News

2012 was a very bad year for weather, beginning in complete contrast to the end, with the first half seeing drought and the latter seeing extreme flooding. Flooding has been frequent and devastating since summer 2012 and the impact of such has had consequences on human landscapes and wildlife alike.

British wildlife has, as the National Trust reported, struggled to deal with the wet conditions thrown at it. Bees, butterflies and hoverflies have been particularly affected. This affected pollination and fruit harvests in the autumn which, in turn, had a knock-on effect on birds and animals that depend on those food sources.

However, the same cannot be said of the slug, which apparently thrived in the wet weather. The giant Spanish super slug has been particularly noticeable in gardens apparently. In addition, rapid grass growth has been noticed due to the damp weather, and orchids also had a good 2012.

Despite this good news for a certain select portion of British wildlife, a return to distinctive seasonal weather may be appreciated by all, especially in the summertime.

Michael Compton, a parish councillor in Blunsdon, Swindon, has been fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £1,840 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations SI 1998/2451.

Mr Compton had removed a gas boiler and installed a new one in Swindon despite the fact he was not registered with Gas Safe Register. The work was therefore illegal and left a householder at risk.

Swindon Magistrates' Court was told that Mr Compton told the householder that his colleague would sign-off the work and provide a guarantee. However, after the colleague refused to sign the guarantee, Mr Compton's failing came to light.

However, this was not the first time Mr Compton had been cautioned. He had previously been cautioned for carrying out illegal gas work and had signed a letter to say he would not carry out such work in the future.

Following the hearing, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Ian Whittles said, "Mr Compton's dangerous boiler work could have led to injury or even a fatality. He chose to disregard the previous caution, ignored his commitment not to take on further illegal gas work and then expected a colleague to sign-off his shoddy work." He added, "Anyone working with gas has to be registered as trained and competent to do so and be members of the Gas Safe Register by law. That way customers can be sure they are dealing with an engineer who is qualified to do the job."

For further information, see the:

• Gas Safe Register, available at http://cedr.ec/ke;
• HSE gas health and safety advice, available at http://cedr.ec/kf.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a consultation setting out proposals for a National Local Authority Enforcement Code.

The Code has been developed in response to the Professor Ragnar Löfstedt report "Reclaiming health & safety for all: An independent review of health and safety legislation" commissioned by the Minister for Employment which recommended that the HSE be given a stronger role in directing Local Authority health and safety inspection and enforcement activity.

It sets out Government expectations on a risk based approach to targeting health and safety regulatory interventions. By providing a principle based framework that recognises the respective roles of business and the regulator in the management of risk, it establishes the risk based approach to be followed by Local Authority regulators that will provide business with a consistency of approach. At the same time, following the principles of the Code will ensure Local Authorities make the best use of their regulatory resource by focussing their efforts where it really matters.

The consultation will end on 1 March 2013 and you can find out more information at http://cedr.ec/kg.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSE NI) have produced a consultative document on a proposed new Statutory Instrument to put in place domestic administrative arrangements on enforcement and the appointment of Competent Authorities/Designated National Authorities to support three EU Regulations on:

• the market and use of biocidal products;
• the export and import of hazardous chemicals; and
• classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures.

The proposals implement a Löfstedt recommendation to consolidate biocides sector legislation, and also to meet EU requirements to establish competent authorities, designated national authorities and enforcement arrangements (as appropriate). Overall the proposal will consolidate seven existing statutory instruments into one (the "7 into 1" package).

The consultation ends on 31 January 2013.

For more information, see:

• CD249 - Public consultation on regulatory measures to support EU chemicals legislation and proposals on reducing seven existing sets of domestic regulations into one statutory instrument ("7 into 1" package).

The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations SI 2012/3032 came into force on 2 January 2013 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

They implement Directive 2011/65/EU, on the same subject (the RoHS Directive) and revoke and replace the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations SI 2008/37.

The Regulations place obligations on manufacturers, importers and distributors to restrict the use of hazardous substances, including some heavy metals and certain flame retardants, in 11 categories of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), as well as requiring compliant products to be CE marked. Eight of the 11 categories of EEE covered by these Regulations are already subject to Directive 2002/95/EC, the previous RoHS Directive. The additional categories are phased in over a period ending in July 2019. There is also a transitional period until 2019, for EEE that was considered outside the scope of Directive 2002/95/EC.

During a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation relating to a separate issue, serious issues were uncovered with the construction and maintenance of the electrical system at a plastics manufacturer in Suffolk.

The Sudbury-based manufacturer, Techplas, were fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £5,930 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Electricity at Work Regulations SI 1989/635.

The court were told how HSE inspectors found:

• live 400 volt cabling hanging off the wall;
• a broken socket with live 400 volt cabling coiled on the floor;
• fused spars and electric switches hanging off single-core cabling, leaving the live 230 volt wiring inside exposed.

Guards had also been removed from a plastic forming machine, exposing heating elements that could become dangerous as soon as the machine was switched on. HSE served three Prohibition Notices on the company ordering urgent improvements to be made.

After the hearing HSE inspector Saffron Turnell, said:

"The state of the electrical systems at Techplas was simply appalling and it is only a matter of luck that nobody had been injured or electrocuted. Employers have a duty to ensure the workplace is a safe environment and this must include electrical installations, whether or not the work carried out at their premises directly involves electricity."

For more information, see:

• Memorandum of guidance on the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.