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Newswire – RoSPAH&S is not a joke to those workers (& their families) who suffered because of a lack of proper procedures & policies - Ceremonies were held at memorial sites across the country on 28 April 2011 to remember all those ‘who went out to work, but never came home’ because they were killed in accidents.

Workers’ Memorial Day
also provides opportunities to reflect on the thousands of early deaths that happen each year as a result of work-related ill health, such as asbestos-related conditions and other cancers & lung diseases.

There are dozens of permanent memorials to lost workers around the UK.  Some of the memorials commemorate high-profile disasters that claimed the lives of many workers, while others remember lesser-known accidents in which 1 or 2 people were killed while doing their jobs.

RoSPA's National Occupational Safety & Health Committee initiated the creation of a website to provide comprehensive information about the memorial sites, which was launched in time for last year’s awareness day and updated in time for this year’s event.
Press release ~ Worker’s Memorial Information website ~ Related Corporate Manslaughter press release ~ RoSPA: Director Leadership and Involvement in Health and Safety ~ RoSPA: Occupational Safety ~ SGC related press release ~ Corporate Manslaughter and Health & Safety Offences Causing Death ~ 10:10’s Lighter Later coalition ~ Related HSE press release ~ Safety Alert on quick hitches ~ HSE: Safety Topics ~ HSE: Procuring and managing waste services ~ Update to Mapping Health and Safety Standards in the UK Waste Industry ~ Case studies ~ Waste Industry Safety & Health (WISH) Forum ~ HSE Data Sources ~ Statistics on fatal injuries in the workplace 2009/10 ~ Directgov: Accidents in the workplace ~ Buncefield Investigation ~ Major Incident Investigation Board (MIIB) ~ UK Resilience - Emergencies ~ Worksmart: Accidents, incidents and Injuries ~ TUC: Lone Working ~ Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) ~ Liability / Corporate Responsibility ~ Law & Legislation ~ TUC: More guides & reports

BSI:  Long-term temporary staff gain entitlement to similar benefits as permanent staff - The Government has published guidance to help employers & the recruitment sector prepare for the introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations.  The guidance will help hirers & agencies understand the requirements of the Regulations.  Separate guidance for agency workers will be published shortly.

The Regulations implement the EU Agency Workers Directive, as agreed in 2008, following social partner agreement between the CBI & TUC.  These will come into force in the UK on 1 October 2011 and will give agency workers the right to the same basic employment & working conditions as if they had been recruited directly by the hirer - if & when they complete a 12-week qualifying period in a job.

These include key elements of pay, duration of working time, night work, rest periods & breaks, annual leave and paid time off for ante-natal appointments.  The Regulations also include new entitlements for agency workers from day one of their assignment with regards to access to facilities at the workplace and the right to be notified of any relevant vacancies.

The default position in the Directive is that the qualifying principle should apply from ‘day one’ of an agency worker’s assignment.  However, the Directive also allowed Member States some flexibility as to how this principle is applied, including the possibility of a qualifying period before the right to equal treatment arises, as long as this is based on an agreement reached by ‘national level’ social partners.

Such an agreement was reached by the CBI & TUC in May 2008, with the support of the previous Government and provides the legal basis for the legislation subsequently put in place - including its provision for a qualifying period of 12 weeks.
Press release ~ Agency Workers Regulations Guidance ~ BIS: Agency Worker Directive and Regulations 2010 ~ CIPD guidance ~ Business Link: Taking on Agency workers ~ Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) ~ Employment Agency Standards inspectorate

DirectgovThe ‘cut-back financial pain’ continues - The Budget announced changes to payments and the way you claim Child Benefit, Child & Working Tax Credit, Disability Living Allowance and Housing Benefit.  Child Benefit is frozen for 3 years.  If you're a lone parent you're encouraged to return to work once your children are in school.
Press release & links

EU News:  All aboard for the future of European travel - The European Commission has adopted a new regulation (Telematics Applications for Passenger Services) to facilitate pan European rail journey planning & ticketing, by forcing a standardisation of rail passenger data on fares & timetables.  This means that key reservation & ticketing information will be inter-operable and can be exchanged between rail companies throughout the EU, as well as ticket vendors.

The Commission will in 2012 bring forward a complementary legal measure requiring rail operators to bring their IT systems and practices into line, so that the standardised data can in practice be transferred between operators.  These measures lay the technical foundations to allow a new generation of European rail journey planners & ticketing systems to start to emerge on market.

The Commission has also recently launched a public consultation - Towards a European Multi-Modal Journey Planner (closes on 27 May 2011) - which will also feed into this process.
Press release & links ~ Towards a European Multi-Modal Journey Planner ~ Telematics Applications for Passenger Services regulation ~ Rail – Telematic applications ~ Intelligent Transport Systems: What do we want to achieve? ~ The Joint Office of RailNetEurope ~ Rail Europe ~ European Rail Guide

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