Throughout the UK and Europe there are a multitude of workplaces still clad in asbestos cement from roofing to rainwater to any number of other similar items. Back in the 50’s and 60’s this ‘wonder material’ was marketed as a solution to all building problems due to its characteristics for strength, lightness and fire resistance.…
Read more
Controlling construction dusts has really hit the headlines as a requirements in recent years – and with good reason. Deaths related to dust inhalation through COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and the effects of exposure to RCS (respirable crystalline silica) are estimated to be in the thousands each year. HSE estimates that over 100 people…
Read more
Hand Arm Vibration (HAVS) is something which we have covered many times before but an area in which many still have a way to go. The following prosecution illustrates just how many are still getting it wrong and the suffering which is resulting from this. If you’re a safety advisor or manager within an organisation…
Read more
With fines rising by orders of magnitude and custodial sentences being handed in more cases that ever before, businesses are feeling more exposed to risk from not managing safety effectively. They are also conscious that with uncertainty and costs rising plus a tough market, they need to balance cost against benefit wisely to remain competitive. …
Read more
Safety Critical Medicals are an issue which is being raised by more and more clients since the beginning of this year. It is linked to a national scheme know as Constructing Better Health which is backed by the larger constructors in the construction industry. You can find out more about this scheme here; http://www.cbhscheme.com/About-CBH. The…
Read more
The Health and Safety Executive has published its sector plans for the next 3-5 years following the draft it issued in March 2017. This earlier document saw HSE split the areas under its remit into 19 different sections rather than the, until now, traditional two sectors Interestingly, manufacturing has been given a ‘must try harder’…
Read more
We have seen health and safety fines rise by 10-15 x over their former levels since the Sentencing Guidelines were introduced in 2016 (see our earlier article for more information). In the past few months alone there have been a number of high value, high profile fines, including: Network Rail fined £4 million for the…
Read more
What are your legal obligations as an employer when staff are exposed to UV radiation? The Health and Safety at Work Act makes it clear that there is a legal duty on every employer to ensure, as far as reasonably practical, the health of their employees. It also says that employers must provide “information, instruction,…
Read more
We’ve been carrying out face fit tests and advising our clients on the selection and use of RPE (face masks and similar) for many years now and often come across staff sporting a beard. Our position as occupational hygiene specialists means that we have been more exposed to this issue more than many of our…
Read more
There have been more instances of tele-handlers and dumpers overturning on construction sites with often tragic consequences. These days we have trained operators and good site traffic management on most sites we see but in spite of this we are still seeing too many overturns. This gave use cause to think and discuss this in…
Read more