Firefighters are supporting government proposals to increase the minimum requirements of staircases in high rise residential buildings – but want legislation to go further. The London Fire Brigade has said it supports the proposals to make it mandatory for new residential buildings above 30 metres to have a minimum of two staircases.

A Derbyshire property owner has been given a community order after a father-of-two sustained life changing injuries when a wall collapsed on top of him during a barn conversion.  Nigel Edwards failed to have a structural assessment of the outbuildings carried out as part of his planning for the project at his home in Woodhouses. The outbuildings were being converted into holiday let accommodation when a stone wall collapsed on 40-year-old Steven Tyson on 8 October 2021.

The HSE has updated its guidance for Employers and Employees in respect of violence ad agression at work.

The free app can be used to clock and then report speeding motorists – and utilises the phone camera mounted on the dashboard.  According to the creator of the app, it could also be used to submit evidence to the police for those drivers who commit 21 different driving offences.

A Hereford company has been fined £190k after an employee was seriously injured after falling into a pit.  The man was working for Wyman-Gordon Limited, a company that produces forgings for the aerospace industry, when he fell into the bottom of a pit on 25 November 2018. He sustained deep cuts to his head that required eight stitches. He had been working at the company’s premises on Spa Road, Lincoln.

A London company has been fined £175,000 after a worker suffered serious head injuries that saw him hospitalised for seven months.  The man, who was 35 at the time, was working at a domestic property on Elmfield Avenue, Crouch End, London, on 3 March 2019 when he sustained head injuries during concrete pumping operations carried out by sub-contractor Singh Will Mix It Ltd.

Vehicles play a vital role in farm work but incidents involving vehicles are the number one cause of deaths and serious injuries on British farms.  Incidents involving moving vehicles have been responsible for 30 per cent of all fatalities on farms over the past five years, that’s 48 lives lost in incidents that have destroyed farming families.

We spoke to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Andrew Johnson about a case where a one-tonne pallet of glass fell on a United Pallet Network (UK) Limited’s employee, causing life-changing injuries.  On 30 September 2016, Andrew Potts was working for United Pallet Network at its hub in Lichfield, Staffordshire, when a lorry containing a consignment of four pallets of glass arrived. The pallets had not been appropriately loaded or secured and fell out of the trailer onto the 58-year-old as he made attempts to adjust them. Andrew broke his neck in five places, in addition to suffering other injuries, and has been left permanently disabled. 

A proposed new law aims to revoke EU-derived legislation, including life-saving protections, by December 2023, unless specifically kept or replaced – Richard Jones CFIOSH explains how OSH practitioners can get involved.  The vital importance of health and safety protections have again been raised in the UK House of Lords debate on the controversial Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (REUL), with more than 140 amendments tabled by peers so far, including on health and safety. 

Agriculture consistently has the highest number of deaths and and injuries of all sectors in Great Britain (per 100,000 workers). We want to make 2023 a safer year on our farms by working together.  Moving vehicles are the highest cause of deaths in British farming. These incidents account for 30% of all fatal injuries over the past 5 years.