Lawford Kidd's Blog

Companies are being urged to step up their commitment to safer business driving on UK roads, by recommending organisations they employ or hire carry the ISO 39001 accreditation, which shows their drivers have met some of the highest safety standards.

The call comes from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), which recently conducted a survey revealing that 72% of people who drove for business reasons had been offered no training by their employer at all – even though 44% of them said they would welcome the opportunity.

The figures relating to driving for work accidents are alarming:

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has said it is “disappointed” and “concerned” over plans to deregulate areas of health and safety.

The Joint Committee providing pre-legislative scrutiny of the Draft Deregulation Bill issued its report towards the end of last year, and IOSH has repeated its concerns that some self-employed people could be excluded from necessary health and safety legislation.

IOSH head of policy and public affairs Richard Jones said: “IOSH is disappointed and concerned that the Committee has not recommended the removal of the clause exempting certain self-employed from health and safety law, particularly given the serious concerns raised by IOSH and others during the inquiry.”

New regulations to control the risks posed by needles and other 'sharps' in healthcare came into effect this month.

The Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations came into force on 11th May 2013. Northern Ireland introduced equivalent regulations on the same date.

The Health and Safety Executive introduced the new regulations to implement a European Directive. They supplement the existing health and safety legislation that already requires employers across all sectors to take effective action to control the risk from sharps injuries.