F10 notifications

Is a construction project comprising of demolition and asbestos roof removal notifyable under CDM 07? Answer Matthew Aitken's question here.

£90K penalty for work at height injury

One of the UK's largest construction contractors has been fined £80,000 plus £10,000 costs after a construction worker was severely injured when he fell from a roof. Read the full story here.

Challenging accidents

Have you ever had to challenge alleged accidents at work? If an employee has been instructed to carry out a process in a certain way and they don't, resulting in an injury, is that an accident at work or a deliberate act?

Post your answers to this and many other questions in our discussion forums.

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And don't forget to post your comments in our discussion forums and share your health and safety knowledge in our Q&A section.

Health and safety knowledge required!

There are a number of questions posted in our Q&A section on www.healthandsafetyprofessional.co.uk which still require answers. So if you can spare a few minutes on this lovely Friday afternoon, why not use your health and safety know-how and help your peers?

The questions which need answers are: Thermite action, HSE Plan and OSHA.

Don't forget to post your queries to gain knowledge from other health and safety professionals.

The holiday that blew me away...literally

I recently returned from a short break in Spain, where we were subjected to hurricane-force winds whilst out taking a walk. Winds of up to 112mph carried us along the roads, which we had to walk in to avoid the falling roof tiles from buildings to the pavements.


Authorities in Spain reported at least 12 deaths linked to Saturday's storm, including four children crushed as a sports facility buckled in high winds in Barcelona.


We witnessed sand storms, walls collapsing, structures swaying - I tried to take pictures of electrical wires literally hanging at shoulder level on a residential street - although my photographic skills leave a lot to be desired. It was still sunny though.

New Year

We recently ran a poll on HSP on the MEPs' vote to scrap the working time opt-out and the results were interesting. A record number of you voted, with the majority siding with Gordon Brown in that you don't want to see it abolished in the UK.

In the current economic climate, many of us are worried about our jobs. We are currently running a poll on job security, asking how many health and safety professionals believe their jobs are safe this year. Tell us if you think yours is by voting in this week's poll.

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MEPs vote to scrap opt-out

Those lovely (ahem) chaps at the European Parliament have completely scuppered the UK Government by voting to abolish the opt-out that allows EU member states not to apply the maximum 48-hour week if a worker agrees to work longer.

The TUC is pleased, calling it "an early Christmas present". What do you think? Tell us here.
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A risky business

A user of HSP, Claire Ingram, has posted a thread in our online forums about Cutting Edge's "The Fun Police", a Channel 4 programme aired last week. Did any readers watch it? I'd love to know your thoughts. Add them 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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