Newsletter April 2011
MARM - May 24th
It's that time of year again and we have planned to have the next MARM (Major Account Review Meeting) at our offices in Leighton Buzzard on Tuesday 24th May.
As always ToolKit CS™ users are very welcome to attend this key event in the Ai Solutions calendar. It is an excellent opportunity to see where we are going with the ToolKit CS™ product as well as having your say in the furture development of the product.
If you would like to reserve your place, please call a member of the team on 01525 850080. For further information see scheduled events for 2011.
RIDDOR Changes - Chance to Respond
We are currently in a three month period of consultation on proposed changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995.
Changes to RIDDOR were recommended in Lord Young's report on health and safety published last year, which among other issues contained a proposal to increase the threshold for reporting workplace injuiries to seven days.
The consultation paper is available online at http://www.hse.gov.uk/consult/condocs/cd233.htm and the deadline for responses is 9 May 2011.
If you and your staff may be affected by the proposed changes you may wish to have your say!
HSE Announce Plans For Cost Cutting in Recessionary Times
At the recent IOSH Conference Judith Hackitt addressed the delegates to outline plans for cutting costs after the review carried out by Lord Young.
Her message was that the HSE will continue to look for opportunities to improve its efficiency and make cost savings - but not at the expense of inspection and regulation of high-hazard sectors.
Describing the 35-per-cent cut in the Executive's budget as "no more harsh than that applied to other bodies within the DWP", Ms Hackitt also pointed out that the HSE is already making significant cost savings and efficiencies towards this target.
So how will this affect us on the ground? She stated that inspections in the high-hazards sectors will not be cut but instead, the regulator will look to "modernise" its approach. Ms Hackitt continued: "We won't change how we do reactive work, i.e. based on our incident-selection criteria and the complaints process".
For more on this and other stories visit the Safety & Health Practitioner web site.
Government starts high-speed rail consultation
The government has launched its consultation on the proposed high-speed rail line from London to Birmingham.
The route would cut journey times to about 50 minutes, with work due to begin in 2015 if the plan is approved. However, there are opponents to the High Speed Line (HS2) who argue that the £17bn scheme will be a waste of money and that updating the existing West Coast mainline would be a better investment.
Nevertheless, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the high-speed line (HS2) would mean a £44bn boost for the UK economy.
The HS2 - which is planned to be extended to Manchester and Leeds and will cost a total of £32bn and is a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the way we travel in the 21st Century".
For more on this story see Government starts high-speed rail consultation
Latest from our Blog
The following are a selection of the latest articles from the Ai Solutions Blog. Each linked article allows comments, so please add your thoughts using the boxes provided.
- Government's Safety Strategy "in no-one's interests"
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber comments on the launch of the government strategy for the future regulation of health and safety. - Legionnaires Disease Death
An exclusive leisure resort in Scotland has been fined £120,000 for failing to put in place adequate controls to prevent Legionnaires' disease. - £700m Super Framework
Several East London Boroughs plan to run a £700m super framework for housing, schools and general building works. - Building firm fined over trench-collapse death
A Buckinghamshire construction company has been fined £5,000 after a contractor died when a trench collapsed on him.
Japan
It would not feel right not to mention those poor souls who have lost their homes, villages, family and lives in Japan. Our heart-felt sympathy goes out to them all.
What an effect it has had 'globally'. The earthquake was devastating, and then the catastrophic effects of the tsunami with hundreds of lives lost. In addition to this we now have the effects on the stock market as well as the nuclear disaster.
Now they have the aftermath, snow and the long road to recovery. It certainly puts things into perspective.
More Information
We regularly receive updates from our customers and contacts about changes to legislation, the latest rumours and so on. We try to be selective with what we pass on and acknowledge our sources as appropriate. If you have information of general interest in the Health & Safety, and particularly, CDM and Asbestos Management arena, then please let us know by e-mail if possible.