The latest news and updates from HSE

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Health and Safety Executive

Weekly Digest ebulletin

Issued: 24 October 2024

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Manual handling at work: guidance on the law

As an employer, you must protect your workers from the risks of manual handling injuries in the workplace. 

You can find help with preventing these sort of risks in your workplace on our manual handling webpages.

They have a range of useful information and guidance for employers, including sections on assessing manual handling and training for workers.

There are also links to a variety of useful resources. These include our free-to-download publications:


Farm owner fined after roofer dies in fall

A worker fell to his death from a forklift truck while attempting to repair the roof of a shed on the farm's premises.

The worker was lifted up inside a potato box balanced on the forks to a height of around 16 feet.

As he moved to one side of the potato box, overbalanced and he fell to the floor, sustaining fatal head injuries.

The farm owner and his company were fined a combined £16,000. HSE's investigation found that:

  • there was no safe system of work implemented for working at height and unsuitable work equipment was used
  • the potato box did not have the required safety features for a non-integrated work platform and had not been secured in a way to prevent it overbalancing
  • the forklift truck had not been subjected to a thorough examination at the required frequency

Read more in our press release: farm owner fined after roofer dies in fall.

Our website has guidance on preventing accidents involving workplace transport.

You can visit our news centre for more on recent enforcement cases.


Protecting young people at work

Workers are as likely to have an accident in the first 6 months at a workplace as they are during the whole of the rest of their working life.

Young people are especially at risk as they are likely to be new to the workplace and less aware of risks.

When you employ young people under the age of 18, you have the same responsibilities for their health, safety and welfare as you do for other workers. This applies whether they are a worker, on work experience, or an apprentice.

HSE's website has dedicated health and safety advice for:

  • employers
  • young workers
  • work experience organisers
  • schools and colleges

Visit our young workers guidance to find out more


Latest job vacancies at HSE

Join HSE to develop your career and help protect lives and livelihoods.

We currently have a range of vacancies, which include:

Safety signs and signals

HSE's guidance publication sets out what you should do to comply with the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996.

You can buy a hard copy or download a free copy: Safety signs and signals. The Health and Safety Regulations 1996. Guidance on Regulations (L64)

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