Of people with self-reported long COVID, 21% (270,000 people) first had (or suspected they had) coronavirus (COVID-19) less than 12 weeks previously.
Those who first had (or suspected they had) COVID-19 at least 12 weeks previously made up 70% (892,000 people), and 40% (506,000 people) first had (or suspected they had) COVID-19 at least one year previously.
Those in teaching and education also showed greater prevalence of self-reported long COVID. This represents the biggest month-on-month increase out of all employment sectors.
Of the proportion of people with self-reported long COVID whose symptoms adversely affected their day-to-day activities, 20% reported their ability to undertake day-to-day activities had been “limited a lot”.
Fatigue continued to be the most commonly reported symptom, applying to 51% of those with self-reported long COVID. This was followed by 37% with loss of smell, 36% with shortness of breath and 28% who had difficulty in concentrating. The proportions amount to more than 100% because some people have experienced more than one symptom.
As a proportion of the UK population, prevalence of self-reported long COVID was greatest in people aged 35 to 69 years, females, people living in more deprived areas, those working in health care and social care, and those with another activity-limiting health condition or disability.
This is valid as of 11th January 2022.
What you’ll get: On 2 August 2018, a groundworker was preparing the ground to install a post to carry an Automatic Number Plate Recognition Camera (ANPRC), at Twyford near Reading, Berkshire.
Initially, the worker dug by hand, however, due to the ground conditions and numerous hedgerow roots he started to use an 110V mechanical electric breaker.
The incident occurred when the groundworker struck a power cable supplying an adjacent British Telecommunications building. The voltage of the cable was 415v, causing the ground worker to receive an electric shock that caused burns to one hand and to his opposite arm.
The HSE found that site plans for buried cables had not been consulted and a cable avoidance tool had not been used to locate buried services in advance of carrying out the work. In addition, there was a lack of properly trained labour and supervision in place for the excavation works.
The principal contractor on site had failed to plan, manage and monitor the excavation works and also failed to provide adequate supervision for the ANPR installation project.
CLC Contractors Limited (the Principal Contractor), of Unit 2 Northbrook Industrial Estate, Vincent Avenue, Southampton, SO16 6PB pleaded guilty to breaching 13 (1) Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and were fined £400,000.00 and ordered to pay costs of £5,300.00.
Paul Gale, Company Director of PAG Building Services Ltd of 2 Moore Crescent, Netley Abbey, Southampton, Hampshire pleaded guilty to Section 37(1) Health and Safety Work Act 1974.
Due to the seriousness of the offence, the case was referred to Aylesbury Crown Court for sentencing. Paul Gale was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, and 150 hour of community service. The HSE was awarded costs of £7,200.
Speaking after the case, HSE inspector John Caboche commented: “Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in the safe system of working. In this instance, readily available buried service records were not consulted, and a cable avoidance tool was not provided to the groundworks team. Utilising these simple steps would have prevented this serious incident.”
This is valid as of 8th January 2022.
What you’ll get: A man walking his dog on the Isabel Trail in Stafford on 3 October 2019 was struck and killed by part of a falling oak tree.
The HSE’s investigation found that the tree, a multi-stemmed mature hybrid oak, approximately 12-14 metre high and with a crown radius of between seven and ten metres, had defects from which it was foreseeable that it was likely to fall and cause injury. The tree was located within the boundaries of the Isabel Trail.
Local authorities, including Staffordshire County Council, are legally required to suitably and sufficiently manage the risks and hazards posed by the trees within their responsibility remit. Staffordshire County Council had a programme of proactive inspection and maintenance across the county, but the Isabel Trail had been omitted for many years.
Staffordshire County Council of 1 Staffordshire Place, Stafford pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. They were fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs of £13,164.90 and a victim surcharge £181.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Lyn Mizen said: “This tragic incident could have been averted if the required periodic tree safety inspections, as per the Staffordshire County Council’s own Code of Practice, had been carried out. Local Authorities need to ensure they have suitable inspection systems in place, including monitoring and audit provisions, to guard against situations such as this, and to ensure they have enough suitably trained and competent tree inspectors to enable compliance with their tree management policies and codes of practice.”
This is valid as of 7th January 2022.
The regulator is asking that businesses properly plan, organise, manage, and monitor their work and use competent people to avoid incidents and ill health amongst their workers and the public.
It is reminding companies that the safer they are, the more efficient they are. Good health and safety management increases the likelihood of contracts coming in on time and within budget with fewer added costs, and often to a higher quality, it says.
In the past year, the HSE says it has dealt with prosecutions involving severe injuries and fatalities as a result of poorly planned demolition work. This has included:
• a contractor who suffered serious injuries when a single-story roof he was demolishing by hand, collapsed at a construction site in Cobham, Surrey.
• a 64-year-old man who was killed when a garage wall at a garden in Hampshire collapsed on him during demolition, after a contractor who was operating a digger failed to put an exclusion zone in place whilst carrying out the work.
• a 21-year-old employee who was killed whilst dismantling a redundant grain drying tunnel at a farm in Kent when a farming partnership failed to ensure the integrity of the structure during the dismantling process.
• an employee who sustained injuries to his shoulder, and a fractured heel and ankle when he was hit by falling debris from a garage wall in Clitheroe that was being demolished in an unsafe manner.
• a contractor who was prosecuted for disturbing asbestos and damaging underground cables during demolition works at a site in Blackburn, causing severe disruption to services.
• the operator of a cherry picker who sustained life-changing injuries when he became trapped during a demolition operation at a site in Greater Manchester. A HSE investigation found the vehicle he was operating was not suitable for the task and had not been fitted with propriety devices to avoid the likelihood of operators being crushed.
The HSE has reminded contractors that it is crucial to complete a survey ahead of demolition work including structural investigation and appraisal, which considers the age of the structure, type of construction, history of the building including alterations and design codes used to avoid an uncontrolled collapse. Specific consideration should also be given to the effect of additional weight of demolition machinery and debris on suspended floors; and the risks to nearby buildings and structures.
The HSE’s head of construction Sarah Jardine said: “Structural instability can be a problem in buildings that are old, decayed, poorly maintained, and in newer buildings that have been badly designed and constructed or abused in use. Even sound structures can become unstable because of a lack of planning of construction and demolition work.”
She added: “It is easy to get it wrong even on small, straightforward structures, which makes it even more important to put the planning in place when it comes to demolishing large, complex structures. Demolishing these types of structures is a particularly hazardous activity and doing it safely is highly complicated and technical, so relevant expertise is vital. These jobs require careful planning and execution by contractors who are competent in the full range of demolition techniques and have access to designers and engineers with the right knowledge, skills, and experience in this area.”
A systematic approach to demolition projects should be a team effort, says the HSE. Clients must appoint professionals who have the relevant skills, knowledge, experience, organisational capability, and who are adequately resourced.
Clients, with the help of the principal designer must provide essential pre-construction information to the relevant designers and engineers. This should include a range of surveys and reports to check for presence of asbestos, structural stability, and the location of above and below ground live services.
The regulator goes on to advise that it is the principal designer’s responsibility to plan, manage, monitor, and coordinate health and safety issues in the pre-construction phase to ensure principal contractors are provided with relevant information to enable them to put safety measures in place. Once the demolition work has begun it is the principal contractor’s responsibility to plan, manage and monitor the demolition activities and coordinate work to ensure that it is carried out without risks to health and safety. While site managers must ensure workers are supervised and are following safe working practice.
Sarah Jardine concludes: “Incidents caused by poor planning and risk management can have substantial human costs that are felt for many years by the victims and their families.
“In addition to the impact on people’s lives, incidents can also lead to substantial remediation costs, higher insurance premiums, and, if HSE investigates, court fines and prison sentences, which will inevitably impact reputations.
“As well as being morally right, it is simply common sense and good business to ensure rigorous planning, organising, managing and monitoring of the whole project.”
This is valid as of 6th January 2022.
What you’ll get: According to BBC News, public sector leaders have been asked to prepare for “worst case scenarios” of 10%, 20% and 25% absence rates, the Cabinet Office said.
The UK saw record numbers of daily cases over the festive period. Transport, the NHS and schools have already seen the effect of absences.
Rising case numbers have led to large numbers self isolating and being unable to go to work. This has particularly affected industries where staff are unable to work from home.
Cabinet Office Minister Steve Barclay is chairing regular meetings with ministers to assess how the spread of the Omicron variant is affecting workforces and supply chains, the Cabinet Office said.
The prime minister had asked ministers working with their respective sectors to test preparations and contingency plans to limit disruption, it explained.
Mr. Barclay said the highly transmissible Omicron variant meant businesses and public services “will face disruption in the coming weeks, particularly from higher than normal staff absence”.
However, his department said that, so far, disruption caused by Omicron has been controlled in “most parts of the public sector.”
People who test positive for COVID-19 must self-isolate for at least seven days in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Two negative lateral flow results, 24 hours apart, are required to end self isolation – the first no earlier than day six.
In Scotland, positive cases must isolate for the full 10 days.
Unvaccinated contacts of positive cases must also isolate for 10 days in all parts of the UK.
Some have called for a US-style self-isolation system to be introduced, where people only have to quarantine for five days, but the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that doing so would be counterproductive and could actually worsen staff shortages if it led to more people being infected.
Explaining its reasoning in a blog post, it said the two systems were not like for like. In the UK, the self-isolation “clock” begins when the person experiences symptoms or receives a positive test – whichever is first. But in the US, self isolation begins only after a positive test – which may be some days after symptoms first appear.
On day six, the UKHSA says its modelling suggests 10-30% of people will still be infectious, depending on how quickly they get their test result after developing symptoms.
It says ending self isolation after seven days with two negative lateral flow tests gives a similar level of protection to self-isolating for 10 days, when 5% of people will still be infectious.
The situation will be kept under review, the UKHSA says, but it believes current rules are the “optimal approach at present”.
This is valid as of 5th January 2022.
On 15th November 2015, there was an uncontrolled release of around 15 tonnes of LPG through a valve near to the main roadway used by LPG road tankers visiting Esso Petroleum Company’s refinery in Fawley, Hampshire.
The leak went undetected for around four hours before being discovered by an employee on his way home. It took a further hour to establish the source of the leak, with on-site emergency personnel having to enter the area to reset the valve.
An investigation by the HSE found that the leak occurred because LPG was put through the pipe work at too a high a pressure for the valve. There was no process in place to detect the discrepancy in the flow in the pipe and the company had failed to take all measures necessary to prevent a major incident.
Esso Petroleum Company Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5(1) of The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH) 2015 and was fined £500,000.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector, Jonathan Halewood said: “The measures required to prevent incidents should be proportionate to the risks. Where companies handle large quantities of substances that can cause major incidents, such as LPG, they are required to have layers of protection in place to prevent incidents.
“In this incident, a number of those layers either failed or were not in place resulting in a significant leak. Even though there was no fire or injury on this occasion, there was potential for a major incident. The prosecution has been brought to highlight the importance of maintaining the layers of protection and preventing this kind of major leak.”
This is valid as of 16th December 2021.
What you’ll get: Concerns had been raised regarding the health and safety standards at the construction site of the former Tobacco Warehouse, Stanley Dock, Liverpool, being renovated by Abercorn Construction Limited. A site inspection found the welfare cabin used by employees to be in poor condition, containing exposed live wires and damaged electrical sockets, a mouldy dishwasher and an accumulation of rubbish both inside and outside the cabin with the potential to attract vermin.
A general site inspection found numerous uncontrolled high risks such as a damaged cable on a 400v transformer, insufficient fire alarms, a lack of fire extinguishers and signage indicating emergency routes and multiple examples of unprotected edges and openings exposing workers to risk of a fall from height. There was also inadequate pedestrian and vehicle segregation, poor order, poor lighting and the risk of exposure to live electrical conductors.
The HSE investigation found the company had failed to effectively plan, manage and monitor the works which had resulted in these health and safety issues arising on site. These risks had already been highlighted to the company in previous written enforcement. Despite compliance being achieved, poor standards had been allowed to develop again.
Abercorn Construction Limited of 50 Bedford Street, Belfast pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £77,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,025.52.
After the hearing, HSE inspector John Padfield commented: “This type of proactive prosecution will highlight to the industry that HSE will not hesitate to prosecute companies for repeated breaches of the law.
“Good management of health and safety on site is crucial to the successful delivery of a construction project and principal contractors have an important role in managing the risks of construction work and providing strong leadership to ensure standards are understood and followed”.
This is valid as of 15th December 2021.
What you’ll get: The UK is committed to a robust regulatory system for the control of chemicals which ensures the UK’s high levels of environment protection, underpinned by the Environment Act. UK REACH is the government’s regulatory tool for achieving this – ensuring companies that put chemicals on the market understand and manage the risks they might pose.
This regulatory system has been in place since the UK left the European Union, and chemical businesses operating within Great Britain should have already provided initial information under the UK REACH transitional provisions.
Whilst this initial information has already been provided, the government will consult on extending the deadlines for providing the full registration data. Alongside this, the government will engage with industry and other stakeholders to explore whether there are opportunities to reduce the need for industry to replicate existing EU REACH data by placing a greater emphasis on understanding how chemicals are used in GB.
The consultation will take place in 2022 and more details will follow after discussions with stakeholders.
A Defra spokesperson said: “Now we have left the EU, we are able to review our legislation to see whether we can deliver more effective and efficient outcomes for both the environment and businesses.
“We will continue to work closely with industry and other interested stakeholders to understand their concerns and discuss how these might be addressed, while ensuring our high levels of protection of human health and the environment.”
This is valid as of 14th December 2021.
What you’ll get: This means:
• Work from home: from Monday 13 December, the reintroduction of work from home guidance – people are asked to work at home where they can and only go into a workplace if they must
• Face masks: from Friday 10 December, further extension of the legal requirement to wear a face mask to most public indoor venues, including theatres and cinemas. There will be exemptions where it is not practical, such as when eating, drinking, exercising or singing. They are already mandatory in shops and on public transport.
• NHS Covid Pass: from Wednesday 15 December, the NHS Covid Pass will be mandatory for entry into nightclubs, and venues where large crowds gather including unseated indoor venues with more than 500 people, unseated outdoor venues with more than 4,000 people and any venue with more than 10,000 people.
The NHS Covid Pass can be obtained with two vaccine doses but this is to be kept under review as the boosters are rolled out. A negative lateral flow test will also be sufficient. From the time of the announcement (Wednesday 8 December), businesses are given a week’s notice to help keep these events and venues open at full capacity.
This is valid as of 13th December 2021.
What you’ll get: In February 2019, T.W. Steam and Heating Services Limited had been contracted by Park View Academy to install a new heating system in the school building at Park View School, Chester Le Street.
In the course of the work, ceiling tiles containing asbestos were disturbed, potentially exposing several people to asbestos fibres.
The HSE’s investigation found that the contractor and the school both failed to refer to existing asbestos registers and management plans to identify the presence of asbestos within the school building.
Park View Academy of Church Chare, Chester Le Street pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £3,000 with £4,785.37 costs.
T.W. Steam and Heating Services Limited of Rennys Lane Industrial Estate, Durham pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £2,000 with £4,710.37 costs.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Ashfaq Ali commented, “The dangers associated with asbestos are well known and advice and guidance is freely available from HSE and other organisations. Those in charge of premises have a duty to inform contractors of the presence of asbestos containing materials, ensuring that works are carried out safely.
“Those undertaking work which is likely to disturb asbestos, or asbestos containing materials, should ensure that building occupants and operatives are not exposed to asbestos. Those undertaking the work should also provide suitable information, instruction and training to their employees”.
This is valid as of 9th December 2021.
On 15 January 2020, a blast at Cwt-y-Bugail Quarry in Llan Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, North Wales, resulted in rocks being ejected outside of the danger zone.
Investigating, the HSE found that flyrock from the blasting operation had landed approximately 270m away, punctured the roof of an occupied work shed, and put a hole in the outside pane of the occupied manager’s office skylight window.
According to the HSE, it was reasonably practicable for the company to ensure that the blasting did not give rise to danger by increasing the danger zone, clearing the increased danger zone, increasing the quality and quantity of stemming for the explosives in the blastholes, and by ensuring an adequate blasting specification was produced and authorised.
The HSE found that there were poor stemming practices, the written specification was prepared after the firing of the blast, and an inadequate danger zone was in place. As a result, there was a projection of flyrock outside of the danger zone that caused a quarry operative to run for cover and put other employees at risk when the roof of the shed they were working in was punctured.
Breedon Trading Ltd of Pinnacle House, Breedon Quarry, Breedon on the Hill, Derby pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by virtue of the Quarries Regulations 1999, regulation 25.
The company has been fined £300,000 and ordered to pay £2,534.80 in costs.
After the hearing, HSE’s Adrian Jurg, HM Specialist Inspector of Quarries, commented: “Blasting operations at quarries are inherently high risk, and these risks must be rigorously controlled by good explosives engineering practice and in accordance with legal requirements.
“It is unacceptable that employees, and potentially members of the public, be put at serious risk of being hit by rocks that could easily lead to death or serious injury.”
This is valid as of 8th December 2021.
What you’ll get: The memorandum of understanding aligns IOSH’s vision for a safer and healthier world of work with the ILO’s main aims to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection, and strengthen social dialogue on work-related issues.
Both bodies have formally agreed to collaborate in ways that use their reach, influence, and technical and training expertise to participate in missions that achieve positive impacts through enhanced safety, health and wellbeing at work.
The ILO is the primary UN body supporting working conditions and worker protection globally in a unique tripartite structure representing workers, employers, and governments across 187 member states. For more than a century, it has set labour standards, including on occupational safety and health, developed policies and devised programmes promoting decent work for all working people.
For over 75 years, IOSH, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, has grown to become the world’s largest professional body for people responsible for the health, safety, and wellbeing of colleagues working in 130 countries in nearly every sector.
IOSH’s strategic aim is to enhance the occupational safety and health profession, collaborate to build strategic partnerships, and influence and strengthen impact globally.
Its members dedicate their working lives to preventing harm, enabling safe operations, and keeping people healthy and productive at work. IOSH networks in the Middle East, South-East Asia and West Africa extend and enhance our ability to make meaningful impacts.
Vanessa Harwood-Whitcher, Chief Executive of IOSH, said: “The agreement we have now signed builds on relationships of trust, respect and practical support that IOSH and the ILO have formed steadily over a number of years. There’s so much we can achieve as partners.
“Our shared intention to collaborate comes at a crucial moment for the world of work. People and their employers are reflecting on how to achieve sustainable, resilient ways of working and living to recover from and survive crises like climate change and pandemic.
“I am pleased IOSH and the ILO each recognise potential in combining our knowledge and global connections. We’re keen to explore how OSH professionals can intervene in places and occupations where harm is most challenging, and we look forward to working together.”
Joaquim Pintado Nunes, Chief of the Labour Administration, Labour Inspection and Occupational Safety and Health Branch of the ILO, said: “Occupational safety and health is at the heart of what the ILO does, advocating for decent work and engaging with governments, employers and workers to improve policy and regulatory frameworks and strengthen the institutional capacities required for sound and developed national systems. The needs we see in many countries are large scale, and collaborations such as this one will assist us to better respond to the challenges faced by our Member States.”
The ILO’s Safety + Health for All Flagship Programme seeks to improve the health and safety of workers worldwide. One of five global programmes of the International Labour Organization, the Programme mobilises government institutions, employers’ organisations, workers’ organisations and other key stakeholders to implement strategic interventions at enterprise, sectoral, national and global level.
An integral part of the Flagship Programme is the Vision Zero Fund, an initiative of the intergovernmental Group of Seven (G7) countries which aims is to prevent work-related deaths, injuries and diseases in sectors operating in or aspiring to join global supply chains. The Fund promotes a model of collective action that mobilizes a wide range of stakeholders, including global business, to develop and implement joint solutions to address endemic safety and health challenges in global supply chains. It is currently active in the agriculture, construction and garment / textiles sectors in eight countries on three continents.
This is valid as of 7th December 2021.
What you’ll get: Free downloads, advance notice of webinars, product updates and perks – all straight to your inbox.