Pull Your Finger Out: Behaviour, Physical Features and Covid Risk

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A recently published study by Dutch researchers assessed a number of behavioural and physical features such as nose picking, nail biting, wearing glasses, having a beard, and the risk of Covid infection among health workers. The study involved measuring Covid specific antibodies alongside a survey of behavioural and physical features at two university medical centres in the Netherlands. A total … Read More

Extension of CE Mark Recognition

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Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the Government developed the UKCA (UK Conformity Assessment) as a replacement for the CE marking system to show that a product complies with basic safety requirements. Voluntary use of the new standard started in January 2021. The original date for a full transfer to UKCA had been set for 1st January 2022 for … Read More

Consultation on Amendments to Health Protection Notification Regulations

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The Health Protection Notification Regulations 2010 (HPNR) were introduced to help the government respond effectively and quickly to newly discovered cases of infectious diseases and prevent their spread if they pose such a risk. In the wake of COVID, the Government has been considering adding a number of amendments to the regulations in order to ensure the discovery of infectious … Read More

Latest Workplace Fatality Statistics Released

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The HSE have published figures for work-related fatalities in Great Britain for the period of 2022 to 2023.  During this period a total of 135 workers were killed in work related incidents. While this represents an increase of 12 from the 123 recorded the year before, it is important to note that the coronavirus pandemic would have influenced this figure … Read More

New Fire Safety Guidance for Responsible Persons

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In England and Wales the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 sets out the duties that apply to persons responsible for fire safety in non-domestic premises such as workplaces and in the communal parts of shared residential buildings such as corridors and stairways in blocks of flats. Following on from the Grenfell Tower fire the Building Safety Act 2022 introduced … Read More

Fire Alarm Response in Scotland

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Individual fire authorities are responsible for creating appropriate strategies for their own area.  With limited resources and many calls on those resources fire authorities have to make difficult decisions about how they allocate those resources. Sometimes those decisions can be controversial, response to fire alarms is sometimes a sensitive area. The latest figures from Scotland show that in 2021-2022 there … Read More

Causes of Fatal Accidents and Ill Health

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The recent workplace fatality statistics published by the HSE also break those statistics down by the type of accident. The most common types of fatal accident during 2022/23 were: falls from a height – 40 struck by moving objects – 29 struck by moving vehicles – 20 trapped by something collapsing / overturning – 12 contact with moving machinery – … Read More

Pop-up Toilets Safety Notice

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The HSE recently issued a safety notice regarding a risk of crushing for persons involved in the maintenance of pop-up toilets. The safety notice follows a fatal accident where an individual was crushed when working beneath a raised pop-up toilet. The hazards identified by the notice arise during the lowering of a raised pop-up toilet during cleaning, maintenance, or inspection … Read More

New Passive Fire Protection Guidance

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The Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) have published a series of three Advisory Notes on topics related to passive fire protection as well as updating a previous Advisory Note. These are Advisory Notes 13, 30 and 31, with the updated Advisory Note being number 15. The first of the three Advisory Notes, number 13, covers the testing of partial … Read More

The Ladder Association’s Telescopic Ladder Campaign Continues

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As part of their on-going ‘Step Up to Safe Ladders’ telescopic ladder safety campaign the Ladder Association has released a second report urging the government to make regulatory changes to hold suppliers and online platforms accountable for the ladders that they sell. The report, named ‘It’s time to Step in’, follows an initial report, ‘Step up to Safe Ladders’ released … Read More