Risk, Health and Safety Information

HSE Myth Busters - Engineer not allowed to climb a stepladder to replace a meter

Issue

A newspaper article stated that a man was left dumbfounded when an electricity engineer refused to replace his meter – because he was not allowed to climb a stepladder.

Panel decision

There is no legal requirement for anyone to undertake a formal training course in order to become competent to use a stepladder. A stepladder is often the sensible and practical option for carrying out low risk tasks that involve working at height for a short time.

But the facts of this case are not quite as reported in the press. The engineer considered the job was awkward for one person to carry out safely on his own from a stepladder due to the position of the meter close to a flight of stairs and decided that the job required a second person to assist in the removal and replacement with a new meter. The panel support this as a reasonable decision to have made.

Falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries and falls from ladders are one of the most common causes.

The panel support the decision which the engineer took to call for assistance to do the job as a reasonable one to have made. The real reasons were misrepresented in incorrectly publicising this as issue of red tape around ladder training.

 

Property firm fined after ignoring woodworking risks

A property maintenance firm has been fined after ignoring safety concerns at its joinery workshop in Dukinfield.

High Peak Remedial Services Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after it failed to comply with an enforcement notice requiring its wood dust extractor to be properly tested.

Trafford Magistrates’ Court was told an HSE inspector issued an Improvement Notice during a routine visit to the Park Road workshop on 13 July 2013, after it emerged the company had not arranged a recent test of its extraction system.

Wood dust can cause serious health problems, including cancer of the nose, if it is inhaled. Woodworking firms are therefore required by law to put measures in place to prevent dust becoming airborne, and to make sure extractors are tested at least every 14 months.

The court heard High Peak Remedial Services was given just over eight weeks to comply with the enforcement notice, but asked for an extension on the day before it was due to expire. The firm was then given another four weeks to arrange a test but it again failed to meet the deadline.

High Peak Remedial Services Ltd, of Buxton Road in Stockport, was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1,662 after being found guilty of a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to comply with an Improvement Notice.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Emily Osborne said:

“High Peak Remedial Services put its employees’ health at risk by not arranging for its wood dust extraction system to be tested.

“We gave the firm several chances to arrange for an engineer to visit the workshop over a three-month period, but it failed to take any action. We therefore had no choice but to prosecute.

 

Developer goes to prison after repeatedly flouting safety laws

A developer has been sent to prison for 30 months after repeatedly breaching prohibition notices which were put in place to ensure the safety of workers while redeveloping a former office block in Parkeston, Essex.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited the site on 28 February 2013 following complaints from local residents worried about debris falling from upper storeys and of the danger to workers being left without any protection from falling while working at height.

Eze Kinsley, the developer who was found to be in control of workers at the site, verbally abused the HSE Inspector who visited. The inspector had to return with Essex police officers later to serve prohibition notices requiring an immediate stop to unsafe work at the site. Mr Kinsley reacted strongly to this, physically assaulting the inspector.

After further reports that work had not stopped, HSE issued a further prohibition notice on 3 April 2013, which was breached within just one hour of being served.

Eze Kinsley, of Edgware, Middlesex, was prosecuted by the HSE at Chelmsford Crown Court for serious breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

HSE’s investigation found that there were no safety measures in place to prevent injury to workers from debris falling from height and that there was also a real risk of injury to members of the public using the road and pavement next to the Parkeston House site.

Eze Kinsley, of Burnt Oak Broadway, Edgware, Middlesex, was given a 30 months prison sentence after being found guilty of two breaches of section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, to be served concurrently with three 12-month prison sentences after being found guilty of three counts of contravening a Prohibition Notice contrary to section 33(1)(g) of the same Act. He was also ordered to pay costs of £5,000.

Mr Kinsley was found guilty of assaulting an inspector from HSE at a separate court appearance.

After the case, HSE Inspector Jonathan Elven, said:

“Although no one was injured as a result of the woefully inadequate working practices this is nevertheless a serious case.

“The working conditions on this site were truly appalling with absolutely no provision for workers’ safety. In addition, the repeated breaching of prohibition notices – without any attempts to put right the reasons why work had been stopped – put workers and the general public at serious risk.

“Mr Kinsley refused to accept that he had a responsibility to make sure people who worked for him, and any member of the public living or working near his site, were not subjected to unnecessary risks – and vigorously and violently resisted all attempts to make him take actions to protect them.

“Putting safe working practices in place is often simple and inexpensive and, where this doesn’t happen, the costs, both financial and personal, can be immense.”

 

Builder’s work on chimney put elderly couple at risk

A roofing contractor has been given a suspended prison sentence after an elderly couple was exposed to deadly fumes when his work on a chimney stack caused a blockage above a gas fire.

John Stanley had been hired to sort out a water leak between a double chimney stack and roof tiles by householders at a property on Black Swan Lane, Luton in August 2011. However, his team’s repair work blocked the chimney above the gas fire, leading to a potentially-dangerous leak of combustion fumes within the property’s loft space.

The incident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which prosecuted Mr Stanley at Luton Magistrates’ Court.

Magistrates heard that employees of Mr Stanley, 47, from Luton, had dismantled the old double chimney to just below roof tile level, made some repairs to roof timbers and felt, then built a single chimney stack back up.

What they failed to do was check the flue for the gas fire in the property’s back living room was still in full working order. It later emerged that it was this chimney that was blocked by the firm when the stack was rebuilt instead of the chimney of the disused and boarded-up fireplace in the property’s front living room.

The householders only found out about this in November 2012 when they had to call a Gas Safe registered engineer to examine the gas fire, which they were having trouble lighting.

A subsequent investigation by HSE found that the gas fire had been used for over a year with all the fumes going into the loft, over their bedroom, instead of through the flue and chimney – leaving them at serious risk over an extended period of time. A very simple smoke test would have highlighted the issue straight away after completion of the work.

John Stanley, of Hitchin Road, Luton, trading as King Roofing and Durable Plastics, pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. He was given a four-month prison sentence suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £500 compensation to the couple he put at risk.

Speaking after the hearing, investigating HSE Inspector Robert Meardon said:

“John Stanley’s sub-standard work created an on-going breach and a prolonged risk to the safety of a vulnerable and elderly couple. It cost them a huge amount of unnecessary anxiety and a considerable amount of money to rectify – on top of their savings they had used to pay Mr Stanley for the work.

“When a chimney is the flue for a gas fire, it is a vital part of the gas installation and should only be done by a competent gas engineer on the Gas Safe Register.

“Mr Stanley advertised himself as a specialist roofing contractor, but he was never on the Gas Safe Register and not qualified to carry out gas work. He should have never undertaken this job knowing that a gas fire was linked to the chimney.

“This incident could have resulted in fatalities as gas fire fumes can contain poisonous carbon monoxide, which can kill. It is vital that building contractors are aware of the risks they create and comply with the laws in place to control the risks.”

Russell Kramer, chief executive of Gas Safe Register, added:

“Every Gas Safe registered engineer carries a Gas Safe ID card, which shows who they are and the type of gas appliances they are qualified to work on.