Construction Company puts residents and public at risk

A construction company has been fined for safety failings that put workers, residents and the public at risk from falling debris and possible collapse of the building.

Merthyr Magistrates’ Court heard how, in March 2015, unsafe demolition work was carried out on buildings at the former St. Tydfil’s Hospital site in Merthyr Tydfil.

Merthyr Developments Limited, of Welling Way, Rhymney, were prosecuted by the HSE and fined a total of £12,000, and ordered to pay £1,494 in costs after pleading guilty to offences under Regulation 28(1), 29(1), and 29(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
 

Construction firms sentenced after worker death

A national construction firm and a glazing contractor have been sentenced after pleading guilty to safety breaches after a worker fell to his death from a store front in Exeter.

Philip Evans was working for specialist construction company London Fenestration Trades Ltd, which was contracted by principal contractor, Sir Robert McAlpine to undertake remedial repair works to a glass façade above an entrance to a department store in Princess Hay, Exeter on 9th November 2011.

While a colleague worked on a higher part of the curtain wall from a mobile working platform, Mr Evans worked from the glass canopy to attach the lower fixings. During the course of this work, he walked along the canopy from right to left and fell through an opening above the Bedford Street entrance of the Debenhams store.

^[1]During the HSE prosecution, Exeter Crown Court heard the opening had been created during previous maintenance works when a pane of glass was removed from the canopy and had not been replaced. 

Mr Evans, from Penarth, South Glamorgan fell approximately 4.5metres through the canopy on to the granite setts below. He received serious injuries as a result of the fall and died later in hospital.

The subsequent HSE investigation found the mobile platform provided was inadequate for the work being carried out. The glass canopy on which Mr Evans was working was not a safe working platform as there was no edge protection and there was the large opening through which he subsequently fell. The court was also told neither of the two workers should have left the safety of the working platform basket.

Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd of Yorkshire House, Grosvenor Crescent, London pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of HSWA 1974. It was fined £200,000 with £17, 790 costs

London Fenestration Trades Ltd of Clare Road, Grangetown, Cardiff pleaded guilty Section 2 (1) HSWA 1974. However, as the firm is in liquidation the court could only notionally fine it £200,000 with £17,790 costs. 

Firm prosecuted following the avoidable death of a roof worker

A Darwen firm have appeared in court after one of their employees, Graham Readfern died after falling from the roof of a partly completed loft conversion project in January 2012.

Newhey Loft Conversions Limited were prosecuted by the HSE after an investigation revealed that the scaffolding used to protect workers from a fall while carrying out roof work was not sufficient.

Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Newhey had been contracted to carry out a large loft conversion on a property in Chorlton, Manchester and their subcontracted employee, Mr Readfern, had fallen from the roof of the dormer conversion but was not caught by the scaffolding as it had not been built high enough to stop someone falling to the ground some 5 metres below.

Mr Readfern had been carrying a roll of roofing felt onto the newly built dormer window when the ladder he was using collapsed and he was catapulted over the scaffold handrail into a neighbouring garden. Although treatment was given, Mr Readfern died of his injuries 17 days later.

Newhey Loft Conversions Limited pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Newhey Loft Conversions Ltd, of Lloyd Street Sawmills, Darwen, was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 towards the cost of the prosecution.

 

‘A miracle he was not killed’ says judge as logistics firm fined

A logistics firm was fined £75,000 after a worker suffered life-changing injuries in a fall from a roof.

Andrew Bannister, who had worked for PK & IF Cobley Limited for 15 years, was worried about being sent up onto a fragile roof to repair cracks in it, but he was still instructed to do the work.

Leicester Crown Court heard Mr Bannister was sent to repair a fragile roof at Misterton Farm, Great Poultney, Leicestershire, without any means to prevent his fall from the roof edge or through the roof.

On 31 August 2012, Mr Bannister fell approximately 10 metres through the roof, landed on a concrete floor and suffered life-changing injuries, including a broken neck, back and three broken ribs.

PK & IF Cobley Limited, of Broughton Astley, Leicestershire, were found guilty of breaching regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

The judge hearing the case said the work at height was obviously a dangerous job and that it was a miracle that Mr Bannister was not killed. As well as the fine of £75,000, he ordered the company to pay £29,351.88 in costs.

Businessman in court after worker loses forearm

A businessman has been sentenced after a worker lost his right forearm when it got caught and mangled in an unguarded tyre-shredding machine.

Mark Anton Arabaje, sole director of now-dissolved company Cartwright Projects Ltd, was prosecuted by the HSE after it found he had removed a protective guard from the dangerous machine only a couple of weeks earlier.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that father-of-four Nathan Johnson, 25, of Folkestone, was working at the firm’s premises at Unit 1 Shottenden Manor, Westwell, Ashford, Kent, on 27 November 2013 when the incident happened.

He had been putting tyres by hand into the shredder when the machine failed to grip one properly on its metal teeth. Mr Johnson grabbed the remaining half and fed it in. At that point, his right jacket sleeve got entangled on the metal teeth and his fingers and then forearm were dragged into the running shredder.

As Mr Johnson screamed for help, Mark Arabaje came and managed to switch the machine off and freed him from the machine.

He lost the forearm up to his elbow and needed extensive hospital treatment, including skin grafts from his left leg to replace the remains of his arm and a bolt in his elbow to ensure it remained intact.

The court was told Mr Johnson’s injuries could have been even worse if he had been working on his own that day, which regularly happened in the company, as there were no emergency stop switches within his reach at the time.

HSE’s investigation identified that Mark Arabaje had removed the metal bucket guard of the shredding machine earlier the same month, thus allowing easy access to the metal teeth.

HSE told the court it would have also prosecuted the company had it still existed.

Mark Arabaje, of Gatefield Cottages, Rolvenden, Cranbrook, Kent, pleaded guilty an at earlier hearing to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. On 17 July, he was sentenced to a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. He must observe a home curfew between the hours of 8pm and 6am and wear an electronic tag. The judge imposed a £5,000 compensation order that Arabaje must pay Mr Johnson.

Roofing contractor and director fined over brick-layer death

A roofing firm and its Director have been prosecuted after a worker fell to his death though a fragile roof-light.

Barry Tyson, a 52 year old self-employed brick-layer, suffered fatal head injuries as a result of the fall whilst he was working to refurbish the flat roof of Aspin Park School in Knaresborough.

Watershed (Roofing) Ltd a framework contractor for North Yorkshire County Council and one of its Directors, Steven John Derham from Bradford, had engaged Mr Tyson to carry out necessary brickwork on the roof, as part of a scheme to add insulation and re-felt it.   

Mr Tyson had been kneeling on the roof working when the incident happened on 16^th August 2011. When he stood up he fell backwards through a roof-light and into the boys’ toilet two metres below. He was taken to hospital by air ambulance but died later from his injuries.

Bradford Crown Court heard that a HSE investigation found Watershed had prepared a construction phase plan which stated that before work was carried out, the plastic domes of all roof-lights needed to be removed and the apertures boarded over to prevent falls, but when roofers accessed the roof it was found that the domes could not be easily removed. 

The court also heard Watershed’s Director Mr Derham visited the site on the first day to check it had been set up correctly, and the difficulties with removing the roof-lights were discussed with the workforce. It was decided that works could progress without any covering of the roof-lights.

Watershed (Roofing) Limited of Thornton Road in Bradford pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and were fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £39,381.32 in costs.

Mr Steven John Derham, 47, of Winterton Drive, Low Moor in Bradford pleaded guilty in his role as Director of the company to a breach of section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £7000.

HSE Myth Busters:

Job Advert stated that Bus Drivers weight must be below 18 stone

Issue

The enquirer was recently looking at jobs and a bus company said that due to new Health and Safety rules, all new bus driver recruits must be below 18 stone in weight.

Panel opinion

There are no rules in health and safety legislation or in vehicle standards regulations which place weight limits on people driving buses. If such a "rule" exists it is a company policy and they should clearly explain their reasons for it not leave potential applicants to infer that it’s a "safety rule" imposed by others.

 

Lack of training caused life changing injuries

A tree specialist company, Oak View Tree Specialists Limited, has been fined after a skip loading dumper overturned severely injuring a worker.

Basildon Magistrates’ Court heard how the injured person, who was an employee at the company, was working at the rear of a house in Benfleet, Essex on 26 September 2014 when the incident occurred. The 19-year-old employee had only a few minutes training on the use of the dumper truck. He had no driving licence and was not wearing a safety belt when he overturned the vehicle.

He was airlifted to hospital where he was found to have broken his back. He spent months in hospital and his injuries are life-changing - it is not known if he will ever be able to walk again.

On 17 June 2015, Oak View Tree Specialists Limited, of Rayleigh, Essex, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 as it failed to ensure that its employees received adequate training for the purposes of health and safety. The company was fined £3,000 with costs of £1,500. 

Window cleaning company fined for safety breaches

A window cleaning firm and its sole director have been fined for health and safety breaches after the company was employed to clean the windows at a nursing home.

The HSE successfully prosecuted Brian Stubbs (director) and Brian Stubbs and Company Limited at Stafford Magistrates’ Court after a window cleaner was observed standing on guttering on the outside of a balcony parapet wall on the third floor of a Nursing Home in Stafford, on 21 August 2014. An HSE investigation found that there was no suitable edge protection or other appropriate safety measures in place.

Mr Stubbs, of Westhead Avenue, Stafford, was fined a total of £660 and ordered to pay £867 costs after pleading guilty to breaching 3(1)(a) of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Brian Stubbs and Company Limited was fined £660 and ordered to pay £846 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Brick manufacturer fined after worker injured

A brick manufacturer has been fined after one of its employees was seriously injured.  The incident, on 27 February 2014, occurred at Northcot Brick Limited’s site in Gloucester.

Stroud Magistrates’ Court heard that a 45-year-old worker sustained serious injuries to his right leg, with the partial loss of two toes, after either stepping onto or falling onto a recently-installed machine that breaks up clay.

A risk assessment had identified that the machinery required guarding or barriers, but these were not yet put in place.

Northcot Brick Limited was fined £18,500, plus costs of £7,500, after pleading guilty to a breach of Regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

 

 

 

HSE releases annual workplace fatality statistics

Provisional annual data for work-related fatal accidents in Great Britain’s workplaces shows small change from previous years, sustaining a long term trend that has seen the rate of fatalities more than halve over the last 20 years. 

Data released by the HSE reveals 142 workers were fatally injured at work between April 2014 and March 2015 (a rate of 0.46 fatalities per 100,000 workers). This compares to last year’s all-time low of 136 (0.45 fatalities per 100,000 workers). 

The statistics again confirm the UK to be one of the safest places to work in Europe, having one of the lowest rates of fatal injuries to workers in leading industrial nations. 

The new figures show the rate of fatal injuries in key industrial sectors:

·         25% of the annual fatalities were in the construction industry - a rate of 1.62 deaths per 100,000 workers.  The number of deaths was 35 which is a reduction versus previous years, averaging 45 in the past five years.

·         5 fatal injuries to waste and recycling workers were recorded – a rate of 4.31 deaths per 100,000 workers, compared to an average of 6 deaths in the past five years. 

HSE has also released the latest available figures on deaths from asbestos-related cancer. Mesothelioma, one of the few work related diseases where deaths can be counted directly, contracted through past exposure to asbestos killed 2,538 in Great Britain in 2013 compared to 2,548 in 2012. 

Demolition firm fined after worker died

Building contractor, Euro Dismantling Solutions Limited was fined for safety failings after a man lost his life during demolition works.[1]

Bristol Crown Court heard how demolition work was taking place at former Cadburys Somerdale factory near Bristol on 9 November 2011 when 31-year-old James Stacey drove a mini digger out of a fourth floor opening.

He was using the opening as part of a ‘drop zone’ to drop large fibreglass tanks that had been cut in half to the ground below. The opening was not properly protected to prevent the machine falling from the building and the tank got stuck on the digger and pulled the vehicle with it.  Mr Stacey died from his injuries.

Euro Dismantling Solutions Limited (now in liquidation) pleaded guilty to Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 after they failed to ensure the safety of James Stacey whilst carrying out demolition work.  They were fined £80,000.

Site Supervisor, Paul Ben Priestley (54) was also charged under Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 after failing to take reasonable care. He denied the charges but was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on 21 May 2015 and was given a 12 month custodial sentence, suspended for two years and costs of £7,500.

Firm fined after a man fell through fragile roof onto concrete

A construction company was fined after a worker fell through a roof three metres onto a concrete floor below.

Reading Magistrates’ Court heard how Barski Developments Limited had been contracted to refurbish a number of industrial units at Slough Business Park in the autumn of 2013.

The work included cleaning and repair work to the multi pitched asbestos cement roofs over the units. The work was to be done by sub-contractors under the direct control of director of the company. A large part of the roof comprised of vertical polycarbonate skylights along the internal gutters of the roof.

During the work, 55-year-old sub-contractor, Stanislaw Jakubus, fell three metres through the fragile material to a concrete floor below. He suffered multiple injuries including cracked ribs and was unable to work for two months.

Barski Developments Limited, of Munster Road, London, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1)(a) and 9(2)(a) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £20,000 with costs of £880 with £120 victim surcharge.