The provisional annual data for work-related fatal accidents revealed that 111 workers were fatally injured at work between April 2019 and March 2020 (a rate of 0.34 deaths per 100,000 workers), the lowest year on record. HSE comment that this represents a fall of 38 deaths from the previous year, though it is likely that this fall was accentuated by the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the economy in the final two months of the year. https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/fatals.htm.
Speech by Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive, Environment Agency, UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources.
The ten-second summary of the speech is
You can only have healthy humans if you have a healthy planet. When we damage nature we damage people too. If we look after nature, it will look after us. Doing so costs money. But it’s the best possible investment we could make, because the benefit/cost ratio is fantastic – not just in costs saved for the NHS, but in lives saved for our communities, and a future saved for our planet.
The REACH etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 Statutory Instrument (SI) was laid before Parliament on 16th October. The amended should be in force before IP completion day.
This instrument will:
Help to ensure the UK meets its obligations under the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland and provide for access by Northern Irish goods to the Great Britain market.Extend transitional provisions for importers of substances from EU based registrants by a further 120 days. These importers now have 300 days from 1 January 2021 to provide UK authorities with some initial information as part of a Downstream User Import Notification (DUINs).Introduce a new phased approach to UK REACH data submission. Companies will now have 2, 4 or 6 years beginning after those 300 days for full registrations to be completed. These deadlines are dependent on tonnage bands and hazard profile, with the highest tonnage and most hazardous chemicals first.HSE releases annual injury and ill-health statistics for Great Britain. https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/index.htm In the 2019/2020 period there were;
111 fatal injuries at work693,000 workers sustained non-fatal injuries1.6 million working people suffering from a work-related illness38.8 million working days lost due to work-related illness and workplace injuryMore than half of Britain’s working days lost in 2019/20 were due to mental ill-health.325 cases were prosecuted and resulted in a conviction. Fines from convictions totalled £35.8 million