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The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) hosted mobile access tower industry body PASMA’s first ever CoreSkills+ workshop in order to launch the next phase of its safe towers campaign. PASMA’s ongoing campaign, which launched in May, has so far seen the association give out hundreds of Tower Safety Packs, as well as providing specialist information to businesses. ... more
IPAF is currently celebrating its 30th year of helping keep our industry safer. Launched in 1984, its founding members had one main aim: to promote the safe and effective use of powered access equipment worldwide. IPAF members reaffirmed the Federation’s original objectives and re-adopted them into the Federation’s rules at the recent annual general meeting in April. Among others, ... more
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) today announced the first wave of EU official campaign partners for its 2014–15 Campaign, Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress (#EUmanagestress). The campaign partners come from a variety of sectors across Europe and encompass employers’ and workers’ federations, technology platforms, non-governmental organisations and multi ... more
Health and Safety at Work Act, which is 40 years old this summer, has arguably saved more lives than any other piece of legislation, including the ban on drink driving or the compulsory wearing of seat belts in cars. It may well have reduced deaths by 5,000 or more. Writes the Telegraph. So how did an Act that was by any measure a milestone in social reform turn into one of the most disparaged ... more
A Glaswegian firm has been fined for safety failings after a worker was left paralysed from the neck down when he fell around three metres from the top of a gritter. Colin Shields, 34, of Cumbernauld, was standing on top of a gritter at Inex Works Ltd’s premises in a bid to help his colleagues dislodge compacted grit salt from inside the machine when the incident happened in December 2010. ... more
A 64-year-old Shropshire man has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after his company illegally supplied roofing panels containing asbestos. Company director Robert Marsh’s offences came to light after a 56-year-old construction worker, who was roofing a barn using the panels, fell through the fragile material and later died. An investigation by the HSE found that Mr Marsh, sole Directo ... more
Devil-may-care scaffolders were caught red handed after a concerned member of the public sent in a photo of their risky working practices to the HSE. The pictures show workers from Clerkenwell-based JOS Scaffolding Ltd using unsecure and precariously balanced boards to access and pass materials to higher levels. And one worker was even pictured sitting near the top of the structure casually dan ... more
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a safety alert advising that “covers/shrouds on machine controls do not protect against entrapment of operators between the machine and nearby obstructions”. In addition, it has advised duty holders to familiarize themselves with two industry guidance documents: the Strategic Forum for Construction Plant Safety Group’s Best ... more
Anyone cynical about whether new machines really do help businesses boost the bottom line may be interested in some calculations from a Scottish-based construction firm. Dumfries-based AMD Contract Services purchased JCB JS130, JS145, JS220 and JS290 tracked excavators, which all have the new JCB Ecomax fuel-efficient engine. To test the machines’ efficiency it carried out tests against a 2 ... more
A foolhardy roofer has appeared in court after balancing a double extension ladder on a transit van in order to access a third floor façade. George Nicholls, 25, risked harming himself and others as he used the ladder to paint a shop frontage in Southampton in March 2013, but luckily the HSE was alerted after a tip-off from a concerned member of the public and both he and the company th ... more
