Risk, Health and Safety Information

‘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.