The investigation into the death of Michael Jones at Bramley Moore is now being led by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).  Michael, who was 26, was killed while working on the construction of Everton Football Club’s new stadium on 14 August 2023.

A company has been fined £450,000 and the firm’s director has received a suspended prison sentence after a labourer was crushed to death at a construction site.  Oleksander “Sasha” Rudyy, 49, had been removing supporting metal bars with an angle grinder as part of a large-scale renovation project involving three bordering sites when the structure collapsed. He was not aware the metal bars played a crucial role in supporting the structure.

A woman and her friend had to climb up a tree to escape an attack by more than a dozen cows on a public right of way in North Yorkshire.  Janicke Tvedt and David Hood had set out on a popular circular walk from Masham with pet Labrador Goose, who was on his lead, on 25 July 2021. Part of their walk took them across the fields and public rights of way near Shaws Farm.

HSE is inspecting manufacturing businesses that use metalworking fluids in their machining processes until March.  Health surveillance is a scheme of repeated health checks which are used to identify ill health caused by work. The aim is to detect any symptoms as early as possible. It’s not the same as health monitoring, health promotion or health screening. 

A textiles company has been fined £60,000 after a man broke his arm when it was dragged into machinery at a site near Chorley.  The employee, a man from Blackrod in Greater Manchester, suffered serious injuries to his right arm in the incident at the factory operated by Pin Croft Dyeing and Printing Co. Limited in Market Street, Adlington, on 20 June 2022.

Exposure to high noise levels can cause permanent hearing damage. It may lead to tinnitus or deafness. Noise can be a safety hazard at work, interfering with communication and making warnings harder to hear.

The construction industry has seen a huge boost to efforts to get properly fitted inclusive PPE for women.  Accreditation group the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) has pledged to mandate the provision of women’s PPE across all its sites. The move means companies that opt-in to the CCS code of considerate practice will now have to ensure that women’s PPE is available in suitable sizes at their construction sites across the country.

A fruit and vegetable firm has been fined £320,000 over the death of a worker.   Francis Schlachter, 64, of Southport, died after he fell from a skip at the Burscough farm run by M. A. Forshaw Ltd on 3 January 2020.  M A Forshaw Ltd, of Scarisbrick, West Lancashire, admitted health and safety breaches at Wirral Magistrates' Court. 

MD Safety comment:  If the HSE issue enforcement notices for you to make improvements, if you don't you will almost certainly face prosecution.

A stone worktop manufacturer has been fined £26,000 for repeatedly putting its workers at risk, the Health and Safety Executive has revealed.  Stockport-based Granite & Marble Shop Ltd failed to implement safe working practices despite warnings, according to the body.

Residents of a block of flats with Grenfell-style flammable cladding were told to “stay put” in their homes as fire ravaged the building and some alarms failed to go off, it has been claimed.   Around 125 firefighters battled the blaze at Petworth Court in Wembley last Monday.  Families demanded an investigation after flammable cladding was identified on the building more than three years ago, but had not been replaced.