Dallas McMillan Glasgow Solicitors

A Gloucestershire manufacturer has appeared in court after a teenage apprentice had parts of two fingers severed in unguarded machinery.

To coincide with Road Safety Week, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has published new research showing overwhelming public backing for radical new proposals to help stop young people dying or being seriously injured on our roads.

The European Commission has reached agreement with international partners on new internationally harmonised rules on Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS) and Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS) for commercial vehicles.

A defence company has been ordered to pay £376,000 in fines and costs for safety failings that caused a fatal explosion at its Hampshire factory in 2006.

A Bill designed to close the legal loophole allowing partnerships to evade prosecution by dissolving, as happened in the Rosepark fire in Uddingston, has been introduced to the House of Lords by the Advocate General for Scotland Lord Wallace of Tankerness.

A two-pronged attack on health and safety by the Government will expose workers and members of the public to greater risk of injury, campaigners have warned.

Recently published figures have revealed slight falls in a number of key areas of workplace ill-health and injury in Scotland.

Lighter nights all year round could help to arrest the rising number of road deaths, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). 

Proposed new rules on how old insurance records are searched are a “missed opportunity” to ensure the industry honours its responsibility to sick and dying workers.

Doctors in the UK are to become the first in the world to have regular assessments to ensure that their training and expertise are up-to-date and that they are fit to carry out their roles, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced.

Truro Crown court has heard that an elderly man with dementia was able to wander into another resident's room at his nursing home and fall to his death from a window. Reginald Gibbings, 89, fell 3.6 metres from the room in July 2008.

Dozens of construction sites across Scotland have been put under the spotlight as part of an intensive inspection regime by the Health and Safety Executive.

People involved in health and safety at work are being invited to take part in a UK-wide study into the sources of information they use, either in their workplaces or when giving guidance to others.

Urgent action is needed to improve the safety of young drivers, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The industry group says that radical measures are necessary – including a minimum one year learning period.

The announcement that the government is to make compensation claims easier for the thousands of people who have mesothelioma - as a result of asbestos exposure at work - but who until now have been unable to claim because their employer no longer exists, has been welcomed by the TUC.

Britain's dock workers could be left without the specialist safety protection they need if plans to water-down safety regulations go ahead.

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) says proposals by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to axe safety rules specific to dockyards could have “tragic consequences”.

“Five times more dock workers die than the national average for workplace deaths so the last thing the port industry needs is weaker safety measures,” said APIL president Karl Tonks.

Under the plans, regulations which are specific to docks, such as those ensuring ladders are in place as a means of escape if workers fall into the water, will be scrapped and replaced with guidance.

“Guidance isn't compulsory, and an industry as dangerous as this needs robust rules to protect its workers,” said Karl.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation to help victims of cross-border traffic accidents, who may currently face difficulties because of varying time limits for claiming compensation for damage in case of an accident abroad in the EU. The consultation will run until 19th November.

Vice-President Viviane Reding, the EU's Justice Commissioner said: "There are around one million road traffic accidents in the EU every year and some of these inevitably involve visitors from other EU countries. A road accident is a stressful experience for anyone, but it can get even worse if the victim is denied compensation due to complicated rules on bringing a claim.

“The European Commission wants to find out more so that we can offer effective solutions and make sure all victims have proper access to justice. European Citizens should feel at ease when using their car to go on holiday in another EU country."

Currently, different national rules lead to a confusing situation for victims, who may miss the sometimes short deadlines and end up receiving no compensation at all. The aim of the consultation is to get a better idea of the scale of the problem and to assess potential solutions.

Possible solutions that are addressed in the public consultation range from improving information to victims of cross-border road accidents, to harmonising limitation and prescription periods (the time limits for bringing legal action for damages following an accident).

The consultation is aimed at road traffic accident victims, all those who travel abroad with their car, legal practitioners, insurers and any other interested individual or organisation.

Recently published figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have shown that 173 workers were killed from April 2011 to March 2012 – a drop of two from the previous year. The rate of fatal injury remains the same at 0.6 per 100,000 workers.

The figures also show the rate of fatal injuries in several of the key industrial sectors:

MEPs have approved new European rules to ensure that, by 2015, all new cars must be fitted with eCall devices to alert the rescue services to road crashes automatically.

An Edgware contractor has been fined after the routine inspection of a construction site discovered dangerous working conditions.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Inspectors saw contractors working some three metres above ground without measures in place to prevent them from falling. A Prohibition Notice was immediately served on the Principal Contractor, preventing further work at height until adequate safeguards were in place.

In a prosecution brought by HSE, Chelmsford Magistrates' Court heard that a follow-up inspection of the site later the same day, found working at height was still continuing, but no measures had been taken to comply with the Prohibition Notice.

The contractor pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and Section 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £2,000, and ordered to pay costs of £1,500.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector, David King, said:

"Last year 50 construction workers died following incidents on sites, with work at height being the largest factor in this. Therefore it is essential that everybody involved in the construction industry takes appropriate action to manage work at height safely, and other major hazards on their site, to prevent needless injury and loss of life."

http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2012/rnn-e-86.htm