Research finds manufacturing workers skipping eye tests
New analysis by Specsavers has revealed an estimated 830,000 employees in the manufacturing sector may not have received an eye test in the past two years, putting their eye safety at risk.
Specsavers is warning that many manufacturing and trades employees are carrying out safety-critical tasks without regular eye health monitoring, increasing the risk of preventable accidents and injuries. Workers who rely on machinery, tools and precision equipment may be unknowingly doing so with suboptimal vision.
For manufacturers, the data underscores the importance of understanding employees’ eye health and mitigating its impact on work and wellbeing by providing effective prescription PPE.
Read more on the HSM website.
Heat pumps for all new homes and plug-in solar in green tech drive
Developers will be required to install solar panels and heat pumps in all new homes in England as part of updated planning requirements published by the government.
It also said plug-in panels that homeowners can self-install on balconies would be available in supermarkets in the coming months.
These small versions of the green tech are already deployed across Europe but are not currently sold in the UK due to safety regulations.
Announcing the raft of measures to ramp up solar, the energy secretary said the Iran war had shown clean power was “essential”.
The move has been welcomed by some energy companies but developers have raised concerns about the scale of solar required.
Learn more on the BBC website.
Plastics firm fined after two workers lose fingers in just ten days
A company in Leeds that produces plastic products has been fined after two of its workers lost fingers in machinery in separate incidents over the course of just ten days.
Commercial Lines Limited, trading as HLN Supplies, pleaded guilty to charges brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the two unrelated incidents in August 2024 – both caused by unsafe machinery.
The HSE investigation found the company hadn’t put adequate guards on machinery, meaning dangerous parts were easily accessible. The first incident happened on 12 August, when Angela Morrison, a then 61-year-old grandmother, was attempting to clear a blockage on a sanding machine. The plastics fabricator reached into a ventilation port, and her hand came in contact with a large metal rotating disk, resulting in severe damage to the fingers on her right hand.
Read more about the case on the HSE website.
Campaign to tackle silent killer
Arco has launched a powerful awareness campaign in the heart of Sheffield to highlight the growing threat of ‘silent killer’ silicosis to workers across the UK.
Appearing in the historic Steel City of Sheffield, Arco has created cinematic projections to highlight the invisible yet deadly threat of silica dust exposure, and the urgent need for stronger workplace protections.
The campaign, Breathing Space, forms part of Arco’s wider work with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Respiratory Health, calling for greater awareness, improved protections and stronger action to safeguard workers across high-risk industries from silicosis, and other potentially fatal occupational lung diseases.
More on the campaign on the HSM website.
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