Asbestos may have been banned in the UK 20 years ago this month, but it continues to have a devastating effect on people’s lives today. In this post, we explore how and why asbestos is still a problem.
The UK Ban on Asbestos
Following a ban in the 1980s on blue (crocidolite) and brown (amosi…
HGVs are big, heavy, vehicles with lots of moving parts and as such they need to be treated with great respect as they have the potential to cause serious accidents (including fatal ones). Fortunately, paying suitable attention to health and safety can go a long way to avoiding this.
Here are f…
Even the smallest businesses have the legal responsibility to manage health and safety at work and are mandated to appoint a competent person to take ownership of fulfilling this obligation.
The definition of a competent person
A competent person does not have to be a qualified and dedicated h…
An estimated 10 million British motorists drink and drive. In December, when alcohol consumption rises by 40% in the UK, nearly 8% more people are arrested on drink driving charges than any other month of the year.
These surprising figures show just how many people are risking their lives – and…
Offices may not seem like dangerous places to work, but they can pose serious health and safety risks. An estimated 609,000 non-fatal injuries were sustained by workers in 2016/17, according to the Labour Force Survey - and that’s just those that were officially reported.
Given the size of the …
Mechanised lifting and transportation greatly enhances the efficiency of workplace operations - but only if health and safety is given the attention it deserves. Neglecting hazards can cause accidents, leading to loss of livelihood, delayed operations, and disruption to both cost and time-efficiency…
Coming across someone who has had an accident – or indeed being involved in or witnessing such – can be daunting. Thinking about it now, you may believe that you would panic; in fact, most people -when faced with such a situation – react with a calmness that may even surprise them, as your first ins…
The manufacturing industry faces many challenges year on year. It’s an important sector to both current and emerging markets.
These are the most commonly faced challenges to the industry in the UK in 2018.
Manufacturing can be a dangerous industry, and it’s…
Personal Protective Equipment, often referred to as PPE, describes the equipment that is used in order to protect workers against any risks to their health and safety. PPE covers a wide range of equipment throughout many different industries, with some of the most common items of equipment being hel…
Modern day employees can receive training for site safety, fire safety, construction safety, food safety, and a million subjects besides. In short, safety is a pretty tightly controlled and well understood discipline. Yet many of the industries where health & safety training and protocols are most p…
Workplace safety standards continue to improve each year; however, today’s workforce, especially within a warehouse, still can be dangerous environments with many potential hazards and associated risks.
Warehouse safety goes hand in hand with productivity. Lost workforce hours, damaged stock a…
Nowadays, the world is so connected and easily accessible that business now requires people to fly to the other side of the world in order to sell products, meet clients and establish potential partnerships.
However, as a business sending employees to travel into uncharted territory, it’s vital t…
Last year, 609,000 injuries occurred at work according to the Labour Force Survey. Of those, the majority were as a result of a slip, trip or fall.
The cost to businesses is over £14billion a year and 31.2 million working days lost. The irony is that slip and trip accidents are some of the most e…
Respiratory innovation is happening but in baby steps. Personal protective equipment is traditionally a low innovation area, but new advances in technology in the area of materials, fabrics and overall design have dramatically improved worker protection and user comfort. Disposable respirators have …
Cleaning products and chemicals are probably one of the most common hazardous substances used in the hospitality sector. Apart from sharp equipment in kitchens that presents a risk, chemicals also present many hazards such as burns, skin irritation and respiratory harm. To minimise these risks, prop…
Plummeting temperatures and fallen leaves have been foreshadowing what this “year of the snowstorm” might look like, which is said to likely be the coldest since 2010/11. At this time of year, new potential hazards arise in the workplace – both outside and in – that need to be taken care of to preve…
As a naturally occurring material, the history of asbestos in tools and products stretches back thousands of years. Its seemingly miraculous properties of fire resistance and tensile strength led to its use in all kinds of products, with a particular boom in the early 20th century.
While many of …
VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, are a family of chemicals that readily evaporate and turn into gases and vapour. Put simply, this means they give off odorous fumes and increase the concentration of potentially harmful chemicals in the air.
And in the modern age, they can be…
There will always be a place for PowerPoint presentations, especially if business boardrooms have anything to say about it. But as an effective learning tool, there is room for improvement.
Even the most attentive student isn’t going to absorb everything they need from bullet points and anecdotes…
A Derbyshire-based company has been fined after the death of a 19-year-old worker, when a fork lift truck (FLT) overturned at the company’s site in Chinley.
Manchester Crown Court (Minshull Street) heard how, on 10 February 2015, Ben Pallier-Singleton was driving a FLT during night time hours d…