Another great year for health and safety

Last week the team behind Health and Safety at Work magazine and http://www.healthandsafetyprofessional.co.uk/ exhibited at the annual Safety & Health Expo in Birmingham. It was a great show, and we were fortunate to meet many readers, all of whom had great things to say about the publication and website.

Did you visit the show? We'd love to hear your experiences - please add your thoughts here.

When people go too far

I was just in a large retail store happily browsing in my lunch hour when I heard shouting and swearing coming from where the security guard stands. A customer (and a rather thuggish and scary-looking customer at that) was verbally abusing the guard in an extremely aggressive manner while everyone just stood and watched. I alerted another guard at the other side of the store who approached to deal with the situation and he subsequently diffused it. But it got me thinking ... why should employees have to deal with abuse such as what I witnessed today? These kinds of situations lead to stress and time off work, which isn’t good for the worker or the employer.

What do you think? Have you ever had to deal with workplace violence as a health and safety professional? Discuss here.

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Road safety and the HSE

I have just had a call from a IIRSM member regarding a story I ran in the latest issue of the Newsletter on a new report by the House of Commons Transport Select Committee, which recommends the HSE could play a "much greater part" in managing occupational road risk.

He believes this is not the HSE's role ... what do you think? Add your comments here.

Be a part of our community

Have you visited our discussion forums yet? If not, you're missing out on being a part of the health and safety community. Want to know what your peers are talking about? Click here.

Tesco employee sues customer over injury caused by 'depressed driveway'

I've just been reading an article in the Daily Mail about a Tesco customer who is being sued by a delivery driver of the supermarket giant.

Apparently, the employee, Andrew Britton, had 'gone over on his ankle' on customer Paul Singleton's drive while unloading his shopping.

Britton assured Singleton he was fine, yet three months later the estate agent received a letter from Mr Britton's lawyer stating he "inverted his ankle" when he stepped out of the van near the gate.

It continued: "The reason why we are alleging fault is that you failed to maintain the driveway and caused or permitted areas of the driveway immediately in front of the gate to sink and form a depression within the driveway into which our client has stepped and which has caused his injury."

To make matters worse, Tesco has refused to get involved or discuss the incident, claiming it was a "private matter", despite involving a member of its staff allegedly suffering an injury while on duty.

So, who is at fault here (if anyone)? Tell us what you think here.

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