New publications this month:
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY (BEIS)
Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill
This Bill includes a proposed power to automatically revoke all retained direct EU legislation and EU-derived subordinate legislation at the end of 2023. This deadline could be extended for specific legislation via regulations, but until no later than 23 June 2026.
The supremacy of EU law that is not part of domestic law would be removed after the end of 2023.
Impact
As a significant proportion of environmental, health and safety law is derived from EU legislation, the proposals within the Bill are likely to have significant impacts. A broad range of new legislation would need to be made to prevent many existing protections, obligations and powers from automatically being lost.
Proposed amendments to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 extend powers to amend, repeal or replace retained EU law. These powers would be available to the UK government and devolved governments.
The Bill had reached its second reading at the time in the House of Commons at the time of the update.
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE (HSE)
Refreshed guidance to reduce the risk of workplace silicosis
The HSE has updated the following COSHH essentials guidance concerning respirable crystalline silica (RCS) exposure risk
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE NORTHERN IRELAND (HSENI)
Two Approved Codes of Practice (ACoP) approved for use in Northern Ireland
In September 2022 HSENI approved the ACoPs L65 (Prevention of fire and explosion, and emergency response on offshore installations) and L123 (Health care and first aid on offshore installations and pipeline works) for use in Northern Ireland.
The older 2000 version of L123 has been withdrawn.
DEPARTMENT FOR LEVELLING UP, HOUSING AND COMMUNITIES
Information for leaseholders and other residents on fire safety and remediation of historic building safety defects
Information is collected that leaseholders and residents should be aware of regarding fire safety and the remediation of historic building defects.
Building Safety Fund for new applications (2022): A guide for leaseholders and residents
Guidance is provided on the Building Safety Fund. This fund provides funding to address fire risks associated with cladding in high-rise buildings (above 18m) in England.
Construction firm fined for failing to control vibration risks to employees
Two partners in a construction firm have been fined for failing to adequately control the risk to its employees from exposure to vibration when using vibrating tools.
Employees at various construction sites were found to have been using vibrating tools without adequate control. As a result, an employee who had been working at the company for 12 years suffered significant ill-health from hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
An HSE investigation found that on or before the 15 January 2020 the company failed to adequately assess the risk to employees from exposure to vibration. The company did not have appropriate measures to control exposure or place employees under suitable health surveillance to monitor their condition.
Breaches
The two partners pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(1) and Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Vibration Regulations 2005:
Penalty
The partners were each fined £1,150 and ordered to pay costs of £3,500.
Companies and employees sentenced after 18-year-old worker’s death
Two companies and two people have been sentenced after an 18-year-old construction worker was fatally injured while working on a house-build construction site in Lincolnshire.
In July 2018 the 18-year-old and another worker, both employed by the same contractor, had been tasked with clearing debris from manholes at a residential construction site in Boston.
While work was taking place, the 18-year old’s colleague was asked if he could move the works van to allow another vehicle to pass. However, he was not aware that 18-year-old was lying on the road with his head and torso in a manhole, directly in front of the van.
As the vehicle moved forwards one of the wheels entered the top of the manhole contacting the employee. The 18-year-old employee was taken to hospital but later died as a result of serious crush injuries.
An HSE investigation found that neither the Principal Contractor nor the groundworks sub-contractor, had ensured that the work was planned in such a way to ensure that workers were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.
A manager, who had worked for groundworks sub-contractor for approximately 10 years, sent employees to carry out the task without a risk assessment or method statement in place despite having previously produced this information.
In addition, workers had not been trained to work in a road, were not provided with any equipment to ensure the work was carried out safely and had not been provided with any instruction on any safety measures to be used at the site.
The manager of the workers did not carry out a site induction for the 18-year-old and failed to carry out suitable checks to ensure the workers had the relevant training. The manager also failed to ensure there was a suitable safe system of work in place of whether there were adequate control measures.
The Principal Contractor was found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
The groundworks sub-contractor was found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
The two people were found guilty of breaching Section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
Penalties
The Principal Contractor was fined £00,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1 £15,765.92
The groundworks sub-contractor was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,264.87.
One person was sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years, ordered to complete 200 hours of community service and to pay costs of £1,200.
The other person was to eight weeks imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to pay costs of £1,200.
Roofing contractor fined after fatal fall of worker
A roofing contractor has been fined after an employee fell from a roof ladder and died at the scene.
In May 2021, roof replacement work was being carried out on a domestic property in Burnley. On the final day on site, an employee was climbing a triple extending access ladder on the roof to reach scaffolding at eaves level, whilst carrying a pile of slates on their shoulder. They slipped and fell to the ground, sustaining fatal injuries.
An HSE investigation found that the interlocking sections of the ladder did not allow for three points of contact to be maintained, especially when a load was being carried. A single pole access ladder would have enabled this.
The employee had also been wearing loose fitting footwear, which had not allowed for a firm foothold. There was no safe means of transporting materials to the roof, such as a gin wheel and bucket, which would have avoided the need for carrying loads via the ladder. Had these measures been taken, proper contact could have been maintained and the incident avoided.
The HSE investigation also found that the contractor did not have any employer’s liability insurance in place to protect workers.
The contractor pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and Section 1(1) of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969:
The contractor was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay costs of £3,600.
