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H&S News October 2009
| Kent company fined after employee is crushed to death. |
| North Kent Shotblasting Ltd fined a total of £150,000 and costs of £24,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s37. Mr Nigel Harrison was due to seal and paint a large heavy metal plate (975gk). The plate was left unsecured and unstable causing it to fall on top of him. Mr Harrison died from his injuries. The incident came about through a combination of events, which included the reliance on a fatally flawed system of work and the company's complete lack of control over employee's safety. This resulted in employees deciding for themselves on how best to secure these heavy metal plates. |
HSE (South East) Press Release 29/9/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Workers' Memorial Day to finally receive Government recognition? |
| The Government has announced that it is looking into how to officially recognise Workers' Memorial Day in Britain. An official consultation was launched at the end of July and submissions are invited by 19 October. |
Internet: www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations Safety Management September 2009:5 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Drop in safety prosecutions unacceptable, say MPs. |
| The vast drop in safety prosecutions pursued by the HSE in the last four years is a major cause for concern and needs to be explained, according to a report from the Works and Pensions Committee. Prosecutions have dropped a massive 40 per cent since 2003/04, falling from 1,720 to 1,208 in 2007/08. |
Safety Management September 2009:6 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| BSC calls for action on looming schools asbestos epidemic. |
| On average, 16 teachers die of asbestos-related diseases every year, and urgent action is needed from the Government to manage or remove the hazardous substance from all UK schools. 228 teachers have died in the last 14 years, leading the BSC to call for a comprehensive national register of asbestos in schools, as well as a full audit. |
Safety Management September 2009:7 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Unions slate "totally inadequate" fine for construction blacklister. |
| The owner of a secret database blacklisting construction workers for union activities, including raising safety concerns, has been fined a sum of £5,000 under the Data Protection Act, a sum which has provoked fury in unions and safety groups. Brendan Barber, the General Secretary of the TUC, said that thousands of trade unionists had been unable to find work as a result of the blacklist and called for new regulations to outlaw the practice "without delay". The Information Commissioner said that he could only prosecute Mr Kerr for failing to declare the existence of the database, and that his legal powers went no further than an ability to warn the companies involved. |
Safety Management September 2009:8 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Kevin Myers - straight talk about safety. |
| Having been at the HSE almost since its inception, Kevin Myers is currently its deputy chief executive. An interview with the man in charge of implementing and delivering the HSE's new strategy. (Thomas Mendelsohn) |
Safety Management September 2009:13-15 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Gwent Police - par for the course. |
| In October 2010, the Ryder Cup - one of the world's most watched televised sporting events - will take place in South Wales. How Gwent Police intends to ensure the safety of everyone attending. (Joanna Gurman) |
Safety Management September 2009:32-35 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| The downfall of slips and trips at work. |
| The shocking statistics surrounding workplace slips, trips and falls (last year, 61 people died and more than 14,000 suffered serious injury), led the HSE to launch its "Shattered Lives" campaign. The campaign is now in its second phase - aiming to eliminate the misery caused to people and the £800 million in costs to society. What employers should be doing in light of the campaign. (SM) |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/shatteredlives Safety Management September 2009:37-38,40,42 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Teen's hand fried at doughnut stand. |
| Neil Pittaway fined a total of £4,000 and costs of £1,390 under HASAWA 1974 s2, MHSWR 1999 and PUWER 1998. 17 year old Rachel Reubens was working on a doughnut stand scraping oil and dried on batter from inside the fryer when her hand slipped into the hot fat. Mr Pittaway had not provided his employees with suitable information, instruction or training to enable them to carry out their job safely. He also failed to assess the fryer's risks or to complete a young person's risk assessment, and he failed to maintain the equipment in good working order. |
HSW October 2009:4 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Asbestos checks to double. |
| The HSE plans to double its inspections of licensed asbestos removal contractors over the next two years. The number of inspections will increase from around 800 in 2008-09 to 1600 by the end of 2010-11. |
HSW October 2009:5 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Half of dutyholders don't understand their CDM duties. |
| More than half of the H&S professionals who participated in a recent survey on the impact of the CDM Regulations 2007 feel their managers lack the competence to fulfil their CDM duties. Almost half a wider sample, which included participants with site, planning and design responsibilities, did not believe their managers were competent to carry out their CDM duties, with 47 per cent giving a vote of no confidence. The online questionnaire was hosted on training organisation CDM2007's website in July. |
HSW October 2009:6 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Worker fell through asbestos roof. |
| F Dewey fined £10,000 and costs of £7,500 (reduced from £15,000 for early guilty plea) under HASAWA 1974 s2, and also compensation of £5,000. Peter Flippance was working for Dewey demolishing buildings to make way for a residential development. Mr Flippance, a plumber and not trained in demolition, climbed onto an asbestos sheeting roof with crawling boards and was removing the roof ridge when the supporting timbers collapsed beneath him. He fell to the concrete floor and suffered a broken hip and wrist. He spent several weeks in hospital and was unable to return to work for 11 months, and then only fit for light duties. |
HSW October 2009:7 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Toppling radiators injured two workers. |
| 4Ls fined £15,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. A stack of 56 radiators collapsed, bringing down a second stack. Stuart Omar, who was nearby, tried to warn his colleague, Michael Debenham, who was closer. Mr Debenham started to run but was hit by the panels. He suffered two broken legs, head injuries and cuts to his upper body. Mr Omar suffered cuts to his arms as he protected his colleague's head. Each pallet in the stack of four, usually held 10 per pallet, but the supplier had recently increased the quantity to 14 per pallet, making the stacks higher. |
HSW October 2009:8 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Long hours and MSDs drive up NHS sickness levels. |
| High levels of sickness absence in the NHS cannot be explained by employees' exposure to infections at work, according to a new review commissioned by the Dept of Health. The main factors are the usual culprits - musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and stress. The interim report says that nearly half of NHS staff absence is due to MSDs and a quarter is caused by stress, depression and anxiety. |
Internet: www.nhshealthandwellbeing.org/InterimReport.html HSW October 2009:10 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Food warehouse was insanitary and unsafe. |
| David Jim, owner of Tong Fong Oriental Distribution, fined a total of £22,000 and costs of £4,177 following five breaches of hygiene and safety regulations. An environmental health officer visited the warehouse and found boxes piled up erratically on the edge of a mezzanine so they risked collapsing on workers beneath, stock was stored on racking more than three metres high but staff had not been provided with means to get to the upper tiers safely, hygiene breaches at the overcrowded site including fly infestation, mould in refrigerators, birds flying inside the warehouse and droppings on boxes of food ingredients. |
HSW October 2009:10 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Legislative calendar. |
| Calendar of new and upcoming legislation. |
HSW October 2009:10 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Directors' duties: there's room at the top. |
| Why HSW and Health and Safety Bulletin are launching a campaign for directors' statutory health and safety duties. (Howard Fidderman) |
HSW October 2009:14-16,18 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| EMFs: they come in waves. |
| An argument in favour of the precautionary principle when surrounding yourself with WiFi and mobile signals. (Dave Merchant) |
HSW October 2009:20-22 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Trainers' toolkit: turning tables. |
| Continuing the series on the fundamentals of effective training with a look at getting the venue right. (Paul Smith) |
HSW October 2009:24-25 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Dusty answer. |
| The basics of local exhaust ventilation and the HSE's new guidance, for NEBOSH National Diploma students. (Lawrence Bamber) |
HSW October 2009:26-28 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Dyer and Butler's golden hour. |
| How a behavioural safety approach has helped Dyer and Butler achieve two million working hours without a reportable accident. (Jocelyn Dorrell) |
HSW October 2009:32-34 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Sites for sore eyes. |
| The case for the safety benefits of good housekeeping. (Lucie Ponting) |
HSW October 2009:37-38 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Home comforts. |
| How to help your home teleworkers avoid aches and strains. (Ian Fletcher-Price) |
HSW October 2009:41-42 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Cheltenham Borough Council fined £14,000 after ride on mower incident. |
| Cheltenham Borough Council fined a total of £14,000, costs of £18,530.31 and £3,000 compensation to the injured person, under HASAWA 1974 s2 and MHSWR 1999. A council employee fell from a ride-on mower onto a park bench, breaking two ribs and suffering a compressed lung. He was forced to stay off work for 11 weeks. The council failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for cutting the grass with the ride-on mower. The slope that the employee was working on was too steep for the machine he was using according to manufacturer's guidelines. The employee had also not received enough information or instruction and there had been previous incidents that should have made the council take action to improve safety while using ride-on mowers. |
HSE (National) Press Release SWW496 28/9/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| HSE prosecution prompts warning to landlords. |
| Ervin Clarke was handed a 16 month sentence, suspended for 12 months and costs of £1,420 under GSIUR 1998 and HASAWA 1974 s33. He was also ordered to undertake 60 hours of community service. Mr Clarke failed to ensure a gas fire in a property he used to rent out, was checked for safety by a registered 'Gas Safe' engineer, and that he failed to act on an Improvement Notice for the appliance. In doing so he put the health and safety of a tenant and her young daughter at risk. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/YH/361/2009 21/9/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Company fined after employee dies from serious head injuries at work. |
| Delico Ltd fined £16,000 and costs of £40,452 under HASAWA 1974 s2. An employee, Lynda Trebilcock, was cleaning one of the blending machines at the meat processing plant, when a powered door on the machine closed unexpectedly and Mrs Trebilcock suffered severe head injuries. She died at the scene. |
HSE (National) Press Release COI/SE/2809 29/9/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| HSE marks 35 years. |
| The number of employees being killed or injured is at its lowest since the inception of the modern health and safety system 35 years ago. The HASAWA was introduced on 1 October 1974, a year in which 651 people were killed in work related incidents. Last year statistics from the HSE showed 180 people died as a result of work based activity. The HASAWA 1974 was brought in by then Secretary of State, Michael Foot. |
HSE (National) Press Release E087:09 29/9/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Fragile roofing warning after firm fined for Newcastle worker's seven-metre fall. |
| Webber Trading Ltd fined £6,000, costs of £2,838.20 and £15 victim surcharge under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Jeffrey Robinson, director of Webber Trading Ltd, who was present on the roof directing the work at the time of the incident, was fined £1,000, costs of £200 and £15 victim surcharge under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. The building owners contracted Webber Trading Ltd to carry out industrial roof repairs which involved fitting steel sheets over the existing fragile plastic roof lights. The team of 4 working on the roof included the director Jeffrey Robinson. During the course of the work, Mr Lucasz Czuba, 26, stepped onto an unprotected fragile plastic rooflight which gave way and he fell 7 metres to the warehouse floor, sustaining serious injuries. |
HSE (National) Press Release NE335:09 29/9/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Cutting deaths in construction - Glasgow event aims to reduce risks. |
| Eleven workers in the construction sector were killed and more than 1,500 were seriously injured in Scotland last year. The Working Well Together campaign held a free safety and health awareness event in Glasgow recently. |
HSE (Scotland) Press Release COI/SE/1809 30/9/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Open meeting for government advisory committee on pesticides. |
| Everyone is being given the opportunity to talk to pesticides experts about 'Food Security' at an event in York in November. Members of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) are offering to meet the public to discuss their work. This will take place at an open meeting on Monday 9 November. The keynote speaker will be the Government's Chief Scientist, Professor John Beddington. This year's event, the tenth Annual Open Meeting, will have break-out sessions allowing smaller working groups of attendees to discuss issues of particular interest. There will also be afternoon workshop sessions. It will be held at the Monk Bar Hotel from 11am to approx 4.30pm. Admittance is by ticket only, allocated to named individuals, which can be obtained free of charge in writing from The ACP Secretariat, Room 108 Mallard House, Kings Pool, 3 Peasholme Green, York YO1 7PX, by email: acp@hs.gsi.gov.uk or by phone, 01904 455702. A buffet lunch will be provided. |
HSE (East) and (West Midlands) Press Releases 29/9/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Property People NW Ltd |
| Fined a total of £92,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and RIDDOR 1995. Joists were being removed from the ceiling of an archway, an employee fell ten feet through the roof joists, suffering serious back injuries. The company had failed to provide its employees with a safe platform to work from, which should have been used to remove the joints from below, rather than from above and failed to report the injury to HSE. |
HSE Prosecution 4129100 20/7/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Mr Darren Fowler |
| Guilty under HASAWA 1974 s3. Wall collapsed on DP. Darren Fowler charged with HASAWA 1974 s37 as well as acting as director while disqualified. Charge amended to HASAWA 1974 s3. Pleaded guilty to breach of Company Directors Disqualification Act 1996 and imprisoned for 12 months in total. No costs awarded as no ability to pay. |
HSE Prosecution 4133409 20/7/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| CRN Contracts Limited (formerly Concrete Repairs NW Ltd) |
| Fined £25,000 under WHR 2005. Guilty under HASAWA 1974 s3, no separate penalty. An employee was working on the roof of a store and suffered a fatal ten metres fall to the floor through a PVC light. CRN Contracts Ltd did not provide adequate supervision of the work. It should have used boards to cover the fragile roof lights, and protected the area around the perimeter of the roof. The company also failed to cordon off the floor under the section of roof it was working on to protect the public from the work. |
HSE Prosecution 4137244 20/7/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Dispersion Technology Limited |
| Fined £3,400 under HASAWA 1974 s2. IP was cleaning the rolls on a negema milling machine using a solvent. Somehow the IP's forearm became trapped between a top roll (outward running) and a strengthening bar on the machine. |
HSE Prosecution 4163718 22/7/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Tower Roofing Limited |
| Fined £3,500 under WHR 2005. An employee fell through a fragile roof whilst undertaking routine gutter cleaning work. The company had failed to take suitable precautions to prevent the incident occurring. |
HSE Prosecution 4162737 23/7/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Holdsworth Packaging Ltd |
| Fined a total of £12,000 under MHSWR 1999 and HASAWA 1974 s2. IP working on a rotary die cutting machine and a piece of cardboard got jammed. IP put arm into machine and the machine came into contact with his hand. IP inexperienced. |
HSE Prosecution 4131257 22/7/09 Week ending: 02/10/09 |
| Tate and Lyle fined £270,000 for health and safety breach following worker's death. |
| Tate and Lyle Industries Ltd fined a total of £270,000 and costs of £90,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Mr Keith Webb was inside a bulldozer that fell from a crane as it was being lowered into the hold of a ship. The bulldozer hit the ship and then fell into the water. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/LON/910/2009 9/10/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| First aid update. |
| Training arrangements for occup first aiders changed at the beginning of this month. The changes give employers more options in the way they comply with the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations. |
For details contact HSE on 0845 345 0055 or Email infoline@connaught.plc.uk RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Bulletin September 2009:5 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| All aboard for duties on directors. |
| The time for prevarication is almost over. At some time in the first three months of 2010, the HSE Board will decide whether or not it should recommend to ministers that they introduce a statutory duty that requires directors to address occup safety and health. |
Internet: www.lexisurl.com/hsb564 Health and Safety Bulletin October 2009 (382):1 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Near drowning leaves young boy disabled and caravan site owner with fine and court costs of almost £1/3 m. |
| A judge has ordered a caravan park owner (Upperbay) to pay fines and costs totalling £332,500 under HASAWA 1974 s3, after a young boy sustained "catastrophic" brain injuries in the park's swimming pool. Seven year old Chad Mole was found near the deep end in the pool's Jacuzzi-type area after he wandered off from his father and younger brother. Although he was revived, the oxygen deprivation left him permanently and severely disabled. The incident was caused by the company's failure to have a proper system of work and a sufficient number of lifeguards on duty. |
Health and Safety Bulletin October 2009 (382):7 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Agriculture - injuries. |
| HSE-commissioned research from BOMEL has highlighted the high risk areas that HSE needs to concentrate on in order to help the agriculture and food supply sector meet its "Revitalising health and safety" injury, ill health and absence targets. |
HSE RR704 Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr704.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin October 2009 (382):9 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Asbestos - mesothelioma. |
| HSE-commissioned research from HSL has confirmed an increase in mesothelioma mortality in GB, with 1705 deaths in 2006. |
HSE RR728 Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr728.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin October 2009 (382):9 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Construction - small firms. |
| HSE-commissioned research has identified three types of individuals who run small construction sites: "duckers and divers", "confident captains" and "ex-big-site conformists". |
HSE RR719 Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr719.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin October 2009 (382):9 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Major hazards - Buncefield. |
| The HSE has published research that it believes will "lead to a better understanding of likely explosion mechanisms and explanation of the observed damage" that followed the December 2005 Buncefield explosion. |
HSE RR718 Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr718.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin October 2009 (382):10 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Groundhog Day revisited: MPs call HSE to account once again. |
| A Select Committee report on the HSE. (Howard Fidderman) |
Health and Safety Bulletin October 2009 (382):12-14 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| First aid resuscitated - the new training arrangements. |
| 1 October marks an important day for first aid at work. (Lucinda Ponting) |
Health and Safety Bulletin October 2009 (382):15-16 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| LOPP: "successful", but safety improvements remain elusive. |
| It is still not clear whether the large organisation partnership pilot has led to better safety standards. (Lucinda Ponting) |
Health and Safety Bulletin October 2009 (382):17-18 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| The ICL deaths - why "sorry" seems to be the hardest word. |
| A look at the report of the official inquiry into the 2004 "Stockline" explosion. (Becky Allen) |
Health and Safety Bulletin October 2009 (382):19-21 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| United Kingdom? Not if you're a worker with pleural plaques. |
| Compensation for asbestos-caused plaques may be giving a new meaning to postcode lotteries. (Howard Fidderman) |
Health and Safety Bulletin October 2009 (382):22-24 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Food manufacturer fined after worker's fingertips amputated. |
| Spread Newco Four Ltd, formally known as Queen of Hearts (UK) Ltd, fined a total of £6,000 and costs of £2,751 under PUWER 1998 and MHSWR 1999. Employee Paulina Lieshi was cleaning excess fondant off a fondant enrober after production had finished. She pushed her left hand along a channel at the base of the machine and the ends of two fingers were amputated when they came into contact with an auger. Investigations found there was only a single generic risk assessment covering the machine that did not detail any risks in relation to this machine, nor id it cover cleaning. |
HSE (National) Press Release COI/SE/0210 2/10/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Warning on machinery guarding after prosecution of North Wales company. |
| Warwick International Group Ltd fined a total of £26,000 and costs of £1,947.20 under HASAWA 1974 s2 for two separate incidents. Employee Clwyd Roberts' gloved hand was trapped in the rollers of a bagging machine, causing severe friction burns on his hand, which later required skin grafts. After this incident, the company carried out a review and risk assessment but while the danger of the powered conveyor and idler rollers was identified, the remedial action put in place did not prevent the risk. The company risk assessment also did not identify guarding as a requirement. Less than a month after the first incident another employee, Allan Breeze, also got his hand trapped in the rollers and suffered friction burns and tendon damage to his hand and multiple breaks to his ring finger. |
HSE (National) Press Release COI/SE/0210 6/10/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| HSE and police speak with one voice on health and safety. |
| HSE has launched a policy statement entitled "Striking the balance between operational and health and safety duties in the Police Service". The statement, a result of collaborative work with the Police Service, sets out how that balance can be achieved. |
HSE (National) Press Release EO89:09 7/10/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Two Enfield firms fined after unlicensed asbestos removal. |
| A & T Roofing Ltd fined £25,000 and costs of £33,844.30 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Noble Gift Packaging Ltd fined £40,000 and costs of £19,223.65 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Noble Gift Packaging contracted A & T Roofing Ltd to remove the roof from a building, lined with 3,000 square metres of asbestos insulating board that contained Amosite (brown asbestos fibres), which requires removal in highly controlled conditions by licensed asbestos contractors. A & T Roofing Ltd employees spent 12 weeks removing and smashing the boards before sweeping the dust and debris into bags. The workers were not provided with effective protection, even after the company found out that the material being cleared contained Amosite. Managers allowed work to continue after employees complained and a tested sample showed the presence of asbestos. Workers at the site were exposed to potentially deadly fibres. These were carried out on their clothes and into their homes, vehicles, onto public transport, and may have contaminated the general public and their own families. |
HSE (National) Press Release COILDN/0710 7/10/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Gateshead manufacturer fined £3,000 after workers exposed to hazardous fumes. |
| Turbo Power Systems Ltd fined £3,000 and costs of £3,000 under COSHH 2002. Employees at the plant on the Team Valley Trading Estate in Gateshead were found to have been exposed to solder flux fumes, known to cause asthma, over a twelve month period. |
HSE (National) Press Release NE343:09 8/10/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Liverpool hospital fined over legionella. |
| The Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Trust fined £35,000 and costs of £12,862 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. An HSE investigation at the hospital found unsafe levels of legionella in the water supply system for the showers, baths and sinks at the hospital. It was not able to conclude whether 2 patients, who both contracted Legionnaires' Disease before their deaths, were infected at the hospital or elsewhere. The NHS Trust had stopped testing the water supply for legionella, despite high levels of the bacteria being found. HSE criticised the NHS Trust for failing to put suitable control measures in place, and senior management for failing to take responsibility for overseeing the control of the bacteria. |
HSE (National) Press Release NW036Trust:09 8/10/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Scaffolding warning after Liverpool worker injured in fall. |
| John Doyle Construction Ltd fined £3,500 and costs of £13,244 WHR 2005. They were moving a scaffolding tower on a site when it overturned and fell down an embankment. Employee Gerard Baccino was removing lifting chains for the top of the scaffolding, and fell approx 6 metres to the ground when it toppled over. 49 year old Mr Baccino suffered back injuries in the fall and fractured his pelvis and chest. The incident has had a long-term psychological effect on him, and he has been unable to return to work. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/033Doyle/09 9/10/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Firm fined £20,000 after worker's three-metre fall. |
| Superglass Insulation Ltd fined £20,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. A worker fell more than three metres from a platform while carrying out maintenance work on a machine. He platform being used did not have robust edge protection. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/172/09 9/10/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Merseyside motorcyclist's life-threatening injuries prompt farm safety warning. |
| Peter Wilkinson was fined £4,000 and costs of £1,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Mr Wilkinson was spraying crops in a field next to a road when he turned his tractor, without raising the trailer's boom arms. As a result, one of the arms crossed the field's boundary and struck Allan Smith while passing on his motorbike. His left arm was severely injured during the incident and he has been unable to return to work or ride a motorbike since. His passenger, Andrew Friar, escaped with less serious injuries but still required stitches to his knee. |
HSE (North West) Press Release 9/10/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Mr Shazad Ishaq |
| Fined a total of £2,500 under GSIUR 1998. National Grid called to the property following suspected carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning as gas supply was disconnected at the meter. Further investigation identified inadequate maintenance of wall-hung boiler, poor ventilation and fluing, no 12 monthly safety check and no landlords' gas safety certificate supplied to the tenant. |
HSE Prosecution 4163210 27/7/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| T C Industries of Europe Ltd |
| Fined £5,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. IP was using a pick and place unit to stack parts, and in order to get the unit working the IP was manually activating the limit switch. On this occasion as he reached up to activate the limit switch with his right hand his left hand on the unguarded carriageway for balance. When the IP activated the limit switch the drive wheels of the pick and place unit ran over his left hand that was still resting on the carriageway. |
HSE Prosecution 4138595 28/7/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Padfield (Hayleys) Limited |
| Fined a total of £5,040 under WHR 2005. Prosecution following a Polish worker falling through an asbestos cement roof of a farm building while preparing for cladding work. |
HSE Prosecution 4150412 28/7/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| John Stacey & Sons Ltd |
| Fined a total of £60,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and MHSWR 1999. Employee run over by reversing shovel loader in waste transfer station. Employee died of his injuries. |
HSE Prosecution 4141787 29/7/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Tetrosyl Ltd |
| Fined a total of £50,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Prosecution following accident. Charges for lack of machinery guarding and for lack of training. |
HSE Prosecution 4161662 29/7/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Innovare Systems Ltd |
| Fined a total of £2,500 under MHSWR 1999 and CDMR 1994. Fatal accident, Lee Constable. |
HSE Prosecution 4114896 30/7/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Calder Industrial Materials Ltd |
| Fined £4,500 under PUWER 1998. An employee was injured after becoming trapped underneath an autosaw tipping table and between the steel frame of a scrap conveyor. The machine had not been isolated and a proximity sensor on the tipping table was broken. Access to dangerous parts of machinery had not been prevented. |
HSE Prosecution 4143799 30/7/09 Week ending: 09/10/09 |
| Foundation school body fined after student loses six fingers and both thumbs in art class. |
| Governing Body of Giles School of Church End was fined a total of £16,500 and costs of £2,500 under HASAWA 1974 s3 and RIDDOR 1995. During a regular A-Level Art and Design Class, a 16 year old girl decided to make a cast of her own hands using Plaster of Paris. Noting that a pupil had done something similar a few weeks beforehand, she sought advice from her teacher on how to do this. Unaware of the chemical reaction causing extreme heat which occurs when Plaster of Paris is mixed with water, the student placed her hands directly in the substance in order to make the cast. It fast began to set and she realised her hands were stuck. Fellow pupils and classroom teacher tried to help but to no avail. An ambulance was called and the girl was taken to hospital. The chemical reaction between the substance and the girl's hand meant her fingers were so severely burned that they required amputation. A risk assessment, required by law, for the handling of hazardous substances had not been carried out. The school's governing body did not report the incident. The HSE was told by the plastic surgeon who treaded the burns. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/EM/78 12/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Practitioners doubt their ability to deal with return-to-work challenge. |
| Helping employees return to work after long-term absence is one of the biggest challenges facing safety and health practitioners today, with less than a third of them feeling confident about their ability to meet it. Just 30 per cent of employed practitioners, and 36 per cent of self-employed consultants, who took part in an IOSH/SHP Salary and Attitudes Survey said they feel "very prepared" to facilitate people's return to the workplace after sickness absence. |
SHP October 2009:8 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Dangers of cowboy gas-fitters highlighted. |
| Illegal gas fitters in Great Britain are conducting a quarter of a million gas jobs each year, including fitting and servicing appliances, according to a study by the Gas Safe Register, the safety body that replaced CoRGI in April to oversee the work carried out by registered gas engineers. |
SHP October 2009:8 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Road-deaths haulage firms fined for safety breaches. |
| Translact fined a total of £40,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Claire Ridout (company secretary) fined a total of £800 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Robert Taylor (Director) fined a total of £7,200 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Christopher Taylor (Director of Translact's parent company) fined a total of £4,500 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Nicholas Read (transport planner) was found not guilty of breaching s7 of the same Act. The Dorset haulage company and its senior managers were sentenced on 4 September for health and safety breaches. They had been cleared of manslaughter charges in August in relation to a road crash involving one of its drivers. The driver was jailed for four years for dangerous driving. |
SHP October 2009:12 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Abattoir's effluent breaches put sewage works under strain. |
| Chitty Food Group Ltd fined a total of £27,680 following multiple trade effluent breaches. They received fines of £2,500 for each of 10 breaches of the Water Industry Act 1991, and £2,680 for failing to install and maintain equipment to measure effluent discharges. The court heard that the company tipped various waste products into drains at its premises over a period of nearly twelve months. |
SHP October 2009:12 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Labourer's legs crushed by unsecured forklift load. |
| KJ Plant Developments Ltd fined a total of £14,000 and costs of £6,000 under HASAWA 1874 s3 and MHSWR 1999. The construction firm failed to implement a safe system of work for unloading materials, which led to a worker being trapped under a heavy load. He received serious crush injuries and subsequently had to have one leg amputated. He has been unable to return to work. |
SHP October 2009:12 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Apprentice fell through unguarded opening. |
| City Building (Glasgow) LLP fined £20,000 under HASAWA 1874 s2. During the construction of a floor in a new school, a number of large openings had been created for lightwells to be installed. The openings were covered by a number of unsecured plywood sheets and a joinery apprentice was instructed to secure the sheets with timber joists. As he approached one of the openings, he tripped over rebar steel mesh and stumbled onto the boarding which gave way, causing him to fall about four metres to the ground. |
SHP October 2009:14 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Poor traffic management highlighted in forklift fatality. |
| Trackline (International) Ltd fined £7,500 and costs of £6,690 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Shaun Porter was using a forklift at Trackline's Pinfold factory to move a large steel frame down an unmarked gangway when he noticed that a steel assembly was protruding into the gangway, obstructing his route. He lifted the forks so that the vehicle could proceed. However, another worker noticed that the vehicle was more likely to collide with the frame with the forks lifted. He tried to warn Mr Porter, but he did not hear the warning. The forklift struck the metal frame causing him to be thrown from the vehicle, which then overturned and fell on top of him. He died as a result of serious internal crush injuries. |
SHP October 2009:16 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Save the children. |
| A look at the recent abundance of prosecutions for failure to safeguard young people in the workplace and a reminder to employers of their duties towards this vulnerable group. (Kevin Bridges) |
SHP October 2009:19 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Battle stations. |
| Scott Fisher is a H&S officer for the Ministry of Defence during the day and a TA Staff Sergeant in the Royal Military Police in his spare time. He was recently called up by the regular Army to fill a new H&S post in Afghanistan and he welcomed the opportunity to possibly make a difference. It wasn't long before he realised the mammoth task he had taken on, however. (Scott Fisher) |
SHP October 2009:41-42 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Standard and deliver. |
| The imminent publication of ISO 31000:2009 Risk Management - Principles and guidelines on implementation, has prompted the tracing of the history, content and use of the Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand version on which it is based. A suggestion as to what safety and health practitioners can expect from the new international standard. (Chris Peace) |
SHP October 2009:44-46 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Turning over a new leaf. |
| Arboriculture is classed by the HSE as one of the UK's most dangerous industries, with many of its risks and hazards linked to work at height. Those commissioning such work, as well as the operatives themselves, have been slow to embrace safety requirements in this area so now, the industry itself has produced guidance to support the relevant legislation. (Paul Hanson) |
SHP October 2009:48-50 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Minority report. |
| A consideration of a recent court case that could increase employers' liability by imposing a stricter duty on organisations to provide and maintain a safe workplace. (Cameron Clark) |
SHP October 2009:53-54 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| A hands-on approach. |
| With the decline of heavy industry in the UK, hand-arm vibration is no longer a top-of-the-agenda H&S issue but some 2 million people are still at risk from the harmful effects of uncontrolled exposure. A reminder of the problems it can cause, and what must be done to avoid them. (Brian Mallon) |
SHP October 2009:57-58 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Safety in numbers? |
| Outlining the problems of relying on the Single Number Rating (SNR) system for determining the effectiveness of hearing protection, and suggestions for other methods to use in the development of a successful hearing conservation programme. |
SHP October 2009:60-62 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Hand nailed to pallet prompts prosecution. |
| Pontrilas Timber & Builders' Merchants Ltd fined £3,500 and costs of £8,973 under PUWER 1998. An employee was operating an automatic wooden pallet making machine when the incident happened. The machine started up unexpectedly, drawing the man's right hand in and trapping it beneath a beam of nailing hammers. It then nailed the man's hand and wrist to the top of the pallet. There was no guard or protective device across the front of the machine to prevent access to dangerous moving parts of the machinery. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/WM363/09 12/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Cambridge landlord jailed for 16 months for perverting the course of justice and breaking gas safety laws. |
| Mr Istiaq Ahmed, a landlord, was imprisoned for 16 months under HASAWA 1974 s33. He was due to be sentenced earlier in the year when he instructed his counsel to present a 'Landlords Gas Safety Record' as part of his mitigation. Investigations by the HSE which brought the gas safety case, revealed the document to be false. Mr Ahmed had obtained a bogus, back-dated certificate from a local gas engineer. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/E/22 12/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| £10,000 fine after worker breaks ribs in 10ft fall. |
| West Midlands Installations Ltd fined £10,000 and costs of £7,561 under HASAWA 1974 s2. An employee was assembling a racking storage unit when he fell approx 10 feet. There was no edge protection to prevent a fall and he suffered broken ribs and head injuries. |
HSE (National) Press Release WM364/09 13/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Pet food director fined £10,000 after worker crushed to death. |
| Mr Philip Thompson, company's operation director of Butchers' Pet Care Ltd, was fined £10,000 and costs of £4,000 under PUWER 1998. John O'Connor, 38, was crushed when he entered a machine to clear a blockage. The 'palletising' machine is used to take cans of pet food from conveyor belts and stack them in layers on pallets. It is fully automatic and operated by sensors. The machine should have been fully-enclosed with an interlock system to prevent anyone gaining access until the power was shut off. Mr O'Connor entered the caged area, via a gap in the fencing created by the stair rails, to reposition a blocked pallet, which when freed, set the machine in motion, trapping and killing Mr O'Connor. |
HSE (National) Press Release EM/79 13/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Machinery manufacturer fined after worker loses finger. |
| Tex Engineering Ltd was fined £10,000 and costs of £14,884.10 under HASAWA 1974 s6. Mr Stephen Beare was a self-employed contractor working for Botley Roofing Ltd. The company had been appointed to carry out asphalt flooring work at a site in Southampton. Tex Engineering Ltd manufactured the Warrior 25cwt asphalt mixer that was being used on this job. Mr Beare went to check the temperature inside the machine to ensure that the asphalt remained at the correct consistency. As he looked into the mixer, he knocked a wooden batten, used to prop lids open, into the machine. He instinctively reached into the machine to retrieve the wooden batten but his hand became trapped between the moving agitator and the inner side of the mixer. He was unable to free his hand until his fingers and part of this thumb were severed by the moving agitator. His glove, which contained the severed fingers, fell into the molten asphalt. HSE found that this was in fact the second accident to occur on this type of machine. In 2001 a worker lost his hand in an asphalt mixer in very similar circumstances. |
HSE (National) Press Release COISE/0210 13/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| HSE warns employers after two Norfolk teenagers seriously injured by electric shocks. |
| Bowes of Norfolk Ltd was fined £25,000, costs of £23,095 and £600 in compensation under HASAWA 1974 s2, MHSWR 1999 and EWR 1989. A 16 year old employee was helping another teenager load straw, working together in a field on the farm. The second teenager, a 17 year old, was using the telescopic mechanical arm of a telehandler to grab the straw and lift it into the back of a trailer. When they stopped work for a moment the telehandler's arm was released and rose upwards, came into contact with overhead power lines carrying 11,000 volts of electricity. The 16 year old was holding onto the front cage of the vehicle's cab at the time and received an electric shock which could have killed him. The telehandler driver went to help him and received a shock powerful enough to throw him back into his seat. Doctors had to amputate his small toe and remove part of his big toe after damage caused by electricity arcing over the metal toe cap of his boot. He has also been left with long scars where cuts were made to relieve the pressure built up in his legs. The 17 year old, who had also suffered an electric shock, spent the night under observation in hospital. Fortunately he had no serious injures. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/E/23 14/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Southwark Council fined following death. |
| Southwark Council fined £20,000 and costs of £4,466 under HASAWA 1974 s3. An exhibition trip had been organised for people attending the Aylesbury Day Centre, which is run by the Council. As the group were preparing to return from the exhibition, they were being loaded into a welfare bus via a tail lift at the rear. William Delaney, 67 year old, was using a motorised scooter and was being loaded into the bus. Whilst on the raised tail lift, his scooter came off the back and fell to the ground. He died from head injuries sustained in the fall. HSE found that Mr Delaney's scooter did not fit on the tail lift. As a result, the tailgate plates, a safety feature which would have prevented a mobility scooter from falling off, did not lock into position. Crucially, there was no risk assessment or procedure covering the loading and unloading of people with motorised scooters. |
HSE (National) Press Release COILDN/1410 14/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Safety advice offered in a bid to bring down care home accidents. |
| A health and safety seminar took place recently in Falkirk for care home owners across central Scotland to help bring down the number of accidents. In the past two years 977 work-related accidents, including one work-related death, have been reported in Scottish care homes and though the majority of injuries have been to employees, a number of care service users have also been hurt. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/174/09 15/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Safety warning after Lancashire workers get 11,000-volt shock. |
| Huntapac Produce Ltd fined a total of £5,000 and costs of £4,881 under EWR 1989 and MHSWR 1999. Two employees were lifting a metal ladder into a water pump shaft when it made contact with the 11,000 volt overhead power lines. One man fell unconscious and suffered electrical burns to a hand and both his feet. The other man's feet were also badly burned. The company should have made sure a health and safety check was carried out before work was allowed to start. If this was done, it would have been obvious that the overhead electricity line could be a potential danger. |
HSE (North West) Press Release 15/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Building firms fined after scaffolder burnt by power cables. |
| Manor Homes (Midlands) Ltd, fined £11,985 and costs of £3,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. G. Wright Scaffolding Ltd fined £5,985 and costs of £1,500 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Gary Wright Director of G. Wright Scaffolding Ltd fined £5,985 and costs of £1,500 under HASAWA 1974 s37. Three workers arrived on site to dismantle scaffolding. IP Ian Maxwell, 39, was removing a 6 metre guard rail, 4 metres above the ground, when it made contact with the 66,000 volt overhead cables. The worker was removed from the scaffold by firemen and flown to hospital where he was treated for serious burns to 52 per cent of his body and other injuries. He had to have his heart re-started. The electricity cable was charred at the point of contact, while the galvanised steel tube also had drips of zinc along its length where it had melted. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release 15/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Free safety advice for North Wales Builders at Anglesey Event. |
| Construction is one of the UK's most dangerous industries to work in, and company owners and managers can get invaluable advice from those working in the industry at a free safety event to be held in Anglesey next month. Organised by The North Wales Working Well Together Group, which includes the HSE, the event will be held at Coleg Manai Construction College, starting at 8.30 am on 4 November. |
Info: Phone Dafydd Ellis, Construction Skills, 0770 947326 or email cathryn.mizen@cskills.org HSE (Wales) Press Release 15/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Warehouse Safety Event for Gloucestershire businesses. |
| A free safety workshop is being offered to businesses in Gloucestershire to help combat health and safety issues in warehouses. The HSE, Tewkesbury Borough Council and Gloucester City Council are joining forces to hold the event on 20 October 2009 at Duraflex Limited, Tewkesbury Park Business Park, Gloucestershire. The work shop will cover a range of issues. Two sessions will run from 8.45am to 12.30pm and from 12.45pm to 4.30pm. |
Info: Kay Meddings 01684 272225 or kay.meddings@tewkesbury.gov.uk HSE (National) Press Release 15/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Care home safety event for local businesses. |
| A free health and safety event is being offered to businesses in the Bristol area next week, aimed at owners, directors, managers, supervisors and nursing and care staff involved in the 'Care Home' industry. The HSE, Bristol City Council, the Health Protection Agency, Bristol Community Health and the Care Quality Commission are building on the success of last year's event and holding the second Bristol Care Home Conference on 21 October 2009 at City & Port of Bristol Club, Nibley Road, Shirehampton, Bristol BS11 9XW. The event will run from 9.30am until 4.30pm. |
HSE (National) Press Release 15/10/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| Vale Inco Europe Limited |
| Fined a total of £12,000 under CAR 2006. In April 2007, A. Weld Ltd were contracted to carry out refurbishment work on the 400 Reformer furnace in the Vale Inco Europe gas plant. There was asbestos containing insulation material in the base of the furnace. Vale Inco were unaware of the presence of this asbestos containing material and so the work was performed as though in an asbestos free environment. A. Weld operatives significantly disturbed the insulation material and were subsequently exposed to asbestos. This incident was not reported to the HSE under RIDDOR. Following the exposure, the company did not investigate the incident sufficiently. No action was taken to address the failings within the site asbestos survey and the overall asbestos management system. |
HSE Prosecution 4145592 6/8/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| DEBA (UK) Limited |
| Fined £24,000 under HASAWA 1974 s33. Exposure risk to health from legionella to service users and staff at Woffington House Nursing Home, Blaenau Gwent, Cedars Car Centre and Chestnuts Nursing Home, Powys. |
HSE Prosecution 4163868 6/8/09 Week ending: 16/10/09 |
| New risk assessment tools save businesses time and money. |
| The HSE has developed a new electronic template specially for small to medium sized enterprises which combines, into one document, the requirements of a health and safety policy, risk assessment and written record of health and safety arrangements. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/risk/index.htm HSE (National) Press Release 93/2009 21/10/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Updated risk advice for firefighters. |
| Following the most comprehensive review of operational guidance for the Fire and Rescue Service in England for ten years, the first two in a series of over 40 updated risk assessment guidance documents have been published. |
Internet: www.communities.gov.uk/fire/runningfire/CFRA RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal October 2009:2 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Farm dangers. |
| Fatal accidents at two North Yorkshire farms less than 3 weeks apart have prompted a fresh warning to the agricultural community not to use telehandler machinery to drive posts into the ground. Both accidents involved such machinery in near identical circumstances, with buckets coming loose and striking the people who were holding the post in place underneath. |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal October 2009:4 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Court report. |
| In general, the cases featured in Court Report are prosecutions taken after people have been injured or made ill by a work-related incident. This month, however, it highlights some prosecutions which were taken to prevent an injury or ill-health occurring in the first place. (Ed Hodson) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal October 2009:12-13 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| High climbers. |
| Since 1988, when building work began in Canary Wharf, over 14 million square feet of office and retail space has been constructed. A visit to the team behind this unique development. (Nick Cook) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal October 2009:15-17,19 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Out of the depths. |
| Returning to work after suffering mental ill health can be extremely daunting for the person involved. What employers can do to help the return go smoothly and ensure that the support they provide is not only relevant but will enable the employee to remain in the workplace long-term. (Jacky Steemson) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal October 2009:23-27 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| RIDDOR reports. |
| The reporting of accidents and ill health at work to the relevant authority has long been a legal requirement in Great Britain. What to report, when to report and, importantly, how employers should submit reports. (Ronald Griffiths) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal October 2009:31-35 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Hallmark of capability? |
| An argument that the HSE should positively encourage businesses and organisations to test their health and safety management capability against appropriate standards. (Roger Bibbings) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal October 2009:46-47 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Pub group fined and hoaxer gets prison term. |
| Punch Pub Company Ltd fined more than £17,000 in fines under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Following an inspection in 2004, fire officers found a number of failings, their main concern was the risk that users of the fourth floor would be exposed to in the event of a fire. The distance to a fire exit was too great and that escape had inadequate fire protection. In a separate case, a 38 year old man was sentenced to three years in prison for making hoax calls. In one incident 120 children had to be evacuated from a school after he phoned claiming to have placed a bomb there. Two similar calls were made to the school the following month. After enquiries, it was found that the man had made a large number of calls to the fire service, falsely reporting road traffic accidents, fires and other emergencies. |
Fire Risk Management October 2009:4 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Lakanal update. |
| Prompted by the multi-fatality blaze at Lakanal House in London, the chief fire adviser in England has issued a report on fire safety in high-rise residential buildings. (Rupert Gilbey) |
Fire Risk Management October 2009:8-11 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Cost analysis. |
| With UK fire losses at an all-time high, a discussion on the risks to commercial buildings and the need for best practice formed the basis of a recent seminar. (FRM) |
Fire Risk Management October 2009:12-15 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Striking the balance. |
| A recent conference provided multiple views on enforcement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order in England and Wales. (Bob Docherty) |
Fire Risk Management October 2009:16-19 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Education package. |
| Schools need a package of fire protection measures tailored to their specific needs. (Robert Thilthorpe) |
Fire Risk Management October 2009:21-23 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Survival school. |
| Ensuring that passive fire protection systems are properly installed and maintained is key to safeguarding schools. A consideration of the issues. (Bill Parlor) |
Fire Risk Management October 2009:24-27 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Clear learning. |
| A discussion on the use of smoke ventilation to support safe evacuation in modern schools and colleges. (Paul Compton) |
Fire Risk Management October 2009:36-38 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Acid tests. |
| With lead-acid batteries now used in a variety of applications, a description of the fire and explosion risks and some tips for fire investigators. (Kirk Rosenhan) |
Fire Risk Management October 2009:48-51 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Forces of impact. |
| An insight into the organisational role of an arson task force and its impact in reducing arson in a rural area. (Michael Fowler) |
Fire Risk Management October 2009:52-54 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| HSE warns building firms after worker is seriously injured in fall. |
| G Baskerville Ltd fined £8,000 and costs of £6,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. A man was working on the first floor of a building using a power saw when he fell through the side of the building to the ground. The walls of the building had been removed and, although there was a steel girder around the side, it was inadequately positioned and there were still substantial gaps through which other workers could also have fallen. |
HSE (National) Press Release WM358/09 15/10/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| See sense - Devon and Cornwall businesses urged to cut deaths and serious injuries caused by lorries. |
| HSE has launched a new campaign in Devon and Cornwall to reduce the number of people killed and injured by delivery vehicles in the two counties. To highlight the dangers, the HSE and local authorities held 2 safety awareness events for local businesses and are urging lorry owners to fit reversing aids, such as CCTV cameras, to their vehicles. |
HSE (National) Press Release WW541/SWW/09 20/10/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Safety and health awareness day in Billericay to help prevent farmyard accidents. |
| Farmers across Essex attended a Safety and Health Awareness Day (SHAD) this week to help them prevent agricultural accidents. The HSE held the free event in a bid to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by farmyard incidents. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/E/24 20/10/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| HSE board member honoured with lifetime achievement. |
| The HSE's longest serving board member, Judith Donovan, has been recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The agriculture and small business champion, who is in the final year of her maximum 10-year term with HSE, has been honoured by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) for her work in these areas. |
HSE (National) Press Release 91/2009 22/10/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Grangemouth company fined after worker gets 3,300-volt electric shock. |
| Ineos Manufacturing Scotland Ltd fined £1,500 under EWR 1989. The refinery and petrochemical company failed to ensure a safe system of work was in place before undertaking excavation work near live electrical cables. A subcontractor needed hospital treatment for burns to his hand and face after he struck two live 3,300-volt cables with a powered breaking tool known as a Jackhammer. He and his colleagues were widening an existing cable trench containing several live electrical cables at the time of the incident. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/179/09 22/10/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Explosive firm fined £10,000 after employee loses fingers. |
| Orica UK Ltd fined a total of £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and MHSWR 1999. An employee was filling a Mobile Explosives Manufacturing Unit with emulsion when the incident happened. While the emulsion was being pumped into the vehicle tank, the employee tried to unblock a clogged auger feed device. He reached into the inspection hatch area with his hand to remove the material causing the blockage, but the machinery unexpectedly started to turn and the employee lost two and a half fingers from his left hand. The investigation found that there were deficiencies in Orica's risk assessment, no safe system of work for clearing blockages, the augers were inadequately guarded, and the company provided insufficient supervision and training. This allowed unsafe working practices to develop. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/180/09 22/10/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| HSE warns demolition firms after employee breaks his spine in fall. |
| Tim Philpott, trading as Philpott Demolition and Recycling, fined £7,500 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Gediminas Vasiliauskas was removing old roof tiles and timber from a former aircraft hanger when the incident happened. He broke his spine and had to have a metal disk inserted. He was unable to work for a year afterwards, and during that time, he also lost his senses of taste and smell. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/E/25 22/10/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Explosion death prompts £85,000 fine for father and son engineering firm. |
| R J Bateman Ltd fined a total of £65,000 plus costs of £67,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3, and RIDDOR 1995. Richard Bateman (company director) fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s37. John Bateman fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s37. Employee Anthony Reed had only been working for the company for one month. He was welding some practice pieces on a make-shift workbench consisting of a metal plate supported by a modified 200-litre coolant drum. The drum was being used to collect waste materials at the factory site, including flammable liquids, that were ignited. Mr Reed suffered serous head injuries in the subsequent explosion and died from his injuries eight days later. |
HSE (National) Press Release 543/SWW/09 23/10/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Cheshire signs up to beating health and safety myths. |
| Cheshire West and Chester Council has pledged to tackle the growing number of myths about health and safety. The local authority has signed up the HSE's national 'Sensible Risk' campaign, which aims to combat misconceptions about rules and regulations. A survey carried out earlier this year found that a third of employees wrongly believe that HSE bans people from wearing flip flops at work, or children from playing conkers. |
HSE (North West) Press Release 19/10/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Fraudulent papers and broken back lead to prosecution of 21-year old. |
| Damon Alex McLachlan fined £500 under HASAWA 1974 s7. Mr McLachlan was operating telehandling machinery without the stabilisers deployed. This led to the machine losing its three tonne load crushing and seriously injuring the banksman. He had been employed at the site for only a few weeks and the evidence he supplied of his training and experience was partly fraudulent. |
HSE (Scotland) Press Release 23/10/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| The Building Consultancy Limited |
| Fined £7,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Asbestos contamination at a school after refurbishment contractors removed ceiling tiles having been assured they did not contain asbestos hence contaminating 9 operatives. |
HSE Prosecution 4140289 10/8/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| North Somerset Council |
| Fined £2,000 under CAR 2006. Asbestos contamination at a school after refurbishment contractors removed ceiling tiles having been assured they did not contain asbestos hence contaminating 9 operatives. |
HSE Prosecution 4140292 10/8/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Cemex UK Construction Services Ltd |
| Fined £12,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Accident involving John Bates whose leg was amputated following crush injuries received when he was trapped between transverse joint and paving machine. |
HSE Prosecution 4151099 10/8/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Ashtead Plant Hire Company Ltd |
| Fined £20,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Failing to arrange traffic routes to control risk to non-employees on the site. Follows an accident where an engineering inspector working on the site was struck by a reversing van. |
HSE Prosecution 4150400 11/8/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Mr Maurice Agis |
| Fined £2,500 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Inflatable art exhibit broke free from its anchorage and 2 persons were killed. |
HSE Prosecution 4111669 12/8/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust |
| Fined a total of £4,000 under IRR 1999. Ionising radiation exposure of consultant John Buscombe. |
HSE Prosecution 4116568 13/8/09 Week ending: 23/10/09 |
| HSE urges firework organisers to put safety first. |
| Organisers of firework displays across the country are being urged not to cut back on costs at the expense of safety. Up to 1,000 people are injured every year by fireworks, and the HSE is concerned that there may be more incidents this year if organisers ignore safety procedures to reduce costs. Major displays, involving large numbers of spectators, can cost thousands of pounds for the fireworks alone. HSE inspectors want to ensure the events pass off safely and have issued new guidelines. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/explosives/fireworks HSE (Regions) Press Releases HSE/Fireworks/09 22/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Shock as asbestos denier's hidden killer campaign complaint upheld. |
| A well known asbestos-denier scored a surprise victory against the HSE when a complaint he made against aspects of its hard-hitting Hidden Killer asbestos awareness campaign was upheld by the Advertising Standards Agency. Asbestos Watchdog, an asbestos consultancy whose chief inspector has a long history of rejecting evidence that white asbestos is harmful to human health, made a complaint about claims made in five of HSE's recent radio ads concerning the number of deaths asbestos exposure causes. He complained that the numbers on these adverts were based on flawed calculations and were therefore misleading. |
Safety Management October 2009:6 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| The Donaghy Report: first reactions. |
| Rita Donaghy's recent inquiry into the underlying causes of construction fatal accidents contained far reaching recommendations for improving the industry's poor safety record, some of which have proved controversial. A selection of stakeholders give their initial reactions to the report. (SM) |
Safety Management October 2009:11-13 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Building firm pays a high price for hiring asbestos cowboys. |
| Mansell Build Ltd fined &12,500 under HASAWA 1974 s3 and costs of &2,500. Andrew Brightmore, a former manager of Agriplant, fined &2,500 under HASAWA 1974 s3 and costs of &500. Gary Cusack, contracted to work for Agriplant, fined &500 under HASAWA 1974 s3 and costs of &250. Mansell Build were the Principal Contractors on a refurbishment project at a school in Rotherham. AIB tiles were found in the ceilings and needed to be removed, so the firm sub-contracted ARB Agriplant Ltd to do this. Agriplant, which has since gone into liquidation, did not have an asbestos-removal licence and the work was carried out in what has been described as "an appalling fashion". |
Safety Management October 2009:22 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Building a culture in construction. |
| The UK construction industry is big business with over two million Britons working in the trade. How the Dawn Group ensures high health and safety standards on site. (Joanna Gurman) |
Safety Management October 2009:31-32 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Striking home football's fatal flaws. |
| English football has never been more popular, with high attendances and the glitzy, glamorous Premier League being televised to millions globally. But is all the money, the razzmatazz and the sparkling spectacle blinding us to the fact that excited crowds give rise to potential accidents? (Joanna Gurman) |
Safety Management October 2009:34-39 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Asda cuts accident rates, not just prices. |
| Manual handling accidents and injuries occur in almost every industry sector and affect hundreds of thousands of people every year. A visit to one of Asda's distribution centres to find out how it tackles the issue of manual handling. (Joanna Gurman) |
Safety Management October 2009:41-42,45-46 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Brum trust to foot bill for stressed NHS worker's &370,000 payout. |
| A Midlands NHS Trust has assumed liability for a &370,000 payout to a former worker for a psychological condition he is believed to have claimed was caused by work stress. The worker had been employed by Birmingham's former City Hospital NHS Trust, which had only been absorbed into the Sandwell trust in 2002. |
HSW November 2009:4 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Half absence is MSDs. |
| MSDs are responsible for nearly half (49%) of all sickness absence and 60% of permanent work incapacity across the EU, according to research by The Work Foundation. |
Internet: www.lexisurl.com/hsw317 HSW November 2009:5 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| HMRC pays for carpet trip. |
| HM Revenue & Customs has paid out &9,000 in an out of court settlement to a tax credit advisor who tripped over a loose carpet tile in the office and twisted her back. Andrea Swales was five months pregnant at the time and initially thought her back pain was due to her pregnancy. After giving birth however, she realised it was down to the fall. |
HSW November 2009:6 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Tesco served with second scissor lift fine. |
| Tesco fined a total of &9,600 with costs of &3,000 under MHSWR 1999, PUWER 1998 and LOLER 1998. Staff were using the lift at a supermarket in South Wales when it buckled. Although the supermarket chain had a risk assessment form for using scissor lifts, the company had not implemented it at the store. Tesco had also failed to maintain the lift and to have it thoroughly examined at six-monthly intervals - it had not been checked for over four and a half years. This is the second time that Tesco have been prosecuted over a defective scissor lift, and its sixth safety prosecution in less than a year and a half. |
HSW November 2009:8 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| MoD makes &200,000 cancer payout to widow. |
| The Ministry of Defence has paid out &200,000 in compensation to the widow of a worker who died from asbestos-related lung cancer. |
HSW November 2009:12 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Legislative calendar. |
| Calendar of new and upcoming legislation. |
HSW November 2009:12 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| A day in gangland. |
| As a Parliamentary Bill to extend the Gangmasters' Licensing Authority's remit to the construction sector comes up for its second reading, a snapshot of what's in a day's work for the Authority's inspectors. (Andrea Oates) |
HSW November 2009:18-20 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Points in favour. |
| Some of the wealth of evidence for a director's safety duty. (David Bergman) |
HSW November 2009:23-24 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Model behaviour. |
| A mock up of an explanation of how computerised safety simulations can help avoid real disaster. (Dave Merchant) |
HSW November 2009:26-29 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Light touch. |
| Businesses waste a lot of money on hand-arm vibration assessment - a pragmatic guide to best practice in effective risk assessment. (Peter Wilson) |
HSW November 2009:30-31 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| SMEs: a matter of record. |
| In this latest article on H&S fundamentals for smaller businesses, the focus is on accident reporting and investigation. (Paul Reeve) |
HSW November 2009:33-34 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Site specifics: older workers. |
| Picking the way through the best advice on the web on protecting an aging workforce. (Bridget Leathley) |
HSW November 2009:36-38 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Trainer's toolkit: on the right foot. |
| How to start your session as you mean to go on. (Paul Smith) |
HSW November 2009:41-42 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Lifeguard fined after father-of-three drowns. |
| Alex Cotterill, a 28 year old lifeguard, fined &200 under HASAWA 1974 s7. Father-of-three Adrian Miles, 48, had gone swimming as part of his recovery from a rugby injury. He got into difficulties, but one of the lifeguards on duty was distracted for a prolonged period while supervising the pool and failed to spot him lying at the bottom. The jury failed to reach a verdict on a second lifeguard, Richard David Leek, 31, who was also charged with the same offence. The jury was discharged. |
HSE (National) Press Releases WM401/09 27/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| HSE warning to sole traders after labourer killed by a falling steel joist. |
| Mr Leonard Gibson fined &10,000 and costs of &3,230 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Plumber and sole trader, Mr Gibson employed Mr Ajet Kransniqi, 24, as a labourer to help with the complete refurbishment of a domestic property. He was helping to lift a reinforced steel joist with four others when it fell and struck him on the head. Although Mr Kransniqi was taken to hospital he was pronounced dead on arrival. |
HSE (National) Press Releases HSE/E/29 27/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| HSE urges employers to keep those working at height safe. |
| A Nicoll & Son Limited fined &2,500 and costs of &2,948.20 under WHR 2005. Employee James Theaker, 50, had climbed onto a flat roof of a college to clean windows of a neighbouring building, when he over reached and fell 4 metres, breaking eight ribs and sustaining a back injury. |
HSE (National) Press Releases HSE/EM09 27/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| New statistics show big improvements in Britain's workplace safety and health record. |
| Britain became a healthier and safer place to work last year, according to figures released today by the HSE. Statistics show there has been a significant reduction in the numbers of people killed, injured or suffering work related ill-health from April 2008 to March 2009. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/statistics HSE (National) Press Releases 28/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Cutting accidents in construction - Thurso event aims to reduce risks. |
| Those working in the construction industry are urged to come together in Thurso next week and attend a free safety awareness event. The construction sector is one of the most dangerous industries in Scotland so the Working Well Together (WWT) campaign has organised an event specifically to address the issues faced by construction workers. The event will be held on Tuesday 3 November at T3UK, Janetstown Industrial Estate, Thurso, from 8:30 until 13:00. |
HSE (National) Press Releases SCO/185/09 28/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Companies fined after workers exposed to asbestos. |
| Recon Packaging Ltd fined &3,000 and costs of &5,000 under CAWR 2002. Industrial & Commercial Building Services Ltd (ICBS) and its Managing Director, Kevin Bennett, fined &2,000 each under HASAWA 1974 s3. ICBS employees came into contact with asbestos while demolishing part of the Recon Packaging recycling plant. Recon hired ICBS to carry out the work after the plant was severely damaged by fire. The building included substantial amounts of asbestos but no site assessment was carried out, and ICBS was not licensed to remove it. |
HSE (National) Press Releases HSE/NW/032Recon/09 28/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Inspections aim to improve safety on Sunderland industrial estates. |
| Health and safety inspectors from Sunderland City Council and the HSE have joined forces in a bid to improve health and safety on local industrial estates. They will be working together as they target industrial estates on the issue of health and safety - raising awareness, promoting sensible management and improving standards in those businesses visited. Enforcement will be taken where standards fail to meet legal requirements. The teamwill be carrying out a series of inspections at sites throughout Sunderland and the surrounding area over a three-week period starting on Monday 2 November 2009. |
HSE (National) Press Releases NE/372/09 29/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Safety day to help prevent farmyard accidents in Norfolk. |
| The Norfolk Agriculture Safety and Health Awareness Day (SHAD) came to Norwich this week with the sole aim of helping to prevent farm accidents. Fatalities and serious injury on farms has declined in recent years yet farming is still one of the most dangerous occupations in this country with 26 deaths in agriculture in 2008/09 alone. |
HSE (East) Press Releases 27/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Landlord fined for failing to protect tenant. |
| Ms Helen Jayne Beckett fined &1,000 and costs of &1,500 under GSIUR 1998 and of contravening a previous Improvement Notice. Ms Beckett failed to ensure that a gas fire in her rented property had been checked for safety. Despite being served with an IN by HSE, she failed to get the necessary checks carried out by the required date. In doing so she risked putting her tenant in danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. |
HSE (Yorkshire and the Humber) Press Releases 28/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Canterbury, Thanet, Shepway and Dover targeted in safety campaign. |
| In the motor vehicle repair industry alone, there have been more than 8,000 injuries and 24 deaths in the past five years. It is statistics like these that the HSE and East Kent local authorities endeavoured to reduce through their new campaign, Common Approach to Vehicle Enterprise (CAVE). The CAVE project targeted areas during October 2009. This pilot project involved unannounced inspections of motor vehicle repair businesses, which included tyre and exhaust premises, servicing, MOT and mechanical repairers of all sizes, from main dealers to small enterprises. Whilst HSE and local authorities partners provided advice at many inspections, standards at more than a quarter of premises visited fell below the minimum legal requirements and formal enforcement action was required to ensure improvements were made. |
HSE (South East) Press Releases 29/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Free support for businesses in Medway. |
| Feedback from small and medium sized business had promoted a new and innovative project from a number of local organisations. Estate Excellence is being spearheaded by organisations committed to health and safety across the south east to fulfil the appetite for advice and training from businesses and workers. Joining forces in Medway are partner organisations assisting such as Medway Local Authority, Kent Fire Authority, Federation of Small Business, EEF, SERCO, and SERTUC. |
HSE (South East) Press Releases 28/10/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| F Dewey Limited |
| Fined &10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. IP sustained injury after falling approx 15-16 feet through an asbestos cement sheet roof during demolition of various buildings and sheds. |
HSE Prosecution 4164536 17/8/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Jas Truscott & Son Ltd |
| Fined a total of &8,500 under HASAWA 1974 s33, CDMR 2007 and WHR 2005. Breach of PN relating to basement excavation work resulted in prosecution. |
HSE Prosecution 4121737 18/8/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Kingston Transport (Sussex) Ltd |
| Fined &2,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Employee fell 3.7 m from the top of a trommel when the machine was restarted following a blockage. Had no induction or training in use of the machine, had only been employed 4 weeks before the accident. A preventive inspection had been carried out covering safe system of work on the trommel and an improvement notice had been issued as a result 5 days prior to the accident. |
HSE Prosecution 4141449 18/8/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Fenland Electrical Network Services Ltd |
| Fined &7,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. IP was being refesher trained in one man descent from a bucket vehicle. He had been given instruction in the attachment and use of the descending equipment by the instructor, who also checked that the kit was attached correctly to both the anchor point of the vehicle and also at the IP's full body harness. The bucket was taken to a height of approx 18ft where the IP exited the bucket to perform the descent. IP fell to the ground, the descent equipment followed him down. The equipment was found to be complete and undamaged, it was attached at the full body harness but not by the karabiner at the anchor point on the vehicle. The IP was given first aid on site and transferred to hospital. |
HSE Prosecution 4157444 18/8/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Nicholas John McCarthy |
| Fined &7,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Fined &7,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. IP was being refesher trained in one man descent from a bucket vehicle. He had been given instruction in the attachment and use of the descending equipment by the instructor, who also checked that the kit was attached correctly to both the anchor point of the vehicle and also at the IP's full body harness. The bucket was taken to a height of approx 18ft where the IP exited the bucket to perform the descent. IP fell to the ground, the descent equipment followed him down. The equipment was found to be complete and undamaged, it was attached at the full body harness but not by the karabiner at the anchor point on the vehicle. The IP was given first aid on site and transferred to hospital. |
HSE Prosecution 4157447 18/8/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
| Francis Alistair Caley |
| Fined &8,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Prosecuted in their capacity as a partner in Francis and Damien Caley. IP had been mending the roof and he fell approx 4750mm through a fragile section of the roof. Failure to prevent fall from height. |
HSE Prosecution 4164665 18/8/09 Week ending: 30/10/09 |
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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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