6. Hazardous substances

Changes and developments since last year

• Public services union UNISON has published a new guide on hazardous substances after a survey of its safety reps found that chemicals and solvents, dusts, dermatitis and skin rashes and infections were among their top concerns.

• Academics have called on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to tighten the control limits for exposure to silica dust, which can be created during work with stone, rock, concrete and plaster.

• The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has announced that no one will be prosecuted over the fatal 2012 legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Edinburgh.

• The European Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures — known as the CLP Regulation – has fully replaced the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations 2009 (CHIP 4).

• The Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 2015 came into effect on 1 June 2015, revoking the COMAH Regulations 1999.

• New Petroleum (Consolidation) Regulations 2014 came into effect on 1 October 2014.

• The Explosives Regulations 2014 and the Acetylene Safety (England and Wales and Scotland) Regulations 2014 also came into force on 1 October 2014.

• The HSE launched a new safety campaign to warn tradespeople including carpenters, painters and decorators and construction workers about the dangers of coming into contact with asbestos;

• The coalition government revised the mesothelioma compensation scheme rules and sufferers of the asbestos-related cancer will now receive extra payouts.

• Lawyers have claimed that a landmark judgment handed down in the Supreme Court in October 2014 will protect the rights of future mesothelioma sufferers to receive a fair settlement to provide for their families after their death.

• The Department for Education (DfE) published its long-awaited review of its policy on the management of asbestos in schools, as well as refreshed guidance on managing asbestos in schools.

• The NUT published the findings of a survey of asbestos in schools which found that 44% of respondents had not even been told whether their school is one of the 86% which contain asbestos.

• The Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 2014 (GMO (CU) Regulations) came into force on 1 October 2014 consolidating and revoking earlier legislation.