A report examining the Department for Education’s (Dfe) objective around safe and well-maintained school buildings has revealed approximately 700,000 pupils are at risk from unsafe or aging properties.  

MD Safety comment:  More upgrades to requirements for fire safety.

The British Standards Institution’s BS 7273: Part 4 Code of practice for the operation of fire protection measures has recently had its exit system guidance amended.  The amendment features commentary that will accompany the standard so that it will now directly refer to ‘BS EN 13637 Building hardware – Electrically controlled exit systems for use on escape routes’ in respect of any electrically locked door on an escape route.

How can OSH professionals assess the mental health of their organisations and address any risks to health and safety effectively?  One in four people in the UK will have a mental health problem each year (Mind, 2017). The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that depression will become the world’s most common illness by 2030 (2011), and the UN estimates that nearly one billion people globally are living with a mental health disorder (2022). 

MD Safety comment:  We cannot stress enough the importance of obtaining accurate Asbestos Surveys and ensuring Asbestos Awareness Training for staff who may come into contact with these materials.

A former shipyard worker is warning young tradespeople of the dangers of asbestos after losing around a third of his body weight since being diagnosed with mesothelioma.  Before diagnosis he used to weigh 14-and-a-half stone but now touches the scales at just over 9-and-a-half stone.

Tata Steel UK has been fined £120,000 after a worker suffered serious head injuries after being hit in the face with a scaffold pole, causing him to fall backwards.  Gavin Rowlands, an employee at Monolithic Refractories Limited, sustained permanent brain damage as a result of the incident on 3 April 2017.

A family run haulage and storage business, has been fined following the death of a 25-year-old employee at its premises in East Lothian.  Andrew Black Limited was fined £150,000 after the death of Grant Borton, an experienced LGV driver on 31 December 2022.

MD Safety comment: With our Director Martin having young children this is an excellent way to instill the safety message at an early age.

Ireland-based publishing company Health & Safety Publications is in our good books since releasing their range of child-friendly health and safety stories.  The Sam and Sue Safety Series of books for children began when Health & Safety Publications director Marek Szepietowski was looking for fun books with a subtle safety message for his three young daughters. He couldn’t find anything to fit the bill, so he decided to produce them himself. 

MD Safety comment: With our Director Martin having young children this is an excellent way to instill the safety message at an early age.

Ireland-based publishing company Health & Safety Publications is in our good books since releasing their range of child-friendly health and safety stories.  The Sam and Sue Safety Series of books for children began when Health & Safety Publications director Marek Szepietowski was looking for fun books with a subtle safety message for his three young daughters. He couldn’t find anything to fit the bill, so he decided to produce them himself. 

The UK's biggest pub chain has been convicted of a health and safety breach after the avoidable death of a student who was crushed outside a busy venue.

MD Safey comment: Despite an increase in fatalities from last year the number still represents an on-going downward trend.  Construction still has the highest rate with falling from height the biggest single cause.  There's still lots to do to improve these numbers.

One hundred and thirty-five workers were killed in work-related incidents in Great Britain in the last year, according to figures published today (Thursday July 6) by the Health and Safety Executive.