The Office for National Statistics has published its annual analysis of UK labour disputes in 2016, including working days lost, stoppages and workers involved. The number of working days lost due to labour disputes in 2016 was 322,000, which was more than in 2015 (170,000) but the eighth lowest annual total since records began in 1891. This increase in working days lost in 2016, compared with 2015, was partly attributable to a dispute involving junior doctors in the National Health Service in England, which accounted for 129,000 working days ... Continue reading

Building firm Mears has introduced a ban on staff wearing beards due to, it says, health and safety risks. In a letter to all staff, Mears stated that due to working in a potentially dusty environment, from now on all operatives must come to work clean shaven to be able to wear appropriate dust masks effectively. However, it says, “A ‘goatee’ may be acceptable so long as it does not hinder the correct fitting of said dusk masks.” The letter goes on to explain that there may be exceptions if a beard cannot be shaven or a dust mask cann... Continue reading

A council has been fined £150,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for publishing sensitive personal information about a family. Basildon Borough Council breached the Data Protection Act when it published the information in planning application documents which it made publicly available online. The ICO’s investigation found that on 16 July 2015, the council received a written statement in support of a householder’s planning application for proposed works in a green belt. The statement contained sensitive personal data rel... Continue reading

Road safety at work is a critical health and safety issue that requires higher priority from the HSE and one which should be at the core of good corporate governance for every employer, the UK’s biggest independent road safety charity, IAM RoadSmart has said. The message is included in its new 12-point manifesto, which calls on all road safety professionals to “work together to reduce the numbers of people killed and seriously injured on the UK’s roads.” The charity urges legislators, car makers, social media and smartphone companies ... Continue reading

The 18th edition of the Wiring Regulations (otherwise known as BS 7671) will be out in July 2018 to come into force at January 2019. The edition and year both being 18 are a coincidence. We don’t think this means that Wiring Regs will be coming out annually from now on, so you can relax! But there are some important changes. Firstly, energy efficiency is being embraced into the fold, which is most welcome. There have been substantial developments in metering and adding off grid electrical sources that the Regs needed to catch up on. So we ha... Continue reading