Latest News in Health, Safety & the Environment

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has served two Improvement Notices at a second Edinburgh company as part of its ongoing Legionella investigation. The Improvement Notices served on Macfarlan Smith Ltd, Wheatfield Road, Gorgie, Edinburgh require thorough cleaning of one of its cooling towers and provision of access for inspection and maintenance of that cooling tower. Previously, HSE served an...

More than 8000 cancer deaths in Britain each year can be attributed to work, a major piece of research has found.The study, funded by the HSE and published in the British Journal of Cancer, is the first to quantify in detail the burden of cancer in Britain caused by occupation. Researchers used a list of work-related agents classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as group 1 (established)...

Unnecessary electrical safety tests cost office-based businesses an estimated £30 million a year. It's a myth that every portable electrical appliance in the workplace needs to be tested once a year - and what's more it's a costly one. Misleading advice and advertising, often by companies who offer the testing, is contributing to low-risk businesses such as offices, shops and hotels paying...

A multinational brick making company has been fined after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was crushed on a conveyor belt at its Worcestershire factory. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Wienerberger Ltd following the incident on 19 October 2009 at the company's site at Hartlebury, near Kidderminster. Kidderminster Magistrates' Court heard how the 48-year-old man, who does...

 From 6 April 2012, subject to Parliamentary approval, the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR’s) over three day injury reporting requirement will change. From then the trigger point will increase from over three days’ to over seven days’ incapacitation (not counting the day on which the accident happened). Incapacitation means...

A Cardiff-based cargo company has been fined after a lorry driver had part of his leg amputated after being struck by a reversing forklift truck. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the 18 June 2010 incident found insufficient segregation procedures to keep visiting drivers away from operating forklift trucks. It also found that the forklift truck had a defective reversing alarm...