Latest Health & Safety legislation News

September annual security congress in Philadelphia : (ISC)²® announces call for speakers
posted on 12/12/2011

(ISC) 2® announced today the the call for speakers for the second annual (ISC)2 Security Congress, being held September 10-13, 2012, in Philadelphia, USA. The event, being collocated with the ASIS International 58th Annual Seminar and Exhibits, will bring together security professionals from all disciplines, making it the largest security event of its kind in the world. More than 20,000 information and physical security practitioners are expected to attend the joint event. (ISC)²’s primary objective with this event is to provide top-notch information security education to all levels of professionals, as well as offer sessions to all attendees addressing the intersection of physical and logical security. “We are delighted to once again align with ASIS to host this superior event that brings together leading security professionals from all disciplines,” said W. Hord Tipton, CISSP-ISSEP, CAP, executive director of (ISC)². “The integration of physical and logical security has become crit... [more]

Fire can easily ruin your Christmas if you do not follow simple advices
posted on 12/12/2011

The current Fire Kills campaign reminds people that some of their favourite festive traditions such as cooking Christmas dinner, decorating the home and drinking alcohol could have the potential to leave Yuletide celebrations in ruin. As statistics reveal that one in six fire deaths last year occurred in December. The distractions of a crowded house and celebrations can often result in festive cooking being left unattended. And the added influence of alcohol means that it’s even more important to stay alert while preparing the turkey dinner. Nearly 1,400 house fires were started by cooking appliances last December, resulting in more than 300 injuries. And while no Christmas party would be complete without a few decorations, the fact is that dry Christmas trees, flammable decorations and stray wrapping paper can all act as extra fuel for a fire sparked by overheated sockets, faulty fairy lights, unattended candles or carelessly discarded cigarettes. A recent survey by fire-safe ... [more]

Government's decision on health and safety legislation is welcomed by Forum of Private Business
posted on 30/11/2011

Government will revamp UK health and safety legislation as early as January – binning more than half the rules and regulations currently in force over a three-year period. Employment Minister Chris Grayling also signalled a ‘sooner rather than later’ approach, with the first rules removed from the statute book within a few months. From 1 January he also announced a new ‘challenge panel’, allowing businesses to get the decisions of health and safety inspectors overturned immediately if they have got it wrong. The announcement follows today’s publication of the Löfstedt Review into health and safety legislation, commissioned by the Employment Minister in March. It recommends health and safety law should not apply to self-employed people whose work activity poses no potential risk of harm to others. If implemented, the changes would benefit around a million self-employed people. Health and safety regulations will also be reduced through combining, simplifying and reducing the appr... [more]

Companies still fail to take necessary health and safety steps to avoid prosecution under the Corporate Manslaughter Act
posted on 16/05/2011

New research by G4S Monitoring & Response Services, part of G4S Secure Solutions (UK), reveals that a high proportion of companies are not taking the necessary measures to ensure the safety of their staff, with an estimated 38 instances of employees being attacked or threatened each year whilst working alone at a typical medium-to-large sized company. Indeed, two thirds (66%) of companies questioned admitted to not having put in place new measures and procedures designed to protect lone workers since the Corporate Manslaughter Act was introduced in 2007. Less than a third of respondents (29%) said they were confident that their organisation had taken all possible health and safety steps to avoid future prosecution under the Corporate Manslaughter Act. G4S is advising companies to ensure that they have the correct health and safety measures in place to mitigate the risks faced by staff who are deployed alone. The research also showed that, based on an average-sized company employing... [more]

A lone worker should not be at more risk than any other employee
posted on 16/03/2011

Changing work patterns and the need for businesses to 'downsize' are resulting in more and more staff becoming classified as lone workers. According to the Health & Safety Executive lone workers are those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision. They work in a wide range of professions within a number of sectors. Most UK companies will have lone working staff and therefore a duty to ensure their safety. According to the Health & Safety Executive from the 2008/9 British Crime Survey, there were approximately 305,000 threats of violence and 321,000 physical assaults by member of the public on British workers during the 12-months prior to the interviews. This represents a worrying rising trend facing many lone workers. Employers have responsibilities for the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees and the health and safety of those affected by the work e.g. contractors and self-employed people who companies may engage. These responsibilities cannot b... [more]

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