Lawford Kidd's Blog

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has urged politicians to put greater emphasis on good occupational health and wellbeing.

Tragically, 148 people were killed in Britain last year, while more than 12,000 died from diseases caused by what they have done for a living. These statistics are too high and the Government and employers must do more to prevent further failure, says IOSH.

This autumn, IOSH is meeting with politicians at all three of the main political party conferences to make the case that good health and wellbeing at work can boost productivity, morale and profit – and must no longer be the ‘Cinderella’ of workplace management.

The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) has published its latest Annual Report, in which it claims that farm safety continues to be its biggest challenge as it strives to improve health and safety standards in workplaces across Northern Ireland.

There were 19 work-related fatalities in 2012/13 and once again the farming sector dominated the fatal accident statistics, with 11 out of the 19 deaths being attributable to farm accidents. In the previous year, 2011/12, there were 18 work-related fatalities with nine of these being attributable to farm accidents.

The report also points to a continuing downward trend of all reportable work-related injuries, with provisional figures for 2012/13 showing a fall of 13% on last year and down 20% since 2008/09. This year also witnessed a sharp fall in major injuries, with reports down 17% on last year and down almost 30% since 2008/09.

Adequate levels of health and safety regulation and enforcement need to be introduced across the EU, with help for small and medium-sized enterprises to comply, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has said.

In its submission to a consultation on the EU OSH Policy Framework, Europe’s largest professional body in health and safety has set out its views on how policies are formed across member states to protect people from work-related injury and ill health.

It wants to see the protection of vulnerable groups included in the framework of occupational health management and reporting, and health and safety embedded in the education system.

The temporary grounding of Super Pumas is a “proportionate response” to last week’s fatal accident in the North Sea, said the UK’s largest professional body in occupational safety.

However, an outright ban of the helicopter model, intended to restore confidence in the transport of workers to and from oil and gas platforms, would be “too simplistic” a solution at this stage, warned the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

The Helicopter Safety Steering Group, comprising oil and aviation industry representatives, has recommended that all models of the Super Puma series should be grounded for “all commercial passenger flights to and from offshore oil and gas installations within the UK”.

A Sunderland firm has been fined for failing to hold statutory insurance that enables employees to claim compensation should they be injured at work.

Section 1 of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 requires that employers carry insurance against the personal injury of their employees. As well as being insured, employers must make available details of the insurance for staff to see. This requirement applies to most companies; exemptions include public organisations and certain micro companies.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an investigation after it received information suggesting the firm was uninsured. It found that the company did not hold any Employer's Liability Compulsory Insurance between 9th Feb and 13th December 2012. This meant the firm, which provides and installs solar panels, was not insured against liability for bodily injury or disease sustained by their employees resulting from their work.