Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

“The end of health and safety gone mad?” is a new eBook investigating the way the health and safety community has evolved and adapted to the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores growing positive media attention and the work performed by major health and safety associations, and asks how the profession may look going into 2021.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out a series of new three-tiered system of COVID-19 Alert Levels, aiming to further simplify and standardise local rules, during a press briefing on Monday 12 October.

A transport company has been fined after a worker was fatally injured when the pallet of stone tiles which he was attempting to deliver fell onto him.

Mary Cameron, team leader within SOCOTEC’s Occupational Hygiene team, discusses the role that measured vibration levels and manufacturer’s data plays when assessing HAV exposure and implementing subsequent control measures.

Luton Borough Council has been sentenced after a teacher was assaulted by a pupil.

Your health and safety priorities may have changed, but the risk of slips is still here, and with cleaning being high on the agenda, it could be un-intentionally increasing the risk of slips on your site.

We’re celebrating the achievements of the brightest and most passionate health, safety and workplace wellbeing professionals; from young, upcoming rising stars to our most influential ambassadors.

Now that more construction workers are likely to be working alone, employers must ensure that they’re taking additional measures to protect their workers and meet their duty of care obligations – and workers need to be aware of how they can avoid the additional risks lone working can present.

HSE has launched a ‘Talking Toolkit’, which focuses on work-related stress in construction, put together with consultation from the construction industry.

Health and safety inspectors across Great Britain will be targeting construction firms from 5 October to check that their health standards are up to scratch during a month-long inspection initiative.

Emtelle UK Limited, a manufacturer of plastic tubing and blown fibre tubing for telecoms and water piping, has been fined after an employee suffered serious injuries to his left hand when it came into contact with the exposed clamp of a socket machine.

An animal feed processing company has been fined following an incident where part of an employee’s arm was severed by a moving conveyor.

A mechanic and landlord based in Kent has been sentenced after refusing to comply with enforcement notices issued by the HSE and Kent Fire and Rescue Service to protect workers and tenants from injury.

Wembley Scaffolding Services Limited has been fined following an incident where a worker fell five metres and suffered a fatal head injury. HSE adjudged that no suitable risk assessment was carried out prior to the incident.

Paul Sear, National Technical Manager for SOCOTEC’s Water Hygiene team, outlines why the current focus on preventing another surge of COVID-19 infections should not compromise the control measures designed to prevent Legionnaires’ disease.

‘It is not good enough for companies to assume they are doing all they can to control the risk just because there have been no previous incidents,’ says HSE, after a specialist industrial services company worker suffered a fatal injury.

A firm has been fined £30,000 for breaching health and safety legislation after an employee injured his hand, a month after he had escaped unscathed in a similar incident which was not acted upon.

Reminder that the HSE permitted those that hold a first aid certificate that expired on or after Monday 16 March, have until the end of September to requalify.

Bolton and Trafford are the latest areas the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is specifically targeting with spot inspections to ensure workplaces are COVID-secure.

Is your materials handling equipment still fit for purpose? Some top tips for improving materials handling safety and efficiency on site.

British Safety Council urges Government not to pressurise employers to get workers back into the office. If people can work from home, they should have the choice to work from home: for the sake of people’s health, wellbeing and the economy.

A bakery has been fined after an employee amputated his right hand on a bagel production line.

A manufacturer of adhesive tape has been fined after a worker was fatally injured while operating a rewind slitting machine.

A trio of construction companies have been fined after a worker suffered fatal injuries while demolishing a two-storey building in preparation for a development project.

A powder coating company has been fined after a worker in a factory suffered shattered lumbar vertebrae and had to be kept in a lying down position on his back for two weeks in hospital.

HAV Inspection and Enforcement Guidance document replaces the Topic Inspection Pack on Hand-arm Vibration.

A maritime freight and logistics company has been fined after a worker suffered multiple bone fractures to his foot when a forklift truck was driven over it.

Leeds and Bradford Boiler Co Ltd has been sentenced for safety breaches after a worker broke his upper arm and suffered crush injuries to his lower arm in a workplace incident.

Building firm fined after self-employed subcontractor sustained multiple fractures and a brain injury following 15-foot fall.

To get some recommendations on face coverings in the workplace, for employers and employees, SHP spoke to Arco’s Director of QSHE UK and Asia, Neil Hewitt.

John Murphy and Sons Ltd has been sentenced for safety breaches after damaging a 10-inch gas pipeline whilst undertaking work to allow the widening of the M8 motorway.

A council has been charged with health and safety breaches over the death of a five-year-old girl in a playground and faces a potential £2 million legal bill.

The Department for Work and Pensions has appointed Sarah Newton as Chair of the Health and Safety Executive Board.

A manufacturer has been sentenced for safety breaches following two separate incidents including the death of an employee and series injuries to a second worker. A number of electrical safety failings were also found.

A paper making company has been fined after a 22-year-old employee had her fingers crushed, leading to the partial amputation of both her middle and index finger on her left hand.

A plumbing and heating company has been fined after an employee suffered serious burns following an explosion at a domestic property.

Costain has been fined £1.2million after a worker sustained life changing head injuries and a second suffered a leg fracture when their MEWP was struck by a collapsing reinforcement cage during the construction of a road bypass.

The Health and Safety Executive has said it is out and about talking to businesses in Blackburn and the surrounding areas to ensure they are COVID-secure to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

The HSE has issued a report that shows agriculture has the one of the worst rates of worker fatal injury in Great Britain. Last year, 21 people were killed in agriculture, one was a child.

Wirral Borough Council has been fined after a branch from a tree fell and struck the vehicle of a pregnant mother while she was driving, resulting in injuries to the mother and the loss of her prematurely born baby.

A vehicle sales company and an occupational health & safety consultant have been fined for a breach of HAVS regulations.

Alongside the Fire Safety Bill and fire safety consultation, the Building Safety Bill is said to be bringing the “biggest improvements to building safety in nearly 40 years”. The Draft Bill was announced on 20 July by Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

A child has died after reportedly falling into a hole on a building site in Glasgow.

A self-employed property maintenance contractor has been sentenced after arranging and being in control of gas work that his contractors were not registered or competent to do, leaving it in a dangerous condition.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) annual report and accounts summarises HSE’s performance during 2019 to 2020, and other developments in the organisation.

JR Scaffold Services Ltd has been fined after an employee fell eight metres to the ground and sustained severe injuries when the cantilever section of a scaffold he was erecting collapsed.

Dr Jim Golby, Director of Research and Customer Experience at Applied Driving Techniques, highlights the opportunities and benefits for Employers as their staff begin to return to work.

A self-employed independent health and safety consultant has been fined £1,400 for breach of legislation for giving advice to clients, despite not being properly qualified.

A woman has died, and four people have been injured after a 20m tower crane collapsed onto a row of houses in Bow, London.

A tile manufacturing firm has been fined £10,000 after a worker suffered three broken bones in his arm and crush injuries to his forearm when he was drawn into the in-running nip of a conveyor tail drum.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has called for businesses to follow the government’s 5 steps to being COVID-secure as the lockdown eases and more sectors are set to open their doors.

The construction sector has had the highest number of workplace fatalities over the last 12 months, with falling from height still recorded as the most common cause of work-related death. The latest HSE figures also highlight the risks to older workers, with 27% of fatal injuries occurring to workers aged over 60.

A school has been fined following an incident where a pupil sustained severe cuts to his middle and index finger on his right hand and serious tendon damage, when using a band saw.

Mental health, the roles of an employer when it comes to looking after the mental health of employees and how to manage mental health in the workplace.

Material handling equipment provider Mentor offers some simple steps to getting operators and equipment safely back up and running, as lockdown eases.

Kirsty Adams, Editor of SHD Logistics Magazine, catches-up with Combilift’s Martin McVicar to discuss safety measures introduced at the manufacturer’s County Monaghan plant due to COVID-19, and the ever-important issues around fork lift safety.

The HSE has published video guidance on how to set up workstations when working from home. It advises workers not

A Freedom of Information request to Welsh Fire & Rescue Service, submitted by health and safety training provide CE Safety has uncovered that there were 17 fires caused by hot works in the Welsh construction sector last year.

A construction company has been fined after a worker was seriously injured while erecting a timber frame chalet bungalow.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning against the use of KN95 facemasks as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

‘This was a tragic and wholly avoidable incident, caused by the failure of the company to provide adequate guarding against dangerous parts of the machine.’

When reinforcing the message of safety non-compliance to managers and directors, sometimes the threat of individual prosecution may be the only way to get through. But do the statistics support that position, when the lack of individual prosecutions is considered? A Freedom of Information Act request yields some interesting answers.

Oil refinery company, Phillips 66 Ltd was sentenced for safety breaches after two workers suffered life-changing injuries from an uncontrolled release of high pressure and high temperature steam.

A London-based relocation and refurbishment company has been fined after a worker was seriously injured when he fell from height.

A seven-year-old boy was taken to hospital after falling from the Twister rollercoaster at Lightwater Valley Theme Park, near Ripon, in North Yorkshire.

Water Hygiene Centre provides some pointers for consideration for when the end of the lockdown is announced and properties that are currently “mothballed” will be brought back into use and reoccupied.

In this article, particularly in view of the difficulty posed in predicting with certainty where, in a range of potential financial penalties, the fine that will be imposed will land, Paul Verrico, Partner at Eversheds Sutherland and Claire Watson, Associate at Eversheds Sutherland, look at the nine steps set out in the Sentencing Guideline and ask what a duty holder can do to prepare for a hearing.

In line with the HSE’s recent statement that basic lift truck training remains essential during the coronavirus pandemic, Mentor FLT Training is offering a number of materials and courses to help businesses stay safe and compliant during this critical time.

RTITB offers theory and driver behaviour training online for materials handling equipment (MHE) operators that need refresher training but are unable to attend a course for reasons associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

Your organisation is looking ahead to stepwise resumption of operations once the COVID-19 lockdown starts to be eased. But what are your health and safety criminal law obligations for the return to work and what do you need to do to stay on the right side of the criminal law?

The British Safety Council is marking the World Day for Safety and Health at Work with a pledge to support workers’ safety through the coronavirus outbreak and beyond.

During processes such as machining, grinding and milling, individuals working with metalworking fluids as part of their day-to-day role risk developing a host of respiratory illnesses, which is why it is important for organisations to encourage best working practices and ensure that exposure levels are as low as is reasonably practicable.

Amy Sadro, Principal Associate in Eversheds Sutherland’s Environment, Health and Safety Team and Dr Chris Nelson, a Principal Consultant and specialist

Amidst all the coronavirus headlines, some commentators have speculated that employers may be about to face prosecution if they don’t take all precautions possible to protect staff and third parties from infection. Paul Verrico, Partner at Eversheds Sutherland, investigates whether that is the case.

A statement has been issued by the Health and Safety Executive, the TUC and the CBI, intended to clarify questions and concerns that many workers, union reps and employers have about safe working – especially for those continuing to work away from home.

When the Asbestos Prohibition (Amendment) Regulations 1999 banned the import, supply and use of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) in the UK, HSE guidelines stated that no asbestos fibrous minerals should be contained within commercial and non-domestic buildings constructed after the year 2000. But what is the recommended course of action when asbestos is discovered within post-2000 buildings?

A manufacturing company has been fined after an employee’s arm was dragged into a press roller.

It goes without saying that everyone should make time for health and safety. However, thinking about ‘time’ from different perspectives can improve our understanding about health and safety behaviours, and enable us to anticipate and keep pace with changes in the world of work.

The HSE has taken steps to support hand sanitiser manufacturers as UK production is increasing to tackle coronavirus.

Working by yourself in a remote location presents a set of challenges both for employers and the lone workers. It is estimated that there are eight million lone workers in the UK which represents about 20% of the UK workforce. On this content hub, SHP brings you the latest lone working guidance.

You have undertaken your Legionella risk assessment and it is has identified all of the foreseeable risks posed by Legionella in your buildings, carriage wash plant and on board your trains. So, what do you need to do next?

The HSE has issued guidance for occupational health providers, appointed doctors and employers. In the light of advice from Public Health England on COVID-19, HSE has set out in the guidance, what it describes as a proportionate and flexible approach to enable health/medical surveillance to continue.

Tayside Health Board has been fined following three incidents where patients died by suicide using ligature points.

The Asbestos Removal Contractors Association (ARCA) has reported that the HSE has received a number of queries concerning the purchase and use of Type 5 coveralls. It has issued a statement as a reminder of existing guidance and advice.

A Blackburn logistics company has been fined after failing to provide fall protection for workers replacing the roof of its premises.

The company which owns Liverpool’s docks has been cleared of not handling explosives properly.

A yoghurt manufacturing company has been fined £600,000 fine after two employees suffered serious injuries following the release of an acidic cleaning solution.

A landlord has been sentenced after failing to maintain gas appliances and failing to have landlord’s gas safety checks undertaken at his rental property.

A poultry processing company was fined for safety breaches after an agency worker had her thumb severed on a moving part of a processing line.

A manufacturer of bespoke gates has been fined after an eight-year-old girl was crushed by a steel gate at a London school.