Burghill Farms, a partnership trading as Dalhousie Estates, and Mr Piers Le Cheminant have been fined following an incident where one of the occupants of a holiday cottage was found collapsed in a bathroom heated by a portable cabinet propane gas heater.  Forfar Sheriff Court heard that on 28 October 2015, the victim, Thomas Oliver Hill, was staying with his girlfriend and her family at Glenmark Cottage, Tarfside, north-west of Edzel.

A Lincolnshire-based food manufacturer has been fined after one of its employees sustained two broken ribs having been crushed within an industrial cooking machine whilst working to clear a blocked water inlet.  The HSE’s investigation found that the task was carried out by the employees in this fashion on a regular basis and that the company should have been aware.

£90k fine for care home lift shaft fall

A care home firm in Flintshire, Wales has been fined £90,000 after one of its staff – a newly-recruited care home manager – fell down a lift shaft.  Pearlcare Wellfield Limited was found guilty of four health and safety breaches at Mold Crown Court after Lorraine Carter was seriously injured in the incident at the Wellfield Residential Care Home in Wood Lane, Hawarden. 

Wheeled loading shovels in waste and recycling

NEW HSE SAFETY NOTICE: This safety notice is to remind dutyholders who use these machines of the need to fully assess and actively manage the risk of vehicle-pedestrian collisions. There have been nine fatal vehicle-pedestrian collisions in the past four years involving wheeled loading shovels. 

Employers have a ‘legal duty’ to consult employees on matters affecting their health and safety at work

All UK employers have a legal duty to consult their employees (and/or employee representatives) on matters affecting employees’ health and safety at work. This means providing information about the health and safety hazards they may face, and taking account of their concerns and ideas before making any decisions about the best ways of protecting them. 

What is a health and safety policy?

A health and safety policy is a document outlining an organisations commitment and approach to managing health and safety in the workplace.  The policy is ultimately signed off by the person at the head of the organisation.  *MD Safety can help draft a comprehensive, bespoke Policy for your organisation

Car company fined after employee crushed at work

A car manufacturing company has been fined after an employee became trapped and suffered crush injuries whilst unloading a chassis from a delivery vehicle.  Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court heard that the employee became trapped between the trolley holding the chassis and a parked vehicle when the delivery vehicle moved.

HSE Guidance Update - Controlling noise at work

HSE has published a new edition of the guidance book Controlling noise at work. Many people are  exposed to noise levels at work that may be harmful, leading to permanent and  incurable hearing damage.  The third edition of L108 is  aimed at employers and other dutyholders and includes the Control of Noise at  Work Regulations alongside guidance on what they mean, setting out an  employer’s legal obligations to control risks to workers’ health and safety from  noise.

Lone workers are causing issues for businesses

More than two-thirds of organizations have suffered an incident involving a lone worker in the past three years, a new report from software firm StaySafe claims. Based on a poll of 1,300 lone workers and health and safety executives, the report states that a fifth of these incidents were “severe”.  Most of the time (59 percent), stress, mental health issues and tiredness are the cause of an incident. Other incidents are attributed to external factors, such as ill health and aggression.

£160k fine for scaffolding company after crane operator electrocuted

A company has been fined after a worker was fatally electrocuted whilst operating a lorry mounted crane.  ASL Access Scaffold Limited employee Martin Tilby was fatally electrocuted when the crane he was operating struck an overhead powerline whilst he was unloading materials in a field at Cowbridge, South Glamorgan, Cardiff Crown Court. The incident happened on 17 May 2016.