On 25 February 2021, Irfan Yakar, co-director of Alfie Salad Veg Express Ltd, was driving a forklift truck loaded with lemons at his unit at Parkway Market. The pallet of lemons obstructed his view which, coupled with maintenance defects to the vehicle, led him to drive into a man, breaking his hip in 4 places and leaving him with life changing injuries.

A Blackburn based building contractor has been sentenced after unsafe work methods constituted a public risk and resulted in asbestos being disturbed.

Laxtons Limited, a West Yorkshire manufacturing company, has been fined for safety breaches after a worker lost part of their hand in a textile machine.

 Find out about the basic factors that cause discomfort in the workplace and what the law says

A Blackburn-based warehouse owner has been fined after an employee of a roofing contractor fell approximately 30 feet through a glass skylight on a warehouse roof resulting in severe life changing injuries.  Preston Crown Court heard that roofing contractor Nizmuddin Gorji was engaged by Floors ‘n’ Carpets Limited of Gate Street, Blackburn to over-clad the existing roof. Three operatives were employed to carry out the work which started on 13 May 2020. The following day, one of the employees, Taj Zahir fell through the roof sustaining serious injuries to his pelvis, arm, knee and face and has undergone extensive surgery since.

A Lincolnshire based manufacturing company that specialises in lifting and handling equipment has been fined after an employee died after falling with a work platform onto the M25 motorway.  Reading Crown Court heard that Rick Jeager-Fozard, an employee of Kimberly Access Limited, was carrying out a routine pre-delivery inspection on a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) on 5 June 2013.

A glass manufacturing company has been fined £80,000 after a worker sustained serious injuries when he fell through a roof.  A worker at NSG Pilkington (UK) Ltd stepped from a load bearing roof to a fragile roof at Pilkington premises in St Helens and fell nearly three meters to the floor below.  He sustained life changing injuries including a fractured lower back and right heel plus injuries to his shoulder and elbow. The court heard he was unable to return to his job, forcing him to retire early.

A Leeds based company has been fined £850,000 after an employee sustained fatal injuries while undergoing training.  Hermes Parcelnet Limited pled guilty to health and safety breaches committed between 1 August 2018 and 19 March 2019 at Hamilton Sheriff Court.  The court heard that at around 10.15pm on 19 March 2019 at the company’s Eurocentral depot David Kennedy sustained crush injuries while undergoing training on the operation of a trailer mover.

Railway infrastructure contractor VolkerRail Ltd has been fined £550,000 after a trench collapsed onto a railway worker, causing life-changing injuries and resulting in him being placed in a medically-induced coma. We spoke to Simon Barber, HM Inspector of Railways at the Office of Road and Rail (ORR), about what happened.

A Blackburn based warehouse owner has been fined after an employee of a roofing contractor Nizamuddin Gorji fell approximately 30 feet through a glass skylight on a warehouse roof resulting in severe life changing injuries.  Preston Crown Court heard that roofing contractor Nizmuddin Gorji was engaged by Floors ‘n’ Carpets Limited of Gate Street, Blackburn to over-clad the existing roof.  Three operatives were employed to carry out the work which started on 13 May 2020.  The following day, one of the employees, Taj Zahir fell through the roof sustaining serious injuries to his pelvis, arm, knee and face and has undergone extensive surgery since.