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H&S News March 2010
| Trafford lorry builder fined after worker crushed. |
| S Cartwright and Sons (Coachbuilders) Ltd fined £15,000 and costs of £18,315 under HASAWA 1974 s2. David Jones was helping to move a stack of 6.7 metre-long metal strips onto a trailer when the incident happened. The stack and lifting beam, weighing a total of 2.2 tonnes, fell onto him from the forks of an FLT. Mr Jones broke his back in 4 places, 12 ribs and a shoulder blade, punctured a lung, bruised his heart and suffered stomach injuries. The company did not do enough to protect the safety of its employees. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/manufacturing HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/047Cartwright/09 5/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Hillsborough files to be released. |
| The Home Secretary has announced the creation of an independent panel, led by the Right Reverend James Jones Bishop of Liverpool, which will be responsible for overseeing the public release of documents related to the 1989 Hillsborough football disaster. Due to the volume of material relating to the disaster that must be catalogued, analysed and preserved, the panel will seek to complete its work within two years. They will consult with victims' families to ensure their views are taken into account. |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Bulletin February 2010:1 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Complaints system paves way for proactive inspection. |
| The HSE has decided to implement permanently an experimental risk-based approach to how it responds to complaints about dutyholders from workers and members of the public. The system was trialled in 2008 and introduced throughout the UK between April and September 2009. It requires that complaints are placed into one of three risk categories taking into account the seriousness of the possible injury, the number of possible casualties, and the likelihood of an occurrence. The HSE considers the scheme to have been a success, freeing up resources and inspector time to concentrate on more proactive work. The Board has now agreed that the procedure be made permanent. |
Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):3 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Agriculture. |
| The HSE is maintaining the pressure on farmers to pay attention to safety, launching a third phase of its farming campaign "Make the promise. Come home safe." |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/makethepromise/index.htm Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):4 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Chemicals - REACH. |
| The European Chemical Agency's member state committee has added 15 new chemical substances to its candidate list of substances of very high concern under REACH. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/reach Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):4 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Economics - human factors. |
| HSE-commissioned research claims that "historically, economists can be accused of having ignored behavioural issues", even though one of the most widely cited definitions of economics is a science that "studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses". |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr752.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):4 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Enforcement - sentencing. |
| The HSE's Chief Executive, Geoffrey Podger, told the HSE Board that he believes the HSE's response to the Sentencing Guidelines Council's consultation on a guideline for sentencing for corporate manslaughter and HASAWA offences causing death will "build on what was already a very good draft". |
Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):4 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Human factors - ergonomics. |
| The HSE should develop a more formal communications strategy to raise awareness and understanding of human factors and ergonomics among key decision makers in high-hazard industries. The recommendation by Greenstreet Berman is in a report for the HSE on barriers to understanding human factors in the prevention of major accidents. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr758.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):5 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Major hazards - COMAH 1. |
| There were just three prosecutions in the three years to 2008 associated with activities subject to COMAH Regs 1999, as well as one formal caution, 24 PNs and 146 INs. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/comah/ecquest2006_2008.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):5 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Major hazards - COMAH 2. |
| The COMAH Competent Authority will implement important changes in April 2010 to the way it regulates onshore major hazards. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/comah/remodelling/index.htm Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):5 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Major hazards - gasoline. |
| Exactly four years after the Buncefield explosion, the HSE has published a new report setting out minimum standards of safety and environmental protection for UK sites storing large volumes of gasoline. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/COMAH/buncefield/response.htm Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):5-6 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Management - behaviours. |
| HSE-commissioned research from the University of Birmingham looks at the views of 103 academics, regulators, business people (non-health and safety specialists), and health and safety professionals on safety and business management behaviours. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr744.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):6 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Noise - events. |
| Noise Action Week will run from 26 - 30 April. Details of the week are available in the HSE's noise e-bulletin. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/noise/ebulletin/index.htm Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):6 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Pesticides - incidents. |
| The HSE investigated 92 reported pesticides incidents in 2008/09, two fewer than the previous year. Inspectors issued nine enforcement notices during the period. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/fod/pir0809.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):6 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| PPE - RPE. |
| The HSE has published a research overview from the Inst of Occup Medicine of the factors influencing the use, and non-use, of RPE and on how well RPE programmes are implemented. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr746.htm Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):6 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Strategy - pledge. |
| Concerns were raised at the HSE Board in January that the HSE is not sufficiently following up the 1,200 signatories to the "pledge" to support the HSE's new strategy and "be part of the solution". |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/hseboard/2009/211009/p-oct-b09-95.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):6 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Temperature - review. |
| HSE officials will report to the HSE Board with a "timeline" for updating the advice it offers on workplace temperatures. |
Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):6 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Transport - roads. |
| With unsafe vehicle-loads injuring more than 1,200 people a year, the HSE has launched a new load safety campaign. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/loadsafety/index.htm Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):7 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Vibration - road haulage. |
| Daily vibration exposures from all but one road-haulage vehicle used in seven occupations tested by the HSL were below the exposure action value set by the Control of Vibration at Work Regs 2005. Back pain is particularly common in jobs that involve driving, especially over long distances or rough ground, which exposes occupants to whole-body vibration. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr766.pdf Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):7 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Making adjustments for people with disabilities. |
| Safety should not be a barrier to employing people with disabilities. (Lucinda Ponting) |
Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):8-10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Get the right one in: choosing occupational health services. |
| New standards for occup health services should help employers make better choices. (Howard Fidderman) |
Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):11-12 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Pregnancy risk assessments are triggered by potential for harm. |
| A recent appeal judgment clarifies when an employer should assess the risks for a pregnant worker. (Howard Fidderman) |
Health and Safety Bulletin March 2010 (386):13-16 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Levels of violence at work rise. |
| According to an analysis of the British Crime Survey by the HSE, more than 600,000 incidents of violence were carried out at work during 2008/09. The report reveals that there were an estimated 321,000 assaults and 305,000 threats against workers and that 327,000 staff experienced at least one incident of violence at work during the year. This compares to 293,000 the previous year. |
Safety Express March/April 2010:1 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Working with arthritis. |
| Arthritis affects many people of working age and is the chief cause of physical disability in the UK. But with the support and understanding of employers, those with the condition can continue to work. (Jane Spence) |
Safety Express March/April 2010:5 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Compensation for loss of hearing. |
| An engineer has received £13,500 in compensation after exposure to dangerous levels of noise at work left him deaf. Ashiq Hussain Shah worked at Federal Mogul for twenty years in a noisy environment making piston pins, until his family drew attention to his hearing difficulties. |
Safety Express March/April 2010:7 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Damages for pleural thickening. |
| Anthony Martin, a retired plasterer, has been awarded £45,000 in compensation after developing an asbestos-related disease. He worked for Chester College for three and a half decades and was diagnosed with pleural thickening on the lungs in November 2006. He believes he was exposed to asbestos when he helped a joiner to insulate the theatre roof without being given any protection or warned of the possible dangers to his health. |
Safety Express March/April 2010:7 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Bad vibrations. |
| Uncovering the history of hand-arm vibration syndrome, a disabling disorder that many workers still face today. (Nick Cook) |
Safety Express March/April 2010:10-11 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| "Rogue trader" prosecuted for gas safety crimes. |
| Brian Lloyd, aged 57, faces 17 weeks imprisonment if he fails to mend his ways. Fined under GSIUR 1998, he was also sentenced to 150 [hours sic] community service and costs of £1,000. The case, brought by the HSE, related to work carried out at 3 homes in May and June 2009. Whilst under investigation by the Gas Safe Register, Mr Lloyd was featured on BBC One's Rogue Traders, broadcast in September 2009. He was filmed undercover carrying out gas work illegally and falsely claiming to be Gas Safe Registered. Mr Lloyd's gas competencies expired in January 2009 and he was removed from the Gas Safe Register, an approved list of certified gas engineers. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/074/10 26/2/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Illegal gas fitter fined for putting residents at risk. |
| Stanley John Burrage, t/a JB Complete Home Services, fined £1,200 and costs of £1,200 under GSIUR 1998. Mr Burrage supplied and fitted a kitchen including a gas hob, electric oven and extractor fan without being CORGI registered (now Gas Safe Register). As part of the work, Mr Burrage fitted a cupboard around the existing gas central heating and hot water boiler and in doing so, he removed and discarded the sealed boiler casing. A routine council inspection revealed a catalogue of errors, which was presenting an immediate and serious danger to residents. |
HSE (National) Press Release 715/SWW/10 26/2/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Water firm fined after man put in intensive care. |
| Northumbrian Water Limited, who own and operate Essex and Suffolk Water, fined £17,000 and costs of £17,045.40 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Employee Robert Ayers, 38, was crushed between the loading bucket and cab of a construction vehicle. He spent 3 days in intensive care as a result. Mr Ayres was driving a Bobcat skid steer loader at a company's site when he got out to the vehicle with the engine running and as he was getting back into the driver's cab, he slipped and pressed the control to raise the vehicle's bucket. He was then trapped between the cab and the bucket, suffering crush injuries and permanent scarring. There is a device that stops the bucket being raised unless there is someone in the driving seat of the vehicle, but this was found to be faulty. Mr Ayres and other employees had also not received adequate training in the use of the vehicle. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE-E-56 26/2/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Cambridge contractor fined after worker is buried in rubble. |
| Anthony John Melvyn Hill fined a total of £3,500 and costs of £2,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and CDMR 2007. In 2007, Mr Hill's employees were undertaking groundwork on a construction project. Whilst an employee was in a trench, the sides collapsed, burying him completely. He was rescued alive and suffered a broken leg and bruising. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE-E-58 4/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Washington firm fined £2,000 after factory worker loses finger. |
| Tanfield Metal Spinners Limited fined £2,000 and costs of £1,056 under PUWER 1998. A worker was resetting the gear cog on the drive machinery of a metal spinning machine. The company had known for some time that the gears had been slipping out of place on a regular basis. The guard, which had been provided to prevent access to the dangerous parts of machinery, had been removed. The worker's gloved hand was drawn into the gears which resulted in the amputation of one of his fingers and serious injury to another. |
HSE (National) Press Release NE/075/10 1/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Lesson in safety for Darlington college staff and students. |
| Staff and students at Darlington College's state-of-the-art premises are putting safety first for the benefit of everyone on site. The college has always put safety first and is now supporting the HSE's "Shattered Lives" campaign which aims to reduce slips, trips and falls in the workplace. It has already taken steps to avoid slips and trips in its joinery, brickwork, plastering, plumbing and motor vehicle training areas and kitchen areas with risk assessments to identify areas of concern and the introduction of safety footwear in these areas. Viewing bays have been introduced in construction training areas to allow visitors to view workshops safely. |
HSE (National) Press Release NE/076/10 1/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| HSE launches crackdown on dangerous construction sites. |
| HSE inspectors are to launch an intensive inspection initiative aimed at stopping dangerous practices on building sites across Great Britain. HSE wants to raise awareness of construction site risks and prevent unnecessary injuries and deaths. Starting on 1 March it will focus on refurbishment or roofing work. Inspectors will make unannounced visits to ensure that sites are managing work at height safely and are in good order. |
HSE (National) Press Release 1/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Steel firm fined after worker severely injures leg. |
| Corus UK Limited, t/a Corus Special Profiles, fined £5,000 and costs of £5,074 under HASAWA 1974 s2. David Harrison, 41 at the time, a team leader, was working on the mill floor where steel is rolled into long beams. He was attempting to clear a jam in a machine, which requires an operator activating controls above the mill floor. The operator was unable to see Mr Harrison and so instructions were relayed via a third man using a combination of hand signals and shouting. Mr Harrison was struck by moving machinery, severely injuring his right leg. HSE found relaying instructions through another person was common practice on the mill floor, as radios were not always available and the noise in the factory made them hard to use. Clearing jams in the machinery was a common operation, there was no record of a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for this activity and no recorded safe system of work in place. Whilst Corus was aware of the hazards and had implemented safe operation procedures to deal with some of the risks, it failed to install a full safe isolation system, which had been identified as necessary prior to the incident. |
HSE (National) Press Release NE/077/10 1/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Cannock firm fined after worker's arm damaged by drill. |
| Romtech Ltd fined a total of £40,000 and costs of £7,401 under PUWER 1998 and MHSWR 1999. An agency worker at the firm was using a radial arm drill when his right hand glove became entangled in the rotating drill bit. His right arm was caught and dragged into the drill, breaking both bones in his forearm and severely damaging his muscles. His clothing was also drawn in to the machine to such an extent that he had to be cut free by the emergency services. |
HSE (National) Press Release WM484/09 4/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Contractor fined for failing to provide toilets for workers. |
| Bryan Ellis Brown, a partner in Bryan Brown & Son, fined a total of £2,000 and costs of £1,215 under HASAWA 1974 s21 and s33, and CDMR 2007. Mr Brown did not provide adequate toilet and washing facilities for staff on a construction site. The toilet was not plumbed in and there was no water supplied to sinks in a cabin or adjacent toilet compartment at the construction site for a pair of cottages. Following an HSE inspection an IN was served on Mr Brown as the Principal Contractor. A subsequent site visit 2 days later found the IN had not been complied with. A site visit a month later found that although a water supply had been provided to the toilet unit, and soap and towels had been provided, still no running water was provided to the sink units in the cabin or the toilet compartment. Mr Brown subjected his employees to an unhygienic and potentially unsafe working environment. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/083/10 4/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Next generation of builders given advice to prevent shattered lives. |
| Construction students from Coleg Sir Gar in Ammanford recently received valuable advice in staying alive while working at height at a safety day organised by the HSE and the South Wales Working Well Together group. Demonstrations included basic tips on erecting scaffolding, as well as the correct use of safety harnesses. |
HSE (National) Press Release 722/W/09 5/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Inspections aim to improve safety on Hartlepool industrial estates. |
| Hartlepool Council and the HSE have joined forces in a bid to improve H&S on local industrial estates. Local authority and HSE inspectors will be working together as they target industrial estates on the issue of H&S, raising awareness, promoting sensible management and improving standards in those businesses visited. Enforcement will be taken where standards fail to meet legal requirements. Inspections at sites throughout Hartlepool over a two-week period will start on Monday 8 March. |
HSE (National) Press Release NE/090/10 5/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Al sectors of industry called to action on safety alerts. |
| The HSE has revamped its Safety Bulletin system which warns industry of problems with equipment, process, procedures and substances that may lead to injury, and is now calling on industry to commit to sharing such information more effectively when sending out their own alerts. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins HSE (National) Press Release 5/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Up on the Forum roof - Norwich company backs national safety. |
| A Norwich cleaning company which counts The Forum, the city's landmark Millennium building, as one of its clients, has backed a national campaign to make people aware of the potential devastating consequences of slips, trips and falls in the workplace. Hannants Cleaning Ltd is supporting the HSE 'Shattered Lives' campaign. |
HSE (East) Press Release 1/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Zookeepers back national safety campaign. |
| Colchester Zoo, recognised as one of Europe's top visitor attractions, is backing the 'Shattered Lives' campaign. Colchester Zoo has 250 species over 60 acres of parkland and lakes. The animal enclosures are cleaned daily and whatever activities employees are involved in, the zoo makes sure they are aware of how to carry out their work safely. The inspection and enforcement of H&S at zoos is carried out by the local authority. |
HSE (East) Press Release 3/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Award-winning restaurant backs slips, trips and falls campaign. |
| A restaurant director and chef who have been given the seal of approval by Gordon Ramsey have backed the HSE's call for restaurateurs to reduce the likelihood of slips, trips and falls in their kitchens. Chef Aktar Islam and his business partner Jabbar Khan are keen to show that it is not just their food and service which is subjected to outstanding attention to detail, the safety of their employees is paramount as well. That is why they have called on other restaurants across the UK to heed the HSE's warning that slip, trips and falls in the workplace could have serious repercussions. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release 4/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Britain's oldest inn backs HSE's newest campaign. |
| Ye Old Trip to Jerusalem has pledged support to the HSE 'Shattered Lives' campaign to highlight the potentially devastating consequences of slips, trips and falls in the workplace. They are so keen to back the campaign that they offered the famous Inn to the HSE inspector and the Environmental Health Officer to help launch the campaign. |
HSE (East Midlands) Press Release 4/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Students get a healthy lesson in safety. |
| Healthcare students got a lesson in safety when HSE inspectors set up a "ward of hazards" at the University's Clinical Skills Centre. The session was organised to coincide with the latest phase of HSE's "Shattered Lives" campaign. |
HSE (North East) Press Release 4/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| HSE uses Birmingham event to reach ethnic minority businesses. |
| The HSE has hosted a successful H&S Awareness Day in Birmingham to make contact with hard to reach communities. The joint event with Nishkam Centre and Birmingham City Council was targeted at business in and around the Handsworth area with a view to reach migrant and vulnerable workers. More than 30 people attended to hear presentations from HSE and local authority inspectors. It was also an opportunity to introduce the community to H&S clinics taking place at the centre, which will hopefully build trust between local business and H&S awareness officers before standard visits at premises are carried out. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release 5/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| The National Construction College builds a firm foundation in London with new safety campaign. |
| The National Construction College's South campus is supporting the latest phase of the HSE 'Shattered Lives' campaign to help reduce slips, trips and falls from height in the workplace. Teaching staff from the College support the campaign and take H&S very seriously. With their onsite facilities, including safe scaffolding, they make sure the next generation of construction workers are fully aware of the risks of working at height. |
HSE (London) Press Release 5/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| The true cost to Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen businesses of slips, trips and falls in the workplace. |
| According to figures from the HSE, there were 5 fatalities and 1,405 major injuries as a result of slips, trips and falls in Scottish workplaces in 2008/9 with 2,742 workers having to take more than 3 days off. This prompted HSE to re-launch its 'Shattered Lives' campaign. |
HSE (Scotland) Press Release 5/3/10 Week ending: 05/03/10 |
| Safety first for builders at the BBC's new Salford HQ. |
| HSE Chair Judith Hackitt visited MediaCityUK, the £500m Peel Media development which includes a new home for BBC in the north, to see how leadership and innovation are helping to ensure workers' safety on site. Contractor Bovis Lend Lease was keen to show how safety is paramount in delivering the 36-acre site at Salford Quays, which will be home to offices, studios, leisure facilities, a hotel and apartments. |
HSE (National) Press Release 9/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Courts advised on corporate manslaughter fines. |
| Definitive guidelines have been published to help courts deal with organisations that cause death through a gross breach of care, or where a health and safety offence is a significant cause of a death. Issuing its long-awaited guidelines, the Sentencing Guidelines Council underlined that "punitive and significant fines should be imposed both to deter and to reflect public concern at avoidable loss of life". |
SHP March 2010:6 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Environment Agency to gain new enforcement powers. |
| The Environment Agency (EA) has been granted new civil sanctions under the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008. The aim of the new powers is to give the regulator greater flexibility to enforce environmental law. The existing system was thought to be too reliant on costly and time-consuming criminal prosecutions. The EA is now consulting business to help shape how the new powers will be implemented. |
SHP March 2010:6 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| EEF claim "sea change" in directors' involvement in health and safety. |
| Active leadership on H&S is now the norm, not the exception. This is the message the EEF is sending out following a survey of nearly 400 manufacturing organisations. EEF's findings suggest there has been a major increase in board engagement in managing H&S risks over the last three years, and it argues this is evidence that statutory director duties are unnecessary and could be counter-productive. |
SHP March 2010:6 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Pub company fined for multiple fire-safety breaches. |
| Publicana Ltd fined £5,000 for each of four offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Act 2005. This was reduced to a total of £15,000 due to the company's early guilty plea. They were ordered to pay the prosecution's costs. Following an incident at the Little George pub in Chippenham, the Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service carried out an investigation. They found fire doors and fire exits had been screwed shut, or left propped open, escape routes were obstructed, and fire-protection systems had not been maintained. |
SHP March 2010:11 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Worker crushed in ten-pin bowling machine. |
| Mitchells and Butlers Retail Ltd fined £40,000 and costs of £14,838 under HASAWA 1974 s33. Ferdinand de la Cruz was working at the Hollywood Bowl in Barking. The incident was not witnessed, but it is believed that he had been cleaning and servicing the machine, which clears the skittles, but had not isolated it. Whilst underneath the mechanism, it descended on top of him and pinned him to the floor. He suffered severe crush injuries to his chest and died at the scene. At the time of the incident in 2006, there was no guarding package in use throughout the UK or Europe, nor commercially available. The company has now been able to create and install adequate guarding on bowling lanes at all of its sites. |
SHP March 2010:12 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Read all about it. |
| Companies facing a potential criminal prosecution in the wake of a serious workplace accident ignore the media at their peril. (Michael Appleby) |
SHP March 2010:17 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Workin' USA. |
| It is exactly 40 years since the United States' OSH Act and the country's first nationwide approach to workplace safety were introduced. The American system of workplace safety is, however, very different to that in the UK. A comparison of the two at a time when many leading industry figures on this side of the pond are asking whether we need to change our approach. (James Pomeroy) |
SHP March 2010:35-38 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Variations on a theme. |
| Efforts to reduce injury rates in construction are being hampered by a limited view of how to measure safety performance. A suggestion that a new type of research based on analysing multiple variables is required to foster further improvements in safety. (Andrew Townsend) |
SHP March 2010:40-42 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Higher education. |
| Fed up of flipcharts? Training doesn't have to be tedious, as a trio of creative and engaging new methods demonstrates. (Tina Weadick and Vic Motune) |
SHP March 2010:44-46 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Keep calm and carry on. |
| Are you ready to deal with an interview under caution, or to give evidence in court? Practitioners are increasingly on the front line after a serious workplace incident, and the steps they take in managing HSE and Police investigations can have a significant impact on the decision to prosecute, and the outcome of the prosecution. (Laura Cameron and Tom Stocker) |
SHP March 2010:49-50 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| A stick and a promise. |
| How contracts can be used to drive improved performance in health and safety, and could become a much-needed tool in terms of self-regulation. (Adam Wilson) |
SHP March 2010:52-54 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Blazing a trail in fire safety. |
| Designing safer buildings requires the fire-safety engineer to gain a full understanding of the user's needs and intentions in running the building. (Andy Passingham) |
SHP March 2010:57-58 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Firm fined after worker trapped for more than two hours in trench collapse. |
| Vickers Construction Limited fined £5,000 and costs of £3,178.10 under HASAWA 1974 s2. An excavator was being used to dig a trench for drainage pipes on a sloping bank. Construction worker John Taylor, 44, was laying pipes when the trench wall collapsed. Mr Taylor was trapped from the waist down for more than two hours and also suffered bruising to his legs. HSE investigations showed that the driver of the excavator had not received suitable training in its use. |
HSE (National) Press Release NE/093/10 8/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Prestigious award for HSE employee. |
| HSE employee, Rhaynukaa Soni has been named Female Professional of the Year, at the Political and Public Life Asian Awards Ceremony. Rhaynukaa was presented with the prestigious award by Britain's main Asian newspaper, Asian Voice, for her work with HSE's Construction Division's London outreach project. The outreach project was set up by HSE after research proved that migrant construction workers were particularly vulnerable to H&S risks due to language barriers and different perceptions of risk. |
HSE (National) Press Release 123:2010 8/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Falkirk Wheel turns in support of national safety campaign. |
| British Waterways Scotland is backing a national campaign by the HSE to make people aware of the potentially devastating consequences of slips, trips and falls in the workplace. One of Scotland's top visitor attractions, 35 metre high Falkirk Wheel, the worlds first and only rotating boat lift is coming to the end of its month-long annual maintenance programme where safety is key. The safety of staff, contractors and visitors is of paramount importance so the company are delighted to work with the HSE and support the 'Shattered Lives' campaign. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/127/10 9/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Merseyside builder fined after putting lives at risk. |
| Charles Molloy from Molloy Building Contractors fined £1,500 and costs of £1,000 under WHR 2005. Mr Molloy, 64, had been hired to replace the ridge tiles on the top of a pub roof. But neither he nor the worker he employed wore harnesses, put up scaffolding or took any other safety precautions. Mr Molloy also ignored advice he was given about the way he was working by an Environmental Health Officer, a few days before HSE's visit. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/056Molloy 9/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Initiative launched to encourage quieter workplaces. |
| A new initiative has been launched to encourage manufacturers to make quieter machinery and businesses to use it, in a bid to reduce noise-related ill health in the workplace. 170,000 people in the UK suffer deafness, tinnitus or other ear conditions as a result of excessive noise at work and the 'Buy Quiet' campaign, led by the HSE, is about getting everyone with an interest - manufacturers, suppliers, employers, unions, insurers and consultants - looking at what they can do to reduce the risk. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/noise HSE (National) Press Release 9/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Safety first for builders at the BBC's new Salford HQ. |
| HSE Chair Judith Hackitt visited MediaCityUK, the £500m Peel Media development which includes a new home for BBC in the north, to see how leadership and innovation are helping to ensure workers' safety on site. Contractor Bovis Lend Lease was keen to show how safety is paramount in delivering the 36-acre site at Salford Quays, which will be home to offices, studios, leisure facilities, a hotel and apartments. |
HSE (National) Press Release 9/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Event aims to keep London's stonemasons safe. |
| Stonework companies in and around London are being invited to attend a free event in a bid to help reduce the rate of injury and ill health in the sector. In London and the South East there have been at least five fatalities over the last 5 years in this area of work. The free half-day event is aimed at directors, managers, owners and supervisors of stonework companies to help them provide a safe and healthy workplace for their staff. The event has been organised by HSE, with support from the Stone Federation, on Thursday 25 March 2010, 9am - 12.30pm, with registration from 8.30am. The event will be delivered by experts from HSE, who will use practical demonstrations to show workers ways in which they can avoid the most common causes of accidents and ill health in their work. The event will also provide an opportunity for companies to get together and discuss the safety issues they face in their industry. |
For info, contact external.relations@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE (National) Press Release COI/LDN/3010 10/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Building company fined for putting workers at risk. |
| Shane Homes Limited fined £1,000 and costs of £799 under WHR 2005. During a routine inspection on a house extension the HSE found an employee working on scaffolding that was unsafe and posed a risk of serious, if not fatal, injuries. Employees working at the first floor extension were put at risk of a fall of up to 4 metres. The scaffolding had no edge protection in place, and an access ladder was too short and not secured. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/089/10 10/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Solihull hammer firm hit with fine after worker injures hand. |
| Thor Hammer Company Ltd fined £2,500 and costs of £2,594 under PUWER 1998. Employee Aaron Watts was operating an unguarded pedestal drilling machine when the glove on his right hand became entangled in one of the rotating spindles of the drill. Mr Watts suffered injuries to the back of his right hand and a deep laceration to the palm. His injuries were so severe that he was off work for a month. This offence was all the more serious because the company had received previous advice from HSE about the need to guard its drilling machines and had even identified the need in its own risk assessment, but did not do it. Only weeks before the offence the company received a quote to fit a suitable guard at a cost of only £165. |
HSE (National) Press Release WM643/09 11/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Third set of 2009 pesticide residue figures released. |
| The Pesticide Residues Committee has published its third quarterly report for samples collected in 2009. The report found that the majority of foods had no detectable residues and those that did contain pesticides were not likely to be harmful to health. Tests found that 656 out of 911 samples of 14 different foods tested had no detectable residues. Also 248 samples contained levels below the maximum level (MRL), the legally permitted amount. |
HSE (National) Press Release 11/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Ladder exchange success is a step in the right direction. |
| Nearly 7,000 'dodgy' ladders have been surrendered in the three years the HSE has been running the ladder exchange initiative. HSE is now thanking all the retailers, manufacturers, trade associations and local authorities who have played their part in the campaign which gives workers the opportunity to get rid of old, damaged and broken ladders and trade them in for new ones at a discount price. In the most recent campaign, HSE's partners were inundated with a variety of precarious ladders with missing rungs, bent sides and ladders that are clearly not up the job anymore. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/089/10 11/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Fire leaders back plan to strike the right balance on health and safety. |
| Leading fire and rescue figures are backing efforts to strike the right balance between protecting fire-fighters and ensuring they can respond properly to emergencies. The HSE has agreed a new policy statement with the Chief Fire Officers Association, the Fire Brigades Union and the government's Office of the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser. It sets out HSE's support for a sensible and proportionate approach to dealing with risk in the emergency service. Fire and Rescue Services operate under the HASAWA 1974, which puts a legal duty on them to protect their workers, but the new statement makes clear that this doesn't prevent firefighters from doing their jobs. |
HSE (National) Press Release 12/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| 'Do Your Bit' to reduce death and injury. |
| Bosses are being encouraged to get their employees more involved in H&S in a bid to reduce injury and ill health. The HSE's new campaign 'do your bit' is in response to workplace research which provides evidence to suggest that involving workers has a positive effect on health and safety performance. The campaign is a year long initiative offering free or subsidised training courses to help businesses get their employees more involved in improving their H&S. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/doyourbit HSE (National) Press Release 12/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Corus fined after mobile crane overturns. |
| Corus UK Ltd fined £100,000 and costs of £9,908.50 under HASAWA 1974 s2. A worker at one of Europe's largest manufacturers narrowly escaped with only minor injuries after the mobile crane he was operating overturned. Although safe working alarms were fitted to the crane, they were not switched on as the driver had not received any training in their use. When the crane became overloaded therefore, the alarms did not sound and the crane overturned. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/095/10 12/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Safety campaign scales new heights at Canary Wharf. |
| Canary Wharf Management Limited, which manages One Canada Square and contracts Classic Cleaning Services to clean the windows of the 244-metre high office tower, is lending its support to the HSE's 'Shattered Lives' campaign. |
HSE (London) Press Release 8/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Devon farm safety event tackles high risk areas. |
| 200 farmers have signed up to a safety event in East Devon next Tuesday 16 March, after continued concerns over the number of accidents within the agricultural industry. The free safety training day will be held at Bicton College, East Budleigh, and has been organised by the HSE and will include practical safety demonstrations in such risk areas as quad bike use, roof and height work, livestock handling, manual handling, machinery maintenance and chemical hazards. |
Internet: at www.hse.gov.uk/makethepromise HSE (South West) Press Release 9/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Stained glass window safety soars to new heights at Canterbury Cathedral. |
| Canterbury Cathedral is supporting the HSE 'Shattered Lives' campaign to show how simple health and safety steps can help reduce slips, trips and falls in the workplace. This week the Cathedral's famous stained glass windows, some of which date back as early as the 12th Century and depict stories of local people, were removed to allow them to be cleaned by staff to protect their valuable features and who are also trained to work safely at height. |
HSE (South East) Press Release 9/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Cooking up a recipe for safety success. |
| Northbrook College in Worthing is supporting the HSE 'Shattered Lives' campaign to show how simple H&S steps can help reduce slip, trips and falls in the workplace. The students have recently demonstrated the small steps they take to ensure that slips, trips and falls are prevented. |
HSE (South East) Press Release 9/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Royal Mail fined over employee death. |
| Royal Mail Group Ltd fined £90,000 and costs of £42,549.56 under HASAWA 1974 s2. A Royal Mail driver was reversing his tractor to line up with a trailer unit parked at a loading bay. After lining up his vehicle the driver left the cab and walked to the back of the unit to complete the manoeuvre but found Colin Smith, 57 year old yard shunter, had been trapped between the tractor and the trailer. Mr Smith had been removing a lock from the trailer at the time and suffered fatal injuries. The company failed to assess adequately the risk to shunters working in the yard or to identify and rectify the unsafe system and this contributed to Mr Smith's death. |
HSE (South East) Press Release 9/3/10 Week ending: 12/03/10 |
| Construction company fined £10,000 after workers taken to hospital with lead poisoning. |
| Blairish Restorations Limited fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. The company failed to identify that lead paint was present during a renovation project and failed to ensure suitable precautions were taken whilst the old paintwork was sanded down and removed. Consequently workers inhaled and ingested lead dust over several months during the summer of 2008. The dust was also spread to workers' homes, potentially endangering workers' families, from the workers' overalls. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/130/10 16/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Quick hitch best practice guide published. |
| The Strategic Forum Plant Safety Group (PSG) has published a guide to the safe use of quick hitches (quick couplers) on excavators. This is in response to a number of serious incidents and fatalities which occurred when a bucket or attachment became detached from an excavator and struck someone. The PSG says that these incidents could have been prevented by the correct use, effective maintenance and adequate inspection of the quick hitches. |
Internet: www.cpa.uk.net/p/Quick-Hitches RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal March 2010:2 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Access advice. |
| The HSE has launched an online toolkit containing basic advice, guidance and other resources to help people who occasionally work at height understand the key issues when working at height and the factors to consider when selecting the most appropriate and safest type of access equipment. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/falls/wait RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal March 2010:4 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Workshops for young drivers. |
| RoSPA is holding a free training seminar for employers and road safety professionals in an effort to cut accidents involving young at-work drivers. The seminar takes place on March 31st at the Society's headquarters in Birmingham. |
Contact: Duncan Vernon on 0121 248 2078 or dvernon@rospa.com www.rospa.com/roadsafety/youngdriversatwork RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal March 2010:11 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Word search. |
| Dyslexia - a specific learning difficulty - has nothing to do with intelligence, yet people with dyslexia can face discrimination in the workplace. A look at the role of occup health and HR professionals in tackling this stigma. (Elizabeth Gates) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal March 2010:13-17 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Bright eyes. |
| The increased use of computers in the home and workplace is undoubtedly very beneficial to working environments and lifestyle, but constant, regular, or repetitive use of computers may not be so beneficial to the health of your eyes. (Jo Johnson) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal March 2010:21-23,25 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Controlling fire risks. |
| The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 came into effect in October 2006 and replaced over 70 pieces of fire safety legislation relating to non-domestic premises. Its focus is very much on risk assessment and management. A look at its impact. (Nick Cook) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal March 2010:29-33 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Hand hygiene. |
| To prevent the spread of germs we all know we should maintain good basic hand hygiene. But are we actually following this advice? (Christine Mottershead) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal March 2010:39 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Rethinking involvement. |
| Worker involvement does not happen spontaneously. The case for it needs to be made among the workforce as much as it needs to be made among managers. (Roger Bibbings) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal March 2010:43-44 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Haulage firm fined for fire safety breaches. |
| A M Widdowson fined a total of £5,000 and costs of £4,900 under COMAH 1999 and HASAWA 1974 s2. The company had stored large amounts of LPG on its site for seven months, creating a massive fire risk by their illegal storage. It had failed to notify authorities of its operations, did not complete a risk assessment and failed to implement many good practices recognised by industry. |
Fire Risk Management March 2010:4 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Locking down safety. |
| The fire safety design and management measures introduced by the Scottish Prison Service in recent years. (Colin Foster and Graham Goodall) |
Fire Risk Management March 2010:8-12 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Under control. |
| Tunnel fires, although relatively rare, have the potential to produce large, multi-fatality incidents. Fire engineering can ensure safe and cost-effective tunnel designs. (David Charters) |
Fire Risk Management March 2010:16-19 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Coating controls. |
| An outline of concerns over dubious claims for intumescent products and other issues relating to fire protection of structural steelwork. (Niall Rowan) |
Fire Risk Management March 2010:25-27 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| A question of protection. |
| The challenges facing the UK fire protection industry - and a warning against apathy, ignorance and denial. (Brian Robinson) |
Fire Risk Management March 2010:29-33 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Constructive claims. |
| Disputes and delays in construction projects can result in loss and cost for fire contractors. A description of the documentation needed to support compensation claims. (Paul Ives) |
Fire Risk Management March 2010:39-41 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Serious hot work fires. |
| The FPA reports on the incidence of serious hot work fires in the UK (those involving fatalities or causing losses of over £100,000) in 2004-2008. |
Fire Risk Management March 2010:44-45 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Robot revolution. |
| Robots for use at major incidents are being developed by Sheffield Hallam University and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. (Jaques Penders) |
Fire Risk Management March 2010:55-56 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Helping small businesses protect their health - and their future. |
| Simple, authoritative advice on how to look after people's health at work - it's just what small firms have been waiting for. (Bob Rajan-Sithamparanadarajah) |
HSE Health and Safety Newsletter (23) Feb-Mar 2010:6-7 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| An involving story. |
| Good worker involvement is one of the key themes of HSE's strategy. But why is it so important and how can it help you? |
HSE Health and Safety Newsletter (23) Feb-Mar 2010:8-9 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Electrical safety at work. |
| Electricity kills and injures people. Around 1,000 electrical accidents at work are reported to the HSE each year and about 25 people die of their injuries. Some causes and two case studies. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/electricity HSE Health and Safety Newsletter (23) Feb-Mar 2010:10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Making risk assessment easier. |
| Risk assessment (RA) might not be every business's favourite topic, but tackling them has just become a little easier thanks to a new initiative from the HSE. An RA and policy template is now available to help duty-holders in lower-risk SMEs meet their basic H&S duties. |
Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/risk HSE Health and Safety Newsletter (23) Feb-Mar 2010:11 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| New guide on asbestos surveying. |
| A new guide has been published which updates and replaces the guidance contained in "Surveying, sampling and assessment of asbestos-containing materials". It is aimed at people carrying out asbestos surveys and people with specific responsibilities for managing asbestos in non-domestic premises under the Control of Asbestos Regs 2006. |
HSG264 "Asbestos: The survey guide" HSE Books http://books.hse.gov.uk/hse/public/home.jsf HSE Health and Safety Newsletter (23) Feb-Mar 2010:15 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Roadshows held to encourage cleaner air in workplace. |
| A series of interactive roadshows have been helping employers in industries such as welding and stonemasonry understand the risks of exposure to dusts, gases, mists, fumes and vapours. Hosted by the HSE, the roadshows aimed to help small businesses control the potential for illnesses, such as asthma and silicosis, which affect thousands of workers every year, by encouraging the proper use of Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) systems. These remove dusts, mists, gases, vapours and fumes from the air so they cannot be breathed in, getting rid of any contaminants safely. |
HSE (National) Press Release 15/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Safety first ensures A40 in Pembrokeshire doesn't turn into a slip road. |
| The Welsh Assembly Government is supporting the "Shattered Lives" campaign by the HSE to reduce slips, trips and falls in the workplace, and has held up a flagship road scheme in Pembrokeshire as an example of good practice. Work is well underway on the A40 Pemblewin to Slebech Park improvement and the Principal Contractor, Costain Ltd, has worked with the Assembly Government to ensure that the site is kept in good order and staff have all the right equipment to work safely at height. |
HSE (National) Press Release 15/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| A quarter of Greater Manchester construction sites fail safety inspections. |
| More than a quarter of the construction sites visited in Greater Manchester last week failed safety inspections. HSE inspectors carried out checks at 163 construction sites in Manchester, Salford and Trafford during two days of intensive inspections. They issued a total of 56 enforcement notices at 42 sites, either stopping work immediately or requiring improvements to be made. Some construction companies may face being prosecuted. Inspectors also visited 15 sites in Warrington during the intensive inspections but did not issue any enforcement notices in the borough. Nearly half of the enforcement notices concerned unsafe work being carried out at height. Other issues included dust, unsafe electrics and the general state of sites. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/037GMResults 15/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Newquay hotel fined for safety concerns at building site. |
| Bluechip Hotels Ltd fined £3,000 and costs of £2,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. The company was putting builders at risk on one of its hotel construction sites. Inspectors were concerned that some employees were being asked to work at height without suitable precautions being taken. They also raised concerns about blocked walkways around the site. Two INs were served, but during a follow-up visit inspectors discovered work was continuing in the same way, prompting HSE to prosecute the company. |
HSE (National) Press Release 739 16/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Aberdeenshire Company fined after apprentice joiner injured in fall. |
| Scotia Homes (North) Limited fined £4,000 under WHR 2005. The fine was reduced from £6,000 due to a early guilty plea. A 17 year old apprentice joiner fell almost 9 feet to a concrete floor from the first floor of a house he was working on, through an unguarded stairwell injuring his head and legs. Apart from a plywood sheet placed over the stairwell entrance, there was no edge protection or guards in place to prevent employees from falling through the open stairwell. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/132/10 17/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Fines after worker left brain damaged by fall. |
| Liversedge Decorating Contractors Ltd fined £2,000 under WHR 2005. Paul Daniel and Clive Dewhirst, both directors of the firm, fined £1,000 each under WHR 25005. Foster Turn-Key Contracts Ltd fined £2,000 under CDMR 2007. Self-employed Trevor Dawson, 58, was working as a painter when he apparently fell from a ladder, though no witnesses could confirm this. Foster Turn-Key Contacts Ltd, the Principal Contractor, and Liversedge Decorating Contractors Ltd, contracted to decorate the flats, had allowed work to be carried out that was not adequately planned or supervised and had used inappropriate equipment. Mr Dawson is unable to recall any details of the incident because of the injuries sustained to his head. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/103/10 17/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Flood-hit town gets safety support. |
| Health and Safety advisers have been offering support to businesses in Cockermouth, nearly 4 months on from the floods which devastated the town. Hundreds of the flooded homes and businesses are now being refurbished and HSE wants to make sure work is being carried out safely. More than 2,000 properties in Cockermouth, Workington and Keswick were damaged on 19 and 20 November 2009 when heavy rain led to widespread flooding. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/033Cockermouth 17/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| 'Do Your Bit' to reduce death and injury in the workplace, HSE urges Y&H employers. |
| Bosses across Yorkshire and the Humber are being encouraged to get their employees more involved in H&S in a bid to reduce injury and ill health. The HSE's new campaign 'do your bit' is in response to workplace research which provides evidence to suggest that involving workers has a positive effect on health and safety performance. This is a year long initiative offering free or subsidised training courses to help businesses get their employees more involved in improving their Health and Safety. |
HSE (Yorkshire and the Humber) Press Release 15/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Help for African Caribbean businesses at HSE event. |
| African Caribbean businesses in Birmingham and the Black Country are being invited to learn about the importance of health and safety. The special event, being hosted by the HSE and the African Caribbean Business Federation, takes place on Thursday 25 March at the Village Hall in Walsall. Targeted at new businesses and those that are new to H&S it will cover a wide variety of issues such as how to prevent slips and trips, environmental health issues and advice on basic business taxation. |
Contact: Janine Tickle on 01782 602349 or Janine.tickle@hse.gsi.gov.uk HSE (West Midlands) Press Release 18/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Suffolk company fined after worker suffered serious injury. |
| W A Church Ltd was fined £8,000 and costs of £4,642 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Employee Peter Snowling, 49, fell from a ramp while loading a shipping container with sacks of peas. His injuries included a fractured skull and spinal injuries. HSE investigation found that the company had failed to take sufficient steps to ensure the risks associated with work at height were identified and controlled. |
HSE (East) Press Release 18/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Fine after Suffolk worker has finger crushed by 40 tonne press. |
| H E & B S Benson Ltd fined £8,000 and costs of £4,356 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Press operator Peter McCormick,61, was using a metalworking power press when he leaned into the machine to reach for a component when his right index finger was crushed between the two halves of the press tool. He had to have his finger amputated between the first and second joints. HSE found the machine did not have all its safety guards fitted, which would have prevented access to the moving parts. |
HSE (East) Press Release 18/3/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| ECH Ltd |
| Fined a total of £16,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Prosecution following accident to self employed worker who fell approx 5 metres down a stairwell during the construction of a timber frame house. |
HSE Prosecution 4160232 5/1/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Angus William Naylor |
| Fined £8,000 under WHR 2005. Non injury prosecution. Failed to take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent persons falling a distance liable to result in injury at a house build site. |
HSE Prosecution 4183512 7/1/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Meldrum Construction Services Ltd |
| Fined £4,500 under HASAWA 1974 s2. IP was operating a mobile telehandler type FLT to lift roof trusses onto a new house build when it overturned, injuring him in his cab. Lack of adequate management controls allowed IP to operate the telehandler when not fully trained. |
HSE Prosecution 4184571 7/1/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Centriforce Products Ltd |
| Fined £2,500 under PUWER 1998. An employee lost four fingers after he reached inside a guillotine to remove a jam and his fingers became trapped. The company should have had a guard on the guillotine to prevent workers from reaching the blade, and an automatic mechanism in place to cut power if the guard was opened. |
HSE Prosecution 4182129 8/1/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| A M Widdowson & Son Ltd |
| Fined a total of £5,000 under COMAHR 1999. Prosecution of company follows an investigation into the storage and handling of LPG, in the form of aerosol products, at their Bardon warehouse. The quantity stored on site was as much as 500 tonnes. The company failed to assess or control the risk and also failed to notify the CA under COMAH. |
HSE Prosecution 4185740 8/1/10 Week ending: 19/03/10 |
| Company and director fined after worker falls to death from statue. |
| Taylor Electronics (Manchester) Ltd fined £10,000 and costs of £8,000. Its Wigan-based director, John Taylor, fined £2,000, both under HASAWA 1974 s2. Ian Gutteridge was fitting a giant necklace to the 140 year old Albert Memorial statue when the cherry picker he was working on overturned. HSE showed that the cherry picker had not been properly stabilised before being used. Mr Gutteridge suffered head and chest injuries in the fall. He did not regain consciousness and died in hospital the next day. A photographer, who was also on the platform, was knocked unconscious but made a full recovery. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/037TaylorElectronics 24/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Stress claim costs MoJ £51,000. |
| The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) prison service has paid £51,000 to a former manager in an out-of-court settlement after he was forced to leave his job because of workplace bullying. Derek Purchase said the problem started when his performance as a prison service manager was criticised by senior staff. He claimed that when he attempted to tackle the issue, the bullying got worse. During his last three years, he was forced to take a year off due to work-related stress. In the end, he took early retirement. |
HSW April 2010:6 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Setback for pleural plaques victims. |
| Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, has announced the Government will not overturn the House of Lords' decision that sufferers of pleural plaques should not be eligible for compensation. At the same time, he announced measures to increase compensation payments for some people who develop mesothelioma, the lung cancer associated with asbestos exposure. |
HSW April 2010:8 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Workers walk over power plant safety fears. |
| Hundreds of workers walked off-site for two days at the new Staythorpe Power Station in Nottinghamshire in February in protest over an alleged safety breach. The workers were calling for an immediate investigation into allegations that some scaffolding had been interfered with at the site. Initially the main contractor, Alsthom, said there was no evidence of a breach, but on the second day they claimed that, following a full investigation under HSE guidance, it had found that one of its subcontractor's employees was potentially at fault and may have breached safety procedures. This employee is no longer working at the site. The workers ended the unofficial action and returned to work. This incident follows a dispute earlier this year over differences of pay for British and Italian subcontractors working on the new station, and also two crane safety incidents last year. |
HSW April 2010:9 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Fitnote guide. |
| The Dept for Works and Pensions has issued guidance for employers on the new fitnote, due to replace the MED3 sicknote in April. |
HSW April 2010:12 Internet: www.dwp.gov.uk/fitnote Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Legislative calendar. |
| Calendar of new and upcoming legislation. |
HSW April 2010:12 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Tesco infestation. |
| Tesco has been ordered to pay £17,000 and costs of £57,000 for eight hygiene offences at one of its Extra stores in Suffolk. The problems were caused by poor cleaning and management between April and August 2007. |
HSW April 2010:10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Schools lack asbestos discipline. |
| Schools are failing to comply with basic legislative requirements to manage the risk from asbestos in their buildings, according to a pilot survey by the Asbestos Testing and Consultants Association involving 12 volunteer schools. They found that not one was fully compliant with HSE guidance and only four could be described as having an "adequate standard" of asbestos management. |
HSW April 2010:15 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Building deaths show winter spike. |
| There was an abrupt rise in construction deaths in the late months of last year, according to figures revealed at January's HSE board meeting. In October and November there were 13 fatalities compared with 18 during the previous six months. More than half the two month figures involved falls from height. The sudden rise mirrors a leap the previous year when there were 12 fatal incidents during the same two months of the year. |
HSW April 2010:15 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| British Sugar gets personal. |
| British Sugar's half-yearly safety performance discussions designed to make safety issues "personal" for everyone in the company. (Lucie Ponting) |
HSW April 2010:20-22 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Multiplication game. |
| An argument that in creating a sustainable safety culture, two out of three is bad. (Tim Marsh) |
HSW April 2010:24-25 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Shedding light on optical radiation. |
| Simplifying the science behind the forthcoming Optical Radiation Regulations. (Dave Merchant) |
HSW April 2010:26-28 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| SMEs: Well advised. |
| In the first of two pieces on access to competent advice for smaller businesses, a look at the best balance of in-house and external expertise. (Paul Reeve) |
HSW April 2010:30 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Focus on careers: Nerve tonic. |
| A wealth of tips on how to give your best in professional exams. (Dee Arp) |
HSW April 2010:34-36 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Focus on careers: Course Directory. |
| HSW's second annual course directory, comprising up-to-date details of providers of first degree level courses throughout the UK. |
HSW April 2010:41-44,46,48-54 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Trainer's toolkit: All aboard. |
| Ways of maximising delegate involvement. (Paul Smith) |
HSW April 2010:56 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Dewsbury landlord prosecuted for exposing tenant to gas dangers. |
| Mahmud Bulbulia fined a total of £250 under GSIUR 1998 and HASAWA 1974 s33, also 250 hours community service. The Dewsbury landlord failed to ensure gas appliances at a property he rented out were safe and fit for purpose. He failed to have the cooker and boiler regularly checked and certified by a registered Gas Safe engineer. Mr Bulbulia had already been served with an IN back in August 2008, requiring him to carry out annual safety checks on his gas appliances. A year later he had still not carried out safety checks on the gas appliances, potentially exposing his tenant to carbon monoxide poisoning and other risks, such as a gas explosion. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/109/10 19/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| New tool launched online to help prevent musculoskeletal disorders. |
| A new downloadable tool is now available to help businesses and organisations reduce the likelihood of their employees suffering from musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) of the upper limbs associated with repetitive tasks. MSDs are the most common occupational illness in Britain affecting more than 500,000 people every year and are often linked to repetitive work tasks such as packing on a production line or the regular use of hand tools. The Assessment of Repetitive Tasks (ART) tool, developed by the HSE and Health and Safety Laboratory can help identify where the significant risks lie, suggest where to focus risk reduction measures, and help prioritise improvements. |
HSE (National) Press Release 19/3/10 Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/msd/uld/art Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Greengrocer owner fined £2,100 for having no insurance. |
| Ian Gray fined a total of £2,100 and costs of £1,850.80 under ELCIA 1969. The Northumberland fruit shop owner t/a I Gray Fruiterers, had no compulsory insurance to cover injury claims by employees. HSE investigated after it was informed that Mr Gray did not hold employers' liability insurance. While public liability insurance is generally voluntary, employers' liability insurance is compulsory and enables an employer to meet any costs relating to employees' injuries or illness whether caused on or off site. |
HSE (National) Press Release NE/118/10 22/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Builder fined £2,000 after workers' first floor fall. |
| Malcolm Shaun Foyle fined £2,000 and costs of £1,000 under WHR 2005. Two of his employees fell from the upstairs of a building when a temporary work platform collapsed above a stairwell. At the time of the accident, the stairs had been removed and a temporary platform had been built over the gap to enable access to a small area above the stairwell. Two scaffold planks were rested on top of a piece of wood that had been screwed into a partition wall. They were also secured at the other end. One employee was on the makeshift platform but the screws holding the planks in place gave way when a second worker joined him. Both men fell through the stairwell to the ground below with one suffering a fracture. |
HSE (National) Press Release 746/SWW/10 22/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| One in four Cumbrian construction sites fail safety inspections. |
| More than one quarter of the construction sites visited in Cumbria last week failed safety inspections. HSE carried out checks at 45 sites in the county during two days of intensive inspections. They issued a total of 14 ENs at 12 sites, either stopping work immediately or requiring improvements to be made. The majority of the notices covered unsafe work being carried out at height. HSE advisers also met more than 200 contractors in Cockermouth, where many homes and businesses are now being refurbished following the November floods. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/04CumbriaResults 23/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Rosyth Royal Dockyard Ltd fined £10,000. |
| Rosyth Royal Dockyard Ltd fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. A steel plate fell during a lifting operation and caused severe injury to a contractor's hand. The contractor was employed by Robert Summers Transport Ltd. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/134/10 23/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Leicestershire company fined for unsafe work at height. |
| Cobham Advanced Composites Ltd fined £10,000 and costs of £4,777.90 under HASAWA 1974 s3. They failed to ensure the safety of 3 contractors working on a seven metre high roof. Cobham Advanced Composites Ltd employed Streamline Guttering and Cladding to install new guttering on its building. The workers could access the roof by a mobile tower at the front of the building, but there was no equipment to stop the men falling at the back of the building where work was underway. Streamline Guttering and Cladding was fined at an earlier hearing under WHR 2005. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/EM/211/10 24/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Serial gas offender prosecuted for endangering lives. |
| Ryan Thorpe, 24, faces 8 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years, if he fails to mend his ways after pleading guilty to 8 separate breaches of the GSIUR 1998. He was ordered to pay £500 costs. Mr Thorpe, who was not Gas Safe registered, illegally removed and fitted a new boiler. This work was classified as a potential risk to life or property. In another job, he went on to remove and then install another gas appliance. During this job he failed to seal the joint on a pipe from the gas meter correctly, causing a gas leak which was so serious that the gas supply had to be shut off. When called back to the address, he illegally reinstated the supply. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/121/10 24/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Kent construction employer found guilty after death of employee. |
| Edward James Day, 54, (t/a E J Construction) fined a total of £20,000 under HASAWA 1974 s37 and CDMR 2007. An employee of E J Construction, Mark Wilkin, was working to extend a finger of land which was being used as a temporary roadway out into a flooded quarry. The vehicle he was driving, a site dumper, came off the roadway and Mr Wilkin became trapped under it in the quarry. He drowned at the scene. |
HSE (National) Press Release COISE/24-03 24/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Building company fined after digger runs over worker. |
| Brothers Bryan Christopher Kendra and Michael Antony Kendra, of L & S Kendra and Sons, were both fined £9,000 and costs of £2,500 each under HASAWA 1974 s2. Bryan Kendra was driving a reversing 360 degree excavator digger, when it struck and drove over bricklayer Andrew Trezise. Mr Trezise, 56, suffered a broken pelvis and serious leg injuries in the incident. HSE found that there were no markings to indicate where the digger was working, to ensure that it was separated from pedestrian movements on site. A reversing assistant had not been deployed to oversee reversing manoeuvres for the digger prior to the incident. L & S Kendra and Sons failed to have proper systems in place at the site to restrict and control the movement of the digger. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/124/10 24/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| £19,000 fine after mother and daughter poisoned by carbon monoxide. |
| Landlords Robert and David Watts, fined £7,000 and costs of £4,500 each under HASAWA 1974 s3. David MacDonald, the property's gas service engineer, fined a total of £5,000 and costs of £548 under GSIUR 1998. Mrs Riley and her 6 year old daughter Emily were at home when Emily became ill and began to drift in and out of consciousness and Mrs Riley started to suffer bad headaches and began vomiting. Both were taken from the house in a barely conscious state and then taken to hospital suffering from severe carbon monoxide poisoning. David MacDonald, the gas service engineer, declared the boiler safe to use 3 times when it was not. When HSE investigated the level of carbon monoxide produced by the central heating boiler in the home, it was so high it was off the scale of the measuring equipment used by inspectors. |
HSE (National) Press Release COISE/24-03 24/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Builders to decide guilt of Cardiff site manager. |
| In the first event of its kind in Wales, builders from across the country have been invited to take part in a mock trial of one of their peers at Cardiff City Stadium. The event will see local solicitors playing the role of prosecution and defence in a legal case to be played out in front of hundreds of representatives from the construction industry, who will finally decide on the guilt of the accused, a site manager at a building site. The scenario has been put together by law firm Morgan Cole, and the role of the defendant will be played by Chairman of the South Wales Working Well Together partnership and head of construction for Alun Griffiths (Contractors) Ltd. The mock trial has been organised by the South Wales Construction Safety Group and Working Well Together, a partnership of the HSE and the construction industry in Wales. |
HSE (Wales) Press Release 25/3/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Air Livery plc |
| Fined a total of £2,400 under WHR 2005. Worker fell from the wing of an aircraft during masking up activities. Inadequate planning of the work and inadequate edge protection. |
HSE Prosecution 4110619 11/1/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| R M Supplies (Inverkeithing) Limited |
| Fined £14,000 under DR 1998. Employee sustained injuries when he fell from quay into the water forming berth 1 whilst vessel was mooring at night-time. |
HSE Prosecution 4121307 12/1/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Clarence Industrial Services |
| Fined a total of £200 under CAWR 2002 and CAR 2006. Investigation started following complaint by an electrician about the method of asbestos removal during store refurbishment. Evidence of asbestos exposure and spread. |
HSE Prosecution 4175817 12/1/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Citytex UK Ltd |
| Fined a total of £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. CDM issues relating to collapse of building. |
HSE Prosecution 4192291 12/1/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Maxton Trading Ltd |
| Fined £7,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Failure to provide employees with safe systems of work and to provide information, instruction, training and supervision both with regard to loading a vehicle and the use of a chainsaw. |
HSE Prosecution 4175018 15/1/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Mr Paul Anthony Ashby |
| Fined £3,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Failure to provide employees with safe systems of work and to provide information, instruction, training and supervision both with regard to loading a vehicle and the use of a chainsaw. |
HSE Prosecution 4178149 15/1/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
| Macob Administration Limited |
| Find a total of £80,000 under PUWER 1998. Employee fatally injured whilst operating mini excavator on site. No adequate systems in place to prevent start up of construction plant by unauthorised persons and lack of training of deceased and co-worker as to the operation of plant in use as part of their work. |
HSE Prosecution 4187099 15/1/10 Week ending: 26/03/10 |
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HSE Prosecutions Database
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