Polski Dzial Fall in fatal injuries to workers
New provisional figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveal a fall in the number of workers killed in Britain in the last year – down to 148 between April 2012 and March 2013, from 172 in the previous year. The overall rate of fatal injury has dropped to 0.5 per 100,000 workers, below […]
Views sought on revised Approved Codes of Practice
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched three consultations on changes to the content of Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs). Changes to the ACOPs Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) (L134-138), Control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH) (L5) and The control of legionella bacteria in water systems (L8) have been developed by […]
Partnerships Prosecution Bill passed
The UK Parliament has formally approved a new law that will amend the criminal liability of partnerships in Scotland. The Partnerships (Prosecution) (Scotland) Bill will now go forward for royal assent. Reforming the criminal liability of partnerships in Scots law became necessary after the tragedy of the Rosepark nursing home fire in Lanarkshire in 2004 […]
InterAction meeting on historic abuse
The Scottish Human Rights Commission and CELCIS (Centre of Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland, University of Strathclyde) have hosted an InterAction event in Glasgow. The aim of the InterAction, the first facilitated negotiation within a human rights framework in Scotland, was to bring people and organisations to the same table at the same […]
IAM comment on latest road casualty statistics
The latest Department for Transport road casualty statistics show an increase in casualties for vulnerable road users. According to the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), the figures show that: The IAM would like to see:
NHS Trust fined over patient death
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. Danny Jewitt sustained serious chest injuries in the incident and was pronounced dead later the same day. Maidstone Crown Court ordered the Trust to pay more than […]
HSE inspections help ensure worker safety
A recent study from Stirling University has highlighted the importance of unannounced HSE inspections to workplace safety. Study author, and Professor of Occupational Health Policy Research, Rory O’Neill, said: “Whether your job is making people better or making plastics, don’t expect a government safety inspector to call. The majority of workplace deaths now occur in […]
Lighter nights could help cut road deaths
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). As the clocks go back, marking the end of British Summer Time, RoSPA has highlighted how an extra hour of evening daylight across the UK could help to significantly […]
Nursing home fined for elderly man’s fatal fall
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. The court was told that Mr Gibbings had been admitted to the […]
Working at height put under safety spotlight
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. A total of 78 sites were inspected across Scotland during the first three weeks of September and while the majority were found to be managing health and safety appropriately, work […]