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• Chinese workers butter up suicide bridge

  If you think things are bad for workers here in the UK, it's never quite as bad as in China. Officials in south-east China have ordered workers to cover a steel bridge in butter to prevent people from using it to attempt suicide. The bridge in Guangzhou have been covered in greasy fat in efforts to put an end to the spate of people threatening to... Posted Sep 17 2009, 02:45 PM by Guru Filed under: health & safety, global, China, suicide, butter, bridge

• Beware killer desk fans this summer

  Guru has stumbled across this cautionary tale of a London-based office worker hospitalised after her hair was caught in the blades of a desk fan. This bloody incident happened during the mini heatwave at the start of July and lead to Emily Hutnyk suffering blood loss and lacerations to the scalp. With temperatures topping well above 30 degrees, she... Posted Jul 21 2009, 09:00 AM by Guru Filed under: health & safety, office, hospital, fan, heatwave, hair

• Worker gives 'chunky soup' a whole new meaning

  Last week saw a sad occurence at the Erasco soup factory at Lubeck , Germany, when a hapless 36 year old worker took his product knowledge just a bit too far. He climbed into a cauldron to clean it, only for the lid to shut, trapping him inside. The disinfectation process - involving lots and lots of steam - kicked in and he ended up, not to put too... Posted May 19 2009, 10:00 AM by Guru Filed under: health & safety, training, health and safety, workplace accident, workplace safety

• Stinky fridge causes office evacuation

  Disciples will have all experienced the parallel universe that is the office fridge. Food seemingly remains forgotten and untouched for weeks on end, decomposing slowly but surely. Certain items (usually milk) will have stickers on them, declaring ownership and warning off colleagues from daring to touch them. Guru admits that he used to steer well... Posted May 18 2009, 03:51 PM by Guru Filed under: health & safety, workers, office, smell, fridge, clean

• Health and safety training gets gruesome

  "The first thing you have to do is look to see what might happen to you." So says the 'Voice of Experience' in this epic health and safety video somewhat ominously titled Will You Be Here Tomorrow? Rather than words of advice, it could be the tag line for the latest horror film release. The video is shot in what Guru thinks is the... Posted Apr 15 2009, 10:23 AM by Guru Filed under: health & safety, video, health and safety, horror

• Waitress gets the sack - and a dose of fleas

  News reaches Guru of a particularly unpleasant tribunal case that he guarantees you will be unable to read about without scratching. The BBC reports waitress Maria Moon won an unfair dismissal claim after being sacked for complaining she had been bitten by fleas. Moon was living in a chalet at Hafan y Môr holiday centre in north-west Wales. She told... Posted Feb 11 2009, 08:10 AM by Guru Filed under: health & safety, holiday, tribunal, health and safety, sacking, fleas, unfair dismissal, wales, chalet

• Tameside Council nails strategic HR

  Good to see the HR team at Tameside Council in Greater Manchester really adding value. Guru received a press release about the council encouraging its staff to get some fresh air at lunchtimes with the launch of 'Urbanwalks'. The six walks start from the council's offices with each employee receiving a leaflet containing maps along with... Posted Feb 02 2009, 07:51 AM by Guru Filed under: HR, health & safety, council, employee relations, employees, health and safety, tameside, strategy, walks

• Lightening the load for baggage handlers

  One of the deeply disturbing factors of travelling abroad - be it for business or pleasure - is that dreaded moment at the airport check in. No, not when the woman with the pinned on smile asks you whether you packed your bag yourself (no, love, I got the head of an Al-Qaeda terror cell to do it for me). It's the point when you put your luggage... Posted Jan 26 2009, 11:00 AM by Guru Filed under: health & safety, health and safety, bags, baggage handlers, planes

• Anyone fancy dinner in the sky?

  Events people are always looking for that killer venue that will attract delegates in their droves. In Guru's experience, it's amazing how much a swanky venue can persuade people to give up their evening or drag themselves out the office at lunchtime. So what about this for something a little bit different? Dinner in the Sky is hosted at a table... Posted Jan 16 2009, 07:51 AM by Guru Filed under: health & safety, toilet, waiter, events, event, guests, sky, dinner, health and safety, table

• You doner want to be eating here

  'Kebabs made as corpse lay nearby' is a headline bound to grab anyone's attention, but it made Guru almost choke on his chicken shish. In what must be the most blatant disregard for an employee's wellbeing, a fast food shop owner was found preparing kebabs while a staff member's corpse lay nearby. Police called to the shop owned... Posted Oct 14 2008, 06:05 PM by Guru Filed under: health & safety, meat, employee relations, kebab, food, death, body

• 'Fireproof' MPs shafted by excessive wind

  Guru had been pondering on why so many MPs just get away with it. Get away with outlandish statements, get away with outlandish shoes, or simply get away without doing much at all - apart from the occasional bit of jeering. But now it seems these untouchables... Posted Jul 17 2008, 04:34 PM by Guru Filed under: health & safety, mesothelioma, pleural plaques, MPs, asbestosis, afred molina, parliament, lung, lords

• Mice work if you can get it

  Following on from the revelation that mice hold the key to the return of the lunchtime booze-up... erm... harmless beer and a sandwich... Guru notes that our whiskered mini-chums are now leading the way in research into why people are fat - essential... Posted Jul 16 2008, 02:45 PM by Guru Filed under: mice, health & safety, fat, children, scientists, mum, boffins, US, Texas

• Drunken mice hold key to beating stress

  While brooding on the news that Gordon Brown sees himself as a cheerier version of Emily Bronte's no-nonsense, moor-dwelling misogynist Heathclif f, Guru - ever one to seek out the truth - stumbled across a revelation on the Telegraph website that... Posted Jul 10 2008, 10:31 AM by Guru Filed under: heathcliff, mice, drinking, beaker, health & safety, alcohol, stress, depression, gordon brown