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H&S News April 2009
| Guilty verdicts for health and safety breaches that led to the deaths of two workmen. |
| WD Bennett's Plant & Services Ltd were found guilty under HASAWA 1974 s3 and CHSWR 1996. Eurolift (Tower Cranes) Limited guilty under HASAWA 1974 s2 and CHSWR 1996. The HSE is urging companies to carry out full risk assessments and ensure staff are properly trained following the prosecution of 2 crane companies. Two men, Steve Boatman and Gary Miles, were flung from the crane they were working on when it collapsed. A third man, who was injured in the incident, was working on the mast of the crane starting to slacken off bolts in the jib in order to de-torque it. He was not trained in this job and he failed to re-tighten the bolts leaving them partly un-done causing it to collapse as it turned. They will be sentenced at a later date. |
HSE (South East) Press Release COISE/30-03:09 30/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Fitnotes delayed but Fit for Work pilots on course. |
| The electronic fitnote due to replace the MED3 sick note is unlikely to be available to GPs until the end of the year at least However, another initiative from the Black Report on the health of the working age population will be pressed on with. A call has gone out for potential bidders to take part in the £13 million pilot of Fit for Work services, due to begin later this year. |
Internet: www.workingforhealth.gov.uk/Fit-for-Work HSW April 2009:2 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Recession reduces fatality fine by 40%. |
| Sister companies Waveney Fork Trucks and Lift Truck Rentals both fined £16,000 and costs of £9,000 each under HASAWA 1974 s2. Carl Nunn, an employee of Waveney, was fatally crushed when the jack that was probably used to lift a Hyster forklift was ejected. It is thought that the vehicle was not adequately supported by wooden blocks. Failure to provide a safe system of work, failure to provide suitable support blocks and no adequate monitoring system. Due to the companies' financial situation, the Judge reduced the fine from £30,000 and costs of £15,000 apiece. |
HSW April 2009:2 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Auger alert. |
| The HSE has issued a safety alert about the operation of auger feed devices following a serious accident in which an operator suffered hand injuries while working on a mobile explosives manufacturing unit. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/explosives/safetyalerts/alert-1-09.htm HSW April 2009:6 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Haulier pays for corroded gantry. |
| H J Van Bentum fined £7,500 and costs of £7,400 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Hendrick Tebrake had climbed onto the truck's gantry to load feed when it collapsed under him and he fell to his death. HSE investigated the incident and discovered a badly corroded rail on the vehicle's gantry, as well as on other vehicles belonging to the firm. |
HSW April 2009:8 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Legislative calendar. |
| Calendar of new and upcoming legislation. |
HSW April 2009:8 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| HSE updates confined spaces ACoP. |
| HSE has published a revised ACoP and guidance to the Confined Spaces Regulations. |
Internet: www.hsebooks.co.uk Safe Work in Confined Space £11.95 plus VAT HSW April 2009:9 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Making light work. |
| Badly specified, sited or maintained workplace lighting can lead to accidents as well as to stressed or fatigued workers - good practice. (Lucie Ponting) |
HSW April 2009:14-17 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Reality check. |
| Some of the mindsets behind imbalanced risk perception, and how to stop them clouding your judgement. (Tim Marsh and Brian Toft) |
HSW April 2009:20-21 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Man of letters. |
| An interview with Keith Scott, head of safety at Royal Mail and IIRSM chair, after his first six months in both roles and his proposal for a federation of the safety bodies. (HSW) |
HSW April 2009:22-24,26 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Competent for the road? |
| What health and safety managers need to know about new legal requirements for goods and passenger vehicle drivers. (Joan Williams) |
HSW April 2009:30-32 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| The driver's seat. |
| How to apply good ergonomic principles to company cars and vans. (Duncan Abbott) |
HSW April 2009:34-36 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| HSE announces Chemicals Regulation Directorate. |
| HSE has announced that the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) and the Chemicals Assessment Schemes Unit (CASU) will merge to form the new Chemicals Regulation Directorate (CRD) as of 1 April 2009. |
HSE (National) Press Release E026:09 30/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| HSE safety warning on gas safety following prosecution. |
| Sandeep Rajput was fined £1,200 and costs of £1,748 under GSIUR 1998. He manages the administrative matters relating to property owned and let by his wife. Two tenants began to feel unwell with headaches and grogginess. These symptoms are consistent with those experienced with carbon monoxide poisoning. The tenants contacted the gas supplier who condemned a fire due to a leaking pipe and other faults. Some months later a second gas fire was condemned. During 23 months of the tenancy with Sandeep Rajput as the person responsible, there was no current gas safety certificate for the property supplied to the tenants. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/WM/593/2009 30/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Landlord put on notice to ensure gas appliances are maintained. |
| Mr Ajay Ahuja pleaded guilty under HASAWA 1974 s33 for failing to comply with an IN served by HSE. He was given a 2 year conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £14,000. The IN was served following repeated attempts by HSE to get Mr Ahuja to provide his tenants with a gas safety certificate for the gas boiler in the property they rented from Mr Ahuja. All landlords have a duty under the GSUIR 1998 to annually check the safety of the gas appliance in properties they rent out to others and provide a certificate confirming this to be the case. |
HSE (National) Press Release EM/930/09 30/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Nottingham college backs campaign to get safety on the menu. |
| Catering staff and students at New College Nottingham have pledged their support to the HSE in the latest phase of its Shattered Lives campaign to highlight the devastating consequences of slips, trips and fall in the work place. |
HSE (National) Press Release EM/274/09 30/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Dundee caf? stirs up support for safety at work. |
| The Twin City Caf?, a thriving family business, is stirring up support for the HSE in its Shattered Lives campaign to highlight the devastating consequences of slips, trips and falls in the work place. |
HSE (Scotland) Press Release SCO/068/09 30/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Bluewater leads the way in health and safety excellence. |
| Bluewater, Europe's leading retail and leisure destination, has teamed up this week with the HSE and Dartford Borough Council to show good health and safety practice as part of the Shattered Live campaign. Last year in Kent 1,107 people suffered an injury following a slip, trip or fall at work. Bluewater has always taken the health and safety of guests, retailers and contractors extremely seriously and was recognised in 2004 by winning a health and safety award. |
HSE (South East) Press Release COISESTF04 30/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Top marks for M&S as it backs HSE campaign. |
| Employees at Marks & Spencer's first green store in Scotland have put safety firmly on the menu as they pledged their support for the HSE in the latest phase of its Shattered Lives campaign to highlight the devastating consequences of slips, trips and falls in the work place. |
HSE (Scotland) Press Release SCO/070/09 30/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| HSE teams up with Welwyn's Ambala foods to say: "slips, trips and falls are no joke!" |
| This week, the HSE visited Ambala Foods, which manufactures Indian sweets, to help promote the campaign which forms the second phase of the wider Shattered Lives campaign to highlight the devastating consequences of slips, trips and falls in the workplace and to encourage employers, in consultation with their employees to 'take action'. |
HSE (East) Press Release HSE/E/160 30/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Taking steps to ensure staff and shopper safety in Kenilworth store. |
| Food retailers across the West Midlands are being urged to be mindful of slip and trip hazards in their stores as part of a new HSE campaign. Shattered Lives highlights the dangers and injuries that can result from seemingly innocuous falls in and around the aisle of supermarkets and shops. At 32 per cent, these are the largest cause of serious injury in the sector, costing firms nationally as much as £22 million a year. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release WM600/09 30/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Darlington schools get a lesson in safety. |
| Education bosses at Darlington Borough Council are offering staff a lesson in safety as they support the HSE in the latest phase of its Shattered Lives campaign. The unitary authority, which is responsible for more than 40 schools and education facilities, was keen to support the campaign as part of its ongoing work to ensure the safety of its staff, students and visitors. |
HSE (North East) Press Release NE/128/09 31/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Food for thought - HSE launches campaign to prevent accidents from slips, trips and falls. |
| The HSE has joined forces with Cargill Meats Europe to launch a new campaign to prevent accidents in the West Midlands food and drink manufacturing sector. In the West Midlands last year 5 deaths and more than 4,200 serious injuries, were consequences of slips, trips and falls. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release WM601/09 31/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| ASPC supports safety campaign for Aberdeen property developers. |
| The ASPC is supporting the HSE in reminding small-scale property developers that, despite the economic downturn, cutting corners on safety can be expensive, dangerous and can put a developer out of business. HSE launched a new guide for property developers because research shows that many small-scale developers do not know about their legal responsibilities under CDMR 2007. The Regulations aren't there to create paperwork, they are about helping developers choose a competent team that will work efficiently and safely. |
HSE (Scotland) Press Release SCO/071/09 31/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Newcastle City Council backs safety plea. |
| Newcastle City Council has backed a drive by the HSE aimed at saving lives of North East property developers who are refurbishing homes or building new houses which they don't intend to live in, with a view to selling them on. The health and safety regulator launched the awareness raising campaign after it discovered that many people developing property as a business do not know about the legal responsibilities clients have under the CDMR 2007. |
HSE (North East) Press Release NE/129/09 31/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Work stopped at one in five Scottish refurbishment sites. |
| Inspectors from the HSE had to take formal action to stop work activity at 1 in 5 of the construction sites they visited during a recent inspection initiative. Inspectors visited 199 sites and saw 292 contractors on those sites. They issued 28 PNs relating to working at height and other Notices issued for poor order on sites and one for an asbestos related matter. |
HSE (Scotland) Press Release SCO/006209 31/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| NHS Grampian backs drive for safer workplaces. |
| NHS Grampian is backing HSE's latest campaign to help raise awareness of the dangers of slips, trips and falls in the workplace. |
HSE (Scotland) Press Release SCO/073/09 31/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| HSE and Rotherham Council Take Action on Safety. |
| Inspectors from the HSE and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council recently visited 148 businesses in an intensive 1 week joint inspection campaign aimed at making Rotherham a safer and healthier place in which to work. Enforcement action was taken at a number of these premises with the serving of 4 PNs and 21 INs. |
HSE (Yorkshire and the Humber) Press Release YH/134/08 31/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| HSE gets results - Safety checks on South Yorkshire's construction sites. |
| A recent campaign of intensive action aimed at reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries in the construction industry's refurbishment, repair and maintenance sectors has resulted in the HSE issuing 22 enforcement notices against 18 construction sites in South Yorkshire. HSE inspectors made unannounced visits to 104 construction sites and inspected a total of 132 contractors. |
HSE (Yorkshire and the Humber) Press Release YH/136/08 31/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| HSE warns of the dangers of sleeping on construction sites. |
| Asaad Al-Helu was fined £1,000 and costs of £1,149, plus a victims surcharge of £15.00 under HASAWA 1974 s33. As the principal contractor undertaking the work on the construction site, he had allowed 5 migrant Polish workers to use the site as sleeping accommodation. Asaad Al-Helu had also failed to prepare a construction plan before the start of construction work, which should have brought to light the risks from fire, work at heights and site electrics. The plan would have enabled safe working practices to be used. |
HSE (Yorkshire and the Humber) Press Release YH/137/09 31/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| HSE warns of the need to safeguard employees after worker is injured in potato processor. |
| Swancote Foods Ltd was fined £10,000 and costs of £5,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. A 22 year old employee of Swancote Foods Ltd, was cleaning a conveyor-fed potato processing machine when he received lacerations, bruising and tendon damage to his left forearm and elbow. There was a lack of safety guarding on the machine, which had not been identified by a risk assessment, and the injured worker was inadequately trained and supervised. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release WM412/09 31/3/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Braime Pressings Ltd |
| Fined £2,500 under PUWER 1998. Failure to ensure that the dangerous parts of a power press were safeguarded when press taken into use after a tool change. Failure to inspect and test guards and safety devices on a power press and to sign the inspection record card before press taken into use after a tool change. |
HSE Prosecution 4122159 19/1/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Scriven Electrical Contractors Ltd |
| Fined £3,000 under CAR 2006. Following asbestos exposure at a Junior School. |
HSE Prosecution 4141138 19/1/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Julian Christian Designs Ltd |
| Fined a total of £3,000 under MHSWR 1999 and PUWER 1998. |
HSE Prosecution 4138019 20/1/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Trains (Rochdale) Limited |
| Fined £1,000 under EWR 1989. Employee was operating a mechanical breaker in order to install a post and rail fence around a car park owned by the company. Whilst breaking up the concrete he struck a buried live electrical cable receiving burns to his left hand and arm. The company had failed to provide him with a copy of service plans, nor did they carry out a scan of the area which would have identified underground electrical cables. |
HSE Prosecution 4140884 21/1/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Townley Dyestuffs Ltd |
| Fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. An employee died when a container crushed him when he was assisting with an unloading operation. The 1.1 ton container of dye slid off the forks of a FLT whilst being emptied. The container had a specialist mechanism for emptying it, but an improvised method was being used when the incident happened. |
HSE Prosecution 4145423 21/1/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Lothian Heating Services Limited |
| Fined £8,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees, so far as was reasonably practicable. This was regarding asbestos - whether any was present and its exposure to employees. |
HSE Prosecution 4092615 22/1/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Worksop Galvanizing Ltd |
| Fined £7,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Accident to an employee. |
HSE Prosecution 4134724 22/1/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Line Mark (UK) Limited |
| Fined £6,665 under HASAWA 1974 s2. |
HSE Prosecution 4143869 22/1/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Durham County Council |
| Fined a total of £30,000 under MHSWR 1999 and HASAWA 1974 s3. A disabled man with severe learning disabilities and epilepsy, drowned in the bath, at a supported housing scheme administered by Durham County Council and staffed by its employees. |
HSE Prosecution 4129946 23/1/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Malordale Engineering Limited |
| Fined £8,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. A press setter lost 4 fingers and part of left hand in a power press during die proving. There was an unsafe system of work allowing access to press tool and press defects. |
HSE Prosecution 4133542 23/1/09 Week ending: 03/04/09 |
| Moves to simplify health and safety take effect. |
| Moves to make health and safety laws easier to understand and comply with take effect from 6 April 2009. HSE is making 4 changes to the regulations it is responsible for. These are: introducing a new, easier to read version of the law poster that employers must display, reducing the number of forms that employers must complete, simplifying arrangements for the manufacture and storage of explosives, and aligning chemical hazard information and packaging with new EU regulations. |
HSE (National) Press Release E029:09 6/4/09 Week ending: 10/04/09 |
| Operational Note: HSE announces change in policy. |
| HSE publishes details of work-related deaths on a monthly basis through the Chief Executive's report to the HSE Board. Following recommendations from the Information Commissioner, these will now include the names of the deceased and additional details on these fatal incidents at www.hse.gov.uk/foi |
HSE (National) Press Release E030:09 7/4/09 Week ending: 10/04/09 |
| HSE to prosecute Thames Valley Police and PC David Micklethwaite over shooting incident. |
| HSE is prosecuting Thames Valley Police and PC David Micklethwaite over alleged breaches of health and safety law. This follows its investigation into the non-fatal shooting of a civilian employee of Thames Valley Police Authority during a firearms awareness training session in May 2007. The Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, as a corporation sole and the employer of the police officer, faces one charge under HASAWA 1974 s3 and 33. PC David Micklethwaite, the firearms instructor running the awareness course, faces one charge under HASAWA 1974 s7 and 33. Initial court date has been fixed for Friday 15 May 2009. |
HSE (South East) Press Release ON003:09 6/4/09 Week ending: 10/04/09 |
| Firm fined after HSE prosecution for two Health and Safety breaches. |
| Millennium Inorganic Chemicals Ltd was fined £40,000 and costs of £25,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Approx 82 litres of titanium tetrachloride (TiC14) was released into the atmosphere during the routine draining of a vessel on a Base Pigment Production Plant in preparation for routine maintenance. During the incident the escaping TiC14 became exposed to moisture present in the air and then hydrolysed to produce hydrogen chloride vapour (HCI) and oxychlorides - the HCI component being toxic and corrosive. The situation was prevented by escalating further by the quick thinking of an operator who closed the valve and stem the flow of the liquid. |
HSE (Yorkshire and Humber) Press Release YH/144/09 6/4/09 Week ending: 10/04/09 |
| Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council |
| Fined a total of £25,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3 and MHSWR 1999. During a nursery holiday club outing, a 4 year old child slipped 24 metres down an unprotected water channel. The child became impaled on a tree branch and sustained injuries. Tameside MBC failed to recognise the potential for danger and did not make a suitable assessment of risks to the public, and in particular children, from the accessible and unprotected water channel. |
HSE Prosecution 4070305 26/1/09 Week ending: 10/04/09 |
| Clockwork Day Nursery Ltd |
| Fined a total of £21,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3 and MHSWR 1999. A 4 year old boy on a nursery holiday club outing to a public park, slipped and fell down an accessible and unprotected steeply sloping channel, where he became impaled on a tree branch and received serious internal injuries. The outing involved 20 children, aged between 4 to 11 years. The Nursery did not carry out a sufficient risk assessment for the outing and failed to ensure that the injured child was not put at risk. Children as young as 4 years old were allowed to play away from an 'agreed' area, unsupervised, for lengthy periods. This resulted in a group of children trying to cross the water channel during which the boy lost his footing at the edge of the running water, slipped, and with nothing to hold on to, fell 24 metres down a steep slope into the culvert filled with debris. |
HSE Prosecution 4080715 26/1/09 Week ending: 10/04/09 |
| Arthur David Fletcher |
| Fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Accident happened when temporary wooden floor was being installed to erect roof trusses. There was no measure in place to prevent or mitigate a fall. No safe system of work, adequate information, training and instruction for the construction of the temporary wooden floor was not provided. |
HSE Prosecution 4133745 26/1/09 Week ending: 10/04/09 |
| Dairy Crest Limited |
| Fined £18,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Grid cover dislodged and fell into pit causing the IP to fall approx 1 metre within the pit resulting in that the Company failed to provide and maintain plant and a safe system of work, so far as reasonably practicable, for its employees. |
HSE Prosecution 4143704 26/1/09 Week ending: 10/04/09 |
| Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd |
| Fined a total of £11,500 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and MHSWR 1999. No safe system of work, sufficient health and safety arrangements and risk assessment for maintenance work. Fundamental failing of the management of safety in the maintenance department of company. |
HSE Prosecution 4046516 28/1/09 Week ending: 10/04/09 |
| Coastal Container Line Ltd |
| Fined a total of £150,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. An employee was driving an HGV with approx 25 tonnes of sheet steel loaded on a trailer. As the vehicle slowed on the approach to a roundabout the load shifted and punched through the back of the cab, crushing the driver who died from his injuries. The investigation identified a number of failings including a lack of planning and inadequate training for drivers. A key factor was the practice not to secure the steel but to rely upon the weight of the steel and friction to hold the load in place while the vehicle was moving. |
HSE Prosecution 4140896 29/1/09 Week ending: 10/04/09 |
| Anglian Timber Limited |
| Fined £5,000 under PUWER 1998. The IP gained access to the moving parts of the machine through an inspection hatch without turning off and isolating the power supply. |
HSE Prosecution 4098493 30/1/09 Week ending: 10/04/09 |
| DWP claims safety system pays dividends. |
| The efforts of the Dept for Work and Pensions (DWP) to implement a formal H&S management system for its staff have led to its becoming the HSE's latest "successful leadership" case study. It describes how top-level leadership commitment within the DWP has been crucial to implementing the new HSMS and offers guidance for central government departments, and joins Esso, BP, Legoland, Debenhams and other "leading" examples on the HSE's website. |
Health and Safety Bulletin April 2009 (377):3 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Compulsory crane register on the way. |
| The Government has at last bowed down to union pressure and instructed the HSE to draw up plans for a statutory national crane register. Demands for such a register from safety campaigners have been prompted by a spate of tower crane accidents in 2006 and 2007, two of which killed three people. |
Safety Management March 2009:5 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| One third of UK military deaths are accidents. |
| The MoD has admitted that a third of the deaths in the British Military result from "safety failures". Nearly 800 service personnel have died in accidents such as car crashes and electric shocks in the last 10 years. Officials are reported to be concerned about the fact that the Corporate Manslaughter Act has stripped MoD's Crown Immunity. |
Safety Management March 2009:7 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| No progress on RSI. |
| There has been little improvement in defeating the scourge of RSI in the last six years. There were 81,000 new cases of the condition in 2007/08 - barely down from the 87,000 recorded in 2001/02. |
Safety Management March 2009:7 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| School asbestos warning. |
| According to a BBC news report aired in January, nearly every state school building in the South East of England is contaminated with asbestos. Freedom of information requests submitted by BBC showed that the harmful material was present in more than 90 per cent of schools run by Kent, Medway, Sussex, Brighton and Surrey councils. |
Safety Management March 2009:8 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Positive response to new consultation. |
| A look at HSE's consultation process entitled "The health and safety of Great Britain - Be part of the solution" (which closed on March 2). (Brian Shillibeer) |
Safety Management March 2009:11-14 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| An education in health and safety. |
| As one of the first education organisations to undergo the BSC's Five Star H&S Audit, Bedford College has gone from strength to strength in improving its systems. (Joanna Gurman) |
Safety Management March 2009:32-35 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Securing against the twisted firestarters. |
| As many as 40 per cent of all workplace fires are started deliberately, but there is evidence that many employers do not even consider the threat of arson when implementing their general safety precautions. How to protect your firm from firestarters. (Adair Lewis) |
Safety Management March 2009:37-38,41-42 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Going solo - using tech to protect. |
| There are as many as 700,000 incidents of violence and aggression towards people at work in Britain every year, and staff who work alone are among those most likely to be on the receiving end. However, lone worker protection technology can play an important role in reducing the risks. (David Armstrong) |
Safety Management March 2009:46-47,49 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Building the case for safety software. |
| Many companies are moving to software-based systems to help them manage their HS&E policies and processes, but safety managers may struggle to get board agreement for these in the current economic climate. An explanation of the safety and business benefits of HS&E software, and how to successfully argue for is introduction. (Matt Duckhouse) |
Safety Management March 2009:50-52 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Disappointed inspector fears small fine is no deterrent. |
| Lothian Heating Services Ltd fined £8,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 after it exposed three employees to potentially lethal asbestos fibres during work to install a new heating system at a church in Edinburgh. A survey had been carried out 18 months earlier and the priest had a copy of the report. He did not pass it on and the company did not ask about asbestos. The men had been working there for five days when one of them spotted a warning notice. The company had been involved in a similar asbestos incident in 1999 but had not "appeared to have learnt very many lessons". |
Health and Safety Bulletin April 2009 (377):2 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Deterrent, what deterrent? |
| A report on another woeful year for enforcement. (Howard Fidderman) |
Health and Safety Bulletin April 2009 (377):5-18 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| From stress to a "standard" approach towards ill health? |
| There may be no proof, but everyone "knows" the stress management standards work just fine, so why not extend them to other types of ill health? (Lucinda Ponting) |
Health and Safety Bulletin April 2009 (377):19-20 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Crimes and fines in Scotland. |
| A look at a landmark judgment from Scotland that increases a fine for an HSW Act death by a factor of eight. (Howard Fidderman) |
Health and Safety Bulletin April 2009 (377):21-24 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Scottish appeal shows how to match fines with crimes. |
| A look at a Scottish appeal case that should bring home to employers what an adequate fine really looks like. (Howard Fidderman) |
Health and Safety Bulletin April 2009 (377):25-28 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Waste and recycling industry injury rates improve - but best yet to come. |
| HSE has published research showing that injury rates from the waste and recycling industry have decreased since peaking in 2003-4. At a time when this industry experienced rapid growth, the Bomel report in conjunction with the analysis of recent accident statistics show that from 2003-4, the injury rate decreased by approximately 15 per cent (to 2007-8). However in 2007-8 the injury rate of 2,207 reportable injuries per 100,000 workers is more than four times the 'all industry average' rate of 518. It is also more that twice the reported injury rates for the manufacturing industries and construction. |
Info: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr701.htm HSE (National) Press Release E027:09 8/4/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Nottinghamshire company fined after two workers are injured. |
| SDC Trailers Ltd fined £3,300 and costs of £1,824.60 under MHSWR 1999, and SDC Parts and Services Ltd fined £2,600 and costs of £1,824.60 under WHR 2005. SDC Parts and Services Ltd failed to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of their employees in relation to the unloading of trailers containing lorry tyres and wheel and tyre assemblies. SDC Trailers Ltd failed to prevent tyres loaded on a curtain-sided trailer from falling, causing injury to an employee. |
HSE (National) Press Release EM/08/09 8/4/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Shaft fall highlights height hazards at Lincolnshire school - Northampton company fined. |
| The UK Lift Company fined £2,000 and costs of £8,000 under WHR 2005. The company's assistant site manager, Michael Richards, fell 6.5 metres from the second floor down the School's lift shaft whilst helping a lift engineer. He suffered serious injuries including a broken pelvis, other broken bones, fractures and ligament damage as a result. |
HSE (National) Press Release EM/10/09 8/4/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Council fined following death of waste collector. |
| East Dunbartonshire Council fined £13,500 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Stephen Walsh, who was working as a waste recycling collector, was run over by the Council's waste recycling lorry during a reversing manoeuvre. |
HSE (National) Press Release COI/SCO/089 15/4/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| HSE warns companies to assess risk after worker injured by toppled crusher. |
| Pullman Design and Fabrication Ltd fined £30,000 and costs of £27,500 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Colin Davies was working with a colleague in moving a "swarf crusher" which was part of a wheel lathe being used by Pullman to refurbish wheels of railway rolling stock. The machine was being moved using skates which were being positioned under the legs of the machine when it toppled over, trapping Mr Davies. He suffered back injuries, extensive bruising and several broken bones. |
HSE (National) Press Release COI/W/232/09 15/4/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| HSE warns employers to ensure systems are in place to safely carry out repairs after a Nottingham employee became entangled in his machinery. |
| FW Mason & Sons Ltd fined £4,000 and costs of £2,497.50 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Paul Huckle attempted to repair a fault when working on machinery which cuts timber. In doing so he suffered lacerations and damage to tendons and muscles and bones in his lower leg and was taken to hospital. His employer had failed to provide a safe system of work for replacing dislodged drive belts on the handling equipment of the timber processing line. |
HSE (National) Press Release 11/09 15/4/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Firm fined £50,000 after worker loses leg in transport incident. |
| Richard and Matthew Triggs, partners of RT Trailers and Farm Buildings Ltd, pleaded guilty to breaching HASAWA 1974 s2. The company was fined £50,000 and costs of £10,000. David Farr, an employee, was seriously injured while involved in the loading and transporting of steel shuttering panels. The panels are used to erect walls on farms and the company was moving a wall from one part of the farm to another. Usually this was done using a flat-bed lorry but on this occasion a decision was taken to use a tractor and grain trailer. Mr Farr climbed into the trailer to guide and unhitch the shutters as they were lifted in. One or more of the shutters then slipped and fell over within the trailer crushing Mr Farr causing him serious injury, including the loss of his right leg. |
HSE (South West) Press Release 213/SWW/08 8/4/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| HSE warns: unlicensed stripping of asbestos will be penalised. |
| Roger Lee Lavender, Managing Director of Secal Laser Ltd, fined £6,666 and costs of £11,039.88 for the unlicensed removal of asbestos insulation boards (AIBs) from the company's factory. Although Mr Lavender was aware of the presence of asbestos and the associated dangers, he instructed two of his employees to remove AIBs from within the factory. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release WM/385/09 9/4/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Cutting corners with gas safety can cost you thousands. |
| Former landlord Adrian Ellis fined a total of £11,300 and costs of £8,700 under GSIUR 1998. The whole £20,000 must be paid within 56 days or Mr Ellis will face a 12-month prison sentence. Mr Ellis had originally failed to appear in court in 2006 to answer the same charges and a warrant with bail was issued. He was found and the warrant served in March 2009. Twice carrying out work on gas boilers without being competent to do so, neglecting to ensure a gas boiler was maintained in a safe condition, failure to ensure a record of any safety check in respect of a gas boiler was made and retained, and neglecting to ensure a copy of a safety check was given to a tenant. |
HSE (East) Press Release HSE-E-01 14/4/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Working well together - designing safely into construction. |
| HSE is inviting designers to a one-day seminar to find out how they can prevent many of the routine H&S issues faced by contractors. Designers have a crucial role to play in improving the performance of the construction industry in reducing the daily risk faced by workers. The seminar costs £50 and is being held at the North Staffordshire Medical Institute, Harshill Road, Stoke on Trent on 21st May. |
Info: Chevaunne Jeffery 01782 667200 HSE (West Midlands) Press Release WM/128/09 17/4/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Crane Limited |
| Fined a total of £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and PUWER 1998. Mr Herbert caught his hand in one of the rotating drills of a 4 pillar drill bank when clearing swarf. The drill snagged his glove and caused cuts and a puncture wound to his hand as well as bruising. The drill was unguarded at the time of accident. The companies systems were insufficient to ensure that guarding was retained in place, was to a suitable standard as required by guidance and the law, and that assessments were suitable and sufficient. The lack of robust supervision enabled an employee to run a machine without guarding and no clear policy on when gloves should/shouldn't be worn. |
HSE Prosecution 4133216 2/2/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Lumgair Brothers |
| Fined a total of £4,400 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and MHSWR 1999. 16 year old employee was able to access dangerous moving parts of a machine. Thumb became trapped in an unguarded chain and sprocket drive to an inclined conveyor whilst attempting to clear a blockage of potatoes. |
HSE Prosecution 4135860 3/2/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| East Lancashire Box Co. Ltd |
| Fined a total of £12,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2, MHSWR 1999 and WYPCA 1920. Accident to a young person who was cleaning a slow-moving roller on a printing machine using a cloth wrapped around his hand. The cloth became entangled in the top roller, dragging his hand into the machine, which resulted in one broken finger and crush injuries to two others. The company had no risk assessments for its machines and the procedures used to clean the printer rollers was a risk to employees' safety. The company also contravened the Employment of Women, Young Persons and children Act 1920 by employing a child in an industrial undertaking. |
HSE Prosecution 4131205 4/2/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Westpoint Schoolcare Limited |
| Fined a total of £1,000 under CAR 2006. The company failed to properly assess whether asbestos was present before starting refurbishment work at a Manchester school. The company also failed to take the necessary steps to prevent its employees being exposed to asbestos dust and undertook licensable work without holding a licence. |
HSE Prosecution 4133348 4/2/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| The Sunlight Service Group Limited |
| Fined a total of £5,600 under WHSWR 1992 and MHSWR 1999. Slips and trips issues. Whilst refuelling vehicle, slipped on spilt diesel and water. |
HSE Prosecution 4138341 4/2/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Advanced Casting Company Ltd |
| Fined £3,500 under PUWER 1998. Failed to take measures that were effective to prevent access to a dangerous part of machinery, namely the electrically powered chain and sprocket drive of Motovario slurry tanks. |
HSE Prosecution 4141964 4/2/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Four Seasons Homes No.4 Limited |
| Fined a total of £66,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3 and MHSWR 1999. IP aged 83 paralysed on her left side, left sitting unattended on her bed whilst the carer removed the hoist, fell to her left striking her head on her bedside chest of drawers. She fell onto the floor, carer called another employee and together put IP back into bed. IP later died from the trauma caused by her injuries. Bad practices left to continue, in that MH & falls procedures were not followed, no monitoring by management and inadequate training. |
HSE Prosecution 4124595 5/2/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Madhu Bhajanehatti |
| Prison under HASAWA 1974 s42. Failure to comply with various notices served on flats. |
HSE Prosecution 4098621 6/2/09 Week ending: 17/04/09 |
| Take care to protect workers at height, warns HSE as construction worker falls from roof. |
| Pinnacle Scaffolding Ltd fined £27,000 and costs of £6,000 under WHR 2005. L J McLaren Engineering Ltd fined £10,000 and costs of £3,000 under WHR 2005. A self employed roofer was sheeting the roof of a new factory unit. The scaffolding at the roof edge did not comply with the requirements for collective fall protection and the man was able to slide between the scaffolding and the roof surface. As a result, he fell 25 feet, breaking his arm and sustaining facial injuries. He has not worked since the incident in September 2007. |
HSE (Yorkshire and the Humber) Press Release YH/180/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Vulnerable workers get stronger protection. |
| Five years after the deaths of 23 Chinese cockle pickers, protection for workers employed by gangmasters has got stronger with the introduction of new licensing standards by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority. In force this month, the new standards increase the likelihood that gangmasters who ill treat their workers will have their licence revoked immediately. |
RoSPA Occup Safety and Health Journal April 2009:2 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| MoD appeals over troop safeguard duties. |
| In a legal test case which has significant implications for the health and safety of armed forces personnel, the Court of Appeal is considering how the European Convention of "Human Rights and Human Rights Act 1998" apply to British forces serving abroad. |
RoSPA Occup Safety and Health Journal April 2009:3 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Trailer straps warning for lorry drivers. |
| The Highways Agency is reminding hauliers to secure their trailer straps to help prevent road traffic accidents and congestion. Over a three month period traffic officers collected around 250 lorry ratchet straps from motorways in the West Midlands region alone. Each strap could be a potential hazard for road users as they could damage tyres or get entangled under a vehicle. |
RoSPA Occup Safety and Health Journal April 2009:4 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Back-up scheme needed to pay sick. |
| The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occup S&H is calling for an Employers' Liability Insurance Bureau (ELIB) to be set up to compensate employees injured at or made ill by their work. Under the Group's proposals, the ELIB would provide compensation to injured or ill employees who are unable to trace a company's insurer, in much the same way as the Motor Insurers' Bureau currently pays out compensation to individuals injured by uninsured drivers. |
RoSPA Occup Safety and Health Journal April 2009:4 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Court report. |
| Young people in the workplace have a higher risk of injury, mainly due to their lack of work experience. As well as complying with general health and safety legislation, employers have to comply with specific duties in order to protect the H&S of young persons in their workplace. Some recent prosecutions of firms who failed to do just that. (Edward Hodson) |
RoSPA Occup Safety and Health Journal April 2009:14-15 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Office H&S. |
| A look at some H&S issues that are particularly relevant to office working and suggestions how associated risks may be addressed. (Sarah Tullett) |
RoSPA Occup Safety and Health Journal April 2009:17-21 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Are you sitting comfortably? |
| What companies can do to protect staff whose job involves a lot of driving from musculoskeletal injury. (Jan Vickery) |
RoSPA Occup Safety and Health Journal April 2009:25-27,29 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Spotlight on safety. |
| At the end of last year, HSE launched new guidance on worker involvement which encouraged co-operation and joint working between all stakeholders to raise H&S awareness. A construction project which has adopted a novel approach to doing just that. (Nick Cook) |
RoSPA Occup Safety and Health Journal April 2009:33-36 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| A new dynamic? |
| The HSE is busy analysing the responses to its recent consultation on the way forward for the UK H&S system. There is an argument that the key theme that needs to be explored is how to create a new dynamic between HSE and the wider H&S market. (Roger Bibbings) |
RoSPA Occup Safety and Health Journal April 2009:46-47 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Landlord fine. |
| Nottingham landlord Simon Fields fined £1,500 for each of three charges and £3,772 in costs, for a number of breaches of fire safety law following a fire at one of his flats. The charges related to missing smoke detectors, fire doors leading to communal areas not being fitted with self-closing devices, and a lack of emergency lighting on escape routes. |
Fire Risk Management April 2009:3 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Clear minded. |
| A new model has been developed as a research tool to explore glass behaviour in fire. (Mike Wood) |
Fire Risk Management April 2009:50-54 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Making sense. |
| The fire detection industry should look to other sectors when developing new life-saving sensor technologies. (Rowland Davies) |
Fire Risk Management April 2009:61 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Company fined after employee loses part of thumb. |
| Trucast Ltd fined total of £5,000 and ordered to contribute towards costs of £9,000 under MHSWR and PUWER 1998. Employee suffered crush injuries to his left thumb when it became trapped in the closing clamp mechanism on the machine he was operating. The risk assessments that had been carried out were not suitable and easy access to the dangerous parts of the machinery remained. This included access to the rotating cutting blade and moving clamp mechanism which caused his injury. |
HSE (South East) Press Release COISE/0204 21/4/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Employers warned about dangers of unnecessary holes and inadequate hazard warning signs. |
| Drax Power Ltd fined total of £2,000 and costs of £2,800.20 under WHR 2005. An employee was taking a routine operational tour of plant and equipment. A fixed scaffolding barrier had been erected to prevent access to the area, as a floor plate had been removed. No hazard warning sign had been attached to the barrier to indicate the risk of entering, so the man went in via the entry gate. As a result, he fell approx 10 feet (3 metres) through the hole to the basement below. He sustained serious injuries and has been unable to work since. |
HSE (Yorkshire and Humber) Press Release YH/172/09 21/4/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Dangerous working practices widespread at South London building sites, HSE inspections reveal. |
| HSE has warned construction site managers in South London to put health and safety at the top of their priority list after visiting 40 sites in March. Of the sites visited, a quarter revealed problems, including unsafe work at height, which led to enforcement action being taken at 10 of them. |
HSE (London) Press Release HSE-E-156 21/4/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Campaign targets small boat industry in bid to improve safety. |
| HSE teamed up with the Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) to kick-start a campaign to improve safety for small boat builders and people working in repair yards. JST hosted 2 training days for staff at Southampton Docks. HSE inspector for Hampshire, Dennis MacWilliam, attended and gave a talk on how the HSE oversees safety in this industry. |
HSE (South East) Press Release COISE/0104 21/4/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Events company fined after theatre lights fall onto child's pushchair. |
| Blueparrot Production and Events, Edinburgh, fined £2,000 under WHR 2005. A light stand had been raised above the height if the balcony so that it would project onto the stage. They were placed close to the balcony edge with no way of fixing them in place leaving them liable to dislodge and topple into the auditorium. The lighting rig did fall and struck a pushchair, knocking it over and injuring the child strapped into it and another child nearby. |
HSE (Scotland) Press Release SCO/096/09 24/4/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Dangerous working practices widespread at West London building sites, HSE inspections reveal. |
| After visiting 47 sites in West London, HSE has warned construction site managers to put health and safety at the top of their priority list. 21 enforcement notices were served at the 47 sites. Many of the sites had unacceptable safety standards, and a significant number had clear examples of dangerous working practices. |
HSE (London) Press Release HSE-E-156 24/4/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| HSE warns employers about maintaining equipment after worker's face and arms are burned. |
| A1 Rewinds Ltd fined £2,000 and costs of £1,500 under PUWER 1998. Mr Harjit Singh Matharu was lying beneath a vehicle using an oxy-acetylene welding gun when acetylene leaking from a perished hose caught light, burning the man's face and arms. The company had failed to maintain the equipment in an efficient state, efficient working order and in good repair. The court heard that the equipment had not been maintained for 28 years. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release WM/130/09 24/4/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| ABG Ltd |
| Fined £1,000 under PUWER 1998. First IP was operating a roller press to cut holes in a piece of plastic. He was wearing gloves and his right thumb got caught on the cutter tool and the end was cut. Second IP person was operating the machine and placed his hand in front of a moving roller under an emergency trip wire. His hand was dragged into the roller, the trip wire stopped the machine but not before the skin had been pulled off the area around his forefinger and thumb. |
HSE Prosecution 4132650 9/2/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| ABG Ltd |
| Fined £2,000 under PUWER 1998. First IP was operating a roller press to cut holes in a piece of plastic. He was wearing gloves and his right thumb got caught on the cutter tool and the end was cut. Second IP person was operating the machine and placed his hand in front of a moving roller under an emergency trip wire. His hand was dragged into the roller, the trip wire stopped the machine but not before the skin had been pulled off the area around his forefinger and thumb. |
HSE Prosecution 4147409 9/2/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Medical Piped Gases Ltd |
| Fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Medical gas fitter fell through fragile access point of false ceiling. No controls in place to prevent fall. |
HSE Prosecution 4141677 9/2/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Pochin Concrete Pumping Ltd |
| Fined £40,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. This case did result from the investigation of a fatality. |
HSE Prosecution 4060009 10/2/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Universal Construction Services Ltd |
| Fined £40,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. This case did result from the investigation of a fatality. |
HSE Prosecution 4074545 10/2/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Patrick Joseph Walsh |
| Fined £2,500 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Work involved dismantling an unsafe retaining wall and its subsequent rebuilding. The work was not adequately planned and the contractor was not competent to undertake this sort of work. He failed to follow a safe system of work, in particular involving the installation of propping. During the work the wall collapsed on a worker standing at its base causing a fatality. |
HSE Prosecution 4090260 10/2/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| Ballenwood Properties Ltd |
| Fined a total of £4,000 under WHR 2005 and RIDDOR 1995. |
HSE Prosecution 4134627 10/2/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
| H.J. van Bentum |
| Fined £7,500 under PUWER 1998. Driver was standing on a gantry on top of the bulk tanker and fell between 3.6 - 4.5 metres to the ground. He fell on to a perimeter area adjacent to a fence and his head was on a kerb stone. He sustained a major head injury as a result of the fall. The company's two trained first aiders attended then by ambulance crew before taken to hospital. The company was informed that the IP had died during the night. |
HSE Prosecution 4098512 11/2/09 Week ending: 24/04/09 |
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HSE Prosecutions Database
The HSE did not post prosecutions for about a year from January until November 2006. There is therefore be a gap in our database from a hearing date of 24 January 2006 until 1 November 2006. Anyone not finding a case which may have been heard between January and November 2006, should therefore try searching the HSE Prosecutions database.
When the HSE relaunched the Prosecution database in January 2007, after a break of around a year, they appear to have changed the format of the case numbers. Therefore, for all entries with a hearing date before the 24 January 2006 you should search the HSE database using the defendants name instead of the case number we have quoted if you wish to check details for yourself.
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