Latest Health and Safety updates from the HSE

We all know how confusing the world of health and safety can be.

It feels like you need a degree in law in order to simply understand your basic responsibilities as an employer under the 1974 Act, then when you’ve got a handle on these, the HSE goes and amends an Act, or introduces new legislation which can move the goalposts and change your legal duties as a result.

In this article, we’ll aim to give you the latest health and safety updates from the HSE, keeping you up to speed and hopefully in the clear should they come knocking.

Health and Safety Updates from the HSE: Legislation

First of all, let’s look at any new or amended legislation that you should be aware of.

Remember, the latest health and safety updates from the HSE are not reported directly or even particularly prominently – it’s up to you to keep abreast of the changes.

There are many health and safety updates from the HSE, however, for the purposes of this article, we’re only looking at those changes to legislation that affect the manufacturing sector (for example there have been amendments to Investigatory Powers Act 2024 however this has little to no relevance).

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA)

This Act was passed in October 2023 and aimed to improve regional equality and boost regeneration efforts.

It does this by holding developers to account, cutting bureaucracy, and encouraging councils to put plans in place to enable the building of new homes.

LURA amends a vast array of existing legislation – too many to list here. It’s worth being aware of this legislation and the provisions it makes particularly if you manufacture construction materials or products used in new homes, as it may mean there are fewer barriers in the way of construction projects being green-lit, bolstering your own sales.

Good news, for sure.

The Product Safety and Metrology (Amendment and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/1393)

This is a piece of legislation that aims to facilitate businesses adjusting to the UK’s exit from the European Union, with regards to product safety and conformity assessment.

It achieved this by providing businesses with additional time to comply with the new UKCA marking requirements, among other provisions.

What you need to know:

The main provisions relating to the extension of the CE marking acceptance are still in effect, however, will expire at the end of the year, December 31st.
This being said, UK businesses should have already transitioned to the UKCA mark in order to comply with product safety regulations.

This health and safety update from the HSE is worth noting by anyone in the business of manufacturing products to be placed on the UK market.

HSE focus update

The HSE are known to focus on various topics depending on whatever their “flavour of the month” is.

A while back this was dust control, particularly on that which is inhalable.

HSE inspectors often arrive at business premises unannounced and carry out in-depth assessments of their compliance with the law; failings are followed up with improvement, or even prohibition notices.

While the overarching premise of these checks is to help ensure the health and safety of employees, it’s clear that a big motivation for the checks is to make money for the HSE, as evidenced by their increasing fees for intervention, which are billed hourly, and “invoiced” frequently.

Therefore, these checks are carried out more and more frequently, and it’s increasingly likely that the inspectors will look out for anything that catches their eye, not just the issue or topic that their visit regards.

As far as the latest health and safety update from the HSE is concerned regarding these checks, the HSE is currently cracking down on businesses stockpiling highly flammable liquids.

Highly flammable liquids in this context are substances like petrol and liquified petroleum gas (LPG).

Diesel is not classed as highly flammable and is, therefore, of reduced concern within the eyes of the HSE.

So, if you’re storing 50 litres or more of a highly flammable liquid on your site, the HSE will be paying you a visit – you should be prepared.

This will likely affect businesses involved in manufacturing, building, and maintenance.

The HSE will be looking for evidence that you have the storage and handling of highly flammable substances under control.

Here’s what you need to do:

Review

Keep records: your COSHH records should be held in the cloud and in one more place, in either hard or soft copy. Make sure your COSHH records are up to dates and suitably backed up and accessible.
Review your storage of highly flammables: this needs to be away from buildings and obviously away from sources of heat or ignition.
1. Walls of storage should be of stone/brick – not metal (to avoid sparks).
2. Store highly flammable liquids away from oxidisers.
Information: you need to gather info about stockholding of highly flammables now. Put a date deadline on information requests to add to your personal safeguards.
Usage: determine minimum quantities of highly flammable liquids that are used, this helps determine minimum stock holding required – the objective should be to avoid exceeding this minimum requirement.

Take Action

Stockholding: can you remove or reduce the purchased quantity? Consider that purchasing depts prefer to buy in bulk in order to reduce costs, however, this always increases risk. Remember that reduced cost does not trump increased risk. Be firm about this when discussing with your purchasing depts.
Seek safer alternatives: it’s tempting to look into this, deem that there are none, and leave it at that; however, the law requires us to adapt to technological advancement, therefore, this question needs to be asked annually.
Storage: refer to HSG71 appropriate storage pictogram – it will tell you how to safely store most substances hazardous to health according to their warning labels. The HSE will want to see evidence of this pictogram being held on site- this is easily fulfilled by simply printing and laminating, and displaying in stores, as well as including within your COSHH records.
Communication: sufficient information, instruction and training are all paramount under UK safety law. Produce a highly flammable liquids toolbox talk – this is better than a complicated COSHH assessment as a learning/training aide.

While strictly not a health and safety update from the HSE directly, this is crucial information for any business that holds even moderate quantities of highly flammable liquids.

The HSE inspectors will be looking for evidence that you have management of highly flammable liquids under sufficient control.

Therefore, you should produce a written management plan in line with the advice above, which you can provide when requested.

Health and Safety Updates from the HSE

Now you’re up to speed with the hot topics coming from the HSE but please remember to check back regularly to see the important health and safety updates from the HSE. You can also head directly to their website to learn about recent prosecutions and safety news – it’s always sensible to learn from other people’s mistakes.