H&S News - Week ending 20th June 2008

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Siemens Dematic Ltd (Principal Contractor) fined £100,000 and costs of £47,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  Stow (UK) Ltd (racking installation contractors) fined £80,000 and costs of £41,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  David Hill (Siemens' project manager) fined £2,500 and costs of £500 under HASAWA 1974 s7.  David Hastie (self employed site's H&S officer, contracted to Siemens for the project) fined £2,500 and costs of £500 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  Hans Zdolsek was helping to install staircases to access a racking system.  Temporary guard rails to prevent falls were not long enough to span the length of the system so some workers used plastic cable-ties to secure them in place.  Hans leaned against one of the rails and fell 28 feet to his death when it gave way. (More...)

Unions have warned the Government not to ignore the findings of the Works & Pensions Select Committee on the work of the HSE, especially in terms of funding and front line enforcement.

Prospect, the union which represents HSE Inspectors will ballot its members over strike action if it receives a below inflation pay offer.

The HSE has recruited 40 more front-line inspectors, it has been announced.  The move comes less than a month after the Works and Pensions Select Committee condemned recent falls in inspector numbers.

£235 million is to be invested in building 3,500 new play areas for children across the country in a fresh attempt to tackle Britain's risk-averse society.

According to a new report from the TUC, unscrupulous employers are exploiting vulnerable workers with practices considered unprincipled in the 19th century.  The TUC's Commission on vulnerable employment says that the law needs to be changed to give greater protection to the estimated 2m vulnerable workers in the UK, who work for low pay or on illegal hours, often for abusive bosses.

The Gangmasters Licensing Authority would welcome licensing powers for other sectors of UK industry - such as construction - its Chairman has said.  The GLA currently only has jurisdiction to license gangmasters in the agriculture, food processing and shellfish collection sectors.

According to a new survey by Norwich Union Healthcare, 32 per cent of UK workers have turned up for work with a hangover, while 15 per cent say they have been drunk on the job.  One in ten workers said that they did this at least once a month, while 1 in 20 said it happened once a week.

The owner of an East Sussex roofing company has been charged with the manslaughter of an employee, Darren Hooper, who fell 20 feet through a skylight.  Police and the HSE launched an investigation which culminated in manslaughter charges against Darren's boss, Colin Cooper.

Advanced Cooling Systems Ltd fined total of £15,000 and costs of £3,192 under HASAWA 1974 s2.  Daniel Smith had been installing an extractor fan when he slipped and fell through a skylight.  He shattered his back in the accident and has so far received 18 months of intensive rehabilitation and is still unable to walk unaided.

John Beckett, a company director whose employee died from chemical inhalation, has been fined £17,500 but  escaped a manslaughter conviction when the judge ruled there was no case to answer.  Dean Cox died from dichloromethane poisoning.

Impress Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales is part of the worldwide metal packaging manufacturer Impress Group.  The Group produces steel cans for a huge range of everyday consumer goods - from soups to baked beans and hairsprays to paints.  How they keep everyone safe at work.  (Joanna Gurman)

By law, all employers must provide adequate equipment, facilities and personnel so that first-aid can be given to employees in an emergency: What to do.  (Audrey Edwards)

The introduction of the Work at Height Regulations in 2005 prompted a wave of confusion over whether ladders had been banned at work, but they can still be used - providing certain criteria are met.  When, where and how to use them safely.  (David Wilson)

Ladders are all well and good for work at height in the right circumstances.  They are not, however, always appropriate, and sometimes you need a different tool for the job.  Some alternative access equipment.  (David Wilson)

A new voluntary CoP on water mist systems is now available.  It provides guidance and information to specifiers and end-users on water mist systems, which are increasingly being used in a wide range of commercial applications.

The Institute of Fire Safety Managers is holding a one-day conference on 29 July in Oxford.  The event will feature presentations on various subjects including fire safety in healthcare, the use of infrared thermography to prevent auto-ignition and corporate manslaughter.

The Scottish Minister for Community Safety has hailed the success of a series of workshops advising small businesses and voluntary groups about fire safety law.

Fire engineering has been at the heart of a 10-year project to convert a Victorian warehouse in Manchester into a hotel.  (Simon Lay)

Drawing on the experience of the London Fire Brigade, how regulators assess computational fluid dynamics submissions for fire engineered building designs.  (Alan Taylor)

Cabling is the key to the fire safety systems at Heathrow Airport's new Terminal 5.  (Mark Froggatt)

A review of the fire and rescue service response to the major flooding in England last year recommends a host of improvements - but rejects calls for a statutory flood rescue duty.  (FRM)

With the Integrated Clothing Project coming of age, fire authorities in England now have a new range of personal protective equipment and clothing options.  (Roger Startin)

The Internet offers worldwide benefits to fire alarm servicing companies when it comes to the remote monitoring of systems.  (Mohamed Benerari)

Recent tests in France evaluated the ability of high-expansion foam to control fires involving stored aerosols.  (Phillipe Grondeau)

Ongoing research shows that evacuation can be enhanced by the use of directional sound technology.  (Deborah Withington)

HSE has announced CAPITA as its preferred bidder in the competition to provide a new gas installer registration scheme in Great Britain.  This scheme will replace the one currently operated by CORGI.

Leicester based Parmeko Plc were fined £10,000 and costs of £1,910 under HASAWA 1974 s2.   An employee suffered burns to his hands and legs after some acetone caught fire.

Alfred McAlpine was fined a total of £2,400 and costs of £2,821 under MHSWR 1999 and PUWER 1998.  This was after an incident in which a worker employed by Alfred McAlpine Government Services Ltd was severely injured as a result of a grass-cutting incident on the slopes of the embankment of the A1M motorway.

Defective and poorly erected scaffolding poses risks to both construction workers and members of the public and each year a high number of people are killed and seriously injured.   Aberdeen City Council and the HSE are working in partnership to ensure that these risks are adequately controlled.

Syral UK Ltd fined total of £30,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2 and s3, costs of £6,500.  Brewchem International Ltd fined £10,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3 and costs of £2,000.  During the process of opening up one of the evaporators, there was an uncontrolled release of large quantities of hot liquid.  Two workers injured, one badly with serious burns to his face, neck and arms, the other slight burns and shock.  Three others were uninjured.  Failure to provide a safe system of work during maintenance operations.

HSE has applied to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal to the House of Lords in the case of Regina (HSE) v James Godfrey Joseph Porter.  The aim of the appeal is to obtain clarification on the law of risk.  As proceedings are now active, HSE cannot comment further until its conclusion.

Bussey and Armstrong Ltd, Darlington, were fined £15,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2, costs of £3,193 and ordered to pay compensation of £5,000 to injured worker.  Employee was working on the second floor using a saw horse as a working platform.  He was working next to an unguarded stairwell and lost his balance falling 5.4 metres to the concrete ground floor.  Serious injuries including crushed vertebrae and a fractured pelvis.

Authentic World Cuisine Limited were fined £4,000 under PSSR 2000.  An employee sustained multiple injuries when the door of an autoclave exploded under pressure midway through a cooking cycle.  The detached circular steel door struck him, sent him 8 metres across the factory causing multiple fractures.  Also sustained burns.  As a result from the incident his leg was amputated.

Fined £5,000 under HASAWA 1974 s2.  IP was working off a step ladder, his feet approx 6ft off the floor when he fell and landed on his back on the soft ground.  Investigation is taking place.

Prison for manslaughter.  17 year old suffered fatal injuries after falling through a fragile roof light of a retail store.  Lack of control measures to prevent access to adjoining building where there were fragile roof lights and no edge protection.

Fined £1,750 under HASAWA 1974 s7.  IP received a fractured pelvis when she was hit by an FLT.

Fined total of £4,000 under CDMR 2007, RIDDOR 1995 and WHR 2005.  IP was asked to remove concrete blocks which were on the roof, picked one up, turned and the roof gave in.

Fined total of £10,500 under HASAWA 1974 s20.  Company failed to produce documents requested under Section 20 powers.

Fined £4,000 under PUWER  1998.  Two IPs painting attic windows of public house when cherry picker overturned and were ejected from the basket when it hit the ground.

Fined £2,640 under PUWER 1998.  The nosing along an aluminium section was being removed with the use of a rip saw.  IP was guiding out the removed section when his glove caught on the blade, which pulled his hand into the blade.

Fined total of £200,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  This followed a fatal accident in which an employee of Baker Hughes Ltd was fatally crushed within the hydraulic catwalk, a piece of lifting equipment owned and operated by Edeco Petroleum Services.

Fined £32,000 under HASAWA 1974 s3.  Workman on a construction, demolition site came across a metal pipe which was identified as a live cable that they had been unaware of.  SP Power Systems Ltd visited site, sealing the end of the cable, but failed to make clear to site management team the cable remained live.  Believing the cable to be dead, work continued on site.  Two workers were working in the building, one of them stumbled onto the cable causing it to explode, resulting in serious burns to both men.

Fined total of £3,000 under COSHH 2002.  IP and another employee asked to do "one off" job using oxy-acetylene burning equipment.  No COSHH assessment and no control of exposure to metal fume.  Both suffered symptoms of metal fume fever.  IP was severely affected.

Fined total of £4,500 under PUWER 1998 and MHSWR 1999.  This follows a farm accident with a harvester.  IP's right arm was drawn into the cutter and their hand and lower arm were amputated.