Blog

Johnson Controls Ltd, a building maintenance company, has been sentenced after one of its employees, Ken Brown, lost a leg when he was run over by a MEWP at a nuclear site in Cumbria.  Johnson Controls Ltd, part of a global organisation which employs more than 160,000 people, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of…
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All contractors now labour, reluctantly it has to be added, under a mound of paperwork designed to ensure that they are competent and adequately resourced for safety.  We hear many grumbles about the level of checks required but every now and then a case gives rise to a good reason for all of this to…
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We have seen numerous incidents in which carbon monoxide has caused death in both commercial and domestic situations. This silent killer cannot be smelt to seen but creeps into homes and kills through preventing the normal uptake of oxygen in our blood. What we did not know up to now was how it can build…
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A repair-garage workshop assistant was knocked unconscious by an oil drum exploding after an oxyacetylene torch was used to cut it. CCTV footage of the blast (see link below) showed the worker being knocked backwards, the drum shooting up into the air, and his colleagues rushing to extinguish the ensuing fire. He remained unconscious in…
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We’re working with HSE and many major construction partners on the South West Working Well Together Campaign.  This event is aimed at contractors and developers within smaller businesses employing 1-15 staff, please take a look through the information below and click the link to book your place on this event.  If you are a larger…
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An interesting article on the HSE website has come to our attention. As many more private companies and public organisations, including schools, are looking to renewables such as wood pellet boilers to reduce their carbon footprint we thought it was wise to publicise the potential hazards associated with wood pellet storage.  It seems that the…
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If there’s one thing guaranteed to raise the ire of both businesses and safety consultants its the mention of no win no fee.  The advent of the legislation has seen payouts to solicitors specialising in the field rise to over 150% of claims – so, what can you do to protect yourself? Claimants are encouraged…
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HSE’s Fee For Intervention (FFI) scheme has been active since the 1st October and many businesses have already been affected.  The scheme allows HSE to charge businesses for their time at the rate, currently, of £124 per hour when a ‘material breach’ of health and safety is discovered. However, the proportion of the fee that…
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Many of our clients use MEWPS for access and recent months have seen the major contractors taking steps to safe guard the use of MEWPS in terms of trapping incidents. These solutions, though well intended, are often prescriptive and can lead to solutions being put into place which are relied upon to protect users when…
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