From 1st October 2006 all organisations are responsible for their own fire safety arrangements; including the preperation of Fire Risk Assessments for their workplace. The main rules under the order require you to:

Free Updates are now available for AsbestaPLAN Plus and Construction Site Safety Audit System users. This update will allow you to operate your handheld module on mobile phone based Pocket PC's and devices using Windows Mobile 5.0. For information on how to update your software, please email us at info@safetyservicesdirect.com so that we may send you the appropriate update and information on how to apply it.

Please note that, that due to the initial instability of Windows Mobile 5.0, this update has been tested over many months and some users already have this version installed. Please contact us for further information on your current version.

The Co-op has been prosecuted and fined £40,000 following the discovery of many fundamental failings in the health, safety and welfare provisions for staff and members of the public.

Council inspectors investigated an accident at one of its stores in Heathfield High Street, in which an employee sustained arm and ankle injuries and discovered:

• a mechanical lift left in the ‘up’ position
• a number of unsafe items of lifting equipment
• defective electrical systems
• guard rails had not been fitted to the lifting equipment
• the public could also come into contact with live electrical conductors
• obstructed fire exits

The Fire Risk Assessor package has been specifically designed to assist Safety Advisors, Fire Engineers, property managers and others carry out Fire Risk Assessments as required by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The package provides an electronic Pocket PC based Fire Risk Assessment solution that enables fire risk assessments to be completed in real time in a consistent and professional manner. Data can be collected quickly and efficiently by simply pointing and clicking on the screen of the Pocket PC, the data can then be downloaded to the central desktop database.

We have listened to you and are finalising our latest software package the Construction Risk Assessments Plus Volume II, which is due to be released later this month. This package will have a further 60 completed generic Risk Assessments for practical activities which compliments our existing package. This new package will also have Manual Handling and First Aid Risk Assessments Modules.

This is one of our most popular series of packages, and we will be offering a discount of 10% to all of our customers that qualify to purchase this product.

Please keep an eye out for the promotional email that will contain your special order code.

The HSE has completed the first phase of an intensive campaign of unannounced inspections on smaller building sites, which has revealed significant risks to workers and others and resulted in work being stopped at over a third of the sites visited. HSE worked with officers of the City of Bradford Building Control Department to identify small sites where there was concern about safety standards.

A total of 61 sites were visited. Four prohibition notices were issued and 18 sites stopped work voluntarily whilst they rectified the problems found. Almost all problems were created by poor standards of scaffolding.

Ruso Limited, proprietors of Sophie's Steakhouse in Kensington, has been prosecuted and fined for breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in the circumstances of an accident in December 2004 when a man pushing a wheelbarrow full of chemicals, fell 2m into the open cellar door, injuring his back.

The incident occurred whilst two separate deliveries were in progress at the same time. Zenith Hygiene was delivering cleaning chemicals above at street level, and the second delivery was of wine to the steakhouse’s cellar. An employee of the restaurant opened the cellar hatch on to street level and the Zenith Hygiene delivery person, did not see the opened cellar door, and fell through the opening.

The court deemed that Ruso Limited should have had a sign to alert people that the cellar door was open, a chain or similar barrier should have been placed around the cellar perimeter, and the restaurant manager, or another suitable senior employee, should have overseen the deliveries. West London Magistrates fined the restaurant proprietors £10,000, with £5,500 costs.

BUPA Care Homes Ltd has been fined £90,000, with £19,247 costs, at Southwark Crown Court following an accident on 28th November 2003 at its Abbotsleigh Mews Residential and Nursing Home in Sidcup.

The Sarita hoist, operated by a new employee, lead to the frail resident slipping and fracturing her shoulder. The resident contracted pneumonia and died shortly afterwards.

Later Investigation established that the care assistant had not received training and had not used this type of hoist before, and that risk assessments and procedures for manual handling and safe bathing were not brought to the attention of care assistants. Supervision of staff carrying out lifting operations was also deemed to be inadequate; the client's care plan stipulated 2 persons were required for the lifting operation.