PHSC Health and Safety News

Issue: June 2007

Harsher treatment for drivers using mobiles

On 27 February, the fine for using a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving increased from £30 to £60 giving a new meaning to “pay as you go”. In addition, the offence became endorsable and will result in three penalty points on the driver’s licence.

The road safety charity, Brake, has estimated that 1 in 4 deaths on the road involve people at work, and many of those are associated with mobile phone use.

Smoke-free (Signs) Regulations 2007 – latest version slightly amended

These regulations have recently been approved and are due to come into force on 1 July 2007. They specify the wording to appear on the signs that must be displayed at premises to comply with the forthcoming smoking ban at enclosed workplaces.

The text has been amended from that originally proposed, and now reads: “It is against the law to smoke or knowingly to permit smoking on these premises”. It is permissible to substitute “these premises” for a descriptor, e.g. “this hotel” or “these offices”.

The regulations also require signs to be put in vehicles used for work, where the vehicle is not for the exclusive use of one person at any time.

New construction safety regulations

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM) were laid before Parliament on 15 February 2007 and will come into force on 6 April, replacing the 1994 version. The stated aims of the new regulations are to integrate health and safety into the management of the construction project, and to encourage everyone involved to work together to improve the planning and management of projects.

This involves early identification of risks, directing effort to where it can do the most good in terms of health and safety; and avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy. The role of planning supervisor will disappear and a new function of CDM Co-ordinator is created. More emphasis is place on clients’ and designers’ responsibilities.

Bird disease strikes in DIY store

A man who contracted psittacosis after exposure to an infected parrot has been awarded £700,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

Glyn Atherton, aged 35, worked in Focus DIY at Nottingham at a time when the store sold African Grey parrots. Mr Atheron, who is now confined to a wheelchair, had regularly walked past the bird’s cage but was not directly involved with the pet section. Focus DIY has since stopped selling pets at all of its stores.

Counselling service not a substitute for stress management d

The Court of Appeal has upheld an award of £135,000 to Tracy Daw, a worker at silicon chip firm Intel, after the company appealed the original High Court ruling. Workplace pressure over a period of 13 years was alleged to have cause mental breakdown.

Intel had countered by saying that if Ms Daw had used their employee assistance programme the extent of the problem would have been identified far earlier.

The Court ruled that the demands her employer had made were totally unreasonable and there was a clear risk to health, and that providing a counselling service was not a means to discharge the duty of care to employees.

Startling noise leads to injury payout

A faulty coffee machine delivered jets of steam and loud hissing noises followed by an electrical flash, rather than the expected beverage, causing a worker to jump away and fall to the floor.

Kitchen assistant Helen Given fractured her hip and broke her wrist as a result. An award of £60,000 was made, following the injuries in the canteen at James Watt College, Greenock.

Penalty for no insurance

Andrew Richardson, owner of Southern Gas Conversions Limited, was ordered to pay £11,500 in fines and costs by City of London Magistrates’ Court after running his business whilst uninsured.

The problem came to light because a 17-year-old worker sustained an injury and found herself unable to claim compensation.

YMCA fail in risk assessment duty

The Nottingham branch of YMCA attempted to cut corners by asking an untrained member of staff to carry out risk assessments at its charity shop in Eastwood.

After a customer tripped over defective floor coverings and fractured her pelvis, the organisation was ordered to pay £13,000 in fines and costs.

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