In 2020, our lungs couldn’t catch a break

Our government urgently needs to step up action on air pollution.

By Dominic Phinn, ClientEarth on 03 December 2020

The ‘new normal’ needs good mental health

That ‘we shout safety but whisper health’ was something regularly heard within the construction health and safety community before 2020.

By Jennie Armstrong on 19 November 2020

Making common between the local and national

The idea that ‘local knows best’ is a deeply rooted one. The UK’s national institutions such as the Home Office, even the monarchy or Church of England, are relative latecomers when compared to local structures like shires that originated with our Saxon or Roman heritage.

By Mike Robinson, British Safety Council on 02 November 2020

Covid-19 is now a foreseeable risk: duty holders on notice

The Covid-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on health and safety requirements the civil and criminal law imposes on duty holders. It has done so in the context of a virus no one had heard of 12 months ago and in respect of which scientific understanding is evolving.

By Keith Morton QC on 03 November 2020

Injury prevention must be a public health priority

It’s Zahra’s first day back at work, as her office reopens after several months. Before this year, she wouldn’t have said her job at an IT services company was a dangerous one – bar the odd stray cable on the floor.

By Lesley Rankin, Institute for Public Policy Research on 21 October 2020

The future of wellbeing

I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that 2020 is already a year like no other. At the end of last year, I wrote about how anxiety is causing us to take our health and wellbeing far more seriously.

By Mike Robinson, British Safety Council on 12 October 2020

Something to smile about

Something I really miss these days is smiling. I don’t mean I never smile. Rather, it’s the interaction I miss. I smile at you. You smile at me. Our mood lifts. It’s a language everyone understands. Masks inevitably mute the process.

By Samantha Peters, Chair of Being Well Together on 05 October 2020

Time for the government to up its game

This is my last column for a while, after something over two years of monthly musings as chairman of the British Safety Council. I had prepared some sort of summing up, looking at the key themes explored.

By Lawrence Waterman OBE, British Safety Council on 18 September 2020

Building safety regime – major changes

The Fire Safety Bill, introduced to the UK Parliament during lockdown, is likely to become law in the autumn.

By Katherine Metcalfe, Pinsent Masons LLP on 03 September 2020

New HSE RIDDOR reporting guidance – uncertainties remain in social care

By Rekha Sharma and Chris Green, Keoghs on 01 June 2020