Health and Safety in the news this
week
A
construction worker was crushed to death when five tonnes of steel crashed down
on top of him at a £2m riverside home in Weybridge. The man was believed to have been killed when
a crane operating at the building site dropped its load.
The
tragedy took place at around 1.30pm on 15 February as a construction team
neared completion of a renovation at Wey Meadows, and the man was pronounced
dead at the scene.
The
property, in a quiet area along the River Wey, was bought for around £900,000
by millionaire businessman Hugh Villiers, 63, who owns marketing agency CMCI
Ltd. For the past five years the
two-bedroom property has been undergoing a transformation as part of a project
to build a much larger house fitted with a cinema, health spa, swimming pool
and jacuzzi.
A
spokesman for Surrey Police said: "Officers attended Wey Meadows following
reports that a man had died after being trapped under metal construction
materials. Police and other emergency
services attended the location but the man was sadly declared dead at the
scene. Officers are working with the HSE
to establish the circumstances surrounding the death."
A
spokesman for the HSE confirmed: "We are aware of a fatal incident in
Weybridge and are attending the site."
Andy
Begg, watch commander at Walton fire station, said a crew had been called out
to the property. He said: "There
was one male trapped under reinforcing wire mesh, which were about 5m by 3m
each, each weighing 71 kilos. The man
had 18 sheets on top of him. During the
[crane] unloading process one of the attachments failed. The load fell so it was hanging, but only
supported by one attachment and sadly he was underneath," he said.
HSE prosecution round up:
Firm fined after fatality at waste recycling site
A scrap metal recycling company
based in Sheffield has been fined for safety failings after a worker was killed
when he was hit in the head by an exploding gas cylinder.
Sheffield Crown Court heard how
Tony Johnson, aged 55, was working at the Walter Heselwood recycling site on 16
June 2009 when a pressurised gas cylinder was put through a shearing machine
causing it to explode. A large section
of the cylinder hit Mr Johnson in the head causing fatal injuries.
An investigation by the HSE
found a number of safety failures by Walter Heselwood Limited. They had no effective health and safety
management system in place and failed to adequately assess the risks involved
with processing different types of scrap material. The company also failed to put in place a
range of measures to reduce the risks, for example by providing a blast wall.
Walter Heselwood Limited of
Stevenson Road, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1)
of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £120,000 with
£40,000 costs.
Company fined after carrying out dangerous window installation
work eight-metres above a West End street
A company which manufactured
and installed windows has been fined £36,000 after carrying out work in the
West End of London with no measures to prevent the workers falling eight metres
and after dropping part of a window onto the public area below.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court
heard Ideal Glazing (Euro) Ltd carried out window installation work at Aldford
House, Park Street, London, between 19 and 20 January 2015 that put their
workers and members of the public at risk of suffering serious injuries or a
fatality.
The HSE carried out an
investigation into the work after a member of the public provided photos of
workers leaning out of window openings eight metres above the ground. They also provided a video showing the workers
dropping part of a window which fell to the ground and missed a nearby
pedestrian.
The company had failed to
provide equipment such as scaffolding which would have prevented the workers
and window falling. None of the workers
had received any formal training and no one was appointed to supervise the work.
The risks associated with the
work had not been sufficiently assessed. The court heard the company had failed to
invest in equipment for working at height and had a health and management
system which relied entirely on the company’s managing director, Mr Rashinda
Joshi, despite his lack of relevant training and experience.
The work at Aldford House was
halted when HSE served a Prohibition Notice. The court heard the company had previously
been given advice by HSE in connection with work at height and that an audit by
Ideal Glazing’s bank had previously identified a range of relevant health and
safety failings. The court heard that
neither written warning was heeded by the firm.
Ideal Glazing (Euro) Ltd of 29,
The Green, Southall, Middlesex, pleaded guilty to breaches of Regulation 6(3)
and 10(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £36,000 and
ordered to pay £1,386 in costs.
Scrap metal firm in court over worker’s severe forklift injuries
A scrap metal firm and its
director have been sentenced after a Manchester worker suffered severe injuries
to his left arm when it became stuck in a forklift truck.
The worker, aged 30, from
Levenshulme remained trapped for over two hours while the emergency services
tried to free his arm from the vehicle’s mast at Levenshulme Trading Estate,
Printworks Lane on 8 November 2013.
Ultimate Traders Ltd and
company director Nasir Rashid were prosecuted by the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) after it emerged he had been told to stand on the forks on the
truck to help move scrap cars into the back of a shipping container.
Manchester Crown Court heard
that Mr Rashid, aged 36 from Greenford in London, had been driving the forklift
truck and that the scrap cars were due to be exported to Pakistan where the
metal would be sold.
The worker suffered severe
crush injuries when his arm became trapped and it took the combined effort of
three fire crews, a specialist major rescue unit, two air ambulances, a medical
team from Manchester Royal Infirmary and three ambulance crews to rescue
him.
He sustained nerve damage to
his left arm which makes it difficult for him to grip or lift items, and was in
hospital for nearly two months. He still
needs to visit Manchester Royal Infirmary for treatment and has been unable to
return to work due to the extent of his injuries.
The court was told the company
failed to report the incident to HSE for nearly three months, despite being
told on several occasions that this was a legal requirement.
Nasir Rashid, of Bracewell
Avenue in Greenford, was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for 18
months and ordered to pay costs of £750 after pleading guilty to a breach of
Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Ultimate Traders Ltd, of
Bridgewater Road in Wembley, was given a nominal fine of £2 after discussion
concerning the company’s finances. The
firm pleaded guilty to breaches of Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at
Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 4 (2) of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases
and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013.
HSE Health and Safety Myths Buster
Nightclub refused to serve salt and lemon with Tequila shots
Issue
A bar manager refused to serve
salt and lemon with Tequila shots to customers in a nightclub due to health and
safety.
Panel opinion
There is no workplace health
and safety legislation that prohibits the service of salt and lemon with
tequila. This looks like a case of quoting an easy excuse – possibly to cover
up poor customer service. The bar should simply serve the drink in the
traditional way as requested, and not misuse health and safety legislation in
this way.
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