Health & Safety News June 2010
| Council and contractors fined for unsafe asbestos removal. |
| City of Lincoln Council fined a total of £10,000 under MHSWR 1999, HASAWA 1974 s3 and costs of £12,000. County Waste (Lincs) Ltd fined a total of £4,250 and costs of £6,000 under CAR 2006. The city council was refurbishing the bathroom of a property and contracted County Waste (Lincs) Ltd to investigate the fixing of asbestos insulation boards, with a view to their removal. However, County Waste (Lincs) Ltd was not licensed to work with asbestos. The employee carrying out the work lacked adequate information or training about the hazards from exposure to asbestos. He simply prised off the panels with a crowbar, breaking them in the process, before putting the pieces in a sack to transport to a yard for disposal. Broken panels and pieces of asbestos debris were left on the bathroom floor of the property and the worker walked around for the rest of the day in clothing that may have been contaminated with asbestos fibre. After the tenant complained to the Council, employees visited the property to inspect the damage. However, they failed to tell the tenant there was a problem and did not move the family to another property for three days. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/EM026/10 3/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Hair chemical risk. |
| Hairdressers have been warned about the potential explosion risk posed by hydrogen peroxide - a common tool of the trade - following the death of a woman in Dorset. Mobile hairdresser Jennifer Mitchell died when her car exploded in March. The vehicle was carrying a container of the chemical which is believed to have leaked. (More...) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:4 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Bring to book. |
| Correctly identifying the "responsible person" under the Fire Safety Order can be a tricky business for investigating fire officers - some practical tips. (Warren Spencer) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:12-15 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Room for escape. |
| Ensuring that small bed and breakfasts have appropriate and proportionate fire safety measures was the aim of a local initiative by Bedfordshire & Luton Fire and Rescue. (Tim Birchall) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:17-19 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Holiday limits. |
| Small domestic premises used as holiday cottages fall within the scope of UK fire safety law - but this goes against the aims of the legislation and is a waste of resources. (Michael Dennett) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:21-25 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Free thinking. |
| The innovative design of a hospital project in Nottinghamshire prompted major departures from the prescriptive Firecode guidance. (Andy Passingham) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:31-34 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Sprinklers for safer living. |
| A new independent report for BAFSA provides clear evidence of the life safety and business benefits of sprinklers in residential care homes. (FRM) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:35 Info: "Sprinklers for Safer Living" £25 per copy from BAFSA on email info@bafsa.org.uk Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Sound position. |
| The correct selection and placement of audible and visual alarm devices, particularly in hospitals. (Kevin Cooper) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:36-38 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Out patients. |
| An outline of a failure analysis, in which potential problems with training staff to evacuate patients from a hospital ward were identified, leading to action to remedy them. (Peter Wilkinson and Charles Hancock) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:39-43 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| The right direction. |
| A worrying knowledge gap in fire risk assessment has emerged, but industry mentorship may offer a solution. (Neil Cheyne) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:44-46 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Matters of responsibility. |
| Ensuring the fire safety of a building meets current fire safety law requires more than just installing a fire safety system. (Angus Stone) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:47-49 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Growing skills. |
| A competent workforce, developed through effective fire safety training, is imperative to ensure growth during an economic crisis. (Graham Ellicott) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:50-51 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Fitness against fire. |
| The state of the built environment and its fitness at coping with fire must be addressed by the fire industry at large. (Mike Wood) |
Fire Risk Management May 2010:53-56 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Thirteen days in April. |
| In the space of just 13 working days in April, courts imposed fines of £100,000 or more on eight companies that had been involved in a workplace fatality. Add in another £100,000 fine in late March, the disqualification of a director, a £250,000 fine for fire-safety breaches and a jailed gas fitter, and the month covered by this edition of HSB starts to look like a justice campaigner's dream. |
Health and Safety Bulletin June 2010 (389):1 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Agriculture - revisited. |
| According to a new report from HSE officials, "Communications, rather than reliance on inspection and enforcement, is the most effective and cost effective method of intervening". |
Health and Safety Bulletin June 2010 (389):7 www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/hseboard/2010/310310/pmarb1033.pdf Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| HSE - strategy. |
| The HSE has admitted that the Pledge Forum linked to its new strategy is not delivering the co-operation that it had hoped for. The Forum was launched to offer a medium for the exchange of ideas and good practice between signatories to the strategy pledge. |
Health and Safety Bulletin June 2010 (389):7-8 www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/hseboard/2010/310310/pmarb1032.pdf Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Practitioners - competence and soft skills. |
| Judith Hackitt, the Chair of the HSE, has restated the principles that she believes should underpin a voluntary accreditation scheme for what she calls the "upper end" of the safety consultancy market. She has also urged H&S practitioners to use their soft skills as well as their H&S expertise to engage all levels of their organisations in H&S. |
Health and Safety Bulletin June 2010 (389):8 www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/speeches/transcripts/hackitt240310.htm Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Corus in court - again. |
| How many more times will there be a report on another death involving the steel giant? (Lucinda Ponting) |
Health and Safety Bulletin June 2010 (389):9-10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| A waste of life. |
| Things continue to go badly wrong in the waste sector, even at an HSE "good practice" case study. (Howard Fidderman) |
Health and Safety Bulletin June 2010 (389):11-12 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Mending a leaky LPG regime. |
| Examining the government's response to the Gill inquiry into the Stockline disaster. (Lucinda Ponting) |
Health and Safety Bulletin June 2010 (389):13-15 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| "Accepting" Donaghy: why 28 minus five does not equal 23. |
| Questioning the government's response to the Donaghy inquiry into construction deaths. Howard Fidderman) |
Health and Safety Bulletin June 2010 (389):16-23 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| High voltage shock lands stationery firm with fine. |
| Chart Design Ltd fined £4,000, costs of £6,330 and victim surcharge of £15 under HASAWA 1974 s2. A worker was investigating a fault on a plastic welding machine when his fingers came into contact (or very close contact) with components carrying several thousand volts. The shock burned his right hand and forearm, and damaged several muscles. He was hospitalised for 14 days and has since had to undergo skin grafts. He has not regained full use of his right hand and has been unable to return to work. An HSE investigation into the incident revealed that guard panels which should have prevented access to live circuits had been removed. Inspectors discovered that no record of maintenance checks was kept for any of the machines at the factory. |
HSE (National) Press Release COILON/0106 1/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Premier league football club fined after worker's three-metre fall. |
| Aston Villa Football Club fined £1,350 and costs of £1,610 under WHR 2005. Mechanical Cleansing Services Ltd fined £1,000 and costs of £1,610 under MHSWR 1999. Damon Roe, director of Mechanical Cleansing Services Ltd, fined £1,000 and costs of £1,610 under HASAWA 1974 s37. A worker was badly injured by a fall through a roof during the redevelopment of Aston Villa's training ground. Two contractors from Mechanical Cleansing Services Ltd were working at the site when one of them plunged 3 metres through a fragile roof light. The company had been employed to drain fuel tanks on a roof during demolition of an old building on the site. The 34 year old worker was cleaning the tanks and fell through a roof light as he was heading towards a ladder to get down. He broke bones in his heels and was off work for more than six months. An internal ladder was blocked so Damon Roe, Director of Mechanical Cleansing Services Ltd, decided to use a ladder against the outside front of the building to access the roof's plant room. However, both he and the football club failed to inform workers of the dangers or how to avoid the risk of falling through the fragile roof lights. |
HSE (National) Press Release WM128/09 1/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Report encourages new ways of working to reduce injury in bed manufacturing. |
| Measures that bed manufacturers have taken to successfully reduce manual handling injuries feature in a new report aimed at promoting good practice in the industry. Employees in the industry are around twice as likely to suffer manual handling injuries such as back and upper limb disorders than those in any other manufacturing sector. This prompted the HSE with the support of the National Bed Federation, to identify the key risk activities and encourage companies to identify solutions that would work best for them. The report identified various high risk activities. |
HSE (National) Press Release 1/6/10 Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/woodworking/mattress.htm Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Employer without compulsory insurance fined. |
| Bledar Shtylaa, who owns Blue Flag Hand Car Wash, was fined £2,500 and costs of £1,037 under ELCIA 1969. He failed to produce a current Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI) certificate when an HSE H&S Awareness Officer visited the premises. All employers need to have an ELCI certificate and must show a copy straight away on request. Upon investigation, it became apparent that Mr Shtylaa had not purchased Employers' Liability Insurance since he first started the business. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE-E-09 1/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Company failed to check for dangerous asbestos fibres. |
| Norwegian Homes Limited fined £4,500 and costs of £11,959 under CAWR 2002. The company failed to undertake a survey for the presence of dangerous asbestos fibres at a demolition site. They were responsible for demolishing a former hotel which was being converted into guesthouses and holiday apartments. During a visit to the site, inspectors from the HSE discovered suspected asbestos insulation boards underneath a caravan, in polythene sacks and in the ashes of a bonfire. The samples were later confirmed as containing asbestos. There were no measures in place to properly remove the asbestos-containing material, nor were there any protections in place for staff working on the site. |
HSE (National) Press Release WW794/SWW/10 2/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Sign workers injured after scaffold collapse. |
| Sohail Hussain, 40, t/a Haris Signs fined £1,000 and costs of £1,000 under WHR 2005. The company had been hired by the manger of the Metro Inn to carry out repairs to a wind-damaged sign above the entrance to the hotel. Mr Hussain, helped by another man, erected a 4.5 metres tall scaffolding platform, on top of which was an extension ladder to get high enough to reach the sign which was 8.62 metres (28 feet) off the ground. Mr Hussain carried out the repair work from the ladder, while the other man stood on top of the platform, with nothing to prevent him from falling off the edge. Due to high winds and the unstable platform, it give way, causing both men to fall onto the hotel car park below. Mr Hussain suffered injuries to his knee and the other man suffered a fractured wrist and dislocated his right elbow. |
HSE (National) Press Release NE/164/10 2/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Lack of traffic control leaves worker injured. |
| SHB Hire Ltd fined £5,000 and costs of £2,815 under HASAWA 1974 s2. A mechanic working for the company was asked to repair a vehicle. In order to get the vehicle from the yard he needed to move another parked vehicle, so he reversed a Ford Transit 350 tipper. At the time Matthew Stevens, 35, was cleaning a different vehicle when he saw the reversing tipper coming towards him. He tried to get out of the way, by jumping on the bonnet of the vehicle he was cleaning but his legs were hit by the tipper. He suffered bruising and swelling to both his lower legs. HSE served an IN, ordering SHB Hire to segregate pedestrians and organise the yard area. The notice was complied with and action has been taken to separate the valeting area and a neighbouring school's car park. |
HSE (National) Press Release NE/164/10 2/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| High 5 for Boston Builders. |
| Construction students, apprentices and small businesses in Boston are being urged to find out more about health and safety in 2 free events. The awareness days are being held on Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 June and will include hands-on demonstrations of plumbing, bricklaying, plastering, roofing, electrical and other construction-related activities. The events are at the Princess Royal Sports Arena, Great Fen Road, Boston. Free parking is available at the event and anyone wishing to attend should arrive at 9.30am on either of the two days. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/EM/025/10 3/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Food firm sentenced after worker's finger severed. |
| Arcadia Food Industries Limited fined £4,000 and costs of £3,080 under PUWER 1998. An employee was preparing a spice mixing machine for use when he reached into the discharged hatch of the machine. His hand came into contact with rotating paddles within the machine, which severed one of his fingers and badly cut the other. The HSE investigation found this area should have been impossible to access when the machine was running. An HSE inspector had already warned Arcadia about insufficient guarding on equipment during an earlier inspection. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/170/10 3/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Death prompt white van safety road show. |
| A white van with a difference will set off on a two-week safety tour of major construction sites in the South East region on Monday 7 June. The White Van Road Show will highlight the potential dangers in the construction industry, after 14 construction workers were killed in the South East in 2008/9. Advisors from the construction industry and the HSE will visit five sites in the south East, Newbury, Newhaven, Maidenhead, Rochester and Coulsden. |
HSE (National) Press Release COILDN10106 3/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Safety checks on quad bikes on Scottish farms. |
| Safety inspectors will be carrying out checks at Scottish farms this month to ensure quad bikes are being used and maintained correctly. HSE wants to raise awareness of the risks of using all terrain vehicles (ATVs), such as quad bikes, amongst farmers to prevent avoidable injuries and deaths. Each year an average of 2 people die and more than 1,000 are injured in quad bike or ATV incidents. From 7-18 June, inspectors will make unannounced visits to farms in East Lothian, Borders, Fife, Perthshire, Angus and Stirlingshire to assess the safety standards. The checks will focus on head protection, vehicle maintenance and training, to ensure agricultural employers protect their workers and themselves. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/149/10 3/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Teesside firm fined for potential asbestos exposure. |
| Darchem Engineering Ltd fined £3,000 and costs of £5,266.62 under CAR 2006. Two maintenance workers were relocating a junction box in the Aerospace reception area at the company's site. This required them to drill into asbestos insulation board without taking appropriate precautions. Darchem Engineering Ltd failed to adequately manage the risks from asbestos on the site and as a result the 2 workers were potentially exposed to asbestos fibres. |
HSE (National) Press Release NE/167/10 4/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Boss fined £20,000 after worker loses foot in wood shavings machine. |
| Allan Wilson Jenkinson t/a A W Jenkinson Forest Products fined £20,000 and costs of £6,146 under HASAWA 1974 s2. A 24 year old employee was using a chainsaw to deal with a stuck log in the log box at the end of a conveyor. He lost his balance and his right foot became caught in the 48 razor-sharp revolving blades at the bottom of the log box. His foot was completely severed. The employee was working alone, crawled out of the log shavings box and used a radio to call for help. He had only worked at the firm for 15 days on a temp contract before the incident. He was a keen footballer and sportsman who had an upcoming trail with a local football club. HSE investigation concluded that Allan Jenkinson, 56, had failed to ensure that safe systems of work associated with the shavings machine were in place. Since the incident, his company has installed fixed guards around the machine to prevent workers from being able to access the conveyors and log boxes. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/31 Jenkinson 4/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| American Airlines fined after ground worker loses leg. |
| American Airlines fined £70,000 and costs of £10,581.25 under PUWER 1998. Ground support worker Kulwant Bhara, 45, was preparing an aircraft. A 70 tonne 'pushback tug', used to move aircraft from the departure gate, had finished manoeuvring a plane into position and was leaving the stand. The tug did not have the reversing lights that it needed on a dark night, neither did it have an audible alarm. It was reversing when it knocked Mr Bhara to the ground, running over his right leg. As a result of his injuries received in the incident, Mr Bhara had to have his right leg amputated just below his hip. |
HSE (National) Press Release COILON/0406 4/6/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| I Gray Fruiterers |
| Fined a total of £2,100 under ELCIA 1969. Complaint made by employee that her employer, Mr Ian Gray, t/a I Gray Fruiterers, did not have Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance. IP hurt her back whilst carrying a box of fruit into the shop at the end of her shift, and was put on the sick by her GP. She remained off sick until she was dismissed. She alleges that at no point during her time working for I Gray Fruiterers did her employer have Employers' Liability Insurance. |
HSE Prosecution 4183800 22/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Malcolm Foyle |
| Fined £2,000 under WHR 2005. PR following an accident whereby an employee was injured when a working platform above stairwell collapsed. Platform consisted of single width, two deep scaffold planks supported by timber bearer screwed to tongue and groove timber wall. The screws holding the timber bearer to tongue and groove gave way. |
HSE Prosecution 4189066 22/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Cobham Advanced Composites Ltd |
| Fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Unsafe roof work. |
HSE Prosecution 4171957 23/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Ryan Thorpe |
| Guilty. Prison (suspended) under GSIUR 1998. Unregistered, incompetent gas engineer carrying out gas work on 2 properties, 3 different occasions. |
HSE Prosecution 4194958 23/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Taylor Electronics (Manchester) Ltd |
| Fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. An employee died after the cherry picker he was working on overturned while he was fitting a giant necklace to a statue to promote a jewellery exhibition in Manchester. Only one of the four legs on the cherry picker vehicle had been fully extended making it dangerously unstable. |
HSE Prosecution 4168406 24/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| John Ernest Taylor |
| Fined £2,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. An employee died after the cherry picker he was working on overturned while he was fitting a giant necklace to a statue to promote a jewellery exhibition in Manchester. Only one of the four legs on the cherry picker vehicle had been fully extended making it dangerously unstable. Mr Taylor was a director of Taylor Electronics (Manchester) Ltd. |
HSE Prosecution 4174851 24/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| David MacDonald |
| Fined a total of £5,000 under GSIUR 1998. Mother and daughter suffered CO poisoning whilst at home due to emissions from gas boiler. Gas boiler was not maintained in a safe condition. Prosecuted in their capacity as a gas engineer. |
HSE Prosecution 4184837 24/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Robert Watts |
| Fined £7,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Mother and daughter suffered CO poisoning whilst at home due to emissions from gas boiler. Gas boiler was not maintained in a safe condition. Prosecuted in their capacity as a partner. |
HSE Prosecution 4184844 24/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| David Watts |
| Fined £7,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Mother and daughter suffered CO poisoning whilst at home due to emissions from gas boiler. Gas boiler was not maintained in a safe condition. Prosecuted in their capacity as a partner. |
HSE Prosecution 4184852 24/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Bryan Christopher Kendra |
| Fined £9,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Prosecuted in their capacity as a partner in L & S Kendra and Sons. IP suffered serious pelvic injury as result of being run over by excavator. Failure to ensure safety of employees, in particular segregation of area of machine operation. |
HSE Prosecution 4193959 24/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Michael Antony Kendra |
| Fined £9,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Prosecuted in their capacity as a partner in L & S Kendra and Sons. IP suffered serious pelvic injury as result of being run over by excavator. Failure to ensure safety of employees, in particular segregation of area of machine operation. |
HSE Prosecution 4193970 24/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Hydro Aluminium Extrusion Ltd |
| Fined £100,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. DP was fatally injured in a shuttle line that transported finished packs of aluminium profiles from the packing stations to the banding machine. |
HSE Prosecution 4159909 25/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Clyde Valley Housing Association Limited |
| Fined £70,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Did provide a petrol generator for use as a power source by an employee of another company, did fail to ensure that the said generator was used safely whereby the employee of the other company was exposed to fatal levels of carbon monoxide produced when the said petrol generator was operated inside the enclosed space of the flat he was using as an office and as a consequence died. |
HSE Prosecution 4120465 26/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Michael O'Sullivan |
| Fined a total of £1,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3 and GSIUR 1998. Unregistered Gas Installer. |
HSE Prosecution 4192892 26/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Sines Parks Ltd |
| Fined £2,500 under GSIUR 1998. Sines Parks Ltd PR/Gas safety unregistered gas installer. |
HSE Prosecution 4192897 26/3/10 Week ending: 04/06/10 |
| Trust sentenced over bed rail death of disabled man. |
| Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust fined £50,000 and costs of £40,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Kyle Flack died at Basildon University Hospital after his head became trapped between the bottom rail surrounding his bed and the edge of the bed itself. He died from asphyxiation. Though 20 years old, Kyle had the body of a 12 year old boy. He was blind, deaf, quadriplegic and had cerebral palsy. He had been admitted to Basildon with a stomach complaint. During the night he died, he was found several times lying diagonally in his bed and with his head wedged between the rails. He was repositioned twice by nurses but later, despite concerns raised by a passing cleaner, no action was taken. Next morning Kyle was found lying with his head trapped between the bottom rail and the edge of the bed. Despite resuscitation attempts he could not be saved. There had been a similar incident during an earlier stay at the hospital. No assessment of his needs was carried out when admitted and staff had no knowledge of the previous incident. The Trust had no systems in place on each ward for assessing the risk to patients from bed rails. The Trust's practice for obtaining, recording and disseminating information about Kyle's needs was found to be poor. Staff did not formally share knowledge of individual patients. There was no system in place to alert staff to his particular needs or habits, instead staff were relied upon to remember him from previous visits or to retrieve records to read through his past medical notes. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE-E-10 8/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Drivers' working time exemption rejected. |
| The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament has voted against a proposal that self-employed professional drivers continue to be exempt from the EU Working Time Directive covering mobile road transport activities. Transport unions believe that the working time for some self-employed coach and lorry drivers could have increased from 48 to 86 hours a week had the proposal been adopted. |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal June 2010:2 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Safety alerts. |
| HSE has issued two new safety alerts. One warns quarry operators of the rollover risk associated with the use of road vehicles in off-road applications in quarries. The other concerns stress corrosion cracking of beverage mixed gas cylinders. |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal June 2010:2 Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/rolloverrisk.htm www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/mixedgascylinders.htm Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Rail maintenance cuts. |
| Network Rail cut its maintenance staff by around 500 last month, as a result of what it says are productivity improvements over the last two years. It is expected that over 200 further employees will leave under a voluntary redundancy scheme in the coming months. Rail union the RMT has condemned the job cuts, saying the company is "trying to con the public that a cost-led jobs cull is safe when we already know that inspections and maintenance frequencies are overstretched and that most safety recommendations made after the Grayrigg crash have not been implemented in full or in part". |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal June 2010:3 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Asbestos roadshows. |
| Asbestos surveys are only effective if competent surveyors are employed to do them. This is one of the messages being promoted at roadshows to help explain new guidance targeted at those responsible for managing asbestos risks. They will take place in Birmingham on June 16 and in London on June 30. |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal June 2010:4 Info: Contact Louise Hall on 01332 250713 or louise.hall@bohs.org Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Court report. |
| A look at recent H&S cases which resulted in the prosecution of a company director. (Ed Hodson) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal June 2010:6-7 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| A question of health. |
| This year's "Men's Health Week" kicks off on 14 June. Its goal is to encourage men to be more physically active, particularly men aged over 35. What the week is all about and how employers can get involved. (Nick Cook) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal June 2010:11-15 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Caught in the act. |
| In recent years, two new pieces of legislation have come into force in an attempt to reduce assaults on emergency workers and healthcare workers as they carry out their duties. But has the new legislation been a deterrent and made the lives of those workers safer? (Neil Jones) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal June 2010:19-22 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| COPD. |
| Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is thought to account for around 4,000 work-related deaths each year, although deaths from the disease as a result of all causes have been shown to be consistently around 25,000 to 30,000 per year. (Sarah Tullet) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal June 2010:27-30 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Earned autonomy? |
| Phrases such as "light touch" regulation and "earned autonomy" seem to be back in vogue - as does the idea that employers that can manage their H&S risks adequately should be left to do so without external interference. An exploration of these ideas. (Roger Bibbings) |
RoSPA Occup Safety & Health Journal June 2010:35-36 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| 21-year-old employee killed after firm's failings. |
| Flowserve (GB) Ltd fined £150,000 and costs of £66,838 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Philip Locke, a 21 year old employee, received fatal injuries when carrying out a pressure test on a high pressure valve. It is believed that during the test, the vent valve became detached from the machine and hit Mr Locke at high speed, causing fatal chest injuries. HSE investigation found that the company had not carried out an adequate risk assessment and had failed to recognise the risk of parts, such as the vent valve, detaching during the pressure testing. The vent valve had not been installed correctly and there should have been a guard on the back of the machine which would have prevented the vent valve injuring Mr Locke when it separated from the machine at high pressure. |
HSE (National) Press Release COISE/0406 4/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Out of control lift kills engineer. |
| J Brown Services Ltd fined £20,000 and costs of £25,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Andy Bates, a 35 year old self-employed lift engineer, was working alone on the lift's wiring while standing on the roof of the lift car at an office building. The cable of the control used to move the lift was severed when it became wrapped around a bolt protruding from the lift shaft wall. This led to a rogue command being sent to the lift's controller causing the lift to start moving upwards. Mr Bates became trapped between the top of the lift car and the top of the doorway as it travelled upwards, suffering fatal crush injuries. Neither Mr Bates, nor his assistant Liam Brown, had experience of installing the type of lift control system being fitted at the site. The main contractor carrying out the work was Swallow Lifts Installations which sub-contracted the work to a specialist lift engineer it had worked with previously. However, due to delays the sub-contractor had to leave the job uncompleted. Swallow then sub-contracted the completion and testing of the lift to J Brown Services Ltd who employed Mr Bates to undertake the final phases of work. J Brown Services Ltd has now stopped trading and has limited financial resources. |
HSE (National) Press Release COILDN 4/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Glasgow security firm fined following death of worker. |
| Alpha Group Security Ltd fined a total of £7,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s33. Thomas Fraser, 37, died of carbon monoxide poisoning at an on-site flat used as a base for employees. He had been working as a security guard on a construction site. A portable power generator was used inside the flat but Mr Fraser had not been provided with proper instructions on its safe use. The generator was operated inside the flat without appropriate ventilation and Mr Fraser was overcome by a build up of carbon monoxide fumes and died. In March 2010 Clyde Valley Housing Association Ltd, which sub-contracted Alpha Group Security Ltd, was fined £70,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/151/10 4/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Bradford motor parts firm fined after worker injured. |
| Federal Mogul Bradford Ltd fined a total of £10,000 and costs of £5,000 under PUWER 1998 and HASAWA 1974 s3. Employee Allan Formoy, 57, used his finger to free a mechanical jam in a machine used to feed metal pins onto a grinding line. His finger became trapped in the machinery and the tip was severed. HSE investigation found control measures to prevent such an incident at the firm, part of global engineering giant Federal Mogul Corporation, were not in place. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/170/10 7/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Roofers fined £200 each for working dangerously at height. |
| Antony Brian Sweet and Ernest Cole, both fined £200 and costs of £250 each under WHR 2005. The two self-employed roofers failed to take appropriate safety precautions when working on a private building. Roofing work on the steel-framed building was carried out without any safety nets or edge protection or any other kind of safety precaution. |
HSE (National) Press Release 799/SWW/10 7/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Warning to farmers using excavators with quick hitches for construction work. |
| Farmers are being warned not to use semi-automatic quick hitches if they are missing a retaining pin, following a spate of fatal accidents in other industries. HSE has previously issued a warning to the construction industry after five deaths in less than five years. It is now urging all of those working with or alongside excavators to check their equipment regularly to avoid serious injury. The common theme through all the fatal incidents was a missing retaining pin. A quick hitch may still operate for some time without the retaining pin in place and then, without warning, swing open of fall completely off. If this happens when lifting over or close to a person, the result is likely to be fatal. Anyone using an excavator fitted with a quick hitch device should ensure they know what type of hitch they have, follow the safe system of work for that hitch as recommended by the manufacturer and make sure the manufacturer-specified retaining pin is always in place. They should check that the pin is in place on the hitch before starting work, and every time a different attachment is fitted. |
HSE (National) Press Release 8/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Manager fined after 17 year old trainee is injured. |
| Andrew William Steel Baillie, general manager of Sub Surface Engineering Ltd, fined £2,500 and costs of £1,000 under HASAWA 1974 s37. Jonathan Holmes, who was 17 years old, was injured in the workshop. Mr Baillie had used an extension to one of the truck forks of a forklift to move a large sheet of steel. The extension had not been properly secured. As the plate was being moved, both it and the extension slid off the fork and fell onto Mr Holmes, fracturing his ankle. HSE found that Mr Baillie had not been trained to drive an FLT. |
HSE (National) Press Release COISE/0906 9/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Deaths prompt white van safety road show across London. |
| A white van with a difference will set off on a two-week safety tour of major construction sites in the London region on Monday 14 June. The White Van Road Show will highlight the potential dangers in the construction industry, after 11 construction workers were killed and 1,553 injured in the London area in 2008/9. The tour will see advisors from the construction industry and HSE visit four sites in London: Poplar, Bow, Hackney and Clapham. They will focus on the risks from untidy sites, working at height, manual handling, transport, asbestos and other dust related diseases. |
HSE (National) Press Release COILDN/1006 10/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Bakery directors fined after staff exposed to risk of electrocution and irritant dust. |
| Two directors of DG Bakery Ltd fined under EWR 1989 and HASAWA 1974 s33. Genaro Saiano was fined a total of £3,000 and costs of £500 and Dejan Durkin a total of £2,500 and costs of £500. HSE discovered dangerously exposed live wires on the bakery's bread conveyor belt during an unannounced inspection. They issued immediate PNs ordering the directors to shut down the conveyor belt until the machinery had been made safe. Also issued four INs, ordering H&S issues to be resolved by a set deadline. The bakery directors were legally required to prevent access to dangerous parts of the bread conveyor belt, prevent access to dangerous parts of the bread dough mixer, arrange for electrical testing and carry out a risk assessment for exposure to flour dust. They failed to comply with the IN requiring a risk assessment be carried out. DG Bakery is a small bakery specialising in the production of Italian bread. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE-E-11 10/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Tywyn fitter is fined for illegal gas work. |
| Chris Bradshaw fined a total of £38,000 and costs of £15,711 under HASAWA 1974 s22 and GSIUR 1988. A complaint was made to HSE about work Mr Bradshaw had carried out at a domestic property, when t/a Chris Bradshaw Heating and Plumbing. Work carried out at two further properties was then also investigated. Mr Bradshaw had installed a combination boiler and gas hob which were not properly converted from natural gas to LPG propane and when in use produced very high level of dangerous carbon monoxide (CO). Both installations had numerous risks and were not to current safety standards. Mr Bradshaw was only registered with the former trade regulator CORGI to work on natural gas, not LPG Propane. Mr Bradshaw also installed a new natural gas fire and boiler which had numerous faults. He was suspended from the CORGI register following a gas leak from the supply pipe to the fire. Mr Bradshaw then replaced internal and external LPG propane gas pipe work at another property and reconnected the pipe work to an existing gas fire. The fire had dangerous faults, and the LPG supply, and there were numerous risks with the pipe work which was not to current standards. Mr Bradshaw was removed from the CORGI register and subject to a PN at the time of this work. |
HSE (National) Press Release 805/W/10 11/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Work halted on several North East construction sites after safety fears. |
| Work was halted on building sites across the North East following an intensive inspection initiative aimed at stopping dangerous practices on sites. Inspectors visited sites from Teesside to Northumberland to raise awareness of construction risks and to prevent unnecessary injuries and deaths. HSE made unannounced visits to 77 contractors on 39 sites across the region. Work was halted on several building sites after nine PNs were served, effectively stopping work, due to concerns about working at height. Nine INs were also issued to contractors where there was a need for workers to have asbestos awareness training or for the lack of PPE. |
HSE (North East) Press Release 7/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| HSE cracks down on dangerous construction sites in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. |
| HSE's recent round of inspections of construction sites in Hereford and Worcestershire has led to 5 PNs and a possible prosecution. During the month-long campaign, 35 sites were visited involving 37 contractors. Five PNs were issued on as many sites, with one case so severe that it may lead to a future prosecution. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release 11/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| HSE cracks down on dangerous construction sites in Shropshire. |
| HSE's recent round of inspections of construction sites in Shropshire has led to 15 PNs. During 2008/09, although no people died, 64 were injured while working in construction across Shropshire. During the month-long campaign, 27 sites were visited involving 32 contractors. 15 PNs were issued on 10 sites. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release 11/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| HSE cracks down on dangerous construction sites in Staffordshire. |
| HSE's recent round of inspections of construction sites in Staffordshire has led to 6 PNs. During 2008/09, although no people died, 169 were injured while working in construction across Staffordshire. During the month-long campaign, 26 sites were visited involving 41 contractors. 6 PNs were issued on 5 sites. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release 11/6/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Ammex Ltd |
| Fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. The injured person fell through a fragile skylight whilst cladding roof. The risk of working at height, in particular fragile roofs, was not adequately planned, organised or carried out in a safe manner. There was no evidence of adequate training or instruction or any competent supervision undertaken. The poor standards are indicative of the lack understanding of the legal requirements of the work undertaken by the business. |
HSE Prosecution 4181404 29/3/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Briggs of Burton PLC |
| Fined £5,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Employee injured whilst using unguarded drill without emergency stop. Deficiencies identified during accident investigation. |
HSE Prosecution 4194674 29/3/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Morgan Est PLC |
| Fined a total of £6,000 under MHSWR 1999 and PUWER 1998. Inadequate risk assessment for commissioning of plant and failure to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery. |
HSE Prosecution 4191305 30/3/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Corus UK Ltd |
| Fined a total of £10,000 under DSEAR 2002. The flare stack at Dawes Lane Coke Ovens exploded during maintenance work being carried out by contractors. Inadequate risk assessment and failure to ensure that the stack was free from traces of extremely flammable coke oven gas. |
HSE Prosecution 4143022 31/3/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Moseley Rubber Co Ltd |
| Fined a total of £10,000 under PSSR 2000. An autoclave exploded injuring one employee and causing large scale damage to the factory. The company had failed to maintain the machine and had ignored its legal duty to make sure that a routine inspection of the machine was carried out by a qualified inspector. |
HSE Prosecution 4188028 31/3/10 Week ending: 11/06/10 |
| Joint statement from the HSE and the Environment Agency regarding today's jury verdicts in the Buncefield trial. |
| TAV Engineering Ltd guilty of failing to protect workers and members of the public following an investigation into the explosion and fire at Buncefield Oil Storage Depot in December 2005. Motherwell Control Systems 2003 Ltd found guilty earlier this week on the same charge. Earlier this week Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited found guilty of failing to prevent major accidents and limit their effects. Today they pleaded guilty to causing pollution to enter controlled waters underlying the vicinity around Buncefield. HSE and Environment Agency are jointly the 'Competent Authority' responsible for regulating non-nuclear major hazardous industrial sites in the UK under the Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1999 (COMAH). As the Competent Authority, the HSE and Environment Agency have a responsibility to investigate major incidents and ensure that lessons are learned. Sentencing is planned to take place on 16 July 2010. |
HSE (National) Press Release 18/6/10 Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/news/buncefield/index.htm Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| End to poverty-plea loophole in Scotland edges closer. |
| Scottish courts could soon be empowered to order background enquiry reports into the finances of companies convicted of H&S offences. It will mean judges no longer have to base fines on evidence presented by the responsible organisation, but can see for themselves the viability of an organisation and the impact any fine would have on its ability to continue to operate. |
SHP June 2010:6 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Working long hours linked to higher risk of heart disease. |
| Middle-aged employees who routinely work overtime are at an increased risk of coronary heart disease, according to research. 6,014 people were followed for a period of 11 years, during which time there were 369 cases of fatal coronary heart disease, non-fatal heart attacks, and definite diagnoses of angina. Ten per cent of participants said they normally worked up to four hours extra a day, 36 per cent worked up to two hours, while 54 per cent did not often work overtime. |
SHP June 2010:7 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| UK Coal directors see their bonuses cut after miner deaths. |
| The bosses of the UK's largest coal producer received reduced annual bonus payments last year because two worker death meant H&S targets were not met. In July 2009 a miner lost his life when a stack of pipes being unloaded underground slipped from the vehicle. Three months later, a worker was fatally injured when a powered roof support dropped unexpectantly. The company appointed a safety director at the start of 2010, but nevertheless, the HSE has brought 10 charges for alleged breaches of H&S legislation against UK Coal Mining Ltd following four deaths in separate incidents in 2006 and 2007. |
SHP June 2010:7 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Accreditation will give profession more respect, says IOSH president. |
| IOSH has stepped up its campaign for the introduction of accreditation for the H&S profession via an address by the Institution's president at a special lunch at the House of Lords. |
SHP June 2010:8 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Track death costs rail operator £450,000. |
| Serco Ltd fined £450,000 and costs of £43,773 under HASAWA 1974 s3. During an argument between two friends at a DLR station, one of the men pushed the other in self-defence. The man fell onto the rails and was struck by one of the computer operated trains. The company did not have an adequate procedure in place for stopping trains in an emergency, but allowed control room staff to decide whether to stop trains based partly on CCTV images. The CCTV was not intended for this purpose, and did not give staff a view of the entire track which was not illuminated. |
SHP June 2010:12 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Death highlights danger of "have a go" construction. |
| A family farm in Scotland has been fined £20,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. A worker died when a one-tonne pre-cast concrete panel, which he was trying to manoeuvre to help build a farm shed, toppled over and crushed him. |
SHP June 2010:12 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Co-op fined £210k over "potential death trap". |
| The Co-operative Group fined £210,000 and costs of more than £28,000 under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Following a Fire Service inspection at one of the Group's Southampton stores, it was found that the organisation had failed to keep the rear emergency-exit doors unlocked for easy egress in an emergency, and had fitted a lock requiring a security code on the emergency door between the retail and storage areas which prevented the door from being easily opened in an emergency. It was also found that the Group had failed to ensure that the store manager was given suitable and sufficient fire safety training, and had failed to ensure that the fire-alarm system underwent regular testing. Breaches were also found at two other Southampton stores and one in Plymouth. |
SHP June 2010:14 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Keeping control in litigation. |
| With accident investigations it is crucial that practitioners understand the specific purpose behind them, or else they may end up shooting themselves in the foot. (Kevin Bridges) |
SHP June 2010:19 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Secure in the knowledge. |
| The process an organisation undertakes to ensure it is confident in its performance on health and safety. (Stuart Bower) |
SHP June 2010:36-38 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Residential care. |
| Recent high-profile cases in Scotland in which landlords in the social and private rental sectors were sued for personal-injury damages demonstrate the need to keep up-to-date with best practice in the area. (James Barrowman) |
SHP June 2010:41-42 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Soldering responsibility. |
| An overview of the main hazards faced by welders in their work and suggestions of the best measures to deal with them. (Alan McArthur) |
SHP June 2010:44-46 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Wave theory. |
| Electromagnetic fields are present everywhere in our environment and the proliferation of man-made sources, such as radio waves, has become a serious concern. Imminent legislation will require employers to ensure their workforce is not exposed to potentially dangerous levels. (Howard Venning) |
SHP June 2010:48-50 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Substantial makeover. |
| Safety Data Sheets (SDS) are a key resource for employers carrying our risk assessment on hazardous substances or mixtures handled and stored in the workplace. The current SDS requirements in REACH are being amended to take into account the implementation of the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling (GHS). An overview of the changes. (Mark Blainey) |
SHP June 2010:52-53 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Survey points to employer and worker apathy over evacuation plans and drills. |
| Many UK employers are putting their workers at risk by failing to carry out fire drills and test evacuation procedures, warns insurers RSA. The latest research found that 25 per cent of workers surveyed have never participated in a full fire evacuation of their workplace despite government guidelines suggesting full fire drills be undertaken once a year. One in twenty employees admitted their workplace had no marked fire exits at all. |
Fire Risk Management June 2010:4 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Channel Tunnel operator tests water mist system as part of new fire safety strategy. |
| The operator of the Channel Tunnel has moved a step closer to introducing an innovative new fire protection system in the undersea rail tunnel. Eurotunnel is in the process of developing new SAFE firefighting stations along the 50km tunnel, which are expected to feature heat detection and water mist suppression technology. The latest move involves full-scale tests of a Fogtec water mist system being carried out in Spain. These were performed under live conditions in intense temperatures. |
Fire Risk Management June 2010:5 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Sprinklers can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from home fires, says research. |
| According to groundbreaking research by FM Global and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, greenhouse gases released by fires in the home can be reduced by 98 per cent when automatic sprinklers are installed. The research also revealed that a single fire in an unsprinklered building can negate the typical environmental benefits of "green" construction. |
Fire Risk Management June 2010:5 Internet: www.fmglobal.com/researchreports Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Cheap not cheerful. |
| As a life-saving product, a domestic smoke alarm should be built up to quality, not down to a price. (Neil Perdell) |
Fire Risk Management June 2010:11-13 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Health and safety 'used as an excuse', Hackitt warns. |
| Too many people use H&S as an excuse to hide behind, the Chair of the HSE has warned. Judith Hackitt made the comments in a letter to Lord Young of Graffham, welcoming his review and offering to help gather evidence for his inquiry. Prime Minister David Cameron appointed Lord Young to lead a Whitehall-wide review of H&S law and practice. He will also examine compensation culture and report to the Prime Minister in the summer. |
HSE (National) Press Release 15/6/10 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Elderly resident lowered into scalding bath is left with first degree burns. |
| Rootcroft Ltd fined £5,000 and costs of £5,989 under HASAWA 1974 s3, plus a victim surcharge of £500. Mr Michael Ginn, 72, was living at a nursing home in Essex run by Rootcroft Ltd, who are based in London. Unable to walk Mr Ginn was being bathed by two care assistants. He was lowered into the bath using a hoist but immediately began to cry out that the water was too hot. Despite being quickly raised out of the bath and having his feet immersed in cold water, Mr Ginn suffered first degree burns to both feet and was kept overnight in hospital. HSE found no thermostatic mixing valve was fitted to the water supply to prevent the temperature exceeding 44?C. The bath was supplied with hot water from one of two tanks where the water was stored at 67?C and 72?C when checked by inspectors. Staff had been instructed to check the water temperature with a thermometer, but no management checks were in place to ensure that this was being carried out. It was also found that residents were at risk of contracting Legionnaires' disease as hot and cold water was being stored at temperatures which would have allowed bacteria to grow. The company had also failed to act on previous guidance on the need to maintain safe hot water given by the Care Quality Commission and Essex County Council. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE-E-12 14/6/10 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Illegal gas fitter fined after elderly couple poisoned by carbon monoxide. |
| Dermot Healy, trading as D Healy Plumbing and Heating, fined £500 and costs of £1,500 under HASAWA 1974 s3 and GSIUR 1998. An elderly couple were taken ill 14 days after Mr Healy had serviced the Lennox warm air unit at their home, and made no recommendations. An investigation showed that the air unit cupboard had insufficient ventilation, and the flue was also of an insufficient length with two 90 degree bends, restricting the escape of exhaust gases to the outside. Negative pressure inside the cupboard resulted in gases being drawn down into ducts in the unit. |
HSE (National) Press Release COILDN/1806 18/6/10 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| HSE and Swale Council help businesses get safe and healthy. |
| More than a 100 businesses in Swale have been offered the opportunity to be part of an innovative support project which is designed to fulfil the need for advice and training for businesses and workers. HSE has joined forces with a host of organisations committed to H&S across the South East, to run the Estates Excellence project. In Swale the local authority partners include Swale Borough Council, Medway Council, Kent County Council and Gravesham Borough Council with further support from Kent Fire and Rescue Service and the NHS Eastern & Costal Kent Primary Care Trust. Specially-trained visiting staff called on small and medium-sized businesses on how to 'Get It Right', 'Get Efficient' and 'Get Fit for Work'. |
HSE (South East) Press Release 16/6/10 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Regentford Ltd |
| Fined £250,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Death of worker at construction site following accident. |
HSE Prosecution 4191569 6/4/10 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| AB Waste Management Limited |
| Fined £12,000 under PUWER 1998. Company failed to maintain guard rail (of a Goodwin Barsby Crushing Machine) in an efficient state. Guard rail gave way causing the IP to fall from the platform, a distance of 2.6m, resulting in injury. |
HSE Prosecution 4195547 6/4/10 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Kendall Varley Ltd |
| Fined £2,000 under CDMR 2007. The IP fell a distance of approximately 4 metres from the top of a wall that had no edge protection in the form of guardrails on to a paved area. He had been manually handling building materials and debris near the top of the wall. |
HSE Prosecution 4176867 7/4/10 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Illson (Builders & Contractors) Limited |
| Fined a total of £5,000 under WHR 2005 and CDMR 2007. The IP fell a distance of approximately 4 metres from the top of a wall that had no edge protection in the form of guard rails on to a paved area. He had been manually handling building materials and debris near the top of the wall. |
HSE Prosecution 4176872 7/4/10 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| S J Care Homes Limited |
| Fined £5,000 under HASAWA 1974 s33. The company failed to take any action after an enforcement notice was issued when a routine visit to a nursing home revealed that the care home did not have the required precautions in place to control legionella bacteria. The enforcement notice gave the company six weeks to write a plan for managing the level of legionella bacteria in the care home's water system but when the inspector revisited, no action had been taken. |
HSE Prosecution 4186862 7/4/10 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Mr Sean Mooney |
| Guilty - Absolute Discharge/Comp under HASAWA 1974 s7. Mr Mooney instructed workers to remove temporary works, namely infills between tables supporting a recently poured concrete roof slab, thereby removing the support for an external walkway above, resulting in the IP falling through the walkway. |
HSE Prosecution 4158034 9/4/10 Week ending: 18/06/10 |
| Company fined £280,000 after worker's head crushed. |
| Hanson Building Products Ltd fined £280,000 and costs of £29,204 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Peter Clarke, 57, who had only been on site for two weeks, was killed when his head was crushed between concrete blocks and a metal platform. Mr Clarke was working next to a conveyor that transferred groups of concrete blocks from a kiln to a packaging area. His job was to remove samples of blocks for quality checking. Sections of blocks were formed into larger groups for packaging by moving the conveyor's direction of travel backwards and forwards. Mr Clarke was standing next to a low bridge over the conveyor when he leaned forward to remove some blocks from the machine. Another worker changed the direction of the conveyor, crushing Mr Clarke's head between the concrete blocks on the conveyor and the metal platform. The operator of the conveyor could not see Mr Clarke as his view was obstructed. HSE found that the company had only identified the risk of workers trapping their fingers between the blocks and the stairway. The area where he was working was known as a danger zone by other workers, but no-one had told Mr Clarke. |
HSE (National) Press Release WM156/10 23/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Day of remembrance forgotten by some. |
| In 2010, it should have been momentous. However, 28 April passed without many even realising it was the day to "remember the dead: fight for the living", despite it being the first International Workers' Memorial Day to have official Government recognition in the UK. |
Safety Management June 2010:6 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Red tape is in the firing line, but in world of H&S details are lacking. |
| While lacking details, the guidance document for the next five years of Conservative-Lib Dem coalition Government does make some sweeping statements that may affect the regulation and management of workplace health and safety. In "The Coalition: our programme for Government", one statement relates to cutting regulatory red tape for business and a planned review into employment and workplace law. |
Safety Management June 2010:7 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| HSE to target meat industry. |
| The HSE has issued new instructions to police the meat processing industry in following an Equality and Human Rights Commission inquiry that revealed widespread mistreatment of migrant and agency workers. |
Safety Management June 2010:7 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Businesses must listen to training requests from workers. |
| Workers in business employing more than 250 people now have the legal right to request time to study or train. The Time to Train legislation, included in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act which was given Royal Assent in November, came into force on 6 April. |
Safety Management June 2010:10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| BP oil leak: no time for passing the buck. |
| The companies involved in the recent catastrophic explosion and oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico should focus on helping improve safety in light of the disaster, not transferring blame. (BSC) |
Safety Management June 2010:15 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Clapham applauded for raising standards. |
| As chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Occupational H&S, Mick Clapham MP has spent many years campaigning for better working conditions, and was honoured in 2007 by IOSH for his lifetime contribution to H&S. Now, as he steps down as Labour MP for Barnsley West and Penistone after 18 years, BSC chief executive Julie Nerney finds out how he feels H&S has developed over the years. (Joanna Gurman) |
Safety Management June 2010:25-27 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| The benefits of apprenticeships. |
| With the number of young people starting apprenticeships and rising to a record 239,900 last year, it seems more and more organisations are turning to apprenticeships to fill their recruitment needs. BSC member organisations explain their experiences of employing apprentices. (Joanna Gurman) |
Safety Management June 2010:37-40 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Building in the environment. |
| Construction is renowned for being one of the most dangerous and intensive industries in the UK. However, Mace Technology has challenged this stereotype by becoming the first construction company ever to have achieved five stars in both the BSC's health and safety audit and environment audit, as well as wining a Sword of Honour in the same year. (Joanna Gurman) |
Safety Management June 2010:42-45 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| The big lift: safe use of mobile platforms. |
| Mobile elevating work platforms such as scissor lifts and cherry pickers are increasingly used for temporary work at height, but they must be operated correctly. (Tim Whiteman) |
Safety Management June 2010:47-50,52 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Cardiac arrest: a shock to the system. |
| Every year, thousands of people in Britain die from sudden cardiac arrest, but more lives could be saved if defibrillators were installed in public buildings and workplaces, and people knew how to use them. (Clive James) |
Safety Management June 2010:54-56 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| East Ayrshire council fined £56,000 following death of worker. |
| East Ayrshire Council fined £56,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Robert McGill, 35, an electrician, suffered fatal injuries when he fell from a mobile elevated work platform, known as an airlift, that he and a colleague had been using in a gym to fix overhead lights. The platform had been fully extended and Mr McGill had been in the basket at the top of the airlift when it was moved around the gym. The airlift became unstable and he fell to the ground and later died from his injuries. Mr McGill and his work colleague had not received any training on how to use the airlift. In particular, they had not been told it should never be moved when there was a person working in it, and that stabilisers should be properly attached to it when in use. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/154/10 21/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| £39,960 in fines following serious roof fall. |
| Woodgate Sawmills Ltd fined a total of £13,320 and costs of £14,443 under CDMR 1994 and 2007. Stanley John Frederick Stephens of The Longhope Welding Company (a partnership) fined £26,660 and costs of £14,443 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Mr Robert Stephens, 40, was working for his father, Stanley, alongside fellow Longhope Welding Company employees to raise the roof line of the Woodgate Sawmill building, when he fell five metres through a fragile skylight and landed on the concrete floor below, sustaining serious head injuries. |
HSE (National) Press Release 809/SWW/10 21/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Recycling firm in court after worker loses leg under truck. |
| WSR Recycling Ltd fined £10,000 and costs of £6,338 under WHSWR 1992. The 46 year old man, who has asked not to be named, was working in a tipping bay at the company's site when he was struck by a Volvo L110E articulated shovel loader. The worker lost part of his leg when he was crushed by the 18 tonne truck. WSR Recycling admitted it did not ensure pedestrians and vehicles could move around the bay safely. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/31WSR 21/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| HSE appoints new agriculture champion. |
| The HSE has a new agricultural champion. The formal handover of the role is from Judith Donovan to fellow HSE board member Sandy Blair. Judith, who masterminded a new agricultural strategy for HSE and who was the momentum behind the 'Make the Promise' campaign, will stand down ahead of her formal departure as board member in the autumn, passing the baton to Sandy who welcomes the challenge. |
HSE (National) Press Release 21/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| 10 years of safer quarries celebrated at major industry event. |
| 10 years of success in reducing death and injury in Great Britain's quarries was marked in a special address at the Hillhead 2010 quarry exhibition. Reportable injuries in the sector are down 76 per cent since the 'Hard Target' initiative was launched in 2000 and Judith Hackitt, Chair of the Sewell be commending the companies, trade bodies and trade unions for their efforts. |
HSE (National) Press Release 21/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Tameside firm in court after worker crushed. |
| ADA Machining fined £26,000 and costs of £6,220 under PUWER 1998. An employee suffered major injuries when he became trapped in rotating machinery. He was pulled into a 14 foot metal-shaping machine when his overalls became entangled. The 53 year old, who has asked not to be named, lost one finger on his right hand and badly injured another. He suffered a dozen broken ribs, a cracked breast bone and friction burns to the left hand side of his body. HSE found the company had failed to comply with a health and safety law requiring it to prevent access to any dangerous parts of machinery. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/28ADA 22/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Rebuilding Cockermouth safely - event aims to cut serious injuries. |
| Advisers from the HSE are returning to Cockermouth to offer support to workers rebuilding the town following last year's floods. HSE figures show, on average, a construction worker is seriously injured in Cumbria every three days, and the free event in Cockermouth will aim to prevent future injuries. It will take place at the Sheep and Wool Centre, Egremont Road on Wednesday 30 June between 7.30 am and 12.30 pm, and is targeting self-employed builders and the owners of small building firms. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/029SHADCockermouth 22/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Fairground ride owner and inspector convicted after women are flung from ride. |
| Thomas Denzil Jones, fined £15,000 and costs of £5,000 under PUWER 1998. Fairground Inspection Services ordered to pay £35,000 compensation to Ms Oseland after pleading guilty under HASAWA 1974 s3. The owner and inspector of a faulty fairground ride called the Orbiter ride were convicted after Jessica Oseland and Alison Foxall needed hospital treatment after being flung from the 27 year old revolving ride. Ms Foxall suffered head, neck and back injuries, but was released from hospital soon after the incident. However, Ms Oseland received severe spinal injuries and spent months recovering at a specialist centre, before moving to a specially adapted house. The Orbiter featured a rotating vertical pole with six arms, each holding a cluster of spinning cars. The car the two women were in broke away from the arm and was flung through the air before coming to rest near an adjacent fast-food stall. There was a failure of a weld which held the car in place. The annual inspection, held just weeks before the incident, failed to detect the problem. |
HSE (National) Press Release WM153/10 22/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| European safe maintenance drive launches in Britain. |
| Maintenance is integral to running a safe and reliable operation. Good planning and having the right skills and tools to do the job minimises the risk to workers and the public in any task from repairing a gas main to fixing a roof. That's the message behind a new European initiative launched in Britain. It is estimated that between 25 and 30 per cent of all manufacturing industry deaths in Britain result from maintenance activity, with common causes of fatalities and major injuries including falls from height and failure to isolate machinery properly, with the result that it restarts while being worked on. Many of these accidents are entirely preventable, and the initiative aims to raise awareness among businesses and their workers and to help them implement simple solutions. |
HSE (National) Press Release 22/6/10 Internet: www.hse.gov.uk/safemaintenance Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Worker's fingers severed at London food firm. |
| Smith Weston Ltd fined £7,500 and costs of £3,365 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Kolak Snack Foods Ltd fined £7,500 and costs of £3,365 under HASAWA 1974 s3. A worker employed by Smith Weston Ltd had his fingers severed while using a food mixing blender at a factory. The cleaning hatch of the blender was open, exposing the rotating blade and as the worker started using the machine, three fingers and a thumb on his right hand were amputated. The machine should have stopped automatically when the cleaning hatch was open. The blender was also in a poor state of repair. Kolak Snack Foods Ltd were responsible for the maintenance of the machine. |
HSE (National) Press Release COILDN/2206 22/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Selby company fined after explosion injures worker. |
| Repair Protection and Maintenance Limited (RPM) fined a total of £3,250 and costs of £2,656.60 under CSR 1997 and MHSWR 1999. A worker at a company providing anti-corrosion solutions to industry was severely injured when a build up of gas vapour in a road tanker exploded. The employee, who does not wish to be identified, suffered a fractured skull and severe burns to the legs and arms and face when gas vapours from a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) heater, previously placed in the interior of the road tanker, ignited blowing him off his feet. The man was caught in the blast when a spark from an attempt to re-light the LPG heater ignited flammable gases which had accumulated in the confined space of the tanker. The heater was being used as part of the preparation for a coating treatment. As a result of the incident, the man has lost most of his sense of taste and his hearing has been impaired. A second worker escaped with minor injuries. The investigation found that the heater was found not to be working when the vapours ignited causing the explosion. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/180/10 23/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Construction company sentenced after worker's foot amputated. |
| Morgan Est plc fined £12,000 and costs of £11,213 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Clive Morgan, 46, was installing interlocking metal sheets, known as piles, into the ground to prevent the collapse of an excavation for an underground pumping station. Mr Morgan was standing on a horizontal beam in place to guide the pile into position, when his foot became trapped between the sheet and the beam, injuring his left foot so seriously he later had it amputated. HSE investigation demonstrated that the work Mr Morgan was involved in was not carried out in a safe manner, in that no-one should be standing close to a metal pile as it is being lowered into position. |
HSE (National) Press Release 803/W/10 23/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Operational Note: Workplace fatality statistics released. |
| The HSE will be releasing the annual provisional workplace fatality statistics on Wednesday 30 June at 9.30am. This will include a breakdown of deaths in each key sector and the regions in Great Britain. A press release will be distributed following the release of the statistics and also made available at www.hse.gov.uk. Media will be invited to interview key spokespeople. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE-E-14 23/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Dunmow event to help reduce death and injury in farming. |
| Around 150 farmers across Essex attended a free event aimed at helping reduce the number of death and injuries in agriculture. The Safety and Health Awareness Day (SHAD), was run by HSE. Qualified instructors gave practical demonstrations based on the most common scenarios such as those involving chemicals, falls from height and machinery blockages, giving guidance on how to prevent them. Farmers took away information packs and had the opportunity to ask HSE inspectors questions. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE-E-13 24/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Wolverhampton building firm puts workers and others at risk. |
| Alexson Homes Limited fined £6,600 and costs of £900 under WHR 2005. Stan Alexander, a director, his son Conrad and a fellow director Dean Mason were dismantling part of the roof of a former children's home. There were no measures in place to prevent them falling from the roof of the building, putting them at serious risk of falling almost five metres. The men also put other people on site at risk by dropping materials off the side of the roof in an uncontrolled manner. An investigation by the HSE concluded that the roof edge should have been fitted with scaffold edge protection and a rubble chute to protect other workers on site. |
HSE (National) Press Release WM148/10 24/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Two thirds of Scottish farms fail on quad bike safety. |
| Almost two thirds (62 per cent) of Scottish farms visited in an intensive inspection initiative were found not to be using All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), such as quad bikes, safely. Figures released by the HSE on the opening day of the Royal Highland Show followed inspector visits to 58 farms over a two-week period earlier this month. 36 INs were issued, 25 for using ATVs without appropriate training, 10 for a lack of suitable head protection, and one for poor maintenance. On average, two people die and over 1,000 are injured in ATV accidents each year. Three agricultural workers died in incidents involving ATVs in Scotland in the four years up to 2008/9. |
HSE (National) Press Release SCO/150/10 24/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Farmers urged not to misuse telehandlers. |
| Farmers are being reminded not to use the buckets of telehandlers to drive in fencing posts. The warning follows a rise in the number of serious incidents where buckets have come loose from the main telescopic arm upon impact with a post, and struck people underneath. |
HSE (National) Press Release YH/178/10 25/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Oldham developer fined for putting lives at risk. |
| Mahmood Khokhar fined £2,000 and costs of £1,725 under HASAWA 1974 s33. Mr Khokhar failed to make an excavation safe in a residential area. The 1.8 metre deep pit had been dug for the foundations of a house extension. Failed to comply with 2 INs issued by a HSE inspector following a visit to the site. The notices required the excavations to be made safe to stop it collapsing, and fencing to be put up to prevent people from falling in. |
HSE (National) Press Release HSE/NW/18Khokhar 25/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Worker left with amputated finger and cut hand. |
| Prospect Joinery Limited fined £3,000 and costs of £1,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. David Bell, 59, worked making wooden beading by hand-feeding lengths of wood into a machine. While feeding wood into the machine, his hand became caught. The machine amputated his right hand index finger, broke his middle finger and left him with severe cuts to his other fingers. Mr Bell also suffered associated nerve and tendon damage to his hand, which still affects his daily activities. He was unable to return to work following the incident and is currently unemployed. The company failed in its role to protect workers by not properly guarding the machine. They should have also put in place a safe tooling arrangement, which would have helped to prevent the severity of Mr Bell's injuries. |
HSE (West Midlands) Press Release WM149/10 25/6/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Corus UK Ltd |
| Fined £240,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Investigation of fatal accident, DP was a shunter working in Corus but employed by A Hingley Transport Ltd. |
HSE Prosecution 4114574 12/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Rubb Buildings Ltd |
| Fined £100,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. DP died as a result of falling from the roof of a temporary PVC clad hangar during dismantling work. Further related offences committed at Sellafield Nuclear site immediately afterwards. |
HSE Prosecution 4150845 13/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Leeds City Council |
| Fined a total of £10,500 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Dangerous Occurrence at Redhall Estates where visiting lorry driver made inadvertent contact with OHPL. |
HSE Prosecution 4155423 13/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| P A Bailey Plumbing and Heating |
| Guilty - community service under GSIUR 1998. |
HSE Prosecution 4174199 13/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Sims Group UK Ltd |
| Fined £200,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3. Prosecution resulting from fatality. Contractor was struck by a metal bale whilst delivering scrap to SIMS Group UK Ltd. |
HSE Prosecution 4178246 13/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Country Style Foods Ltd |
| Fined £6,000 under PUWER 1998. IP was cleaning away a build up of dough on a roller underneath the bagel forming belt. The roller and belt drew his left arm in and his arm was trapped beneath the roller. |
HSE Prosecution 4179452 13/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Ashtead Plant Hire Company Limited |
| Fined £200,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2. Prosecution as a result of a fatal fall. DP worked as a fitter and went on top of a double stacked cabin to sling it. The DP fell off. Company had system requiring harness and inertia reel use. DP was not expected to use this and not trained. Custom and practice of yard workers doing slinging. |
HSE Prosecution 4190713 13/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Mr Ikram |
| Fined a total of £350 under HASAWA 1974 s21 and GSIUR 1998. Breach of landlord's duties to carry out safety checks on gas appliances. No Gas Safety Certificates, breach of IN. |
HSE Prosecution 4191661 14/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Bakkavor Foods Ltd |
| Fined £3,500 under HASAWA 1974 s2. |
HSE Prosecution 4195314 12/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| FMC Chemicals Ltd |
| Fined £13,485 under HASAWA 1974 s3. During maintenance work on a lithium chloride blockage carried out under a permit to work, IP was collecting a steam lance from a heat exchanger when a section of steam-heated lithium chloride freed itself in the pipe work and fell discharging out of the heat exchanger, hitting the IP on the back of the neck causing thermal burns to the neck and shoulders. |
HSE Prosecution 4191914 15/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Marble City Limited |
| Fined a total of £100,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. |
HSE Prosecution 4185918 16/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Gavin Waldron |
| Fined a total of £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Prosecution of Managing Director. Preparing to off-load stone slabs from an A-Frame prior to the crane being in place, some slabs were moved manually and this caused half of the load to tip over off the A-Frame trapping 3 people, 2 of whom escaped but the DP suffered major injuries as he was trapped between the sides of the truck and the slabs. |
HSE Prosecution 4185927 16/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| Jamie Waldron |
| Fined a total of £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3. Prosecution of Director. |
HSE Prosecution 4185931 16/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
| All Metal Services Limited |
| Fined £12,500 under WHSWR 1992. Following HSE investigation into an accident to an employee who was struck by an FLT. There was no segregation in the racking aisles to allow pedestrians and vehicles to circulate in a safe manner. The company failed to ensure safety of employees. |
HSE Prosecution 4192000 16/4/10 Week ending: 25/06/10 |
Disclaimer
Whilst every effort is taken to ensure that H&S News entries are an accurate summary of the source data, at the time of publication on the HASTAM website, HASTAM cannot accept any responsibility for errors or omissions in transcription. Further, HASTAM cannot accept any responsibility for the content of the information to be found in the source materials.
HASTAM cannot accept any liability for any events arising from the use of this information. We strongly recommend that, if any information from any H&S News entry is to be used for any specific purpose, the original source is checked to confirm accuracy and to enable the user to take account of the full information. This is particularly important in the case of HSE Prosecutions where the HSE may have withdrawn a specific entry subsequent to its publication in H&S News. Entries can be checked using the search facility on www.hse-databases.co.uk/prosecutions
For copyright reasons we cannot make the articles themselves available.