Network Rail has pleaded guilty to three breaches of safety legislation in relation to the deaths of two teenagers at a level crossing in Essex six years ago.

IOSH has called on the Government to include work-related road traffic accidents into official occupational health and safety statistics, insisting that employers have “a moral and legal responsibility to look after their employees every mile of their business trips”.

The European Union has adopted a new legal framework on the use of airport security scanners to safeguard citizens’ health and safety.

Agriculture accounted for almost two thirds of workplace deaths in Scotland last year, according to figures from the HSE, prompting the regulator to work closely with the industry and unions to tackle the causes.

Agriculture, quarries and health and social care are to be excluded from proactive HSE inspections, despite acknowledgement that they remain comparatively high-risk sectors, the Government confirmed today (21 March).

A highway maintenance worker slipped into a coma after suffering serious head injuries when the excavator he was driving struck a bridge on the M1 motorway in the East Midlands.

A refractory goods manufacturer has admitted failing to create a safe system of work for unloading deliveries, following an incident where a forklift truck fell off a ramp.

A teenage apprentice suffered serious facial injuries when he became trapped under a bus after its air suspension failed.

Two construction companies must pay a total of £125,000 in fines and costs for failing to ensure that a cherry-picker, which was involved in a fatality, was safe for use.

Three construction firms have been fined after a worker required his leg to be amputated when a dumper truck ran over him during the building of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

During a time of economic downturn, employers can be tempted to reduce the level of training they provide as a way of cutting costs. But doing the opposite can also save money, says Sean Cusack, who explains how one transport and logistics provider increased its level of training delivery over the past two years to improve warehouse and driver standards.

Around 2000 people die on the UK’s roads every year – a horrific number that could be substantially reduced, suggests Dr Tim Marsh, if more organisations took a proactive and hard-hitting approach to training employees who drive.

Tina Weadick spends the day with managers and front-line staff of major global transport provider First Group, which has set itself a health and safety target that is ambitious yet achievable within the inclusive and progressive safety culture in place throughout the company.

There are few organisations whose work activities don’t require some of their employees to get behind the wheel of a vehicle – company-owned, or otherwise – at one point or another, so it is essential that employers have a robust driver risk-management policy in place, warns Paul Holmes.

Tension and communication breakdown in the supply chain can contribute to injury and death in the workplace. John Gollaglee and Siân Wall examine why all parties, including logistics firms, suppliers and their customers have a duty of care to cooperate and communicate in order to protect the health and safety of workers and the public.

The Brake Fleet Safety Forum has launched a campaign advising fleet operators to make sure drivers have regular eyesight tests.

The Chemical Business Association (CBA) has issued new guidelines for the safe transporting of packaged chemicals.

The British Industrial Truck Association (BITA) has partnered with City of Bristol College to launch a dedicated forklift-truck apprenticeship scheme.



Road safety charity Brake and insurance firm Direct Line have joined forces to launch a new campaign to warn drivers about the dangers of using mobile phones while driving.

The Highways Agency has warned motorists of the need to drive responsibly near roadworks to reduce the risk of harm to highway workers.

One of the country’s largest public-transport providers has enlisted the help of queue-management firm Tensator to help improve the safety of its bus maintenance depots.

Drivers have been warned that winter weather is on its way and road safety experts have warned of the dangers of driving in snow and ice – dangers that can be avoided by affordable driver training.

Elfab has developed OE-Tel, a burst detection system for the gas transportation industry, which, the company says, allows most customers with screw-fit rupture-disc devices to benefit from fitting a simple, fail-safe burst-detection system.

Bus operator Arriva has enhanced its safety measures by selecting freestanding barriers and retractable wall-mounted units from queue-management company, Tensator.

Lancer says the design of its side-loading forklift trucks is especially suitable for long, horizontal and what could be deemed as awkward loads – within, for example, the steel, piping, timber and window industries.