Weekly Digest Newsletter: 16 May 2024

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Mental health awareness week: managing mental health at work

female worker in warehouse, stressed

This week (13 to 19 May) is Mental Health Awareness Week - and around half of all work-related ill health is due to stress, depression, or anxiety.

Support HSE's Working Minds campaign to raise awareness of how to promote good mental health at work. 

 

Employers have a responsibility to identify the risks of stress and act on them to improve conditions at work. This might mean making adjustments and helping someone manage a mental health problem at work.

 

Find out about the practical resources, support and guidance available:


Motorsport engineering firm fined for health and safety failings

HSE inspectors visited the company's premises 4 times between February 2017 and July 2023 and identified numerous health and safety breaches.

HSE's investigation found the company had:

  • not maintained work equipment
  • allowed staff to operate Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines with safety panels removed, allowing access to dangerous moving parts
  • done little to prevent employees from being exposed to water-mix metal working fluid mist, a known cause of occupational asthma and occupational hypersensitivity pneumonitis

Read this press release about the motorsport engineering firm being fined. It also provides full details of the incident.

 

HSE recently ran a campaign to highlight the dangers from metalworking fluids. View our campaign guidance and resources.

 

Other recent enforcement cases include:


Asbestos duty to manage: new HSE podcast

HSE's Asbestos – Your Duty campaign highlights the risk of asbestos in buildings and raises awareness of the legal duty to manage those risks.


HSE's website has guidance on the duty to manage. It includes: 

  • what the legal duty is, and the steps required to comply with the law 
  • who the dutyholder is, depending on the type of building etc, and what they must do 
  • new templates of an asbestos management plan and an asbestos register with a site plan
  • examples of how asbestos can be managed across different industries 

The latest episode of the HSE podcast is to support those with a legal duty to manage asbestos in their buildings. 

 

The episode discusses the risks of asbestos and the steps to managing asbestos effectively in non-domestic buildings. It features the Group Property Asbestos Manager at Marks and Spencer, who shares practical examples of how the retailer manages asbestos across its estate 

 

Listen to the ‘Asbestos – Your Duty’ podcast


Safety notice issued: risk of serious injury from motion compensated gangways

Recent incidents have highlighted the potential for serious personal injury during the deployment and use of motion compensated gangways.

Windfarm operators, installation dutyholders and vessel owners or operators who are using, planning to use or operating motion compensated gangways must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the system is safe and suitable for the purpose for which it is being provided.

 

HSE has identified required actions that dutyholders should take:

  • assess risk
  • ensure any gangway auto-retraction provides suitable audible and visual warnings
  • deliver instruction and training
  • establish an inspection and maintenance regime

Read our motion compensated gangways safety notice for more details


Latest jobs at HSE

two office workers in discussion at desk

Come and work at HSE where you can help to protect lives and livelihoods. 

Check out some of our latest vacancies, further details can be found below:

You can get all the latest news and updates from HSE across a range of industries and topics.

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