While there are no alterations to legal obligations, the revised guidance aims to enhance your comprehension of when and how to submit reports under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).

Key revisions to the guidance include:

  • Direct links to specific types of reportable incidents, facilitating quicker determination of whether reporting is necessary.
  • Enhanced clarity regarding who should and shouldn’t report incidents under RIDDOR.
  • Improved explanation of what constitutes a ‘work-related’ accident.
  • Clarification on instances when an occupational disease is not deemed reportable.
  • Increased transparency regarding the reporting requirements for absences exceeding 7-days

Significant updates to the reporting forms comprise:

  • Prioritisation of questions concerning the severity of injuries, expediting the determination of reportability.
  • Integration of pop-up messages to guide users if an incident does not warrant reporting.
  • Enhanced usability of the forms through improved guidance.
  • Expanded options for individuals to specify gender when completing the relevant fields.

Find the updated guidance on RIDDOR

Violence and aggression in the workplace can significantly affect the physical and mental well-being of your employees. HSE’s guidance on violence at work is designed to assist you in safeguarding your workers.

This guidance will aid you in:

  • Assessing the risks
  • Implementing appropriate controls to protect workers
  • Reporting and learning from incidents

Additionally, I encourage you to explore the SWITCH Forum Bin Hero film & Videos, developed as part of an awareness campaign, shedding light on the violence and aggression encountered by staff working in waste management roles on a daily basis. These videos feature interviews with staff members from various roles in the recycling industry, offering firsthand insights into real-life events and demonstrating the lasting impact of such behaviour.

It’s crucial to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of our resource and waste sector workers and to stand together against unacceptable behaviour. Let’s work collaboratively to eradicate this behaviour and create a safer work environment for everyone.

These videos are freely available for use by local authorities and private companies within the sector to raise awareness and support our campaign against workplace violence and aggression.

Additionally, you can explore other resources on our website, such as the H&S Situational Awareness campaign. This programme, part of the ESA member-led Health and Safety initiative, aims to enhance awareness of common risks in the sector, including workplace violence and aggression, reckless driving, and other safety concerns.

April marks Stress Awareness Month, a crucial opportunity to integrate stress prevention and mental health support into our daily routines, particularly in the workplace. Join HSE’s Working Minds campaign in prioritising mental well-being by focusing on one of the campaign’s five steps each week for five weeks:

  • Reach out and have conversations
  • Recognise the signs and causes of stress 
  • Respond to any risks you’ve identified
  • Reflect on actions you’ve agreed and taken
  • Make it Routine

To delve deeper into these steps, watch the informative video provided by HSE. Additionally, HSE offers various resources to assist you further.

Let’s make Stress Awareness Month a catalyst for positive change in how we approach stress and mental health in the workplace.

Definition and Scope of COSHH:

COSHH, or Control of Substances Hazardous to Health, is a set of regulations mandated by law to manage exposure to hazardous materials within the workplace.

Identification of Harmful Substances:

Various materials encountered in the workplace pose risks to health, including dusts, gases, fumes, liquids, gels, powders, and harmful micro-organisms. These substances can lead to adverse health effects such as infection, allergic reactions, or toxicity.

Exclusions from COSHH Coverage:

Certain substances, such as lead, asbestos, and radioactive materials, have specific regulations separate from COSHH and are not covered

Hazards Associated with Harmful Substances:

Hazardous substances can cause a range of health issues, from asthma to cancer, and may result in skin damage or long-term lung conditions. Some effects manifest immediately, while others develop over time and may be irreversible.

Responsibilities under COSHH:

To mitigate exposure to hazardous substances, employers must:

  • Identify health hazards associated with substances.
  • Conduct risk assessments to determine preventive measures.
  • Implement control measures to minimise health risks.
  • Ensure the proper utilisation of control measures.
  • Maintain all control measures in optimal working condition.
  • Provide comprehensive information, instruction, and training to workers and relevant stakeholders.
  • Conduct monitoring and health surveillance as necessary.
  • Establish protocols for handling emergencies.

HSE has recently revised two publications on first aid at work:

1. First Aid at Work: Guidance on Regulations (L74)

This publication outlines the necessary steps to ensure adequate first aid provision in the workplace. The updates now highlight employers’ responsibilities to consider employees’ mental health in their first aid needs assessment.

2. Selecting a First Aid Training Provider: A Guide for Employers (GEIS3)

This guide assists employers in identifying and choosing a competent training provider for their first aid training requirements. It has been updated to streamline the process of selecting a training provider.

These updates maintain compliance with existing legal requirements and do not introduce any new obligations.

For additional advice, resources, and information, please visit the HSE website here

As an employer, you are responsible for managing health and safety in your company. This involves managing risks and taking practical steps to protect workers and others from harm.

Managing risk is just one part of health and safety management. You must also have arrangements in place to:

  • Make the right plans
  • Implement those plans
  • Check they are working
  • Act if they are not

The measures you put in place should be part of your everyday processes for managing your business.

For further information on the right guidance for your business and how to manage health and safety read HSE guidance here

 

HSE refresh its guidance on violence at work to assist you in protecting your workers. Updates include:

  • A simplified navigation to help you easily find the information you need
  • Removal of  outdated content with the replacement of up-to-date practical guidance

This guidance also explains what work-related violence and aggression is and how employers can protect workers from it.  It also covers what you should do if an incident does occur, what to report and how to support your workers after a violent incident.

 

Violence and aggression at work can have a serious impact on your workers physical and mental health. This HSE guidance will help you assess the risks, put the right controls in place to protect workers and report incidents and learn from them.  Our front-line workers face this type of unacceptable behaviour on a far too regular basis. The incidents themselves are worrying in terms of the dangers they create for staff and other members of the general public, but many don’t think about the short- and long-term mental health and wellbeing impacts on those on the those facing aggression.

SWITCH Forum will soon be launching a new campaign to raise people’s awareness to the issues of violence and aggression so watch this space for more updates and assets to use to make more aware of the impacts of these thoughtless acts of aggression.

HSE refreshed guidance on violence at work to help you protect your workers to:

  • Simplify the navigation to help you easily find the information you need
  • Remove outdated content and replace it with up-to-date practical guidance
  • Remind you that HSE’s definition of violence includes aggression, such as verbal abuse or threats – this can be face to face, online or over the phone

 

HSE confirm Falls from height were the cause of most work-related fatalities in Britain during 2021/22.

Recent annual figures reveal that 29 workers were killed in falls from height last year.

Protect your employees and take the necessary precautions. Visit the HSE Working at Height Website for guidance along with a range of useful information and sources of advice for employees including key message and common work at height myths

HSE’annual statistical release will be on Wednesday 23 November 2022 at 9:30am.

This has been preannounced on the HSE statistics release calendar.

  • This year’s publication will reinstate statistics on working days lost and costs to Britain following their absence from last year’s annual statistical release
  • There will again be no violence statistics from the England and Wales Crime survey and there will be no enforcement statistics. Information on enforcement is available within HSE’s annual report and accounts that was published earlier in the year
  • Estimates of work-related ill-health attributed to the coronavirus pandemic and work-related COVID-19 attributed directly to exposures at work will be available again for a further year