Feb 2022
News - February 2022- Legal Update
News: Coronavirus
Updates on COVID-19 advice. Various relaxations to the rules have occurred across all four nations. England has currently gone further than other nations, with an end to Plan B restrictions from 27th January 2022. Face coverings are now advisory for enclosed or crowded spaces, but not mandatory anywhere (NB. Businesses can still choose to make them mandatory). Regulations behind self-isolation rules expire in March and are not expected to be renewed.
Those with a positive lateral flow test are no longer required to get a confirmatory PCR test.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-covid-19
Construction Leadership Council guidelines. The CLC has published version 9 of its coronavirus operating procedures. The key changes are:
- A revised introduction to recognise that working with COVID-19 is now ‘business as usual’ for the industry;
- Appropriate language to reflect the current situation on site, for example ‘managing’ rather than ‘restricting’ numbers of workers;
- Removing out of date references to when to go to work, shielding etc.
https://www.constructionleadershipcouncil.co.uk/news/site-operating-procedures-version-9/
News: HSE
HSE inspectors’ blitz in South Yorkshire. A recent inspection campaign by the HSE shows that the regulator is still prepared to turn out on site. Inspectors visited 71 businesses in the Sheffield and Rotherham area in a short period, with almost all receiving a letter or enforcement notice.
News: Highway Code
Highway Code reformed. Pedestrians and cyclists are given more protection on the road via changes within the revised Highway Code.
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/these-are-top-five-highway-code-changes
News: Electric Vehicles
Vehicle charge points infrastructure. Approved Document S provides technical guidance regarding the installation and charge point requirements under the Building Regulations
News: PPE
PPE amendment regulations. Regulations have been published which will amend the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (PPEWR). The result will be that certain self-employed workers who were not previously entitled to free PPE, will need to be provided with it by the business that they work for.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/8/contents/made
Case law:
Trespasser was owed only a limited duty of care. London Underground (LUL) has won a case in which a mother claimed damages in connection with a fatal accident to her son at Canning Town station. Bernard Ovu, who was intoxicated at the time, fell down some fire escape stairs in a staff-only area and his mother claimed LUL was liable. The case failed because the stairs were not in a dangerous state.
https://www.ioshmagazine.com/2022/01/18/claim-dismissed-against-tube-after-fatal-fall-trespasser
Tower scaffold fall. A company has been prosecuted after a man’s sleeve caught on part of the scaffold and he fell over the single guard rail which had been installed. It was found that the mobile scaffold tower was badly configured.
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2022/01/12/construction-worker-dies-after-falling-from-tower/
Lifting accident led to £365,000 fine. Northumbrian Water Limited has been fined after a worker was injured by a 1.5 tonne water valve in a confined chamber at Kielder Reservoir, Northumberland. The valve suspended from a lorry mounted crane, swung across the chamber and causing serious fractures to his leg.
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2022/01/06/companies-fined-after-employee-fractures-leg-at-reservoir/
£90,000 fine for Hand-arm Vibration Syndrome. MTL Advanced Limited have been sentenced for health breaches after several metal fabricators were diagnosed with hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) or carpal tunnel syndrome.
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2022/01/13/manufacturing-company-fined-after-workers-exposed-to-risk/
Unlicensed asbestos removal. Two directors have been personally fined for deliberately disturbing asbestos that they knew was present. They had ordered cupboards to be dismantled, but they contained asbestos insulation board and no precautions were taken to prevent contamination and inhalation.
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2022/01/18/directors-fined-for-unlicensed-asbestos-removal/
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2022/01/20/company-fined-after-employee-injures-finger-in-saw-incident/
Director disqualified. A construction company director has been banned from being a director for two years and ordered to carry out community service, after pleading guilty to six health and safety offences. Inspectors visited one of his sites three times, and insufficient improvement was made.