Editorial

Editorial Archive

Momentum gathers behind UK RoSPA’s safer stairs campaign as MP calls for amendment to UK Building Safety Bill

August 2021
Sheila Pantry OBE

During the recent second-reading of the UK Government’s Building Safety Bill, Conservative MP Paul Maynard called for an amendment in support of the UK RoSPA’s safer stairs campaign, which will save countless lives if it is brought into law.

RoSPA is campaigning for the most up to date British Safety Standard for stairs (BS 5395-1) to be mandated for new build homes. The campaign is being backed by private and social builders, as well as housing industry organisations, a cross party coalition of MPs and members of the House of Lords.

The momentum behind this campaign reflects the seriousness of the issue. Every year, 700 people die from falling on the stairs, and for everyone hospital admission caused by a burn there are 235 caused by a fall. Stairs built to the British Standard reduce falls by an incredible 60%, meaning the majority of these falls could be avoided.

With the safety of stairs clearly a priority, RoSPA is asking for an amendment to the Building Safety Bill which would enshrine BS 5395-1 in law from 2024.

The British Standard 5395-1 considers the dimensions of the stairs; their slip resistance and the provision of handrails, and has been a recommended building regulation since 2010. It is based on 15 years of research conducted by the Building Research Establishment. The standard looks at the key safety factors that should be taken into account during the structural design of stairs, including the step dimensions.

For more information visit: https://www.rospa.com/campaigns-fundraising/current/safer-stairs

OSH UPDATE + FIRE

Keep watching OSH UPDATE + FIRE to find out more how slips, trips and falls on stairs in workplaces, homes and workplaces can be prevented. There are constantly new findings, new research reports, new legislation and new articles and guidance that will as ever be included in the ever increasing in size OSH UPDATE + FIRE collection www.oshupdate.com

OSH UPDATE + FIRE is:

• long established from mid 1990s with some of the databases in the collection service having information going back over 80 years or more.
• easily searchable by keywords, titles, journal names, standard number, authors, organisations, and will keep you and your colleagues alerted to hot topics such as COVID-19 / Coronavirus, long covid, returning to work after the lockdown, the hybrid worker, risk assessment, air pollution, travel restrictions, robots in the workplace, stress, violence and aggression in the workplace, workplace health risks, lone workers, preparedness and business continuity, risk assessment, bio-terrorism, management of road risks, all aspects of fire and related fire topics, workplace health and safety and much more.
• arguably the largest electronic collection in the World with very wide range of subject areas from worldwide sources. There is a special collection of OSH legislation, guidance and advice within OSH UPDATE and FIRE! And the subscription is very budget friendly!
• The 26 databases and contents are from worldwide class organisations such as the US NIOSH, the UK Health and Safety Executive, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and many more similar global organisations.

All organisations worldwide need to really review their health and safety goals for 2021 and beyond and decide on the training or re-training that is needed for all levels of staff and definitely update their information resources.

Check out these successful efforts that are in OSH UPDATE + FIRE and OSHWORLD and introduce them into your workplace!

It is always good to keep researching and finding out if there are services and other ways of keeping up to date in this fast-changing world of ours.

Time is precious and many people are really stretched in their jobs and find it difficult to keep ahead in current knowledge that they should have for their jobs.

So, help is at hand for those working in health, safety and fire and fire related industries which are brought together in an easy-to-use web service entitled OSH UPDATE + FIRE that is constantly updated. It contains worldwide produced report spreading new knowledge on a very regular basis.

Then try these long established Practical, Affordable Solutions for your health, safety, fire and environment information needs for a 15 DAY FREE NO OBLIGATION TRIAL contact: Sheila Pantry Associates Ltd | email: sp@sheilapantry.com | or fill in the Interest form www.sheilapantry.com/interest.html

Events

Meetings and events are on hold worldwide because of the Coronavirus pandemic – but optimistically many events are being arranged for months ahead. Look at the details – where possible, we add in the web sites of these events so you can request further information. And do let me know if you are organising any OSHE events so that these can be added to the OSHWORLD Diary.

FOCUS

This month’s OSHWORLD FOCUS is on the ILO’s Inequality, rising poverty and fewer decent jobs: Long-term COVID-19 scarring report in its projections that highlight the danger of a COVID-19 labour market legacy of increased geographic and demographic inequality, rising poverty and fewer decent jobs.

The labour market crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, and employment growth will be insufficient to make up for the losses suffered until at least 2023, according to a new assessment by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

OSHWORLD – your portal to some great OSH and FIRE web sites in the world

Wherever you are in the world have a look at your health, safety, chemical, fire and environment procedures in your workplace and update them. Your review may also indicate training requirements and re-thinking how systems and services can be improved. This is where the free-of-charge OSHWORLD can help you.

Resources

In addition to the above we hope that you find the information in OSHWORLD useful in your daily work. Globally there are continually new titles, news items, new products so remember to look at the News to find the latest information from a range of worldwide sources.

Use OSHWORLD as your portal to many hundreds of validated and authoritative web sites that you can find in the Country and Subject links we offer. New subject topics are constantly brought together on web sites, e.g. nanotechnology and the workplace.

Most information services have a reference shelf where you can quickly check the reference sources – so OSHWORLD brings you a collection of Reference sources and also teaches you how to Search the Internet.

Visit the various Bookshops to order any new document as they are being published. Many of these Bookshops have a constant stream of new titles available.

Please send any suggestions or comments about OSHWORLD – your portal to validated and authoritative information. Remember also to look at our other really useful sites – www.sheilapantry.com and why not make a free entry about your company’s products in www.shebuyersguide.com

Don’t forget to learn from history – visit www.historyofosh.org.uk
An invaluable resource for students, lecturers, trainers, health and safety professionals and others with a general interest in industrial history, the site sets out developments from the 1802 Factory Act all the way through to the most recent regulatory changes made by the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Also visit www.sheilapantry.com/memorial

Don’t work harder – work smarter! Be ahead of the game.

Well did you have a zero accident, incident-free and healthy 2020 in your workplace? Some would argue that this is not possible especially as Covid-19 took its toll! But keep on trying again in 2021 and finding new ways of working in the COVID-19 / Coronavirus world as you return to work.