Health and Safety News

Council fined after worker falls from stepladder

Central Bedfordshire Council has been sentenced after a worker fell from a roof. Luton Magistrates’ Court heard that on 19 December 2017, the injured person was climbing on to the roof of a school from a stepladder to retrieve a child’s shoe when he fell. He sustained eight broken ribs, a grade four lacerated liver and a punctured lung. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the Council did not have a risk assessment or safe system for working at height in place to retrieve items from the roof.

Roofer fell six metres onto concrete floor

The failure to properly plan and appropriately supervise work at height has led to a £60,000 fine for a Basingstoke roofing firm. Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard that on 21 June 2017, a man was working on the roof at the Lok N Store facility, Basingstoke with two other roofers as part of a 10-week long roof replacement project. The old asbestos cement sheet roof was being removed and replaced with trisomet sheeting. The man and a colleague were working up on the roof and another colleague was working within the building to remove bolts from the underside of the old roof.

Stone-works firm on trial after five-tonne machine topples on employee

AN OXFORDSHIRE firm has gone on trial accused of health and safety failings after an employee was struck by a five-tonne piece of machinery. Stoneworld Oxfordshire and G J Harris Engineering Services both deny one count of a failure to discharge a duty in relation to health and safety regulations. Prosecutors at Oxford Crown Court claim that this failure led to one Stoneworld employee being injured by a toppling Pellegrini wire cut saw.

Engineering company fined after employee fall

An engineering company has been fined after a 31-year-old employee fell through a hole in a mezzanine floor during construction work being carried out in Bristol. Bristol Magistrates’ Court heard that on 13 November 2018, an employee of N&C Engineering Services Limited was involved with the installation of flooring at Albion Dockside Works, Hanover Place, Bristol. An opening had been cut in the boarded‐out mezzanine floor through which the employee fell three metres to the ground, suffering serious head injuries. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that the contractor failed to adequately plan, manage and monitor the construction work, so as to ensure that appropriate methods to prevent or mitigate a fall during the construction work, were in use.

Company fined after vehicle struck an overhead power cable

Fairhurst Stone Merchants Ltd has been fined for safety breaches after a vehicle made contact with an uninsulated overhead electric power line. Leeds Magistrates’ Court heard that on 25 July 2018, a wagon delivering materials to the company’s ready-mix plant in Settle was directed to tip its load close to the overhead power lines. During the tipping procedure the vehicle moved forward and made contact with the power lines which were live at 11,000v, nobody was injured in the incident. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that two years previously, a wagon had made contact with the same power lines. No one was injured but the electricity supplier gave advice regarding avoiding a repeat incident. The only action taken by the company was to put up two small warning notices that the driver failed to see. In addition, the first incident was not reported to HSE as required by the RIDDOR regulations.

Brexit must build, not erode, workplace safety and health standards

Brexit must build, not erode, the UK’s world-leading safety and health system, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the global Chartered body for safety and health professionals, has urged today. A transition period until 31 December 2020 will follow the UK’s departure from the European Union at 11.00pm today, with trade and other negotiations taking place in the coming months and years. The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 transfers EU-derived laws into UK law, meaning workers continue to have the same workplace protections. The Health and Safety (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 come into force today (Brexit-day), to ensure existing protections and regulatory frameworks and The EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 gives effect to the transition period.

Workers left to plan task that resulted in crush death

An employee of a farming business who fell from a trailer was crushed to death by a concrete beam that fell with him. On 13 March 2018, Trevor ‘Ted’ Elson of A.A. Clifton Limited, Burmarsh, was working with other employees to move six-metre-long concrete beams from the farmyard to the farmhouse, where an extension was under construction at the site at Haguelands Farm, Burmarsh Road, Burmarsh, Kent. Each beam weighed more than 300kg and needed to be lifted by a mechanical telehandler. Whilst on the trailer, attaching lifting chains to unload a beam, the deceased tripped and fell from the edge, catching one of the beams which was unstable from the way previous beams had been removed. This beam then fell from the trailer, landing on his upper body and crushing him to death.

Health and Safety Executive investigating contractor's death at Müller's Market Drayton factory

An incident at Müller's Market Drayton factory where a contractor died is being investigated by the health and safety watchdog, it has been confirmed. The company confirmed that it was conducting its own investigation into the incident last week. The Health and Safety Executive has now confirmed that it is also investigating the circumstances around the man's death. A spokesman for the HSE said: 'We are investigating the incident.' The man died after the incident at the factory on Tern Valley Business Park in Hollygrove, last Tuesday.

College fined for asbestos failings

Newnham College has been fined for failings that exposed employees and subcontractors to asbestos during refurbishment of a flat owned by the college. Cambridge Magistrates’ Court heard that in March 2018, employees of Newnham College and subcontractors were carrying out a refurbishment of a flat on Grange Road, Cambridge when asbestos insulation debris was discovered in the floor voids after work had been carried out in them. No asbestos refurbishment survey was carried out prior to insulation debris being found. One employee, who contaminated his gloves and clothing with loose asbestos debris, did not have asbestos awareness training and spread asbestos from his clothing outside the flat.

Carlisle company fined after customer fatally crushed

A Carlisle auto-salvage company was fined after a customer was trapped and fatally crushed when a lift truck he had purchased was being loaded onto his own recovery vehicle. Carlisle Crown Court heard that on 15 February 2018, a lift truck purchased from Michael Douglas Autosalvage Ltd was lifted using the company’s skip lorry onto a recovery vehicle at Stainton Road, Etterby. The metal ring on the lift truck that the winch wire was attached to failed, causing the lift truck to fall and trap Mr Paul Spence against the skip lorry.