H&S News March 2008

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HSE served 395 Enforcement Notices and stopped work on 30 per cent of construction sites.  This means that one in three sites visited was putting lives of workers at risk.

Do you want to find out what the H&S issues are in your workplace.  Then you won't have to look far to find the answers.

Over a third of all major injuries reported each year are caused as a result of a slip or trip (the single most common cause of injuries at work).  These cost employers over £512 million a year in lost production and other costs.

Pressure is part of all work and helps to keep us motivated but when excessive pressure leads to stress it undermines performance, is costly to employers and can make people ill.

Behind every accident, there's a victim and a family.  So, who can help you manage financially after suffering at work?

An updated version of open learning guidance on PUWER 1998 has been published.

HSE has revised "Asbestos essentials task manual: Non-licensed task guidance for building and maintenance trades", its popular manual on work with asbestos.

During the 12 months up to the end of last March, 241 people died in occup accidents.  In addition HSE received reports of 141,350 other injuries to employees.

Miners and their families could lose out on compensation for health problems, an official audit shows.  A special report from the Ministry of Justice attacks the Legal Complaints Service over its handling of compensation claims.

Flood risk management by the Environment Agency has been strongly criticised by a cross-party committee.

Statistics released by the IPCC show the number of people who died during or following contact with police officers fell in 2006-08 across England and Wales.

Firefighters tackled over 159,000 serious blazes during 2006 - the lowest annual total for more than 20 years.

Baroness Gibson is chairing a new all-party parliamentary group on accident prevention.

Members of the parliamentary transport committee are looking into measures which might reduce the scale of deaths and injuries on British roads.

Every hospital trust in England can recruit two nurses specialising in infection control and two more for work in isolation facilities under the Government's latest drive to improve patient safety.

According to a new study, many UK hospitals do not have adequate facilities for investigating occup asthma.

According to a recent study, half of all workers in Britain are now monitored by some form of information and communications technology.  The growing use of computerised surveillance systems is a major source of workplace stress.

Barrie Christy has been given an 18 month prison sentence for forging certificates to convince clients that an accredited laboratory had analysed their asbestos samples.

Business in the Community (BITC) is stepping up pressure on the UK's leading companies to report publicly on their occup health performance.

According to a report by the HSL, the HSE's paper-based "COSHH essentials" RA tool retains some important "usability" advantages over its web-based counterpart.

HSE has published an updated table of WELs under the COSHH regime.

HSE has published a report on interviews and workshops that it carried out in 2006 into possible H&S scenarios in 2017.

HSE has published proposals that might eventually result in full recovery of admin and enforcement costs involving adventure licensing activities.

Sentencing is too serious a matter to be left to courts.  (Howard Fidderman)

A look at a successful HSE attempt to engage workers in the fight against vibration and noise.  (Lucinda Ponting)

Every 25 mins, someone breaks or fractures a bone at work according to the latest figures from the HSE.  HSE has launched the "Shattered Lives" campaign this week, to highlight the devastating consequences of simple slips, trips and falls in the workplace.

Every year 4,000 people die of asbestos, more than those in road traffic accidents.  As part of the ongoing asbestos awareness raising campaign, HSE has launched a web video - "Asbestos, the hidden killer".

Revised guidance designed to increase workforce involvement offshore to improve safety further has been published by the Workforce Involvement Group (WIG) of the Offshore Industry Advisory Committee (OIAC).

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 comes into force on 6 April 2008.  The South Wales Working Well Together Group held a mock "interview under caution" event in Cardiff to help raise awareness of the new act.

The HSE and Milton Keynes Council joined forces this week to offer health and safety to small businesses.  Ranging from managing sickness absences to helping employers ensure their business is a safe working environment.

From forklift trucks to articulated lorries, transport in the workplace   can pose a risk to employees and the public.  Two, one-day free events are to be held on March 11th and 12th  at Corus' Llanwern site in Newport, offering advice to haulage and distribution companies on managing this risk.

HSE is warning the farming community to follow the law and make sure that children under 13 years of age on their farms do not drive or ride on agricultural machinery.  This comes after an HSE investigation into an incident last year in which a child died whilst driving a tractor.

The Council was fined £7,500 and ordered to pay costs of £3,763 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  HSE is warning local authorities to ensure that they fully assess the risks when undertaking work after an elderly member of the public was struck by a street-sweeping vehicle.

HSE and Buckinghamshire District Council linked to inspect one of the largest industrial estates in the region.  During the visit one Prohibition Notice was issued for a defective ladder and three Improvement Notices - one for noise and two for working at height issues.

Children from a school in Hull joined the Council and the HSE to get the message across about the myths that are undermining important H&S legislation.

HSE is recommending the DVD film "Vehicle Safety on Farms" to improve transport safety on farms after four of the six agricultural fatalities since last summer involved workplace transport.

Magna Specialist Confectioners Ltd fined £25,000. Costs were also payable of £4,928 under PUWER 1998.  A worker's arm was broken when it became trapped in the unguarded moving conveyor system.

HSE has begun a series of company visits in South East Wakefield which will take them over the next 2 weeks.  H&S officers will go into businesses and offer help and advice over work-related issues and take enforcement action.  The visits are a precursor to Wakefield's Healthy Working Community which begins on 31 March 2008.

Alfred McAlpine Capital Projects Ltd fined £250,000 and costs of £5,859 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  The prosecution followed the death of a motorcyclist at a roadworks site.

The MoD is to pay compensation of £3 million to armed forces veterans who participated in chemical trials at Porton Down during the Cold War.

More than half of nurses working on mental health wards have been physically assaulted at work.

HSE has issued a safety alert for oil/fuel storage sites and others storing hazardous substances in large tanks following an explosion at a facility storing urea ammonium nitrate fertiliser in solution.

A pioneering partnership to promote and safeguard the H&S of staff and students has been signed by managers and unions at the University of Leeds.

The Freight Transport Assoc has published a new free guide to the Corporate Manslaughter Act.

Transport company First Group has banned its entire 135,000 workforce from using hands free mobile phones when driving on company business.  It follows research which suggests that driver performance while making such a call is at a lower level than when driving at the UK legal alcohol limit.

The GMB union has said that CCTV cameras should be installed in all mini cabs to prevent attacks on drivers.  The call follows the deaths of nine taxi drivers in a spate of serious attacks by passengers.

The TUC has called on the HSE to review its advice on manual handling following the publication of new research which suggests that  training people how to lift heavy objects is failing to prevent back injuries.

Research by Loughborough Uni has found that more needs to be done to ensure older workers are not forced out of the construction industry.

Norwich Union Healthcare's latest "Health of the workplace" report found that two thirds of businesses believe that employee well being has a direct impact on the productivity levels of their workforce, but a third don't invest more in it due to a lack of Government incentives and a quarter said they don't know where to access OH information - this rose to 43 per cent among small businesses.

Improvements in workplace H&S have followed the rise of the trade union movement.  Admittedly in the 19th century they followed at a distance, but by the latter half of the 20th century their stories had become well and truly intertwined.  Part one of a two part series.  (Nick Cook)

If signs of work-related skin disease such as dermatitis are detected early enough, a lot can be done to reduce the painful symptoms and in some cases the disease can be stopped in its tracks altogether.  Establishing an effective skin health surveillance programme will ensure that employers pick up those first signs.  (Chris Packham)

Hiring a contractor to carry out work comes with H&S responsibilities for both the client and the contractor.  Those responsibilities include risk assessment, training and staff supervision.  Some of the issues involved.

Next month, after many years of delay, the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 will come into force.  Now the Government's Sentencing Advisory Panel is asking how those organisations found guilty of the new corporate manslaughter offence be punished?  (Roger Bibbings)

The TUC and GMB trades union are divided on whether the HSE should become part of a single working-regulations enforcement body.

MPs have rekindled their efforts to raise the level of penalties for H&S offences by aligning it closer with the wider "better regulation" agenda.

UK fire crews can expect to come under attack up to 40 times a week, claims a report suggesting a 15 per cent rise in the last year is evidence that abuse has become a "recreational" pastime.

The Dept for Children, Schools and Families has introduced new guidance to make it easier for teachers to take pupils on school trips.

J W Carpenter Ltd fined a total of £70,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2, MHSWR 1998, WHR 2005 and PUWER 1998, with costs of £23,000.  Mr David Pullen, a worker in his sixties, has had to move into a nursing home as a result of injuries he sustained in an incident at a warehouse of Carpenter's.  He now requires 24-hour care.

Exelcare Developments Ltd fined £20,000 and costs of £7,500 under LOLER 1998 and CHSWR 1996.  Four construction workers suffered serious injuries when the second-floor floor they were working on collapsed under the weight of a load of concrete blocks.

Where do we draw the line, if employers are theoretically open to prosecution every time work is undertaken because of inherent risk.  (Michael Appleby)

After years of prolific output from Europe in the form of new rules and directives, the EU is at last beginning to adopt a simpler approach to H&S regulation.  (Malcolm Darvill)

One of the critical elements for any successful H&S programme is clear and effective communication.  But as workforces rapidly become more diverse, how do you ensure that everyone understands your message?  (Dr Mark Newson-Smith

Some useful tips on how safety practitioners can encourage managers and directors to take H&S seriously.  (Ian Hutchings)

It is an area that H&S professionals may have left to fleet managers in the past, but the changing world of work means that occup road risk is becoming an issue that can no longer ignored.  (Richard Byrne)

When the national media carry negative reports about H&S, or the general public sound off about it, we can put it down to ignorance of the subject on their part.  But when the negativity is coming from those actually responsible for H&S, it's more of a concern.  (Gary Fallaize)

Major accidents in the oil, gas and chemical industries are, by definition, high consequence and include fires, explosions and toxic release.  They are also, thankfully, relatively infrequent.  A personal experience of regulating the human aspects of H&S on such major hazard sites.  (Martin Anderson)

Keltbray Ltd fined £15,000 and costs of £19,967.68 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  Demolition of an old post office resulted in the building collapsing onto a pavement and road.  Fortunately no-one was injured.

Kings College, Cambridge, fined £16,000 and costs of £14,500 under CAR 2006.  Painters were exposed to asbestos containing material while working at the College.

Ashbourne Ltd fined £35,000 and costs of £33,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  Rosalind James, a resident at Ashbourne's St George's Park Care Centre, was found slumped over a set of collapsed bed rails.

Hereford Galvanizers Ltd fined £13,000 and costs of £6,564 under HASAWA 1974 s2.  Employee sustained 12 per cent burns during an operation involving molten metal.

Taylor Wimpey Developments Ltd (formally Taylor Woodrow Developments Ltd) fined £50,000 and costs of £25,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  Grant Meyrick, a self-employed bricklayer and "modern apprentice", was killed when struck by the front bucket of a tractor loader that was being used to carry mortar around.

Shell UK Oil Products Ltd fined £266,681 and costs of £37,131.62 under COMAH 1999 (as amended).  Shell had a "narrow escape" after 20 tonnes of a highly flammable and toxic gas escaped through a corroded pipe at their Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port.

Following the Court of Appeal's decision to turn down a company's appeal against their fine, HSE has reiterated its warning to companies that they must control the risks from falls in the workplace.  F J Chalcroft had been fined £260,000 and costs of £80,000 in October 2007 after the death of Daniel Askew when he fell ten metres after leaning on an unsecured handrail on a mezzanine area of a cold store.

Cheshire CC has become the first north west LA to sign up to the HSE campaign to combat the growing number of myths that are undermining important H&S legislation.

In the aftermath of the recent gale force winds, HSE reminds landowners and employers to ensure only trained and competent people are used to deal with fallen trees on their land.

Community/S42 order under HASAWA 1974.  This case did result from the investigation of a fatality.

Fined £6,000 under HASAWA 1974.   Employee driving a dumper truck when it overturned and landed on top of him.  He sustained leg injuries.  Failure to ensure his H&S.

Fined total of £12,500 under HASAWA 1974 and EWR 1989.  Failure to comply with IN and to provide safe efficient means for protection of three phase socket.

Fined total of £4,840 under MHSWR 1999 and RIDDOR 1995.  Unreported accident.  Person knocked off a ladder when struck by a part of a machine he was dismantling.

JCB Earthmovers Ltd fined £200,000 and costs of £31,366 under HASAWA 1974 s2.  JC Bamford Excavators fined £266,000 and costs of 31,701 under HASAWA 1974 s2.  The prosecutions followed the deaths of two workers in separate incidents and locations.

Safety campaigners are warning that many young people could die as a result of new Government policy encouraging youngsters to pursue vocational training in high-risk industries such as construction.  HSE is urging companies to ensure that they pay attention to trainees' H&S needs and that they are properly supervised.

A new website helping people plan for local emergencies such as industrial accidents, flooding or flu epidemics has been launched by the West Yorkshire Resilience Forum.

People working with animals need to remain vigilant to the dangers and receive adequate training and supervision, says IOSH.

Airport style security checks will be introduced in secondary schools to tackle the growing problem of teenage knife attacks.  The move forms part of the Government's violent crime action plan and has the support of NASUWT.

Designers are being forced to take the concerns surrounding the working conditions of models and models' health seriously.  During London Fashion Week, they are now contractually bound to comply with a number of basic standards such as maintaining a drug and smoke free environment.

A workplace leaflet and poster campaign about HIV has been launched by the TUC, to combat the discrimination and stigma that accompanies the infection.

Brain injury awareness week begins on March 31st and aims to raise the profile of brain injury and emphasise the need for greater safety measures throughout society to prevent more people suffering these injuries.

The theme of Workers' Memorial Day this year is "good occup health for all workers".  The TUC website contains a listing of UK events.

Baggage handlers at airports across the country are campaigning for the maximum luggage weight limit allocated to each airline passenger to be reduced from 32kg to 23kg.  Unite says that this would reduce the growing number of accidents caused by workers shifting heavy bags.

High-level risk is all part of the thrill of horse racing.  Behind the scenes at Gosforth Park where a complex team of professionals manage the H&S of man and beast.  (Paul Heslop)

Most fire and rescue authorities in England are on track to meet ambitious national fire safety targets, but more is needed to continue the rate of improvement.

According to the FBU, the UK Government and fire and rescue authorities should take a range of measures to tackle violence against fire crews - including introducing a coherent national strategy on the issue.

According to West Yorkshire F&RS, a fire at a tannery was stopped by a single sprinkler.

The Scottish Government has announced that a new Fire and Rescue Advisory Unit is to be set up in Scotland to replace the existing Fire Inspectorate.

An investigation into the cause of a severe blaze that swept through Camden Lock Market continues.  London Fire Brigade believe they know exactly where the fire started although the cause is still being determined.

The Fire Protection Association is delivering free fire safety workshops at various venues throughout Lothian and Borders to alert local organisations and businesses to the latest changes in fire safety legislation.

A new publicly available specification provides guidance on the development of fire strategies.  (Paul Bryant)

The role of LAs during incidents involving hazardous materials.  (Ian Skidmore)

The fire hazards associated with multi-layered paint, particularly when applied to walls and ceilings of common areas of buildings

A new fire safety code of practice on multi-layer paints.

The certification process for fire detection and alarm systems and the role of electrical contractors.  (Stefan Hay)

The challenges facing the testing, inspection and certification organisations in Europe.

With the incidence of faulty cables rising, a look at the issues and risks associated with the fire performance of cable. (Jeremy Hodge)

The National Director of Health and Work, Dame Carol Black, has published the first ever review into the health of the working age population - Working for a Healthier Tomorrow

Nuclear regulators, the HSE and the EA have announced the first step of "Generic Design Assessment".  This was carried out on four designs submitted for new nuclear power stations and has found no shortfalls at this stage that would prevent them from ultimately being constructed on licensed sites in the UK.

HSC Chair, Judith Hackitt, spend the day with a group of 10 - 11 year olds, to see how they were taught valuable lessons in "sensible risk" management and to reiterate her message to combat the growing perception of a "cotton-wool" culture in today's society.

HSE is urging farmers to make sure they wear a safety helmet when using a quad bike.  Farmers tend to use these machines as the lambing season approaches - one of the busiest times of the year.

Talking at the NASUWT conference, the HSC Chair has urged teachers to take a sensible approach to risk assessment to ensure that school trips remain an essential part of every child's education as well as acknowledging very real concerns about teachers' own H&S.

Pauls Malt Ltd fined £3,000 and costs of £2,098 under PUWER 1998.  HSE warned employers to ensure that all their machinery is properly guarded after a worker fell through a machine guard, catching his leg in a rotating screw conveyor, resulting in amputation above the knee.

HSE ran its fourth S&H Awareness Day for the forestry industry on 19th March.  It covered current issues such as machinery safety, managing public access, hand arm vibration syndrome and work-related deafness.

First Capital East Limited fined £120,000 and costs of £95,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2.  Brian Norman was working on a bus headlight when another employee started the bus up and moved it forward, not knowing that he was working on it.  Mr Norman died at the scene from his injuries.

The HSE held an agriculture  safety awareness day on 27th March.  It covered manual handling, animal handling, ATVs, maintenance and hydraulics including power take offs, workplace transport and fragile roofs and working at height.

Shattered lives could affect you.  Special Health and Safety seminar was held in Lincoln for contract cleaning firms.

FOCSA Service (UK) Ltd fined £10,000 and costs of £4,277 under HASAWA 1974 s2.  A worker at a recycling site was knocked down and run over by a telehandler as it manoeuvred to unload a kerbside recycling vehicle.  HSE is warning employers to ensure they provide an adequate system of work to control the risks arising from the movement of vehicles in the workplace.

HSE launched the "Shattered Lives" - a new campaign highlighting the cost of workplace accidents to life and business.

HSE is urging mothers, wives and girlfriends of construction maintenance workers to ask "What is the man in your life bringing home from work tonight?".  This is part of the "Asbestos the hidden killer!" campaign in Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire , Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

Every 25 mins, someone breaks or fractures a bone at work according to the latest figures from the HSE.  HSE launched the "Shattered Lives" campaign in the county of Powys, and Wrexham to highlight the devastating consequences of simple slips, trips and falls in the workplace.

Tina Gavin fined £16,000 and costs of £7,500 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  Gas safety standards at her caravan park were checked  following an incident and the inspection found leaking gas and dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.  Despite tenants complaining of the smell of gas and installations malfunctioning, Ms Gavin did nothing.  HSE is warning landlords to ensure gas installations in their properties are safe and checked annually by a registered gas installer.

Fined £1,700 under MHSWR 1999.  Inadequate Risk Assessment.

Fined £4,000 under WHR 2005.  IP was working on scaffolding when he fell.

Fined total of £25,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and MHSWR 1999.  Failure to provide a safe system of work and adequate information, instruction, training and supervision to employees and failure to make a suitable and sufficient RA in relation to work at height.

Prison under HASAWA 1974 s33 and no sep penalty under GSIUR 1998.  Falsely claiming to be CORGI registered.  Carrying out gas work under 3 different names.

Fined £20,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2.  Failure to ensure the H&S of an employee sfarp, by failing to carry out an RA, safeguarding dangerous parts and providing adequate instruction and training.  Employee suffered amputation of lower right arm when his arm got caught and crushed by a mechanical arm.

Fined £350,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2.  Fire/explosion involving handling of dried nitrocellulose in mixing process, an employee was burnt.

Fined total of £15,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and PUWER 1998.  Person cleaning machine rollers decided to run the machine which is contrary to operating procedures.  His left hand wearing a protective glove was caught in the nip between the rollers pulling his hand in.  Machine stopped by emergency stop button.  No fracture to hand but pain through a trapped nerve.

Fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  A horizontal steel bracing member, fitted as part of a window and doors replacement job in school canteen, struck a 14 year old student leaving her with severe injuries to left leg and foot.

Fined total of £40,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and PUWER 1998.  Person clearing spilt compost from underneath long conveyor got hand trapped between the end roller and scraper bar.

Fined £14,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2.  An FLT was being manoeuvred in an unsafe manner with a load at height, when a box fell striking the head of an employee killing him.

Conditional Discharge/S42Or under HASAWA 1974 s37.  Whilst unloading in warehouse, employee fatally injured by FLT being operated inappropriately by Director.

Fined total of £2,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3 and RIDDOR 1995.  Scaffolding provided was inadequate for a roofing job, no steps taken to control risk of falls.  An accident on site was not reported.  Worker fell into the structure of the building, a fall of five metres and sustained injuries.

Fined £2,000 under LOLER 1998.  Employee was hit on the head by a lifting hook not properly attached to an FLT.

Fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2.  IP was in the loading area of a site.  Unknown to an FLT driver his vehicle hit IP, the front offside wheel ran over him causing very serious injuries.