Tag: hazardous substances

Maintaining good housekeeping is essential for ensuring employee safety within an organisation. Effective housekeeping practices can help companies minimise workplace hazards and create a safe and secure environment for their employees. 1. Maintain a regular cleaning schedule Ensure that floors and surfaces are cleaned on a regular basis, along with carrying out immediate ad hoc […]

Scientists charge ‘charcoal sponge’ to soak up CO2 Scientists have devised a low-cost, energy-efficient method of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the air, new research suggests. The team at the University of Cambridge used a method similar to charging a battery to charge activated charcoal, which is often used in household water filters to […]

JUSE and CQI sign collaboration agreement The Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) and the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Providing the basis for future collaboration, CQI CEO, Vince Desmond, said, “There are big opportunities for the quality community to help organisations create new value, especially in the rapidly […]

Proper asbestos protection is essential – conditions caused by asbestos exposure is responsible for approximately 5,000 deaths in the UK every year. While personal protective equipment (PPE) for asbestos includes a number of necessary components, this blog will focus on RPE. What does RPE stand for in PPE? Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) is a specific […]

This blog can be delivered to your staff as a Toolbox Talk. If you require a specific Toolbox Talk for your workplace, please feel free to get in touch. Reason: Breathing in crystalline silica dust can lead to chronic lung disease, and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of construction workers in the UK each […]

In any industry that involves working with chemicals or hazardous substances, workers will invariably come across COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) symbols on the labels of bottles and containers that store dangerous substances. It is essential that these labels are understood, and that the COSHH standards are followed in the handling and storage […]

£2.15m fine following recycling worker fatality HSE inspector Stephen Garner explains the background to a fatal accident at a paper recycling plant. On 30 January 2020, 32-year-old Dean Atkinson was returning from the employee welfare cabins to his workstation on the picking line at Ward Recycling’s paper recycling plant in County Durham, England. Dean needed […]

Any substance with the capacity to inflict harm in any form is defined as hazardous. According to COSHH, hazardous substances are defined as those that are corrosive, explosive, toxic, or capable of oxidizing. Almost every UK workplace will use substances that pose potential health hazards. Therefore making sure that employees can recognize such substances and […]

Wood dust failures lands £15k fine A manufacturing company has been fined £15,000 after exposing its own workers to wood dust and failing to comply with two improvement notices. Wood dust can cause serious and often irreversible health problems, including sino-nasal cancer, asthma and dermatitis. Employers have a legal responsibility to prevent or adequately control […]

As part of February’s Hazard of the Month, Occupational Health, we’re highlighting two key areas: Asbestos Awareness and Control of Hazardous Substances. Asbestos Awareness Asbestos exposure is one of the biggest occupational hazards to workers in the UK, with around 5000 people dying from asbestos-related illnesses every year. These diseases, such as mesothelioma and lung disease, are incurable and […]