Safety Smart Monthly Update March 2023

If you missed out on our last newsletter – never fear! we’ve pulled together all the information in this blog post and there’s plenty to catch up on!

Government Response to Menopause Leave

In July 2022, the UK government published a policy paper, ‘Menopause and the Workplace’ but, disappointingly, it rejected the provision for menopause leave, as well as menopause being added to the list of protected characteristics under equality laws; citing that it was already adequately covered by age and sex discrimination.

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Burnout, moral injury and moral distress are bubbling up in the workplace. But how are these concepts connected?

The concept of burnout was not new to OSH professionals and employees when the World Health Organization (WHO) defined it as an occupational phenomenon in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (WHO, 2019), but the concepts of moral injury and moral distress may be much less familiar.

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Employees are increasingly calling in sick or working while ill – and still inclined to leave their roe, a report has found.

A report has found a dramatic increase in the frequency and volume of employees calling in sick or working while ill.

Fruitful Insights, which conducted a two-year study, believes the 29% increase in self-reported sickness absence and 18% increase in presenteeism is due to new working ways.

The company believes the figures are against a backdrop of less than 0.9% improvement in productivity since 2020 and the highest sickness absence rate for a decade – which they say rings warning bells for employers. 

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CASE STUDIES

Construction firm fined £600,000 after workers found sleeping on site

Recently at Basildon Crown Court, S&S Quality Building Contractors Ltd was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay costs of £36,894 after pleading guilty to breaching s 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. 

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Company and director fined after HSE inspectors find unusable toilet

A company and its director have been fined after they failed to provide suitable welfare facilities at a construction site in Belsize Park, North London.

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Company fined after worker fractures back and ribs following fall

A company has been fined after an employee fractured his back and ribs following a fall from a house in Frodsham, Cheshire.

The man was working for Renka Limited after the company had been hired to supply and install windows, doors and frames at the property on Village Road.

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