Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Drug Driving Offence Unveiled

Legislation was unveiled in the Queen’s Speech last week which will create a specific drug driving offence. Currently police have to demonstrate that driving had been impaired by drugs in order to prosecute.

Under the proposed legislation it will automatically be an offence to drive a motor vehicle if you have certain controlled drugs in your body in excess of specified limits. This will make it much easier for police to take action against drug drivers.

Devices to screen for drugs in the body are expected to receive type approval from the Home Office by the end of the year.

Road Safety Minister Mike Penning said:

“Drug drivers are a deadly menace – they must be stopped and that is exactly what I intend to do.

“The new offence sends out a clear message that if you drive whilst under the influence of drugs you will not get away with it.

“We have an enviable record on road safety in this country and I want to keep it that way. This measure will help to rid our roads of the irresponsible minority who risk the lives of innocent motorists and pedestrians.”

An independent review of drink and drug driving law in 2010 recommended that a new specified limit offence should be developed. The exact drugs covered by the offence and the specified limits for each will be determined following advice from an expert panel and a public consultation.

Earlier this year the Department for Transport announced the formation of the panel. Members will include experts in the field of alcohol and drug misuse and will also work with officials from the Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Department of Health.

The penalty for the new offence will be a maximum of 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £5,000, and an automatic driving ban of at least 12 months.

Source: Driving Standards Agency May 2012

LST Comment: All commercial drivers and anyone who drivers for a living or commutes by care, should take heed as this announcement covers all drivers, and not just driving for social domestic and pleasure. We will ensure that this message is passed to all our Drivers CPC and International CPC courses. Business owners should ensure that this message is communicated at all levels.

Fines for Failing to Adequately Protect Members of the Public

If you were waiting for a bus would like to be injured by a falling piece of machinery?

Well a Hertfordshire building company has been fined for injuring a woman as she waited for a bus. The incident occurred on 26th of September 2008 and was preventable!

Magistrates’ Court heard on the 18th of April how a member of the public was waiting for a bus on York Road, London, when she was hit by a piece of machinery being lifted to the fifth floor of a nearby office block.

The woman suffered severe multiple injuries including several broken bones and cuts and swelling to her head. She was in hospital for eight days and the injuries have affected her work and studies.

The building was being refurbished and instead of traditional scaffolding being used on the site, a mast climber had been erected.  This allowed workers to be raised and lowered on the outside of the building.

The HSE investigation found that a crane and lifting slings were being used to lift a 380kg air handling unit. The crane was not fitted correctly and during the lift, the unit hit a mast climber and was knocked out of its sling causing it to fall from height and hit the member of the public.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Bose Ogunsekan said:

“Concentra Ltd failed in its duty to manage the safety of persons affected by its activities. A high risk activity such as using a crane to lift this sort of load on the site should have been fully risk assessed during the planning stages of the project. In addition, further measures that would have also protected members of the public from site traffic, such as an alternative pedestrian route and a temporary bus stop elsewhere, could have prevented injury to passers by.”

Concentra Ltd were found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in relation to the incident. The firm was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £21,000

Source: HSE

LST Comment: This story yet again tells the facts about the importance of better planning and management of work tasks that are being carried out. Take the time to think of what would happen to you and your company if an event like this were to happen involving you. An act like the one above will jeopardise the validity of your company and ruin the years of hard work put into making it a success. The HSE document which gives guidance for the protection of the public is HSG 151.

Take the time to prevent rather than taking the time to defend!

Landlord Makes False Entries into Gas Safety Records

LST asks: Do you own or maintain commercially run premises? Are you a landlord to tenants? Please read on and understand why you need to make sure that you do everything you need too.

A landlord has been prosecuted for putting the life of a tenant at risk by falsifying a gas safety document.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) took legal action against Terence McBride after it discovered he had changed the dates on the record for an annual gas safety check to suggest it was still valid.

Trafford Magistrates’ Court in Sale heard his tenant contacted the authorities after suspecting a carbon monoxide leak at the house she rented on Bell Lane in Pemberton in May 2011. A National Grid engineer visited the property and sealed off the gas supply after finding a leak.

The court was told Mr McBride had arranged a gas safety check at the house through his letting agents in April 2009, which expired a year later. When he decided to hire a new agent in April 2011, he provided a copy of the gas safety document with the dates altered so that it appeared to still be current.

A tenant moved into the property on 3 May 2011, but it was three weeks before the gas leak was detected.

Terence McBride pleaded guilty to a breach of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 by failing to arrange an annual gas safety check.

Mr McBride, of Sawyer Drive in Ashton-in-Makerfield, received a community order requiring him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £600 towards the cost of the prosecution at a hearing on 13 April 2012.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Philip Strickland said:

“If Terence McBride’s tenant hadn’t contacted National Grid after suspecting a carbon monoxide leak then I dread to think what could have happened to her. It is a legal requirement on all landlords to have an annual gas safety check and Mr McBride put the life of his tenant at risk by failing to arrange for a registered gas engineer to visit the property for more than two years. This case should act as a warning to landlords that if they put their tenants’ lives at risk by ignoring the law then we will take action against them.”

Around 20 people die every year in the UK from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by unsafe gas appliances. Landlords are legally required to arrange an annual inspection of their properties by an engineer registered with the Gas Safe Register.

Paul Johnston, Chief Executive of the Gas Safe Register added:

“Some landlords may think that failing to do an annual check on gas appliances, or not having a landlord’s gas safety record, isn’t that important or may save them some money. What they fail to realise is that these checks are legal requirements and are in place to save lives. If you are a landlord, make sure you stay on the right side of the law when it comes to gas and always use a Gas Safe registered engineer.”

Homeowners and landlords can find a registered gas engineer, or check someone is registered, by visiting Gas Safe Register

Get the right advice and be sure you know what your legal duties are and take the time to find out if you’re unsure.

Source: HSE

Lighthouse Acquire Lin Talbot Training Ltd

Lighthouse Safety, the safety, management and environmental specialist have today announced the acquisition of the assets of Lin Talbot Training Limited (LTT)

LTT are a leading force in the provision of statutory and occupational training to the health and care sectors throughout Southern England. With an extensive client base LTT is widely recognised for the provision of quality and affordable training and support packages within its chosen markets and benefits from being a registered Centre for the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) with qualified instructors authorised to deliver training to the highest standards.

Andrew Price, Managing Director of Lighthouse Safety Training said:

“This acquisition supports our objective to expand the company’s training services further, by utilising our technical expertise and focus on building long lasting relationships to provide our customers with training courses specific to their individual needs . With both companies striving to be the best in class, LTT will complement Lighthouse Safety Training well. I am looking forward to the opportunity of building on the relationships of both client bases and to offering our existing and new customers continued first class customer service and support from both companies.”

Tax dodger jailed for 12 months – Electricians are new target for HMRC

Tax dodging plumber jailed for 12 months

A West Midlands plumber has been jailed for 12 months for evading £91,000 of income tax and national insurance during ten years of trading as a self-employed worker.

David Williams, 53, of Sandwell is the first person jailed following an HM Revenue and Customs clampdown on the plumbing sector last year.

Nine more plumbers have been arrested and investigations are ongoing.

Williams was arrested in September 2011 after an HMRC investigation which uncovered thousands of pounds in cash at his home.

Adrian Farley, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said: “Today’s sentencing is a result of our drive to clamp down on tax evasion committed specifically by plumbers, gas fitters, heating engineers, electricians and others who fail to declare their earnings and pay the right tax.

“Tax evasion deprives our country of vital resources and gives tax cheats an unfair advantage over their business competitors so we will not hesitate to investigate those we suspect of evading tax.”

On sentencing, His Honour Judge Challinor, said: “You were squirreling the money away, it was based on greed. Those tempted to avoid paying income tax must be deterred.”

Williams pleaded guilty to charges of Evasion of Income Tax, contrary to the Taxes Management Act 1970.

Source: Construction Enquirer

LST Comment: We applaud this decision and its message; work should be tendered for on an even playing field. Tenders should be won on a history of well completed jobs, a good health and safety record, being suitably prequalified and a fair price. Tax evasion allows for undercutting, which does no one any favours in the long run. Of note; recent HMRC adverts on local radio highlight the need for self-employed artisan tradesmen to take heed, and pay any taxes due.

HMRC are currently running a Electricians’ Tax Safe Plan campaign to encourage any electricians who have not declared their correct earnings to do so before 15 May 2012, and be free of prosecution, for full details follow the link http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/campaigns/etsp.htm. It’s basically a ‘fresh start’. You can stop worrying about what might happen when HMRC find out that you’ve not been telling them about all of your income. It’s a chance to start getting things right from now on, whilst knowing exactly how much it’s going to cost to sort out things for earlier years

CSCS Card Test gets a revamp

New Test will include Behavioural Safety

A new Health, Safety and Environment Test will highlight areas that businesses need to improve in.

The initiative is being launched on 2 April by CITB-ConstructionSkills and hopes to promote the benefits of upskilling and working with a safe group of employees.

Kevin Fear, head of health and safety strategy at the organisation, said: “Whilst construction workers need good awareness of the health, safety and environmental issues that affect construction sites, further improvements to the industry’s accident record will only be made once we have workers responding appropriately to the conditions that they will find on site.”

According to the Health and Safety Executive, 171 employees were killed at work between 2010 and 2011, while 26.4 million days were lost to work-related illness and injury.

The new test will include a refreshed and updated question bank with a focus on new universal hazard symbols and warning signs, knowledge questions on the environment and behavioural case studies.

Source : Safety Signs News

Loss Time Injuries Reporting Timeframes Change 6th April 2012

RIDDOR Change – 6 April 2012

From 6 April 2012, RIDDOR’s over three day injury reporting requirement will change. From then the trigger point will increase from over three days’ to over seven days’ incapacitation (not counting the day on which the accident happened).

Incapacitation means that the worker is absent or is unable to do work that they would reasonably be expected to do as part of their normal work.

Employers and others with responsibilities under RIDDOR must still keep a record of all over three day injuries – if the employer has to keep an accident book, then this record will be enough.

The deadline by which the over seven day injury must be reported will increase to 15 days from the day of the accident

Source: HSE