Scotland has one of the highest perinatal mortality rates in Europe. Between January 2009 and June 2011 the NHS in Scotland paid out over £70,000,000 in damages in relation to negligence resulting in stillbirths and babies born with disabilities.
An NHS Foundation Trust has been sentenced for safety failings after a vulnerable patient died following a fall from a first floor window of a hospital in Gillingham.
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).
InjuriesBoard.ie has released details of its work in the first six months of 2012. Data for the period shows a gradual but consistent increase (4.1%) in claims volumes compared to the same period in 2011. The period also saw the emergence of issue-specific claims linked to Thalidomide and De Puy hip replacements.
National estimates of death following general surgery have been too optimistic, according to the first large-scale study to explore surgical outcomes across Europe, led by Queen Mary, University of London.
Campaigners say a review of workplace safety must ensure that all updates to important guidelines are made in plain English.
Campaigners have welcomed a decision by the Government to rethink its proposals to cut compensation payments for victims of crime.
Two nursing home owners have been fined after an elderly resident died following a fall from a hoist.
An assault victim has spoken out in support of a not-for-profit group’s campaign against Government plans to slash compensation payments for victims of crime.
A Cheltenham contractor and a retailer have been prosecuted after a construction worker was exposed to asbestos during a refurbishment project.
Businesses are being told to do more to protect workers and members of the public from exposure to legionella.
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.
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.
Potentially deadly asbestos fibres were spread in part of a shop by unqualified workmen and left on the premises for three weeks.
In a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Cardiff Magistrates heard that the company, which specialises in damp and timber repairs, committed four offences and was fined a total of £18,000 and ordered to pay £5,314 in costs.
The company was contracted to carry out the work in an antiques shop in the Vale of Glamorgan. Employees were sent to work on the site to survey and strip out parts of the building affected by damp and wood rot, without checking for the presence of asbestos.
None of the workers had received sufficient information, instruction or training in asbestos awareness or removal and the company did not have a license to remove or handle asbestos containing materials.
Asbestos insulation boards were removed in a back room by one of the workers and the ceiling was demolished. The uncontrolled removal of the asbestos boards and demolition work caused the disturbance and spread of potentially deadly asbestos fibres.
Instead of arranging for the proper disposal of the asbestos, the dust was swept into rubble bags and dumped in a skip lorry, along with the asbestos insulation boards. The asbestos material was immediately identified at the waste transfer site and were collected by the company and left in the backyard of the shop.
The owners of the building contacted the HSE and then arranged for a licensed removal company to undertake a full environmental clean of the building.
HSE Inspector, Steve Richardson, speaking after the case, said: "This incident was entirely preventable and would not have happened if the company had provided adequate information, instruction and training to its staff.
"The company had no procedures to check for the presence of asbestos and as a result, has put the health of its workers and the shopowners at risk of potentially fatal asbestos-related lung diseases."
Brake, the road safety charity, has welcomed the announcement by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill that proposals to lower the limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg will be brought forward later this year.
A Preston steel firm has appeared in court after a working platform slid off the forks of a forklift truck and struck one of its employees.
A 23-year-old man died from massive crush injuries when his head became trapped in the jaws of a grab machine being wrongly used to move a pallet of cement bags.
Steven Allen was part of a team working for Skipton-based construction company JN Bentley Ltd on a building project for Bradford Council in March 2007. Moving the 30 or so cement bags was to be the last job before the weekend when the incident happened.
Bradford Crown Court heard that workers used a block grab attached to an excavator to move the load. As they did, the bags fell two metres to the ground, but the pallet remained in the jaws of the block grab. The pallet pivoted and Steven Allen took hold of it to pull it free. As the pallet came away, the jaws dropped and clamped on Steven’s head, causing severe injuries. He died the following day.
After an investigation, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) mounted the prosecution against Mr Allen’s employers. The court was told the HSE’s findings revealed that the grab was being used against manufacturer’s instructions and was not suitable for the job. Block grabs are designed to lift and move rectangular loads strapped together such as packs of bricks. The company had also failed to implement a safe system for lifting and transporting the bags of cement.
The company had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £106,250 and ordered to pay costs of £90,000.
HSE Principal Inspector, Dave Redman, said:
"It shouldn’t take a death to remind employers that failure to properly plan the work can have tragic consequences. An alternative way of lifting the pallet should have been used. Pallets are designed to be lifted using fork attachments which could have been fitted to the excavator. This would have prevented the incident which led to Steven Allen’s death. If employers take their eye off the ball, it’s all too easy for otherwise safe and routine tasks to turn into unacceptable risks."
