Latest Health & Safety legislation News

Boiling Frog app is one of the most cost effective ways to reduce the risk of both accidents and illness
posted on 17/02/2011

Any organisation must provide proper health and safety information for its employees, particularly those travelling to high risk areas. The continuing threat of terrorism, the recent civil unrest in Arab countries, floods and other natural disasters coupled with tighter legislation, make it essential to provide an effective health and safety programme. Last year 800,000 employees went on trips to high or extreme risk destinations, meanwhile new legislation puts a greater responsibility on organisations to provide an effective Duty of Care programme – but many fail to do so. The new Boiling Frog app provides highly practical travel, safety and first aid advice for all travellers but particularly for those travelling to high risk areas, making it the perfect first step in meeting the new legal obligations. Boiling Frog encourages people to be prepared – reducing the risk of things going wrong but also helping to minimise the severity, inconvenience and cost if they still do. Created b... [more]

Code Accurately to Reduce Denial of Claims
posted on 29/11/2010

What is coding? In short, the process of coding the documents of physicians in his office or clinics is termed as medical coding. The definition is quite simple but the process of coding isn’t that simple. It requires a pool of talents to become a perfect medical coder. No physician’s clinic or office will be without medical coders because they are compulsory for the improvement of their business. Role of coders: A coder is a trained professional with stupendous knowledge of medical terms. Coders code the document of the physicians based on the disease and treatment noted for the patients. They analyze the record scrupulously to grab the exact details from the document to furnish an accurate and perfect coding. It is with the help of the coding performed by coders, the claims are evaluated by the insurance companies and exact fee is rendered to the health care sectors. Coding and billing: A mess up in coding leads to denial of claims by insurance companies. An accurate coding may... [more]

The security sector cannot ignore the Corporate Manslaughter Act
posted on 23/09/2009

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 took effect on 6 April 2008. The first charge under the Act was authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service in April 2009 against Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings as a result of a fatal accident involving an employee who had been collecting samples in a pit. A corporate manslaughter charge is against the organisation rather than an individual. However, under the common law, individuals – including directors and senior managers – can still commit an offence of manslaughter through gross negligence. The two types of cases can be run concurrently. The main penalty specified is an unlimited fine. The Act also introduces ‘publicity orders’ – it will allow courts to require convicted organisations to publish details of offences and penalties. In addition, the Court may make binding recommendations called ‘remedial orders’. The Corporate Manslaughter Act makes it easier than previous measures to initiate a prosecution against mor... [more]

Health trusts given funds to allow staff at risk of violence to be provided with suitable body armour
posted on 08/06/2009

A recent study of 40,000 nurses featured in Occupational Medicine, claimed 29% of nurses in the UK were subjected to violent episodes once a month or more. Figures published in a NHS Staff Survey highlight the total number of reported physical assaults, not including verbal abuse, on all NHS staff rose from 58,695 in 2006 to 55,993 in 2008, indicating the problem is getting worse. As knife related incidents at work reach an all time high, health and safety officials and protective clothing company staff met at a London conference to discuss why provisions have not been put into place to prevent attacks from occurring at work. ASEO organised the event, which saw Local Government Heads, Union representatives and the media attend to address the issue of personal safety for lone workers and front line operatives facing attacks on a daily basis. The event follows health minister Ben Bradshaw’s indication that all health trusts have been given funds to allow those deemed at risk of viol... [more]

New Corporate Manslaughter law sends out deterrent message to organisations that do not take their health and safety responsibilities seriously
posted on 02/04/2009

The new Corporate Manslaughter law is designed to increase the amount of convictions of corporate manslaughter by removing the necessity to identify and establish the guilt of a directing mind. It instead focuses on "management failure", referring to the way in which the organisation's activities were managed or organised. It is anticipated that the Sentencing Guidelines Council will be issuing its guidance for the Court later this year. Companies could be fined between 2.5% and 10% of their turnover for committing the new offence of Corporate Manslaughter. For many companies, this will mean fines of several millions of pounds and for some, fines could amount to hundreds of millions of pounds. Potentially even more damaging, is that the Court may also impose a publicity order, which requires the organisation to publicise in a specified manner the fact that it has been convicted of the offence, the specified particulars of the offence, the amount of any fine imposed, and the terms of... [more]

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