Plan, prepare and practise was the mantra preached by the participants in the ‘In the News’ panel discussion at the IOSH Conference this morning (7 March).
The heroic but unsuccessful attempt to rescue four miners at the Gleision colliery in south Wales last month was seriously hampered by a lack of resources, the Shadow Welsh Secretary has claimed.
Development of new gas or oil fields in European waters should only be allowed if the company concerned has prepared a suitable emergency plan, says a resolution passed by the European Parliament.
The head of a fire brigade at the centre of an inquiry into the death of a woman who fell down a mine shaft believes that existing health and safety rules are preventing fire-fighters from saving lives.
A committee of MPs has upheld the UK’s offshore regulatory standards as robust and fit for purpose but is concerned that the industry is failing to anticipate and plan for high-consequence, low-probability events.
A US federation of health and safety committees has voiced its concern that the loss of 11 lives following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil-rig explosion in April has been forgotten amid the subsequent environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
The code of practice governing the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of emergency voice communications is currently being fully revised and stakeholders are invited to comment.
Fuel storage facilities similar to Buncefield are generally complying with standards relating to management systems, good practice, emergency response measures and staff competence, according to the HSE.
