Risk, Health and Safety Information

Building contractor sentenced over unsafe working practices

A construction firm has been sentenced after admitting multiple safety issues at a Manchester site where it was carrying out a shop refurbishment. 

Betcat International Limited was hired by high street clothing chain Mango to carry out refurbishment and alteration works at its store on Market Street, Manchester. 

The project involved the full refurbishment of the multi-storey retail unit, including structural alterations to facilitate the installation of two new staircases, the installation of a lift shaft, and the removal and infilling of an existing stairway.

The site manager was employed by Betcat, and all of the operatives on site were subcontractors. 

On 29th July 2014, a HSE inspector visited the site to investigate safety concerns raised by a member of the public and to carry out an inspection of the construction works. A number of issues were identified during the visit, which are outlined below: 

–           Two operatives were seen using tower scaffolds which had not been properly erected with full edge protection. One of the tower scaffolds was also balanced at an angle on some steps so that the working platform was not level. 

–           Another operative was observed walking up the new steel staircase from the ground floor to the 1st floor. The staircase had no handrails or any form of edge protection to prevent falls from height. 

–           On the 2nd floor of the building, a man was observed standing on a structural steel beam which was spanning the large lift shaft opening in the concrete floor. There was nothing to stop this man from falling through to the floor below. The standard of guarding around the opening was poor on each floor and access was not prevented. There were also materials being stored in the area, indicating that operatives were approaching the opening frequently to retrieve materials. 

–           The site was heavily congested with materials, waste and other debris. There seemed to be no clear walkways and the lighting levels were very low. 

–           The toilet had been removed and there was no other toilet on site; nor were there any washing facilities. No other arrangements had been made regarding the provision of welfare facilities whilst the bathroom was being re-tiled and re-plumbed. 

–           An operative was seen using a small mitre saw which had no guard over the blade and he was pushing timber floor boards through the exposed blade by hand. 

–           A wood saw which was set up for cutting timber products had no dust extraction system fitted and there were piles of dust on all surfaces and large amounts of dust in the air. 

–           There were no fire alarms on site and the only fire extinguishers were out of date, having been left over from the previous shop. 

The HSE inspectors served six Prohibition Notices and two Improvement Notices, along with a Notification of Contravention. Trafford Magistrates’ Court heard all the issues were satisfactorily addressed by the company following HSE’s intervention. 

Betcat International Limited, 3 More London Riverside, London SE1 pleaded guilty at Trafford Magistrates Court to breaching    Section 2(1) and 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £40,000 (£20,000 per offence) with £3761 costs.

Scaffolding firm fined after worker killed in fall

A scaffolding firm has been fined after a roof worker fell nearly six metres to his death.

James Baillie, 53, suffered serious head injuries after he fell through a scaffold tower deck whilst carrying out roof work at a two storey domestic property in Thorntonhall, South Lanarkshire on 22 September 2011. He died from his injuries the next day.

Hamilton Sheriff Court heard that the scaffold deck was in a bad state of repair due to brown rot decay and when Mr Baillie walked on it, it broke, causing him to fall nearly six metres to the ground.

Extra Access Limited of c/o Scott-Moncrieff, 25 Bothwell Street, Glasgow pleaded guilty today (31 July) to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £40,000. 

Company sentenced after worker’s life changing injuries

A company was fined £40,000 after a worker suffered life changing injuries when part of a structure weighing 750kg fell on him.

Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard how an employee of Tunnel Tech Limited was dismantling polytunnel structures when the end bulkhead fell on him causing life threatening injuries.

A polytunnel is a tunnel made of polyethylene, usually semi-circular in shape, used to provide an effective environment for growing vegetation but can also protect crops from adverse weather.

On the day of the incident, the worker and three colleagues began to remove the cladding from the structures. They cut the side of the tunnel with a Stanley knife and pulled the outer layer and insulation off. It was decided that the internal steels would be removed first, leaving the internal hoop structure to remain. The structure had a layer of cladding on the inside then a layer of insulation inside a black plastic liner which was covered with a waterproof liner.

The court heard how the men applied the same method of removal but the sheet started to get quite hard to pull. One of the other men working suggested that they use the fork lift truck to pull the sheet off with a rope attached to the fork lift. The fork lift was driven away from the tunnel.

While the other men were a safe distance from the operation, the injured worker was moving some materials on the ground between the tunnel that was being dismantled and the skip it was being disposed of in. The end of the tunnel, consisting of the gable wall and weighing 750kg was pulled from the hoop structure and struck the worker causing severe initially life threatening injuries as he became stuck underneath the sheeting.

The worker, who does not wish to be named suffered a catalogue of injuries including a collapsed left lung, a ruptured diaphragm, displaced intestines, a broken pelvis, six rib fractures and fractures to his spine. He spent 10 days in intensive care, and a further 15 days in hospital.

The court was told by the HSE that the incident was wholly preventable. It said if a suitable and sufficient risk assessment had been carried out then it would have identified the need to use suitably competent people with specialist skills and knowledge to carry out the work safely.

It would have also identified the risks and the measures it needed to adopt, such as the need for the task to be planned to prevent danger, and for exclusions zones that would have eliminated the possibility of the injured person being in the danger zone when the end gable wall fell.

Tunnel Tech Limited, The Old Airfield, Leckford, Stockbridge, Hampshire, admitted three breaches of regulations; it was fined £20,000 for the first charge – Regulation 29 of Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and £10,000 for each of the other two charges – Regulation 4 of CDM and Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations. It was also ordered to pay full costs of £1809. 

HSE Myth Busters:

Child booster seat unavailable at cinema

Issue

At a recent cinema visit, the enquirer asked for a child booster seat but was told that these were not available due to ‘health and safety’ reasons.

Panel opinion

This cinema chain usually provides booster seats but was in the process of changing out old ones for a new design and did not have any available on this occasion. Instead of explaining this, the assistant resorted incorrectly to a "health and safety" excuse. The company has acknowledged the poor handling and taken steps to avoid this happening again.