According to a report recently published by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), only 13% of companies are fully confident that they have the skills to successfully compete in a sustainable economy. IEMA published its findings as it launched its new campaign, ‘Preparing for the Perfect Storm – Skills for a Sustainable Economy’, which hopes to shine a light on the transition to a sustainable economy and to catalyse action to address the skills deficit. The report states that the global economy is heading towar... Continue reading

When you think about workplace safety, the first things that come to mind are probably personal protective equipment, fall protection, materials handling safety and safe operation of machinery. However, there are hundreds of safety details recommended by OSHA, the EPA, state agencies, and even organisations like the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).  Although recommended, pipe marking is often one that gets overlooked, but it is in fact an extremely important practice. It... Continue reading

Hidden amongst the publicity created last week when it was announced that Britain fell to 26th in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report rankings, was some significant speculation as to why Scandinavian countries topped the charts. Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark quite amazingly hold all top five positions. It’s very fashionable to be Nordic – with TV programmes keeping the chattering classes entertained on Saturday nights and much speculation about just what made Denmark top the happiness league in 2013 (my mon... Continue reading

‘Remember, remember, the 4th of November….’ – a slight change to the age old rhyme, but there were certainly some pre Bonfire night fireworks when the UK Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that workers are entitled to be paid a sum of money to reflect normal non-guaranteed overtime as part of their annual leave payments (limited only to the four weeks of holiday pay that is required by the European Working Time Directive). So, what exactly does this mean to workers? Well, under EU law, full-time workers should have four weeks pai... Continue reading

Manufacturing can be a dangerous business, it is one of the industries with the most workplace injuries and fatalities. It accounts for only 10% of the UK workforce, yet is responsible for almost 20% of the injuries. On average, there 31 fatalities per year from manufacturing workplace accidents, along with above 4,500 cases of major injuries and 19,500 cases of injuries that caused workers to miss three or more days of work. So, health and safety should be a high priority for anyone involved in manufacturing. There are various steps to be tak... Continue reading