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H&S News August 2009
| Asbestos warning after company prosecuted. |
| Vale Inco Europe Ltd fined £12,000 with costs of £28,000 under CAR 2006. The charges came in relation to refurbishment work being carried by a contractor, A-Weld, on a furnace at the company's premises. The company had carried out asbestos surveys on the buildings on their site, but not surveyed the interior of plant and equipment. As a result, asbestos insulation material within the reformer furnace was disturbed and broken, giving rise to powder and fibres, which posed a greater risk. Workers discovered a white material they suspected of being asbestos and a sample was sent for analysis, but the site was not isolated and work was allowed to continue until the results of the tests confirmed that the material was asbestos. However, whilst the company then followed advice from a licensed asbestos contractor to damp down the area, the men originally working on the furnace had removed their overalls and external clothing in the area in which no-one was wearing masks or protective equipment. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/hiddenkiller/index.htm HSE (Wales) Press Release 6/8/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Flying high with the Air Cadets. |
| From learning how to fly to taking part in outdoor pursuits, the Air Cadets organisation provides young people with superb opportunities for adventure and personal development. How it does this while keeping its 60,000 cadets and volunteer staff safe. (Joanna Gurman) |
Safety Management July/August 2009:29-32 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Pressure points - tackling work stress. |
| With as many as half-a-million people in Britain thought to be suffering from work-related stress at a level that is making them ill, it makes sense for employers to take steps to tackle the problem - where to begin. (Ann McCracken) |
Safety Management July/August 2009:35-36,39 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Getting electrical testing off PAT. |
| Employers should have a suitable maintenance system to ensure the safety of portable electrical equipment such as power tools, computers and kettles. Some tips on what to do. (Jim Wallace) |
Safety Management July/August 2009:41-44 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Eye can see clearly. |
| Regulations covering the provision of eye tests and glasses for display screen equipment users have been in force since 1993, but there is still considerable confusion about what employers are required to do - a quick reminder. (Jim Lythgow) |
Safety Management July/August 2009:46-48 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| MD oversaw practices that led to death of bus driver. |
| Eastbourne Buses fined £100,000 with costs of £135,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2, Stephen Barnett (Managing Director) fined £5,000 with costs of £5,000 under HASAWA 1974 s37. A driver was crushed between two buses after he had parked his own bus at the end of his early shift and walked between his own bus and the one in front. That bus suddenly reversed in order to leave the lane to go. Policies and procedures for workplace transport were confused and inconsistent. Earlier reports from safety consultants had recommended improvements but the company implemented them in an adhoc way and failed to enforce those rules it did have. Bad practice and danger arose, a situation overseen by Mr Barnett. |
Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:4 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Agriculture - SHADs. |
| The HSE has published "baseline" research on Safety, Health and Awareness Days that it commissioned from Bomel. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr699.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:5 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Agriculture - vibration. |
| HSE has issued a four page leaflet on how to reduce the risks of agricultural workers developing back pain from whole-body vibration. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ais20.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:5 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Asbestos - management. |
| HSE has issued a web-based guide to help dutyholders decide whether asbestos is present in their premises and, if so, how to manage it. |
Internet: "Managing my asbestos: A step by step guide" www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/managing/index.htm Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:5 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Enforcement - local authorities. |
| The HSE and four bodies representing LAs have signed a new "statement of commitment" on improving their partnership working. |
Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:5 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| First-aid - falls. |
| HSE-commissioned research has recommended that no changes should be made either to the standard UK first-aid guidance for the post-rescue recovery of a semi-conscious or unconscious person in a horizontal position, or to the standard ABC first-aid approach, even if the victim is the subject of prior harness suspension. The research followed up a conclusion from earlier research that the rescue plan was an essential part of fall-protection arrangements but that there was conflicting advice on what first-responders to falls into harness suspension should do. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr708.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:5 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| HSE - information. |
| HSE has issued a web version of the 4th edition of its introductory guide to the H&S system. |
Internet: "A guide to H&S regulation ?" www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/web42.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:5 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Leadership - workplans. |
| HSE has set out four areas of work that it will pursue in 2009/10 in order to implement the leadership aspects of the HSE's new strategy. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/hseboard/2009/230609/p-jun-b09-58.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:6 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Large organisations - LOPP. |
| HSE believes its three-year Large Organisation Partnership Pilot "overall ? may reasonably be judged to have been successful". |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/hseboard/2009/230609/p-jun-b09-58.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:6 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Musculoskeletal disorders. |
| HSE has revised its web-based advice on lower-back pain. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/msd/backpain/index.htm Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:6 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Safety signs - guidance. |
| HSE has published a second edition of its guidance on the legislation governing workplace safety signs. |
"The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) ? " L64 Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:6 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Storage - tanks. |
| HSE has issued a new guidance note on safeguarding against the failure of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) tanks, vessels and scrubbers. |
"GRP vessels and tanks" GNPM75 Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:6 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Strategy - pledge. |
| HSE is asking organisations and individuals to sign a pledge to support its new strategy. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/strategy/pledge.htm Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:7 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| WRULDs - information. |
| HSE has added new online advice on upper limb disorders aimed at employers, workers and health professionals. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/msd/uld/index.htm Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:7 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Construction inquiry. |
| The Government-instigated review of construction fatalities has recommended positive duties be placed on directors to ensure good H&S management. The report makes 28 recommendations. |
Internet: www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm76/7657/7657.asp Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:7 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Making the right choice. |
| Whether the HSE should be as reassured by its recent enforcement audit as it claims to be. (Howard Fidderman) |
Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:8-10 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Well fit - building resilience into the University of Leeds. |
| In the second of a series on higher education, a look at a pioneering approach to wellbeing. (Lucinda Ponting) |
Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:11-16 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Appeal judges lower dB(A) levels for hearing damage. |
| A look at a Court of Appeal judgment that shows why a literal adherence to official guidance may not always be enough. (Howard Fidderman) |
Health and Safety Bulletin August/September 2009:17-24 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Farmers urged to stop and think as harvest season gets underway. |
| In the past five years, 82 workers suffered fatal injuries between July and October, with deaths during these 4 months accounting for almost half of all deaths in agriculture since 2004/05. The warning comes as HSE gears up to begin the next phase in its campaign to raise awareness of the dangers in agriculture in a bid to reduce death and injury. The 'Make the promise. Come home safe' campaign, which was launched in November 2008, generated almost 7000 supportive responses from farmers. |
HSE (National) Press Release 4/8/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Offshore safety incidents hit a record low. |
| New offshore statistics suggest the sector is getting safer, with both the combined fatal and major injury rate, and major hydrocarbon releases at their lowest since the HSE began regulating the industry. No workers were killed while working offshore during 2008/09, the second consecutive year with no fatalities, and there was a fall in major injuries with 30 reported, a fall of 14 compared with 2007/08 figures. |
HSE (National) Press Release E61:09 5/8/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| HSE say earplug myth is summer madness. |
| HSE has moved to silence critics claiming audiences must wear earplugs when attending noisy concerts and music festivals. The organisation is becoming increasingly concerned some commentators use the public's ignorance of H&S legislation to write false stories which actually deflect from the serious issues HSE deals with daily. There are laws to safeguard the health of employees working in environments where excessive noise can be problematic but any suggestion concert goers must plug their ears are wide of the mark. |
HSE (National) Press Release E62:09 5/8/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| HSE warns construction companies after deaths of two workmen. |
| WD Bennett's Plant & Services Ltd fined £125,000 and costs of £264,299 under two health and safety breaches that led to the death of two workers and injured a third. The company had been charged alongside Eurolift (Tower Cranes) Limited which pleaded guilty at the beginning of the trial under HASAWA 1974 s2 and CHSWR 1996. The 2 men who died, Steve Boatman and Gary Miles had been working on the jib of a crane. A third man who was severely injured in the incident was working on the mast of the crane. He was instructed to begin de-torquing the crane's mast bolts and should have done so one-by-one, and then re-tightened each bolt in turn. However he was not trained in this job and he failed to re-tighten the bolts leaving them part undone. This caused the crane to collapse as it was turned. |
HSE (National) Press Release 3/8/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Company fined for inadequate legionella assessments at Welsh Care Homes. |
| DEBA UK Ltd fined £24,000 and costs of £17,276 under HASAWA 1974 s3. The company were commissioned to carry out legionella risk assessments at nursing homes and rated the risk a low. Subsequent routine checks of these nursing homes revealed there to be inadequate controls for legionella at these premises, and the focus moved on to the work carried out by DEBA UK Ltd. They were commissioned by the nursing home operators to carry out the surveys in good faith and to help the nursing homes comply with their responsibilities to manage the risk posed by legionella. DEBRA UK Ltd were putting vulnerable residents at the homes at a heightened risk of contracting legionnaires disease, a potentially fatal form of pneumonia. |
HSE (Wales) Press Release 6/8/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| SRB Plumbing & Heating & Drainage |
| No Sep Penalty under HASAWA 1974 s2. Prosecution of Stephen Bechler following a complaint that he had carried out gas work and was not CORGI registered. |
HSE Prosecution 4116847 27/5/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| SRB Plumbing & Heating & Drainage |
| Fined £100 under GSIUR 1998. Prosecution of Stephen Bechler following a complaint that he had carried out gas work and was not CORGI registered |
HSE Prosecution 4116854 27/5/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Eazyfone Ltd |
| Fined £6,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Two HSE inspectors were passing the company's offices when they saw an employee fitting a CCTV bracket to the side of a building, whilst raised on a pallet on the forks of an FLT. The company had failed to ensure that a safe system of work was in place. |
HSE Prosecution 4135592 27/5/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| John G Osborne Carpets Ltd |
| Fined £800 under ELCIA 1969. Prosecution proposed due to absence of employers' liability compulsory insurance and clear evidence of employment. |
HSE Prosecution 4148340 27/5/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| John George Osborne |
| Fined £800 under ELCIA 1969. Prosecution proposed due to absence of employers' liability compulsory insurance and clear evidence of employment. Mr Osborne has personal liability as offence committed with his consent or connivance, or was facilitated by neglect on his part. |
HSE Prosecution 4148362 27/5/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| International Automotive Components Group Ltd |
| Fined £3,200 under PUWER 1998. IP was moving mould tools, using an overhead crane that he was trained authorised and licensed to use, from a tooling rack that was to be relocated. As the tools were being unloaded the tooling rack collapsed and some of the tools and one of the racks trapped the IP on his right hand side. IP sustained multiple fractures along with cuts and bruises. |
HSE Prosecution 4158785 28/5/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Biffa Waste Services Limited |
| Fined £190,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Fatal accident to non-employee totter working at Biffa Waste transfer site. Totter was hit by reversing shovel loader. |
HSE Prosecution 4107843 29/5/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Waddington & Ledger Limited |
| Fined £14,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. IP crushed by reel of paper that was being unloaded. |
HSE Prosecution 4157373 27/5/09 Week ending: 07/08/09 |
| Warehouse death fine should be a warning. |
| Unitrans Ltd, trading as Concorde Logistics Ltd, fined £133,000 with full costs of £19,686 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. David West, a member of the public, was waiting to collect a parcel when he was run over by an unoccupied lorry. The lorry had entered the yard and stopped suddenly owing to a fault and the driver got out of the cab to investigate. The fault had caused the braking system to temporarily lock the brakes, but then released them after the driver went to report the problem. The fine was reduced by a third because of the company's early guilty pleas and its full co-operation with the investigation. |
SHP August 2009:14 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Views invited on drivers' hours rules. |
| The Dept for Transport has published a consultation on the rules covering UK domestic drivers' hours. |
Internet: www.dft.gov.uk/consultations SHP August 2009:7 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Specialists to lead on H&S cases in Scotland. |
| Specialist prosecutors are now officially leading the investigation and prosecution of H&S cases across Scotland, according to the solicitor general. Procurators Fiscal in the new Crown Office Health and Safety Division have started to advise, support and give direction from the very earliest stages of investigations. |
SHP August 2009:8 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Crane register cost branded "pie in the sky" by operators' body. |
| An industry expert on tower cranes believes the HSE is ill-founded in its approach to the cranes register. Terry Duxbury, co-director of the United Crane Operators' Assoc, described the consultation paper's estimate that the register could cost £3m over ten years, if applied to assisted-erected and self-erected cranes on non-construction and construction sites, as "pie in the sky". Mr Duxbury believes that all cranes should be regulated as even unused cranes stacked in yards need to be maintained. "If the maintenance history is there with the crane then you will know straight away whether the crane is safe, because the history will tell you." He also said that it would be much cheaper to carry out unannounced inspections of maintenance sheets. |
SHP August 2009:9 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Moves underway to accredit health and safety profession. |
| The main professional bodies in H&S have started discussions on official accreditation for practitioners, which would ensure that clients and employers have access to competent and sensible advice. At a round-table meeting hosted by HSE, representatives from IOSH, CIEH, RoSPA, BSC, IIRSM and BSIF discussed what a future accreditation scheme might entail, as well as a feasibility study, details of which are due to be published by the HSE in mid-August. |
SHP August 2009:8 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Digest of coroners' reports issued in a bid to learn lessons. |
| Details of coroners' reports that aim to improve H&S by identifying action to avert future deaths have been published for the first time by the Ministry of Justice. |
SHP August 2009:8 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Operator of blacklisting database fined £5,000. |
| Ian Kerr has been fined £5,000 for breaching the Data Protection Act. He was sentenced following an investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office into his company, The Consulting Association. He held information on more than 3,200 building workers and sold their personal details to construction contractors. There are no punishments available under the principles of the DPA to prosecute users of the service, but the Commissioner has said that he is "minded to use the strongest powers available to him" to serve enforcement notices on 17 of the 45 construction firms his inquiry revealed had paid Kerr for workers' details. |
SHP August 2009:10 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Union welcomes step to reduce bogus self-employment. |
| The Treasury has launched a consultation aimed at reducing bogus self-employment in the construction industry - a move that UCATT has welcomed as a first step in reducing worker exploitation and improving site safety. Bogus self-employment occurs when workers are officially classified as self-employed but have all the normal working relationships of an employee. |
SHP August 2009:10 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Restructuring is bad for health. |
| Workers who take part in company restructuring, regardless of whether they lose or hold on to their jobs, are more likely to become ill than other workers, according to Unison. The union wants employers to carry out risk assessments when restructuring, in the wake of a new report . |
Internet: http://ideas.repec.org/b/rai/rhbook/9783866183407.html SHP August 2009:10 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Three workers convicted in Hednesford rail death cases. |
| A jury has found three rail workers guilty of safety failures after two men were killed during a rail replacement operation at Hednesford in 2004. David Jones, John Brady and Wayne Brigden were found guilty of failing to take reasonable care of the health and safety of themselves and others under HASAWA 1974 s7. The deceased's employer, V G Clements, was also charged under the Act, but were cleared by the jury. Carillion Rail and Network Rail both pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing. David Pennington and Martin Oates died after a road-rail vehicle driven by David Jones reversed into them at speed as they worked to complete a rail drop to a site where new track was being laid. All parties found, or who pleaded, guilty will be sentenced in September. |
SHP August 2009:16 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| This is the modern world. |
| The Coroners and Justice Bill now progressing through the House of Lords should improve the current fragmented and archaic system, but will an opportunity be missed? (Kevin Bridges) |
SHP August 2009:21 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Black or white. |
| Separate reports by the Work and Pensions Select Committee and Rita Donaghy have restated the call for statutory directors' duties, but would these provide a cure for all ills? An examination of the evidence. (Ray Rapp) |
SHP August 2009:36-38 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Blood on the factory floor. |
| For safety managers, accident investigation is part of the job. An account of one person's time at a food factory, when a little extra digging around revealed that the circumstances surrounding an amputation incident were not as straightforward as they first seemed. (Helen Ibbotson) |
SHP August 2009:41-42 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Heal the world. |
| Members of the religious orders fulfil the role of care-provider for the world's sick, disadvantaged, and spiritually needy, but what of their own H&S requirements? A light on the working conditions of today's men and women of the cloth. (Dr Chris Ide) |
SHP August 2009:44-46 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Remember the time. |
| Traditionally, safety-critical industries have tended to see the H&S risks they face as unique to them, but there is a growing consensus that they have more in common with each other than they might think. But how can this knowledge and expertise be pooled and shared for the wider benefit of safety? Perhaps there is a lesson we can take from the nuclear industry. (Dave Mason) |
SHP August 2009:48-50 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Don't stop till they get enough. |
| Too often, safety training is seen as a singular activity but if practitioners want to create a safety culture, they need to repeat the messages again and again, making slight changes every time, to ensure the recipients really take what they've learnt on board. (Michael Millward) |
SHP August 2009:53-54 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| You are not alone. |
| A look at the steps that occup hygiene professionals have taken over the last three years to grow indigenous skills in the discipline in parts of the world where there is currently limited inherent capability, and discussion of the likely common challenges and the lessons learnt for anyone planning to set up international training schemes. (Steve Bailey and Roger Alesbury) |
SHP August 2009:56-58 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Liz Snape reappointed to HSE Board. |
| The Sec for Work and Pensions has announced that, following open competition, Liz Snape has been reappointed to the Board of the HSE for an additional three years as a non-executive board member. Ms Snape joined the HSC in 2003 and was reappointed in 2006. When the HSE and HSC merged in April 2008, her appointment was transferred to the merged HSE and an open competition exercise was held to fill the position. |
HSE (National) Press Release E65:09 13/8/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Campaign launched to protect pub workers from violent and abusive customers. |
| Officials from the region's local authorities have teamed up with the HSE to visit licensees to look for ways to cut the chance of workers being attacked. Staff in pubs and off licences can run a higher risk of work-related violence, ranging from verbal abuse to physical assault, but their employers still have a duty to protect them. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release 7/8/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Blackthorn Limited |
| Fined total of £2 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Injury arising from accident at construction site. |
HSE Prosecution 4133340 1/6/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| North East Plant Sales Ltd |
| Fined £5,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. IP was checking the head drum area of the main incline belt when he tripped on a piece of metal at the top landing and fell into the belt area. His right arm went between the underside of the top part of the belt and the head drum and he was dragged in up to his shoulder where he became trapped. |
HSE Prosecution 4156737 1/6/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| North East Concrete Ltd |
| Fined total of £3,333 under QR 1999. IP was checking the head drum area of the main incline belt when he tripped on a piece of metal at the top landing and fell into the belt area. His right arm went between the underside of the top part of the belt and the head drum and he was dragged in up to his shoulder where he became trapped. |
HSE Prosecution 4156745 1/6/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Exeeco Limited |
| Fined £9,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. 415V electric shock during testing of a piece of equipment. The person was unconscious and had to be treated by a first aider. Stayed overnight in hospital to monitor IP's condition and was released the following morning. |
HSE Prosecution 4155808 3/6/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Heathrow Airport Ltd |
| Compensation/Fine under HASAWA 1974 s3. IP fell off flat roof at night when walking from one work area to another. Edge protection not provided at this point although provided elsewhere. Local lighting not working. |
HSE Prosecution 4157461 3/6/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Bouygues (U.K.) Limited |
| Fined £18,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Subcontractor injured from a fall over 5 metres whilst attempting to fix shuttering during a concrete pour. Principal Contractor had failed to adequately assess and then implement effective controls in the task of fixing and removing concrete shutters at height on site. |
HSE Prosecution 4165987 3/6/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Wordsworth Holdings Plc |
| Fine under MHSWR 1999. Prosecution following accident to contractor who fell from a ladder. |
HSE Prosecution 4145701 4/6/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| ThyssenKrupp Tallent Limited |
| Fined total of £14,000 under MHSWR 1999 and PUWER 1998. Tool maker was operating the milling machine located in the tool room. IP was looking on and was wearing white woollen gloves. IP went to wipe the swarf that was congregating around the rotating cutter and his gloved hand got caught in the cutter. The tool maker who was operating the machine hit the emergency stop button immediately. The first aider sent IP to hospital straight away where IP was found to have received a single fracture to his right little finger and fractured his ring finger in three places. |
HSE Prosecution 4150651 4/6/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| R & J McDonald |
| Fined £6,650 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Farm worker killed whilst using ATV. ATV had not been well maintained, inadequate instruction and training given on use, inadequate supervision. |
HSE Prosecution 4096688 5/6/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| Silocheck Ltd |
| Fined total of £30,000 under CSR 1997. Fatal accident at an animal feed mill when an employee of the defendant company was working in a silo. Prosecution related to competence and emergency arrangements. |
HSE Prosecution 4143453 5/6/09 Week ending: 14/08/09 |
| HSE issues basement excavation warning after company is fined. |
| JAS Truscott & Son Ltd fined a total of £8,500 under HASAWA 1974 s33, CDMR 2007 and WHR 2005, with costs of £9,526.29. The prosecution was for breaching a Prohibition Notice, and failing to protect against falls into, and the potential collapse of, excavations to develop a mews house in Belgravia. Despite clear advice being given to the company, and a PN issued to stop their work immediately, they continued to work in excavations approx three metres deep in a sandy ballast ground, without proper supports to prevent the ground from collapsing or to stop people from falling into pits. |
HSE (London)Press Release 19/8/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Safety inspectors join forces. |
| Local and national safety regulators will have to work more closely together under a new enforcement standard which is due to be implemented by 2011. The new "Section 18 Standard", named after the section relating to enforcement in the Health and Safety at Work Act, places a duty on both regulators, HSE and local authorities, to put adequate resources into enforcement and share resources where appropriate. |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal August 2009:2 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Factory blast prompts action on gas pipework. |
| The Government has announced that changes will be made to strengthen the safety regime for LPG installations following the publication of the inquiry report into the explosion at the ICL plastics factory in Glasgow in 2004. Based on the recommendations by Lord Gill, all commercial buried metallic LPG pipework will now be replaced as part of a joint programme agreed between HSE and the LPG industry body, the UKLPG. |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal August 2009:3 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| High costs for small firms. |
| New research carried out by the Forum of Private Business has found that small and medium sized companies in the UK face a total annual bill of £2 million in time and money spent on complying with H&S guidelines. The survey found that, on average, small firms spend eight hours a month on complying with H&S legislation. |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal August 2009:4 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Court report. |
| Some recent prosecutions of companies which failed to manage the risks associated with vehicles on site, resulting in fatalities. (Ed Hodson) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal August 2009:10-22 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Great expectations. |
| Continuing to work well into their pregnancy is the norm for a lot of women and employers are expected to ensure the workplace is safe for both the woman and her unborn child. The steps that should be taken. (Jo Johnson) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal August 2009:13-15,17 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Up close and personal. |
| Bodyguards can face some extreme risks to their health and safety as they carry out their work. How they balance personal safety with doing their job. (Nick Cook) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal August 2009:21-25 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Permits 'that' work. |
| How a well implemented permit-to-work system can be a practical management tool, which can be used to maintain the highest standards of safety in the workplace. (Edward Hodson) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal August 2009:29-31 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Serious politics? |
| In the rough and tumble of politics, health and safety is an easy target. But politicians and political commentators often find it harder to put forward new solutions for reducing deaths and injuries. (Roger Bibbings) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal August 2009:40-41 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Fire investigators pivotal in securing arson convictions. |
| In one case, Darren Kay received an indeterminate sentence, with a minimum term of 30 months in prison, after pleading guilty to arson and failing to comply with a notification requirement. Mr Kay admitted setting a fire in Berkhamsted High Street. In a second case, Mark Findlayson was given a sentence of four years in prison after a spate of ten fires over a two-month period at a new development of flats in Stevenage. In both cases, joint working between the fire and police services in Hertfordshire had led to their convictions. |
Fire Risk Management August 2009:4 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Landlord fine. |
| A landlord in Derby has been fined more than £30,000 for nine breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order. Dharmemdrasinhji Chauhan pleaded guilty to various failures, including a lack of basic fire precautions, and six internal doors that were not fire doors and did not restrict the spread of smoke and fire. |
Fire Risk Management August 2009:4 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Worth the risk. |
| Risk management is as much about exploiting opportunities as preventing problems, says a new standard. (Oliver Cann) |
Fire Risk Management August 2009:15-18 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Role models. |
| The reliability of computer models in fire safety design is open to question, with concerns over assumptions made and how the results are interpreted. (Alan Beard) |
Fire Risk Management August 2009:21-22 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Sound asleep. |
| Hotels require a diverse range of alarm-based systems to warn guest of fire. (Graham Ellicott) |
Fire Risk Management August 2009:45-47 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Staying safe. |
| The move to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order has revealed serious past inadequacies in the provision of fire safety in hotels. (Ken Day) |
Fire Risk Management August 2009:48-50 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Hotel alert. |
| The diverse fire detection requirements of the hotel and hospitality sector. (Rowland Davies) |
Fire Risk Management August 2009:51-52 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| HSE announces new Midlands regional director. |
| Rosi Edwards has been appointed as the new Regional Director for the HSE in the Midlands. She has taken over the top job after seven years as the Head of Operations for the Construction Divisions for Midlands, Wales and the South West. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/WM/320/2009 17/8/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Head of HSE's Offshore Division to retire. |
| Ian Whewall, Head of the HSE's Offshore Division, is to retire after 35 years with the organisation, and in roles that have seen him play a key part in helping to prevent another Piper Alpha disaster. |
HSE (National) Press Release E66:09 18/8/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Employers urged to take proper precautions to prevent falls in the workplace. |
| Francis Caley fined £8,000 and costs of £1,858 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Farm employee Charles Leslie Nendick fell through a roof whilst carrying out repairs. He suffered fractures to his spine, pelvis and hip, as well as a gash to his head. Mr Nendick's employer, Mr Caley, failed to take suitable precautions to prevent a fall through the roof, which was not strong enough to support the weight of a person. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/YH/324/2009 18/8/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Safety alert issued on road surface top cutting machines. |
| An investigation into a fatal incident involving a top cutting machine, used to prepare trenches in roads, has prompted the HSE to issue a safety alert warning on the dangers of using these machines without proper safety devices. A worker was fatally injured in July when he became entangled in the rotating drum of a top cutting machine. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/construction/top-cutter.htm HSE (National) Press Release E070:09 19/8/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Discovery Homes (Scotland) Limited |
| Fined £5,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Failure to ensure so far as was reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare of employees. This case did result from the investigation of a fatality. |
HSE Prosecution 4133844 8/6/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Richard Lionel John Pratt |
| Fined £4,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Director of Discovery Homes. Failure to ensure so far as was reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare of employees. This case did result from the investigation of a fatality. |
HSE Prosecution 4133887 8/6/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Greif UK Limited |
| Fined total of £7,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and MHSWR 1999. IP's glove got caught in the chain drive of a conveyor which pulled his hand into the drive and caused an injury to his finger, loss of finger nail and fractured in two places above his knuckle. |
HSE Prosecution 4150623 8/6/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Bouygues (UK) Limited |
| Fined total of £16,000,000 [sic] under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Robert Caston fatally injured when struck by reversing telehandler, traffic management arrangements provided but not maintained in storage and marshalling area of site. |
HSE Prosecution 4154445 8/6/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Mr Paul Bird |
| Fined total of £2,000 under GSIUR 1998. Prosecution of Managing Agent. |
HSE Prosecution 4161143 8/6/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| H F W Plastics Ltd |
| Fined £3,500 under HASAWA 1974 s2. IP was working on Kiefel 11 machine and encountered problems with the stacker unit. He placed his right hand deep into the unit to attempt to release formed trays which had stuck in the stacking station (stacker unit was still in operation). IP's little right hand finger was caught in the unit as it moved up and down, the injury resulted in hospital amputation above the knuckle. |
HSE Prosecution 4148080 9/6/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Mr G Parker |
| Fined total of £500 under PPEWR 1992 and PUWER 1998. Farmer on quad bike with two passengers on. The bike slipped down a bank and into a beck. Driver was trapped with head injuries. |
HSE Prosecution 4152837 9/6/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Kevin Hall |
| Guilty - prison under HASAWA 1974 s33. Mr Hall used another engineer's CORGI registration number when he did a job, was issued with a PN two months later requiring him to stop doing gas work until he acquired the appropriate registration, and subsequently carried out work at at least two other properties. |
HSE Prosecution 4153411 9/6/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| SF (UK) Ltd |
| Fined total of £35,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and MHSWR 1999. IP was electrocuted while working on a live conductor. This case did result from the investigation of a fatality. |
HSE Prosecution 4090924 10/6/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Agricola Growers Limited |
| Fined £7,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Migrant worker crushed in agricultural trailer. |
HSE Prosecution 4095860 10/6/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| Dodson & Horrell Ltd |
| Fined £2,000 under MHSWR 1999. IP was injured when he fell approx five feet from a palletiser table while oiling chains. No RA for task. WAH was not carried out in a manner that was safe SRAIRP. |
HSE Prosecution 4149786 11/6/09 Week ending: 21/08/09 |
| HSE reiterates warnings about working at height after company fined for fatal fall. |
| EDF Energy Contracting Ltd fined £160,000 and costs of £24,594.98 under WHR 2005. Employee James Gordon, 63 years old, was dismantling a mobile tower scaffold in a sports hall. The top working platform had been removed and Mr Gordon was on an intermediate platform when it appears that he stumbled. There was no handrail to save him and he fell more that 5 metres, suffering fatal head injuries. Mr Gordon was due to retire in two years time. |
HSE (National) Press Release COI/SE/2708 27/8/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Broken chair payout. |
| A former Southend-on-Sea Borough Council employee has been awarded £10,000 compensation after she slipped a disc and had to undergo surgery. The castors on Kay Fagg's chair had stopped working early in 2003 and she had been forced to use the broken chair for nearly nine months. Although she complained to her employer, she was not given a replacement. |
HSW September 2009:4 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Rare stress notice served on uni. |
| The HSE has served Liverpool Hope University with a rare enforcement notice for failing to properly assess workplace stress risks. Complaints from unions representing staff prompted an HSE inspector to visit. They advised Hope to carry out a stress risk assessment, which they did, but the HSE decided they had failed to adequately assess the risks from work-related stressors, and issued an Improvement Notice requiring the university to consult employees on their experiences of workplace stress and then to share their findings with staff. The Notice is believed to be one of only two served for stress in the past five years. |
HSW September 2009:6 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Derailing was potential catastrophe. |
| Network Rail has pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 of HASAWA 1974, and an offence under the Level Crossings Regulations. They were fined £35,000 for each breach and costs of £25,000. A lorry dislodged a heavy rubber panel at a level crossing and at least two other vehicles hit the panel - one car was lifted up and spun out of control - before a passenger train travelling at 90mph was derailed. Although the train went onto the other track, fortunately there was no train coming the other way. No one was injured. The Office of Rail Regulation discovered the panels weren't properly supported by sleepers even though Network Rail had been told about loose panels at least seven times in the previous five months. |
HSW September 2009:8 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Legionnaires' meat firm fined. |
| Meat supplier Kepak must pay £45,000 in fines and costs after two workers contracted Legionnaires' Disease at one of its plants. Water samples found the bacteria in several places including a water tank used to supply three pressure washing points around the meat processing area. Kepak had failed to comply with a 2001 risk assessment which said it should check the domestic water supply periodically and review control measures. |
HSW September 2009:11 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Untrained forklift driver was cut to the bone. |
| William West Distribution fined a total of £27,000 and costs of £2,284. Apprentice mechanic, Martyn Coope, narrowly avoided losing an arm after crashing a forklift truck into a lorry trailer. Martyn had not been trained to drive the truck, and the brakes were only 60% operational. As he drove towards the trailer, the truck failed to stop and his arm became trapped between the two vehicles. Surgeons managed to save the arm but Martyn was off work for three months. Martyn had previously reported that he had to use the handbrake to stop the truck because the brakes were not working properly. The district judge, John Stobart, said the lack of training and supervision at the depot were potentially lethal. |
HSW September 2009:12 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Legislative calendar. |
| Calendar of new and upcoming legislation. |
HSW September 2009:12 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| H1N1: the wolf at the door. |
| How organisations can limit the likely effects of the swine flu pandemic. (Bridget Leathley) |
HSW September 2009:16-18,20 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Sound investment. |
| How to minimise your noise assessments while ensuring they are effective. (Peter Wilson) |
HSW September 2009:21-23 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Computer beats virus? |
| How to harness your IT to minimise the flu virus' spread and maintain business continuity. (Dave Merchant) |
HSW September 2009:24-26 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Site specifics: young workers. |
| Some of the best sites on the web for information on safeguarding young people in the workplace. (Bridget Leathley) |
HSW September 2009:28-30 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Trainer's toolkit: mind your Ps. |
| A new series of articles on the essential health and safety training skills with a look at effective planning and preparation. (Paul Smith) |
HSW September 2009:35-36 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Fit for the road. |
| Each year, thousands of UK employees take advanced driver training courses. What's involved and what employers stand to gain. (Becky Allen) |
HSW September 2009:38-39 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Drama to avoid crises. |
| How introducing some am-dram into health and safety training can engage employees. (Tess Allen) |
HSW September 2009:41-42 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Fibre class. |
| What good asbestos awareness training for dutyholders of non-domestic premises should include. (Phillip Ellar) |
HSW September 2009:45 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Free events to help business with health and safety issues. |
| Business in Herefordshire and Worcestershire are being invited to learn more about how they can improve their health and safety performance at 2 free events. Targeted at the construction industry and organised by the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Working Well Together (WWT) Group, the two-hour events will look at the benefits of being a member of the group, as well as how its activities link to HSE priorities. Now in its 10th year, the WWT is an industry led initiative that primarily supports micro and small businesses improve their H&S performance. |
Internet: Info contact Barbara Cliff on 01782 602306 or barbara.cliff@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE (National) Press Release HSE/WM/347/2009 25/8/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| HSE issues warning to those hiring out inflatable leisure devices. |
| Robert Andrew Phinn was given a 12 month conditional discharge and costs of £500 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Mr Phinn a former partner in the inflatable equipment hire firm Fun-4-All had hired out an inflatable bungee run. The bungee run lifted from the ground in windy conditions and moved about 15 feet, knocking into several bystanders, some of whom may have suffered injuries as a result. HSE is warning people who hire out inflatable leisure devices that they must ensure all operators are fully trained and that the equipment is properly anchored to the ground at all times. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/WM/344/2009 26/8/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Do your homework on school tie 'ban', watchdog urges. |
| Britain's safety watchdog has hit back at claims of a ban on traditional school ties and urged people to do their homework on the subject. HSE said edicts ordering parents to replace their children's school ties for clip-on alternatives have no basis in law and 'elf and safety' cannot be blamed. If schools or colleges are choosing to ban traditional ties it is not because they have been outlawed, something that could be revealed by a little basic research. HSE is exposing a series of 'elf and safety' myths, which are undermining the legitimate work to protect workers from death and serious injury. |
HSE (National) Press Release E069:09 27/8/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| HSE publishes its response to ministers on the explosion at ICL Plastics and consultation on LPG regime. |
| HSE has published its preliminary formal response to the official inquiry, led by Lord Gill, into the fatal explosion at the ICL factory in Maryhill, Glasgow, in 2004. Following publication of Lord Gill's report on 16 July, Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper asked HSE to outline what action it was taking to address area of concern identified by the inquiry. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/gas/lpg/letter.htm HSE (National) Press Release E071:09 27/8/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| HSE issues warning to employers after man dies in scaffold fall. |
| The HSE has urged employers and construction workers to make sure that they work safely at height following the death of a 31 year old man. The man died after falling from scaffolding on Monday 10 August. Construction has the largest number of fatal injuries of the main industry groups. HSE says, incidents such as these can easily be prevented by companies taking the correct measures to protect employees and contractors. |
HSE (South East) Press Release 26/8/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| New H&S warning after Greater Manchester dental lab puts workers at risk. |
| Rossford Dental Laboratory Ltd, fined £2,500 and costs of £1,500 under HASAWA 1974 s33. The company was served with an Improvement Notice in March 2008 after an HSE Inspector visited the site and found it to be extremely unclean, putting the health of workers at risk. They failed to comply with the IN within the 2 month agreed deadline. |
HSE (North West)Press Release 27/8/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Food manufacturers told to sharpen up on knife safety after butcher is injured. |
| Cranberry Foods Ltd fined £10,000 and costs of £2,726.60 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Butcher Robert Bogdan, a 30 year old from Hungary, suffered a 4 inch deep stab wound to his abdomen whilst working on the turkey processing line. His injuries required surgery and could have been prevented if Robert had been issued with, and had worn, a chainmail apron. |
HSE (East Midlands)Press Release 27/8/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Firm fined after worker's foot is crushed by heavy machinery. |
| Hotchkiss Ltd fined £14,000 and costs of £5,718 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and MHSWR 1999. An employee severed a toe and suffered broken and dislocated bones in his foot when a forming head fell on him. An HSE investigation found the company had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the forming machine that should have identified the need for lifting equipment to be used when changing the forming heads. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release 28/8/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| HSE warns of the dangers of misusing forklifts after worker hit by falling load. |
| Secure IT Disposals Ltd fined £8,000 in fines and £3,500 costs under HASAWA 1974 s2. A one ton mobile shredding machine was being raised by a forklift truck for maintenance. The machine subsequently fell off the forks hitting employee Kevin Kelly who was working underneath. He suffered serious back injuries which required immediate surgery and he has not worked since the incident in November 2008. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release 28/8/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Aluminium Products Ltd |
| Fined £4,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. IP was using a pedestal drill to remove flash from holes in a casting. He was using his left arm and hand to clamp the casting to the block of wood on which it was supported prior to turning the casting around to ream the next hole. It slipped from the block of wood, bringing his glove into contact with the rotating drill bit, resulting in the amputation of part of the index finger. The risk assessment identified drill guarding and jigs as existing controls, the drill had not been guarded since it was obtained and no jig had been created for this particular casting. |
HSE Prosecution 4160505 15/6/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Vestas Blades UK Ltd |
| Fined total of £10,000 under COSHH 2002. Repeated cases of contact allergic dermatitis almost certainly due to contact with epoxy resins used in the process of manufacturing large wind turbine blades because of poor control of exposure. This arose from inadequate assessment of risk, all exacerbated by a failure to make, and give effect to, arrangements necessary to manage the well known risks of skin sensitisation from these substances. |
HSE Prosecution 4150862 16/6/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| GMA Warehousing & Transport |
| Fined £1,500 under HASAWA 1974 s2. IP run over by reversing FLT. |
HSE Prosecution 4129434 17/6/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| T J & S Jenkinson Ltd |
| Fined total of £30,000 under COSHH 2002, PUWER 1998 and HASAWA 1974 s33. Prosecution arises out of this company's failure to maintain a safe working environment for workers at its chemical works over the period September 2004 to late 2008. The proceedings brought do not relate to isolated incidents, but they concern systemic failures which have occurred from time to time over a period of about 4 years, largely as a result of the company's Director's apparent unwillingness to take H&S seriously and to dedicate sufficient funds to those aspects of safety which have required attention. The site has been served 8 PNs and 11 INs during the above period with the prosecution case taking 3 specimen charges as examples. |
HSE Prosecution 4140483 17/6/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| MB Plastics Ltd |
| Fined £150,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Fatal accident at a Water Treatment Works, when an employee died after he was crushed between the descending arm of his telescopic FLT and the side of the vehicle. The vehicle's off-side cab window normally acted as a guard, but had been damaged during a lifting operation 5 weeks before and at the time of the incident, the cab window was entirely missing. The company did not have a system in place for formal regular inspections of the plant and as a result, the company failed to maintain the cab window. The principal contractor, Birse Water Ltd, was also prosecuted in relation to the incident. |
HSE Prosecution 4102243 19/6/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Birse Water Limited |
| Fined £50,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Fatal accident at a Water Treatment Works, when an employee of MB Plastics died after he was crushed between the descending arm of his telescopic FLT and the side of the vehicle. The vehicle's off-side cab window normally acted as a guard, but had been damaged during a lifting operation 5 weeks before the fatality. At the time of the incident, the cab window was entirely missing. Birse Water Ltd, the principal contractor for the project, had failed to ensure that MB Plastics had prepared a suitable and sufficient risk assessment in relation to its telescopic FLT operations. It had also failed to adequately monitor MB Plastics Ltd and as a result had failed to identify the broken window and ensure it was replaced. |
HSE Prosecution 4102249 19/6/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
| Eurolift Tower Cranes |
| Fined £500,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and no sep penalty under CHSWR 1996. Tower crane collapse. Double fatality Gary Miles and Steve Boatman. Third person David Smith was seriously injured when the tower crane collapsed. |
HSE Prosecution 4119621 19/6/09 Week ending: 28/08/09 |
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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.
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