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March/April 2023 issue

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Retail
News

Government sets up product safety authority

Open-access content Monday 22nd January 2018
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Government sets up product safety authority

The new national product safety authority, which will help manage largescale product recalls and identify risks to consumers, comes in the wake of several high-profile fires, including Grenfell Tower, which have been linked to faulty fridge freezers and tumble dryers.

The office will support the work of the local authority trading standards teams. It will also provide advice and support to ensure manufacturers, importers and retailers meet their responsibilities to place only safe products on the market.

The Working Group on Product Recalls and Safety, a group of consumer, fire and product safety experts, set up by the government in October 2016 to consider how to improve the safety of white goods and increase the success of the recall system, published its recommendations in July 2017.

Chaired by Neil Gibbins, a former deputy chief fire officer and former chief executive of the Institution of Fire Engineers, the working group built on work by the Recall Review Steering Group, which was set up in response to the Review of Consumer Product Recall undertaken by consumer champion and former BBC presenter Lynn Faulds Wood.

According to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, a defect discovered in tumble dryers sold under the Hotpoint, Creda and Indesit brands, and which was discovered in 2015, has led to at least 750 fires since 2004.

More than one million fire-risk tumble dryers are still in use more than two years after the defect was identified.

Consumer group Which? welcomed the move but added the action fell short of a full overhaul. It called for an independent national body, which "has real powers to protect and get dangerous products out of [consumers'] homes".

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 HSE reviews adventure activity licensing scheme

Thursday 18th January 2018
Under the existing regulations commercial providers of outdoor adventure pursuits for under 18s, such as caving and water sports, are legally required to undergo an inspection of their safety management systems and hold a licence issued by the Adventure and Activities Licensing Authority (AALA). The consultation includes three options on the future of adventure activity legislation in Great Britain.
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 Esther McVey’s appointment as minister with HSE oversight “inappropriate”, claim GMB and Labour

Tuesday 16th January 2018
McVey’s appointment as secretary of State for Work and Pensions gives her overall responsibility for the Department for Work and Pensions, including the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).However, Labour and the GMB have both called on Prime Minister Theresa May to reconsider her decision.  McVey was in charge of the HSE in 2013 after taking up the role of Minister of State for Employment.
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 Survey reveals poor welfare facilities on UK construction sites

Monday 29th January 2018
The September 2017 poll of more than 3,500 Unite members working in construction also found that 22% and 14% of sites were without hot and cold water respectively.  The findings revealed 17% of construction sites had no women’s toilets. Lavatory facilities were described as “inadequate” by 18% of respondents; one in ten sites did not supply toilet paper and half did not have any showers, the study showed.
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 Shell ordered to improve process safety at St Fergus terminal

Friday 12th January 2018
The Health and Safety Executive served an improvement notice on the energy giant last November after it failed to maintain emergency shutdown valves.It said Shell had breached the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH) and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations by failing to take “necessary measures to prevent major accidents and limit their consequences”.
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 Court cuts £700k Whirlpool fine to £300k on appeal

Wednesday 10th January 2018
Barrister Dominic Adamson, who represented the company, said the sentencing judge His Honour Judge Patrick had “erred” in his application of the sentencing guidelines and that the original sentence was “manifestly excessive”.
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 Government clamps down on unsafe lasers

Tuesday 9th January 2018
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  Morrisons’ £3.5m fine is ‘a warning to all employers’, says council

Friday 24th March 2023
Morrisons supermarket has been fined £3.5 million for failing to ensure the health and safety of an epileptic employee who died after falling from a shop stairway.
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 IOSH launches new five-year strategy

Tuesday 21st March 2023
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 Risk & Compliance software provider collaborates with HSE and Costain to improve risk management on worksites

Friday 17th March 2023
A Belfast-based Risk & Compliance software provider has been collaborating with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and construction giant Costain as part of an ongoing project to unlock artificial intelligence’s (AI) potential in improving the management of risks on worksites.
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  Morrisons’ £3.5m fine is ‘a warning to all employers’, says council

Friday 24th March 2023
Morrisons supermarket has been fined £3.5 million for failing to ensure the health and safety of an epileptic employee who died after falling from a shop stairway.
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 Black Friday: a safety nightmare?

Friday 25th November 2022
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 Black Friday: a retailer's perspective

Friday 25th November 2022
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 A reasonable balance to strike

Friday 24th March 2023
Safety interventions should be practicable and cost-effective, but too much of an imbalance towards safety does not make economic sense for employers, argues Geoff Vaughan, who suggests ‘gross disproportion’ provides a practical limit.
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 Spring budget and occupational health

Friday 17th March 2023
Richard Jones CFIOSH, comments on the occupational health aspects of the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's first budget statement.
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 Health and safety regulations at risk under draft law

Monday 13th March 2023
A proposed new law aims to revoke EU-derived legislation, including life-saving protections, by December 2023, unless specifically kept or replaced – Richard Jones CFIOSH explains how OSH practitioners can get involved.
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 Terminal cancer cases in Grenfell firefighters

Friday 20th January 2023
National media reports have revealed that up to a dozen Grenfell firefighters have been diagnosed with terminal cancer
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 Appeal success for food firm over ‘excessive’ fine

Tuesday 1st November 2022
Court of Appeal reduces Dub Catering’s £120,000 penalty for firm’s breaches of fire safety law.
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 HSE publishes revised construction fire safety guidance

Thursday 1st September 2022
The GB Health and Safety Executive has recently published a revised version of its fire safety in construction (HSG168) document. 
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