Lawford Kidd, Personal Injury Solicitors

On Saturday 28th April, unions and safety campaigners around the world will be marking Workers' Memorial Day and remembering the two million men and women who die every year as a result of work-related accidents and diseases.

In the UK over 20,000 people die prematurely every year as a result of injuries or accidents caused by their work. As well as remembering the dead, the day also serves as a reminder that workplace-related deaths are not inevitable and can be prevented.

This year the TUC is calling on unions and safety campaigners to make 28th April a day of action to defend health and safety from attacks by the press, politicians and employers.

An Edmonton-based recycling company has been fined for failing to protect employees working with lead.

The company had bought and was stripping some lead-sheathed copper cabling from British Telecom after the network began to be changed from copper to fibre optic cable.

An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that more than 90 workers - most of whom were Romanian - were significantly exposed to lead as a result of this process.

A consultation has recently been launched by the UK Government on tightening the law on the criminal liability of partnerships. The consultation is also seeking views on reforming the law on unincorporated associations.

The need for reform to the Scots law on criminal liability of partnerships was highlighted after 14 elderly residents lost their lives in the Rosepark nursing home fire in Lanarkshire in 2004. The case against the care home operators failed in the courts because of a loophole which prevented the prosecution of a partnership once it had been dissolved.

The proposed change, which is based on the work of the Scottish Law Commission, would prevent all Scottish partnerships from escaping prosecution for potentially serious offences by dissolving, and ensure they could be held to account if they commit crimes.

One in four call centre agents suffer voice problems because managers are failing to properly protect their health, a health and safety body has said.

A new study, commissioned by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) found that call handlers had suffered one or more of a range of ill-effects because of their work, including voice loss, sore throats and breathlessness.

Around one in ten were diagnosed with a voice problem, while a tenth said their work was now suffering because of the stress placed on their vocal cords. More than one in three call agents said that their voice was hoarse often or very often.

The Scottish Government has welcomed publication of an inquiry by HM Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Authorities into the unsuccessful attempt to rescue Alison Hume from a disused mineshaft in 2008.

The Inquiry, by Steven Torrie, was ordered by Scottish Ministers under Section 44 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, and followed a Fatal Accident Inquiry into Mrs Hume’s death.

Ministers ordered the Inquiry to ensure lessons are learned from the tragic death of Mrs Hume and that issues raised in the Fatal Accident Inquiry are addressed.