Hot reads – beat the heat while turning up the temperature on your occupational health and safety expertise. Here are six standout reads for your summer hols that promise to fire up your OSH strategy when you return to work.
Features
Books for the Beach
By
on 17 August 2026
Tim Marsh’s Musings – Wisdom and Wit from a Safety Psychologist
This carefully curated selection of articles from renowned safety psychologist Dr Tim Marsh’s book takes the reader on an entertaining yet educational journey through the hottest topics in health, safety and wellbeing, both past and present.
Using a combination of humour and hard-hitting truths, Tim explores some of the key challenges that supervisors, line managers, and C-suite leaders must grapple with if they want to create a safer, healthier and happier future for all workers.
All proceeds from the book will be donated to two mental health charities, Mates in Mind and Brawd.
Donate and download the e-book here.
Celebrating 50 years of The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
Four people who spent most of their careers in the Health and Safety Executive tell the story of the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) and the evolution of a new and different approach to improving occupational safety and health (OSH) in Great Britain.
The authors explain why radical change was necessary and how the system which underpins Britain’s OSH performance has survived for so long and weathered various challenges along the way.
Purchase your copy here.
Running the Risk: From Shark Attacks to Nuclear Disaster – understanding life’s biggest risks and how we build a safer future
Strategic communications expert David Burrett Reid invites readers to reflect on the risks we navigate in a rapidly changing world and to understand the global implications of interconnected threats.
Running The Risk poses crucial questions about the risks we face, what we need to know about them, and what we can do to engineer a safer, more resilient future.
Purchase your copy here.
Introduction to Human Factors and Ergonomics
The fifth edition of Dr Robert Bridger’s textbook provides a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the field of ergonomics and human factors, with a specific focus on how interactions between humans, technology, health issues and the design of work can affect occupational health and safety.
This edition features new material on current occupational health issues, such as obesity and menopause, and explores the ergonomic, safety and health impacts of new technological developments, such as self-driving cars, exoskeletons, AI and hybrid working.
Copies can be purchased here.
Paper Safe: The triumph of bureaucracy in safety management
Australian lawyer and safety practitioner Gregory Smith argues that health and safety management has lost its way, becoming synonymous with seemingly trivial rules and burdensome, never-ending paperwork.
He explores how we can manage bureaucracy in health and safety management, decluttering safety management systems and reconnect management, workers and safety processes to the purpose of keeping people safe.
Purchase your copy here.
Tolley’s Health and Safety at Work Handbook 2026 38th edition
Updated annually, this practitioner- focused book explains the latest OSH legislative changes, and how to comply with current law and practice.
Safety experts offer insight and guidance on a range of subjects, including accident reporting, welfare facilities, mental ill health, an ageing workforce, absenteeism, travel safety and personal safety.
Designed as a quick-reference handbook, the title seeks to equip busy practitioners with the tools to deal with day-to-day issues quickly.
Copies can be purchased here.
FEATURES
Why Indian doctors are demanding zero tolerance for hospital violence
By Orchie Bandyopadhyay on 14 August 2026
A recent high-profile incident where hospital doctors were allegedly assaulted by a well-known politician in Maharashtra have prompted renewed calls for tougher sentences for those who attack healthcare workers, but some hospitals are already taking steps to defuse aggressive behaviour by patients and their families by rolling out communication skills training for medical teams
India’s fire safety problem: how urban fire tragedies are driving demands for more effective building safety enforcement
By Orchie Bandyopadhyay on 14 August 2026
Another spate of fatal fires in unsafe urban buildings has again highlighted failures by India’s authorities to clamp down on illegally constructed commercial buildings. However, commentators say a recent Supreme Court warning that local authority officials may be held personally liable for failing to close unsafe establishments offers hope that more effective enforcement will drive down the number of devastating blazes