Employers reminded of importance of worker safety

Employers are being urged to focus on real risk after 20 workers lost their lives while at work in Scotland last year - an increase of six on the previous year.

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Council and building firm fined for asbestos exposure

Staffordshire County Council and a refurbishment firm have been fined for exposing a nursery class, school staff and two joiners to asbestos fibres.

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Legionella visits in the west of Scotland

Businesses and organisations with cooling towers in the west of Scotland are facing checks to ensure they are managing legionella risks appropriately.

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Legal loopholes put workers at risk of injury

Injuries inflicted with needles and other sharp instruments in the healthcare sector could be avoided if regulatory loopholes were closed, campaigners have claimed.

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Leicestershire firm prosecuted after worker's five-metre fall

A Leicestershire building firm has been fined after an employee fell five metres and was then struck by a wooden board and concrete blocks after a partially-built floor gave way.

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Catholic Institute found liable for school abuse

The Supreme Court has held that a Catholic teaching institute is vicariously liable for alleged acts of sexual and physical abuse of children by its members between 1952 and 1992 at St Williams, a residential institution at Market Weighton for boys in need of care.

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Gloucestershire firm fined over teenager's severed fingers

A Gloucestershire manufacturer has appeared in court after a teenage apprentice had parts of two fingers severed in unguarded machinery.

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ABI launches Campaign for Safe Young Drivers

To coincide with Road Safety Week, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has published new research showing overwhelming public backing for radical new proposals to help stop young people dying or being seriously injured on our roads.

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Safer vehicles through international harmonisation

The European Commission has reached agreement with international partners on new internationally harmonised rules on Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS) and Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS) for commercial vehicles.

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Defence company sentenced over explosion death

A defence company has been ordered to pay £376,000 in fines and costs for safety failings that caused a fatal explosion at its Hampshire factory in 2006.

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Bill to close legal loophole on partnerships

A Bill designed to close the legal loophole allowing partnerships to evade prosecution by dissolving, as happened in the Rosepark fire in Uddingston, has been introduced to the House of Lords by the Advocate General for Scotland Lord Wallace of Tankerness.

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Assault on health and safety will increase risk of injury

A two-pronged attack on health and safety by the Government will expose workers and members of the public to greater risk of injury, campaigners have warned.

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Workplace ill health and injury in Scotland

Recently published figures have revealed slight falls in a number of key areas of workplace ill-health and injury in Scotland.

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Lighter nights could help cut road deaths

Lighter nights all year round could help to arrest the rising number of road deaths, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). 

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Asbestos victims let down again by revised rules for insurers

Proposed new rules on how old insurance records are searched are a “missed opportunity” to ensure the industry honours its responsibility to sick and dying workers.

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New checks for doctors in patient safety boost

Doctors in the UK are to become the first in the world to have regular assessments to ensure that their training and expertise are up-to-date and that they are fit to carry out their roles, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced.

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Nursing home fined for elderly man's fatal fall

Truro Crown court has heard that an elderly man with dementia was able to wander into another resident's room at his nursing home and fall to his death from a window. Reginald Gibbings, 89, fell 3.6 metres from the room in July 2008.

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Working at height put under safety spotlight

Dozens of construction sites across Scotland have been put under the spotlight as part of an intensive inspection regime by the Health and Safety Executive.

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Health and safety study launched

People involved in health and safety at work are being invited to take part in a UK-wide study into the sources of information they use, either in their workplaces or when giving guidance to others.

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Call to improve the safety of young drivers

Urgent action is needed to improve the safety of young drivers, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The industry group says that radical measures are necessary – including a minimum one year learning period.

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