REHIS News

A beach and harbour in Fife have been closed off as a precaution after a suspected oil spill in Fife.

Environmental Health at Fife Council have been working with partners including SEPA, NHS Fife, Marine Scotland and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to investigate and clean up an oil-based spill in the Limekilns / Charlestown area of the Fife coast.

Limekilns beach and the area adjacent to the harbour have both been affected and have now been closed off to the public.

High levels of a toxic chemical have been detected in Glasgow waterway, turning the burn bright green, are to be flushed into the River Clyde.

The UK food industry has threatened to suspend it cooperation with government policy consultations, until the "catastrophic impact" of a no-deal Brexit is resolved. 

The warning came in a letter to Environment Secretary Michael Gove from the heads of more than 30 trade associations, in which they argue that their focus on mitigating the potential consequences of a hard Brexit means they have insufficient resources to address other policy issues.

The tolerable standard has been amended and a house now only meets the standard if it complies with the relevant requirements in relation to satisfactory smoke and heat alarms and satisfactory carbon monoxide (CO) alarms.

The standard has been amended by the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (Tolerable Standard) (Extension of Criterion) Order 2019 and now includes two new element covering smoke and heat alarms and CO alarms. 

A no-deal Brexit threatens the UK's food security and will lead to higher prices and empty shelves in the short-term, retailers are warning.

UK retailers' industry group the British Retail Consortium has written to MPs with the warning, saying that the food retail sector's complex just-in-time supply chain will be significantly disrupted in the event of no deal.

The letter was co-signed by several of the major UK food retailers, including the chief executives of Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Sainsbury, Asda and Morrisons.

New allergen rules have been proposed, including listing all ingredients and allergens on foods which are prepacked for direct sale.

Food Standards Scotland, Food Standards Agency and the Department for Health and Social Care have launched a consultation on amending allergen information provisions contained within domestic food information legislation for food prepacked for direct sale

The nine- week public consultation puts forward four options on how to improve the provision of allergen information for food sold prepacked for direct sale. 

A construction company has been fined £600,000 over the death of a workman who was struck by a dump truck.

Vincent Ramsay, 55, was killed at a former tram depot in Leith, Edinburgh in 2016, when a dumper truck ran over him at the bottom of a dirt ramp leading into an underground car park.

The father-of four had been crouching down to spray markings when he was hit.

London-based Allenbuild Ltd plead guilty to health and safety offences at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and on 1 February 2019 were fined.

At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Topshop owners, Arcadia Group Ltd have been fined £450,000 after pleading guilty to a single charge under the Health and Safety Work Act 1974.

This was following a health and safety investigation by Environmental Health at Glasgow City Council into an injury of a 10-year- old girl at a Topshop store when part of a barrier fell on her head on 7 February 2017.

The Scottish Government have recently published the National Low Emissions Framework (NLEF).  

The Framework provides a methodology for local authorities to undertake air quality assessment to inform decisions on transport related actions to improve local air quality, where transport is identified as the key contributor to air quality problems. 

The NLEF supports and builds on the work already being done through the Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) system

Highland Spring has announced its water bottles will be produced from 100% recycled plastic following a successful 2018 trial.

This month will see the permanent launch of the Highland Spring eco bottle across supermarkets.

The bottles are made from 100% recycled plastic, excluding the cap and label, which are themselves recyclable, the company said.

The bottle, which will be a permanent part of the company’s UK products range, will be slightly cloudier than standard versions.