The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) reports that Shell has been prosecuted after it admitted responsibility for an explosion and fire that took place at the Bacton Gas Terminal in Norfolk in February 2008.
The charges, brought by the Environment Agency (EA) and the Health and S…
Around 65% of members of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) support Government plans to move from a “three-day injury” reporting regime to seven days, IOSH reports.
This finding comes from a consultation of IOSH members in February in response to the Government’s reform pla…
Published at the end of March, the quarterly fatal injury figures for the period April to December 2010 provide emerging details of the count of workplace fatal injuries in 2010/11:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatalquarterly.htm?ebul=stats/apr-11&cr=02
The following statistics are, or will shortly be, available for the period of 2009/10:
Blood lead exposure:
The latest annual data based on HSE's exposure to lead study. The update includes the working population in the lead industry, exposure by lead industrial classification and data on the num…
During and following the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton (the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) many communities held street parties to celebrate
To try and ensure that health and safety was not used as an excuse for preventing such celebrations, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) …
World Nuclear News reports that small amounts of the radioisotope strontium have been detected in soil and plants outside of the 30km zone around the Fukushima nuclear facility. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology has found 3.3 to 32 becquerels of strontium-90 per kil…
"Despite concerns over delays in construction, the Olympic Stadium in the UK has been completed with time and money to spare. The brand new state-of-the-art complex was built to host the London 2012 Summer Olympics."
The construction project involved 6 million man hours by 5,250 workers from 240 com…
Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has been established as an agency of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), pending planned legislation to establish it as a statutory body. The ONR will bring together the relevant nuclear regulatory functions of HSE (through its Nuclear Directorate) and the Depa…
"Extremely low" traces of radioactive iodine 131 from the stricken nuclear plant in Japan, have been picked up by an air sampler in Glasgow.
On 12 March 2011, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, requested Mike Weightman, HM Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations, to produce a report on the implications for the UK nuclear industry of the accident that took place at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power stat…
The online Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR) was launched on 21 March 2011. As explained in an earlier post, OSHCR was created to increase employers' confidence that they are receiving good quality, proportionate health and safety advice (for times when they need external h…
China’s State Council has announced that it is suspending
approval for all new nuclear power plants until the government can issue
revised safety rules, following the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan.
For further details, visit The Washington Post.
In response to the problems with the Fukishima reactors in Japan, the South Korean government has offered to send boric acid supplies for Japan to use in efforts to stabilise the reactors. Boron can be injected into the core of a nuclear reactor to inhibit nuclear reactions.
Find out more at World …
Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings has applied for permission to appeal against its conviction under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act and the £385,000 fine imposed.
The application to appeal was made on 14 March and a decision on whether it is granted permission is expected within…
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has teamed up with Mind to adapt its existing guide, ‘Taking care of business’, to provide common-sense advice to help small-business owners offer practical support to their staff.
Conditions such as depression and unmanageable stress affect one in six B…
Mesothelioma is an incurable asbestos cancer. Asbestos remains Britain’s biggest workplace killer. More people die from asbestos related disease each year than on Britain’s roads (last year in Britain about 2,000 people died from mesothelioma).
This video, produced by Forum of Asbestos Victim…
A farmworker was injured when he fell around 12 feet through a roof he was fixing. Mr Tryner, who was self-employed, was checking for loose corrugated metal sheets on the roof of a barn at Mambury Farm when a wooden roof support broke and he fell through to the floor below.
Mambury Farm Ltd, of High…
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reports that "Magnox, the licensee at Berkeley nuclear power station has taken a significant step towards hazard reduction at the decommissioning site, moving into the stage of ‘care and maintenance’".
For the next 60 years, the station will be left to deca…
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has reported that third party violence and harassment affect from 5% to 20% of European workers.
Its recent workplace survey shows that 40% of European managers are concerned by workplace violence and harassment, but only around 25% have im…