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The following are posts with the 'Health And Safety' tag:
24 April 2018
One of the largest infrastructure projects currently underway is the Tideway Tunnel. We were lucky enough to hear the Asset Management Director, Roger Bailey, of Thames Tideway Tunnel speak at the recent Infrastructure Show. For us on the day the interesting part of his delivery was the push on Health and Safety and their Partnership Alliance. He spoke of the fact that Health and Safety is 'central' for this project, and they are using lessons learned from the Olympics as well as other large projects.
[Read on about Tideway Tunnel Sets High Standards for Health & Safety]
2 November 2017
The HSE has recently published their latest health and safety statistics. It is very apparent from the stats that, although we are killing less people within construction, there are still a lot of ill-health issues that need to be addressed. The 2017 statistics show several key facts including 31.3 million working days are lost due to ill-health and non-fatal workplace injuries. This will be costing Construction Companies many millions of pounds. Along with this they have estimated that the Annual...
[Read on about Ill-Health Still a Major Issue in Construction]
1 June 2017
With the election looming, all the major parties have produced their manifestos. These manifestos all include health and safety, so what can we look forward to after the elections in regard to health, safety and employment? Labour Party Pledged to work with the Health and Safety Executive Committee to introduce mandatory workplace risk assessments for pregnant workers and review the support offered to women in work who have suffered miscarriage. Say they will "crack down on unscrupulous...
[Read on about Election 2017 - What Changes in Health and Safety?]
31 May 2017
The Women in Health and Safety network was established in 2015 in order to provide a space for women in the health and safety profession to network, engage with one another and share best practice. After launching with one event at Safety & Health Expo, SHP realised there was a real appetite in the health and safety profession for this network. The following year they ran a number of smaller, regional events across the country, in Edinburgh, London, Leicester and Birmingham. When is the...
[Read on about Women in Health and Safety]
31 March 2017
We read recently in SHP that health and safety fines last year outstripped the cost of compliance. This is scary stuff. Health and safety breaches cost on average £115,440 which is a lot less than spending time making sure that you are compliant with relevant legislation. The larger the organisation the higher the fine, as can be seen by the Arnite graphic above. So, how can you save money? Contact Ai Solutions Limited for all your CDM and Asbestos compliance systems. We are experts in this...
[Read on about Cost of Compliance Less than the Fines]
17 March 2015
Part 1: Changes to the CDM Regulations Part 2: What is expected of the Duty Holders? Domestic, Business and Designer Part 3: What is expected of Principal Designers, Contractors and Principal Contractors? Part 4: What CDM 2015 Does Not Cover and the Transitional Period
[Read on about Successfully Navigating the CDM2015 Changes with ToolKit CS]
16 April 2014
25th April 2014, 11:00 -12:00 REGISTER HERE Registration is now open for the next Barbour CPD webinar. Keeping abreast of legislative changes is one of the most important aspects of our industry. To help you remain a step ahead Barbour will once again be hosting its bi-annual legislation update webinar. Hear from Industry experts Mike Taylor, Technical Director for Health, Safety and Environmental issues at Santia Consulting and Kevin Bridges, Partner, Pinsent...
[Read on about Upcoming Webinar - April 25th 2014]
8 April 2014
2014 Health and Safety Conference - 30th April, 2014 @ The RAF Club, Piccadilly, London Welcome & Introductions Shirley Radford - Director (Ai Solutions Ltd) --> Update from the HSE including latest statistics David Carr - Managing Director (Callsafe Services Ltd) Asbestos Prevention is Better than Cure Chris Earl - Director (Qualsurv) Plan ahead. Plan for the Event David Wood - Director (Plansafe Solutions Ltd) Successful Collaborative...
[Read on about Agenda - 2014 Ai Solutions Health and Safety Conference]
18 March 2014
Everyone is doing it! From the moment children (digital natives) are born - they are introduced into a world of sharing, reviewing and browsing. And of course gaming. But it's not just children – its adults too! With this information you can start your mission knowing the audience is diverse and very broad. Building a health and safety community can help bring people together with similar interests – which creates an ongoing virtual networking opportunity. This can be a great...
[Read on about Health & Safety and Social Media - Is it Really Worth it?]
6 February 2014
When designing projects with the avoidance of risk in mind the ACoP requires designers to apply the Hierarchy of Risk Control and the General Principles of Prevention. This is a series of steps to be followed when designing to eliminate and reduce risk by their design decisions, as follows: Consider whether it is possible to eliminate or control the hazard and the resulting risk by designing it out, i.e. design the roof with permanent safety rails. Next consider whether the...
[Read on about Hierarchy of Risk Control for Designers]
23 October 2013
Occupational Health and Safety is a recent development. Labour movements in the wake of the industrial revolution lead to workers being able to freely express their views and concerns about safe and healthy working practices. The first piece of legislation that created the first Health and Safety Inspectors (or then known as Factory Inspectors) was the Factories Act 1833. This initially focussed on children and had considerable power to change children's working environments. By 1871, the inspectors'...
[Read on about Occupational Health and Safety - Past, Present and Future]
15 October 2013
Click the link below to read our partner's - Callsafe Services - latest newsletter. There is a section about the latest changes to RIDDOR and Events. Link: http://www.callsafe-services.co.uk/newsletter/september/
[Read on about Callsafe Services Newsletter]
9 October 2013
ACROSS 1. _________________ is central to the CDM Process (4 10) 3. Control of Asbestos Regulations are a duty to manage and not to __________ (6) 5. Notice that could be served on a business with unsafe working practices (11) 9. It is responsible for more work-related deaths in the UK than anything else in the past three decades (8) 10. 16 is the minimum age to work on a _____________ site (12) DOWN 2. Workers have a right to a safe working _____________...
[Read on about Health and Safety Crossword]
10 September 2013
For those of you that would like guidance on 'how' to manage Health and Safety, the HSE has published a web site recently that may offer you some assistance. As we all know, all organisations have a legal duty to put in place suitable arrangements. This site provides a framework to help you do that effectively, in a way that your organisation can tailor to your own circumstances. In implementing your arrangements, you should consult with your employees or their representatives, including trade unions...
[Read on about Managing for Health and Safety - Toolbox for all!]
21 June 2013
For those Health and Safety professionals that live in Wales the HSE will be speaking at an event at Bangor University on 13th September 2013. The HSE want you to listen and engage with the speakers, who are all very experienced and experts in their fields, to learn how changing behaviours and attitudes in ourselves and others: from Leaders to shop floor makes good safety sense. The event is open to all who have an interest in influencing health and safety behaviour. Understanding change and leading...
[Read on about Health & Safety Event in Bangor]
21 February 2013
The TUC has published a helpful downloadable document for employers regarding Health & Safety Inspections. They say that for or health and safety laws to be effective, employers must know that if they do not obey the law they could face prosecution. If you would like to download the guide visit the Health and Safety - Time for Change
[Read on about TUC - Time to Change bulletin: Health and Safety Inspections]
20 February 2013
With the regulatory environment subject to recent change, what does the future hold for health and safety direction and practice? CIEH is holding a one day conference on March 4th 2013 to provide industry and Local Authority professionals with the latest developments in delivering the recommendation for a National Code for LA enforcement. The agenda will explore the impact of the changes for LA health and safety interventions and includes speakers from HSE covering the LA National Co...
[Read on about CIEH Health and Safety Conference in March]
1 February 2013
Once again we have been listening to our customers and are proud to announce that we have published our latest addition onto our web site - the Health and Safety Community Forums. This FREE new service allows our customers and followers to have the support of experts to address those questions or issues you come across during your CDM or Asbestos related activities. All you need to do is enter one of the forums, Asbestos or CDM, and add in your query and one of our experts will advise you. To enter...
[Read on about Health & Safety Community Forums]
29 January 2013
It is good to hear that the Irish Health and Safety regulator, Richard Bruton TD, has unveiled the Health and Safety Authority's strategy and its programme of work for 2013. He said: "There is a need to find efficiencies but not at the expense of the safety, health and welfare of workers. The collaborative approach adopted by the Authority, using targeted inspections and compliance tools, is designed to encourage buy-in from all stakeholders." For more on this article visit SHP Online
[Read on about Irish health and safety regulator unveils three-year strategy]
29 January 2013
For those of you that follow Ai Solutions we would like to remind you that we have other sources where you can access information regarding Health and Safety blogs, CDM and Asbestos. This includes Twitter, Linked In and Facebook. If you use these other forms of media then please feel free to connect with us.
[Read on about Health and Safety Social Media]
28 January 2013
The Safety & Health Practitioner reported that, although the CPS opened 63 new corporate manslaughter cases last year, there has been criticism that there has been too few convictions. However, directors and senior managers must not be lulled into a false sense of security. Senior law firms, including Pinset Masons, have stated that in the current financial cuts in businesses that may adversely impact health and safety should not be made. Careful planning and the health and safety of those working...
[Read on about Cost Cutting Alert Regarding Corproate Manslaughter Investigations]
26 September 2012
For those of you who like to keep abreast of things this may be of interest to you. Following the successful delivery of HSE's "Safe and sound at work - do your bit" training initiative, HSE has made the training materials available for download via the HSE website. The materials are aimed at training professionals and any employers who have the necessary resources/knowledge and training expertise to deliver the training 'in-house'. Please visit Safe & Sound at Word - Do Your Bit.
[Read on about Safe & Sound at Work - do your bit]
24 July 2012
To mark the 40th anniversary of the launch of the 'Robens Report' which took a look 'behind the Health & Safety at Work Act' (HSWA), Prospect (a union representing professional engineers) has compiled 40 stories from the Health and Safety Executive's front line. 40 at 40 is a collection of contemporary personal insights into some extraordinary and diverse encounters, from people who rarely make their voices public. The interesting thing is that apart from a small minority, most believe...
[Read on about 40@40 Health & Safety Stories From The Frontline]
23 July 2012
There is an interesting discussion on the HSE Construction Forum. With the lack of HSE 'to cover' all the works happening at the moment a query was raised that if you were undertaking a fairly low risk project and the works went over the threshold to make it a notifiable project but a CDM-C was not appointed what would the HSE do – even if the works completed without accident or injury? If there was a major accident then the situation is obvious and the Client would be prosecuted accordingly.
[Read on about What if you didn't notify the HSE about a notifiable project?]
16 July 2012
The HSE has published the results for their investigations (Project RR941) into the extent to which CDM helped or hindered the construction of London 2012 by reviewing how CDM duties were put into practice. Key messages and findings from the report include: Millions of hours of work can be undertaken and a project delivered in a tight timescale without compromising health and safety Early and on-going planning, coordination and Contractor involvement were crucial Health and safety benefits...
[Read on about CDM Lessons Learned from the Olympics]
10 July 2012
The Health and Safety Executive's Chair, Judith Hackitt, will take part in a live Twitter-chat on Wednesday 11 July. The hour-long session will start at 3pm under the hashtag #askHSE. HSE is on Twitter as @H_S_E
[Read on about Judith Hackitt To Take Part in Live Twitter Chat]
10 July 2012
Selfridges & Co has appointed Altius Vendor Assessment to manage supplier pre-assessment, compliance and accreditation on behalf of the retail group. The Altius online vendor accreditation and management system takes a thorough evidence-based approach to checking the competences of suppliers – from health and safety compliance through to financial health, environmental performance, customer service and corporate social responsibility. Martin Beck, Health and Safety Manager for Selfridges,...
[Read on about Selfridges Partners With Altius To Improve Supply Chain Management]
9 July 2012
The cost recovery scheme introduced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - Fee for Intervention (FFI) - will start on 1 October 2012 subject to Parliamentary approval. New detailed FFI guidance has been published on HSE's website setting about how the scheme will work in practice. Developed in consultation with representatives from industry, it explains how FFI works and includes examples illustrating how it would be applied. Will this new scheme aid the HSE recover costs? It is hoped...
[Read on about HSE Cost Recovery Scheme Starts October 2012]
5 July 2012
Its seems that many UK businesses see H&S Compliance as a burden a recent survey reveals. One of the main issues they have is that they find it difficult to find the information on which health and safety regulations applied to their operation. Additionally lack of time and physical resource as well as the penalties for non-compliance were sited as major reasons for their concerns. Many opt to have external organisations provide the facility to demonstrate compliance. At Ai Solutions...
[Read on about H & S Compliance A Burden?]
4 July 2012
Further to one of our recent posts regarding the HSE review of the current AcOP the SHP report that protests have challenged Employment Minister Chris Grayling. Their issues are that the government should be doing 'more' to strengthen regulations rather than cutting it. For more on this article see Protesters tell Government: you lie, we die
[Read on about You Lie We Die?]
28 June 2012
The Safety & Health Practitioner (SHP) reports that Martin O'Halloran, chief executive of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), has published his annual report. While the regulatory focus in the Republic of Ireland - as in the UK - has shifted from proactive inspection and enforcement to advice and support, the number of work-related deaths in the country rose last year by 15%, to 55 - the second annual increase in a row. Agriculture and construction accounted for more than half of this total,...
[Read on about Republic of Ireland - Latest Health & Safety Report]
19 June 2012
Employment minister Chris Grayling has published a report on the progress regarding the implementation of the Government's health and safety reforms. In the report, he states that getting rid of regulations won't undermine the UK's good record on health and safety but will improve its bad record on red tape. Referrence is made to the progress so far on implementing the recommendations of both Professor Ragnar Löfstedt and Lord Young of Graffham in the wake of their recent reviews of the health...
[Read on about Progress on Health and Safety Reforms]
10 June 2012
A new report published in the safety journal Hazards Magazine stated that the government's insistence that workplace safety laws hold back the economy, and that safety enforcement is a diversion businesscould and should do without, is 'a cynical - and ultimately deadly - lie'. The report examines the government's safety strategy and notes: 'Your life just got a little bit cheaper. Safety regulations and enforcement are out of favor, and for more and more workers, this could mean they are out of...
[Read on about Government Cannot Leave Safety to Businesses]
7 June 2012
The British Safety Council is holding a series of free health, safety and environmental seminars at the Health & Safety Midlands show at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. The free seminars provide an update on key developments concerning health, safety and environmental policy, law and management. They are delivered by expert speakers at the cutting edge of health and safety, for more information visit www.hse.gov.uk/events
[Read on about Free Health & Safety Events]
26 May 2012
The Safety & Health Practitioner reports that the CDM regulations will be re-drafted for reissue in 2014. Details will be presented to the HSE board in December 2012. However, the Executive indicated that the new Regulations are likely to be based more closely on the requirements of the EU Temporary or Mobile Construction Sites Directive. The Löfstedt report recommended that an ongoing review of CDM 2007 should consider a clearer expression of duties, a reduction in bureaucracy and suitable...
[Read on about CDM Regulations re-write for 2014]
24 May 2012
The Health & Safety Executive is lending its support to the various events, street parties and commemorations that are taking place up and down the country by emphasising that there is nothing in health and safety law to prevent anyone from celebrating. Further details, as well as information for celebrations organisers is available on the HSE website www.hse.gov.uk/press/2012/hse-jubilee
[Read on about HSE Pledge for Queen's Jubilee]
23 May 2012
There is advice from the HSE's web site about 'leading health and safety at work'. The team at Ai Solutions believe that the art of good Health & Safety is having a 'top down' approach, meaning senior management must buy-in to the process, setting standards, being seen to follow those standards and working towards improvement. The HSE web site offers guidance for all directors, governors, trustees, officers and their equivalents in the private, public and third sectors. This applies to organisations...
[Read on about Leading Health & Safety at Work]
23 May 2012
The HSE has teamed up with the construction industry's Working Well Together campaign to organise an event focusing on safety issues for construction workers, especially during the ground-works phase. This free event has been organised to get to grips with health and safety in one of Britain's most dangerous industries, especially within the smaller and medium sized construction companies. For more information see HSE Press
[Read on about Safety Event for Scottish Construction Firms]
23 May 2012
"Health and Safety" is often incorrectly used as a convenient excuse to stop what are essentially sensible activities going ahead. HSE has set up an independent panel – the Myth Busters Challenge Panel - to scrutinize such decisions. This Panel will look into complaints regarding the advice given by non-regulators such as insurance companies, health and safety consultants and employers and quickly assess if a sensible and proportionate decision has been made. The state: "We want to make clear...
[Read on about Myth Busters Challenge Panel]
22 May 2012
A reminder about Legionella & Legionnaires disease has been published on the HSE web site. The site provides information on Legionella and how to control risks from exposure to Legionella and how to control risks from exposure to Legionella from manmade water systems. If you would like to know more visit www.hse.gov.uk/legionnaires
[Read on about Legionella & Legionnaires]
22 May 2012
The Safety & Health Practitioner reports that the accident regarding a fork lift driver that was crushed underneath unstable storage stack could have been avoided if the coils has been securely stored. For more on this story see Forklift driver crushed underneath unstable storage stack
[Read on about Fork Lift Driver Crushed]
22 May 2012
The Safety & Health Practitioner reports that there has been a sharp drop in the number of prosecutions of employees under section 7 of the HSWA in the last five or six years, according to figures collated by the HSE from its prosecutions database. Interestingly, the fall in s7 prosecutions has coincided with a rise in the number of senior managers and directors prosecuted under s37 of the HSWA. Does this mean that more senior managers are being held to account for Health & Safety issues?...
[Read on about Shift in Prosecution to 'Those at the Top']
18 May 2012
The Safety & Health Practitioner (SHP) has written an interesting article regarding the CDM2007 regulations. At a panel discussion at the Safety & Health Expo they agreed that Communication, cooperation and competency are fundamental to the successful application of the Construction, Design and Management (CDM) Regulations. This is our mantra at Ai Solutions and we have been advocating the benefits of the CDM regulations as far back as 1994. Our ToolKit CS™ CDM management system...
[Read on about What Lies Beneath the CDM Regulations]
18 May 2012
A woman has been airlifted to hospital after she was hit by a metal site hoarding which fell from a new academy site in Kidderminster yesterday. The main contractor at the site is Thomas Vale who are converting the historic Piano Building into a new academy for Kidderminster College and Birmingham Metropolitan College. For more on this story see Woman hit by falling site hoarding from academy job.
[Read on about Pedestrian Hit By Falling Hoarding]
17 May 2012
The Bournemouth Echo reports that a local builder has been fined after carrying out demolition work on a house. He negated the requirement to carry out an asbestos survey before commencing work. Self-employed Stuart Pearson was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for not having a pre-demolition survey to check all asbestos had been removed from the building. This type of work is very dangerous, along with this the removal of the asbestos must be carried out by professional removers.
[Read on about Verwood Builder Fined - Asbestos Risk]
16 May 2012
The HSE will be running a free half-day seminar hosted by the TUC, focusing on the health and safety lessons learned from the London 2012 construction project in relation to leadership and worker involvement. The event will be held at the Congress Centre, London, 24 May 2012. If you are interested in attending visit www.hse.gov.uk/events for more information.
[Read on about Free Olympics Health & Safety Event]
15 May 2012
A local contractor in Northamptonshire has been fined after a six-tonne dumper truck ran over a worker's foot. Lincoln Magistrates' Court heard that Maypine Construction was main contractor on the job where Ross Smith (23) and a colleague were filling the roadway with stone, in preparation for surfacing. The HSE said: "Many construction transport incidents are usually the result of inadequate separation of pedestrians and vehicles, and by inadequate control of vehicle movements on site." For more...
[Read on about Local Contractor - Dumper Truck Fine]
10 May 2012
Main contractor Bowmer & Kirkland and structural engineer Bingham Davis have been found guilty of breaking safety laws following a crane collapse in Liverpool which left the driver paralysed. Bowmer & Kirkland and Bingham had both denied the charges following the collapse in July 2009 when the tower crane toppled onto an apartment block at Chandlers Wharf in Liverpool city centre. The companies were fined £280k and £1k respectively for the accident where crane driver Iain Gillham,...
[Read on about Huge Fine for Crane Collapse]
6 May 2012
The HSE has republished their advice on 'electricity appliance testing'. Firms are urged to pull the plug on £30m of wasted electrical safety tests. It is a myth that every portable electrical appliance needs to be tested once a year. A vast amount of money is wasted doing these unnecessary tests each year; we are all looking for savings at the moment! See www.hse.gov.uk/press for further details.
[Read on about Electricity Testing Myth]
6 May 2012
The Unions are saying that bad stats and policies add up to deadly workplaces. The government safety strategy 'built on myth and dogma' is making the UK's workplaces more deadly, unions have warned. Unite have accused the government of hiding behind poor statistics, with workplace deaths 'underestimated by more than 800 per cent' in the official toll. Unite's general secretary Len McCluskey, speaking ahead of Workers' Memorial Day on 28 April, said: 'The government is hell bent on reducing health...
[Read on about Workers at Greater Risk Due to Government Strategy]
5 May 2012
Employment Minister Chris Grayling has stated that there is a straightforward choice between cutting unnecessary health and safety regulations or losing jobs to other countries. At the Enterprise Forum in London last week, the minister spoke about the Government's progress in reforming the UK's health and safety regime during a round-table discussion about the Löfstedt report. Ai Solutions had the pleasure of Professor Ragnar Löfstedt at our recent Health & Safety Conference. Ragnar...
[Read on about Redundant Health & Safety Rules Thwart Growth - Minister Warns]
5 May 2012
A building contractor has been fined over serious safety breaches after a worker was killed by a piece of falling cob wall being demolished by his son. Two agency workers Jamie Ford 24 and his father, Stephen Ford, 50, were working under the control of Do It All to demolish a barn at Dunbury Farmhouse in Winterbourne Houghton near Blandford in November 2008. The court heard no plan of work for the demolition was in place and Alaister Copland had no experience in demolition work of this kind. The...
[Read on about Dorset contractor sentenced over worker death]
4 May 2012
The BBC has put together some educational programmes for the young about Health & Safety using well known childrens characters. The CBBC Madcap Alpacas - Nuzzle and Scratch - team up with safety supervisor Miss Mulberry to learn about common hazards and how to avoid them. The team at Ai Solutions fully supports any education in Health & Safety. These short programmes are quite amusing for the young but send out some very important messages. For those that are interested visit the Nuzzle...
[Read on about Health & Safety Education For Little Ones]
1 May 2012
At the Ai Solutions Health & Safety Conference in April it was suggested that Health & Safety awareness should start in schools so that young people have a 'good underpinning' to their knowledge. Health & Safety is always bottom of the list and, in some cases, it is not tabled as part of the standard cirriculum for some of the more 'technical' courses you would expect it to be part of (i.e. Built Enviornment). Many round the table at the conference stated that CDM and Health & Safety...
[Read on about Judith Hackitt's Risk Assessment]
21 April 2012
For those that are interested there is a new video available from the HSE - Judith Hackitt introduces the Healthy Workplaces Campaign. [Unfortunately this video is no longer available on the internet] If you are having issues viewing the video, please try going to aisolutions.co.uk/blog/2012/04/judith-hackitt-video--> EU-OSHA's Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2012-2013 'Working together for risk prevention' focuses on the twin concepts of management leadership and worker...
[Read on about Judith Hackitt introduces the Healthy Workplaces Campaign]
10 January 2012
A Chinese firm, the Broad Group, has built a 30 storey building in just 30 days without injuries to workers. Astounding! Their key to success was that all the key components were prefabricated off-site. The builders took just 46 hours to finish the main structural components and another 90 hours to finish the building enclosure. To view the time-lapse video see The Construction Enquirer.
[Read on about Chinese Firm Erect 30 Storey Building in 15 Days]
7 January 2012
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is supporting a new independent panel to consider challenges to health and safety regulatory advice. The new panel, which will look into issues raised by business where they believe a HSE or local authority health and safety inspector has given advice that is incorrect or disproportionate. The panel will not look at issues where other independent appeals processes exist, such as for enforcement notices or prosecutions. For more detail on this see HSE News.
[Read on about HSE Establish Independent Regulatory Challenge Panel]
5 January 2012
The TUC have dismissed claims made by Downing Street, that UK businesses are in a 'stranglehold' of health and safety 'red tape' and compensation claims. TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber stated "It is clear that Downing Street does not have a clue about what life is like for the millions of ordinary people who work in shops, offices, schools, factories, call centres and other workplaces across the UK" Downing Street had suggested that the UK's compensation culture has become rife and that it...
[Read on about TUC Versus Downing Street on Health & Safety]
15 July 2011
We read an interesting article on the TUC web site recently on how unions make a difference to health and safety, what they term as 'the union effect'. They state that 150,000 trade union safety representatives make a difference because trade union involvement: Helps reduce injuries at work Leads to reductions in the levels of ill-health caused by work Encourages greater reporting of injuries and near-misses Makes workers more confident Helps develop a more positive safety culture in the...
[Read on about How Unions Make A Difference To Health & Safety]
1 July 2011
It would seem that there is more and more illegal PPE making the rounds. An increasing number of products and safety garments, which don't comply with EN Standards and the PPE Regulations, have been purchased by UK businesses. Some of these products don't purport to meet the standards, but are nevertheless purchased in the mistaken belief that they are acceptable. Others are sold as complying with the Regulations when they do not. Please all be aware of this, we must do our best to maintain the...
[Read on about Illegal PPE Warning]
24 June 2011
One of our customers sent us an interesting link to maybe the toughest construction job going at the moment. Chinese workers have been tasked with building a 3ft-wide path made of wooden planks on the sheer cliff face of a mountain that is thousands of feet high. The Shifou Mountain in Hunan Province, where they are building the pathway, stands vertical at 90 degrees without any slopes or alcoves. We also saw this as a video news article - Construction cliff work 'not for the faint-hearted' -...
[Read on about Toughest Construction Job In The World?]
9 June 2011
The SHP (Safety & Health Practitioner) reports that Mike Williams, the Principal Inspector of Construction for London said, that given the recent cuts to the regulator's budget and the consequent impact on how it carries out its proactive work, the success of the 2012 project "was, perhaps, a one-off". Speaking at a health and safety forum held at the Olympics site in east London last week, Mr Williams described the level of health and safety achievement on the site as "fantastic". Overall,...
[Read on about Olympics Safety Success - A One-off?]
21 April 2011
The SHP (Safety & Health Practitioner) reports that the Department for Work and Pensions has published further details of the draft terms of reference that will govern the independent review of health and safety legislation announced last month. The main aims are to consider the opportunities for reducing the burden of health and safety legislation on UK businesses while maintaining the progress made in improving health and safety outcomes. The review will explore the scope for consolidating,...
[Read on about Health & Safety Review to look at Regulations & Compensation]
25 March 2011
Commenting on the launch of the government strategy for the future regulation of health and safety, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Employers need to know that there is the possibility of a safety inspector visiting, otherwise there will be no incentive for them to ensure they are protecting their workers. "Removing proactive inspections from a large number of workplaces mean that employers can get away with ignoring the law until they kill or seriously injure someone. This is in no-one's...
[Read on about Government's Safety Strategy "in no-one's interests"]
18 February 2011
The TUC has stated that the way to reduce the number of people on long term sick leave is to prevent them from becoming sick in the first place. But they suggest that the cuts in the budgets of the Health and Safety Executive, and the fall in enforcement activity from local authority safety inspectors will mean more employers can get away with running unsafe and unhealthy workplaces. The TUC are concerned over the review in sickness pay saying that "You do not get workers back to work by cutting...
[Read on about TUC: Government Cuts Will Affect Health, Safety & Sickness]
15 October 2010
The Prime Minister, Mr Cameron hailed Lord Young's report on Health & Safety as a "turning point" and has backed proposed reforms to safety laws. However, the unions said it was a missed opportunity to prevent death and injury at work and was based on "myths". The government has accepted all of the recommendations in Lord Young's report Common Sense, Common Safety. These include: A simplified procedure for personal injury claims and controls on the "volume and type" of advertising of such...
[Read on about Cameron backs new H&S Laws Reforms]