MPs warn workplace violence is “out of control”
A cross-party group of MPs and peers has warned that workplace violence is “out of control” and is demanding urgent government action.
A new report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health says abuse, threats and assaults are now a routine part of working life in sectors including transport, retail, prisons and education.
Ian Lavery MP, chair of the APPG, said: “Workers are being punched, spat at and threatened simply for doing their jobs, and too often nothing happens. This is a crisis, and the Government is not doing enough to stop it.”
The Group is calling for immediate action, including:
- Legal protection for all public-facing workers
- An end to unsafe lone working and a review of sectoral minimum staffing levels
- More funding for policing and health and safety enforcement
- Urgent action on overcrowded prisons and underfunded schools
Read more on the HSM website.
Cardiff University fined £280,000 after two employees develop occupational asthma
Cardiff University has been fined £280,000 after two employees developed occupational asthma because of exposure to animal allergens in the workplace.
Britain’s workplace regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), found that between 2008 to 2025, the university failed in its duty to identify and implement suitable controls to prevent employees’ exposure to animal allergens. Both employees affected have been left with lifelong conditions as a result, and one was unable to continue in their employment.
HSE’s investigation found that Cardiff University had failed to put in place adequate measures to protect workers from exposure to animal allergens, despite relevant legislation being in place since 1989 under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH), and specific guidance relating to laboratory animal workers being available since 2011.
More on the case on the HSE website.
148 million workdays lost as sickness absence stalls
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has called for action to tackle the underlying causes of sickness absence amongst workers, as new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a stagnation in the number of days lost to ill health.
The data also shows differences in population groups and regions.
The number of days lost due to ill health increased by 5% in men and decreased by 5% in women.
The South West of England observed a 12.5% decrease in days lost due to sickness, while the East and North East had a 29% and a 30% increase respectively.
Sickness absence due to MSK problems increased by 3%, while absence due to mental health conditions decreased by 16%.
Learn more on the HSM website.
Man thought he was ‘going to die’ after electric shock from overhead powerline
CCTV shows the dramatic moment a tree surgeon suffered a powerful electric shock from an overhead powerline while carrying out maintenance to hedges on a busy road near Royal Wootton Bassett.
Shortly after midnight on 19 January 2024, Joshua Pocknell was working as part of a team of three on the A3102 when the mobile lighting tower he was pushing made contact with an overhead powerline.
The 26-year-old described the moment the lighting tower hit the overhead powerlines and that he ‘couldn’t let go of it’.
“My whole body locked and I felt hot and cramping, he said.
“I could hear the electricity in my head and thought I was going to die.
“I hit the floor and passed out, still cramping.
“I later discovered a hole had burnt through my arm and hip all the way to the bone.”
Read more about the incident on the HSE website.
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