Here are the most notable health and safety news stories of the week:

HSE to Prosecute Alton Towers Owners After Crash

Without a doubt, one of the biggest health and safety news stories of this week, and possibly this year, is the news that HSE will be prosecuting the owners of Alton Towers.This comes after passengers suffered serious physical injuries and psycologial trauma on The Smiler rollercoaster last June, when a full carriage collided with an empty, stationary carriage on the same track. The most serious injuries were suffered by two female passengers, who both had to have a leg amputated as a result of the impact. HSE have said that there is sufficient evidence that the prosecution is in the public interest, and that the comany had breached Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Didcot Power Station Collapse Prompts Health and Safety Questions 

Since the defunct Didcot power station building collapsed on Tuesday, it has been revealed that the company demolishing the building had no previous experience of working on a similar project.  The incident which has claimed at least one life already, occurred whilst the Coleman Group were preparing the building for demolition. With a further 5 injuries, 47 cases of dust inhalation, and 3 more people reported to be missing (presumed dead) under the wreckage, there is no doubt that this tragic incident will raise serious questions as to whether it could have been prevented. While the rescue operation remains a priority, the rescue team must take extreme care to ensure that they are prepared for the possibility of further collapse. 

Waste Management Firm in Court Over the Death of a Young Man

Rainbow Waste, a firm based in Derbyshire, has been prosecuted by the HSE after a worker was crushed by the bucket of a motorised loading shovel. The 24 year old worker suffered fatal injuries to his head and spine, a tragic incident which prompted the HSE to examine the working practices of the firm. On examination of CCTV footage, it was revealed that over two hundred examples of unsafe working practices had been captured in the days leading up to the incident. The firm were fined £136,000 and ordered to pay 64,770 in costs, for breeching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work act.

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Health and safety executive have released a new strategy for the health and safety systems that will take us through to 2020, this strategy have been broken down into 6 key themes. In order for this to be successful it requires us all to work together, communicate about health and safety changes in the workplace, everyone taking responsibility for health and safety, employees as well as employers, share new ideas about how to combat challenging health and safety risks, helping businesses grow by simplifying risk management and tackling the costs of work related illnesses head on.

2004/05 Health statistics 

• 545,000 cases of ill health 
• 223 people were killed at work 
• £17.4 billion estimated cost of injuries and ill health from working conditions 
• 35.2 million working days lost

 2014/2015 health statistics 

• 1.2million working people are suffering from a work-related illness
• 2,538 people died from mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure (2013)
• 142 people were killed at work 
• 76,000 people reported injuries under RIDDOR
• 611,000 injuries occurred at work
• 27.3 million Working days were lost due to work related illness and work place injury
• £14.3 billion estimated cost of injuries and ill health from current working conditions.  (2013/14)

Stats from HSE  

Over the last 10 years we have all been working hard to create a safe working environment for our workers and our efforts are paying off! Here in GB we take health and safety extremely seriously and our Health and Safety Record reflects our efforts. Currently GB’s Health and Safety record is one of the best in the world. However, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for improvement. 

Here, at label Source we have put our heads together and come up with 5 tips on how you can improve your workplace safety in 2016:

Plan to control workplace hazards

Identify all the hazards in your workplace and make sure you take the relevant steps to completely eliminate the hazard, or at least minimize them. To do this you will need to develop a comprehensive safety plan. 

Make sure that if you cannot completely eliminate a workplace hazard, that you are alerting people of the hazard through the use of safety signs. 

Train your staff

Comprehensive training must be given to all members of staff, especially if they are expected to work in an environment where there is a risk of injury. Make sure that you provide all of your employees with a written document outlining all the companies’ safety procedures so they have a point of reference. If you are not training your staff to a high level, you are endangering your employees. If your company is found to be guilty of health and safety breaches, your company will be held liable if there is an incident and could lead to your company having to go to court. 

Inspect your workplace, frequently 

Make sure that any machinery, tools, equipment that your employees are using are well looked after and maintained on a regular basis. Across the UK thousands of accidents happen whilst people are operating machinery. This could be because they are not wearing the correct PPE, the machine is malfunctioning and no one has reported it or the workers are simply not trained to operate the equipment. 

You can help prevent injuries to your staff while they are operating dangerous machines, using hazardous tools & equipment or whilst they are working in a hazardous area by using mandatory safety signs. These signs serve to remind your workers of what is expected of them, for example, wearing the correct PPE, using the correct equipment through to washing their hands – to prevent the spread of disease.  

Investigate all incidents

Not all incidents are fatal, not all incidents cause injury or illness, however it is important that if there is an incident that it is investigated to determine why the incident happened and what can be done to prevent the hazard getting worse and happening again.  

Keep up to date records

Ensure that you are keeping a record of all the incidents that occur, all the accidents that happen, first aid treatment, inspections, and training. By keeping up to date records you will be able to identify any tends in incidents. Maybe there is a gap in their training – keeping records will help you identify this. 

Join in the conversation at #HelpGBWorkWell

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This year the European Commission have been getting into the festive spirit and have been counting down to Christmas with their unique take on the traditional advent calendar.  In the countdown to Christmas the European commission is publishing a fact a day on how the EU works. Facts include details on mobile roaming data charges, online Christmas shopping, myth busting facts and health and safety advice surrounding the Christmas period.

Even though this is an innovative and fun way of raising awareness of what the European commission is all about and the rules and regulations that they have in place. A C of E Vicar accused the European Union of taking “Christ out of our Christmas”.  The Express went as far as to say that it was “arguably the most dull countdown to festivities ever made”.

The calendar reminds its readers that when purchasing toys from the EU, consumers should look for a CE Label on the product showing that the product complies with European safety, health, environmental requirements and serves as an indicator that the presents that you are giving to your loved ones this Christmas are safe and fit for purpose. It also provides information about the EU Food labelling rules, which provide consumers with clearer, more comprehensive information about the food that they purchase. However, it has beenclassed as “disgusting” by an MEP because “Brussels officials had hijacked Christmas to promote the EU”.

Here at Label Source, we believe that there is nothing wrong with using Christmas as an opportunity to educate people about how to stay safe over the festive period, in fact, we have been guilty of it ourselves when we posted the blog post entitled “Stay Safe This Christmas”.  Posting a fact a day is a great way of ensuring that safety remains at the forefront of the readers minds, whilst also educating them of regulations that they may not be aware off and debunking “euronmyths” such like, the EU has banned mince pies and that gender equality regulations do not require store to sell “Mother Christmas” Outfits.

The fact of the matter is, when you are celebrating accidents can, and do occur and it is important that people are reminded of the potential risks that can arise over the festive period. Health and safety is not about taking the fun out of celebrating, it’s about helping you to keep yourself and loved ones safe whilst you celebrate.  

Click here to read through the European Commission’s 2015 Advent Calendar. 

We at Label Source would like to wish all our customers a Safe and Happy Christmas and we will see you all in the New Year.

In February 2016, we will see an increase in the amount a company is fined if they’re found not complying with health and safety laws.

Over the years, there has been concern that the amount large corporations are being fined for failing to meet health and safety regulations, were too low.  As it stands currently, if someone is fatally injured at work due to health and safety negligence, the fines that they will face should be no less than £100,000, and £500,000 for corporate manslaughter.  This may seem like a lot of money, but to organisations turning over in excess of £100m a year, the fine will pretty much so un-noticed.

In November 2015, new guidelines for the sentencing of health and safety cases were produced by the Sentencing Council. These guidelines,  which will apply to all sentencing in health and safety and corporate manslaughter cases, it will become mandatory for every court to follow these guidelines while carrying out health and safety sentences brought in front of a judge in or after February 2016, regardless of when the offence has taken place.

Under the new guidelines, large companies, companies with a turnover exceeding £50 million, that commit health and safety offences, will be fined up to £10 million. For Medium sized companies, companies with a turnover of £2m - £10m, they could expect a fine up to £4 million, and micro-companies, companies with a turnover of less than £2million, could be fined up to £450,000. For cases of corporate manslaughter the fines that companies could be facing are even higher, with fines in excess of £20 million for large organisations.

It is important to highlight here that people don’t need to be injured for the company to be penalised. If it has come to light that an organisation has repeatedly failed to meet health and safety regulations – even if there was not an accident caused by the negligence the company will still occur a penalty. This penalty will be determined by the court based on 1) the seriousness of the risk created and 2) The likelihood of an incident arising.

You can avoid these hefty fines by doing the following:

• Make sure that your organisation has an effective risk assessment and risk management system is place, including identifying hazards, and putting in place appropriate precautions to warn visitors and employees of the hazard or potential hazard.
   
• Ensure that all your health and safety polices are clearly communicated and enforced.
   
• Make sure you are providing regular support and training to your employees to ensure that they continually follow the correct health and safety regulations.  
   
• Make sure that your approach to health and safety is consistent – especially if you are the owner or manager of a company that owns a lot of different sites.

Here at label source, we help companies improve their health and safety standards in their work place on a daily basis by providing a large range of health and safety signs designed specifically to create awareness of potential hazards in the work place.

Our safety signs department is dedicated to signs raising awareness of potential hazards including hazard warning signs, mandatory safety signs, First aid and safe conditions signs and fire equipment safety signs. 

A recent audit revealed that Brenton Park School in Leeds was far from being up to date on their health and safety procedures, with worrying concerns in terms of fire and asbestos safety. Not only was their fire safety risk-assessment found to be unsuitable, but it was also revealed that the asbestos surveys were out of date, putting staff and students at risk.

While the school has since responded to these concerns by appointing a safety and facilities manager, it is worrying to consider the possibility and likelihood that there are many similar cases of neglectful health and safety throughout the country. As is the case with many schools, Breton Park's facilities are ageing, making it even more important to consider health and safety issues on a regular basis. When staff, and particularly students are being put at risk by insufficient health and safety procedures, questions must be asked about the quality of the institution overall.

To ensure that your school is performing to the best of its ability while ensuring the safety of staff and students, read and follow the list of 3 essential steps below:

• Assess: Make sure that all the required internal/external audits and assessments are completed, in order to identify any issues and ensure that policy is up to date.
   
• Inform: Make sure that all staff and students are aware of the fire safety measures, and make all relevant information visible via fire safety signs. If there is asbestos present in certain areas, be sure to use asbestos hazard signs to reduce the risk of someone coming into contact with the material.
   
• Communicate: Report any issues straight away, and encourage others to do the same.

To view our full range of Safety Signs click here, or follow us on Twitter for regular health and safety news and updates!