An asbestos management company has been fined and two of its employees have been jailed for failing to protect workers from asbestos exposure during a major refurbishment project in Plymouth.  Chelmsford Crown Court heard that in February 2017, concerns were raised by workers at Ensure Asbestos Management Limited who believed they were being put in danger whilst carrying out refurbishment work at the former department store.

A skip hire company has been fined after an employee sustained crush injuries to his arm. An employee of Bateman Skips Ltd was asked to repair a conveyor belt feeding the picking station on 30 May 2018, Bristol Magistrates’ Court heard was told. He was injured when his arm was drawn into the mechanism whilst realigning the belt. The employee was rescued by the Fire & Rescue Service.

A Yorkshire property company has been fined £20,000 for failing to carry out safety and fire safety improvement works on a property in Kirkburn, Driffield after ignoring requests to do so by housing officers.  GAP Properties (Yorkshire) Ltd, which is based in Doncaster, was represented at Beverley Magistrates Court by director George Plant, who pleaded guilty on its behalf to two counts of failing to comply with improvement notices served under the Housing Act 2004.

Bulletin number: BSCD1-2022  Industry is alerted to a serious technical fault that HSE has found with mast climbing work platforms (MCWPs) used widely across construction projects. These can be used in other industries for access and to maintain large plant.  Platforms could fall from height where mechanical faults in drive units go undetected. If not rectified quickly, the fault could cause serious injury, or even death.

An engineering company specialising in the manufacture of containers and drums for the nuclear, aerospace and medical industries has been sentenced after a worker was fatally injured.  Preston Crown Court heard that on 21 May 2018, Whilst working at Graham Engineering’s site in Whitehalls Industrial Estate, Colin Willoughby was lying on his back, underneath the raised middle section of a Hugh Smith 1000 tonne capacity press, using a hand-held electric grinder to remove a weld from the base of a large metal piston. When the weld was removed, the internal ram fell through to the ground, crushing Mr Willoughby resulting in instant death.

The Firechief team explains why there are increasing concerns over lithium battery fires from items such as e-scooters, and advises on what to use if an incident were to occur.  Historically, the focus on significant causes of fires and deaths in the domestic environment has shifted between the decades. In the 1970s and 80s, emphasis was on the presence of paraffin heaters, electric blankets and most significantly, foam filled furniture in the home, while in the 1990s it was the lack of smoke alarms for early warning and the 2000s it was white goods, particularly tumble dryers. A number of these well-publicised risk factors have had a key part to play in the development of contemporary fire safety legislation.

New HSE research has revealed that respirators/masks which rely on ear loops (including those provided with clips, ‘snuggers’ or other means of tightening the fit of the mask) to hold the respirator/mask in place, do not protect people adequately when used as tight fitting respiratory protective equipment (RPE).

The New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) issued a Willful-Serious citation last week against Rust Movie Productions, LLC (RMP) for the avoidable death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and the severe injury of director Joel Souza on the set of the film Rust on October 21, 2021.   Hutchins, 42 years old, was a 2015 graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory and considered a rising star in the industry. She was killed when actor Alec Baldwin, who was also a producer of the film, accidentally fired a prop gun while rehearsing a scene of the Western. Souza, 48, was wounded in the shoulder by the same bullet.

A jam and preserve manufacturer has been prosecuted after a worker sustained multiple fractures after falling from a ladder.  Llandudno Magistrates’ court heard how on the 6 April 2020, a worker was installing a security camera on the outside of The Clarendon Food Company Limited production building in Pwllheli, using an unsecured ladder. The ladder slipped and the worker fell approximately 15ft sustaining multiple fractures to his right arm, left leg, cheekbone and a dislocation of his backbone

A North West company that manufactures soft furnishings has been fined after an employee sustained serious hand injuries whilst working on an automatic duvet rolling machine.  Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard that on 13 November 2018, two employees of Azura Soft Furnishings (UK) Limited had been instructed to sew and pack duvets by the company’s managing director, Mr Tariq Majid.  The machine was being trialled by the company.