The UK's biggest pub chain has been convicted of a health and safety breach after the avoidable death of a student who was crushed outside a busy venue.

MD Safey comment: Despite an increase in fatalities from last year the number still represents an on-going downward trend.  Construction still has the highest rate with falling from height the biggest single cause.  There's still lots to do to improve these numbers.

One hundred and thirty-five workers were killed in work-related incidents in Great Britain in the last year, according to figures published today (Thursday July 6) by the Health and Safety Executive.

MD Safety comment:  Interestingly there is also a legislative requirement that, where the Responsible Person appoints a person to make or review the fire risk assessment, they must be competent. This legislative requirement will be brought into force at a later date.  This will have widespread implications for those businesses who undertake their own FRAs without being fully competent.

The Building Safety Bill received Royal Assent in April 2022 and became the Building Safety Act 2022. The new legislation has the effect of amending the Fire Safety Order in a number of ways - read on.

MD Safety Comment:  This incident highlights the need to control Contractors when theya re working on your premises.

Two companies have been fined a total of £160,000 over the huge fire that destroyed a Primark shop in a historic building in Belfast city centre.

A London primary school has been fined £35,000 after a child received 45 per cent burns to their body at a carol concert.

MD Safety comment:  A worrying increase in construction fires against a backdrop of less construction output.

While UK construction output witnessed a decline in the year of and following the Covid pandemic, construction fires in the latest ONS figures show an increase in incidents compared to previous years. Despite calls for greater professional competency and better technology available, fire hazards are only increasing with the likes of new construction materials, hot works and the presence of lithium-ion batteries. Hunter Seymour addresses the issue.

MD Safety comment:  Despite many campaigns to improve work at height safety we still see far too many incidents such as this.  Pre planning of work at height is essential.

A Runcorn business park operator has been fined £13,000 after a worker fell more than 13 feet through a fragile roof.  The man sustained life-threatening injuries, including a fractured skull and collapsed lung as a result of the fall, which happened while he was carrying out repairs at a premises on The Heath Business and Technology Park on 17 June 2021.

MD Safety comment:  A worrying statistic, hopefully to be improved in the coming years.  we need a regulator to conduct inspections to advise and support and, yes, to prosecute where compliance is poor.

The number of unannounced inspections by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the construction industry has fallen to a record low, the second-largest trade union in the UK has found.

The mother of a seven-year-old boy who died after being electrocuted in a pub beer garden is urging the hospitality sector to make sure their outdoor electrical equipment is safe.  Danielle Jones’ son, Harvey Tyrrell, was electrocuted after he touched unsafe lighting in the garden of a pub in Harold Wood, Essex in September 2018.

MD Safety comment:  Important to be aware of for controllers of larger premises.

The proposed Protect Duty, now titled as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill aims to address the current absence of legal duties to consider terrorism risks.