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.

Labour MSP Patricia Ferguson has launched a consultation exercise on a proposed members Bill to overhaul the Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) system in Scotland.

According to Ms Ferguson, the Inquiries into Deaths (Scotland) Bill aims to create a system for investigating sudden and accidental deaths which is fit for purpose: allowing for a thorough investigation and also for lessons to be learned from the death.

The case for change

FAIs are currently governed by the Fatal Accident and Sudden Deaths Inquiries Act 1976. They take place following deaths that have occurred in a number of prescribed situations, including where deaths occur after a workplace accident or while the deceased was in custody.

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”.