Firms are being urged to check whether they are required to register with the Environment Agency under the new Hazardous Waste Regulations - or risk prosecution or an on-the-spot fine.

Under the rules, which came into force 16 July, some everyday business waste will be classed as hazardous for the first time. Items include computer monitors and fluorescent-lighting tubes.

Many firms producing this type of waste are now required to register, with non-compliant firms facing prosecution or a £300 on-the-spot fine. The maximum penalty a court can impose is £5,000.

Those that fail to register are also likely to encounter difficulties disposing of their waste, because it is now an offence for a third-party waste disposal company to handle waste from an unregistered firm.

"It is essential that businesses act now," said Ben Bradshaw, Minister for Local Environmental Quality. "With many firms finding themselves hazardous waste producers for the first time, the full implications of the controls are yet to be fully realised."

Businesses in some sectors and which generate less than 200kg of hazardous waste a year are exempt from registration. These include offices, shops, premises used for agriculture, and dental, veterinary and medical practices.

According to the Environment Agency, 200kg of waste equates approximately to one of the following: * 10 small televisions; * 14 lead acid batteries; * 500 fluorescent tubes; * five small domestic fridges.

"Life is not a static thing. The only people who do not change their minds are incompetents in asylums, who can't, and those in cemeteries." - Everett M. Dirksen

Organisations representing businesses, employers, trade unions and government departments have launched a campaign to encourage firms to get to grips with the benefits of an age diverse workforce.

The Age Partnership Group (APG) is offering best practice advice to firms on avoiding age discrimination, ahead of new legislation due to be introduced in October 2006. The draft regulations are set to be released this summer.

The legislation will outlaw age discrimination in employment and vocational training. It will cover public and private sectors, and include young and old alike.

The APG believes employers can benefit from ensuring they adopt non-ageist employment practices. "With the current skills shortages and the changing demographic position, older workers are forming a larger proportion of the workforce," said an APG spokesman.

"Many employers have already found that employing an age diverse workforce brings business benefits and savings through fostering a skilled and well-experienced workforce."

According to the APG, there are around 19 million people aged 50 and over in the UK - 40 per cent of the adult population. Currently just over six million people aged between 50 and state pension age are in employment, an employment rate of 69 per cent.

As part of the APG campaign, firms can order a free CD Rom or personnel organiser containing advice to help avoid age discrimination.

To order a free CD ROM or personnel organiser contact 0845 715 2000

One in 10 fleet drivers who have opted for a cash alternative instead of a company car do not have adequate insurance for the vehicle when used on business, according to a major survey of hundreds of drivers.

Under the law, people who drive private vehicles for work should check that their policy covers them for business use. But according to Motorinsurance.co.uk, people admit to either "not having" or "not knowing whether they have" appropriate cover.

This was despite 82 per cent of respondents claiming they drove a private vehicle at least 50 miles on business each week. A further quarter said they drove more than 500 miles a week for work.

"Policies that cover you for 'social domestic and pleasure' purposes may also cover you in respect of travelling to and from your place of work, but will not cover your actual business use once at work - unless you have specific business use on your policy," a spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said.

The best thing to do, he advised, is to check with your insurer what your cover includes. You should check with employees who use private vehicles for work to ensure their cover is valid. 'If a vehicle is not covered by the correct insurance and it is stolen or damaged when being used for business, the insurer could void the claim so it is very serious.'

Motorinsurance.co.uk Managing Director, Andrew Dunkerly, said he believed more and more people were at risk of breaking the law, as businesses increasingly found it too expensive to provide company car schemes and the associated insurance.

However, he warned that this is not a valid excuse. "In simple terms, if they are not properly insured, they are breaking the law. It really is a serious matter."

Most houses of the Victorian and Edwardian periods had sash windows throughout; only in the Arts and Crafts and Edwardian mock Tudor styles was the casement style typical.

The development of the sash window followed these stages:

1. The earliest sashes had no pulley sets; the was set at the outside of the wall.
2. The next stage saw the introduction of boxes
3. The 1709 London Building Act specified that the windows should be recessed into the wall to reduce the risk of fire. This rule did not apply elsewhere.
4. The 1774 London Building Act specified that the windows should be rebated fully.
5. In 1820 it was made a national requirement that windows be fully rebated.

The 1820's house from Belfast, shown in the picture above, still has it's sash windows unrebated. The window is uncorded and so has to be wedged when open. The head and sill were of wood. The head rotted rapidly and the bricks above tended to collapse.

Larger sashes, going from near the ceiling down to floor level, were suspended on chains rather than ropes.

Inside, the windows were painted dark brown or white to match the room décor.

In the Georgian era, on the outside, windows were dark brown in plain paint or grained. Victorian and Edwardian windows were generally painted the same as other exterior woodwork; typically a dark colour, perhaps with white-painted detail.

Plate glass came into widespread use in the mid-1800s once the special taxes on this type of glass were abolished; windows and the panes themselves became larger.

As windows were made from fewer but larger panes, sash horns were introduced to give greater strength. early Victorian round topped sash

Public and street-facing rooms typically had Venetian blinds (wooden slats) or roller blinds, with nets and conventional curtains. Sometimes a fringed and braided silk or taffeta casement blind was used. Swagged curtains were not common. Chintz fabric was popular. Brass poles were used. Edwardian bay with casements and fanlights over

Researchers at Imperial College London have rediscovered in 2003 that sash windows are very effective at increasing the airflow in a building; they should be open equally at the top and bottom and in hot weather opened fully at night to cool the building for the following day. Blinds allow this airflow while giving shade and privacy.