Oct 2020
News - November 2020 - Legal Update
Self-isolation must be enforced. With the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Self-Isolation) (England) Regulations 2020 in force it is now an offence for an employer to allow an employee to attend work if they should be self-isolating. Employers face a potential fine of £10,000 if they do not comply.
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/employers-face-10k-fine-for-failing-to-enforce-self-isolation/
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1045/contents/made
Non-compliant chemicals. It appears that one in four substances imported into the EU are non-compliant (the legislation being REACH and Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) regulations). Examples of the non-compliance include incorrect hazard labelling and products containing illegal amounts of restricted substances.
https://echa.europa.eu/-/1-in-4-imported-products-found-to-be-non-compliant-with-reach-and-clp
Pressurised equipment examination. The Safety Assessment Federation has published guidance which clarifies how engineers can assist employers to maintain the safety of pressurised equipment which falls outside of the statutory requirements of the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000. An example of this is when pressurised equipment is below the volume of 250 bar litres which triggers many of the requirements.
https://www.safed.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/PSG-20-Issue-01-25-Sep-2020.pdf
Costly machinery guarding failure. Following an accident in which an employee's hand was caught in a clamp due to a lack of guarding or other safety devices, a fine of over £100,000 has been handed to a UK manufacturer.
https://www.ioshmagazine.com/2020/09/29/pipe-firm-hit-ps100k-puwer-fine-after-worker-shatters-hand
New or revised limits for some carcinogens. New or revised limit values have been set for acrylonitrile, nickel compounds and benzene in the fourth revision of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive.
Agency worker’s arm dragged into machinery. Following an incident which involved a worker's arm being pulled by his sleeve, into rotating parts of a modified lathe, a manufacturer has been fined £22,000. Investigations found the company had not identified the hazard and had not ensured that it was protected with an appropriate guard or safety device.
https://www.ioshmagazine.com/2020/10/02/lathe-trapped-agency-workers-arm
The dangers of clearing blockages. An employee lost an arm while clearing a blockage from a conveyor belt. His employer has since been fined £140,000 after it was found to have failed to implement an effective safe system of work.
https://www.shponline.co.uk/in-court/hi-peak-feeds-limited-fined-after-serious-injury-to-employee/
Supermarket ignored prohibition notice. A supermarket has been fined £30,000 after staff removed tape which had been placed around the equipment by Environmental Health Officers to indicate it must not be used. The EHO had served a prohibition notice on the use of the poorly guarded meat-cutting saw.
https://www.ioshmagazine.com/2020/10/09/supermarket-fined-flagrant-disregard-prohibition-notice
Workers are feeling anxious at work. An annual survey carried out by the mental health organisation, Mind shows that over half of employees feel anxious at work. It does however highlight that 64% of employees feel that their organisation encourages openness and discussion, a higher percentage than any previous year.
REACH deadlines clarified. Technical information has been issued by the European Commission to help those who have registered substances with them under REACH. It gives details of the timescale for updating their dossier when new information becomes available.
https://newsletter.echa.europa.eu/fr/home/-/newsletter/entry/registration-update-deadlines-clarified
Fatal injury when load fell. A transport company has been fined after a worker was crushed by a pallet of stone tiles he was attempting to load onto a vehicle tail lift. The driver had only worked for the company for two weeks and had not been trained in how to do the work safely. In addition the load of 1400Kg was inappropriately being moved with a hand operated pallet truck.
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2020/10/16/transport-company-fined-after-employee-fatally-crushed/
Watch out for materials shortages. The Brexit working group of the Construction Leadership Council has published guidance for companies on the movement of goods and materials into and between Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the expiration of the EU transition period on 31 December 2020.