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SAFETY FIRSTS
TUC issues guidance on workplace chemical use
The TUC is urging safety reps to ensure their employers are up-to-date on their obligations under the REACH regulations. As part of this the TUC has published a new online guide to the regulations.
Download the report at:
www.tuc.org.uk/workplac e/
tuc-18515-f0.cfm
Construction sites health & safety agreement
The HSE has signed an agreement with the Building Control Alliance (BCA), in a bid to work more closely to improve health & safety standards in the construction industry. The agreement, sets out how HSE and building control professionals will cooperate to help and support each other, for example in providing health & safety advice to the construction industry, but clearly distinguishes their separate regulatory roles and responsibilities.
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No let-up in new environmental regulations New environmental
regulations are outnumbering new health and safety regulations by more than ten to one in the UK. NEBOSH (The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health) said that from August 2009 to August 2010 more than 50 new
environmental regulations had been introduced in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. During the same period, just five new health and safety regulations had come into effect. “The legislative framework for
environmental management has grown rapidly in recent years, and this has continued over the past 12 months,” said NEBOSH chief
executive, Teresa Budworth. It has been a different story with health & safety regulations, said Teresa: “The few regulations that have been introduced over the past 12 months have either been very minor amendments, or have only affected specific industries.
“It's been that way for a while now. In fact, there's been far more emphasis put on simplifying existing health and safety legislation in recent years, instead of introducing new laws.” However, this has meant little in the way of respite for health and safety managers. Recent research by NEBOSH has shown that more than half of health & safety managers are now responsible for managing
environmental issues at work.
Job titles have been
changing to reflect this shift in responsibilities, with many Health and Safety Managers known as 'Health, Safety & Environmental (HSE) Managers' or 'Health, Safety, Environmental and Quality (HSEQ) Managers'.
“At NEBOSH, we're now encouraging health and safety managers to enhance the qualifications they already hold with appropriate level environmental qualifications. “It takes a lot of know- how to manage
environmental matters at work and anyone doing so should be able to
demonstrate this knowledge to employers, just as with health & safety.”
Economic incentives improve health & safety,says european report
Research undertaken by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU- OSHA) suggests that economic incentive schemes encouraging companies to invest in risk prevention are a cost-effective option for governments looking to cut the numbers of work-related accidents and illnesses. Many EU Member States already offer various kinds of financial reward for businesses that invest in keeping their employees safe. These rewards range from lower insurance premiums, state subsidies and grants, through to tax breaks, and preferential terms for bank loans for the best- performing businesses. Three out of 14 case studies highlighted in the project provided sufficient data to conduct a cost-
RoSPA hopes for evidence not myths in Lord Young’s review
With the publication of Lord Young’s review into health & safety law due soon, RoSPA has spoken out to say it is hoping for objective recommendations based on real evidence rather than previously-debunked myths. The safety charity believes that, if they are to be taken seriously, the report’s conclusions and proposals must be properly balanced against the indisputable evidence that work-related accidents and ill-health are blighting millions of lives and seriously damaging business productivity.
“Simply restating the
benefit analysis. All three resulted in a positive payout ratio, ranging from 1.01 - 4.81 Euros return for every Euro invested. Quantitative criteria covered accident rates, sick leave, and general improvement in working conditions.
For example, an incentive scheme introduced in the German butchery sector in 2002 led to a 28% fall in
reportable accidents over the following six years compared to a 16% fall in the sector as a whole. In total numbers this means there were about 1000 fewer accidents per year in incentivised companies.
The report and a factsheet are available to download from:
http://osha.europa.eu/en/to pics/economic-incentives
populist perception that health and safety has ‘gone over the top’ will not do,” said Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive. “The myth that health & safety is out of control has been debunked many, many times over. On the occasions when poor safety judgements are made, they typically reflect inadequate decision-making on the part of an individual or the excessive demands of third parties rather than regulators who have actually been working hard to simplify things.” RoSPA believes it is impossible to state strongly enough that going over the top on health & safety is a relatively small problem compared with the extent of work-related injuries and ill- health. In addition to the 180 workers killed in British workplaces in 2008/09, plus the 700 killed in work-related road accidents, 1.2 million workers were suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past employment.
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