The Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt society presenting major challenges; workplaces have had to adapt new, Covid-secure ways of working, balancing the health & safety and wellbeing needs of employees and customers whilst operating their business. PIB Risk Management are committed to supporting businesses and have developed a ‘return to work checklist’, designed to support you to plan and implement processes … Read More
COVID-19 AND UNFAIR DISMISSAL CLAIMS
The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has left employers with many questions such as: Can we ask employees to reveal whether or not they have received the vaccination? What action should we take if an employee refuses the vaccination when it is offered? Can we dismiss an employee who refuses to come into the workplace due to Covid concerns? Unfortunately, there are … Read More
SIGNIFICANTLY FEWER DEATHS ON THE ROADS
The latest road casualty figures released by the Department for Transport show that in the year ending June 2020 there were 1,580 reported road deaths. While this figure is only provisional at this stage this is significantly lower than the 1,827 road deaths reported for the previous year and the 1,798 annual average for the period 2010 to 2014. The … Read More
CORONAVIRUS AND OCCUPATIONAL RISK
While the majority of deaths involving Covid-19 have affected people in the 65 and over age groups, there have been a significant number of deaths of people younger than this. In January the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published an analysis of deaths by different occupational groups, among men and women aged 20 to 64 years in England and Wales. … Read More
TAKING DRIVER CPC TRAINING OFF REPEAT
Driver CPC, or Certificate of Professional Competence, training was introduced in 2007 around EU. This requires all professional drivers of lorries, buses and coaches to complete a minimum amount of initial training and regular refresher training. Relevant drivers must do 35 hours of periodic training every 5 years to keep their Driver CPC. Where any regular training is required there can … Read More
ADAPTING FIRE PRECATIONS DURING A PANDEMIC
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the need to keep workplaces safe has brought many changes to the way we work, with many people now working from home or extra hygiene and measures to support social distancing being put in place in workplaces. Some of the measures put in place to control Covid have implications for fire safety and a number … Read More
CORONAVIRUS CHANGES TO OUTBREAK REPORTING GUIDANCE
The office guidance on how to keep your workplace safe during the Coronavirus pandemic is constantly evolving as the situation and knowledge changes. Different rules and guidance can apply in in different parts of the UK so we recommend that you regularly check the guidance for area / sector. Official guidance can be found at: England – https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus Northern Ireland – https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/campaigns/coronavirus-covid-19 … Read More
AUTOMATIC TO MANUAL – CONSULTATION LAUNCHED ON CHANGES TO DRIVING LICENCES
The government has launched a consultation on two proposed changes to driver licencing requirements. The first of these proposed changes involves allowing drivers who passed their driving test in an automatic car, medium sized lorry or minibus (licence categories B+E, C1, C1+E, D1 and D1+E) to drive a manual vehicle as long as they can already drive a manual vehicle … Read More
10 YEAR TYRE BAN NOW IN FORCE
We have previously reported on Government plans to improve road safety by making it illegal to fit tyres aged 10 years or older to the front wheels of lorries, buses and coaches and to any wheels of minibuses. This ban came into place on 1st February 2021 and it is now illegal to fit tyres aged 10 years or older … Read More
NEW YEAR NEW RULES NEW LOCKDOWNS
With the coronavirus threat ongoing, in many ways 2021 is not getting off to the best of starts. Wherever you are in the UK there are lockdowns and restrictions currently in place, while the exact details may vary between the different nations, for example garden centres can open in England but must close in Scotland (the opposite applies to golf … Read More