How Safe Are Workplaces in the UK?
Figures published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 2014 showed that Britain is one of the safest places to work in the EU, however with 133 deaths and over 78,000 people injured in the last year alone, just how good are the health and safety standards in the UK? Recent statistics show that as well […]
Bang! New Health & Safety Regulations for Explosives in Scotland, England & Wales
New health and safety regulations regarding explosives are set to come into force next month – October 2014. The Explosives Regulations 2014 (ER 2014) and the Acetylene Safety (England and Wales and Scotland) Regulations 2014 (ASR 2014) come as a result of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) reviewing the existing health and safety explosive […]
Is Health & Safety Fee for Intervention Scheme Effective?
An independent panel, chaired by a Liverpool University professor, has concluded that the Fee for Intervention (FFI) scheme – found under regulations 23 to 25 of the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations 2012 – has been widely effective and should stay. The FFI, introduced on 1 October 2012, was designed to make businesses that break […]
Health & Safety Deregulation Causing Concern
Government plans to deregulate areas of health and safety, have been criticised by Members of the House of Lords. As explained in our blog from last week – “Certain Self-Employed Persons to Become Exempt from Health & Safety Law?” – under current UK Government plans, all self-employed workers, with the exception of those undertaking ‘prescribed activities’, will become […]
Certain Self-Employed Persons to Become Exempt from Health & Safety Law?
Under current Health and Safety Executive (HSE) proposals, self-employed people in the United Kindgom (UK), whose work activities pose no potential risk of harm to others, are to become exempt from Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA). Self-employed persons undertaking activities on a prescribed list however, will continue […]
Local authority prosecuted after near drowning
Essex County Council has been fined for safety failings after a child with severe learning and physical disabilities almost drowned in his school’s swimming pool. The 9-year-old boy was pulled from the water blue in colour and needed resuscitation after the incident during a school swimming session. The council was prosecuted by the Health and […]
Proposals to exempt self-employed from health and safety law
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has opened a three-month consultation on proposals to exempt self-employed people whose work activities pose no potential risk of harm to others from health and safety law. The Löfstedt review recommended that people who work for themselves be taken out of health and safety law if their work posed […]
Tighter crowd controls needed to safeguard spectators
Tighter crowd controls must be introduced at many music and sports events in the UK to safeguard spectator safety, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has warned. Formal safety training for stewards, the retention of all-seater stadiums and better management of crowd flows are among measures urged by IOSH after its poll of […]
