Lawford Kidd's Blog

The European Union (EU) is positively impacting upon both health and safety and environment legislation in the United Kingdom, according to a new survey by Cedrec.

Cedrec, which helps simplify and interpret safety and legislation, conducted the survey of heath and safety and environment professionals across the UK, in a bid to better understand perceptions about the EU, ahead of European elections.

In terms of safety legislation, the survey showed: fifty-four per cent (54%) of the professionals survived believed the EU is having a positive impact on making the workplace safer; thirty-four per cent (34%) indicated the EU was having a negative effect, thus making the workplace more dangerous; while twelve per cent (12%) said the EU was making no difference.

A recent report from the British Safety Council has highlighted why investing in health and safety makes sound business sense.

According to the report, the true cost of failures in occupational health and safety to the UK economy amounted to £13.8 billion in 2011/2012, with work related illnesses costing around £8.4 billion.

“At a time when the latest GDP figures show the country slowly returning to economic health, we know that making workers ill and injured hurts all of us,” said Alex Botha, Chief Executive of the British Safety Council. “What this literature review tells us loud and clear is that getting health and safety right makes good business sense and can save organisations money.”

The Stage 1 debate on the Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill took place earlier this week, with MSPs unanimously approving the general principles of the bill.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, following the Justice Committee’s Stage 1 Report and recent comments made by the Law Society of Scotland, much of the debate focused on the proposal to increase in the private jurisdiction limit of the sheriff court for bring claims worth £5,000 up to £150,000.

Ahead of the debate, Law Society of Scotland’s Civil Justice Committee Secretary, Fiona Robb stated:

A worker suffered serious injuries when he plunged nine metres through a fragile warehouse roof in Northampton.

The man was walking on fragile asbestos cement sheeting during roofing work when it gave way beneath him and he fell onto a metal pallet and then the concrete floor.

He sustained three fractures to his right arm, multiple fractures to his face and head, a punctured lung, damage to his chest and a severe gash to his right leg. He still suffers from reduced movement in his right arm and right leg, numbness in his left arm, chest problems and dizzy spells and has so far been unable to return to work.

The Scottish Parliament‘s Justice Committee has now published its fifth report on the controversial Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill, which implements the recommendations of Lord Gill’s Review overhauling the Scottish civil court system.

The report, which references submissions made by Lawford Kidd, makes it clear that whilst the Committee welcomes the Reform Bill’s general principles, serious concerns remain, particularly in relation to the proposal to increase the monetary threshold for Sheriff Court actions from £5,000 to £150,000.

The Justice Committee Convener and MSP, Christine Grahame commented: