The current vogue among employers for adopting behavioural programmes to address health and safety issues has been criticised by a leading trade union, which says they mainly seek to blame the worker rather than focusing on the failures of management.

The new Safety Climate Tool (SCT) from the Health and Safety Laboratory can help measure the attitudes to safety and behaviours of employees and how these impact on risk control, offering a unique insight into an organisation’s safety culture, whatever its size or industry.

A guide to human behaviour in the shipping industry has been launched by a consortium led by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

Ongoing investigations at the devastated Buncefield fuel depot have revealed possible problems with safety instrumentation and raised the issue of human factors in the management of major hazard sites.

A waste company’s “mixed messages” on safety may have contributed to an incident in which the driver of a refuse-collection vehicle reversed over a female pedestrian and fatally injured her.

An incident in which a well-established galvanizing-industry practice ended in a worker being badly burnt is one of several incidents that have prompted the HSE to look at how formal guidance for the sector on safe lifting can be improved.

Pall-Ex (UK), a Leicester-based haulage company that handles palletised goods, has been fined a total of £100,000 after a driver was killed when his forklift truck fell on him.

Dr Tim Marsh takes the concept of ‘nudge’, as introduced in our November issue, and explains how it is a key element of the ‘mindful organisation’ – one in which strong and proactive leadership creates a robust safety culture.

Ever wondered why sometimes, despite your best efforts, you still hit a brick wall in getting people to act on your recommendations, or proposals? Richard Byrne outlines one management theory that practitioners can implement to make every conversation count.

Nudge theory has recently been embraced by the UK Government but it is not new – indeed, most health and safety practitioners will have employed it at some point in their campaigns and initiatives to develop a positive safety culture without necessarily realising it. Dr Jennifer Lunt and Malcolm Staves appraise the potential merits of the theory for the profession.

Marcin Nazaruk draws on recent research in neuropsychology to provide practical advice for safety and health practitioners on how to affect workers’ decision-making and behaviour.

A key part of developing and sustaining a strong safety culture is addressing worker behaviour, and a key way of doing that is providing effective and engaging training. Glen Robertson suggests that one way organisations can become ‘good at learning’ is through drama and story-telling.

Construction company J Murphy & Sons has won the health and safety category award in last week’s Society of British Water and Wastewater Industries (SBWWI) Awards.

More than 40 health and safety practitioners from a variety of industries gathered last month in Northamptonshire to discuss how to influence health and safety behaviour through communication.

Scaffold firm NSG UK says it has met its safety target of one million man hours with no lost-time accidents (LTA).

Iron technology developer Saint-Gobain PAM UK has won an award for its dedication to reducing workplace accidents.

Construction giant J Murphy & Sons is rolling out a bespoke behavioural change programme to 250 staff at its North West and Midlands divisions over the next two years.

The Byrne Group plc, a large building development firm specialising in concrete frame construction, has worked on many high-profile projects, including The Shard at London Bridge – soon to be the tallest building in Europe – the O2 Arena and the new No. 1 Court at Wimbledon.

Behavioural safety experts from SOG Ltd clocked up 52,000 miles and visited six continents in just 40 days to satisfy demand for a UK-based training package.