Managing Trees Safely

sarahvardyRisk Management

Two employers recently received significant fines after children were killed or seriously injured by falling trees on their property. In the first case Newcastle City Council were fined £280,000 after an incident on 25th September 2020 in which a tree in poor condition in a school playground, fell causing the death of a six year old girl. In the second … Read More

New Guidance for Supporting Employees with Disabilities and Long-term Health Issues

sarahvardyRisk Management

Statistics show that despite record high levels of employment in the UK currently there is still a significant disability employment gap and disabled people are twice as likely to fall out of work once gaining work. The HSE has published new guidance to help employers support their disabled staff and those with long-term health conditions. The guidance is primarily aimed … Read More

Change to Permitted uses of Creosote in Northern Ireland

sarahvardyRisk Management

Creosote, in particular coal tar creosote, has been used for many years as a wood preservative, however following concerns about health effects EU wide restrictions were put on the use of creosote in 2003. These restrictions limited the use of creosote to industrial and professional uses and prohibited sales of treated wood except for industrial and professional uses with an … Read More

HSE Launch Manual Handling in Construction Podcast

sarahvardyRisk Management

At the end of September the HSE launched a campaign, the Work Right Construction: Your Health. Your Future campaign, to combat serious aches, pains, and strains in construction, paying particular attention to manual handling. As part of the campaign HSE inspectors carried out one thousand inspections through October and November specifically looking at how workers are moving heavy materials. HSE … Read More

HSE Inspection Initiative on Machinery Safety in Waste and Recycling

sarahvardyRisk Management

The HSE have identified the waste and recycling industry as a ‘high risk sector’ due to high numbers of fatal and serious injuries. Indeed HSE statistics show that over the past five years there has been an average of 8 fatalities per year in the waste industry with over three quarters of these being directly related to transport, machinery and … Read More

Freight Container Hazards

sarahvardyRisk Management

A report by the HSE relating to potentially hazardous atmospheres within storage containers arriving at ports and distribution centres across Britain demonstrated concerns that workers were entering the confined space of freight containers without proper controls due to a failure of the industry to recognise containers as confined spaces. The report is based on research at six ports and two … Read More

Building Safety Act and Compliance

sarahvardyRisk Management

We have been approached by several clients over the last 12 months to ask our views on the forthcoming legislation and what impact it will have on the management of their buildings and more importantly on their residents. As an update, the Building Safety Act 2022 is likely to come into legislation either in April or October 2023 and will … Read More

Changes to Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor Regulations

sarahvardyRisk Management

The carriage of some goods can involve particular hazards e.g. due to their chemical properties, explosive nature, flammability or danger to the environment. The carriage of such goods is governed by specific legislation such as the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations which require carriage to be carried out in accordance with the rules set … Read More

New Guidance for Lifting Safely

sarahvardyRisk Management

New and updated guidance has recently been made available by the Construction Plant Association covering the safe management and undertaking of lifting operations. The first of is updated guidance on the use of radio communication for lifting operations. Two way radios are often used where it is not possible to maintain a line of sight between the crane operator and … Read More

The Consequences Of Not Belting Up – Road Casualty Statistics Released 

sarahvardyAutomotive, Risk Management

The Department for Transport have released the latest statistics for road traffic injuries and fatalities in Great Britain. The figures cover 2021 and are based on collisions reported by the police that involved at least one motor vehicle, horse rider or pedal cyclist where at least one person was injured. While it is anticipated that figures for fatalities will be … Read More