A Bodmin dairy farm has been fined more than £60,000 after one of its workers sustained multiple injuries when he fell more than 20 feet through a roof on to a concrete floor.  Mike Rossiter, was just 18 when he was airlifted to Derriford hospital in Plymouth after the shed roof he was clearing gutters from gave way. As well as rupturing his spleen and liver, the farm worker also fractured several vertebrae. An additional fracture to his left elbow required surgery and a permanent plate in his arm.

The majority of people who work in the professional services sector fear for their safety on a daily basis, a survey has revealed.  The survey, commissioned by Peoplesafe, showed 71% of people worry about personal safety when working late, 75% worry when travelling for business and 69% worry about safety on their commute.

On World Day for Safety and Health at Work (28 April 2023), we celebrate the 10 months that have passed since the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted a safe and healthy work environment as a fundamental principle and right.  With the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) being part of the family of Commonwealth-accredited organisations, we’re doing this by focusing on the Commonwealth’s growing commitment to developing good occupational safety and health (OSH). So, here we profile OSH professionals from 10 Commonwealth players (including the Commonwealth Secretariat, in London) – one for each month since the historic ILO adoption. These profiles show how they’ve each ‘struck a blow’ for the ILO… and an exciting new era for OSH around the globe.

A company in Cornwall has been fined after putting its employees at risk of exposure to ionising radiation over a ten-year period.  In 2009, Terrill Bros. (Founders) Limited’s external Radiation Protection Adviser (RPA) identified failings in the access controls and warning systems at the company’s foundry on Guildford Road, Hayle, Cornwall. In the ten years following, the company received further RPA visits, reports and advice, yet remedial action was not taken.

HSE data, recently obtained by ZoneSafe via a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, reveals that the HSE conducted 610 inspections of waste and recycling sites between October 2022 and 20 March 2023, 20% more than the planned 500 visits.  Site visits were conducted as part of the Waste and Recycling Sector Workplan 2022-2023, which was implemented in 2022 in response to HSE concerns about poor health and safety standards in the sector.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning tradespeople in the UK about the ‘hidden dangers’ linked to asbestos.  The warning is part of the recently launched ‘Asbestos and You’ campaign to raise awareness about asbestos risk among young workers.  Around five thousand people a year die from asbestos-related illnesses. Asbestos can still be found in buildings built or refurbished before the year 2000, when a ban on the material came into force.

A Perthshire-based company has been fined £27,000 for health and safety failures after a worker lost part of a leg in a forklift truck accident.  John Brodie, 65, suffered the life-changing injury in April 2019 at the premises owned by Broomhall Feeds near the village of Inchture.

A roofer who failed to erect scaffolding at a building in north-west London has been jailed after a worker plunged 16 feet to his death.  Andrei-Ionel Hutanu, 33, was working on the roof of a commerical premises in Neasden on August 19, 2019, when he fell and landed on a concrete alleyway below, suffering catastrophic head and neck injuries.

A school boy plunged to his death down a manhole after a contractor failed to implement health and safety measures on a construction site near a play park, a court has heard.  Shea Ryan, 10, suffered a severe head injury after falling more than 20feet into water at the bottom of the uncovered manhole in July 2020. He was able to get into the site because the fence around it was not secure.

A Lancashire trucking company has been fined £30,000 after a mechanic died while repairing a forklift truck.  Joseph Robinson, a mechanic at E. Jackson (Chatburn) Limited, was working with a new employee as they attempted to fix a steering fault on a forklift truck at the firm’s site at Salthill Industrial Estate in Clitheroe on 13 October 2020. While doing this, Mr Robinson, 39, told the new employee, who was driving the forklift truck, to move the vehicle forwards.