Firm fined after
worker broke back in roof fall
A company that specialises in removing
asbestos from buildings has been fined after an employee broke his back when he
fell through a fragile roof.
The 58-year-old man, from Yardley,
fractured two vertebrae when he fell three metres through the roof of a garage
at Warndon, Worcester, on 29 January 2014.
He was off work for eight weeks before
returning to his job with TES Environmental Services Ltd.
Worcester Magistrates’ Court heard that
the worker was supervising a team of asbestos removal operatives, taking off
asbestos cement roof sheets from blocks of garages prior to their demolition.
An investigation by the HSE found the
man fell while working from a single crawl board on the fragile roof, with no
fall protection or mitigation measures in place.
TES Environmental Services Ltd, of
Walmer Way, Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay
£1,425 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching regulation 4(1) of the Work
at Height Regulations 2005.
Haulage firm
fined after driver injured
A haulage contractor has been sentenced
for safety failings after a driver suffered serious injuries when he was
catapulted from a powered access platform as he was unloading it from a heavy
goods vehicle.
The driver was employed by RC Robinson
Haulage Ltd, which had been contracted by a platform hire company to transport
the seven ton piece of plant.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that
the driver was delivering the plant to the Israeli Embassy in Palace Green,
London, when the incident occurred on 7 April 2014.
The driver got into the extendable cage
attached to the plant, used its controls to move himself higher and drove it
off the low loader. The plant slipped on wet metal ramps and landed on the
grass verge narrowly missing a member of the public. The driver was thrown onto
the pavement and suffered a number of severe injuries, including a broken
pelvis and multiple broken ribs.
The incident was investigated by the HSE,
which found that the correct loading and unloading procedure had not been
followed. The driver should have used the low loader’s winch to lower the plant
off the trailer.
The court heard that the driver had not
received adequate training to load and unload powered access platforms from
vehicles. While other drivers at the firm received in-house training, this
driver was missed.
RC Robinson Haulage Ltd of The Ridgeway
Business Park, The Ridgeway, Blunham, Bedfordshire, was fined £8,000 and
ordered to pay costs of £782 and a Victim Surcharge of £120 after pleading
guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Recycling
company sentenced over worker injury
A company specialising in the recycling
of waste plastic was fined after a worker was injured when he fell from an
industrial sized waste bin.
Worthing Magistrates court heard
that on 17 June 2014, the worker fell approximately 2.5 metres from the top of
a large roll on/off waste bin while manually tipping out non-recyclable waste
plastic into the waste bin from a tonne bulk bag.
At the time of his fall, the injured
party was standing inside the waste bin with the top of the container reaching
up to shin height. There was nothing to prevent him from falling out of the
container while manually unloading the bulk bags into the waste bin. As a
result of his fall, he suffered broken collar bone and wrist as well as a
blow to the head.
The man’s employer, Southern Plastic
Recycling Limited pleaded guilty at Worthing Magistrates’ Court to breaching of
Section 3(1) of Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 for
which a £500.00 fine was imposed, and a breach of Section 6 (3) of Work at
Height Regulations 2005 which attracted a £1000 fine.
The company of Jury Lane, Sidlesham
Common, Chichester, West Sussex was also ordered to pay costs £1043.00.
Death of young
worker leads to court for recycling company
A recycling company in South Devon has
been sentenced for serious safety breaches after a worker was killed after
likely being thrown from a six-tonne dumper truck.
Ben Sewell, 30, from Dartmouth, was
found lying on his back on a bank, a few metres behind the overturned dumper,
on a sloping dirt track at Dittisham Recycling Centre on 21 September 2012. He
was pronounced dead at the scene.
The HSE prosecuted the firm after an
investigation discovered that Mr Sewell had not been properly trained by his
employer to use the vehicle. The company had also failed to properly enforce
the wearing of seat belts fitted to the dumpers used by Ben and other
staff.
Plymouth Crown Court heard that HSE’s
investigation uncovered a catalogue of dangers at the Dittisham Recycling site
and served a total of eight Prohibition Notices on the company preventing its
use of various plant and machinery until adequate safety measures were taken.
The court was told that on the day of
the incident Mr Sewell was using the dumper to take loads of oversized material
from one part of the centre to another. The extensive site sits in a steeply
sided valley. At one point he stopped at the top of the site to deal with a
customer before setting off in his empty dumper down to the bottom of the site
along the main dirt track.
The customer noted the truck was going
at speed and that Mr Sewell was not wearing the seat belt. Minutes later, a
colleague at the bottom of the site noticed smoke rising from a section of the
dirt track above where he was working and he could just see the overturned
dumper. He rushed to the scene and found Ben lying on his back at the side of
the track some ten metres from the dumper truck.
Paramedics later confirmed he had been
fatally injured.
HSE found a series of safety failings
with other dumper trucks, a tracked excavator and with processing machinery for
rock crushing and screening. Tipping operations were also unsafe and some of
the roadways about the site were inadequately protected. Inspectors issued two
Improvement Notices requiring safety changes to the site’s roadways and tipping
safety measures.
Builder jailed for exposing workers to asbestos
A builder has been jailed for exposing
workers to asbestos while working at a commercial unit on an industrial estate.
Brian Roberts of 123 Bryniau Road,
Llandudno and three men working with him, were exposed to potentially deadly
asbestos fibres while working in the unit at Eagle Farm Road, Mochdre Business
Park around 11 September 2012.
Llandudno Magistrates’ Court heard how
Roberts, who had been employed by the owner of the premises trading at the time
as Light in Design, to remove asbestos from the building prior to sale.
The HSE was alerted to the unlicensed
work by a contractor who was licensed to remove asbestos.
HSE’s investigation found that Roberts
removed a significant quantity of asbestos insulating board (AIB) from the
premises despite not holding a licence to work with such material.
Brian Roberts pleaded guilty to
breaching the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, and was given a custodial
sentence of 26 weeks.
HSE Myth Busters:
A local pub
can’t replace fried egg with scrambled as they can’t use a microwave due to
health and safety
Issue
On ordering a cooked breakfast in their
local pub, the enquirer was told they couldn't replace fried egg with scrambled
egg as this would involve using a microwave which can't be done due to Health
and Safety.
Panel opinion
This is a cracking excuse! Health &
safety at work legislation does not prohibit the use of a microwave oven to
make scrambled eggs. The company concerned acknowledges that it does not serve
scrambled eggs because it has a centrally-determined menu. Instead of
explaining this, "health and safety" has been given as the excuse,
irritating the customer and leaving the company with egg on its face.
A lady fainted
in a shop and the staff could not give her a glass of water because of health
and safety
Issue
Whilst in a shop recently a lady fainted
and the enquirer immediately went to assist. The enquirer heard the lady ask
the very kind staff in the shop who had given her a comfy chair to sit in, for
a drink of water. She was told sorry we can’t give you one - health and safety
rules. The enquirer was wondering if this is a true ruling by H&S.
Panel opinion
Refusing the lady who had fainted a
drink of water after she came round and was sitting up was a bizarre and
ridiculous response. The panel is at a loss to understand why anyone could
possibly think they could not do this for "health and safety". There
is no such rule and it would have been quick and easy to accommodate the
request.
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