5. The workplace and the working environment

Changes and developments since last year

• A judge has confirmed that the provisions in the Health Act 2006 restricting smoking in public places apply to public prisons and they are not covered by Crown Immunity.

• The Welsh government has unveiled a Public Health Bill which would introduce restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes in enclosed and substantially-enclosed public and work places and bring their use into line with existing smoking laws.

• New drug-drive legislation came into force setting limits at very low levels for eight drugs commonly associated with illegal use such as cannabis and cocaine and for eight prescription drugs.

• A bus driver falsely accused of driving under the influence of cocaine after having tested positive in a workplace drug test won compensation for unfair dismissal.

• The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) came into force on 6 April 2015, replacing the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM 2007).

• The Mines Regulations 2014 came into force on 6 April 2015 and replaced 47 mines-specific legal instruments (32 substantive sets of Regulations or orders, 13 amending instruments and two Acts dating from 1954 to 2007).

• The HSE has published new ACoPs for the Diving at Work Regulations 1997 and the Quarries Regulations 1999.

• The HSE has consulted on implementing a European offshore safety directive in the UK and new safety rules for offshore helicopter flights have come into force.

• In the railways industry, the trend in track workers being injured is at a seven year high.

• A port operator was fined £650,000, seven years after the deaths of three crewmen on board a capsized tug.