29 November Are you thinking of taking the health and safety at work pledge? The HSE has launched an opportunity for businesses to express a commitment to Health and Safety at Work. In essence its asks businesses to sign up to something that they should be (and probably are) doing already: We, the undersigned: Agree to play our part in reducing the numbers of work-related deaths, injuries and ill-health … Read More
29 November Changes in the levels of penalties by the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 The Health and Safety Offences Act 2008 is a new piece of health and safety legislation that came into force on 16 January 2009. The act gives the courts greater powers of sentencing, including increases in the fines for those who breach health and safety legislation. This Act amends Section 33 of the Health and … Read More
29 November Corporate Manslaughter The government considers that the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 sends out a powerful deterrent message to those organisations that do not take their health and safety responsibilities seriously. The Act is intended to build on existing health and safety legislation and does not seek to impose new regulations on business. Having taken … Read More
29 November The Disability Discrimination Act The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 aims to end the discrimination that many disabled people face. This Act has been significantly extended, including by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. The DDA requires employers to: treat disabled persons equally with non-disabled persons in all employment matters make any reasonable changes to the premises, work layout, hours … Read More
25 October Control of contractors gone wrong A global drinks (AD) firm has been ordered to over £277,000 in fines and costs after a contractor was killed as a result of falling six metres through a fragile skylight on a warehouse roof. Further to this, the worker’s employer (P) must pay just over £30,000 for his failure to protect his staff. Mr … Read More
30 September Fee for Intervention update The Business Law firm DWF has revealed figures from its recent Freedom of Information request for “Fee for Intervention” figures from the HSE. These figures relate to the third batch of invoices issues by the HSE in relation to fees for intervention scheme (FFI). These figures for February and March 2013 show that the figure … Read More
6 September False claims over health and safety An article about Health and Safety published in the Guardian on 05 September 2013 makes very interesting reading. The article centres on the dim view taken by the authors over the government making “False Claims over Health and Safety”. The article also points out that “The government will best protect people in workplaces by effective … Read More
3 September HSE to target Construction Sites in September 2013 HSE Campaign: Safer sites – targeted inspection initiative September 2013 HSE Construction Inspectors have been carrying out a major inspection and enforcement initiative during September 2013, targeting the refurbishment sector. They have revealed that they have visited over 1000 sites so far and inspected 1500 contractors. They have also revealed that they have found “material breaches” at … Read More
2 September Construction site safety remains in HSE focus The following is taken from the foreword HSE Construction Divisions Plan for 2012/13: “Despite the economic downturn the construction industry remains one of the largest in Great Britain, bringing employment to around two million people; but it remains extremely hazardous. The characteristics of the industry and the challenges it creates in tackling health and safety … Read More
16 August Tragic School Meal Food Poisoning Disaster Reveals Widespread Government Food Safety Issues Background A tragedy felt the world over as at least 23 Indian students, all less than twelve years old, died as a result of poor food safety and storage practices. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme has been long heralded as the largest and most successful program of it’s type in the world, with over 120 million … Read More