Health and Safety News

RICS announces new cladding guidance on fire risk assessments for high-rise blocks

The professional institute for surveyors has proposed new guidance designed to vastly reduce the scope of buildings subject to EWS1 fire safety assessments for cladding. The safety assessments, introduced by the RICS in 2019 in a bid to provide reassurance to lenders and insurers of high-rise blocks, have contributed to a major blockage in the housing market after a government rule change meant insurers and lenders started requiring them on flat blocks regardless of height.

HSE warns of electrical safety dangers in farms when reacting to manslaughter case in Warwickshire

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned against the severe dangers of inadequate electrical safety systems in farm buildings following a recently concluded prosecution at Warwick Crown Court. Britain’s workplace regulator has highlighted the substantial risks arising from using poorly maintained equipment after a woman was killed while cooking food in a farm caravan.

Sawmill firm sentenced after serious hand injury

A company has been sentenced after a worker was seriously injured when his hand came into contact with a rotating bandsaw blade. Blackpool Magistrates’ court heard how on 18 April 2019, the employee was working on a multi-head bandsaw machine at P Irving & Sons Ltd sawmill in Carnforth, when the pipes supplying cooling fluid to one of the six band-saw blades became blocked.

71% of workers in the UK do not feel completely safe in their buildings, according to study

Honeywell survey also reveals that 65% of UK workers have not received any safety training from management. Software and technologies firm, Honeywell, has released the results of a comprehensive study on workers’ perceptions and feelings on the health and safety of their workplace. The study, carried out by Wakefield Research, polled 500 workers that typically work in buildings with 500 or more employees across the United Kingdom and was part of a global study of 2,000 workers across four markets.

Brexit: an update on key changes

Following the end of the transition period, the UK has formally left the EU. We look at the rules and procedures that may affect the health and safety sector. The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 transferred EU-derived laws into UK law, meaning workers continue to have the same workplace protections. Employees settled in the UK for more than five years can apply for ‘settled status’ which will grant them the same rights as British citizens – but they must apply by 30 June 2021. If they continue to work in the UK after this date without having made the application they will be doing so illegally.

HS2 introduces new health and safety passport system

The new system will share vital health and safety information across contractors and help to ensure consistency of standards and performance. HS2 Ltd and its contractors have taken a major step in improving health and safety assurance across sites between London and the West Midlands by introducing a new health and safety passport system.

Tesco fined £500,000 after boy, 10, suffers electric shock

Retail giant Tesco has been ordered to pay more than £536,000 after a 10-year-old child received an electric shock at its Warfield store in Bracknell. On 9 July 2017, the parents of two children entered the store just before it closed. One parent went with the 10-year-old boy to the freezer section to get ice lollies. As he reached for the product, he started screaming and crying.

Network Rail fined £135k following electrocution

Network Rail has been fined for a safety breach after a 13-year-old boy was left with serious injuries following an electric shock. Following an Office of Rail and Road (ORR) investigation, Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has prosecuted Network Rail, who were fined £135,000 by Edinburgh Sheriff Court, for failing to maintain and improve the railway fencing near Musselburgh, East Lothian which left a 13-year-old boy with serious injuries.

Environment watchdog online complaint system goes live

A new system for registering complaints against public bodies suspected of failing to meet environmental law has gone live. Ahead of the establishment of the new Office for Environmental Protection, an interim service is now in place to receive complaints about alleged failures of public authorities to comply with environmental law.

Precision tool manufacturer fined after worker severs finger

L.S. Starrett Company Limited, a precision tool manufacturer, has been fined after an employee’s index finger was severed and his thumb deeply lacerated in an incident involving a radial arm drilling machine. Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard that on 2 October 2018, the hole saw operator was using a radial arm drilling machine when his glove became entangled, resulting in the injuries.