RoSPA urges companies to address health and safety issues
Following a landmark corporate manslaughter court case, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is urging companies of all sizes to ensure their health and safety measures are up to scratch.
Last month, a company called Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings was fined a total of £385,000 (to be paid over ten years) for health and safety failings which contributed to the death of geologist Alex Wright in September 2008. Wright, 27, died after a deep trench on a Stroud development plot collapsed on him.
RoSPA’s occupational safety adviser Roger Bibbings cited this case as an example to all companies who take a lax approach to health and safety. He said:
“There is currently a new “light touch climate” in health and safety. However, we cannot have light touch justice when people fail badly to meet their obligations to protect workers. The corporate manslaughter law is therefore an important part of the UK’s overriding health and safety system.”
The first place for any business to start when improving standards in the workplace is with a health and safety training course approved by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH).