Last month, I mentioned two big moments – the General Election and the 50th anniversary of the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) on 31 July. The lack of attention given to health, safety, or even wellbeing by most political parties in their election manifestos, while not entirely unexpected, was disappointing. And it doesn’t reflect the real concerns of workers and leaders here and around the world.
By Mike Robinson FCA on 01 July 2024
In my previous piece for Safety Management last summer (‘A new Building Safety Remediation Scheme would hold developers and builders to account for all fire and building safety defects in homes’) I set the scene on the unfolding world of building safety remediation and described how I was attempting to change things in the interests of consumer safety. Now with a general election called, there is an opportunity to influence the policies of a new, incoming administration.
By The Earl of Lytton on 28 June 2024
It’s a simple, obvious truth: the cleaner the air we breathe, the healthier we are. Yet, most of us are inhaling pollution out in the streets as well as in the safety of our homes, offices, schools, hospitals and other buildings – without realising the damage it is causing to our health, nor that there are quick, easy solutions to clean the air and strengthen the health of our communities.
By Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah CBE, Ella Roberta Foundation on 30 May 2024
It’s been said that since we are given the gift of 84,000 seconds every day, we should use at least one of them to say ‘thank you’. That’s not bad advice. And a simple thank you does more than you might think, for you, as well as for those on the receiving end.
By Samantha Peters, Being Well Together Committee on 07 December 2020
The idea that ‘local knows best’ is a deeply rooted one. The UK’s national institutions such as the Home Office, even the monarchy or Church of England, are relative latecomers when compared to local structures like shires that originated with our Saxon or Roman heritage.
By Mike Robinson FCA on 24 November 2020
That ‘we shout safety but whisper health’ was something regularly heard within the construction health and safety community before 2020.
By Jennie Armstrong on 23 November 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on health and safety requirements the civil and criminal law imposes on duty holders. It has done so in the context of a virus no one had heard of 12 months ago and in respect of which scientific understanding is evolving.
By Keith Morton QC on 05 November 2020
It’s Zahra’s first day back at work, as her office reopens after several months. Before this year, she wouldn’t have said her job at an IT services company was a dangerous one – bar the odd stray cable on the floor.
By Lesley Rankin on 20 October 2020
Something I really miss these days is smiling. I don’t mean I never smile. Rather, it’s the interaction I miss. I smile at you. You smile at me. Our mood lifts. It’s a language everyone understands. Masks inevitably mute the process.
By Samantha Peters on 05 October 2020
This is my last column for a while, after something over two years of monthly musings as chairman of the British Safety Council. I had prepared some sort of summing up, looking at the key themes explored.
By Lawrence Waterman OBE on 08 September 2020
In the months since the first case was identified in the UK, the coronavirus pandemic continues to have a profound impact on individuals, industries and our healthcare system.
By Tautvydas Karitonas on 09 June 2020
The Fire Safety Bill, introduced to the UK Parliament during lockdown, is likely to become law in the autumn.
By Katherine Metcalfe on 01 September 2020
As parliament goes away for summer recess until 1 September, the government has published the Building Safety Bill.
By Charles Pitt on 12 August 2020
