Those of us who work in safety – and particularly in fire safety – have learned to see fire risk on a continuum. There really is only a small degree of difference between a toaster burning out and the kind of catastrophe that brings about scores of deaths, days of national mourning, and fundamental change to how we treat this most ancient, most omnipresent and most duplicitous of hazards.

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A recent case considered by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has highlighted the need for employers to be flexible when it comes to recruitment practice, emphasising that one size should definitely not be made to fit all.

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lll-fitting Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that isn’t designed to protect women workers can get in the way of them doing their job safely, according to a new report published by the TUC. The report, Personal protective equipment and women, reveals that despite a legal duty to provide the correct PPE to staff free of charge, only three in ten women (29%) told researchers that the PPE they wear to keep them safe at work is specifically designed for women.

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Opening up about mental health is the topic of the moment, with the Royal Family backing campaigns to get people talking to each other about their problems. In the workplace, that conversation between employer and employee is significant and the employee needs to feel fully supported moving on from there.

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Last week saw the publication of a letter in the UK’s Guardian newspaper written by 30 educational experts, in which they called the practice of teaching to different learning styles a “neuromyth”, effectively labelling it a waste of time.

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Technology and interactivity are increasingly shaping how people work as well as where, according to research carried out by ‘Quality of life services’ provider Sodexo into the business trends emerging in 2017.

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The use of machines in the workplace is nothing new. But, whereas robots were initially built to carry out simple tasks, nowadays artificial intelligence means they can also ‘think’. These new technologies present new benefits and possibilities but also costs and threats.

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Most people feel refresher training can be dull and part of a ‘tick box procedure’ that fills them with dread, trying to remember whether they had received the original training. Training is meant to be effective and memorable and refresher training shouldn’t be any different.

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Winter is truly upon us and as temperatures drop, some employees are spending their days in uncomfortably cold workplaces. For employers, this is a vital issue that needs to be addressed. While heating can be costly, the price of not meeting your legal duties when it comes to workplace temperature could be higher.

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A chemical company has been sentenced after one worker was killed and another left with life-changing injuries when they were overcome by a toxic vapour cloud. A little over 16 months later there was another incident involving the same toxic chemical.

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