The The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 are in force January 2023.  Additional fire safety duties apply to multi-occupied residential buildings being at least five storeys or at least 11 meters in height. They place additional duties on the responsible person for fire safety in multi-occupied residential buildings in England.

Civil engineering firm Kier has been fined more than £4m after its staff twice struck overhead powerlines while working on the M6 motorway causing cables to land in the path of passing vehicles. In one incident, an overhead cable the Kier workers brought down hit a lorry. The second time, a cable landed on the motorway. 

Last year saw huge fines for the likes of Sainsbury’s, Carlsberg, Dairy Crest and Network Rail. From environmental offences to gas leaks, take a look at the major health and safety prosecutions of 2022.

The Scaffolding Association has called on the Government not to scrap or relax Working at Height Regulations. SHP hears more from the Association below.  The Revocation and Reform Bill which is currently being passed through Parliament includes over 2,400 laws and regulations which are being considered following the UK’s exit from the European Union.

A new partnership between the satellite phone firm Iridium and chip giant Qualcomm will bring satellite connectivity to premium Android smartphones later in the year.  It means that in places where there is no mobile coverage, handsets can connect with passing satellites to send and receive messages.

A building company has been fined £66,667 after a worker was injured when a floor that was under construction collapsed.  The Lusson Ltd worker was one of three people who were on the incomplete first floor of a building that was being constructed in Croham Valley Road, Croydon on 23 June 2021.

A property management company has been fined £200,000 after an employee was left in a wheelchair after falling eight metres through a rooflight.  Robin Williamson, an asbestos surveyor employed by City Property (Glasgow) LLP, suffered severe injuries after he fell while carrying out a survey on the roof of Netherton Community Centre, Glasgow on 5 April 2018.

A new report from Business in the Community (BITC), a British business-community outreach charity, warns about the risk of creating a two-tier workforce after it was found that employees whose mental health and wellbeing would benefit the most from having a say in how they work are the least likely to achieve a good work/life balance.  

A food production company has been fined £858,000 after an employee had his arm amputated after becoming entangled in an industrial food mixer.  Lee Simpson was removing filling ingredients from a paddle mixer, from which the contents could be removed at the front, at David Wood Baking Limited’s premises in Sheerness, Kent when his right hand and arm were drawn in.

THE HOME Office has published new guidance for individuals with responsibilities under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, which come into force during the early part of the New Year.  The guidance, entitled ‘Check Your Fire Safety Responsibilities Under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022’, can be found on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/check-your-fire-safety-responsibilities-under-the-fire-safety-england-regulations-2022/check-your-fire-safety-responsibilities-under-the-fire-safety-england-regulations-2022