|
Health and Safety Executive warning after employee injured by overturned dumper truck |
|
Written by Richard
|
|
Saturday, 05 January 2008 |
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned of the need to ensure that the operators of equipment are suitably trained and risks fully assessed before they start work.
Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states:
"It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees."
The warning follows HSE’s prosecution of Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council after a dumper truck driver was injured when his truck overturned and landed on top of him.
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council were fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £3,343.38 costs at Trafford Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to a charge under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 Section 2(1) that they failed to ensure the health and safety of an employee.
The Court heard that the accident happened in February 2006 when dumper truck driver Simon Nicoll suffered leg injuries after his vehicle overturned while carrying out landscaping work in Hollywood Park, Stockport.
|
|
Last Updated ( Saturday, 05 January 2008 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Technology SMEs get an EU Voice |
|
Written by Josh
|
|
Saturday, 05 January 2008 |
Small to medium-sized technology companies in the UK now have direct representation in Brussels, thanks to a new industry association.
Called the Pan European ICT & eBusiness Network for Small to Medium Enterprises (PIN-SME), the new body is the first to specifically represent the needs of smaller technology businesses in the EU – a critical area traditionally dominated by larger technology enterprises.
PIN-SME is made up of national federations and ICT clusters from 8 EU countries. The United Kingdom is represented by the UK IT Association (UKita), the national trade association for technology SMEs.
Fred Noble, Chairman, UKita said: “The creation of a Europe-wide network representing the needs of technology SMEs is a huge step forward for the industry. The UK has a strong track record in fostering successful smaller high tech businesses, and this announcement will ensure that this continues”.
“We believe that European SMEs must speak with one voice on the development of European ICT policies – a voice that is becoming stronger today with the creation of PIN-SME. We fully support this new initiative, which is rooted in the past battles fought by small businesses on software patents, which reinforce monopolisation in the software sector, damage interoperability and act as a barrier to innovation by SMEs”
PIN-SME will focus on gaining consensus over issues such as ICT standardisation, software patents, e-invoicing, e-health and e-skills. The new organisation represents more than 50,000 enterprises employing around 200,000 people from EU countries including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Austria.
Fred Noble continued: “It is vital for the continued health of the UK technology SME sector that we are fully integrated into the decision making process at an EU level. Historically smaller organisations have had little say in EU legislative decisions that have affected the way they do business, but this has now changed with UKita’s membership of PIN-SME.”
UKita is a national organisation for technology SMEs funded by Advantage West Midlands and is one of several projects, including the new national supplier standard Accredit UK, within the Advantage West Midlands ICT Cluster, designed to put the region at the forefront of the technology sector in the UK.
|
|
|
Directors may face ban over breach of safety rules |
|
Written by Grant
|
|
Sunday, 23 December 2007 |
Directors found guilty of serious health and safety offences are also likely to be banned from running a company if new sentencing guidelines come into force, warns law firm DWF.
The warning follows a report by Warwick University on behalf of the Health & Safety Executive, which says that too few directors are being disqualified for flouting health and safety rules.
While the Company Directors Disqualification Act, introduced in 1986, allows the courts to disqualify directors who are in breach of their duties, in the period up to 2005 just ten had been banned for health and safety offences. The majority of disqualifications are for financial reasons, such as insolvency.
The report found the prosecutors and judges were failing to use the Act because of a lack of awareness. It recommends that the HSE should issue guidelines as to the circumstances in which it would be appropriate to disqualify a director, and urge prosecutors to apply to the court for a disqualification order as a matter of course in these types of cases.
Steffan Groch, health and safety partner at DWF, says: “Directors should be warned. The HSE will be encouraging prosecutors to use their powers under the Act. It means that, for serious breaches of health and safety rules, they will not only risk a large fine but also could be banned from running a company.
“This latest measure is part of a wider clampdown on organisations who breach health and safety rules. The HSE is taking a much tougher approach in prosecuting offenders and fines are increasing. Meanwhile the introduction of the new offence of corporate manslaughter in April 2008 will put the actions of directors under the spotlight as never before.”
|
|
Last Updated ( Sunday, 23 December 2007 )
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next > End >>
|
| Results 17 - 20 of 28 |
