Lawford Kidd's Blog

The Health and Safety Executive has drastically reduced on construction sites in Scotland sparking concerns that employees in one of the most dangerous sectors of employment are at risk of obtaining a serious injury.

The HSE reduced unannounced inspections by more than 55% in the last year following drastic cuts to the health and safety budget by the Westminster government, which has control over such affairs. A number of experts have blamed the cuts to budget as the main reason for the decline in the number of random inspections.

According to data collated by UCATT, through use of a Freedom of Information Act, Scotland saw a drop of 55.7% in the number of random construction inspections being made by the HSE. The drop in Scotland was significantly higher than other countries in the UK, with the nation overall seeing a drop of 8.7% regarding the overall number of surprise inspections. The North of England was seriously affected, however, the overall drop in the number of random inspections was just 2%.

A man has died after he suffered severe burns following an industrial accident at a sewage treatment works.

The incident which occurred in Yorkshire highlights the dangers of working in such an environment,  with industrial accidents in areas such as waste management and other types of work increasing according to provisional figures from the Health and Safety Executive.

Mick Jennings had worked for Yorkshire Water for eight years as a mechanical fitter in an engineering team and had a significant amount of training.

To mark this year’s European Week for Safety and Health at Work the Irish Injuries Board recently published an interesting analysis of the workplace accident claims it received in 2012, and warned businesses of the consequences of cutting corners when it comes to the health and safety of their employees.

Safety failings can be costly

The Irish Injuries Board is an independent Irish Government body that makes statutory personal injury awards in respect of motor, employer and public liability accidents.

Its most recent analysis reveals that the highest award for a work related accident during 2012 amounted to €332,143. In total, the Injuries Board settled 807 work related injury claims during the year, and awarded compensation amounting to €22 million. This was a slight decrease over the previous year, when there were 830 awards made, totalling €22.5 million in compensation.

Workers could be exposed to unnecessary risk of injury if Britain’s health and safety regulations are watered down, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has warned.

Details have been published on the operation of a new system for recovering costs from those who break health and safety laws.