Safety

What can you possibly do in an office around Christmas that puts life and limb at risk? The answer you’re searching for is hanging up decorations around the office, and that’s because many people don’t consider the risks attached to readying the workspace for festive fun. With trips/slips or falls, electrical incidents and manual handling/lifting…

How have the latest changes to sentencing guidelines affected the outcomes of recent cases and why should business owners shift their focus when managing Health and Safety failures? A recent case involving a care home resident falling down an unprotected stairwell provides a stark reminder of the need to protect against falls from height, specifically…

During autumn and winter months there is increased risk to employees and other pedestrians from slipping and falling whilst walking between buildings or to their cars. Longer nights, less light, fallen leaves, and wet and icy weather are just some of the reasons for this increased risk, so it’s essential that the upkeep of these…

With Merlin, the owners of Alton Towers, fined £5 million following the Smiler accident in June 2015, the fact that two directors at another business received suspended prison sentences for H&S breaches in the same week may have gone unnoticed. And so might the prosecution of the scrapyard featured in a BBC documentary series. In…

Pokémon Go is this year’s biggest craze. The global phenomenon sees people hitting the streets with their phones to capture and train Pokémon in a virtual world, using their surroundings as a platform. The elusive animations can be found just about anywhere, and the game has encouraged hordes of people to get off their sofas…

Whether you operate an industrial plant with heavy-duty equipment, a butcher’s shop with a meat slicer, or a joinery workshop with a laser cutting machine, you need to be aware of the vital systems that will keep your employees safe from moving machinery parts. In 2014/15, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reported 15 fatal…

A UK car manufacturer has been fined £120,000 for failing to protect workers from the risks of asbestos at one of its sites. The prosecution was brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who also secured a conviction against a Kent school and building contractor for the same offence in January 2016. It’s no…

The six-week school summer holidays can be a source of joy for children and frustration for parents. But 100 years ago, there was no danger of anyone getting bored or struggling to find childcare. School term times, including the long summer break, were developed to coincide with the agricultural calendar. During the summer months, children…

Public Health England (PHE) is continuing to investigate an outbreak of E. coli O157, with 100 cases currently being looked into. The organisation, which suspects mixed salad leaves could be responsible for the outbreak, has put in place ’heightened surveillance’ across the country. To date, 109 incidences of this strain have been identified across the…

A ‘reckless’ restaurant owner has been jailed for six years for the manslaughter of a customer who suffered a fatal anaphylactic shock following an allergic reaction to a takeaway curry. The 52 year old businessman was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence when a customer with a severe peanut allergy died after eating a…