Tag: Risk

IPCC Report Casts Somber Outlook on Global Warming A report released this week by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that human activity is changing the climate in unprecedented and sometimes irreversible ways. The landmark study warns of increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding, and temperature limits agreed under the Paris […]

Working at Height Safety Failings Lead to Costly Fine A Worcester-based construction company has been fined for failing to comply with work at height regulations after a worker fell from a garage roof. On 4 February 2020, the worker had accessed the roof using a ladder and was working on his knees with his side […]

Gang Behind Huge Cyber-Attack Demands $70m in Bitcoin Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, as shown by a massive attack led by a gang last week which affected 200 firms. The REvil group claims its malware, which initially targeted US IT firm Kaseya, has hit one million “systems”. This number has not been verified and […]

Elephant & Castle Fire: Safety Fears About Railway Arches Raised Two Years Ago Safety concerns about railway arches were raised in a safety report two years before last week’s fire near Elephant & Castle station in south London. Around 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines tackled the “serious” blaze, with London Fire Brigade confirming that three […]

Foundry Fined After Workers Exposed to Lead Dust A foundry has been sentenced to safety breaches after workers were exposed to harmful lead dust during the repair and refurbishment of church bells at St Peter’s church in Barton-Upon-Humber. On 20th March 2019, part of the planned maintenance project involved stripping off rust and old paint […]

Plastics Manufacturer Fined After Worker was Asphyxiated Printed plastics manufacturer Alfaplas Limited has been fined after a worker became unconscious as a result of asphyxiation when his tabard was entangled in the rotating spindle of a print machine. On 29 January 2019, an employee who was a supervisor at the company attempted to realign a […]

Construction Firm Fined After Workers Exposed to Asbestos A construction company has been fined after workers were exposed to asbestos whilst refurbishing a flat in St John’s Wood, Westminster. Between 14 May and 31 August 2018, ASAI Construction Ltd, the Principal Contractor for the project, failed to obtain a Refurbishment and Demolition asbestos survey prior […]

Reason: Hazardous substances can be used in, or created by, work processes. Why is it important: Ignore a hazardous substance today and you may wish you hadn’t by tomorrow. Most businesses use substances or products that are mixtures of substances. Some processes create substances. These could cause harm to employees, contractors and other people. Sometimes […]

Area of Forest the Size of France Has Regrown Naturally in the Last 20 Years, Study Suggests A study by WWF suggests an area of forest the size of France has regrown naturally across the world in the last 20 years. The team led by WWF used satellite data to build a map of regenerated forests. […]

Royal Mail To Trial Drones In Isles of Scilly The Royal Mail is to trial the use of drones to deliver health and safety equipment, COVID-19 testing kits and other items to the Isles of Scilly from mainland UK. It will be the first time an out-of-sight autonomous scheduled drone flight has been used between the UK mainland and an […]