Competency is key – associations respond to UK building plan
IOSH and CIOB have urged Labour to consider quality and competency in its ambitious construction targets.
Associations including IOSH, CIOB and RoSPA have expressed caution in response to the Government’s plan to build 1.5 million homes over five years.
Labour’s landslide election victory means attention is now on one of its key manifesto promises.
The new Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her first speech in the role to outline new planning reforms, part of which involves reversing the Conservative’s 2023 policy to ignore housing targets to protect green belt areas – land protected against planning rules to prevent urban sprawl.
The green belt covers approximately 13% of England’s land but incorporates sites such as disused car parks and wasteland, prohibited from development as they technically remain green belt areas. Labour has classified these as ‘grey belt’ and identified them as spots for future housing development.
The party claims that utilising these areas alongside existing brownfield sites will help them meet the 1.5 million target.
However, safety and construction bodies are urging Labour to pursue such goals carefully and not compromise on competency during any future construction plans.
Read more on the SHP website.
Factory fire near M6 causes huge smoke plume
Firefighters have been tackling a blaze at a factory in Birmingham which left plumes of black smoke visible across the city.
West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) said more than 100 firefighters were sent to Hastingwood Industrial Park, near the Fort Dunlop retail park and M6, at the height of the incident.
A spokesperson for the fire service said the fire had been brought under control and its presence would be scaled down, although it expected to be there for a “considerable time”.
The fire had been contained to a factory where sports equipment is produced, and everyone had been accounted for, it said.
Visit the BBC website for more on the incident.
‘Music to my ears’, responds IOSH to King’s Speech
The plans for the UK’s new Government were laid out on Wednesday 17 July in the King’s Speech in the House of Lords.
Among a raft of new measures being introduced was the Employment Rights Bill, through which the Government aims to deliver on its New Deal for Working People.
In response, Ruth Wilkinson, head of policy and public affairs at IOSH said, “The Government’s move to strengthen workers’ rights is music to my ears, as it will provide hope and reassurance for many millions of people.
“A ban on zero-hours contracts is long overdue. Such contracts make workers increasingly vulnerable in terms of their physical and mental health, as they add a huge degree of uncertainty around the duration of employment and unpredictable working hours.
“Meanwhile, improvements to statutory sick pay will go a long way to preventing people from returning to work too soon, which can also contribute to long-term impacts on their health.”
Learn more on the HSM website.
Alec Baldwin – involuntary manslaughter charges dropped
Case against actor dismissed after crucial evidence withheld, lawyers say.
The involuntary manslaughter charges brought against actor Alec Baldwin following the fatal shooting of a crew member have been dropped.
The case, which was expected to last for several weeks, was sensationally dismissed after just three days after when it came to light the prosecution had concealed evidence that would have been favourable to the 66 year-old Actor. “The state’s willful withholding of information was intentional and deliberate,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said in a New Mexico courthouse. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong.”
In October 2021, cinematographer Haylna Hutchins was fatally shot by a live gun wielded by Alex Baldwin while rehearsals took place for the film Rust on a New Mexico film set.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in April after it was ruled she had failed to check the the gun was only loaded with dummy rounds before passing it to the actor.
However, in March 2024, a box of live munitions was handed over to New Mexico police. It suggested the rounds came from the prop supplier rather than Guiterrez-Reed, and matched those that killed Hutchins. Baldwin’s attorney Alex Spiro claimed the prosecution team led by Kari Morrisey had “buried” the new evidence.
For more on the case, visit the SHP website.
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