Workplace accidents remain one of the most persistent challenges facing UK businesses today. Despite advances in health and safety regulations, thousands of workers are injured every year, impacting not only individual livelihoods but also organisational productivity, reputation, and bottom lines.

An engineering firm in East Cambridgeshire 'failed to ensure the health and safety' of its employees, a government body has said.    R Palmer and Sons Limited, in Fordham, was hit with an improvement notice by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Two companies have been fined a combined £2.4 million following the deaths of two sub-contractors at a poultry processing plant, in a case that has raised serious concerns over industrial safety standards.  Jonathan Collins, 34, and Neil Moon, 49, arrived at a Norfolk chicken factory for routine pest control work. Both were found dead inside a refrigerated unit, killed by a oxygen-depleted atmosphere in a narrow passageway on the site.

HSE has reviewed the hourly rates it charges for full cost recovery regimes and increased those rates from 1 April 2026. These increases apply to all of HSE's main cost recovery regimes including fee for intervention (FFI), COMAH and offshore safety.  The rates have been set to ensure full cost recovery for the relevant regulatory activity, in line with government policy and the principles which can be found at GOV.UK: Managing Public Money.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a consultation on proposed changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).  The move is aimed at improving clarity, modernising reporting requirements and reducing administrative burdens on businesses.

A Staffordshire-based construction company and its director have been sentenced after a worker sustained serious injuries when he fell through a stairwell opening during the construction of an apartment block in Staffordshire.  The injured worker, who was 26 at the time of the incident, had been appointed by BHG (Stone) Limited, the principal contractor, as a labourer. On 5 December 2023, he was assisting with the installation of wall insulation on the first floor of the building.

A Halesowen forge has been fined £750,000 after an employee sustained fatal injuries when he became entangled in a 20-metre long lathe.  Nick Hardiman was employed by Somers Forge Limited as a machinist at their forge on Prospect Road, Halesowen.  On 8 December 2023, the 54-year-old from Kidderminster was working on a lathe in the machine shop. Whilst using handheld emery cloth to finish a rotating component, Mr Hardiman became entangled in the dangerous moving parts of the lathe, sustaining catastrophic injuries.

Over a third of workers in Great Britain now work remotely or in hybrid arrangements, but not all employers realise health and safety responsibilities apply equally at home as in the workplace.   The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain’s national workplace regulator, is reminding employers of the need to assess the risks for all home workers.  

Two Midlands companies and a site manager have been sentenced after a largescale asbestos disturbance and illegal clearance operation was carried out at a Cannock demolition site, putting workers and members of the public at risk of exposure to the deadly carcinogen.  

A waste and recycling company has been fined after an employee suffered life-changing injuries after being crushed by a reversing telehandler at a site in Lancashire.  Jordan Campion, from Burnley, was working for Sheridan Skips Burnley Limited at its site in Smiths Yard, Clifton Street when the incident occurred on 12 March 2024.