The NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS) has launched new guidance on the use of markers on patients’ care records, which alert staff to the risk of physical violence or aggression.

An employment tribunal has found in favour of a fire-fighter who was sacked for asking colleagues if their employer’s reclining chairs were hurting their backs.

Junior doctors are working irregular shift patterns, which, although they may be compliant with the European Working Time Directive, could be putting both the doctors’ and their patients’ health at risk.

Levels of physical violence, bullying and harassment are now at the lowest they have ever been, according to the latest annual NHS staff survey.

Too few people with severe mental-health conditions are receiving funding from the Government’s Access to Work programme.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has been fined £25,000 for exposing its employees to the risk of infection from the potentially deadly E.coli O157 bacteria.

A housing provider has pleaded guilty to failing to manage the risks from legionella, a build-up of which was discovered at one of its sheltered-accommodation schemes in Essex.

An Essex hospital has been heavily criticised for risk-assessment failings and deficient communication procedures following the death of a severely disabled young man in its care.

The NHS has secured hospital and restriction orders against a mentally-ill patient who assaulted a nursing assistant at a hospital in Northumberland.

An NHS Trust has been fined after a mother who had just given birth died when she was given the wrong drug.

In a climate where the phrase ‘health and safety’ is far too often misused or ridiculed, there is a risk that the very real duties that employers owe to their staff and others will be forgotten in the maelstrom of hype and hysteria that is currently surrounding the subject of swine flu. Tim Hill keeps things in perspective and outlines the practical steps employers can take to cope with ‘the second wave’.

GPs and other health-care professionals now have a ‘one-stop shop’ for a range of practical information on work and health.

Employers in the health sector should provide more skin-care programmes for workers with dermatitis, including education and advice about good hand washing and drying techniques, and provide gloves and moisturising creams in the workplace.

The Royal Mail Group has announced the introduction of a new alcohol and drugs policy following consultation with the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), advice from Alcohol Concern, and the conclusions of a recent TUC report urging employers to address the issue in a non-judgmental way.

ZOLL Medical Corporation, a manufacturer of medical devices and related software solutions, says it is now supplying the British Heart Foundation (BHF) with the ZOLL AED Plus® and ZOLL AED Pro® Automatic External Defibrillators.

Safesite has provided Frimley Park Hospital with fall-from-height protection to ensure safe access for maintenance and repair of plant and equipment situated on the building’s roofs.

PEL Services Ltd has launched its Refuge Call System to help building occupiers comply with British standards and the Disability Discrimination Act.

York Hospital has introduced an ergonomically-designed trolley from Craven Ltd to accommodate its medical gas cylinders. Made of lightweight stainless steel, Craven says the trolley is more hygienic and aesthetically pleasing than traditional painted metal trolleys, and easier to manoeuvre and maintain.

Staff security is a central concern for the North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, whose 49 community midwives regularly work alone in deprived areas and are often called out at night. To ensure their safety the Trust opted for a personal alarm system from Argyll Telecom.