Risk, Health and Safety Information



Consultants out and about…

Rob saw this construction worker carrying out cutting work on the pavement in the busy High Street in Croydon, totally oblivious to passers by and people waiting at the bus stop, and with no safety measures in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Health and Safety in the news this week

Health and safety law 'misused', minister warns

A government minister has written to schools and local authorities in England urging a more common sense approach to health and safety.

Work and pensions minister Mike Penning described those who misuse the legislation as "jobsworths".

He said he wants to avoid situations like a ban on school pupils wearing frilly socks after one girl fell over.

Nearly 300 people have contacted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to challenge recent decisions.

They include a council preventing loose flowers and pots being placed on graves and a school sports day being cancelled - because there was dew on the grass.

Mr Penning said: "Health and safety has long been used as a smokescreen by jobsworths who have little knowledge of the law and who want to fob people off with an easy excuse."

Judith Hackitt, who chairs the HSE, said: "I would urge all decision makers to take a step back and ask themselves whether a decision made in the name of health and safety is actually just an excuse for something else.

Real health and safety is about protecting people in the workplace from life and health threatening risks - it is not about stopping a child taking a baby chick into school, or banning indoor dog training.

Own up to the real reasons behind the decision, don't just reach for the easiest excuse."

Almost 300 people have contacted the "myth busters" challenge panel set up by the HSE two years ago to report misinterpretations of the law.

Professor Paul Almond of the University of Reading, who has written a book on health and safety myths, said of the minister's intervention: "It's great that he's recognised that all of these stories are actually myths and wants to support real proper health and safety instead."

Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk

HSE prosecution round up:

Construction company fined after worker injured falling through void

A construction company based in Derbyshire has been fined after a worker was seriously injured when he fell through a void.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how a worker employed by a sub-contractor working for Bowmer and Kirkland Limited, was contracted to pour concrete onto the first floor of a building that was under construction at Fort Kinnaird Retail Park, Edinburgh.

The employee was walking across a floor that was under construction when his boot caught and he tripped.  He dislodged an unsecured wooden board which had been placed over the void and exposed an opening of 2 x 1 metres.

He fell approximately 4.5 metres through a void in the first floor and sustained serious injuries to his back as well as a broken foot.  He was off work for twenty-two weeks and suffers continuing pain.  He has reduced mobility, finding it difficult to walk or sit for long periods.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which occurred on 16 May 2014 found that the company failed to take suitable and sufficient measures by not fixing the wooden panels placed on the void to prevent a fall.

Bowmer and Kirkland Limited, of High Edge Court, Church Street, Heage, Belper, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulation 2005 and was fined £6,600.

Young apprentice loses finger on rotary press

The owner of a business that manufactures specialist adhesive tape for industrial applications has been fined after a young apprentice lost his finger on a rotary die press.

Nuneaton Magistrates’ Court heard how the 16-year-old apprentice was adjusting guides on a laminating head which is part of a rotary die press. Whilst making the adjustment he tripped, put his hands forward and his index finger got caught in the drive gear at the rear of the laminating unit. His finger needed to be amputated as a result.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which occurred on 9 September 2014 found that the machine did not have appropriate measures, namely guards, in place to prevent access to dangerous parts of the rotary press.

James Fussell (trading as Tecman Speciality Materials), of Berrington Road, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £6,000 with £1,754 costs.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Michelle Morrison said "If the company had ensured that access to the dangerous moving parts of the rotary die press had been prevented,  then this young man would not have lost the top of one of his fingers. This was an entirely preventable incident".
 

Company fined after worker falls five metres from flat roof

A signage company based in Sheffield, has been fined after a worker fell five metres from a flat roof.

Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court heard how Warburton Signs Limited were contracted to erect a large sign to the gable end of an industrial building. Three fitters accessed a neighbouring flat roof to fit the sign when one worker fell from the roof. He sustained life threatening injuries, including a fractured skull, several broken ribs, a collapsed lung and chipped vertebra.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which occurred on 13 April 2015 found Warburton Signs Limited failed to put in place any measures to prevent a fall from height.

Warburton Signs Limited, of Trident House, High Street, Beighton, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1538.

HSE inspector Helen Barley said after the hearing: “Failure to prevent falls when working at height can lead to serious injury or death.”

Torquay man put lives at risk through illegal gas work

A pub worker has been sentenced for illegally installing gas pipework and a gas boiler at a flat in Torquay.

Geoffrey Voss, aged 59, who works as a barman at a pub in Torquay, installed the gas pipework and gas boiler at a flat on Old Torwood Road, Torquay despite him holding no competencies in gas work and despite him having never been registered with Gas Safe Register for any gas work.

He was prosecuted after his illegal activities were investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Newton Abbot Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr Voss’s illegal gas work came to light when the homeowner repeatedly asked him for the commissioning documentation for the new gas boiler that he had installed. Mr Voss never produced the document and the home owner then raised his concerns with Gas Safe Register.

During the HSE investigation Mr Voss admitted that he had not commissioned the gas boiler after he had installed it. Such commissioning should have included tests to ensure that the boiler that he installed wasn’t producing high levels of carbon monoxide, but he left the boiler working without the tests being undertaken, putting the homeowner at risk from deadly carbon monoxide poisoning.

Geoffrey Voss of South Street, Torquay, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(3) and 33(1)(c) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations and was sentenced to 36 weeks imprisonment suspended for 2 years and ordered to pay £757 in costs.

HSE Inspector Simon Jones, speaking after the hearing, said: “Only engineers with the correct competencies and who are registered with Gas Safe can legally carry out gas work and it is fortunate no-one was harmed as a result of Mr Voss’s illegal work.

“Once a gas boiler has been installed it should always be properly commissioned to ensure that it is operating safely. In this case Mr Voss did no such safety checks after his illegal work, leaving it to chance that there would not be a risk of fire, explosion or carbon monoxide poisoning.”

Source: www.hse.gov.uk