The European Parliament has announced that an agreement has been reached to set workplace exposure limits for diesel engine exhaust emissions and five additional carcinogens: trichloroethylene, 4,4-methylenedianiline, epichlorohydrine, ethylene dibromide and ethylene dichloride. Currently diesel exhaust emissions are considered to be hazardous to health and the HSE recommends that employers have in place suitable control measures to minimise exposure, however … Read More
Lets talk about stress
Latest statistics released by the HSE show that around 595,000 workers were reported to be suffering from work related stress, depression or anxiety in 2017/18, leading to 15.54 million lost working days. This represents over half of all working days lost due to ill health. The main sources of stress, anxiety or depression were identified as workload (44% of cases), … Read More
Food allergen information: what do you need to know?
Recently there have been a number of stories in the news about food allergens and labelling. It is estimated that around 2 million people in the UK have a food allergy (1-2% of adults and 5-8% of children) and many more have food intolerances. Even a tiny amount of a food ingredient that a person is sensitive to can produce … Read More
Fewer prosecutions; bigger fines
The latest figures released by the HSE show that a verdict was reached in 517 cases prosecuted by the HSE (or the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service in Scotland) in 2017/18 a fall from 612 cases in 2016/17. Of those cases a conviction for at least one offence was reached in 493 (95% of cases) leading to £72.6million in fines … Read More
Discovering safety
The HSE and the University of Manchester are starting work on an ambitious new programme called Discovering Safety. The programme aims to use using new insights from data and novel analytical techniques to improve health and safety on a global scale through education, practical improvement initiatives and commercial tools and services. Phase 1 of the programme is about to start … Read More
Counting the cost of injury and ill health
Latest statistics released by the HSE show that the annual cost of work related injury and new cases of ill health in Britain was £15 billion of this approximately £9.7billion related to new cases of work related ill health. This annual cost has been broadly level since 2009/10. The two most common types of work related ill health were musculoskeletal … Read More
Appeal launched in Opera House hearing loss case
In May we reported how judgement had been awarded against the Royal Opera House following a claim by a musician that their hearing had been damaged by a particularly loud rehearsal in 2012. It has now been reported that the Royal Opera House has been granted permission to appeal this judgement. It is expected that the appeal will be heard … Read More
Substance misuse assistance
Public health England has released a new toolkit to help employers deal with workplace drug, alcohol and tobacco misuse issues. Is it worth a look? In June 2018, Public Health England released a free “Drugs, alcohol and tobacco; toolkit for employers”. Amongst other things, it states that alcohol misuse costs the English economy £7.3 billion each year and an estimated … Read More
Do you need work place banter training?
It’s been reported that Leicester Police is offering all its employees “workplace banter training”. This is an unusual step, but is it something you should be doing too? In September 2018, it was reported that Leicestershire Police had offered all its staff a training workshop entitled “Banter – balancing wit and wisdom”. Its aim is to guide delegates “along the … Read More
Employer liable for boss’s private party punch
The court of appeal has ruled that an employer was vicariously liable for an employee’s injuries after he was punched by his boss at a private party. Does this mean that you’re now accountable for all incidents outside of work? Unexpected socialising In October 2018, an important ruling was handed down in Bellman V Northampton Recruitment Ltd 2018. In 2011, … Read More