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Health and Safety roundup

MP Nick Raynsford hs welcomed news that Government will make it obligatory for private landlords to install smoke alarms in rented properties. Raynsford said he was “delighted” that after 12 months of him campaigning on this issue, the Government had decided to act.  He said: “I first called on the Government to make the provision of smoke alarms mandatory this time last year, and in May 2014 I introduced a 10-Minure Rule Bill in the House of Commons to require smoke alarms to be installed in all privately rented homes. The Bill received significant cross-party support and MPs voted in its favour by 245 to 8. Despite this the Government dragged its feet, even though its own impact assessment showed that implementation of this policy would result in 231 fewer fatalities and 5,860 fewer injuries over 10 years. Whilst I am pleased by the announcement that smoke alarms will become mandatory in privately rented properties, it does mean that in the year that the Government needlessly dithered, more than 20 lives are likely to have been lost and over 500 people injured”. Read about Raynsford’s campaign here