It’s that time again when we give you a summary of all that has happened in the world of health and safety, in our First2HelpYou monthly safety and security roundup.
HSE Injury And Ill-Health Statistics
On October the 30th, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) released their injury and ill health statistics.
Amongst the myriad of statistics in the report for the 2018/2019 period, some of the highlight figures show that:
There were 147 fatal injuries at work.
There are 1.4 million working people suffering from a work-related illness.
364 health and safety breach cases against workplaces were prosecuted and resulted in a conviction, with the total amount of fines coming to £54.5 million pounds.
A total of 28.2 million working days were lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury and the estimated economic cost to Great Britain of this totalled £15 billion in 2017/2018.
Changes To How A Riddor Report Is Made
Also from the HSE this month, the Riddor Reports have changed, hopefully making for a much better user experience. You can find out all about the changes on their website here.
Health & Safety In The Construction Industry
Following the publication of the injury and ill health statistics that we mentioned earlier, the Construction Industry issued a warning about safety and security.
The number of injuries in the construction industry has risen yet the number of prosecutions has decreased.
This led to the union UNITE calling the figures a ‘dangerous cocktail’.
Jerry Swain, the UNITE National officer went on to say “These figures are deeply worrying. The increase in injuries is likely to in part be a result of employers failing to comply with safety laws. Unite firmly believes that a major contributory factor to this is the sharp decline in prosecutions, which clearly indicate that the HSE’s enforcement activities are decreasing.”
He concluded by saying that “This is a dangerous cocktail and it will likely to result in a greater number of workers being injured and possibly killed unless urgent action is taken to reverse this trend. These figures show the importance of having a strong, active and interventionist HSE.”
You can find out more information on the reaction from the construction industry to the latest injury and ill health statistics here.
DHL Fined
The Logistics company DHL have been fined after the death of an employee who was killed when a stack of car and lorry tyres collapsed at a warehouse.
The company were fined £2.6 million pounds and pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of its employees and also the failure to make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment.
More information on this case can be found on the BBC News website here.
Whirlpool Tumble Dryer Fire Scare
Another report from the BBC looked into how whirlpool dealt with reports that their tumble dryers could catch fire.
The House of Commons Business Comittee said that “Whirlpool used “chilling” non-disclosure agreements “to silence customers” while fire-prone tumble dryers remained in UK homes” and that “The manufacturer deflected concerns and was too slow to fix the fire danger, which first emerged four years ago”
There is a full report here with all the details here.
Winter Is Coming
The clocks have changed, the heating is on and we are heading down the road to winter, with that in mind, our latest blog post looked at how to keep your staff safe during dark nights.
Have a read here to find out more.
Remember Remember The Fifth Of November
If you are reading this then you have successfully got through Halloween and next Tuesday it is Bonfire Night. As it is likely, weather permitting of course, that there will be outdoor firework displays from tonight all the way through to Tuesday night and quite possibly until New Year’s Eve!
With that in mind, The Manchester Evening News have worked together with the police and fire service to produce this comprehensive guide on how to keep safe and secure on Bonfire night, with lots of useful and handy tips for everyone, now that we are most definitely in firework display season.
Get In Touch
If you have seen any health and safety news that you think should be included in our monthly safety and security round up, then please let us know.
Here at First2HelpYou, our team of experts will be more than happy to have a chat. We can also tell you more about the lone worker safety devices that we provide.
You can telephone us on 0333 7729401, email us at sales@first2helpyou.co.uk or use our online contact form here.