HSE

As an employer, you must manage any health and safety risks before people can work alone. This applies to anyone contracted to work for you, including self-employed people.  Lone workers are those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision, for example: as delivery drivers, health workers or engineers as security staff or cleaners in warehouses or petrol stations at home There will always be greater risks for lone workers without direct supervision or anyone to help them if things go wrong.…

This week the HSE has launched a new campaign to remind people working in construction trades to manage the risks associated with asbestos.

News from the Health & Safety Executive - World Cancer Day, Safety alert issued by HSE and more.

Storing your building’s information – the golden thread This guidance is for anyone responsible for a building’s information throughout its life-cycle. This includes, building companies, principal designers and principal contractors, and local authorities. The information you will need to manage Your building’s information must be: kept digitally kept securely a building’s single source of truth available to people who need the information to do a job available when the person needs the information presented in a way that person can use   The information you will need to keep The information you keep must be proportionate and will depend on what stage the building is at in its life.…

2023 is going to be a big year for Building safety It is clear as I continue to meet with various stakeholders that the level of activity is rising in preparation for the new requirements and responsibilities under the Building Safety Act. Consultation on secondary legislation is moving at pace bringing the clarity required for many who will have new responsibilities.…

HSE releases annual health and safety statistics 2021/22 The estimated number of workers in Great Britain suffering a work-related illness is 1.8 million with stress, depression, and anxiety making up around half of cases, new figures show. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its annual statistics on work-related ill health and workplace injuries.…

Is it too cold or hot to work? Working in cold temperatures The minimum temperature in an indoor workplace should normally be at least: 16°C or 13°C if much of the work involves rigorous physical effort There are practical steps you can take to keep people as comfortable as possible when working in the cold.…

Building control professionals will, in future, have to register with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). It is expected the register will open from October 2023 before registration becomes a legal requirement in April 2024. Building control professionals will be expected to demonstrate their competence in order to register with the BSR. …

A building contractor has been fined £600,000 and its director has been ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and fined £4,200 following serious and repeated failings in managing the risk of fire during work at a construction site. In January 2018 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) undertook a proactive inspection to investigate health and safety failings by the builder at a construction site at Regent House, Brentwood, Essex after a concern was raised that people were sleeping on site.…

First aid in the workplace – what should Employers need to do? Employers must make sure employees get immediate help if taken ill or injured at work. The law applies to every workplace and to the self-employed. You must have: a suitably stocked first aid kitan appointed person or people to take charge of first aid arrangementsinformation for all employees telling them about first aid arrangements What ‘adequate and appropriate’ first aid arrangements are depends on the work you do and where you do it.…

The HSE has published a revised version of the publication Fire safety in construction (HSG168). This latest (third) edition contains guidance explaining the need to eliminate, and or mitigate fire risks during the design phase (where practicable), how to prevent site fires from starting and ensuring people’s safety if they do.…

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 introduce new duties under the Fire Safety Order for building owners or managers (responsible persons). The Government has introduced these regulations under article 24 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (Fire Safety Order) to implement the majority of those recommendations made to government in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 report which require a change in the law.…