An employer has an obligation to provide suitable protective equipment for employees and, following a recent House of Lords ruling, need only consider the risk for which the equipment was provided to protect against and whether the equipment was sufficient for that purpose. Richard Booth, a legal advisor at international law firm Eversheds, discusses the ruling and employers’ obligations

MITSUBISHI Electric has now achieved independent accreditation for 39 of its courses, seminars and pieces of literature from the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Service.

FEW observers would disagree with the fact that there is a shortage of talented, young engineers entering the air conditioning and refrigeration industry. Despite a diminishing pool of qualified engineers, some companies are reluctant to run apprenticeship schemes, fearing failure. They instead rely on high wages to attract those available in the employment market.

I HAVE in the past been accused of being a little cynical – quite unfairly I feel – but then those claims are only ever levelled at me by tedious optimists. Anyway, I don’t think it’s wrong to not necessarily believe every company which tells me about its exemplary customer service. After all, what are voice mails other than a means by which you never have to speak to a client again? And what are automated switchboards other than a means to save employing a telephonist? None of these electronic wonders actually have anything to do with customer service, despite the fact that many companies who have them like to argue otherwise.

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