Roofing boss forged signature of dead workman to dodge blame for his fatal fall

A roofing company boss who forged an employee’s signature on health and safety forms in an effort to shift the blame after he fell to his death while working has been jailed for two years.  Foreman Kenneth Drake, 54, suffered severe head injuries including a fractured skull and died less than an hour after the accident on September 24, 2015.  He had been leading a team of roofers working atop an ironmonger’s in Rochdale and had previously complained that the roof was rotten.  Manchester Crown Court heard that contracts manager Mark Bray, 48, climbed up to have a look at the roof just a day earlier, but did ‘nothing to change how the men were working – with no harnesses, no safety decks, nothing’.  In the aftermath of the tragedy, Bray – knowing he’d be held responsible after declining to supply safety netting in order to cut costs – copied Mr Drake’s signature to make it appear as if he had agreed to procedures on the £55,000 project.

Steel fabrication company fined after steel cages fall onto employee

A steel fabrication company has been fined after steel cages fell onto a worker’s leg, resulting in multiple fractures.  Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard that, in November 2017, an employee of Lemon Groundwork Solutions Limited was using a gantry crane to lift a steel cage from a stack of cages at the company site in Wickford, Essex. These steel cages were free-standing on the floor, each weighing 1188kg, and were stacked between 2-4 cages high in an unstable pyramid formation, without chocks to support the load. When the employee used the gantry crane to lift the top cage from the stack, two cages at the bottom rolled onto his left foot and leg, fracturing his tibia and fibula bones. As a result, the worker had to undergo reconstructive surgery where metal rods, plates and pins were inserted into his leg.

Sheffield company fined £700,000 after worker killed

Chesterfield Special Cylinders Ltd was fined £700,000 today for safety breaches after a 64-year-old worker was fatally wounded by shrapnel ejected from testing equipment.  Sheffield Crown Court heard that on 10 June 2015, John Townsend was leak testing eight 1500 litre cylinders, by applying compressed air inside to create pressure, at the company’s Sheffield site. Whilst in the process of venting the air through the test manifold, it catastrophically failed and fatally injured Mr Townsend.

Construction company fined after worker killed during demolition work

A construction company was fined half a million pounds after a father-of-two was killed when a re-enforced concrete slab collapsed underneath him during a demolition project.  Southwark Crown Court heard that on 14 April 2014, 33-year-old labourer Dainius Rupsys from Lithuania was working with an excavator operator at the site on Grosvenor Square in London, as part of the operation to demolish the existing multi-storey building before 31 residential flats could be built.

Worker killed on his first day

A vehicle recovery and repair company has been sentenced after a worker suffered fatal crush injuries during maintenance work. It was his first day on the job.  Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard that on 24 November 2014, Albert Road Recovery and Repair Limited employee John Glenn was fatally injured when a rigid vehicle fell suddenly from an inadequate axle support prop at Siskin Parkway East, Middlemarch Business Park, Coventry.

Roofing company fined after worker fall

A roofing company has been fined after a worker suffered serious back injuries when he fell from a ladder whilst transporting a bucket full of broken tiles.  Folkestone Magistrates’ Court heard that on 2 October 2018, AU Roofing and Building Ltd workers were working on a roof in Elmes Avenue, Ramsgate, Kent where they were required to carry buckets of materials by hand down the scaffold access ladder. Davey Battams, aged 31, was unable to maintain a constant three points of contact with the ladder, resulting in the fall.

Fine after manufacturing worker’s hand crushed

A foundry company which casts parts for the automotive industry has been fined after an employee had two fingers amputated while attempting to clear a blockage in a moulding machine.  Chesterfield Justice Centre was told that, on 28 February 2018, an employee of William Lee Ltd was attempting to clear a blockage of sand in a moulding machine using a length of metal rod at the company site on Callywhite Lane, Dronfield. The blockage cleared without warning and the employee’s right hand was crushed between the rod and the machine, resulting in two fingers being amputated, and a number of fractured bones.  

Sir Robert McAlpine fined £260k after fall from height

Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd has been sentenced for safety breaches after a worker fell 4.8 metres through an unprotected opening.  On 28 April 2016, Mark Smith, aged 36, was working at Stone Gappe Hall, Lothersdale, Keighley, owned by Richard McAlpine, a director of the McAlpine group of companies. Mr Smith was attaching straps to a water tank whilst preparing to move it to a lower floor of a water tower at the property, in order to paint the floor. The HSE found that Mr Smith fell through an opening that did not have fixed edge protection. As a result, he sustained serious injuries including: a right tibial shaft fracture, a distal fibular fracture, a fracture to the left patella, orbital and nasal fractures, lacerations to the face, a concessional head injury, injury to his ribs and he was hospitalised for nine days. Mr Smith continues to suffer from psychological damage and has been unable to return to work.

Haulage company fined after employee fell from height and sustained severe injuries

W D Cormack & Sons, a partnership operating a haulage business, has been fined after a driver fell from a trailer to the ground.  Perth Sheriff Court heard that on 9 February 2016, the employee was securing a load of grain bags on a curtain-sider trailer, at Thormean Granary, Milnathort, when he fell 2.88 metres from the trailer to the ground. He sustained severe injuries as a result of the fall.  An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified that there was a failure to make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and a failure to provide and maintain a safe system of work.

Urgent action is needed to reduce fatal and serious crashes involving at-work drivers, says IAM RoadSmart

Urgent action is needed to tackle the stagnation in the number of people killed or injured in collisions involving drivers working or travelling on business, according to IAM RoadSmart.  The road safety charity’s concerns about a worrying lack of progress in driving down the number of work-related traffic incidents are highlighted in its latest white paper, ‘The Role of Business Drivers.’

In the paper IAM RoadSmart calls on all groups – the Health and Safety Executive, drivers and their employers, government and police – to do more to address the fact that there has been virtually no change in the number of fatal and serious injury road crashes on UK roads in the last decade.