlow oil refinery could kill students at a nearby department at the University of Cheshire.
See: cheshire-live.co.uk
October 2019
The HSE has issued work-related stress investigations criteria. Cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety rose by 13% to 1,800 per 100,000 workers in the 12 months to April 2018 compared with 2016-17.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Port operators Mersey Docks and Harbour Company have been fined £300,000 plus costs of £7,593.55 after an employee was seriously injured when hit by a load falling from two forklift trucks in Seaforth in May 2015 in breach of Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
See: shponline.co.uk
Research conducted by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare has revealed that only 42% of employers in the UK provide overhead earmuffs to its employees.
See: shponline.co.uk
Virtual reality can provide valuable insights into workers’ behaviour during emergency evacuations and may improve safety awareness and outcomes according to research by the University of Nottingham.
See: iosh.com
BP Exploration Operating Company has pleaded guilty to breaching reg 4 of the Control of Major Accidents Hazards Regulations 1999 and s 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act after failing to prevent the release of almost 4 tonnes of highly flammable and unstabilised crude oil in Shetland in 2012.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Hartlepool-based Saica Pack UK has admitted “failing to ensure the safety of employees in that the passage of pedestrians where there was a risk involving transfer cars”, contrary to s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. It has been fined £60,000 plus costs of £1,512.
See: ioshmagazine.com
As part of a package which supports the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, the HSE has produced a calculator to assist in calculating exposures for hand-arm vibration, plus revised its guidance book L140 Hand-arm vibration.
See: HSE
From ‘moon-germs’ to motion sickness: health and safety on NASA’s 1969 lunar landing mission. Broadcaster and writer Dr. Laura Dawes looks back.
See: historyextra.com
Mike Harris, COSHH Management System Operations Manager, and Sam Roberts, Senior Marketing Manager, at Alcumus Sypol discuss the implications Brexit may have on chemical management and UK’s safety regulations in the event of ‘Soft Brexit’ or ‘No Deal’ scenario.
See: shponline.co.uk
P.D.R. Construction Limited and Metcalfe Roofing & Building Services Limited have been fined after a worker fell through a fragile mesh roof whilst carrying out work at height in July 2016. P.D.R pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and was fined £225,000 with £8,000 costs. Metcalfe pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £2,000.
See: shponline.co.uk
UK charity Hazards Campaign has released its manifesto to improve health and safety at work, claiming that health and safety must no longer be demonised as ‘pointless red tape’ and a ‘burden on business’. It is calling for the HSE to collect statistics on all work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses across all sectors and publicise this alongside the cost to individuals, employers, society and the economy.
See: ehn-online.com
September 2019
Sarah Albon, the new chief executive of the Health and Safety Executive, took up her new post on 2nd September. Her Twitter handle is @CEO_HSE.
See: HSE
People who have sustained serious workplace injuries are at increased risk of suicide or fatal overdose, according to a study by Boston University’s School of Public Health published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Brighouse-based manufacturing company Siddall and Hilton Products Ltd has been fined £16,000 plus £4831.45 in costs after breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 when a worker suffered severe crush injuries from a mesh welding machine.
See: HSE
Taking place in Dubai on Monday, October 21st, RoSPA’s first International Health and Safety Excellence Forum is free to attend. It aims to facilitate learning about health and safety best practice and networking with likeminded professionals in the Middle East.
See: rospa.com
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has received almost 1,400 complaints over flaring from chemical plants owned by ExxonMobil Chemical Ltd and Shell Fife NGL at Mossmorran, Fife.
See: BBC
UK Power Networks tells its workers that simple jobs at home require the same due care and attention as those undertaken in the workplace.
See: shponline.co.uk
Potential occupational exposure risks at recycling and reuse centres are discussed in a new online video released by the IAQ Video Network and Cochrane & Associates. See: YouTube
Waste disposal also has the highest fatality at work rate of any industrial sector in the UK.
See: shponline.co.uk
RoSPA’s Karen McDonnell, Occupational Health and Safety Policy Advisor, tells how aligning thoughts can help drive policy excellence.
See: shponline.co.uk
Lee Sadd, Operations and Training Director at H&S Consultancy SAMS Ltd, explains how to mitigate the toxic fallout of fire
ifsecglobal.com/fire-news/mitigating-the-toxic-fallout-of-fire
Thirty-seven years after it was first published, the advice in William Edwards Deming’s “Out of the Crisis” seems as relevant as ever.
See: ioshmagazine.com
July 2019
Organisations that commit to ISO 45001 must focus on health as well as safety says Martin Cottam, Group technical assurance and quality director at Lloyd’s Register
Grain storage company Camgrain Stores’ in Linton, Cambridgeshire has been fined £180,000 plus £20,000 costs for breaching s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act following the death of a worker who was hit by a lorry.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Occupational skin cancer kills 60 people every year in Britain, which is more than falls from height or crush injuries. For more information on the “invisible killer”
See: shponline.co.uk
Electromagnet company Tesla Engineering of Storrington, West Sussex, has been fined £400,000 plus £7,546 costs for breaching s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act after an employee was fatally crushed by a crane.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Fife's Mossmorran chemical plant is being investigated by the HSE for a prolonged leak of highly-flammable ethane.
See: scotsman.com
National Grid Electricity Transmission PLC has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) after a fatality.
See: shponline.co.uk
High pressure laminate (HPL) cladding tests will finally be undertaken two years after Grenfell – and five years after a previous failed test.
See: ifsecglobal.com
A report from the G+ Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organisation shows the total number of health and safety incidents among its members fell in 2018.
See: energylivenews.com
Luminous Group, a virtual reality company, has provided global manufacturer Morgan Advanced Materials plc with injury prevention training software that virtually simulates dangerous situations that could occur when operating heavy machinery.
See: bdaily.co.uk
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has revealed the current Inspector General and Chief Executive of the Insolvency Service, Sarah Albon, will become its new CEO on 1 September, replacing outgoing Acting Chief Executive David Snowball.
See: hse.gov.uk
June 2019
A useful article on how occupational hygienists and occupational health can collaborate to help workplaces stay compliant with legislation aimed at protecting workers from occupational lung diseases
See: personneltoday.com
Fuel company Valero Energy UK and tank cleaning specialist B&A Contracts have pleaded guilty to breaching ss 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act following the Pembroke refinery explosion in June 2011 which killed four workers. They have respectively been fined £5m plus £1m costs, and £140,000 plus £40,000 costs. The refinery’s former owner Chevron will pay the £5m fine.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Find out how the EU is improving workers’ rights and working conditions across Europe, from working hours and parental leave to health and safety at work:
Monsanto’s own emails and documents reveal a disinformation campaign to hide its weedkiller’s possible links to cancer.
See: theguardian.com
The British Safety Council is calling for urgent action on protecting outdoor workers from air pollution and admits its alarm at recent findings by environmental charity Hubbub.
See: shponline.co.uk
In 2015, there were more than 475,500 estimated respiratory disease deaths from exposure to hazardous substances. World Clean Air Day falls on 20th June.
Property maintenance firm T Brown Group and flooring manufacturer Altro have been fined a combined £750,000 over the death of a floor layer in September 2015. He was exposed to dichloromethane (DCM), a restricted substance under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation.
See: ioshmagazine.com
The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) has published a report on health risks for workers exposed to crystalline silica and is revising existing occupational disease tables. ANSES is also warning that powerful LED lights, such as those used in streetlamps and car headlights, were phototoxic and could cause lasting damage to the retina.
See: anses.fr/en/content/exposure-crystalline-silica-poses-high-risks-worker-health & anses.fr/en/content/leds-anses%E2%80%99s-recommendations-limiting-exposure-blue-light
Singapore is the safest country in the world when it comes to fire risk, according to the FM Global Resilience Index. Two years on from the Grenfell Tower fire the UK remains in 35th place out of 130 countries assessed (the same position it occupied in 2015, 2016 and 2017).
See: ifsecglobal.com
Marathon Oil has been fined £1.16m after more than two tonnes of methane gas escaped from a corroded pipe on its Brae Alpha oil rig on 26 December 2015. The company admitted breaching reg 4(1) of the Offshore Installations (Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response) Regulations and s 33(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Sanders Plant and Waste Management of Morpeth, Northumberland has been fined £500,000 plus £14,042 in costs for breaching reg 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. A site labourer was struck and killed by a wheeled front-loading shovel in June 2015.
See: ioshmagazine.com>
May 2019
Morpeth-based waste and recycling company Sanders Waste and Plant Management has been fined £500,000 plus £14,042 in costs after a site labourer was struck and killed by a wheeled front-loading shovel in June 2015. The company pleaded guilty to breaching reg 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
See: ioshmagazine.com
The HSE has served a statutory improvement notice on Petroineos Manufacturing Scotland Limited’s oil refinery at Grangemouth for breaching the 2015 Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations. The company has until 28 February 2020 to abide by the improvement notice.
See: HSE
The annual World Day for Safety and Health at Work was marked on 28 April. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), stress, excessively-long working hours and disease contribute to the deaths of nearly 2.8 million workers every year, while an additional 374 million people get injured or fall ill because of their jobs.
See: ilo.org
The 19th annual “Health and Well-being at Work” report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and health insurance provider Simplyhealth, found just 48% of businesses have carried out a staff stress risk assessment or stress audit, down from 58% in 2018.
See: cipd.co.uk
A crew from PR Marriott Drilling lost control of an operation to lower the vent pipe of a mud treatment rig during demobilisation in February this year at Rathlin Energy’s West Newton-A site in East Yorkshire, breaching two sections of the Lifting Operations Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER).
See: drillordrop.com
How OSH professionals can get involved in the human capital conversation.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Malaysian firm Hibiscus Petroleum has given clarity on a health and safety prohibition notice served to oilfield services firm Petrofac’s North Sea Anasuria floating production vessel in February.
See: energyvoice.com
The Advocate General of the European Union Court of Justice has suggested that employers should keep records of actual hours worked by full time employees in order to comply with the Working Time Directive.
See: thsp.co.uk
A useful reminder on the importance of PPE against dust and fumes in the workplace:
As of 6th April, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) increased its fee for intervention (FFI) hourly rate from £129 to £154.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Devonport Royal Dockyard, the largest naval base in western Europe, is facing prosecution from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) after it breached reg 8 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) on 19 September 2018.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Negotiators from more than 180 countries are nearing agreement on a global ban on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) linked to cancer and other health issues, but China is pushing for an exemption for use in firefighting foams.
See: reuters.com
Findings from consultancy company ERM’s Global Safety Survey show that safety leaders across industry sectors identify leadership engagement as the key to unlocking safety culture and performance improvement. The full report can be downloaded here:
www.erm.com/2018-global-safety-survey-report
April 2019
A study published in the journal Jama Psychiatry has shown that young people living with the higher levels of air pollution in England and Wales are significantly more likely to have psychotic experiences.
See: The Guardian
The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Workplace Health Expert Committee (WHEC) has called for a greater understanding of the health risks to workers who are exposed to diesel engine exhaust (DEE). For a copy of the report ‘Diesel engine emission exposure and risk of lung cancer in the UK’.
See: webcommunities.hse.gov.uk
Public Health England’s latest Public Health Dashboard enables users to compare a range of public health data by local authority. For a sample regional analysis (East Cambridgeshire) of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution.
For the latest information on regulating chemicals as part of preparations for Brexit see:
141 people a year (c. three people a week) on average have died in workplaces over the past eight years, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). What should safety professionals and their organisation do if an employee dies at work?
See: ioshmagazine.com
2 Sisters Food Group Limited of Wakefield has been fined £1.4 million with £38,000 in costs for breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 after an employee suffered multiple crush injuries while cleaning a blockage on a conveying system in September 2012.
See: press.hse.gov.uk
The ‘Noise and Wellbeing at Work 2019’ survey conducted by The Remark Group shows that noise in the workplace is having a negative impact on the wellbeing of employees and impacting significantly on their productivity.
See: remark-group.co.uk
Faiveley Transport Tamworth Ltd of Burton on Trent has been fined £90,000 plus costs of £45,000 for failing to consider the risk to employees and agency workers of exposure to hand transmitted vibration (HTV) tools in breach of Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
See: press.hse.gov.uk
New guidance has been published to help line managers support female employees going through the menopause.
See: CIPD
Car parts manufacturer Faltec Europe Limited, whose cooling tower triggered Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks in Boldon, Sunderland, between October 2014 and June 2015, has had its health and safety fine cut by almost £400,000.
See: sunderlandecho.com
Research by Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health has found that prolonged sedentary behaviour can be linked to c. 10% of deaths each year in the UK.
See: jech.bmj.com
Yorkshire-based Karro Foods Ltd has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company has been fined £1,866,000 and ordered to pay £8,019 in costs after two workers suffered serious injuries from falling through a roof light in April 2016.
See: press.hse.gov.uk
March 2019
UK chemicals companies face being shut out of a common EU products registry after Brexit and would need to pay around half a billion pounds ($664 million) to set up a British counterpart, says the head of the Chemicals Industry Association.
See: Reuters
The Court of Appeal has reduced fines imposed by lower courts under the Sentencing Council's Definitive Guideline for Health and Safety Offences ('the guideline') in two recent cases. The first is the case of NPS London Ltd, fined £370,000 in July 2017 for a breach of section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) relating to an asbestos survey, identification and removal. The second is the related case of NPS London’s subcontractor, Squibb Group Ltd.
See: Out-law.com
Balfour Beatty Group Employment, a division of Balfour Beatty, has pleaded guilty to breaching reg 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 following the death of an employee on the third Don crossing site in Aberdeen, Scotland in January 2016.
See: IOSH Magazine
Article: Caroline Criado Perez on how a world built for the 'default male' (from body armour to crash-test dummies) can have fatal consequences for women.
See: The Guardian
Birmingham-based Landor Cartons have been fined £200,000 plus over £12,500 in costs following the death of a contractor who fell through a broken skylight in October 2017. The firm pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
See: Print Week
Food manufacturer 2 Sisters Food Group has been fined a total of £274,000 after two workers sustained hand injuries at its poultry factory in Flixton, Suffolk.
See: IOSH Magazine
The Health and Safety Executive’s science division is now working through 870 tonnes of evidence related to the partial collapse at Didcot Power Station on 23 February 2016 in which four men died.
See: IOSH Magazine
Chemical manufacturers Fine Organics Ltd (now trading as Lianhetec), Seals Sands, Teesside, have been found guilty of breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for multiple failings in their handling of hazardous substances. Workers were repeatedly exposed to skin sensitising chemicals from October 2013 to December 2016.
See: HSE
A more robust system of reporting workplace falls overseen by a new independent body, and a major review of work at height culture that will consider the introduction of tough financial penalties for safety breaches, are just two of the key findings of an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).
See: IPAF
Lifting and handling equipment manufacturer Jost (UK) Limited of Bolton has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined £134,000 plus costs of £4,572 after a worker’s arm was pulled into a metalworking lathe in June 2017.
See: This Is Lancashire
Safety & Health Expo 2019 will be held on 18-20 June at ExCeL London. Registration for free tickets is now open.
See: Safety Health Expo
Two companies have been fined after a contract worker was fatally crushed at a Welsh paper mill in February 2017. C M Downton pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, fined £350,000 plus costs of £6,614. UPM-Kymmene was also fined £350,000 plus £6,712 costs after it admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the same act.
See: IOSH Magazine
February 2019
The threat of a no-deal Brexit has prompted more than 50 chemicals companies to move regulatory approvals from the UK to the EU. The companies, which have operations in the UK, have applied to use European Union regulators for critical authorisations to protect their ability to do business legally.
See: The Guardian
The HSE has released Health and Safety at work Summary statistics for Great Britain 2018. They show that 144 workers were killed at work and that 30.7 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury.
See: HSE
At a glance – video round-up from “Safety & Health Practitioner” of the 10 biggest health and safety prosecutions of 2018.
See: Safety & Health Practitioner
Research by the University of Greenwich and Glasgow Caledonian University, and published in the latest edition of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health’s (IOSH) Policy and Practice in Health and Safety journal, shows that recycling and waste collection systems used throughout the UK could be causing significant long-term musculoskeletal issues for refuse collection workers.
See: HSM
Union leaders are calling for stronger workers’ rights protection – including on health and safety – to be drafted into a revised EU Withdrawal Agreement.
Veolia Environmental Services (UK) of London, has been found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, fined £1m and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £130,000 following a fatality at its Ross Depot Waste Transfer Station in Folkestone, Kent in October 2013.
2020 will be the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health’s 75th anniversary. To mark the event, IOSH is launching its Pioneers of Progress project “to right some wrongs and tell the story of our great profession, its past, present and how we think we will shape safer, healthier workplaces in future”.
See: IOSH
EDF Energy Nuclear Generation has pleaded guilty to breaching s 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and been fined £200,000 following serious injury to a worker in a fall at Hinkley Point B power station in Bridgwater, Somerset in April 2017. Engineering firm Doosan Babcock has been fined £150,000 after it admitted breaching reg 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations in the same incident.
See: IOSH
The cladding used on Grenfell Tower was 55 times more flammable than the least flammable panels on the market according to new research by academics at the University of Central Lancashire published in the Journal for Hazardous Materials.
See: Science Direct
“A manifesto for a health and safety system fit for workers: Decent jobs and decent lives” has been launched by the UK charity The Hazards Campaign.
See: Hazards Campaign
On 29th January, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission reached a provisional agreement on the Commission's third proposal to broaden the list of recognised cancer-causing chemicals in the workplace. With this agreement, 5 additional cancer-causing chemicals will be covered by the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive.
See: OSHA
January 2019
As a responsible regulator, HSE aims to provide support and advice in all Brexit outcomes. This page contains their most up-to-date guidance on REACH, Plant Protection Products, Biocidal Products and Chemicals Regulation:
hse.gov.uk/brexit/brexit-chemical-regulation.htm
Mental Health at Work is a superb online resource for documents, guides, tips, videos, courses, podcasts, templates and information from key organisations across the UK, all aimed at helping companies to manage workplace mental health.
See: www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk
Brighouse-based Halifax Rack and Screw Cutting Co Ltd has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 10(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 after a worker suffered temporary blindness and longer term vision problems from being hit by a heavy object falling from racking. The company was fined £48,024 with £2,051 costs.
See: HSE
The 2016 Safety & Health Expo will be held at ExCel London on 18-20 June. For details on registering as an exhibitor or visitor
Representatives of the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) have attended a cross-border forum on health & safety hosted at the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, France, concerned with sharing best practice and comparing regulatory regimes in Germany and France.
See: IPAF
Steel company Celsa Manufacturing (UK) Limited will stand trial later this year after two of its employees died in an explosion at its Splott, Cardiff plant in November 2015. The company faces one count under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
See: walesonline.co.uk
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has a refreshed website for the latest occupational safety and health news:
For a thought-provoking article on why we urgently need a debate around AI, new technology and health and safety in the future working environment see:
Leicester-based plastics manufacturer Nylacast Limited has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and Regulation 12 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 after the death of an employee in April 2016. The company has been fined £293,000 plus costs of £10,205.61.
See: HSE
The UK government is investing £26.6m from its Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) in projects to develop robots and unmanned aerial vehicles to substitute for human workers in hazardous environments such as pressure vessels, offshore wind farms and end-of-life nuclear facilities.
See: ioshmagazine.com
February 2018
ISO 45001 is due to be published this month. Although businesses certified under British Standard OHSAS 18001 will have three years to transition to the new standard, plans to do so should be put in place as soon as possible as the changes will require adaptation of current management systems.
See: out-law.com
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has recommended adding seven substances of very high concern (SVHCs) to the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals Regulation (REACH) list for authorisation.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Tata Steel has been fined £1.4m after a maintenance electrician was crushed to death by an overhead crane in April 2010. Tata pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 and Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £1.4 million with costs of £140,000.
See: HSE
The Environmental Services Association (ESA), has launched a new health and safety report examining the “contrasting performance” across the waste industry. Recent HSE statistics revealed fatalities in the waste and recycling sector to be around 15 times higher than the all-UK industry average, with 39 worker fatalities recorded since 2012.
See: ciwm-journal.co.uk
Total Lindsey Oil Refinery (LOR), the owner of the Lindsey Oil Refinery in Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, has been sentenced after tonnes of flammable butane gas escaped from the plant in March 2015. Total LOR pleaded guilty to breaching reg 4(1) of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999, and was fined £400,000 plus £15,975 costs.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Booking is now open for the British Safety Council’s The Health & Safety Event to be held on 10 - 12 April 2018 at the NEC, Birmingham. Attendance is free.
See: healthandsafetyevents.co.uk
Belper-based RMB Contractors has been found guilty of breaching s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and fined £75,000 plus £24,483 in costs after a worker was crushed to death in December 2014.
See: ioshmagazine.com
The GMB, Britain’s general union, has called on the Prime Minister to reconsider the appointment of Esther McVey as Work and Pensions Secretary which gives her ultimate responsibility for the HSE.
See: gmb.org.uk
Dr. James M Melius, a nationally-recognised advocate for US workers’ safety and health rights, has died. Dr. Melius was one of the architects of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which established an extensive programme of medical monitoring and healthcare services for first responders, volunteers and survivors of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Cisco is to work with startup Cortexica in an Innovate UK-funded project to improve physical safety in the workplace through the use of artificial intelligence.
See: computerweekly.com
A useful overview of health and safety sentencing for organisations under the Definitive Guideline is provided here by Pinsent Masons LLP:
Shell UK has been issued with an improvement notice by the HSE over a gas leak on the Brent Bravo North Sea platform in November 2017 which was caused by lack of maintenance on valves. The company has also been granted an extension to the date by when it must improve safety procedures at its St Fergus gas plant in Aberdeenshire.
See: BBC and ioshmagazine.com
January 2018
A useful round-up of the most popular health and safety articles of 2017 from Safety & Health Practitioner:
Personnel Today’s January round up of occupational health research studies includes research on good line management and sickness absence among younger workers, and discrimination against mentally disabled workers during vocational rehabilitation.
See: personneltoday.com
The British government may have breached a major “environmental democracy” law by failing to consult the public when drawing up Brexit legislation. A UN-backed committee has confirmed it is considering a complaint from Friends of the Earth that the government’s EU withdrawal bill breached the Aarhus convention, which requires public consultation on any new environmental law.
See: unece.org
Rodent Service (East Anglia) Ltd of Lowestoft has pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2 (1) and 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after storing non-approved biocides and pesticides. It was fined £100,000 plus costs of £10,000.
See: HSE
The environment secretary Michael Gove has acknowledged that China’s restrictions on the import of secondary materials will “cause some issues” for recycling in the UK and noted that affected businesses are now exporting plastics and paper to other markets including Turkey, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia.
See: mrw.co.uk
Spanish firm Porvi Construcciones y Contratas, appointed by Befesa Salt Slags as principal contractor to demolish redundant processing machinery at a salt slag recycling facility in Wales, has been convicted in absentia and fined £3m after one of its workers died in a crush incident.
See: ioshmagazine.com
‘Speaking the truth to power’: an interview with the British Safety Council’s Lawrence Waterman in which he states “I want the British Safety Council to discover its campaigning zeal again”.
See: shponline.co.uk
Birmingham-based Mercian Recycling Ltd has pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2 (1) and 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and has been fined £80,000 plus costs of £2,498.34 after an employee was paralysed by being trapped inside a moving conveyor.
See: HSE
The Government has scrapped its Fit for Work service, blaming “low referral rates”. The service will come to an end in England at the end of March and in Scotland at the end of May. The announcement in December came as part of the government’s response to its Work, health and disability green paper consultation.
See: personneltoday.com
The Health & Safety Event (exhibition and conference) will be held at the NEC, Birmingham from 10th-12th April. It is free to attend. For visitor and exhibitor details, and to register, see:
Countrystyle Recycling Ltd of Maidstone has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and to breaching Regulation 17(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 after a worker suffered life threatening head injuries. The company has been fined £666,700 plus costs of £8,424.
See: HSE
The “Assessing the impact of Brexit on the UK waste resource management sector” (July 2017) Report funded by Cardiff University aims to discuss potential policy pathways for the waste sector after Brexit.
The number of people aged 25 and under studying health and safety qualifications has more than doubled in the last five years according to the latest information from NEBOSH, the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health.
See: hrnews.co.uk
October 2017
Any company subject to REACH needs to be aware of the implications of Brexit. Following the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee inquiry into the future of chemicals regulation post-Brexit, Peter Newport, Chief Executive of the Chemical Business Association (CBA), comments on the Committee’s findings.
See: Reach and Brexit – Select Committee provides a reality… - www.chemicalindustryjournal.co.uk
The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has published the results of its inquiry into the future of chemicals regulation post-Brexit.
Explore Manufacturing Limited, of Worksop, and Select Plant Hire (both wholly-owned subsidiaries of Laing O'Rourke) have been jointly fined £3.8 million plus costs in excess of £27,000 for health and safety failings after the death of an employee crushed by an 11-ton concrete panel in July 2014 while working on a mobile elevating working platform (MEWP).
See: Worksop firm fined £2 million after death of Bolsover man… - www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk
The devastated mum of a Bolsover man crushed to death at work in a Worksop factory has said it was “an accident waiting to happen”.
The HSE’s Sector Plans, covering 19 industry sectors, contain: a plan covering its health and safety performance; the top three strategic priorities for the next three to five years; and actions the HSE propose to take.
For all 19 plans see: HSE
Horley-based waste collection and recycling company United Grab Hire has pleaded guilty to breaching ss 4(1) and 17(1) of the Workplace (Health and Safety Welfare) Regulations after the death of a worker hit by a reversing telehandler in July 2016. The firm was fined £500,000 plus £5,968 costs.
See: www.ioshmagazine.com
Scottish Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse has promised to ensure the health and safety of offshore workers remains “paramount” after a suspected leak shut down production on BP’s Glen Lyon floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel at the end of September. The Glen Lyon is currently the biggest oil production ship in the world and works on the Schiehallion field west of Shetland.
See: www.energyvoice.com
The 5.4 million people in the UK who have asthma should be aware of air quality on a daily basis according to Asthma UK. The issue has been highlighted by the Saharan dust driven across parts of the UK by Hurricane Ophelia. Anyone concerned about air pollution should check uk-air.defra.gov.uk/forecasting
Swindon-based scaffolding company Boundary Scaffolding Limited has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined £80,000 plus costs of £1415.10 after a scaffolder was electrocuted by 33KV overhead power lines. The electrocution led to severe burns and the subsequent amputation of the employee’s left arm above the elbow, right arm below the elbow and both of his feet.
See: HSE
Three companies, Sembcorp Utilities (UK) Limited, Central Industrial Services (Northern) Ltd and R & A Kay Inspection Services Ltd, have pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 after an employee suffered serious fractures to his leg which led to amputation after a boiler pressure test at a Biomass power station in Cleveland in December 2013. Fines and costs to all three companies combined were in excess of £1.5 million.
See: HSE
The final ISO 45001 international standard for occupational safety and health management systems is likely to go to a final draft before publication next year, following a meeting to discuss comments on the current draft. ISO 45001 is expected to replace the British Standard OHSAS 18001. A three-year transition period is anticipated after publication of the final standard.
See: www.ioshmagazine.com
Spanish construction company Porvi Construcciones y Contratas has been found guilty of two health and safety charges following the death of a worker near Whitchurch in July 2015 during demolition work at an aluminium recycling plant. The company did not attend the trial nor was it represented by lawyers. Fines have not yet been specified.
See: www.leaderlive.co.uk
More support is needed for employees returning to work after suffering from mental health problems, according to new research published by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). The report “Return to work after common mental disorders” provides insights and resources for employers, health professionals and workers.
Download the report here: www.iosh.co.uk/rtwmentalhealth
Contractors who cut through a pipe at Stanlow Oil Terminal in Cheshire and caused an explosion in an oil treatment tank in January 2015 had been issued a permit to work copied from the previous week’s, although the hazard profile had changed.
See: www.ioshmagazine.com
Chevron has been served with an improvement notice after a worker suffered a serious injury on the Alba Northern installation on 6 May this year during lifting operations.
See: BBC
September 2017
The Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes on his mission to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been released - with a damning assessment of the current situation and the risks of Brexit. To download the report see:
According to new estimates from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and other bodies, published in “Global Estimates of Occupational Accidents and Work-related Illnesses 2017”, there are 2.78 million annual work-related fatalities. These result in the loss of 3.9% of GDP, at an annual cost of roughly €2 680 billion.
See: www.ioshmagazine.com
Vinyl Compound Ltd of High Park, Derbyshire has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 after an employee died when his fork lift truck overturned. The company has been fined £450,000 and ordered to pay costs of £71,778.20.
See: HSE
The British Safety Council is holding its Annual Conference ‘Health and safety: Preparing for the future’ on Wednesday, 4 October 2017 at The King’s Fund, London.
See: www.britsafe.org
Food manufacturer Greencore Grocery has pleaded to breaching s 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act after a contract electrician sustained fatal injuries after falling from a stepladder. It was fined £1m plus £30,000 costs.
See: www.ioshmagazine.com
Stricter legislation might help reduce noise levels at work, according to the latest Cochrane Review “Interventions to prevent occupational noise-induced hearing loss”. The review covered 29 studies of interventions to prevent occupational hearing loss. To download the review see:
Thomas Panels & Profiles Limited of Southern Avenue, Leominster has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 after an employee was fatally crushed. It has been fined £285,000 and ordered to pay costs of £29,961.48.
See: HSE
The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) has published a new document, “Occupational health: the value proposition” which brings together the available evidence to show why Occupational Health stacks up in business, financial, legal and even moral terms. To download the report, see:
Shell was ordered to shut down the Armada platform, 132 miles east of Aberdeen, by health and safety inspectors in June over concerns that corroded pipework in the flare system could cause an explosion. Production was resumed on 9th July. The company has been served with six safety notices for incidents in the North Sea since May.
See: BBC
To celebrate its centenary, RoSPA has launched a new level of award to recognise organisations achieving 25+ years of gold awards. For a full list of the 2017 RoSPA Award winners see:
Heathcoat Fabrics Limited of Tiverton, Devon has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 after an employee had to have four fingers partially amputated in a rotating roller incident. It was fined £300,000 plus of £2862.30.
See: HSE
More than one in three UK employees say they are working with anxiety, depression or stress, according to research by consultancy PwC.
August 2017
The HSE’s July 2017 report “Fatal injuries arising from accidents at work in Great Britain 2017 - Headline results” is available here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/pdf/fatalinjuries.pdf. It shows a total of 137 people killed at work during 2016/17, plus 92 members of the public were killed due to work related activities in the same period.
Three companies working in a consortium on London's Crossrail project have been fined a combined £1m for three separate failures, plus costs of £42,337.28. One of the incidents led to the death of a construction worker who was killed in 2014 by a tonne of wet concrete being poured onto him. Bam, Ferrovial and Kier (BFK) admitted the health and safety breaches at Southwark Crown Court on 28th July.
See: IB Times
The HSE’s Workplace Healthy Lungs Summit will be held on 22nd November 2017 at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London SW1P 3EE. Until 1st September, registration costs just £350; thereafter, it will cost £425.
See: HSL
Oil & Gas UK has revealed an improvement in performance in the latest annual health and safety data report into the UK offshore industry operating in the UK Continental Shelf. The Health & Safety Report 2017 highlighted the collectively lowest level for dangerous incidents such as oil and gas releases, dropped objects, fires, and explosions.
Signature Flight Support, which handles private jets at London Luton Airport, has pleaded guilty to breaching s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act after an employee was crushed by a hangar door on 28th April 2015. The company was fined £250,000 penalty plus costs of almost £20,000. The employee remains in a vegetative state.
See: ioshmagazine.com
Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, has warned that individuals responsible for the Grenfell Tower disaster could face gross negligence manslaughter charges. The crime carries a maximum life term and, under sentencing guidelines, a “starting point” of at least 12 years for offenders with a “very high” level of culpability.
See: standard.co.uk
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has stated that a new report, “The Need for Standardized Sustainability Reporting Practices” by the Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS), demonstrates the need to improve corporate reporting practices for occupational illnesses, injuries and fatalities.
See: IOSH
The value of fines collected for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and local authorities has doubled in a year, according to a research report from global law firm Clyde & Co. The report is available here as a PDF:
The business benefits of maintaining a healthy and happy workforce will be the focus of IOSH’S 42nd National Safety and Health Conference which will be held at the Nottingham Belfry on 14th September.
See: IOSH
New shocking statistics have been released by the HSE which is working on the ‘Breathe Freely’ initiative with BOHS (The Chartered Society for Worker Health Protection) to raise awareness of the deadly risks to manufacturing industry workers. Out of the 190,000 workers undertaking welding activities each year, 150 of them die from cancer caused by welding.
Soft toy filling company The Stuffing Plant Ltd (TSP) of Mexborough has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and has been fined £35,000 with £2,486 costs after a worker lost his left hand in an unguarded carding machine on 8th March 2016.
See: HSE
Avon Joinery Limited of Rugby has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9 (1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations after an employee severed the first finger and thumb tip on his left hand with a circular saw at the company base in Rugby on 3rd February 2016. It was fined £230,000 plus costs of £1,779.70.
See: shponline.co.uk
January 2017
Tata Steel is being prosecuted by the HSE for three offences relating to the operation of a newly-installed benzole plant at the Appleby coke ovens.
See: scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk. Tata has a long history of H&S offences. See: healthandsafetyatwork.com
PSL Worldwide Projects Ltd of Bridgewater Lane, Washington, Tyne and Wear, has been found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 after two workers were seriously burned by Sodium Hydroxide granules during cleaning of a pipework system in July 2014. The company was fined £150,000, but no costs were awarded due to it being in liquidation.
See: HSE
Steven Bryan, director of Bryan and Armstrong, reviews the 2016 H&S job market and looks ahead to prospects for recruitment in 2017.
See: shponline.co.uk
ConocoPhillips (UK) Ltd has failed in its bid to reduce the level of fine (£3 million plus over £159,000 towards costs) handed down after an offshore multiple gas release incident on the Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System (LOGGS) installation in the North Sea in November 2012. At the appeal hearing on 11 October 2016, Lord Justice Treacy dismissed the appeal.
See: HSE
The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), which is part of the HSE, is running a 2 day course on COMAH Onshore Major Hazards: Predictive Aspects of COMAH. The course will run on 24 - 25 January 2017 and is intended for risk assessment specialists and 'intelligent customers' who buy in risk assessment services.
See: HSL
AMG Superalloys UK Ltd of Rotherham has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and fined £240,000 with £22,794 costs after a worker was dragged into exposed machinery and lost his left arm in September 2014.
See: HSE
The Health and Work strategy, published by the HSE in December 2016, aims to increase focus on occupational health, particularly stress and related mental health issues, musculoskeletal disorders and lung diseases. HSE statistics show that work-related illness affected around 1.3 million workers last year, with nearly 26 million working days lost because of it. The HSE has invited stakeholders and the general public to view and comment on the strategy HERE.
Three companies have been sentenced after a worker’s leg was broken in six places in a trench collapse in March 2012. Kier MG Ltd (formerly known as May Gurney Ltd), pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. They were fined £1.5 million and ordered to pay £23,327.83. John Henry & Sons (Civil Engineers) Ltd of Cambridge were found guilty of breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. They were fined £550,000 and ordered to pay £166,217. Lawless Civils Ltd of Lincoln, pleaded guilty to the same breach. They were fined £40,500 and ordered to pay £53,346.
See: HSE
SmithKline Beecham Ltd has been fined £55,000 for health and safety failings following an explosion at the Irvine plant in July 2013 which left two employees injured after exposure to potassium clavulanate.
See: dailyrecord.co.uk
The majority of offshore workers believe health-and-safety standards have dropped in the last six months, according to a survey completed by 780 workers in late 2016 (93% of them Unite members). Just over a third of the workers said they felt they were unable to report concerns due to fears of victimisation, and Unite is calling for a confidential helpline to be set up.
See: energyvoice.com
A new book investigating the changing context of health and safety policy and concerns arising in the OSH profession, has been published. Health and Safety in a Changing World (2017, Routledge) is the result of a major five-year research programme funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
See: IOSH
Volvo Group UK Limited of Warwick has been fined £900,000 plus costs of £5,820 after a worker fell from a stepladder and suffered serious head injuries in September 2015. At the time of the incident, Volvo UK had not trained their staff to select, inspect and use access equipment for work at height.
See: shponline.co.uk
December 2016
Based on standardised incidence rates per 100,000 workers in 2012, the UK has the lowest rate of fatal injuries at work across all EU countries with 0.58 incidents per 100,000 workers. This is followed closely by the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany, all with less than 1 injury per 100,000 workers on average.
See: HSE
A £1.8 million fine for health and safety failings imposed on ports operator C.RO Ports in January this year was "manifestly excessive", according to the Court of Appeal, which has reduced the amount due to £500,000. C.RO Ports operate ports in the Netherlands and at Killingholme, Sutton Bridge and Purfleet in the UK.
See: out-law.com
Three companies have been jointly fined over £1m after a worker died and two others were badly injured at a construction site in Putney, when a temporary platform collapsed. All three companies (St James Group Limited of Cobham, Surrey; Mitchellson Formwork and Civil Engineering Limited, of Slough, Berkshire; and RGF Construction Limited of Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire) pleaded guilty to breaching parts of the Construction (Design and Management) [CDM] Regulations 2007.
See: HSE
The number of company directors who have been prosecuted for health and safety offences has trebled in a year, according to research from law firm Clyde & Co which uses data from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
See: here and, for a review of the impact of the Sentencing Guidelines, see: here
Liverpool-based plastic processing and reprocessing company Centriforce Products has been fined £200,000 plus £9,230.00 costs after a worker suffered serious injuries when his arm was caught in rollers on a recycling line in March 2015.
See: The Business Desk
The Health and Safety Executive’s Health and Safety in the Waste sector in GB report shows there were six fatalities to workers in the waste sector over the period 2015/16. This brings the figure up to thirty waste worker fatalities over the past five years.
See: CIWM Journal
Around 1.3 million people suffered from a work-related illness in 2015/16, according to the latest figures from the HSE. More than 30 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury costing £14.1bn. 144 workers were killed at work, with 72,702 injuries reported under RIDDOR, and 621,000 injuries occurring at work.
See: fm-world.co.uk and, for a useful infographic, see: shponline.co.uk
Chemical giant Cristal (formerly known as Millennium Chemicals) has been fined £3 million after a worker died in a blast caused by leaking titanium tetrachloride fumes at Cristal Global’s Stallingborough site, on March 5, 2010.
See: GrimsbyTelegraph
The reasons why process safety systems must be followed when dealing with flammable substances and dusts were demonstrated on 9th November to safety and health professionals by the Hazardous Industries Group of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL).
See: IOSH
Amtek Aluminium Casting of Witham has been fined £250,000 after a worker had his hand mangled in a rotary drill. The company admitted failing to provide training, instructions and a risk assessment.
The TUC and BOHS, the Chartered Society for Worker Health Protection, have produced a new guide explaining the importance of occupational hygiene and the role it plays in controlling occupational health hazards.
Download the guide here: TUC
Uxbridge-based Martin Baker Aircraft Company Limited, a manufacturer of ejector seats, has been fined £800,000 after three workers developed extrinsic allergic alveolitis (hypersensitivity pneumonitis) after years of exposure to working metal fluid mist. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (1974) and Regulation 6(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended) (COSHH) and were fined £800,000 plus costs of £36,912.36.
See: HSE
November 2016
The Health and Safety Executive are asking for comments on proposed changes to their current guidance on risk, which will place more emphasis on controlling risk and less on written assessments.
See: HSE
Barbour EHS have issued their latest health and safety legislation bulletin which outlines what’s changing from this autumn, looks back at significant changes this year and gives advance warning of things to come in 2017.
See: shponline.co.uk
Buckinghamshire-based delivery firm Delivered UK Ltd have been fined £120,000 plus £10,783.04 costs after a driver suffered life changing injuries including a leg amputation when he was hit by a reversing fork-lift truck.
See: HSE Guidance on keeping vehicles and pedestrians separate can be found here: HSE
Sonoco Cores & Paper Ltd of Halifax have been fined £120,000.00 with £6,354.00 costs after a mill worker had to have part of a hand amputated following serious crush injuries in September 2013.
See: HSE
RoSPA celebrate their centenary in 2017. To mark the occasion, they have launched the Patron's Award, a new level of award for organisations that have achieved 25+ years of gold awards.
See: RoSPA
Richardson Roofing Company Ltd of Staines, Middlesex, have pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and were fined £200,000 plus costs of £6,865 after a worker sustained severe injuries from falling five metres through a roof.
See: HSE
Tyre Maintenance Ltd of Leeds, West Yorkshire, have pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and were fined £134,000 plus costs of £22,582.00 after an exploding tyre seriously injured a worker.
See: HSE
IOSH are supporting a Europe-wide campaign (EU-OSHA) to highlight the importance of good occupational safety and health management throughout people’s working lives.
See: IOSH
Bedfordshire-based Smiths Metal Centres Limited have been fined £130,000 with costs of £2,456.40 and a victim surcharge of £120. A worker had his foot amputated after a trolley carrying stainless steel bars weighing about 900kg tipped over while being moved.
See: HSE
The findings of the latest TUC’s health and safety rep survey reveal that stress is the top health and safety concern in UK workplaces.
See: TUC and the full report here
Tesco Stores and Tesco Maintenance have been prosecuted by the HSE and received fines totalling £500,000, after a worker fell through the skylight of one of the retailer's stores in Liscard Village, Wallasey, in June 2014.
See: pfmonthenet.net
MJL Contractors Ltd of Helston, Cornwall, have pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined £200,000 plus costs of £12,312.56 after a worker was crushed by a dumper truck and had to have both legs amputated.
See: HSE
The British Safety Council has announced the winners of this year’s Sword of Honour and Globe of Honour awards for the exemplary management of health, safety and environmental risks by businesses around the world.
Total have been issued an improvement notice by the HSE after an extraction of crude petroleum on their Elgin platform. The company was told it had failed to give “effect to appropriate arrangements for the effective control, monitoring and review of inhibits and overrides” used on its instrumented protective systems.
See: oilandgaspeople.com
Oldham-based manufacturing firm R Tindall (Fabricators) Ltd have been fined £70,000 plus costs of £5,000 after a worker died when he was crushed under 1.5 tonnes of metal pipework.
See: HSE
IOSH have published a new free guide aimed at safety and health professionals in organisations of all sizes with responsibilities to manage employee health. It contains checklists, flowcharts, templates and links to further resources.
See: IOSH and download the guide here
Kent-based recycling company Countrystyle Recycling Ltd have been fined £300,000 plus £8,903 costs after a worker was injured whilst repairing an industrial shredder in October 2013. The company failed to enforce the ‘safe stop’ process and the machine‘s conveyor belt restarted while the worker was inside it.
See: HSE
A male employee of BAM Nuttall died on Friday 28th October after sustaining as-yet unspecified injuries at Blackhillock electricity substation in Moray, Scotland. The company is working in joint venture with Siemens under a five-year framework for SHE Transmission to upgrade substations in the region.
October 2016
Valero Energy UK Limited (formerly ChevronTexaco), of Pembroke Refinery, Pembrokeshire, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after a worker suffered fractures and lacerations to both legs in an incident in March 2012. The company was fined £400 000 and ordered to pay costs of £60 614.
See: shponline.co.uk
The nation's best health and safety officer has been announced as Helen Edwards, lead safety representative at Sellafield's operations division. She was awarded the Health and Safety Representative Award at the Trades Union Congress Awards.
See: in-cumbria.com
Network Rail has been fined £4m plus £34,000 in costs for health and safety breaches which led to a woman’s death on a level crossing near Needham Market in Suffolk in 2011. An investigation by the Office of Rail and Road found Network Rail had failed to act on "substantial evidence that pedestrians were exposed to an increased risk of being struck by a train".
See: itv.com
Nearly half of UK workplaces have never had a health and safety inspection – including more than 80 per cent of construction workplaces – according to a new Trades Union Congress (TUC) survey of health and safety representatives published on 19 September 2016.
See: tuc.org.uk
Two scaffolders from Colin Marshall Scaffolding in St Austell, Cornwall have received suspended prison sentences and were ordered to pay costs of £25,661 following the death of a worker who fell 7 metres from a flat roof on 24 June 2013.
See: hse.gov.uk
Crest Nicholson Operations Ltd., of Chertsey, Surrey, has been fined £800,000 plus £10,984 costs for breaches of Regulation 36 (1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 after a contractor was pulled under a vehicle and suffered serious life-threatening injuries.
See: shponline.co.uk
Parker Hannifin Manufacturing Ltd of Hemel Hempstead has been found guilty of breaching Reg 3(1) of Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety of Work etc. Act 1974 after a lone worker was crushed to death by a falling CNC milling machine on 30th April 2015. The company was fined £1m plus costs of £6,311.
See: hse.gov.uk
G4S Cash Solutions (UK) Ltd has been fined £1.8m plus Harlow Council costs of c. £34,000 for failing to protect its workers from the risk of Legionnaires’ disease. The cash handling arm of the security contract company pleaded guilty to two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
See: professionalsecurity.co.uk
Highway Care Ltd of Maidstone, Kent, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £660,000 plus costs of £33,358.46. A worker suffered life threatening injuries when a drum he was working on exploded in his face in August 2012.
See: hse.gov.uk
A director of Thorn Warehousing Ltd has been jailed for 12-months under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act following the death of a worker in January 2014 who was crushed by a falling remote controlled Mobile Elevated Working Platform.
See: hse.gov.uk
Food processing company Baxters Food Group has been fined £70,000 after it admitted that serious health and safety failings had caused a worker’s hand to become mutilated in a pie machine.
The Scrappers Ltd (formerly Metro Salvage), which featured in a BBC TV programme, has been fined £30,000 plus £26,687 in costs after a worker suffered severe facial injuries from a steel saw he was using to cut a catalytic converter.
See: theboltonnews.co.uk
September 2016
Time taken to travel to and from work for non-office based employees will now be considered ‘working time’, the European Court of Justice has ruled. Excluding those journeys from working time would be contrary to the objective of protecting the safety and health of workers pursued by EU law, says the ECJ.
See: shponline.co.uk
Company director Paul Williamson has been charged under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act and jailed for 12-months following the death of one of his workers in a crush incident in January 2014. Thorn Warehousing Ltd (currently in administration) was charged under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, fined £166,000 and ordered to pay £10,400 costs.
See: HSE
Jaguar Land Rover has been prosecuted by the HSE over breaches of Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 after a worker died at its Halewood, Merseyside plant in September 2011.
See: HSE
Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Leo Quinn, has warned that new health and safety sentencing guidelines and penalties could bankrupt some companies. He believes the new measures to be “pretty large and drastic” as penalties have increased “almost tenfold.”
See: bdcmagazine.com
British Polythene Ltd of Widnes film polythene manufacturer has been prosecuted by the HSE for breaches of Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3 (1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 after a worker was badly injured when he became trapped in a winding machine in January 2014.
See: HSE
This is an informative article by Alex Baggott, business development associate at Fortress Interlockson, on the importance of safety interlocking in the waste and recycling industry:
Anglian Demolition and Asbestos Limited of Attleborough, Norfolk, has been found guilty to an offence under Regulation 11(2) of the REACH Enforcement Regulations 2008. The company sold on a boiler containing an asbestos gasket from the boiler house at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely.
See: ely-news.co.uk
The British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) has launched a new initiative, Asbestos Still Kills, highlighting BOHS’ industry leading suite of asbestos qualifications, and the facts around asbestos and its risks. Asbestos still presents significant risk, killing around 5000 workers each year.
See: bohs.org
Steel coating company Coilcolor Limited of Newport, Gwent has been fined a total of £75,000 and ordered to pay £28,393 in costs for failing to manage the risks from legionella bacteria at two cooling towers over a period of five years from 2009 until 2014 in contravention of Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
See: HSE
Welsted Joinery Ltd of Cheltenham has been fined for two breaches of Regulation 9(3) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 and one breach of Regulation 9(2) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 after repeatedly failing to have thorough examinations on its lift trucks and wood dust extraction system.
See: theconstructionindex.co.uk
The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), a not-for-profit members’ organisation, has a wealth of resources to promote the safe and effective use of powered platforms. It has released updated guidance on exiting platforms at height: what hazards should be considered in the risk assessment, and what control measures should be taken.
See: ipaf.org
Gwynn Davies-McTiffin Ltd, a waste recycling firm in Batley, has been found guilty of breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after an employee was fatally injured after falling into a baling machine’s hopper while clearing a blockage in August 2012. The HSE identified systemic safety failings at the company.
See: HSE
Construction firm Montway Ltd of Rickmansworth has been fined £144,000 plus £43,606.15 in costs after a worker suffered a broken spine from falling 5 metres off a roof during demolition work in February 2013.
See: HSE
August 2016
While it remains to be seen how negotiations will progress, what is clear is that the Brexit vote will have major implications on the UK's health, safety and environmental laws within our work places in the longer term. Here are links to two interesting articles on the subject:
natwestmentor.co.uk and connectingindustry.com
The HSE has published its provisional annual data for work-related fatal accidents in the UK. They show that 144 people were killed while at work in 2015/2016 – up from 142 in 2014/5. A more detailed assessment of the data will be provided as part of the annual Health and Safety Statistics release in early November. The provisional figures are summarised here:
Not included in the HSEs provisional figures for work-related fatal accidents in the UK are the deaths of five workers at the Hawkeswood Metal recycling site in Birmingham on 7th July.
See: BBC
The Waste and Recycling sector has the second highest work death rate of any industrial sector in the UK, with six deaths at work in 2015/16 according to the HSE. This represents a total of 5.71 deaths per 100,000 employees recorded for the year for the Waste sector, ranking just behind Agriculture, which recorded the highest number of 7.37 deaths per 100,000 employees for the year.
See: ciwm-journal.co.uk
Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission PLC has been fined £133,000 after admitting to health and safety offences which led to the fatal electrocution of a 26 year old linesman near Alness in August 2012. The company admitted it did not have in place an adequately specified Permit to Work. The fine was reduced from £200,000 because of a guilty plea.
See: scottishconstructionnow.com
Isle of Man-based Tuke and Bell Limited has been fined £24,000 for a health and safety breach after a worker died at a sewage treatment site in May 2013 when a 3.5 metre high sub-assembly unit toppled over. The investigation revealed a totally inadequate risk assessment.
See: iomtoday.co.im
Tata Steel has been ordered to pay more than £2 million after two workers suffered serious injuries to their hands in separate incidents at its Corby, Northamptonshire, plant in September 2014 and February 2015. Both incidents involved inadequate guarding on machinery.
See: theguardian.com
Glasgow-based Scottish Power Generation Limited is to challenge a £1.75 million fine for health and safety failings which led to a worker's horrific scalding at the now-shut Longannet Power Station in October 2013. The HSE investigation revealed that the company was aware of a defective valve but failed to repair or remove it.
See: dunfermlinepress.com
The winner of the country’s most prestigious occupational health and safety award, RoSPA’s Sir George Earle Trophy, is Wessex Engineering and Construction Services, part of Wessex Water. The company was judged to have unique, interesting and transferrable lessons to contribute to the rest of the UK industry. The industry sector award winners in the RoSPA Awards 2016 can be seen here:
See: pwemag.co.uk
Manchester-based Stone Superstore Ltd has been fined almost £40,000 plus £9,221 costs after a fatal incident at its warehouse in October 2010. A 27 year old employee was crushed by around a tonne of stone floor tiles that spilled from a forklift truck. None of the company’s forklift truck drivers had ever received formal training despite it being required by the HSE’s code of practice.
See: manchester.gov.uk
Bev Messinger has been announced as the new chief executive of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). Commencing her role in October, Ms. Messinger has previous experience of organisational transformation at Ofwat and Coventry City Council.
See: IOSH
Point Engineering (Hull) Ltd has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and fined £30,000 with £24,577 costs, after a marine hatch and frame weighting more than 500 kilograms fell and seriously injured an employee in February 2014.
See: HSE
Portsmouth-based Diverse Ventures Limited, which supplies crane mounted barges, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and fined £45,000, with costs of £9,000, after a fatal incident in November 2012.
See: HSE
London-based Monavon Construction Ltd has been fined £550,000 plus £23,653 costs after two men fell to their deaths through one of its site hoardings in London in October 2013. The firm had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of corporate manslaughter and a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
See: theconstructionindex.co.uk
A-Lift Crane Hire Limited and Premier Roofing Systems Limited, both based in Northamptonshire, have been substantially fined for breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1), respectively, of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 after a worker died following a fall through a skylight in August 2013.
See: HSE, and - for further information on working at height - see: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg401.pdf
July 2016
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has stated that, post-Brexit, the UK now has less influence over EU law. It is, however, vital the UK continues to apply our successful risk-based health and safety system which includes laws from EU directives, because it's respected and imitated across the world.
See: IOSH
Interfish Limited of Plymouth has been fined £500,000 plus costs of £24,800 after a 22 year old employee suffered fatal injuries when a one-ton 'wall' of frozen fish fell on him in October 2013. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
See: HSE
A new global model for defining competency in occupational safety and health has been developed by IOSH and a cross-sector group of industry experts. IOSH Blueprint is a competency framework, designed for both the OSH professional and any organisation. Announcements will be made later this year on the phased roll-out of IOSH Blueprint.
See: IOSH
Shell has been reprimanded by the HSE for failing to carry out a suitable risk assessment after workers were placed in danger in December 2015 following a nine-day gas leak on the normally-unattended installation (NUI) Caravel in the UK southern North Sea, operated by Shell’s ONEgas business unit. The release likely to be classed as “major” category under HSE classification – and no enforcement action has yet been taken.
See: Energy Voice
IOSH and the International SOS Foundation have collaborated to produce a new guide on mobile workers' safety when travelling for work, or on international assignments. After outlining the principles of assessing risk, the new publication makes the case for dynamic risk assessment, in which risk is constantly re-assessed in line with changing health, security and political conditions.
See: IOSH
Veolia Environmental Services has been fined £750,000 plus £11,981 in costs after a worker was crushed to death by the tailgate of a refuse collection vehicle (RCV) in May 2014 at the premises of John Fowler and Son Limited in Chorley. The latter company was also fined £65,000 and ordered to pay £12,443 in costs. Inadequate maintenance had been done on a safety critical device on Veolia’s RCVs, and John Fowler and Son’s failed to adequately assess the risks of working around RCVs.
See: fm-world.co.uk
Hereford-based TRP Polymer Solutions Limited has been fined £40,000 plus costs of £6,529 for breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and Regulations 6 and 11 of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health 2002 (COSHH). An employee contracted allergic contact dermatitis after being exposed to sensitising ingredients in rubber compounds.
The IOSH 2017 Conference will take place on November 20-21 at the International Convention Centre (ICC), in Birmingham.
See: IOSH
Conductor Installation Services Ltd (CIS) of Great Yarmouth, which provides hammer services to install conductors and drive piles, including offshore, has been awarded its third consecutive Gold Medal for Occupational Health and Safety from the UK’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). CIS completed its 11th consecutive year of operation without an accident or a Lost Time Incident.
Chemical giant Cristal have pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 and Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after one of its workers died in a blast caused by leaking titanium tetrachloride fumes at Stallingborough's Cristal Global site, formerly known as Millennium Chemicals, in March 2010. The company also plead guilty to contravening regulation 4 of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999, in relation to a separate incident.
See: Grimsby Telegraph
The number of individual points (almost 3,000) raised at a consultation on the ISO 45001 draft international standard (DIS) for occupational safety and health has led to its publication being delayed until - probably - June 2017. However, it is anticipated that a further draft reflecting any changes can be produced by October 2016, the month originally planned for publication.
See: IOSH
John Pointon and Sons Limited, a food waste disposal and recycling business, has been fined £250,000 plus costs of £37,362 after three employees were affected by toxic gases, including hydrogen sulphide, and a reduced oxygen atmosphere, at an animal waste facility in Stoke-on-Trent in April 2014. The company breached Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and Regulation 5(1) of the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997.
See: wamanagement.co.uk
June 2016
HSL is to run a 1 day course on Hazardous Area Classification under the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) on 9 June 2016.
See: hsl.gov.uk
H20 Plumbing Services Ltd, a Birmingham maintenance company, has been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £25,000 relating to the death of a worker who died after falling from the roof of a five-storey building in October 2014.
IOSH is inviting members to apply to join the Institution’s team of Vice-Presidents. Two new members are required to take on the role for a period of three years, beginning in November 2016 at IOSH’s AGM. Applicants will need to be either a Chartered Member on an IOSH committee or a Chartered Fellow, and have their CPD, if being undertaken, up-to-date. For a job description and application form, contact Laura Miles at laura.miles@iosh.co.uk. Completed forms must be returned by Friday 15 July.
See: IOSH
Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Ltd of Sheffield has been fined £2.6 million with £54,000 costs for breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Regulation 31(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. An employee was killed in a trench collapse in April 2010 when laying ducting for new cable for an offshore windfarm.
See: HSE
Sian Clayton, the new team manager for waste and recycling at the HSE, has reminded the sector of the need to work together to improve fatal injuries, saying: “There have been 33 worker fatalities in the waste sector in the last five years. The fatal injury rate in the waste sector is over 10 times greater than the rate across all industries and almost three times greater than the rate in the construction sector.”
See: letsrecycle.com
McCain Foods (GB) Limited of Havers Hill, Eastfield Scarborough, has been fined £800,000 with costs of £12,831.51 for breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It follows a worker almost having his arm severed in the unguarded roller on a conveyor in August 2014.
See: shponline.co.uk
The programme for the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health’s (IOSH) annual conference at ExCeL London from 21-22 June is now complete, with over 60 expert speakers confirmed including health and safety experts from Network Rail, Airbus Group, Mace, Travis Perkins, Tesco, American Eagle Outfitters and Dixons Carphone.
See: ioshconference.co.uk/programme
Hampshire-based Humbly Grove Energy Ltd, a top tier COMAH operator whose main activity is the injection of natural gas into depleted underground oil reservoir for storage, company has been fined £80,000 and ordered to pay costs of £14,000 for releasing approximately 145 kg of natural gas into the atmosphere, together with some crude oil in February 2014.
See: HSE
HGV drivers are frequently putting lives at risk by not following basic safety procedures when coupling and uncoupling vehicles, the Health and Safety Executive has warned. Drivers are urged to apply parking brakes and use (or retrofit) warning alarms to avoid a repeat of an incident in January 2015 when a road worker was crushed by an HGV tractor unit which unexpectedly rolled backwards when the driver failed to apply the parking brake of the tractor unit or to follow recognised industry coupling procedures.
Companies in the UK waste and resource sector have been sent a stark reminder of the need to maintain high health and safety standards, and have been reminded of their duty of care by the British Safety Council (BSC). This follows recent prosecutions of Travis Perkins and Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Ltd which demonstrated the significance of the recent changes in sentencing guidelines that will be applied by courts in England and Wales for health and safety offences.
See: ciwm-journal.co.uk
ScottishPower has been fined £1.75 million for serious health and safety flaws which led to a horrific accident at Longannet Power Station. Despite being identified as faulty in May 2009, a valve was not repaired and led to an employee being scalded by high pressure, high temperature steam in October 2013 which resulted in his medical retirement at the age of 51.
See: thecourier.co.uk
Gordon Leach, trading as RGE Engineering Company, a plastics manufacturer from Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 after a 23-year-old agency worker from Lithuania was killed when her head was crushed in a printing machine in April 2012. Gordon Leach was given a 15 month sentence, suspended for 24 months, was fined £7,500 and was ordered to pay full costs of £45,000.
See: HSE
May 2016
Tragically, on Worker's Memorial Day (28th April), a construction worker was killed by the moving boom on a Giraffe crane on the Queensferry Crossing’s north tower.
See:BBC
Dame Judith Hackitt, DBE, former Chair of the HSE has received the Institute of Risk Management (IRM) 2016 lifetime achievement award.
See: theirm.org
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced Martin Temple as the new Chair of HSE after Dame Judith Hackitt stepped down.
See: Gov.uk
In early May, IOSH will invite members to take part in a short survey that will inform the Institution’s 2017-2022 strategy.
See: IOSH
Bowmer & Kirkland has been fined by the HSE for breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulation 2005 after a worker was injured in May 2014 falling through a gap in a retail building that was under construction.
See: constructionmanagermagazine.com
The HSE will lead the health and safety stream at the Manufacturing Management Conference at Whittlebury Hall, Northamptonshire on 15-16 June. Alan Craddock, head of manufacturing, transportation and safety unit, HSE, will talk on hidden hazards in the workplace and ‘long latency’ health risks in a session that will explain how to become an industry leader in health and safety.
Steel fabrication company Severfield (UK) Limited based in Thirsk has been fined after a forklift truck (FLT) operator was killed in March 2013 when the truck he was operating overturned. They pleaded guilty to a non-causative breach of Regulation 5(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and was fined £135,000 and ordered to pay costs of £46,020.
See: HSE
Representatives from the waste management and recycling industry have come together with the HSE to form the Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum (WISH). WISH publishes safety guidance documents, which are routinely kept up to date with a review every 18 months to account for developments in technology, procedure and experience.
See: ciwm.org.uk
The Social Responsibility and Sustainability Conference will be held at The Crystal, London, on 12 May. It will examine new approaches to ethical and responsible business.
Shell has released its Sustainability Report for 2015, outlining its global approach to sustainability and covering its environmental and social performance for the year.
See: shell.com
The British Safety Council has launched the 2016 International Safety Awards which recognise businesses and organisations from around the world who have demonstrated a commitment to protecting their workers from the risk of being injured or made ill at work during 2015.
See: britsafe.org
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has launched the 2016-2017 Healthy Workplaces for All Ages campaign. It aims to promote sustainable work and healthy ageing and the importance of risk prevention throughout working life.
ISO 45001, the new international standard for occupational health and safety management systems, will require companies to prove how their directors and managers provide leadership on health and safety risks. Read article by Neal Stone, director of policy and standards at the British Safety Council:
April 2016
The Indesit/Whirpool factory in Yate, Somerset, has been given 21 days, until 11th April, to provide a Coroner with proof of improved procedures relating to the supervision of maintenance external contractors. The call comes after a contractor was killed when a scissor lift collapsed in March 2015. See:
On March 23rd the Labour MP for Jarrow, Stephen Hepburn, and the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) secured a ministerial meeting to discuss concerns about the performance of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). It followed a parliamentary debate on the alarmingly low number of prosecutions following a construction fatality.
See: ucatt.org.uk
The Better Health at Work Alliance (BHWA) has been launched to complement the HSE’s Helping Great Britain Work Well strategy. The BHWA offers access to solutions, information and guidance on workplace health for British Workplaces.
See: bhwa.org.uk
Global healthcare organisation Johnson & Johnson’s groundbreaking employee wellbeing approach has won it the title of “Britain’s healthiest large company” in 2015. This interesting interview outlines the initiative’s objectives and successes.
See: personneltoday.com
Bury St Edmunds-based specialist health and safety company Worksafe Training Consultancy has been found guilty of failing to ensure that workers at a furniture factory were protected. It was proved to have provided ‘bad advice’ to management at Jan Cavelle Furniture, in Haverhill, resulting in injuries to two workers.
See: buryfreepress.co.uk
Swire Pacific Offshore has been served with a Health and Safety (HSE) improvement notice after a suspected gas leak incident involving Shell’s Curlew FPSO in the North Sea in January 2015. The HSE notice includes an inadequate safe system of work and insufficient risk assessment.
See: energyvoice.com
Marathon Oil has been issued with an improvement notice after determination that a 2148KG gas release on the Brae Alpha North Sea platform on December 26th 2015 was caused by a "catastrophic" failure of pipework which had not been properly inspected for more than 30 years.
See: BBC
A research team at Imperial College, London, has linked thousands of UK cancer deaths with different occupations. It found almost 14,000 new cases of cancer caused by work are registered each year, and around 8,000 deaths a year are caused by occupational cancer. IOSH’s No Time to Lose campaign aims to get carcinogenic exposure issues more widely understood and help businesses take action.
See: notimetolose.org.uk
Syngenta Ltd of Huddersfield has been fined fined £200 000 with £13,041 costs after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Control Of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 and Regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 after paraquat dichloride solution was ejected under pressure.
See: HSE
The Safety & Health Expo 2016, which is at Excel London from 21st-23rd June, will feature inspirational speeches from Colonel Tim Collins OBE, Kate Adie OBE, and James Cracknell OBE. For full details, and to register, see:
March 2016
The HSE’s provisional figure for the number of workers fatally injured in 2014/15 is 142, and corresponds to a rate of fatal injury of 0.46 deaths per 100,000 workers. This is 9% lower than the average for the past five years (156) which corresponds to an average rate of 0.53 deaths per 100,000 workers.
See: HSE
Five people were hurt, one seriously, when the Cambridgeshire guided bus left its concrete track on 22nd February. The incident sparked concern about the safety of the busway, which opened five years ago and is the only one of its kind in the world. The HSE are investigating.
See: Cambridge News
ConocoPhillips (UK) Limited has pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Offshore Installations (Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response) Regulations 1995 after two uncontrolled and one controlled but unexpected gas release, which occurred on the Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System (LOGGS) between 30 November and 1 December 2012. It was fined £3,000,000 (£1m for each offence) and ordered to pay costs of £159,459.
See: HSE
ISO 45001 Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements, which will replace OHSAS 18001, has been approved as a Draft International Standard (DIS). More than 70 countries are directly involved in the creation of this important document, with the British Standards Institution (BSI) serving as the committee secretariat. You can comment on the text of the DIS until April 15th.
See: drafts.bsigroup.com
It will take a considerable time to complete the recovery operation at Didcot A Power Station, where one person is known to have died and three others are still missing following the partial collapse of a building being demolished on 23rd February.
See: theconstructionindex.co.uk
Supermarket chain Aldi has been fined £100,000 plus £5,000 costs for a health and safety violation which resulted in an unsecured smoking shelter lifting into the air and trapping a Darlington employee on 21 October 2014. Contractors Wilkinson Maintenance were fined £20,000 plus £5,000 costs.
Crossrail has launched a knowledge-sharing website to spread lessons learned during its construction. The Crossrail Learning Legacy aims to share knowledge and insight via case studies, technical papers and datasets providing lessons and recommendations to help others. It will also showcase the experts behind the delivery of the Crossrail programme.
See: learninglegacy.crossrail.co.uk
Falcon Crane Hire of Shipdham, near Dereham, has been found guilty to two charges under the Health and Safety Work Act 1974 after a crane driver and another man were killed by a falling crane in Battersea, south London, in September 2006. A police investigation found the machine had been overloaded with twelve tonnes of counterweights instead of eight.
See: edp24.co.uk
Considerate constructors will get a star rating for their competence after a new system was launched by The Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) to boost standards and reward best practice. Now, companies along with their contractors, clients and workforce will be better able to demonstrate CCS competencies including everything from the success of health and safety policies to green initiatives and engagement with the local community.
See: bdcmagazine.com
The HSE has released its latest Fatigue Index. Extensive changes have been made to the previous version, including on cumulative fatigue, time of day, shift length, the effect of breaks and the recovery from a sequence of shifts. In addition, a review has been carried out of trends in risk related to shift work, and this has enabled the final version to incorporate two separate indices, one related to fatigue (the Fatigue Index) and the other to risk (the Risk Index).
For downloads, see: HSE
Derbyshire waste firm Rainbow Waste Management Limited has been fined £136,000 and ordered to pay £64,770 in costs after a worker was crushed to death by the bucket of a motorised loading shovel in June 2013. Derby Crown Court heard that in the 10 days leading up to the incident, CCTV cameras at site captured over two hundred examples of unsafe working practices.
See: HSE
A report from the Royal Colleges of Physicians and of Paediatrics and Child Health, Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution, examines the impact of exposure to air pollution across the course of a lifetime. Each year in the UK, around 40,000 early deaths are attributable to exposure to outdoor air pollution which has been linked to cancer, asthma, stroke and heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and changes linked to dementia. The cost of these deaths add up to more than £20 billion every year.
See: rcplondon.ac.uk
The Global Healthy Workplace Awards, dedicated to the recognition of practices and programs in the global workplace, are now accepting applications from around the world for review by an international panel of judges representing five continents with expertise in health promotion, health policy, occupational health and associated disciplines. The application deadline is 22nd March.
See: OSHA
February 2016
The International Institute of Risk and Safety Management and Health and Safety at Work magazine are running a Conference on 11 February at the IET, Birmingham. Richard Judge, Chief Executive of the HSE, will give the Keynote speech. Other speakers include Heather Bryant, UK H&S Director at Balfour Beatty, and Paul Simpson, Head of Quality at Network Rail.
See: iirsm.org
Tough new sentencing guidelines on health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences from the Sentencing Council came into effect on 1 February. They introduce three key factors in determining fines: the degree of harm caused, the culpability of the offender and the turnover of the offending organisation. To download the guidelines see:
Watts Group, a Belfast-based consultancy to the property and construction industry, has been fined £30,000 for health and safety breaches which resulted in two construction workers being exposed to asbestos in early 2013 while replacing doors in the service ducts beneath Holywell Hospital, Antrim.
See: insidermedia.com
UK Power Networks has been fined £1 million and ordered to pay £153,474.06 in costs after being found guilty of contravening health and safety regulations. Dr James Kew, a director of biology at GlaxoSmithKline, was electrocuted by an 11,000-volt power cable dangling at head height over a public footpath in Newport, Essex in 2012.
See: thecomet.net
Whitchurch-based Arkenfield Stable Hire Limited (ASHL), has been fined a total of £7,500 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000 after pleading guilty to an offence under Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. An employee received transport-related fatal injuries in November 2011.
See: HSE
The history of occupational health and safety in the UK is being preserved on the History of Occupational Safety and Health website. The website, set up by safety charity the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident’s (RoSPA) National Occupational Safety and Health Committee (NOSHC), charts more than 200 years of industrial history.
See: historyofosh.org.uk
Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Limited, a subsidiary of Balfour Beatty PLC, has been fined after a worker lost his life in October 2012 whilst repairing a central reservation barrier on the A2. The company was fined a total of £1 million, and ordered to pay £14,977 in costs after pleading guilty to offences under Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
See: HSE
Clydeport Operations Limited (Clydeport) of Glasgow, has been fined £300,000 for breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after a worker suffered fatal crush injuries at their Hunterston Coal Terminal site in Ayrshire in February 2015.
See: HSE
The Public and Commercial Services Union is commemorating International Workers Memorial Day (IWMD) on 28 April, when unions remember all those killed through work and aim to ensure that such tragedies are not repeated. For ways to support IWMD.
See: pcs.org.uk
National Grid Gas plc have been fined £1 million and ordered to pay costs of £26,296 for breaching Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act after a worker became trapped in a ruptured gas main in Scunthorpe in June 2014. HSE Inspector Ian Redshaw, said: “This incident could easily have become a fatality… This whole incident should act as a stark warning to all those involved in hazardous work – you can have all the written policies in place but it you do not follow them, if you do not carry out the risk assessments for the task, people could die.”
See: tomorrowshs.com
A new monthly magazine for members of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) was launched on 1 February. It replaces Safety and Health Practitioner as the official monthly publication for IOSH members.
See: IOSH
Bellmoor Construction Limited and Clive Graham Associates Limited (CGA) have each been fined £45,000 plus £6,612 costs after two workers narrowly escaped death when a giant fireball engulfed them when one accidentally cut into a live 11,000 volts electrical cable under the House of Lords in July 2013.
See: independent.co.uk
January 2016
The HSE has released its 2015 Myth Busters list, citing decisions on disproportionate or inaccurate claims about health and safety.
See: HSE
Corporate budgets for environment, health and safety (EH&S) initiatives look set to increase in 2016, according to a new survey from analyst firm Verdantix. The study was based on a survey of 312 EH&S executives around the world.
See: businessgreen.com
The HSE has provided a useful list of events, conferences, and seminars it has organised or with which it has significant involvement from January to April 2016.
See: HSE
French energy giant Total has been fined £1.125 million, the largest ever fine relating to a health and safety issue in the North Sea oil and gas sector. The company pleaded guilty to failings in its installation and repair procedures relating to a major leak from its Elgin platform in March 2012.
See: theweek.co.uk
The HSE and Merseyside Police are investigating the death of a contract worker who was killed in a fall from a roof at Jaguar Land Rover’s Halewood plant on 22nd December 2015.
Cemex UK Operations Ltd and Cape Industrial Services Ltd Scaffolding have been fined a total of £1.3 million following the death of a scaffolder who was struck by falling debris inside an industrial tower.
See: HSE
In November 2015 the Sentencing Council issued new guidelines which will apply to sentencing in all health and safety and corporate manslaughter prosecutions from 1 February this year. This means substantially higher health and safety fines coming into force.
See: personneltoday.com
The National Grid has been fined £2 million after admitting safety failings in relation to the death of an 11 year old boy who fell from a pipeline which ran along the outside of the Dugdale Bridge on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Burnley in April 2014.
See: natwestmentor.co.uk
Scientist Paul Hamey, Head of the Exposure Branch in the HSE’s Chemicals Regulation Directorate, has been as awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours list for services to the regulation of pesticides.
See: hortweek.com
The HSE is inviting employers, employees, local and central government, unions, other regulators and key representative groups to aid the development of its new five-year strategy (2016-2020) covering six themes. Information on getting involved will be posted on www.hse.gov.uk/strategy.
See: IOSH
Anglian Water has been fined £400,000 for offences under Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 which led to three workers being injured at the Dunstable and Saffron Walden water recycling centres.
December 2015
UK crane rental company Baldwins Crane Hire has been found guilty of corporate manslaughter and two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act, following the death of an operator at the Scout Moor wind farm in Edenfield, East Lancashire in 2011.
See:
Thakeham Mushrooms Ltd of West Sussex has been fined £20,000, with costs of £1,943, after pleading guilty to offences under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. An employee was hit in the face by a full wooden tray of mushrooms, weighing c. 400lbs, in December 2014.
See:
The UK Chemicals Stakeholder Forum has published a short briefing note for companies to help explain the substance registration process before the third and final REACH registration deadline in May 2018. For a free copy, see:
Bradford-based food manufacturing company, Princes Ltd has been fined £13,000.00 with £1,323.15 costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. In July 2013, a worker suffered severe facial and other burns after being sprayed with a caustic substance.
See:
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has welcomed the Government’s pledge to invest extra funds to help people with disabilities and health conditions. This will include extra spending on Access to Work, which will provide specialist IT equipment or support workers to help 25,000 more disabled people remain in work each year.
See:
The newly revised version of ISO 14001:2015, published in September, offers easier integration between ISO 14001, ISO 9001 and the new OHSAS 18001 replacement, ISO 45001, published next year. It also brings with it additional requirements on: leadership, strategic context, interested party analysis and communication, risks and opportunities and lifecycle perspective.
See:
Shell U.K. Ltd, has been fined a total of £22,500 after admitting breaching Regulation 3A of the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention & Control) Regulations 2005 and Regulation 13 of the Pipelines Safety Regulations 1996. Failures led to an oil leak in the vicinity of Shell’s Gannet F field, 180 kilometres from Aberdeen in August 2011.
See:
Blue Diamond Engineering Ltd of Shildon, County Durham, has been fined a total of £11,000, with costs of £1,610, after pleading guilty to offences under Regulation 4(8)(b) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Asbestos materials were discovered during a survey at their factory premises in 2006 and there was no documented or implemented Asbestos Management Plan to adequately control the risk of exposure.
See:
The Sentencing Council has issued new definitive guidelines on the sentencing of health and safety offences. The new guidelines will come into force on 1 February 2016, regardless of the date of the offence, and will alter the way individuals or businesses are sentenced by criminal courts in cases involving health and safety, corporate manslaughter, and food safety offences.
See:
An experimental drone fitted with sensors is being deployed to monitor gases rising from Britain's 200 landfill sites. The drone project, run by the University of Manchester and the Environment Agency, is to find ways of reducing the 830,000 tonnes of methane from the waste sector each year.
See:
The Crown Prosecution Service has announced there will be no corporate manslaughter charges after the storage tank explosion that killed four workers at the Chevron (now Valero) oil refinery in Pembrokeshire in 2011. The HSE investigation continues.
See:
The EU Directive 2013/35/EU on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (the electromagnetic field) published in mid-2013 will be transposed into UK law by July 2016. This article describes what is needed to comply.
See:
November 2015
Chester-based glass container manufacturer Encirc Ltd has been fined for serious safety breaches after two fitters working in the mould shop suffered burns to their face and heads when a gas canister exploded in May 2014.
See:
The Health and Safety Executive is urging the stone industry to do more to protect workers’ health following findings of a recent inspection initiative. HSE inspectors visited sixty stone businesses and serious breaches were found at over half (35) of the premises.
See:
CITB-authorised test centres have been caught on camera by a joint BBC London/Newsnight investigation rigging construction health and safety exams for the CSCS skills card. The health, safety and environment test is a basic requirement for people looking to work on most sites.
See:
A report by the all-party parliamentary group on occupational safety and health calls for regulations requiring the safe phased and planned removal of all the remaining asbestos in Britain in workplaces and public buildings. This year, according to official figures, 5,000 people in Britain are likely to die prematurely as a result of asbestos exposure - around three times the number of road accident deaths.
See:
Last year 1.2 million people in the UK were suffering from an illness caused by the conditions at their place of work. Jerry Hill, Head of Consultancy Support – Safety, Health and Environment, for business consultancy and advisory service NatWest Mentor, looks at the main causes of workplace ill health.
See:
www.shponline.co.uk and HSE Statistics
ASLR Fabrication Services Ltd of Stone, Staffordshire, has been sentenced after a worker suffered life-changing arm injuries in September 2014 when his clothing became entangled in a length of galvanised pipe being turned in a machine.
See:
Recycling firm Sita UK Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and been fined £200,000 with £11,998 costs after an employee was seriously injured by a 7.5 tonne telehandler.
See:
The British Safety Council has announced the 61 winners of this year’s Sword of Honour and 8 Globe of Honour awards for exemplary management of HSE risks by businesses around the world. Seven organisations won both the Sword of Honour and Globe of Honour: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority; OSI Food Solutions, Scunthorpe; Qatargas Operating Company Limited – Commercial & Shipping Group – Shipping Department; Unipart Aftermarket Logistics, Baginton A; Unipart Logistics, Cowley; Unipart Technology Logistics, Baginton B; and United Biscuits (UK) Ltd.
See the full lists of winners:
Serco Limited has been fined £200,000 after being found guilty of failing to ensure the health and safety of its crew on the Woolwich free ferry after a deckhand died while working on board in August 2011.
See:
The managing director of Janbor Limited, a Hertfordshire-based recycler of wood waste has been prosecuted for safety failings after failing to comply with three Improvement Notices. Sole director Jan Willem Boruch was fined a total of £8,000 and ordered to pay £2,089 in costs after pleading guilty to an offence under Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
See:
September 2015
Time taken to travel to and from work for non-office based employees will now be considered ‘working time’, the European Court of Justice has ruled. Excluding those journeys from working time would be contrary to the objective of protecting the safety and health of workers pursued by EU law, says the ECJ.
See:
Jaguar Land Rover has been prosecuted by the HSE over breaches of Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 after a worker died at its Halewood, Merseyside plant in September 2011.
See:
On 9th September, the North East of Scotland Branch of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) heard about the potential hazards of nanoparticles and the need for ongoing research into their health and safety implications as they are increasingly being used in healthcare and technology industries.
See:
British Polythene Ltd of Widnes film polythene manufacturer has been prosecuted by the HSE for breaches of Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3 (1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 after a worker was badly injured when he became trapped in a winding machine in January 2014.
See:
Here is an informative article by Alex Baggott, business development associate at Fortress Interlockson, on the importance of safety interlocking in the waste and recycling industry:
Anglian Demolition and Asbestos Limited of Attleborough, Norfolk, has been found guilty to an offence under Regulation 11(2) of the REACH Enforcement Regulations 2008. The company sold on a boiler containing an asbestos gasket from the boiler house at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely.
See:
Designer clothing company Hugo Boss has been fined £1.2m over the death of a young boy crushed by a free-standing mirror at its Bicester Village store in June 2013.
See:
The British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) has launched a new initiative, Asbestos Still Kills, highlighting BOHS’ industry leading suite of asbestos qualifications, and the facts around asbestos and its risks. Asbestos still presents significant risk, killing around 5000 workers each year.
See:
Steel coating company Coilcolor Limited of Newport, Gwent has been fined a total of £75,000 and ordered to pay £28,393 in costs for failing to manage the risks from legionella bacteria at two cooling towers over a period of five years from 2009 until 2014 in contravention of Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
See:
Welsted Joinery Ltd of Cheltenham has been fined for two breaches of Regulation 9(3) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 and one breach of Regulation 9(2) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 after repeatedly failing to have thorough examinations on its lift trucks and wood dust extraction system.
See:
The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), a not-for-profit members’ organisation, has a wealth of resources to promote the safe and effective use of powered platforms. It has released updated guidance on exiting platforms at height: what hazards should be considered in the risk assessment, and what control measures should be taken.
See:
Gwynn Davies-McTiffin Ltd, a waste recycling firm in Batley, has been found guilty of breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 after an employee was fatally injured after falling into a baling machine’s hopper while clearing a blockage in August 2012. The HSE identified systemic safety failings at the company.
See:
August 2015
A worker for Balfour Beatty, believed to be in his 20s, was killed on the southbound side of the M3 in roadworks between Junctions 1 and 2 near Sunbury, on Monday 27 July.
See:
There are signs that the long-term reduction in workplace fatalities has stalled or could be reversing after the release of provisional Health and Safety Executive (HSE) fatality figures for 2014/15.
See:
Severn Valley Woodworks Ltd have been fined £8,000 plus £1,142 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. An agency worker lost parts of three fingers in a table saw in September 2014.
See:
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has welcomed the parts of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 that require commercial organisations above a certain turnover to produce an annual statement showing how they ensured there is no modern slavery in their business and supply chain.
See:
International aerospace company CAV Aerospace, based in Cambridge Airport, has been found guilty of corporate manslaughter and putting their employees at risk following the death of one of its employees in January 2013. Paul Bowers was crushed by several tonnes of aircraft-grade aluminium.
See:
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) is seeking entrants to its 2015 Excellence in Communication Award which recognises outstanding communications in promoting occupational safety and health. The deadline for nominations is 28 September.
See:
Waleed Al-Jawadi, Safety and Environmental Prevention Division Manager for the Saudi Electricity Company’s Western Region, has passed the British Safety Council’s prestigious International Diploma in Occupational Safety and Health and has helped the company achieve certification under OHSAS 180001.
See:
A BBC investigation has found that days lost to stress-related sickness by doctors at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust have increased by more than 430% in five years. Stress-related sickness has also risen in other hospital trusts.
See:
The government has agreed to waive new court fees for cases involving asbestos-related disease. The decision follows an application for judicial review lodged by law firm Leigh Day on behalf of the Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK.
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Between 2013 and 2014 the HSE had issued one prohibition notice and five improvement notices at Bosley Mill, the wood mill that was destroyed in a series of devastating explosions on 17 July, causing four fatalities.
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Huntley Mount Engineering has been convicted under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act of the corporate manslaughter of a 16-year-old apprentice. It has been fined £150,000 and a director and supervisor from the company were given prison sentences. The recruitment agency that placed the apprentice must pay a fine of £75,000.
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Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd has pleaded guilty to breaching section 3 (1) of HSWA 1974 and been fined £200,000 with £17,790 costs after a worker contracted to specialist construction company London Fenestration Trades Ltd died in a fall in November 2011.
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July 2015
Guidance on how to curb health risks from too much sitting has been published for the first time in the UK. The British Journal of Sports Medicine advises that office workers should be on their feet for a minimum of two hours daily during working hours to help prevent serious illness associated with inactivity.
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A collection of vintage safety posters from between the 1930s and 1970s found in a Birmingham warehouse are to be published in a book celebrating the centenary of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa). The book, Safety First, by Dr Paul Rennie of Central St Martins College of Art and Design, was published on 18 June.
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Cwmbran-based MDS Recycling has been ordered to pay £45,000 plus £3,207 costs. This is the largest ever fine handed to a Welsh company for flouting fire safety regulations.
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Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust has been fined £50,000 following an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in 2011 that may have hastened the death of an elderly patient. It was also ordered to pay more than £38,000 in costs.
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Twenty UK tradespeople, on average, die every week from asbestos related diseases. The HSE has launched a web app to provide simple, practical advice for anyone working with asbestos.
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Doncaster-based pet food manufacturer Sarval Limited has pleaded guilty to two breaches of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and has been fined £40,000 with £19,550 costs after workers at its plant in Stoke Bardolph, Nottinghamshire, were exposed to chlorine gas and hydrogen sulphide fumes.
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The Total Lindsey Oil Refinery in North Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, has been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £2,641 in costs with a victim surcharge of £120, after admitting a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. A worker suffered serious burns in October 2013 when he stepped into an open manway lid and his leg hit molten sulphur below.
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The British Safety Council’s annual conference ‘Health and Safety – What’s Next?’ will be held on 23 September 2015 at Etc.venues Dexter House, central London. There will be keynote presentations from Steve Hails, Health and Safety Director at Crossrail, and Professor Stephen Bevan from the Work Foundation.
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Oldham-based precision engineers, fabricators and tube manipulators Metool Co Ltd have pleaded guilty to breaching the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, Regulation 11 (1) and been fined £18,000 with costs of £801. A worker had his hand amputated in a milling machine in July 2014.
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On June 11th, members of IOSH’s Edinburgh branch paid a visit to BP’s Kinneil Terminal, an oil stabilisation and gas separation plant at the end of the Forties Pipeline system, to see the management systems in place to protect worker safety.
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A free e-book, Beyond Compliance: Innovative Leadership in Health & Safety, is available from SHP Magazine. It is a compilation of articles about health and safety leadership written by a panel of experts.
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May 2015
Southampton-based Metal Processing Ltd has been fined a total of £35,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 in costs after admitting breaches of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, after a worker had both hands severed.
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Glyphosate, the world’s most widely produced herbicide, has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the World Health Organisation (WHO), as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
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Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill Limited has been fined £10,000 (and ordered to pay more than £7,300 in costs) after admitting a breach of Work at Height Regulations in Bedfordshire in 2012.
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This is an interesting article on finding the right balance between encouraging recycling and avoiding re-injecting hazardous substances into the economy as recycled material incorporated in new products or as a secondary raw material:
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A record amount of electronic waste was discarded in 2014, with a total of 41.8 million tons of personal electronics and household appliances hitting landfills worldwide, a new report from the United Nations University has found.
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A study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B has questioned plastic's non-hazardous ranking, as an estimated 150 million tonnes “disappears” from the global waste stream each year.
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Sheffield-based Daver Steels Ltd have been fined £62,000 and ordered to pay £38,000 in costs after admitting breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 when a 42-year-old worker was killed in December 2012.
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The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) blog offers comment and opinion on all aspects of the health and safety profession and aims at dispelling popular myths in the media as well as adding an authoritative voice.
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No-one will be prosecuted over an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Edinburgh in 2012 which killed four people, the Crown Office has announced. Despite extensive investigations, the source of the outbreak has not been identified.
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C&F Electrical Services Ltd and Raytheon Systems Ltd have been fined £44,000 following an incident in which two workers were left permanently disfigured after suffering serious burns to the face, neck and arms, while working on a live electricity distribution board in December 2011.
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EU member states have voted to postpone a ban on inefficient halogen light bulbs by two years - to 2018. It is the first time that the EU has rolled back an agreed product efficiency measure.
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March 2015
The HSE is recruiting specialists to form its Workplace Health Expert Committee. Experts from occupational medicine, occupational hygiene, exposure science, social and behavioural sciences, health impact assessment and health risk assessment are invited to apply for places on the 10-member expert group. The closing date for applications is 27th March 2015.
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Sheffield-based Tank Industrial Maintenance Limited has been prosecuted and fined a total of £38,000 after spreading 2,023 tonnes of liquid waste in Doncaster and Worksop without permits in place. The charges were brought by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2010.
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The amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment being recycled has increased under the New Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations. The regulations, introduced in 2014 saw a 4% increase in collections compared to 2013 and estimated savings to producers of electrical equipment in excess of £18 million.
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Thames Water has been fined £220,000 and ordered to pay costs of £27,500 at Guildford Crown Court for polluting the River Blackwater, a tributary of the River Loddon in Surrey which flows through a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). Illegal discharges of polluting effluent occurred from its sewage treatment works in Camberley.
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Temple Lifts Ltd has been ordered to pay £100,000 in fines and costs after a Tower Bridge lift fell three metres into a service pit. Four people sustained bone fractures and a further six were treated for shock as walking wounded. The HSE investigation revealed that historic component failures on lifts at the attraction had not resulted in a proper review and investigation as to why they were failing early.
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The Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA) has voiced its support for the publication of a new report which urges the next UK Government to introduce business reforms on resource efficiency. The Resource Efficient Business Models: the roadmap to resilience and prosperity report has been produced by The Aldersgate Group, an alliance of leaders from business, politics and civil society that drives action for a sustainable economy.
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Surrey-based cleaning firm Cleansafe Services (UK) Ltd has been prosecuted for several breaches of the Work at Height Regulations after an employee suffered life-changing injuries when he plunged six metres through a fragile rooflight.
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A waste and recycling site run by Mekatek Ltd in Carmarthen was in such a dangerous condition that visiting health and safety inspectors had to issue eight notices to immediately halt a range of work activities. Mekatek Ltd was prosecuted by HSE for a breach of health and safety regulations, a single breach of control of asbestos regulations and a breach of work equipment regulations and was fined a total of £35,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs.
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The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has called for sentences that help improve health and safety standards, remedy defects and deter future offending. IOSH stressed the need for sentences to reflect both culpability and societal disapproval and also emphasised the importance of appropriate use of director disqualification for convicted individuals.
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Cappagh Contractors Construction (London) Ltd of Wimbledon has been fined £200,000 after a workman had a fatal accident while installing sewer pipes in Swindon. The company pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
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Over 100 European companies and federations have been honoured after volunteering to become official campaign partners of the ‘Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress’. EU-OSHA, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, paid tribute to the organisations and honoured them with a ceremony at the ‘Benchmarking event on Occupational Safety and Health’ in Brussels from 5-6 March. Siemens was the winner of an award in the area of managing work-related stress and psychosocial risks.
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Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd, the owners of the Westfield shopping centres, have been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £1,247 in costs after a worker suffered a dislocated and fractured right shoulder and was unable to work for six months. The fall occurred on a roof extension at White City mall in December 2013.
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February 2015
Research from the University of Exeter reveals some of the complex reasons why health and safety regulations are used incorrectly and blamed for over-the-top decisions. The study analysed over 250 cases submitted by members of the public to the government’s Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Myth Busters Challenge Panel.
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The Department for Work and Pensions is claiming that eighty four per cent of health and safety rules will have been scrapped or improved in this Parliament. The Department has taken a ‘One in Two Out’ approach to rules, with - it is claimed - those covering health and safety halved without compromising or diluting health and protection for workers.
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Recycling and resource management company SITA UK Ltd has been fined a total of £110,000 and ordered to pay £8,832 in legal costs for exceeding the landfill site’s leachate limit set out in its environmental permit and for failing to comply with an Enforcement Notice for its landfill site at Albury near Guildford.
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Prominent Swiss environmental organisations in Davos have crowned Chevron with an embarrassing “lifetime achievement” award for dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into streams and rivers in Ecuador’s rainforest.
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The World Environment Center’s 31st Annual Gold Medal for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development will be awarded to SC Johnson. The company is being recognised for its comprehensive, company-wide focus on sustainability and transparency initiatives.
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Paper company Aspenlink has been fined £13,500 and ordered to pay £1,200 in costs after a worker suffered multiple injuries when he was struck by a 3.2 tonne reel of paper at its premises in Brentwood on 25 September 2013. The HSE investigation revealed the company had failed to act on advice from its own safety consultants for three consecutive years from 2010.
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The oil and gas safety organisation Step Change in Safety has announced its independence from the UK's leading industry body Oil & Gas UK and will now be wholly owned by its 137 member organisations. Les Linklater, executive director for Step Change in Safety, said: “While Step Change in Safety's legal entity has changed, our purpose remains the same: to continuously improve the safety of the North Sea.”
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Pyranha Mouldings, a Kayak manufacturer, has been found guilty of corporate manslaughter after a worker became trapped and died in an industrial oven in Runcorn in 2010. The HSE investigation found there had been no risk assessments and staff had not received suitable training or instructions.
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Five nuclear facilities have been confirmed as potential sites to store waste from decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines. A public consultation process will run from 14 November 2014 until 20 February 2015 to help determine which site is selected. The sites, which already hold radioactive materials, are either owned by MOD, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) or industry.
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Health and safety professionals from around the globe met at an IOSH-hosted meeting in Trinidad frpm 19th to 24th January to discuss the latest draft of ISO 45001. The standard is likely to replace OHSAS 18001 and be finalised by October 2016.
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The new Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) have now been made available. If given the go ahead by Ministers, the new regulations will replace the existing CDM Regulations 2007. Duty holders and members of the public can see the new draft regulations and guidance now in order to familiarise themselves before they come into force.
The new draft guidance can be viewed online at www.citb.co.uk/cdmregs, and via www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l153.htm
Global digger manufacturer JCB has been fined £25,000 after a worker was crushed when working on the production line. The company had no risk assessment in place.
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Newport roller manufacturer Moonsys Technology has been fined a total of £70,000 and ordered to pay £20, 710 in costs after two workers suffered life-changing injuries in 2013. One worker suffered an amputation following an incident with a CNC lathe; another worker suffered internal and external injuries after an incident with a powered lathe.
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Cemex UK and Ward Bros (Plant Hire) have been fined penalties totalling £237,500 after a mechanical fitter was killed inspecting a mobile stone crusher in February 2009.
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November 2014
The HSE have released Health and Safety Statistics for Great Britain (2013/14). Top level figures are: 1.2 million working people suffering from a work-related illness; 2,535 mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures (2012); 133 workers killed at work; 78,000 other injuries to employees reported under RIDDOR; 629,000 injuries at work from the Labour Force Survey; 28.2 million working days lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury; and £14.2 billion estimated cost of injuries and ill health from current working conditions (2012/13).
For Statistics at a Glance see: hse.gov.uk/statistics/at-a-glance.pdf and for the full report see: hse.gov.uk/statistics/overall/hssh1314.pdf
Further to the above, the HSE’s Statistics Branch have created Health and Safety Online or HandS-On, a free-to-use service which allows users to view, manipulate, crate and export tables from the HSE’s injury and ill health data.
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The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) 2014 Green Ribbon Political Award winners have been announced. HRH Prince of Wales was judged “most inspirational figure internationally”. In addition to NGOs, journalists and politicians, Unilver won the Business Commitment to the Environment award for changing its internal culture to attempt to decouple growth from its environmental impact, recognising environmental impacts are key to its long term growth. The Grey Ribbon Award for environmentally destructive contribution went to Eric Pickles.
For all the award-winners see:
RoSPA have launched the 2015 Occupational Health and Safety Awards. Entrants need to register at www.rospa.com/awards/ by January 9, 2015, for the Birmingham and London ceremonies and April 30, 2015, for the Glasgow ceremony. Running parallel to these awards will be the Guardian Angel Awards. Based on a nomination process, these recognise individuals who have worked tirelessly to promote safety in their workplace or community.
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Vector Aerospace International Limited, of Gosport, Hampshire, has been prosecuted after 13 employees were found to be suffering varying degrees of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). The company, which has a workforce of some 2,700 internationally and 1,100 at Gosport, had surveyed the tools being used by workers in 2007. At that stage they had taken the decision that no controls were needed. The company was fined a total of £50,000 and ordered to pay £2,514 in costs after admitting three charges under the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005.
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Southern Water Services Limited (Southern Water) has been ordered to pay £500,000 and pay costs of £19,224 after untreated sewage was discharged into the Swalecliffe Brook, polluting a 1.2 kilometre stretch of the watercourse and killing local wildlife.
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Skip operator Israr Ahmed, who ran Dial a Skip in March, Cambridgeshire, has been fined £47,000 and given a suspended prison sentence for running an illegal waste site and failing to produce waste transfer notes.
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The Sentencing Council for England and Wales has launched a consultation on its proposed guidelines for judges and magistrates to use when sentencing people for health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter, food safety and hygiene offences. Large firms convicted of corporate manslaughter will face fines of up to £20m under proposed tougher sentencing guidelines. The consultation is open from 13 November 2014 to 18 February 2015.
See:
sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk
On 18th November, Omya UK Ltd, a chemical company in North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, has been prosecuted after an employee lost the ends of three fingers in an unguarded part of a machine collecting calcium oxide dust. Omya UK Ltd was fined a total of £28,000 and ordered to pay £1,813 in costs after admitting breaching the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, and a breach of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.
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October 2014
The ninth annual HSE Construction Initiative is now underway. From 22 September until 17 October, HSE Construction Inspectors will carry out unannounced visits to building sites where refurbishment projects or repair works are underway. They will target poor standards and unsafe practices as part of a nationwide drive aimed at reducing ill health, death and injury in the construction industry.
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The HSE has released a Bulletin to raise awareness of the risks from hydraulic injection injury after the death of a maintenance fitter. Aimed at Hydraulics engineers, Construction, [1] Quarrying[2] and Tunnelling, Engineering, and [3]Maintenance and Service personnel, the report highlights the necessity for regular inspections and maintenance.
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FMC Technologies Ltd - Dunfermline have won both the RoSPA Scotland Trophy, which is RoSPA’s top award for organisations based or operating in Scotland, and the Manufacturing Sector Award at the annual RoSPA Scotland Occupational Health and Safety Awards.
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Following the Consultation on Proposal for Underground Access for the Extraction of Gas, Oil or Geothermal Energy, the Government has removed barriers to deep underground drilling access (below 300m). This will speed up oil and gas and deep geothermal energy exploration.
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Serco Ltd have been made to pay almost £111,000 in fines and costs in relation to the health and safety of workers aboard the barge 1706, which is operated as part of a service contract with the Ministry of Defence. The barge collects waste products from naval vessels moored in Portsmouth, and on 6 July 2011 workers were exposed to dangerous levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S).
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Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has issued its report “Air Pollution in the UK 2013”. The UK is required to report air quality data on an annual basis under the following European Directives: The Council Directive on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (2008/50/EC) and The Fourth Daughter Directive (2004/107/EC) under the Air Quality Framework Directive (1996/62/EC).
The full report can be downloaded from:
The Government Chemist is inviting scientists, trading standards officers, enforcement agencies, manufacturers and importers to a free seminar on 19 March 2015. The seminar ‘REACH and CLP enforcement: measurement and related issues for Public Analysts and Enforcement Authorities’ includes discussions on checking compliance with CLP and CHIP in the laboratory, and safety data sheets. It also covers the importance of measurement science and technology in effective regulation and the role of the Environment Agency in enforcing REACH.
Full details on:
Port operator Clydeport Operations Limited has admitted health and safety failures after three men drowned when their tug boat sank in the River Clyde in thick fog on 19 December 2007. It admitted failing to provide a safety management system and to appoint a suitable individual or individuals as the designated person. Tug boat owner Svitzer Marine was fined £1.7m after it admitted failures.
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Glasgow-based SW Global Resourcing has been fined £200,000 over the death of a worker who was thrown from a cherry-picker on the Annick Water Viaduct, Stewarton, East Ayrshire on 13 April 2010. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) and the Health and Safety Executive found that plinths, put in place to create a level working surface, did not have any end stop or edge protection. The cherry-picker had gone off the edge of a plinth and overturned.
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July 2014
New provisional figures from the HSE indicate the number of workers killed in the waste and recycling sector in the UK has dropped. There were four fatal injuries to workers in the sector between April 2013 and March 2014, lower than the average count of seven over the last five years. Despite these new figures, however, the sector is still “high-risk”.
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Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council and a tree surgeon, Mark Connelly, have been sentenced for safety failings after a worker was injured when a tree he had been felling landed on the Newcastle to Carlisle railway line and was hit by a train in January 2012. The cost to repair the train by Northern Rail was more than £97,000. A further £7,000 was incurred by Network Rail on callout, materials, machinery hire and delays to services. Network Rail had not been told about the felling operation near its line.
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Draft guidance published by the Environment Agency (EA) states that from January 2015 commingled waste collections will only be permitted where they provide “high quality recyclate” or where separate collection “is not practicable”. Dry recyclables of at least paper, metal, plastic and glass for household and commercial waste must be collected separately and not be remixed later, in order to promote high quality recycling.
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Tougher sentencing for criminals of environmental and waste offences, such as such as illegal waste handling and illegal waste export, came into force on 1st July. The Sentencing Council published guidance in February this year, which set out a stance of tougher sentencing for criminals of environmental offences, covering fly-tipping and serious waste crime such as illegal waste export.
Recent statistics reveal a downward trend in workplace injuries in Scotland: in 2013, 6,708 reported injuries to employees in Scotland were recorded (9% of the overall UK total). To acknowledge this, and to encourage further improvement, the 20th RoSPA Scotland Congress will take place at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel on 16th September, the day before the RoSPA Scotland Awards presentations. Early bookers will receive a 20% discount (available until 8th August).
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On 2nd July, the European Commission adopted proposals to turn Europe into a more circular economy and boost recycling in the Member States. The proposals mean lower environmental impacts and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The plans ask Europeans to recycle 70 % of municipal waste and 80% of packaging waste by 2030, and ban burying recyclable waste in landfill as of 2025. A target is also included for reducing marine litter along with food waste reduction objectives.
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Every year in the UK over 170 million days are lost to sickness absence. The Government’s Black Review of the health of the working age population reported the cost to the economy is estimated to be £100bn each year. To help employers assess the cost of ill-health in their business, and the return on investment associated with health at work services, see the Health, Work and Wellbeing cross-government initiative:
The Sign up to Safety campaign was launched on 21st June by the Secretary of State for Health. It is designed to strengthen patient safety in the NHS and make it the safest healthcare system in the world. NHS foundation trusts are encouraged to Sign up to Safety and make their services more safe and to dramatically reduce rates of avoidable harm in their hospitals.
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The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has announced the first wave of EU official campaign partners for its 2014–15 Campaign, Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress (#EUmanagestress). The campaign partners come from a variety of sectors across Europe and encompass employers’ and workers’ federations, technology platforms, non-governmental organisations and multinational companies. Campaign partners can fully engage in networking and learning exchange opportunities, and, for the first time, are eligible to apply for the Good Practice Awards.
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May 2014
Severn Trent Water Ltd has been found guilty at Telford Magistrates’ Court of polluting the Pudding Brook in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire with untreated sewage. The company was fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £2,232.60 in costs, along with a £15 victim surcharge.
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The government has issued a consultation document titled ‘The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015’ to implement all but the land use planning aspects and Article 30, ‘Heavy Fuel Oils’ of Council Directive 2012/18/EU (Seveso III Directive) on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances. The consultation closes 27th June 2014. For full details, online questionnaire and downloads
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The HSE has launched an online Occupational Disease Community to share insights on how organisations have tackled occupational disease including respiratory diseases, skin diseases, asbestos-related disease, cancers, noise induced hearing damage, hand-arm vibration syndrome, musculoskeletal disease, and stress.
For further information, and to register, see:
Kemble Air Services Ltd, the operator of Cotswold Airfield, has been fined for safety failings after a Station Officer, an experienced fire-fighter, was killed while moving a 65kg pressurised gas cylinder in April 2011. The gas in the cylinder discharged very rapidly, causing the cylinder to spin and inflict fatal injuries.
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A UK project to capture CO2 and bury it under the North Sea is set to receive a c. £250m boost from the EU. The European Commission has confirmed that the White Rose carbon capture and storage (CCS) project is in line to win the cash (equivalent to about £250m). The gas will be siphoned off from a new coal-fired power station and stored in undersea rock formations.
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Jarsan Ltd and Thomas Jones have been sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court for offences relating to the deposit of between 21,000 and 31,000 tonnes of waste soil and rubble originating from the construction of a new superstore in Welshpool. The charges were brought by the Environment Agency under Regulations 12 (1)(a), 38 (1)(a) and 41 (1) (a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.
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The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has launched the 12th edition of the European Good Practice Awards in occupational safety and health. The awards welcome applications from European companies or organisations who are implementing measures to successfully manage stress and psychosocial risks in their workplaces.
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L148 Safety in Docks: Approved Code of Practice and guidance (ACOP) covering safety in dock operations is now available for download. It is aimed at those who have a duty to comply with provisions of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, including people who control dock premises, suppliers of plant and equipment, dock employers, managers, safety officers, safety representatives and workers.
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There is still time to respond to the consultation on replacement of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007) and withdrawal of the Approved Code of Practice. The proposals will be of interest to clients of construction work, designers, principal contractors, contractors, sub-contractors including the self-employed, CDM co-ordinators, and safety representatives. The consultation closes on 6th June 2014.
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Harwich Dock Company Ltd has been found guilty of two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 after an agency worker suffered multiple fractures and destruction of soft tissue on his lower right leg when it was trapped and crushed by a cargo container during unloading.
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February 2014
The European Commission has launched legal proceedings against the UK for failing to deal with air pollution. This is the first case against a member state for breaching the limits on nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which are “excessive” in many British cities. Britain was supposed to meet EU limits by 2010, but the government admits that London won't achieve this standard until 2025. The UK's problem with dirty air stems from the EU's 2008 Air Pollution Directive.
See:
BBC and ec.europa.eu
A study, published in JAMA Neurology, showed patients with Alzheimer's had four times as much DDT lingering in the body as healthy people. However, Alzheimer's Research UK said more evidence is needed to prove DDT has a role in dementia.
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The HSE is reminding employers of the legal duty under the Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations (HSIER) to display the 2009 Health & Safety Law poster which has replaced the April 1999 version. The poster must be displayed from 5 April 2014.
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Aramex (UK) Ltd, a logistics firm, has been fined £250,000 after a worker, Michael Sweet, died after falling through a warehouse roof in Wythenshawe on 12 December 2011. The only safety equipment he had been provided with for cleaning the warehouse roof had been a pair of gloves.
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The RoSPA Manufacturing Health and Safety Conference 2014 will be held on March 18, 2014 at Birmingham Science Museum. Although not traditionally considered a high risk sector, manufacturing accounts for almost one in five workplace accidents.
For further information and online booking visit RoSPA
HSE and the Legionella Control Association (LCA) are running a series of joint dutyholder events for those responsible for sites with evaporative cooling systems, hot and cold water systems or any other water risk system. Events are taking place in:
St. James’ Park, Newcastle (25 February), Royal College of Surgeons, London (25 March) and Drayton Manor Hotel, Midlands (30 April).
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The HSE has overhauled its guidance for working at height, setting out in clear, simple terms what to do and what not to do – and debunking common myths that can confuse and mislead employers.
See:
www.gov.uk and HSE
The European Union should increase its focus on the workplace as a setting for preventing chronic disease, according to the conclusions of a European Network for Workplace Health Promotion initiative.
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A coroner has described part of an ejection seat that threw a Red Arrows pilot to his death as “entirely useless”. Flt Lt Sean Cunningham was killed at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, after being accidentally ejected from his Hawk T1 on 8 November 2011. The inquest has heard that the ejection seat firing handle had been left in an unsafe position which meant it could accidentally activate the seat.
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Thousands of rules affecting business are to be scrapped or amended, David Cameron has told a Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) conference. They include 380 pages of waste management rules, plans to remove “at least one million self-employed” from health and safety regulation, and to exempt more than 100,000 “low-risk businesses” from health and safety inspections. “The Government must stop making the environment a scapegoat for the economic challenges we face,” said Craig Bennett, policy and campaigns director for Friends of the Earth. “Important rules that safeguard our health and environment are being lost in this ideologically-driven war on red-tape.”
See:
BBC and www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
September 2013
The latest report from the UN's climate panel details the physical evidence behind climate change an calls for “substantial and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions”. The report is available in full and summary form on:
Eight senior academics from UK universities have written a letter to The Guardian protesting at false claims by government over health and safety saying there is no evidence that the “burden of excessive health and safety rules and regulations on business has become too great.”
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Construction firm Universal Builders Supply Limited has been fined £125,000 after safety failings led to a worker being crushed to death under a falling metal mast in Kneesworth, Hertfordshire, in 2011.
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The consultation on Draft Regulations to implement Article 30 of Council Directive 2012/18/EU on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances is open until 18th October. View the consultative document
¹ or respond to the consultation using the online questionnaire² or download a form
.
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Following recommendations in the Lõfstedt Report, The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 Approved Code of Practice and guidance 3rd edition comes into force from 1st October this year, affecting all workplaces.
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Basildon Hospital, where two patients died from Legionnaires' disease and an elderly patient died after a fall from a window, has been ordered to pay £350,000 in fines and costs.
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A multidisciplinary group of Occupational Health leaders has been mapping out a vision of how Occupational Health will need to be delivered over the next five to 20 years. The “Planning for the future” project has been sponsored and supported by the Council for Health and Work and led by Professor John Harrison.
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A YouGov poll has revealed that 31% of workers surveyed said their employer did not provide Occupational Health services, such as health information, counselling, wellbeing programmes or health checks.
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The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has published a report Priorities for occupational safety and health research in Europe: 2013 - 2020. This report identifies the priorities for OSH research in the coming years in order to promote priority setting at national level, focusing on demographic change; globalisation and the changing world of work; safe new technologies; and new or increasing occupational exposure to chemical and biological agents. The report can be downloaded free at:
July 2013
An additional 2,923 chemicals were registered with the European Chemicals Agency by 31st May as firms rushed to meet the second REACH deadline. Preliminary figures from the agency reveal that it received 9,084 registration dossiers from 3,215 companies by the deadline under the EU REACH Regulation (1907/2007).
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Almost three quarters of large waste operators have shown their support for the electronic duty of care (edoc) system for recording transfers of waste online. This is a free online system being developed by the Environment Agency in partnership with the waste sector for roll out in January 2014.
DEFRA has launched a consultation on whether the waste management plan for England, alongside existing policy, fulfills the obligations of Article 28 of the Waste Framework Directive in England.
The consultation closes on 9th August 2013 and can be accessed here:
The HSE has published details of proposed changes that will simplify the mandatory reporting of workplace injuries for businesses. Changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995 will clarify and simplify the reporting requirements, while ensuring that the data collected gives an accurate and useful picture of workplace incidents.
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The HSE has launched a consultation on changes to the content of an Asbestos-related Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) that will consolidate two existing documents, L127 (The management of asbestos in non-domestic premises) and L143 (Work with materials containing asbestos). The consolidated draft is now subject to a 12-week consultation ending on 30th September 2013.
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The number of workers killed in Britain last year has fallen, official statistics published on 3rd July show. Provisional data released by the HSE reveals that 148 workers were fatally injured between April 2012 and March 2013, compared with 172 in the previous year. The overall rate of fatal injury has dropped to 0.5 per 100,000 workers, below the five-year average of 0.6. Britain has had one of the lowest rates of fatal injuries to workers in leading industrial nations in Europe consistently for the last eight years.
For full details see:
Tradebe Solvent Recycling Ltd site in Knottingley, West Yorkshire has been prosecuted for safety failings that led to a major spillage of nearly 4,000 litres of highly flammable liquid from a road tanker on 16th December 2011. Three workers waded into the pool of harmful liquid when it was discovered, and one used his finger to block a drain hole to prevent it from flowing into a nearby river.
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May 2013
The HSE is consulting on the revised content of two Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs): Workplace health, safety and welfare regulations (L24) and Safety in the installation and use of gas systems and appliances (L56). The consultation ends 30 July 2013.
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BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd in Brough has been fined almost £350,000 after the death of a maintenance engineer by crushing in November 2008. The HSE blamed the death on serious safety failings.
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European Metal Recycling Limited has been fined over £370,000 after an employee was struck by the bucket of a wheeled loading shovel in Willesden during a shutdown clean-up in July 2010.
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The working population of the UK is under pressure, undervalued and lacks support by their employers, according to the 2013 Wellness at Work Survey. The survey says that as mental ill-health is costing British businesses billions a year, employers must recognise the importance of mental stress in the workplace, just as much as physical well-being.
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The passage in April 2013 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act means workers will only be able to claim compensation for a workplace injury or disease if they can demonstrate employer negligence, even if it is accepted that employer had broken criminal safety laws.
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21 revised process guidance notes for the solvent sector have been published to reflect changes to the Environmental Permitting Regulations arising from the implementation of the Industrial Emissions Directive.
According to DEFRA
University scientists in the USA have accidentally discovered an inexpensive and environmentally benign method that uses simple cornstarch, instead of cyanide, to isolate gold from raw materials in a selective manner.
The new process also can be used to extract gold from consumer electronic waste.
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December 2012
From 1st October 2012, the Smoke-free (Signs) regulations 2007 have been revoked. However, at least one legible no smoking sign must still be displayed in smoke-free premises including vehicles.
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US scientists have developed new software that can accurately measure greenhouse gas emissions down to individual buildings and streets.
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The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) has appeared in court over a fire at its Berkshire site in 2010. An investigation by the HSE found issues with the control systems put in place.
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Legionella control: from 1 February 2013 it will be illegal to sell or use water treatment systems that use elemental copper in order to add copper ions to water as a biocide.
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Property developers PJ Livesey Group Ltd have been fined £100,000 following a major gas explosion that destroyed dozens of homes at the Didsbury Gate development in South Manchester on 8 December 2009.
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Halfords Autocentres Limited have been sentenced for safety failings after a worker was caused disabling leg injuries by being struck by a reversing transit van at its depot in Acocks Green, Birmingham.
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BP has been temporarily suspended from new contracts with the US government, due to “lack of business integrity” over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
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October 2012
Employers now have to pay £124 per hour for the correction of material breaches of health and safety rules under the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012.
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An open letter to Chancellor George Osborne, signed by 50 businesses and organisations, calls for a target for how emissions should be curbed by 2030, arguing that a failure to show commitment to reducing carbon emissions may harm the economy and their commercial prospects.
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The public consultation on proposals to exempt some self-employed people from health and safety legislation (as per the recommendation in Professor Löfstedt’s report “Reclaiming health and safety for all: An independent review of health and safety legislation”) comes to an end on 28th October 2012.
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Building maintenance firm Johnson Controls Ltd has been prosecuted after one of its employees lost a leg when he was run over by a cherry picker at the Windscale nuclear site in Seascale on 5 May 2011.
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More than a hundred carbon capture and storage projects (CCS) must be built to avoid dangerous global warming, according to the Global CSS Institute.
A 60MW energy-from-waste plant backed by Tata Chemicals and E.ON has been given government approval. The £250m plant will be constructed at Lostock, Northwich, after taking into account concerns around its potential health and visual impacts, as well the implications for traffic safety and the local environment.
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August 2012
The London Olympics have been hailed as “the greenest Olympics ever.” The independent Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 said recycling and regeneration had been a success and had set high standards for future Olympic host cities to follow.
Lion Steel Limited, of Hyde, Greater Manchester, has become only the third UK company to be convicted of Corporate Manslaughter. It follows an incident when an employee fell to his death through a fragile roof in 2008. They were fined £480,000 payable in four instalments so as to not risk the job security of those still working for the company.
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Worker fatality statistics for 2011-12 released by the Health and Safety Executive have revealed that the reduction in the number of deaths at work has stalled over the last two years: 175 in 2010/11 and 173 in 2011/12 is an increase from the historically low figure of 147 deaths in 2009/10.
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Changes to the Control of Asbestos Regulations are now in force. The regulations narrow the types of work to which exemptions apply and will require certain employers carrying out some types of low risk, short duration work to comply with a new category of work known as Notifiable Non-Licensed Work (NNLW).
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The Agency Environment Agency Wales has allowed a change to Tata Steel’s environmental permit that will enable them to operate in a cleaner, more efficient and more environmentally-friendly manner. The company is investing £185 million to rebuild Blast Furnace No. 4 at their steelworks in Port Talbot to reduce PM10 (particulate matter or dust) emissions.
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The government is seeking responses to a consultation on how UK organisations should measure and report on their environmental impacts. The closing date for this consultation is 17 October 2012.
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The government is calling for employers to be at the centre of managing employees back to work following long-term absence, but only 20% of employers feel equipped to do so according to Aviva.
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May 2012
Oil company Total announced on May 15th that the operation to plug the gas leak on the Elgin Platform in the North Sea has been a success. The leak was stopped by pumping heavy mud into the well. The well will now be plugged with concrete, a process expected to take several weeks. Yves-Louis Darricarrère, president of exploration and production at Total, said:
“Safely evacuating everyone from the platform and adjacent drilling rig, preventing any serious environmental impact and recovering control of the G4 well, is a highly commendable effort from the teams involved.”
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The Environment Agency is offering free monthly business environmental updates by e-mail, to keep businesses informed about environmental regulations and guidance. Business can sign up at:
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Recycling company Pinden Limited has been fined £10,000 plus £11,506 in costs after an agency worker had most of an arm severed by an unguarded conveyor system at a landfill site. The company pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
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ABC (Grimsby) Ltd has been fined £25,000 plus £20,000 costs over a fatal accident in its warehouse at Immingham Docks, where a worker was crushed by unstable 1 tonne banded coils in January 2010. The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health & Safety Regulations 1999.
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Pendennis Shipyard of Falmouth has been fined £6,000 plus £6,288 in costs after an apprentice worker sustained knee injuries in a 2-metre fall from a scaffold. Inspectors found an absence of a risk assessment and safe working method for workers, and a lack of information, training, instruction and supervision.
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A report in the journal Nature Geoscience has revealed that scientists have identified thousands of sites in the Arctic where methane is bubbling into the atmosphere. Professor Euan Nisbet from Royal Holloway, University of London, who is also involved in Arctic methane research, says “the Arctic is the fastest warming region on the planet, and has many methane sources that will increase as the temperature rises.”
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February 2012
ExxonMobil was fined £2.8m for failing to report carbon dioxide emissions from its Mosmorran chemical plant in Fife, it has emerged. The fine, believed to be the biggest ever in the UK, dates to 2010 but the details have only just been published. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said there had been no direct environmental impact.
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Gillian Tett, in the Financial Times of 4/5th February, raises some interesting points about the growth in popularity of CSR:
The Government has published the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA), the first assessment of its kind for this country and the first in a 5 year cycle. The report can be downloaded from:
From 6th April this year, subject to Parliamentary approval, RIDDOR’s over three day injury reporting requirement will change. From then the trigger point will increase from over three days’ to over seven days’ incapacitation (not counting the day on which the accident happened). The deadline by which the over seven day injury must be reported will increase to 15 days from the day of the accident.
Drax Power Ltd in North Yorkshire has been found guilty of breaching r.5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 after an incident in March 2011 in which a worker’s foot was fractured by a falling counterweight. Also prosecuted was Konecranes UK Ltd, the permanent on-site contractor responsible for maintaining all the cranes and hoists.
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The TUC is gearing up for the biggest ever national workplace health and safety event on 28th April this year. It has designated Workers’ Memorial Day 2012 a ‘Day of activity to defend health and safety’, which is facing an unprecedented attack.
December 2011
The British Safety Council welcomes the Löfstedt Review and provides a reasoned response on its main findings and recommendations.
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National Grid Gas and Northern Gas Networks have been fined £4.3 million and £900,000 respectively by the regulator Ofgem for not attending to gas leaks in time during the period April 2010 to the end of March 2011.
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EU plans to levy an emissions tax on airlines are valid, according to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). As a result all airlines flying to and from the 27 states of the EU will face a tax on emissions from 1 January 2012.
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The Scottish Sheriff presiding at the enquiry into a 2008 trench death in Scotland described the death as “one more example of health and safety practice, training and procedures being ignored in the interests of expediency.”
UK Coal Mining Ltd of Harworth, Notts, has been fined £1.2 million for four fatalities in 2006 and 2007.
The HSE has released a report reviewing the characteristics of “High Reliability Organisations” - those that achieve high reliability and safety objectives.
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November 2011
Researchers claim six-fold increase in the risk of developing Parkinson's following workplace exposure to trichloroethylene
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Veterans involved in Britain's nuclear weapons tests between 1952 and 1958 are beginning the latest stage in their battle for compensation
More than 1,000 ex-servicemen say exposure to radiation has led to ill-health, such as cancer.
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The government's failure to meet EU standards on air pollution is "putting the health of UK residents at risk", says the Environmental Audit Committee
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October 2011
Insurance companies have failed in a legal bid to scrap the right of people in Scotland to claim damages for an asbestos-related condition
The UK Supreme Court dismissed their case, a decision which will enable people with pleural plaques to claim compensation.
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August 2011
Deaths from a cancer caused by asbestos dust are at an all-time high, research by BBC Look East has revealed.
Since the 1980s, the male death rate from mesothelioma has increased more than four-fold in the east of England.
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A man died on 18th August after collapsing in the chemical tank he was working in at Diamond Wheels Technologies in Dundee.
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The first part of the operation to stop the Shell pipeline leaking oil into the North Sea has, according to the company, been successful so far.
Shell has been dealing with the release of what has been estimated as more than 200 tonnes from a leak near the Gannet Alpha.
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Falkirk-based mobile phone recycling firm Redeem has been taken over by an incoming management team backed by a private equity investor.
Curt Hopkins, the new chief executive, states: “Our aim is to create Europe's leading value recycler with the vision of making corporate social responsibility easy.”
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High Street retailer Primark has been criticised by charities for its policy of shredding damaged and unwanted clothes.
The Association of Charity Shops has pointed to the environmental impact of destroying clothes - from the wasted resources in making them to those ending up in landfill.
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Scientists have produced what they say is the first complete map of how the ice moves across Antarctica.
It is built from images acquired by radar satellites and should aid the understanding of how the White Continent might evolve in the warmer world being forecast by climatologists.
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July 2011
EU Commission tightens rules for biofuel use
In July 2011, the European Commission approved seven schemes set up to ensure that biofuels used in the EU are produced in an environmentally sustainable way.
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Nicholls and Clarke Glass fined after worker seriously hurt
The Dunstable-based company has been fined after a large piece of glass shattered and severed the artery, muscle and nerves in the right forearm of an employee.
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Falling snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains
A June 2011 study released by the United States Geological Survey notes that the decline in snowpack in the Rocky Mountains since the 1980s is unusual compared to the historical evidence gathered from the previous centuries.
This has huge implications on the availability of water for more than 70 million people living in the western US.
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July 2010
In a recent article in the Times of India, S A Aiyar writes that philanthropic activities labelled as CSR are being used by major corporations to cloak their irresponsible activities in respectability. Clearly the proponents of CSR need to concentrate more on CSR management within their organisations and less on publicity generating greenwash.
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UK government stops funding its independent environmental watchdog the Sustainable Development Commission.
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Five companies ordered to pay £9.5 million fine for their part in the 2005 Buncefield UK oil depot fire and explosion.
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Local MP considers Buncefield fines inadequate.
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Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings has become the first UK company to be charged under the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter Act.
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COMAH Sites
The final (December 2008) report into the 2005 disaster at the Buncefield UK oil depot estimates the actual costs of this disaster at a major COMAH site as being in excess of £1bn. Read the report at www.buncefieldinvestigation.gov.uk
Locations
CSR Performance Ltd has recently established sales and support services in North America and India – for full details see our Contacts page
ISO9001:2000
Did you know that the CamHealth Audit portfolio includes a suggested strategy for internal auditing against the ISO quality management standard? For more details see our Products page
REACH
The CamHealth SDS module is capable of preparing and printing REACH-compliant Safety Data Sheets. For more details see our SDS Summary page
Oracle Partner
CSR Performance Ltd has been an Oracle Business Partner for nearly 20 years. For further details of Oracle Solutions, visit:www.oracle.com/partnerships
