A new environmental study has raised alarms across the business community after finding that microplastic pollution originating from industrial supply chains has significantly increased over the past five years. The report, published by the Environmental Monitoring Partnership, links the rise to manufacturing residues, packaging processes and the handling of synthetic materials within logistics networks. Researchers analysed samples from industrial waterways, storm drains and

Cyber-security analysts are reporting a sharp rise in a new wave of ransomware attacks where criminals no longer bother encrypting systems, instead focusing entirely on data theft and extortion. The trend, sometimes referred to as “encryption-less ransomware,” is being described by experts as one of the fastest-growing threats facing UK organisations, particularly those reliant on third-party service providers. According to the Cyber Defence Intelligence Council, dozens of me

A new industry analysis has revealed a significant increase in quality defects across UK manufacturing sectors, with many firms attributing the trend to shortages of skilled workers and inconsistent supplier performance. The report, compiled by the Manufacturing Quality Forum - a collaboration of major engineering and production businesses - found that first-time-pass rates have fallen by as much as 18 percent in some sectors over the past year. According to the findings, the

A new review of health and safety performance across the UK construction sector has identified a sharp rise in “near-miss” incidents, prompting renewed warnings from regulators and industry bodies about declining on-site safety standards. The analysis, compiled from data submitted by major contractors and industry groups, indicates that the volume of reported near-miss events has increased by more than a third over the past year. According to the Construction Industry Council

ExxonMobil Chemical Ltd has been fined £176,000 by a Scottish court after pleading guilty to breaching its environmental permit during a sustained period of continuous flaring at the Mossmorran petrochemical complex in Fife. The incident occurred in April 2019, when elevated flaring persisted for six consecutive days, prompting more than 900 public complaints - the highest number the regulator had received for any single event at the site. According to the prosecution, the fl

Capita plc, the UK-based outsourcing company that provides business support services to both government and private-sector clients, has been fined by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to the tune of £14 million for failings in its data protection systems following a cyber-attack in 2023. According to the ICO, the breach - first identified in March 2023 - resulted in the theft of personal data relating to more than 6 million individuals. The compromised information i

Philips, the global medical-devices manufacturer, has been issued a formal warning letter by the US regulator after inspections identified serious manufacturing quality issues at three of its facilities. The facilities - located in Bothell (Washington), Reedsville (Pennsylvania) and Eindhoven (Netherlands) - were found to have failed to meet required standards under current good manufacturing practices (cGMP). According to the letter from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (

Film & Foil Solutions Ltd, a manufacturer specialising in flexible film for the food-industry sector, has been fined £20,000 after a worker lost part of his right index finger in a machinery accident at the company’s site on Haydock Industrial Estate in St Helens. The incident occurred on 4 December 2023 when the employee was trying to stop material from becoming tangled in a converting and folding machine. In doing so, his hand came into contact with a rotating shaft that wa

A ransomware attack on Synnovis, a pathology services provider to several NHS trusts in London, has caused widespread disruption across hospital services, with implications for patient care and data security. The incident forced the cancellation of non-urgent operations, delays in test results, and the diversion of emergency patients to alternate facilities. NHS England acknowledged the attack in a formal statement, confirming that the perpetrators claimed to have published s

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ISO 14001, part of the broader ISO 14000 suite, serves as a global framework for environmental management systems. It guides...

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