Fly-tippers and waste vandals could soon be forced to clean up our streets and parks and pay the costs of clearing their mess under new government plans for “clean up squads”.

New Action Plan to be published to tackle waste crime and restore pride in our towns and cities.

To clamp down on these criminals, making sure those responsible clean up and pay up. The Government is handing both the Environment Agency and local authorities the power to boost waste crime enforcement, hand out tougher sentences and tackle illegal dumping faster.

Under the proposals, local authorities would get the powers to issue fly-tippers with so-called conditional cautions instead of being taken to court. These could see offenders complete up to 20 hours of unpaid work, cleaning our streets, parks, and the exact stops they’ve dumped waste. And in a landmark move, councils will be handed new powers to seize money directly from fly-tippers to fund their clean-up operations.

Currently fly-tippers can only be punished after being convicted – through either a significant fine, community sentence, or even prison sentence. The new proposals aim to speed up enforcement, clamp down on fly-tippers and restore pride in our communities.

The new measures will give local authorities yet another tool to fight litter louts and deter them from dumping waste in the first place. They form part of a wide range of tough new powers the government will announce as part of its new Waste Crime Action Plan.

Poor work carried out deemed ‘immediately dangerous’ and put lives at risk Illegal boiler replacement could have resulted in carbon monoxide poisoning. All gas work must be carried out by registered person. A man has been given a suspended prison sentence after he carried out dangerous and illegal gas work on a property in Bournemouth.

Another gas engineer was instructed to carried out an inspection and deemed the boiler to be ‘immediately dangerous’. The gas boiler flue was not sealed or correctly positioned which meant that there was a risk of carbon monoxide leaking into the property.

The matter was reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and an investigation found that the first engineer had no training in gas work and was not registered with the Gas Safe Register (GSR). Carrying out gas work without registration is illegal and potentially dangerous, as unqualified work can lead to gas leaks, fires, explosions, and carbon monoxide poisoning. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 require those undertaking gas work to be Gas Safe registered and to hold the relevant qualifications to demonstrate their competence.

Members of the public are reminded that all gas work must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Anyone can check whether an engineer is registered by visiting www.gassaferegister.co.uk or calling 0800 408 5500.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its annual statistics on work-related ill health and workplace injuries. The figures also show that 124 workers were killed in work-related accidents in 2024/25, while 59,219 workers sustained a self-reported non-fatal injury in the workplace during the same period.

The statistics reveal that 1.9million workers reported they were suffering from work-related ill health in 2024/25, an estimated 1.0 milliondown to stress, depression or anxiety.

An estimated 40.1 million working days were lost in 2024/25 due to self-reported work-related ill health or injury.

HSE’s statistics also reveal the impact that the work-related ill health and workplace injuries are having on Britain’s economic performance. Preventing or tackling work-related stress can provide significant benefits to employees, improving their experience of work and their overall health; and also to employers including increased productivity, decreased absenteeism and reduced staff turnover

In 2023/24, the estimated annual costs of workplace injury and new cases of work-related ill health reached £22.9 billion.

The UK grocery market’s stagnation around environmental action is creating a broken food system that is speeding up environmental collapse and creating supply and price volatility, WWF has warned.

CDP estimates that 90% of food sector emissions happen in the supply chain.

The organisation’s latest report, ‘What’s in Store for the Planet’, examined data from 10 major retailers, including Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Waitrose, comprising 90% of the UK’s total grocery market.

The report concludes that currently, not enough is being done to deliver systemic change that could help the sector meet 2030 targets. It finds that without immediate action, environmental impacts will increase, threatening food security and driving up food prices.

The report recognised several significant areas of concern: that 2025 targets on deforestation will be missed, with only 1.8% of soy and 3.1% of cocoa being sourced as deforestation and conversion free (DCF) from high-risk areas; that Scope 3 emissions have not been meaningfully reduced; that retailers are not addressing protein diversification, with unsustainable meat still sold at double the target; and that there has been limited progress in improving livestock production standards.

Recommendations

Progress is being made on Scopes 1 and 2, with retailers around 49% of the way towards meeting their targets in these areas, up 12 percentage points from 2024. Palm oil has also seen a 10% increase in DCF sourcing since 2024.

Given the potential effect of collective action on the sector’s sustainability targets, WWF recommended the food industry immediately table the risk posed by climate change on future commercial viability, embedding sustainability in both short- and long-term business decisions. The organisation cited this as a ‘duty’ to ensure retailers continue being able to stock goods.

The WWF also highlighted their own ‘Blueprint for Action’ as a system retailers could follow to achieve their targets. It argued that while many retailers are taking targeted action, a more dramatic scaling of investment and action was needed from government, industry and the finance sector to ensure the food system remained resilient.

Bread, chocolate, milk, meat and coffee are the products most at risk of price volatility due to drought and heavy rainfall, the report stated.

The way that food is currently produced it is contributing to climate change and devastating our natural world. It is only by protecting the environment that we can maintain the ability to grow healthy and affordable food for everyone. Drought, floods and other severe weather events are already creating food price inflation which every consumer is feeling in their pocket.

So this raises questions about whether supermarkets will, in the years and decades to come, be able to provide the wide range of produce we currently take for granted and at an affordable price.

The National Trust and financial services firm Admiral have launched a three-year partnership to scale nature-based flood management across upland landscapes in England and Wales.

The programme is backed by £600,000 from Admiral Group’s Green Fund and will restore degraded habitats to slow water flow, store carbon and improve biodiversity in three sites: Eryri (Snowdonia), the Holnicote Estate in Somerset and the Lake District.

With one in six UK homes already at risk of flooding, projected to rise to one in four by 2050, the effort is a practical response to intensifying climate impacts. The programme will use proven interventions such as rewetting bogs, reshaping eroded peat and creating ponds to hold water higher in the catchment, reducing peak flows downstream.

The approach is designed to deliver co-benefits: cutting carbon emissions from degraded peatlands, improving water quality and rebuilding habitats for threatened species.

Getting bogged down

Work has begun on the Migneint blanket bog, one of Wales’s largest and most biodiverse upland peatland systems. Over the next three years, a £180,000 project will restore around 12 hectares of severely eroded peat.

Contractors are reprofiling peat hags, installing peat dams and creating shallow pools to raise the water table and encourage the return of sphagnum moss. Rewetting is expected to reduce carbon loss from exposed peat and slow runoff into tributaries of the Afon Conwy, where heavy rainfall can trigger flooding through the Conwy Valley.

Peatlands cover 10% of the UK’s total land area, but Defra estimates that 87% of England’s peatlands are degraded. Key drivers of peatland damage include changing weather patterns, land-use change for business purposes and peat extraction.

The ecological benefits of the Migneint blanket bog project, alongside flood prevention, include softer, wetter ground to support wading birds and boost invertebrate life. Early signs of landscape recovery are expected by summer 2026 as vegetation establishes.

Restoration will pause in spring to protect ground-nesting birds.

The Migneint activity builds on years of peatland work under the Uwch Conwy project and contributes to long-term goals for the Special Area of Conservation, returning it to be a healthy and functional blanket bog – a wetland rich in wildlife.

Working alongside the community, tenant farmers and others, demonstrates investment in nature will directly circle back to supporting the communities for generations to come.

UK flood risks rising

A recent analysis by the Infrastructure Policy Advancement (IPA) think tank has warned that flood clean-up and recovery could cost UK councils up to £566m each year as extreme climate risks increase.

In an examination of data from 382 districts, the IPA found that 57% of councils’ sewer systems had been overwhelmed in the last decade, pointing to critical gaps in infrastructure capacity amid intensifying weather patterns.

Admiral are investing in natural flood management solutions to strengthen flood resilience for people and nature. Protecting people’s homes means taking action beyond insurance by building understanding and resilience to the impact of the changing climate and extreme weather events.

A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm. Harm means physical or mental damage or injury, as well as reduced quality of life and performance. Hazards in the workplace are potentially everywhere, and they most certainly should not be ignored or taken lightly.

Some industries naturally carry more risks but hazards can occur in workplaces of all types. As part of managing the health and safety of your business, you must control the risks in your workplace. To do this you need to think about what might cause harm to people and decide whether you are taking reasonable steps to prevent that harm.

The guide takes you through the main hazards found in the workplace and control measures to manage them.

How is harm gauged?

Harm can be gauged in the following ways:

• How much? (Quantity)
• How often? (Frequency)
• How long? (Duration)
• How susceptible is a person to the type of harm? (Condition)

The harm arising from a great many common hazards can be understood in these terms.

One way of classifying hazards is to group them by the general category of harm they cause, such as:

• Mechanical
• Physical
• Chemical
• Biological
• Environmental
• Organisational

Mechanical hazards

A mechanical hazard is any hazard involving a machine or process. Mechanical hazards are created by the powered operation of apparatus or tools, which may be machine-generated or human.

Mechanical hazards can be categorised according to the type of injury caused:

• Crushing – when part of the body is caught between a moving part of a machine and a fixed object.
• Shearing – when part of the body is subjected to a scissor action from equipment.
• Cutting and severing – when part of the body comes into contact with a saw or knife.
• Entanglement – when clothing or hair comes into contact with rotating objects or catches.
• Drawing-in or trapping – when part of the body is caught between two counter-rotating parts.
• Impact – when a moving object strikes part of the body.
• Stabbing and puncture – when flying or ejected objects penetrate the body.

Physical hazards

Physical hazards are those substances or conditions that may harm a person’s physical safety. A physical hazard is a naturally-occurring process that has the potential to cause injury, illness and death, including:

• Tripping;
• Slipping;
• Falling from a height or on a level; and/or
• Being struck by a falling object.

Physical hazards are usually overlooked because of familiarity, or a resistance to spend time and money on improvements. However, slips and trips are the most common cause of major injuries at work.

Physical hazards also include ergonomic hazards – a physical factor within the environment that harms the musculoskeletal system. Working conditions or body positions often put strain on the body when a worker’s capacity for work is restricted by the type of work. Ergonomic hazards include repetitive movement, manual handling, workplace / job / task design, uncomfortable workstation height and poor body positioning.

Fire is included amongst physical hazards, as is noise, pressure and vibration.

Chemical hazards

Chemicals are considered a hazard due to their intrinsic properties to cause harm to humans, property or the environment. Chemical hazards can be presented by substances that are:

• Used directly in work activities (for example, adhesives, paints, cleaning materials).
• Generated during work activities (for example, fumes from soldering and welding).

Chemicals can harm a person’s health when entering the body by absorption through the skin, ingestion through the mouth, and inhalation through the lungs.

Most people associate chemicals with certain professions and workplaces such as laboratories; however, chemicals are found in many common workplace products. While these chemicals have a variety of beneficial uses, they can also be extremely harmful if they are misused.

Biological hazards

Biological hazards are organic substances or microorganisms that pose a threat to the health of humans and other living organisms. Biological hazards also include toxins that are produced by organisms.

Biological hazards pose risks for many workers in a variety of ways. People working with microorganisms (such as in laboratories) are at a high risk of exposure, but other examples of work activities that may bring people into contact with biological hazards include:

• Working with animals – for example, farming.
• Working with people who might be infectious – for example, healthcare professionals.
• Handling waste materials – for example, refuse disposal.
• Working in an environment or with equipment that could be contaminated – for example, sewer maintenance.

Environmental hazards

Environmental hazards have the potential to affect the environment and adversely impact people’s health. These hazards come in various forms and are often unnoticed until an accident occurs. Environmental hazards can include poor lighting, unreasonable temperatures and dust.

Understanding the various environmental hazards that exist and taking precautions can help prevent accidents. Balancing work activities and work rates with the right temperature, humidity, air movement, clothing, food and drink intake, body build and psychosocial factors is important for workers’ efficiency, comfort and safety.

Organisational hazards

Organisational hazards are associated with behaviour, workload, time constraints and deadlines. Studies have shown that the following have the potential to be stressful:

Temporal aspects of work – for example, shift work, overtime.
Work content – for example, nature of tasks and level of autonomy.
Interpersonal issues within a team – for example, interaction with co-workers, equality of workload.
Interpersonal issues with supervisors – for example, provision and receipt of feedback.
Organisational structures.

The ideal workload should be organised and balanced, to avoid fatigue on the one hand, and on the other, to ensure employees are engaged and being productive.

Conclusion

When classifying hazards like this there is potential for some ambiguity. For example, a toxin produced by a micro-organism that is present in inhalable dust could easily be classified in more than one category: there are environmental, biological and chemical components. Almost every hazard situation is going to have an organisational component.

However, the main benefit of the six categories is that it is hard to think of any hazard that does not fit into one of the categories. So, on examining a workplace to find several examples in each category of hazard, it will result in a very thorough risk assessment.

Then the hierarchy of Control measures can be implemented

“Eliminate” “Reduce” “Prevent”

Tesco is set to take its advocacy for other businesses to tackle food loss and waste to the global stage, ahead of the COP30 climate summit in November.

Tesco has, reported the redistribution of 300,000 meals through partners including Fareshare (pictured). Food waste is a climate issue because it is estimated to contribute to at least 8% of annual global emissions – more than aviation.

WRAP (The Waste & Resources Action Programme) is notably advocating for national governments to include tangible plans to measure and reduce food loss and waste as part of their contributions to the Paris Agreement. Of the 195 countries that attended the last UN climate summit, only 12 had taken this step.

In the UK, as is the case in many developed nations, the majority of food waste occurs within homes (60%). However, there are still ample further opportunities to reduce the amount of surplus and food loss at the farm level, and to increase efficiencies and redistribution in retail and manufacturing.

Future-fit food systems

WRAP highlighted that reframing food waste through the lens of food security will be necessary in the months ahead, with the need to reset the global food system as the population grows and the climate changes.

One-third of what we produce goes to waste every year while millions go hungry. We need a fair and sustainable system to protect these fragile networks from future disruptions and to make the most of the food we have, for all.

Food security will become a priority for governments as the real impacts of climate change bite harder in the coming years, and tackling waste is a key step they must take. WRAP and Tesco are taking a stand to call out inaction, and demand more from those who fail to act.

Tesco was one of the first retailers globally to report on food waste on a voluntary basis. It also led the way in asking suppliers to adopt the Target-Measure-Act approach to food waste reduction.

The company was a founding member of the UK Food and Drink Pact, managed by WRAP. This Pact was founded to help businesses align their food waste targets and strategies with the UN’s global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The UK Government still has not mandated food waste disclosures for large businesses despite the advocacy and leadership of some supermarkets, like Tesco, plus widespread support for the change, first promised in 2018.

WRAP is aiming for 50 new businesses to join its food pacts and agreements as part of a new expansion target. It is focusing on businesses in the UK, Brazil, the EU, Indonesia, Mexico, Australia and South Africa.