The NSPCC has revealed that online sex crimes recorded against children have passed the equivalent of 100 per day. Analysis of the latest Home Office data shows that, between January and March 2020, the number of online sex crimes against children recorded by police reached the equivalent of 101 per day across England and...
How to protect home workers during Covid-19
As hundreds of thousands of workers continue to work from home in line with government guidelines during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has updated guidance for protecting home workers. Employers have the same health and safety responsibilities for home workers as they do for any other workers. The HSE explains...
IOSH urges firms to manage carcinogens during Covid-19
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has urged businesses to ensure they are safely managing carcinogens in their workplaces during Covid-19. The warning came as the world’s largest professional health and safety body marked the sixth anniversary of their No Time to Lose campaign, aimed at highlighting the causes of occupational cancer...
Early years charities warn babies and new parents are at risk
The NSPCC and a coalition of early years charities are calling on the government to rebuild health visiting services for children and families, as they warn that a generation of babies born during the coronavirus pandemic are being failed and potentially placed at risk. The charities have been joined by over 2,000 members of...
More than half of lost working days due to mental ill health, HSE says
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released its annual workplace injuries and ill-health statistics for Great Britain. The statistics, compiled from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and additional sources, revealed that more than half of the working days that were lost as a result of work-related ill-health in 2019-20 were due to mental...
Join the conversation this National Stress Awareness Day
The 12th annual National Stress Awareness Day will be marked on Wednesday 4th November 2020. Falling on the first Wednesday in November each year, the annual awareness day was established to highlight the importance of recognising and managing stress in our daily lives. Mental health charity Mind says that, although stress itself is not...
CQC report: the state of care in the shadow of Covid-19
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published its annual State of Care report, which this year reveals and compares the quality of health and social care in England both before and after the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. The major report shows that, in the period before the full impact of Covid-19 was felt, care...
New scheme launched for care home visits
A new scheme to enable people to safely visit their loved ones in care homes is to be trialled in England. The pilot scheme will allow a family member or friend to regularly visit a care home resident providing they follow the same rules laid out for staff regarding weekly testing and wearing PPE....
Calls to end school mental health support ‘lottery’
A new study has called for better mental health support in schools in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown. Released just ahead of World Mental Health Day on Saturday 10th October, the study from the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that fewer than half of state schools in England...
Dyslexia Week celebrates creative power of dyslexia
It’s Dyslexia Week 2020, focusing on the theme of #DyslexiaCreates, which explores the creative power of dyslexia to drive ideas, organisations and society. The British Dyslexia Association is marking Dyslexia Week from 5th-11th October this year, looking at the invaluable contribution that dyslexia makes to the UK while also acknowledging that dyslexia can also...
Life in lockdown: NSPCC sees 50% rise in domestic abuse concerns
The NSPCC has revealed that calls to its helpline about children living with domestic abuse have risen by nearly 50% since lockdown was introduced. Figures from 1st April to 31st August 2020 show that there were more than 4,500 calls made to Childline by members of the public concerned about children living in homes...
HSE focuses on respiratory risks
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has begun a month-long targeted inspection initiative, focusing on respiratory risks in the construction industry. The workplace health and safety watchdog will be visiting construction firms across Britain to check up on the measures they have in place to protect their workers from substances such as asbestos, silica...
IOSH calls for government to invest in workplace health and safety
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) is calling on the government to invest in occupational safety and health (OSH) as it combats the Covid-19 pandemic. The world’s largest professional health and safety body has submitted proposals to the UK Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review which frame OSH as key to battling the pandemic...
CQC report reflects on infection control during Covid-19
In the latest in their series of Covid-19 Insight reports, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is focusing on infection prevention and control across health and care settings. England’s care watchdog has been publishing Insight reports in a bid to keep people working and living within health and social care settings safe and supported throughout...
NHS Covid-19 app launches in England and Wales
The government’s new contact-tracing app has been officially released and everyone living in England and Wales is being urged to download and use it. The NHS Covid-19 app is designed to be used by all those over the age of 16 with a smartphone and records a user’s postcode district, informing them of the...