The Work at Height Regulations 2005 took effect on 6 April 2005, and apply to all activities where there is a risk of falling. Excluded are activities carried out on staircases in permanent workplaces, and travel to or from a workplace.

The hierarchy of control is: a) avoid work at height, b) where this is unavoidable, use work equipment or other measures to prevent falls, and c) where there is still a risk of falling, take measures to reduce the distance or minimise the consequences.

Obligations on dutyholders include: ensuring that work at height is properly organised, planned and supervised; restricting work to trained and competent workers; ensuring a safe work place and safe work equipment; controlling the risks of falling objects.

A 12-page information leaflet, reference number INDG401, is available free of charge from HSE Books on tel: 01787 881165.

There are proposals to amalgamate and simplify the laws on construction safety, by bringing together the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 and the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996.

The Health and Safety Commission say they wish to improve clarity and make it easier for everyone to know what is expected of them; maximise their flexibility to fit with the vast range of contractual arrangements; focus on planning and management, rather than 'the plan' and other paperwork; encourage co-ordination and co-operation, particularly between designers and contractors; and simplify the assessment of the competence of organisations.

Shell UK were fined a total of £900,000 at Stonehaven Sheriff Court, after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the deaths of two workers on Shell Expro's Brent Bravo offshore production platform on 11 September 2003.

The men were inspecting pipework when they were overcome by a large release of hydrocarbon gas. Shell admitted breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 by failing to ensure the health and safety of employees and people not in their employment, and Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 by failing to complete a suitable and sufficient risk assessment.

A builder from Hartlepool, Eric Dawson, was given a four-month custodial sentence at Hartlepool Magistrates Court following his attack on a Health and Safety Executive Inspector. The inspector had called Mr Dawson down from a dangerous working position, approximately five metres above the pavement, on industrial staging, without any means to prevent himself, his tools or his materials falling onto passers-by below. After descending, Mr Dawson thumped the officer for his trouble.

Barrow Borough Council was formally acquitted of seven charges of manslaughter, following an outbreak of legionnaires' disease at Forum 28, an art centre under Council control, in 2002. The Head of Design Services, Gillian Beckingham, also faced personal prosecution as she was the manager responsible for maintenance.

Ms Beckingham was ordered to stand retrial in respect of the manslaughter allegations after a verdict could not be reached at Preston Crown Court. She did, however, plead guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Hampstead Heath Winter Swimming Club has successfully challenged a ruling by the Corporation of London that members could not swim in ponds unsupervised. The corporation argued that an injury to an unsupervised swimmer would render them liable under s3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which places duties upon employers to conduct their undertakings in a manner that does not create risks to non-employees.

Judge Stanley Burton ruled that where an adult had permission to swim unsupervised in a pond that had no hidden dangers, and chose to swim in it, the risks he incurred were as a result of him deciding to swim rather than the result of permission being given to swim. It followed that the risk arising was not brought about by the conduct of the employer, thus the employer was not liable to be convicted of a s3 offence. Therefore, the prohibition of swimming on those grounds was based on a legal error.

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