Risk Management
Roofing Contractors Face £5 Million Court Battle After Fire
The widow of one of the country's leading collectors of rare books is suing two contractors for more than £5 million after a fire wrecked their stately home.
Stress, Lies and Audio Tape
Claims fraud is a major thorn in the side of the insurance business with insurers uncovering fraudulent claims worth £1.6 Billion a year, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
Plant Hire Faces New Threats
The Construction Equipment Association (CEA) is warning site managers that plant designed for use in Asia and not CE-marked for European use is turning up at auctions.
Plan Now to Avoid a Shock in Resurfacing
From January 2008, the withdrawal of the existing British Standards for asphalt and their replacement with new European Standards represents a change for the road-surfacing sector on an unprecedented scale.
Working at Height
The Government's News Network (GNN - www.gnn.gov.uk) recently contained a brief note about the HSE's latest successful prosecution for failure to adopt safe working practices.
Winter Wonderland - Slips & Trips
It shouldn't come as a surprise that slip and trip accidents peak in the autumn and winter. So it might be worthwhile considering the hazards arising from snowy or frosty weather and seeing if anything needs to be done to manage the risks involved.
Surface Engineering Industry
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has identified the "Surface Engineering Industry" as a distinct sub-sector. Surface engineering includes all manner of plating operations such as electroplating, surface coating, surface treatments including anodising, powder coating and spray painting.
The Cost of Accidents at Work
8% of the accidents studied were judged to have had the potential for more serious consequences. These included fatalities, multiple injuries or catastrophic loss. Only luck prevented these accidents from being more serious than they actually were.
Risk Assessments
One of the most important activities that you need to carry out in order to improve your workplace health and safety is the assessment of risk. Risk assessments have even earned themselves a special mention in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.
Motor Fleet Risk Management
Fleets containing heavy goods vehicles, light vans or cars may be used by the company. Norwich Union have set up a separate website for this area of risk assessment called Roadsense. It can be found at www.norwichunion.com/roadsense.
Future Flood Risk Could Increase
A committee of MPs has warned the government that funding for flood defences needs to increase to £1bn a year in the long term to cope with climate change.
Retail is a Big Business for the UK
Accounting for approximately 25% of national gross domestic product, the retail sector is an important part of the UK economy, with sales in 2004 amounting to £246.9bn.
Risks in Leisure
The leisure and tourism sector covers a wide range of activities from hotels, restaurants and pubs to cinemas, theatres, museums, gambling and sports clubs.
Food for Thought
When an alleged bout of food poisoning struck Tottenham Hotspur Football Club players recently, the restaurant accused of causing the incident was threatened by the club with a claim for £10m.
Employee Prosecutions
A security guard agreed to unload a consignment of cardboard from a lorry using a fork-lift truck. The guard was not trained in the use of such equipment and had been warned by both the security company he worked for and the employer at the premises he was guarding not to use any work equipment on the premises.
Product Recall
At Easter 2007, Cadbury Schweppes had recalled a range of chocolate eggs because the packaging did not contain the correct nut allergy labelling. This follows a highly publicised episode last year in which Cadbury recalled a million chocolate bars due to the risk of salmonella contamination.