Risk of harm, rather than simply harm itself, is increasingly the crucial factor on which the HSE and the courts are coming down hard. Recent court decisions applying the Sentencing Council Definitive Guideline for Health and Safety Offences, Corporate Manslaughter and Food Safety and Hygiene Offences have highlighted that H&S offences are concerned with failures […]
HSE construction inspectors will be carrying out unannounced visits to sites where refurbishment projects or repair works are underway. This year the Initiative is being undertaken as a series of two week inspections across the country, beginning 3 October 2016 ending 4 November 2016. During this period inspectors will ensure high-risk activities, particularly those affecting […]
Official Guidance Issued On Robot Ethics Isaac Asimov gave us the basic rules of good robot behaviour: don’t harm humans, obey orders and protect yourself. Now the British Standards Institute has issued a more official version aimed at helping designers create ethically sound robots. The document, BS8611 Robots and robotic devices, is written in the dry language of a […]
Would you put your phone in a cement mixer? British phone retailer Tuffphones has unveiled a new range of hard-wearing handsets aimed at construction workers and outdoors enthusiasts. It’s the latest addition to a range of extra-durable Android devices in the growing market for rugged phones. The BBC took them to a building site to […]
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 […]
‘Obvious’ Risk Ignored by Hotel Chocolat Hotel Chocolat, the Chocolate manufacturer, has been prosecuted after a worker suffered serious hand and arm injuries whilst cleaning a machine tank. Piotr Podgorski, 35, from Bretton, in Peterborough, was working as a cell supervisor for the company on 16 August 2014 when he was asked to clean the […]
Self-Employed Law Changes – 1st October 2015 Health and safety law will no longer apply to 1.7 million self-employed people tomorrow, following a recommendation from Professor Löfstedt in his review of health and safety law in the UK. In 2011, the Löfstedt Review recommended that self-employed people whose work activities pose no potential risk of […]