Two family run companies have appeared in court after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an unannounced visit on a basement conversion and found that neither firm had undertaken an asbestos survey.   Hatters Hostel, Newton Street. Image credit: © Manchester Evening News Manchester Crown Court heard last week that Hatters Taverns had appointed its sister company Hatters Hostels as the main contractor for the refurbishment, which was planned underneath a hostel at 50 Newton Street, Manchester. The work involved the refurbishment of the basement, a former restaurant unit, as a bar. When the HSE arrived unannounced to inspect the work, inspectors discovered that an asbestos survey had not been carried out before the tradesmen had started stripping out the space. According to a report in the Manchester Evening News work had already been underway for eight months and had involved workers from six firms. While no asbestos had…

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations(CDM) are the main set of regulations for managing the health, safety and welfare of construction projects. On Monday 6 April 2015, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 replaced the 2007Regulations. Whatever your role in construction, CDM aims to improve health and safety in the industry by helping you to: sensibly plan the work so the risks involved are managed from start to finish; have the right people for the right job at the right time; cooperate and coordinate your work with others; have the right information about the risks and how they are being managed; communicate this information effectively to those who need to know; consult and engage with workers about the risks and how they are being managed;   The changes from CDM 2007 to CDM 2015 were substantial, the Health and Safety Executives guidance on CDM 2015, ‘Guidance on The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015’, provides advice…

Poor standards and dangerous practices were found at nearly half of the building sites visited during a month long safety drive. During a nationwide campaign, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited 2,607 sites where refurbishment or repair work was taking place. Inspectors found basic safety standards were not being met on 1,105 sites.  On 644 sites, practices were so poor that enforcement action was necessary to protect workers – with 539 prohibition notices served ordering dangerous activities to stop immediately and 414 improvement notice issued requiring standards to improve. The most common problems identified included failing to protect workers during activities at height, exposure to harmful dust and inadequate welfare facilities. Heather Bryant, HSE’s Chief Inspector of Construction: “It is disappointing to find a significant number of sites falling below acceptable health and safety standards, where our inspectors encountered poor practice this often went hand in hand with a…