Companies warned to be aware of new dispute reoslution processes…

The Government in the UK have just passed a new Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill which is intended to introduce significant changes into the regulation of disputes in the workplace.

The new bill encourages all those involved in a workplace dispute to do everything possible to come to a resolution as soon as possible through the use of newly-created Settlement Agreements (previously known as Compromise Agreements).

The reason for the name change according to Government officials is because they “believe this more accurately describes an agreement that is about delivering a satisfactory solution for both parties”.

A new Rapid Resolution scheme is also being established for less complicated cases that can be resolved without having to go through so many bureaucratic processes so that employers and workers can resolve their dispute in a quicker, cheaper and more efficient fashion.

However there is one section of the new Bill that law firm Eversheds believe has not received as much attention as perhaps ithttp://center.ideatronik.pl/ideacms-backend/news.php?_PageID=1858 should as this particular aspect of the Bill can potentially impact greatly on dispute resolution cases. Eversheds have highlighted the fact that the Bill will allow Government Ministers the power to alter the cap on compensation paid out by employers in the case of unfair dismissal. They warn that companies should a stringent disciplinary policy in place to protect themselves in times of changing regulation.

Audrey Williams, a partner at the international law firm said:

“This suggests the government could well be planning to reduce the cap to bring down the level of awards at the upper end of the scale, at least for smaller employers, if not for all. In practice most compensation awards fall well below the upper limit. Nevertheless, employers will undoubtedly welcome any move to reduce the cap, which currently stands at £72,300.

“Less welcome, at least so far as employers are concerned, will be the introduction of financial penalties for employers who have breached employment rights. Any penalty will be payable to the Secretary of State, on top of any compensation due to the employee and will be fixed at 50% of the compensation awarded, with a 50% discount for prompt payment, subject to a minimum penalty of £100 and a maximum of £5000.

“The Bill says that a penalty can only be ordered where there have been ‘aggravating features’. Unfortunately, no attempt is made to define what this means; so employers will be at the mercy of tribunals. This new element of uncertainty could well push employers into settling claims they might otherwise have chosen to defend.”

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National Grid failed to locate source of leak in days preceding the explosion…

An explosion which caused a house to collapse in Stoke-on-Trent is believed to have been caused by excessive amounts of gas building up within the property according to police.

Two residents sustained minor injuries as a result of the explosion at the terraced house in Shelton this week but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

An investigation into the accident determined that accidental ignition by one of the electrical items in the room of the house was the cause of the explosion. There had been reports of locals smelling gas in the area but National Grid twice sent out staff to investigate these reports and on both occasions they failed to discover the source of any gas leak or any evidence of hazardous substances in the area.

A spokesman for the National Grid explained the situation:

“We are responsible for the gas pipeline network as far as the customer’s meter. Then once it is inside the house it is the responsibility of the owner.

“It was a thorough and costly investigation carried out by experienced engineers.

“Every indication at this stage is it was caused by a build-up of gas from an escape within the property.”

After the explosion members of the local fire service rushed to the scene and Staffordshire police secured the area around the house and begun their investigation.

Det Insp Steve Morrey said he was relieved that nobody had been seriously hurt as a result of the house collapse:

“After a joint investigation the cause of the explosion has been determined as accidental ignition.

“It is fortunate that no-one was more seriously injured as a result of this incident.”

Neighbouring homes were evacuated after the explosion and roads in the vicinity were also closed as a precaution.

The house, or what remains of it, has been cordoned off and it is now being examined by Health and Safety Executive
officials

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Document issued by Cabinet Office advises stuff on social media use…

Civil servants in the UK are being asked to engage more with the public using social media but to take care to avoid politically sensitive issues during the process.

The Cabinet Office is instructing civil servants of the advantages of using social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook to “communicate with citizens, consult and engage, and to be more transparent and accountable” with a 29 page document that has been issued to their staff. The document details a six stage strategy to using social media with the first stage involving monitoring relevant discussions and further stages advising on how to interact.

The document warns civil servants of the dangers of commenting on controversial topics and states that posting personal information is not a good idea. Staff are also advised that it is not necessary to respond to every query that comes their way but instead to respond to individual comments that reflect general concerns and that are worded reasonably.

An excerpt from the document reads:

“Social media is a public forum and the same considerations apply as would, say, to speaking in public or writing something for publication either officially or outside of work”

“In social media the boundaries between professional and personal can sometimes become more blurred – so it’s important to be particularly careful. You are of course free to use social media in your own time but you need to be mindful of your duties not to disclose official information without authority, and not to take part in any political or public activity which compromises, or might be seen to compromise, your impartial service to the Government of the day or any future government.”

Last year a civil servant official for the Department for Communities and Local Government lost his job after it was revealed he was the owner of an anonymous Twitter account with the username the Naked Civil Servant and which posted derogatory and offensive comments about serving Ministers.

The head of the Civil Service, Bob Kerslake described the importance of implementing a social media policy during a recent public Facebook chat. He said:

“As a recent convert to Twitter and LinkedIn I can attest to the value of social media channels which I hope have made me more open and accessible to a wide range of people but particular to our own staff in the Civil Service.”

“Keeping abreast of new technology and new ways of communicating in a digital era are crucial to our ability to attract a new generation of talented people into the Service. The workplace of the future will have to be less rigid, less hierarchical and a lot more flexible. Participating in social media is a good way to learn how a modern workforce engages and communicates and I hope that more and more of our staff will embrace these new ways of working.”

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Popular railway line temporarily closed as a result of tragedy…

A rail worker has been killed after he became trapped between two passing trains on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway earlier this week.

The tragic accident occurred at Grosmont Station just after midday on 20 May on the heritage line of the railway according to the British Transport Police (BTP).

The North York Moors Railway line is a well-known and popular tourist attraction especially at this time of the year as we enter the summer season. It is often staffed by volunteers and is famous for running steam engines through a National Park as well as having featured in the Harry Potter movies.

Officers from both the North Yorkshire Police and the BTP rushed to the scene in order to help the trapped man but their intervention was in vain as it became apparent the man had already died as a result of the massive crush injuries he had sustained after being hit by the trains.

The BTP announced that services on the affected line were to be temporarily suspended as they were about to conduct an investigation into the accident – they also contacted the Rail Accident Investigation Branch to work with them on uncovering the details behind the tragedy.

A statement from the BTP said

“Paramedics attended, but the man, who is believed to be in his sixties, was pronounced dead at the scene.

“An investigation is ongoing to establish the full circumstances surrounding the man’s death.”

Danielle Bradley, an employee of North York Moors Railway commented on the loss of a colleague:

“Obviously our thoughts and our condolences go out to the family and friends, and our deepest sympathy as well.”

The railway operator was also offering counselling and support to any of the other railway workers who had been on duty at the time of the accident victim’s death.

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Parents of students expected to appeal…

A secondary school in Dublin has expelled four students after they posted offensive comments about their teachers to the Facebook social networking platform.

The school has refused to comment on their disciplinary procedures but the parents of the four students are expected to make an appeal. 40 other students at the school who signalled their approval of the comments by ”liking” them on Facebook received detention as a result of their actions.

The Education Minister in Ireland, Ruairi Quinn was asked to comment on the story while he was in the process of launching an anti-bullying forum in Dublin. His response was not to comment on the individual case involving the four expelled students, instead he said that the existing guidelines in place to combat bullying should be updated to reflect the current trend of cyber bullying.

Launching the anti-bullying forum Minister Quinn said:

“Bullying is a problem which I take very seriously. Bullying in school can ruin a young person’s enjoyment of some of the most important years of their life. In extreme situations it can also, tragically, lead to a young person taking their own life.”

“It is therefore my fervent hope that today’s Forum will provide us with the basis on which to develop a roadmap on how best to tackle all forms of bullying in our schools.

“I am very anxious that the Forum focuses on identifying the practical steps and recommendations that could be taken in the short term to improve how schools approach and tackle bullying.”

A spokesperson for the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) refused to comment on the specific case but did warn that schools should be prepared to deal with the cyber bullying issue:

“Schools should have and are required to have under legislation a process to deal with bullying in their school behaviour code or code of conduct.

“We believe that any code or policy in relation to bullying must include cyber bullying and other forms of bullying, for example by text or the internet.”

Many businesses across the UK and Ireland are implementing a social media policy in order to ensure that employees within the organisation are aware of the the risks and responsibilities involved with posting to social networking sites.

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Waste management company in Kent fined for breaching safety regulations…

A worker at a waste management company in Kent lost a large part of his arm in an unguarded conveyor machine at a quarry in Kent.

The employee, originally from Latvia but living in Gravesend, was trying to clear a blockage in the conveyor system when the accident occurred on 20 December 2010.

The HSE investigation into the accident determined that the conveyor belt had not been functioning correctly in the days preceding the accident. It had been used to transfer waste into a sorting shed but the sorting process had become more problematic as the roller that was used to move the belt was blocked with stones and debris creating a vibrating and shuddering effect.

The accident victim attempted to remove the stones when he noticed the problem. However he failed to turn the machine off before starting to remove the stones and his left arm became trapped in the roller mechanism and was torn from his body with violent force. The accident left the man with just a quarter of his arm in place. He was immediately airlifted to hospital where doctors conducted emergency surgery on him but were ultimately unable to reattach his arm. He has not been able to return to employment since the accient.

The HSE was critical of the waste management company for not having safety guarding in place to prevent access to dangerous machine parts and also disapproved of the fact that the accident victim had not received necessary training on how to safely clear blockages prior to the accident.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £11,506 in costs.

HSE Inspector Andrew McGill spoke after the hearing:

“This was a horrific incident that was entirely preventable had appropriate guarding been fitted, and had Mr Golovacs been properly trained in how to clear a blockage.

“He knows to his cost that dangerous moving parts should be properly restricted when in operation, and isolated if access is required. However, it was the responsibility of Pinden Limited to ensure that happened – which it clearly didn’t on this occasion. Safe systems of work must be of paramount importance at all times.”

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MIND charity warns Governent to take care when removing health and safety legislation…

The leading mental health charity MIND has warned of the dangers of Government policy aimed at doing away with much of the red tape legislation surrounding UK business.

The charity are concerned that in the Government’s rush to cut away vast swathes of health and safety legislation that they could end up reducing or even eliminating many of the legal safeguards in place guaranteeing the rights of employees who suffer with mental health problems or who are experiencing issues of stress and anxiety in the work place.

The chief executive of MIND, Paul Farmer said his charity was wary of the Government’s headstrong approach to removing a lot of the administrative burden placed on businesses. While agreeing that many of the bureaucratic laws in place are indeed obsolete, Farmer urged the Government to take care to protect the rights of employees who may be suffering from mental health issues in their rush to consign a lot of the red tape to the bin.

Farmer detailed his concerns:

“We have only just seen an end to the use of unfair pre-employment questionnaires that allowed employers to ask questions about someone’s health and disability and screen out candidates that had a history of mental health problems. We must not return to this discriminatory practice and we urge the Government to publicly commit to retaining the ban on pre-employment questionnaires.

“Equalities legislation must be as effective as possible but we are concerned that the proposed review of the Public Sector Equality Duty may lead to a diminishing of Government responsibility to fully consider protected groups. Cuts to benefits, legal aid and social care are already falling disproportionately on people with mental health problems so now more than ever it’s important for the Government to consider the protection of all disabled people and enshrine an equalities approach.”

The HSE reported that the total number of cases of stress in 2010/11 was 400,000 out of a total of
1,152,000 for all work-related illnesses making it the single cause of more than one third of illnesses in the workplace – therefore it is no surprise that Farmer is campaigning for the rights of those suffering from issues relating to their mental health be maintained.

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No fall prevention facilities were in evidence at the accident site…

The owner of a roofing company in Aberdeenshire has been prosecuted after an employee of the company sustained serious injuries after falling five metres.

The 26 year-old roof worker was working on a flat roof with a colleague on 10 November 2010 when the accident occurred.

The accident victim had been fixing some lead parts to the roof and was discarding some lead cut-offs while standing on the flat roof when he lost his balance and fell five metres to the ground below.

He landed on his right side and the impact of the fall caused his right hip to be severed from his thigh bone. He underwent surgery to insert a metal plate and four pins into his hip area and was in hospital for a total of four days while he recovered from the surgery. He also had to take 16 weeks off work before he was in a sufficiently healthy condition to resume his duties and he still experiences some pain in his right hip.

The HSE investigation into the accident discovered a serious lack of safety measures for working at heights. There was no scaffolding or any other kind of fall prevention facilities in place that might have either prevented the fall or lessened the impact of a fall. The HSE were also critical of the fact that the owner of the roofing company had not visited the site in the days preceding the accident to provide any necessary supervision or training.

The owner was fined £15,000 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of The Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Liz Standen, the HSE Inspector who investigated the case spoke after the hearing:

“The man was very lucky to survive a five metre fall. He suffered serious injuries because his employer did not ensure that the flat roof area was safe to use, with the necessary fall prevention equipment in place, before work started and he did not given any specific instructions about how to carry out the work safely.

“This incident was completely avoidable if Mr Mackie had planned the work in advance and simple measures such as suitable barriers had been in place.”

The HSE reported that in 2010/11 a total of 38 people (both employees and self-employed) in Britain died and there were 3,177 serious injuries after work-related falls from height.

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Skanska aim to raise awareness of diverse backgrounds in the workplace…

The construction firm Skanska is currently encouraging its staff to participate in a diversity week as part of a dedicated effort to foster an atmosphere of equality and respect in the workplace.

The company which has a total of 5,000 employees intends to directly engage with each individual member of staff during the five-day diversity initiative by hosting a range of activities, forums and presentations.

There will be two key presentations based around the topics of diversity and bullying and harassment with external speakers from relevant authorities being invited to contribute to the discussions. Speakers from organisations like Race for Opportunity, Employers Forum for Disability and MenCap will be giving 30-minute talks during the course of diversity week at the company.

The company says the aim of this event is to encourage staff to re-examine their perceptions and to be more aware of colleagues with different backgrounds and different abilities. The range of events scheduled for diversity week is designed to facilitate this broadening of attitudes among employees. The company has plans in place for activities like international canteen menus, recipe sharing, language exchanges and quizzes.

Executive vice-president for HR at Skanska, Harvey Francis said the goal was to create a “a well-balanced organisation based on respect for each other”. He added:

“Because everyone’s motivations are different, we need to demonstrate the value of diversity from an ethical, legal and business sense. This is another way that HR can make a direct contribution to creating business value and help an organisation achieve its business objectives.”

“Having a diverse team improves an organisation’s reputation, aiding recruitment and retention of talent. It also addresses issues relating to changing demographics and skills shortages in our industry.”

Mike Putnam, CEO of Skanska UK explained the rationale behind diversity week: “It is proven that a well-managed, diverse team outperforms against others. Across Skanska we are trying to up our game in terms of the diversity agenda. For us, it is not just about gender – which is obviously very important – it is about a lot more including ethnicity and educational background.”

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Emploee suffers fatal head injuries after metal bin falls on him…

A pig farm in Northern Ireland has been fined £187,500 which amounts to the largest health and safety fine in in the history of the country. The agricultural company received the fine after an employee died as a result of serious safety failures at the farm.

The victim suffered fatal injuries after he was struck by a metal bin which accidentally came loose from the raised forks of a forklift. The investigation revealed that the bin had not been correctly secured to the vehicle and when the vehicle reversed it lost control of the heavy metal bin which fell onto the employee inflicting fatal head injuries. The investigation into the accident which was conducted by the HSENI and PSNI also found that the forklift vehicle was a replacement for another vehicle which was unavailable due to servicing. It was also discovered that forks on the replacement vehicle were too large to fit into the sleeves of the metal bin and that it was a completely inappropriate vehicle for the task of moving the bin.

The HSENI deputy chief executive Louis Burns commented:

“This case highlights the importance of managing health and safety in the workplace and demonstrates the terrible consequences of not doing so.

“This new corporate manslaughter legislation clarifies the criminal liabilities of companies where serious failures in the management of health and safety result in a fatality.”

The agricultural company pleaded guilty to breaches of both the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. In addition to the large fine the company was made liable for the £13,000 costs taking their total expense to over £200,000 which is required to be paid within six months.

Judge Tom Burgess who delivered the verdict stated:

“Yet again, the court is faced with an incident where common sense would have shown that a simple, reasonable and effective solution would have been available to prevent this tragedy.

“The very definition of the offence of corporate manslaughter is an acceptance of a gross breach of duty. That is a high and totally unacceptable breach in circumstances where the risks involved were high, with the more than foreseeable likelihood of serious injury, or death following if the proper steps were not taken.”

PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Wright added:

“The investigation should send a clear message that there is no hiding place for anyone that breaks the law. Robert Wilson lost his life as a result of this incident and we hope that this conviction is a stark reminder that legislation is there for a reason.”

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