Lawford Kidd's Blog

Many employers with vehicle fleets are not taking advantage of new technologies to protect vulnerable road users, a new report by Brake, the road safety charity, and Licence Bureau has found.

Despite the potential to help drivers see pedestrians and cyclists and reduce casualties, only one in five HGV operators surveyed (20%) have rear-facing cameras on all vehicles, one in 12 (8%) have side-facing cameras on all vehicles, and one in eight (12%) have side sensors on all vehicles.

The report found HGV safety technologies that are mandatory under European law, such as underrun protection and wide-angle lenses, are present on almost all vehicles. Therefore, Brake is calling for more comprehensive regulation to ensure the widespread take up of technologies such as automatically moving mirrors, side-view cameras and side sensors, which can be of benefit in preventing needless death and injuries yet are currently only present on a minority of vehicle fleets.

Health and safety in the UK Aviation industry is to be the focus of a conference hosted by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health's (IOSH) later this month (2 July, Imperial War Museum, Duxford).

Following a number of major aviation incidents, such as the recent Germanwings plane crash, IOSH's Aviation and Aerospace Group plan to illustrate the best ways for Aviation workers/employees and bosses to prepare for and mange similar crisis'. IOSH also hope to improve industry continuity.

A business man in charge of converting an old mill in Blackburn has been jailed, and his father, the owner of the building, given a suspended jail sentence following an incident in which a Lithuanian worker died in a fall.

The worker, Ivars Bahmanis, was involved in building work at the former canal works building. While he was working alone he fell nearly eight metres, due to a complete lack of safety measures in place, and died as a result.

During the investigation the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) discovered that previously another employee had fallen from a height and broken his leg at the same site. This accident was not reported to HSE.

The number of fatal road traffic accidents have increased on Scotland’s roads for the first time in almost a decade.

The figures which were revealed by the newspaper Scotland on Sunday, collected information via police reports and media reporting. Records of the incidents show that there was a stark rise in the number of motorcyclists and pedestrians killed on Scotland’s roads. Worryingly, this represented the first rise in the number of deaths in said category in seven years.

In a meeting with members of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), racehorse breeders from Coolmore Ireland Stud, - which is Ireland's largest thoroughbred racehorse breeding outfit - demonstrated their commitment to safety and health.