Jan 2023
News - January 2023 - Legal Update
News: Vehicle unloading accident
A common problem within the logistics industry is when loads move in transit, often creating additional risk to those unloading. This case concerns an accident caused by those circumstances which resulted in a fall and head injury to an employee.
Further information:
News: Long Covid could be a disability
A Scottish employment tribunal has ruled that a man’s symptoms of long-COVID amount to a disability under the Equality Act 2010. The case does not mean that all cases are a disability but employers should consider the possibility when dealing with long-term or repeated sickness absence cases.
Further information:
News: Radon map updated
An updated radon potential map for Great Britain has been published. The maps are useful when evaluating the risk of radon within a premises.
Further information:
https://www.ukradon.org/information/ukmaps
News: Fire Safety (England ) Regulations 2022
On 23 January 2023 regulations come into force for buildings in England that include two or more domestic premises.
Further information:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-england-regulations-2022
News: Construction workers at high risk of suicide
A study has highlighted that there are 34 suicides per 100,000 construction workers, up from 24 seven years ago.
Further information:
https://www.shponline.co.uk/wellbeing/ons-study-reveals-construction-suicide-rate-increase-in-2021/
News: Fire evacuation strategies for high-rise residential blocks
The Home Office has published a review of current strategies by fire and rescue services for the evacuation of high rise buildings.
Further information:
Case law: Worker contracted leptospirosis
An environmental clean-up company has been fined £126,100 after an employee contracted leptospirosis at a contaminated lake. There were no welfare facilities provided, making it more likely that workers would be made ill as a result of skin contamination. Amongst the charges was a breach of Regulation 20(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, a relatively rare occurrence.
Further information:
Case law: Operators of mobile platforms risk entrapment
A study has been published which evaluates the use of secondary guarding devices to prevent entrapment injuries by users of mobile elevating work platforms.
Further information:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr1180.htm
Case law: Asbestos surveyor fell through rooflight
An asbestos surveyor who went on to a fragile roof to take samples, fell through a rooflight and was seriously and permanently injured. His employer was then fined £200,000. The accident could have been avoided by having clear rules for safe work at height based on a risk assessment.
Further information:
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2022/12/22/company-fined-200000-after-employee-badly-injured-in-fall/
Case law: £858,000 fine for food producer
David Wood Baking Limited has been fined £858,000 after an employee’s arm had to be amputated after being drawn in to an industrial food mixer. The accident would have been prevented if the machine’s guarding and interlock devices had been intact.
Further information:
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2022/12/22/food-company-fined-858000-after-worker-loses-arm/
Case law: Floor collapsed whilst under construction
A building company, Lusson Ltd, has been fined £66,667 after a worker was injured when a floor that was under construction collapsed. The pallets of blocks loaded on to it caused a collapse whilst three people were also on it, causing one serious leg fractures.
Further information:
Case law: Worker fell from fork lift truck
A food manufacturer has been fined after a worker was asked to help counterbalance an overloaded fork lift truck, resulting in a fall which caused serious injuries.
Further information:
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2022/12/15/confectionery-firm-fined-after-worker-is-injured-in-fall/