An international standard for health and safety may sound like a good idea to a lot of people, but the current proposals for one would be bad news for many workers. The International Standards Organisation (ISO) is developing a standard, called ISO45001, for the certification of employers health and safety management systems, but throughout the…
The HSE has published a review of the way that the 2012 Control of Asbestos Regulations have been implemented. There was a requirement on the HSE to do this within the first five years of the regulations being implemented, but the HSE seems to have gone well beyond the requirements of the European Directive in…
Unions have long been critical of the failure of the HSE to regulate and enforce on occupational health risks. For instance we have asked for specific regulations on stress, lower exposure limits on dust and silica, and for the removal of all asbestos in the workplace, but none of these have happened. Now that the…
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is there to protect workers from potential hazards to their health and safety; it must be used properly. However, the experiences of hundreds of women tells us that they have not been provided with appropriate PPE to carry out their jobs. This is exposing women to several health and safety risks.…
Every year more people are killed at work than in wars. Most don’t die in tragic “accidents”. They die because an employer decided their safety or health just wasn’t that important a priority. The total number of people whose lives are cut short because of an illness or injury that results from work is…