A dismantling and demolition company has been fined after a worker fell 30 feet to his death when part of a pipe bridge platform gave way.  Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard that John Gary Robertson, known as Gary Robertson, employed by CBR02 Limited (formerly known as Brown and Mason) suffered multiple injuries following a fall from height at Longannet Power Station, Fife on 6 February 2019.

As part of its continuing commitment to raising safety standards across the material handling sector, the UK Material Handling Association (UKMHA) – the UK trade association for manufacturers, truck users and suppliers of forklift trucks and associated components and services – is once again championing the cause of National Forklift Safety Day.   

As we approach the anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, we look at progress in tackling widespread safety failings, and at the wider lessons for OSH professionals.  In September 2021, an article in The Times trailed government plans to demolish the charred remains of Grenfell Tower in west London (Wheeler et al, 2021). The suggestion was greeted with protests from Grenfell United, a group of survivors and bereaved families of the 72 people who died in the fire that engulfed the 24-storey local authority apartment block in June 2017. ‘How can the tower be demolished before the legal process concludes,’ the group asked, ‘when no judge in the land can confirm it won’t hinder future criminal prosecutions?’

Findings from a new research report* reveal the majority (78 per cent) of environment, health and safety (EHS) professionals surveyed believe a failure to manage and address health and safety risks could see their company lose business to competitors who can better demonstrate success in this area.

Abbots Mead Limited, a building maintenance company based in Cheshire has been fined £20,000 for poorly managing work at height while carrying out repairs to a roof and cleaning the gutters of a commercial unit in Wolverhampton.  While carrying out repairs works to a fragile roof of a commercial unit, an apprentice employee fell through a skylight, Dudley Magistrates Court heard. The employee fell approximately six metres to the concrete floor of the warehouse below contacting the racking on the fall, on 29 January 2021. His injuries included fractures to the hip and wrist.

Individuals, rather than any corporate entities, were put in the dock at Newcastle Crown Court having pleaded guilty to health & safety breaches.  Newcastle Crown Court heard how, on 16th November 2015, a roofer fell through fragile asbestos cement roof panels while carrying out over-cladding work.  He fell more than five metres to the ground and suffered injuries that subsequently proved fatal.

Fall prevention has been identified as the number one priority by health and safety charity the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). The charity is reaching out to businesses, business leaders and the wider health and safety community to use the skills they have developed in fall prevention in workplaces, to educate their employees to help prevent falls in the home.

A manufacturing company has been fined after a contractor sustained injuries whilst working on the top of a machine.  Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard that, on 30 July 2020, a contractor for Manufax Engineering Limited was working on top of the Correa machine which had an access gantry to reach the top.

Two former company directors have been sentenced and fined after a refurbishment project at a former department store was found to have disturbed asbestos containing materials (ACMs) while demolition work was still taking place.