Managing hazards in a business is fundamental to maintaining the safety of employees. Under UK law, employers have a duty of care to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of all employees. This means it’s an employer’s responsibility to identify the hazards facing their employees and implement measures to mitigate them. It's fairly common for employees (and in many cases, management) to be unaware of the hazards they face regularly. Those who haven't encountered an accident often feel they aren't at risk. Additionally, many workers become accustomed to an unhealthy or unsafe workplace due to working in that environment for an extended period. The best way to prevent injuries..

A textiles company has been fined £60,000 after an employee suffered serious injuries their right arm in an incident at a factory operated by Pin Croft Dyeing and Printing Co. Limited in Market Street, Adlington, on 20 June 2022. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the employee had been operating a large fabric spooling machine when the brake malfunctioned. During an attempt to manually slow the rotation of the machine, he broke both major bones in his forearm when his sleeve was caught by a rotating spindle. Despite the company being aware of the risk posed by the moving spindle, they failed to either remove or suitably guard this part of the machi..

A company has been fined £200,000 after an employee was crushed by a 700kg crate filled with replacement glass. The man who was working at a warehouse located in Stakehill Industrial Estate, Middleton, was moving the crate, with the help of another colleague on the 16th June 2021. The two employees placed the crate on a set of skates and intended to push the load through the PSV Glass and Glazing warehouse. All was going "well" until the crate became unbalanced and fell, trapping the 29 year old worker underneath. The incident caused the worker to suffer two broken ribs, a punctured lung and a fractured vertebra. Six screws and a plate had to be inserted during surgery ..

The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) carried out an investigation following an incident at British Airways Maintenance Cardiff Ltd on 10th November 2019. The findings showed that the company had failed to adequately analyse the risks of working at height due to the removal of guard rails on the docking platform. Iain Mawson, a British Airways Maintenance Cardiff Ltd employee, was placed into an induced coma for three weeks as a result of the fall. He suffered multiple skull fractures and a brain haemorrhage after falling from height whilst inspecting an aircrafts wings at a facility in Cardiff. British Airways Maintenance Cardiff Ltd of Waterside, Harmondsworth, pleaded guilty to b..

The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) conducted an investigation after a Scottish man named Robin Williamson suffered live altering injuries. The HSE found that City Property (Glasgow) did not plan, organise and supervise the work, to ensure that all risks were identified and adequate precautions were in place. Robin Williamson suffered the horrific injuries after falling eight metres whilst carrying out an asbestos survey on the roof of Netherton Community Centre, Glasgow on 5 April 2018. His severe injuries included multiple skull fractures as well as a bleed to the brain. He also sustained multiple spine and rib fractures and now uses a wheelchair. City Property (Glasgow) LL..

It’s not always obvious where to start with managing driver risk. After all, there are so many different areas that need to be tackled. And how do we know whether what we’re doing is good or bad, or whether we have any glaring gaps. It’s easy to feel like we’re just going round in circles. There is a simple process that can help you, based around four easy-to-understand steps: 1. Benchmarking – Do I need to improve? 2. Gap Analysis – If I need to improve, where do I start? 3. Action – How do I make improvements? 4. Check – How big were the improvements? Driving for Better Business has created a range of free online tools that can help you with all these key steps. Benchmarking s..

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched a campaign called Working Minds last year, the campaign is aimed at providing employers and workers with advice and tools to help recognise the signs and causes of stress, anxiety and depression. Whether you're a small business or large corporation, the law requires all employers to carry out stress risk assessments and act upon the findings to prevent work related stress and support good mental health in the workplace. Statistics published by the HSE show that stress, anxiety and depression are the number one reasons for illness in the UK. Of the 1.7million workers that suffered from work-related illness, almost half (822,000) were due t..

Factories and warehouses have numerous health and safety risks. If you fail to manage them, your business may face a number of different issues such as lost working days, injuries and in the worst case scenario, fatalities. As an employer, you are legally required to implement and maintain procedures that minimise these risks. Safety measures must protect workers from factory and warehousing hazards and enable workers to carry out their jobs safely. Maintaining good safety will not only ensure you are compliant with regulations, but also shows employees that you value their wellbeing. In turn this boosts motivation and increases trust in your capabilities as a employer. ..

A roofing contractor has been fined after an employee fell from a ladder and died at the scene. Whilst carrying roof tiles an employee slipped from a triple extending access ladder and fell to the ground, sustaining fatal injuries. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the interlocking sections of the ladder they had been negotiating did not allow for three points of contact to be maintained, especially when a load was being carried: a single pole access ladder would have enabled this. At Blackpool Magistrates’ Court Richard Anthony Thornton pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of The Work at Height Regulations 2005. He was sentenced to six mont..