It’s always a good time to look at the risks of dangerous substances and explosive atmospheres, including the critical concentrations of airborne dust from many sources, since without systematic care and good practice these risks will be present at all times, writes Jon Herbert. There are no half-measures with workplace fires and explosions. Ensuring safety   Read More …

Skills shortages, falling birth rates, greater life expectancy, low unemployment levels and squeezed public finances are increasing job opportunities for older workers. They can bring valuable benefits to the workplace that offset slightly elevated health and safety risks, writes Jon Herbert. Ageing workforce Older workers are increasingly represented in the workplace. They often need to   Read More …

The interests of people with money to invest and those who need investment are not always well-aligned. Green finance is designed to guide funding towards climate change solutions and provide confidence that investments are not vulnerable to global warming impacts. Jon Herbert reports. Investors, including banks, pension funds and others with governance responsibilities for customer   Read More …

Building a third Heathrow airport runway seems to fly in the face of the UK’s ambitious new net-zero by 2050 emission policy. But the Government is also planning a radical overhaul of aviation. Coupled with new technologies will this make flight sustainable? Jon Herbert reports. Twenty-nine years ago it was first suggested that the UK’s   Read More …

Despite their much-improved plateau of recent years, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) continues to work hard with businesses and industry to reduce deaths from workplace injuries and industrial diseases even further. However, Jon Herbert finds provisional 2017–18 figures emphasise some areas where employees are at particular risk. Provisional HSE statistics of 144 industrial fatalities   Read More …

The built environment — and buildings in particular — are major carbon emission sources that must cut to near zero by 2050. New buildings can be designed for energy efficiency. However, Jon Herbert points out, the UK’s legacy of millions of existing properties that will still be standing mid-century cannot be ignored. How long will   Read More …

For years, ominous environmental warnings have been set comfortably into the distant future. Today’s wakeup call is that we must reach net-zero carbon — and not just an 80% emissions cut — by 2050, say Government advisors, especially if we want to avoid a mass extinction of species. Jon Herbert reports. Until early May, calls   Read More …

The UK’s current commitment to an 80% greenhouse gas emissions cut by 2050 includes corporate carbon. On 1 April 2019 reporting rules for quoted companies changed and now take in “large” unquoted businesses and LLPs. But SMEs are also encouraged to volunteer for the new best practice. Jon Herbert reports. The Government’s new Streamlined Energy   Read More …

Plastics kick-started the disposable consumer revolution. However, the public is now more worried about plastic’s global environmental impact than climate change. Finding a sustainable solution will be difficult. Jon Herbert reports on a four-pronged strategy which relies on personal responsibility, government policy and businesses taking action. In the opening decades of the twentieth century, the   Read More …

In the short, grey days of winter, it is important to remember that psychological factors can be as damaging as physical health and safety problems in the workplace. However, their effects can be assessed and controlled in the usual way, reports Jon Herbert. What are psychological risks? Psychological risk factors are elements at work that   Read More …