Sports Direct Treats Workers “As Commodities Rather Than Human Beings”
A report by the Business, Innovation and Skills committee has accused Sports Direct, one of Europe’s biggest retailers, of not treating its workers like humans, after an investigation revealed “extremely disturbing working practices” and serious health and safety breaches at the company’s Shirebrook Warehouse. MPs are now saying that the company’s founder, Mike Ashley, must be held accountable for the failings.
This new report follows investigations into Sports Direct after reports of “Dickensian working conditions”, staff being paid below minimum wage, and findings showing that 76 ambulances were called to the warehouse in two years. There were further allegations of workers being promised permanent contracts in exchange for sexual favours.
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Halo Head Protection Not Ready Say Sebastian Vettel & Christian Horner
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner say the ‘halo’ head protection system is not yet ready for introduction.
Vettel tried the latest version of the device in practice at the British Grand Prix and said it “needed some further running”.
Horner added that the device should not be “rushed through” and said he would not vote for it to be used in 2017. Governing body the FIA wants to introduce the halo next year. However, the halo is yet to be formally approved.
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Site Manager Jailed Following Fatal Fall
A building site manager who had a “total disregard of health and safety” has been convicted of gross negligence manslaughter following the death of a 40-year-old worker who died when he fell through a skylight. Site manager Faruk Patel “continued to put workers’ lives at risk even after a fatal accident on the site” the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said.
The court heard how during the afternoon of Saturday 24 January 2015 Tasadaq Ur-Rehman was working on a site in St Saviours Hill, Leicester, when he fell through a skylight aperture in a first floor roof and sustained serious head injuries.
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Man, 22, Fatally Injured by Falling Boxes
A Plymouth company has been fined £500,000 after an employee suffered fatal injuries when a stack of boxes of frozen fish fell on him.
Tomas Suchy, 22, an employee of Interfish Limited, was helping to clear up a fallen stack of frozen fish boxes in one of the cold store areas when there was another fall of stock which struck him. He received multiple and severe injuries which proved fatal.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive into the incident, which occurred on 18 October 2013, found there was no safe system of work or instruction to staff on how pallets should be stored. There was no written procedure for dealing with falls of stock when they occurred.
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Pokémon Go: A Health and Safety Concern?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks, you’ll probably have heard of Pokémon Go – a global phenomenon that, for those of us who grew up swapping cards in the school playground, makes it feel like we’ve made a swift and unwelcome return to the 90s. With one small change: it’s an app.
With millions of people downloading the game in the last week, we ask those burning questions…
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Search Resumes at Didcot Power Station
Search efforts have resumed to find the bodies of three men, who died when part of Didcot power station collapsed in February this year.
The search was halted in May when contractors reached a 50m (164ft) exclusion zone, beyond which it was considered too dangerous to continue.
Yesterday morning (Sunday 17 July) a remote demolition brought down the decommissioned site in a unique operation using remote-controlled robots. An inspection will now take place to confirm the area and debris pile is safe, and the recovery operation will resume.
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ISO 14001 Standard: Lifecycle Thinking
The new ISO 14001 standard, published in September last year, is the first update in a decade. As well as offering easier integration between ISO 14001, ISO 9001 and the new OHSAS 18001 replacement, ISO 45001, published later this year, it brings with it additional requirements, grouped around five key areas: leadership, strategic context, interested party analysis and communication, risks and opportunities and lifecycle perspective.
These changes are designed to increase corporate resilience and competitive advantage and, as such, early transition to the new standard is advocated.
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