A chemical firm has been fined £120,000 after an employee sustained severe burns when he was engulfed by a fireball at a factory in Wirral. Waste deactivation area where an employee was engulfed by a fireball The 45-year-old from Kirkby, who has asked not to be named, was kept in an induced coma for seven…
Health and safety reforms that deliver a simplified legislative framework that is evidence based, risk informed, fair and consistent were called for by Ragnar Löfstedt, director of the King’s Centre for Risk Management at Public Service Events Health and Safety Reform 2013 conference. Reforms should help businesses comply with their duties and protect their employees…
Ann McCracken, Managing Director AMC2 and a Vice President of the International Management Association (ISMAUK), will be chairing the Health @ Work Summit on the 20th June 2013. The 2013 Health @ Work Summit has the title – Understand how to deliver a healthier workforce to improve your bottom line. For some time now there have been articles…
New online guidance has been launched to make it easier for employers to understand what they need to do to check and protect their workers’ health. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published new guidelines on health surveillance, which is needed where, even after all precautions are taken, there is still a risk that…
A new chief inspector of construction has been appointed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Heather Bryant, who is currently HSE’s divisional director for London, the East and South East, will replace Philip White at the end of March. After four years in post, Philip moves to lead another key division at HSE. The…
According to the 2013 Wellness at Work Survey, the UK workforce is under pressure and is not being given sufficient support by their employers. The survey conducted by OnePoll for The Best You magazine questioned workers from across the UK about mental health and well-being at work, and discovered that only 29% of employees polled…
Christmas is a special time of year. Even so, it doesn’t stop health and safety being (wrongly) cited as a reason for preventing pretty harmless activities from going ahead. Not only does this needlessly ruin the festive spirit but it also trivialises the true purpose of health and safety: protecting people from real risks at,…
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has stated that it believes work-related road traffic accidents should be reported by employers to help cut the number of people killed or injured while driving for work. In the midst of Road Safety Week 2012, IOSH has urged the Government to include work-related road traffic accidents…
A Gloucestershire manufacturer has appeared in court after a teenage apprentice had parts of two fingers severed in unguarded machinery. The 17-year-old, who has asked not to be named, was working at The Albany Engineering Company Ltd factory in Lydney on 3 May this year when the glove on his right hand became caught in…
A Shropshire concrete firm has been prosecuted after a worker suffered serious leg injuries when he was hit by a forklift truck. Tomasz Kosmacz, 38, of Hadley, was responsible for removing excess concrete from moulds at Elite Precast Concrete Ltd’s Telford factory. Mr Kosmacz was putting the excess concrete in a bucket and then onto…
Following an initial pilot, today sees the roll-out of the new Fee for Intervention (FFI) guidelines (1 October 2012), which are set to have significant financial implications for businesses. The highly debated FFI regime will allow the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to recover its investigation costs from businesses. This fee will apply when a…
Two companies have been fined after a man was killed when he drove a specialist machine into an unprotected pit in a factory floor. Martin McMenemy, 52, of Grimsby, was working for O. Turner Insulation Ltd, also of Grimsby, on the construction of a food processing plant in Ratby Lane, Leicester, on 12 April 2008.…
HSE safety spot checks discovered almost half of refurbishment construction projects in North East London were failing to meet even basic health and safety requirements. A day-long inspection initiative by the HSE last week (3 July) saw a small team of Inspectors visit 22 construction sites across North Hackney and South Tottenham, Haringey. The Construction…
The Chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Judith Hackitt has revealed that the Myth Busters Challenge Panel, which was set up in April has already dealt with over 50 cases. Writing in her blog about the confusion that exists over what health and safety actually stands for she said: “Reading some of the…