Health and Safety News

When Alexander Wright, employed as a geologist in Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings, died due to the collapse of a trench in which he was collecting soil samples, the director of the company, Mr. Peter Eaton was held liable for gross negligence manslaughter. This is the first case under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, 2007.

Other charges levied were under Section 37 of the Health and Safety Works etc. Act, 1974 (HSWA) in which an office bearer of a company is held liable for any offence committed by the company if he has given his consent to the act or knew about the risks and had acted negligently. The company has been charged under Section 2 of HSWA, under which the employers have to take measures to protect the health and safety of their workers.

Currently, the case is scheduled for a Preliminary Hearing in the Bristol Crown Court. The Associate at Osborn Abas Hunt, Angela Philip, has said that a plea will not be entered at this stage.

The time table of the case, along with the date for serving the prosecution case and for serving the written statement will be set by the judge at the hearing. Moreover, the Plea and Case Management hearing will also be scheduled where the pleas are likely to be raised by the two sides. The likely time for hearings will be August.

Andrea Austin, Legal Administrator at workers’ union, the GMB, has stressed that many workers employed in different industries across the UK who are using powerful vibrating tools, face constant risk of contracting HAVS.

HAVS (short for Hard Arm Vibration Syndrome) or Vibration White Finger is a condition which causes weakness in the hands and prevents the victim from working efficiently at home or at his job. The condition can cause lack of sensation at the fingertips and make the colour of the skin pale. It also leads to aches in hands, arms and fingers. HAVS is largely an occupational disease, which commonly occurs when a worker uses vibrating tools for a long time.

Austin pointed out that the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 protects workers by making it obligatory for the employers to conduct an exhaustive evaluation of the potential harm to the health and safety of the workers who are using hand-operated vibrating tools.

However, it appears that workers are still in a vulnerable situation, as General Kinematic Ltd refused to admit its liability when its employee Keith Rowley contracted HAVS because of constant use of a vibrating tool for fitting. Although, the company did not escape unscathed as it had to pay £10,000 as settlement when GMB, Rowley’s trade union, decided to pursue a claim for compensation through Thompsons Solicitors.

Martin Fell, who works with Thompsons Solicitors, said that HAVS might be an inescapable part of the job, but the employers are still liable because it is an occupational hazard with a serious impact on the life of the victim. He added that there is a need to protect workers from HAVS, and if the same is not done, then the employer has to pay compensation.

The issue of workplace stress has received a new impetus, with the focus now primarily shifting towards the role of management behaviour in improving standards of mental health of employees.

A new guidance called ‘Line Management Behaviour and Stress at Work’ has been unveiled to identify the essential behavioural skills that managers need to imbibe and demonstrate for managing stress at the workplace. This guidance is a collaboration of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Investors in People (IIP). It is the fruit of an elaborate four-year research conducted on stress management in which numerous managers and workers were interviewed, as well as an assessment across 17 organisations on how manager training can lead to better management of workplace stress.

The targets managerial behaviour under four competency areas:

1. Allocating and supervising tasks;
2. Managing tricky situations;
3. Managing a particular member of the team; and
4. Controlling emotions and displaying integrity.

Continuous stress contributes to a range of disorders like depression, back pain, headaches, as well as cardiac disease, says Ben Willmott, Senior Public Policy Adviser at the CIPD. There has been a significant rise in stress-related disorders in the UK since 1990, and with recession gripping the economy, matters will take a more serious turn in the next few years, predicts the World Health Organisation. About half of the 3,000 employees surveyed by CIPD last month have experienced an increase in stress levels as a result of the economic problems.

Commenting on the research and guidance, Ben Willmott laid special emphasis on the importance of manager training in stress management competencies, as well trained managers can successfully work towards reducing disputes and improve staff turnover rates, as well as increase motivation and dedication to work.

Concerned about the findings in a 2008 report on the health of the British workforce by Dame Carol Black, the government has decided to replace the current ‘sick note’ system by a new ‘fit note’ system.

The ‘fit note’ is designed to help employees remain at work rather than resort to long term absence due to sickness. It will advise people about how they can manage to stay at work despite illness, and if they cannot then, it will suggest ways in which the company can help them join work sooner.

The advice mechanism means that if an employee is unable to perform his or her regular task due to illness, then for a temporary period the nature of work should be changed accordingly to accommodate them and to keep the business from suffering absence related losses.

This system is being developed with help from trade unions, business representatives, and experts from the healthcare industry. The new ‘fit note’ will be out by early 2010, and it would replace the current practice of using hand written notes with using computer generated ones.

The Work and Pension Minister, Lord Bill McKenzie, also spoke in support of the new system. He said that the problem of long-term absenteeism was a tough one, and the government had to take some action to improve the situation. He said that the flexibility offered by the fit note would make it a very effective mechanism of dealing with the issue.

Employers should be aware about the risks that using untrained or inexperienced contractors involves, Mace and Jones, a leading law firm, has warned. The Personal Injury Specialist at Mace and Jones, Jeremy Bradshaw, said that recession has led to business taking more independent contractors on board for the sake of cutting costs, and this is endangering the lives of both the contractors and the regular employees.

Bradshaw suggests that the contractor hired should be analysed for his experience, formal training, ease of working with the business and recent accident records. The lower the number of accidents the better, though he pointed out that this may be due to under-reporting and hence employers should be cautious.

Contractors should be given work based on the skills they possess. Unskilled workers should not be allowed to do perilous work on sites, especially work which involves working with heavy machinery. Any carelessness on this account would increase the risk of accidents and consequently, the compensation payouts, causing unnecessary losses to the business.

Bradshaw also said that the business should convene meetings and give out requisite information on health and safety to the contractors and employees alike. Despite the fact that the contractor is independent, if any accident is caused at the site due to negligence on his part, the business would be held responsible and would have to shell out damages. Thus, precautions should be taken to ensure that the business is not exposed to injury claims at a later stage.

Keep sub-contractors informed of any changes in the work, Bradshaw added. Carrying out a proper risk assessment on the site before work gets underway is an additional measure that businesses should take. He insisted on close communication between the employers, employees and the contractors to make the site a safer work place.

The recent inspection drive carried out by the HSE across the UK found that one-fifth of the construction sites checked for health and safety compliance were posing serious danger to the safety of the workers.

During the inspections, HSE officers visited 1759 construction sites. The drive covered about 2150 contractors, to find out if they complied with health and safety regulations. It was found out that close to 350 sites were prone to serious risks. These sites were issued notices in order to stop the work or for immediate corrective action. Overall, about 500 notices had to be served.

Last year, the HSE had carried out a similar inspection when enforcement action had to be carried out on 30% sites. The results of this year’s inspection drive showed some improvements in a few parts of the country.

Phillip White, the Chief Inspector of Construction with the HSE, said that despite sufficient publicity being carried out for these inspections, the HSE inspectors found disregard for health and safety standards on many construction sites. The inspectors found the safety practices at these sites so far below the required standards that they had to take strict actions against them.

Over half of the deaths in the construction sites last year were mainly in the refurbishment sector, and it seems that this sector is refusing to improve despite repeated warnings and actions.

NHS workers like nurses and other healthcare staff need to be provided maximum security so that they can perform their duties without fear, Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, has said. Backing his words with action, he also announced that a personal security alarm system would be distributed to about 30,000 NHS workers who often work alone in a dangerous environment.

Johnson said that the safety of NHS workers was a major concern for him as these employees are vulnerable to violence. He expressed his hope that the new security system would be able to achieve the goal of safeguarding these workers to a large extent, and would work as a deterrent for the attackers.

Nurses and other NHS workers often work alone, away from their colleagues. They are therefore exposed to the risk of attacks from patients and their family members who have a tendency of violence or alcohol and drug abuse. Such workers are in a dire need of a system through which they can call for help in an emergency, and this is precisely what the new alarm system aims to achieve.

These alarms make use of Location Based Service (LBS) technology, which not only gets the worker in touch with a trained person who can quickly send help, but also relays the exact location of the caller. Moreover, the call centre can listen and record the relevant details, which can later be used as legal evidence to support the prosecution.

A recently conducted review shows that a considerable amount of work has gone into efforts to improve security at public places, but that a great deal more remains to be done in order to convert what are currently mere strategies for public protection into reality.

Commenting on this at the launch of a public consultation titled ‘Working Together to Protect Crowded Places’ in Birmingham, the Security Minister, Lord West, laid emphasis on the role of the public and local businesses in counter-terrorism efforts, particularly with regard to crowded areas. He said that it is not simply the Government and the police who can and must take action to protect the nation from terrorism, but that public participation is a key factor that can lead to effective counter-terrorism actions.

The consultation deals with various ways in which the police, local authorities, industries and the public can work in unity to defend against terrorist threats to public places. At the same time, the Government would be making an additional investment of five million pounds into counter-terrorism activities.

Lord West also announced that builders and designers of crowded places will soon receive practical advice on how to eliminate flaws from their plans that expose such places to a greater terrorist threat.

The Government has recently revamped its counter terrorism strategy, known as ‘CONTEST’, and hopes that with the co-operation of the public, whose role is emphasised in the consultation, levels of security at clubs, educational institutions, sports stadia, shopping complexes and other crowded areas can be improved.

Local partners will be advised on areas to concentrate most on by Counter Terrorism Security Advisers (CTSAs) from the police, who are now conducting a nationwide first-of-its-kind risk assessment exercise that covers all crowded places. The consultation aims to make citizens aware that their action can make a practical difference in dealing with the threat of terrorism.

The Health and Safety Executive has asked company directors to get out of the comfort of the boardrooms and reach out to their employees to understand their concerns about health and safety.

Speaking at the annual Rivers Lecture in London, Ms Judith Hackitt from the HSE said that the directors need to show more interest in their employees. By talking directly to the employees and by visiting their particular places of work, the directors would have a much better idea of the problems faced by them. She stressed that personal responsibility and integrity are the traits of any good leader, and without these, there was a danger that employees would lose all faith in the organisation.

Ms Hackitt, who had a group of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators as audience, also said that unless the management sets an example it was unlikely that the employees would be encouraged to follow the instructions given to them. She asked her audience to leverage their unique position in the organization to affect the board’s behaviour in a positive manner.

She also expressed her displeasure at the fact that health and safety is treated as a formality in many organisations. She asked for greater commitment and a genuine desire for better implementation of health and safety policies.

Employees who have to face work environments that foster poor team spirit are 60% more susceptible to depressive symptoms and 50% more likely to take antidepressants according to a study published in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal.

The study covered 3347 Finnish employees with age ranging from 30 to 64. The employees were questioned on various aspects of their work place, and the data was used to find a correlation between work-related factors and depression.

The employees were asked about their perceptions of their workplace in terms of communication, team spirit, and meeting of demands. They were also asked to rate their work environment on attributes such as, support for new ideas, bias, and cordiality. Later on, the same employees were observed for depression related symptoms such as alcohol abuse. Data on their use of antidepressants from the national register was also taken into account.

Besides the questionnaire, the participants were also asked about things such as their social life, living arrangements and the availability of health services to eliminate any factors that could possibly interfere with the results of the study.

The authors pointed out that Finland has not recorded an increase in incidence of mental disorders between 1990 and 2005 but the use of antidepressants has risen sevenfold. They therefore stressed on the importance of psychosocial factors in a workplace for better handling of the situation, considering that depression is a common disorder accounting for a large number of sick leaves.