Health
and Safety in the news this week
£2m fine for Travis Perkins after death
Travis Perkins, a
builders’ retailer, has been fined £2 million after the death of a customer in
Milton Keynes.
Mark John Pointer
was crushed by a company vehicle at Travis Perkins Trading Company Limited in
Old Wolverton in November 2012. Mr
Pointer, 44, was loading planks of wood onto the roof rack of his Land Rover
when he feel backwards onto the yard surface.
He was then run over by a company vehicle operating in the yard. Mr Pointer died from crushing injuries.
Travis Perkins
pleaded guilty to two offences under the Health and Safety at
Work etc Act 1974.
The company
initially denied the causal link between the offences and the death but
subsequently conceded that point.
Travis Perkins
appeared at Amersham Crown Court, and was fined £2 million and ordered to pay
prosecution costs of £114,812.76.
Martin Brown,
Environmental Health Team Leader with Milton Keynes Council, said: “We are
pleased with the result and fine imposed as it reiterates the importance of
treating health and safety seriously.
“Individuals falling
whilst loading and unloading vehicles is a common risk. The company had failed to ensure loading and
unloading activities were undertaken in a safe manner in a safe area.”
In sentencing the
company, Judge Justin Cole said he took the view that this “was an accident
waiting to happen”.
Source: www.shponline.co.uk
HSE prosecution round up:
Roofing firm fined over safety
breach
A roofing firm from Malton was fined for safety breaches after a
worker fractured his skull following a fall from height.
Mitchell Roofing Ltd, was contracted to replace existing
rooflights at Monk Bridge Construction Co Ltd, Elvington, York. The injured
worker slipped and fell some seven metres through the inner roof sheet
sustaining severe injuries.
During its investigation, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
learned that there was no risk assessment in place for the job, and no
precautions had been taken to prevent falls from the edge of the roof or
through various fragile elements.
The defendant had previously clad a new building on the site
without incident, using appropriate precautions, but the minor work of
replacing the panels in an existing roof was not planned, and no precautions
were followed.
Mitchell Roofing Ltd of Derwent Road, Malton was found guilty to
breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
and was fined £10,000 with £1,355 costs by York Magistrates Court.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Julian Franklin commented:
“Basic precautions for roof work and better planning of the job should have
been applied. Even short duration work
on fragile roofs should be properly assessed and managed.”
Worker injured when skip loader
overturned
A Cambridge construction firm has been fined after a skip loader
overturned injuring a worker.
Cambridge Crown Court heard how Mead Construction (Cambridge)
Limited was making a sewer connection from a domestic property at Hop Row,
Haddenham to the main sewer. A worker
was driving a skip loader, tipping spoil onto a spoil heap when the vehicle
overturned trapping his leg. He suffered
fractures to his right ankle and sprained ligaments.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into
the incident, which occurred on 4 February 2015, found that there was a failure
to plan, manage and monitor work using a skip loader, including allowing an
untrained employee to use the vehicle whilst not wearing a seatbelt.
Mead Construction (Cambridge) Limited, of Heath Road, Swaffham
Prior, Cambridgeshire pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(2) of the
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, and Regulation 9(1) of
the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £40,000
and ordered to pay costs of £5,787.
Worker loses life after fall
from roof
A Birmingham maintenance company has been fined after a worker
died as a result of falling from the roof of a five-storey building.
Birmingham Crown Court heard how H20 Plumbing Services Limited
were contracted to carry out repairs to two motor rooms situated on the roof of
a building on Hagley Road, Birmingham.
Two workers set up a station immediately outside of a protected
area in which to mix some mortar due to lack of space. The mixing station consisted of a tarpaulin
sheet placed on top of the roof with a plasterer’s bath placed on top. The corners of the tarpaulin sheet were
weighted down with bags of rubble. At
the end of the working day, the employees were cleaning up and as they moved
the mixing bath, the sheet of tarpaulin blew open due to the wind and landed
over the edge of the building. As one of
the workers attempted to retrieve the sheet he stepped off the side of the
building, falling 14 metres, suffering fatal injuries.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into
the incident, which occurred on 10 October 2014, found that H20 Plumbing
Services Limited failed to ensure the safety of its employees during the
external repair work.
After the incident, HSE Inspector Amy Kalay commented: “This
incident was obviously foreseeable. The
employees of H20 working at the site were effectively left to their own devices
with equipment and a system that was not wholly suited for the task at hand.
A suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk, suitable
planning, implementation of suitable control measures and adequate and
effective site supervision would have prevented this incident from occurring.”
H20 Plumbing Services Limited, of Lee Trading Estate, College
Road, Perry Barr, Birmingham pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and was fined £100,000 and ordered to
pay costs of £25,000.
Company fined after worker is
fatally crushed in trench
A company has been fined £2.6 million after an employee was
killed when the trench he was working in collapsed on him in Lancashire.
James Sim, a 32-year-old worker, from Barry, South Wales, a
sub-contractor working on behalf of Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Limited. On the 14 April 2010, Mr Sim was working in a
trench, laying ducting for new cable for an offshore windfarm that was being
built off the coast by Heysham, Lancashire. The trench was dug to a depth of 2.4 metres,
without any shoring.
Mr Sim was killed
when he became trapped in the trench after it collapsed on him.
Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Limited pleaded guilty at
Preston Crown Court today after an investigation by the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE). The Court heard that
Balfour Beatty failed to adequately risk assess the works or control the way in
which the excavation took place.
HSE inspector Chris Hatton said after the hearing: “The level of
this fine should serve as a warning to industry not to ignore health and safety
matters. Balfour Beatty failed to
adequately assess, plan and supervise the work being undertaken. Trench collapses are easy to prevent, and it
is disappointing that James’ life was lost in such a tragic way. The family has shown great patience and
support throughout this investigation which is a credit to both them and James’
memory.”
Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Limited, of Park Square Newton,
Chambers Road, Chapeltown, Sheffield pleaded guilty of breaching Section 3(1)
of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Regulation 31(1) of the
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of
the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and was fined
£2.6million with £54,000 costs.
Scaffold company fined for
safety failings
A Scaffold company in Bridgend has been fined for safety
failings following a routine inspection.
Llanelli Magistrates’ Court heard how OW Scaffolding was working
at Heol y Parc, Cefneithin when they had a routine inspection which highlighted
several safety failings.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into
the incident, which occurred on 30 September 2015, found that there was poor
planning, inadequate risk assessments, inadequate site supervision and
inadequate and insufficient equipment.
OW Scaffolding Limited, of Village Farm Industrial Estate, Pyle,
Bridgend, pleaded not guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Work at Height
Regulation 2005 but was tried in its absence and found guilty and fined £1,000
and ordered to pay costs of £3,700.
Company fined after agency
worker seriously injured
A Suffolk cargo handling company has been fined £100,000 after
an employee suffered serious injury when a sheet of marble weighing one tonne
fell on him.
Ipswich Crown Court heard how an employee of Extreme Handling
Limited was working at GMA Warehousing and Transport Limited’s Felixstowe site.
He was assisting a fork lift truck
operator to move a one tonne sheet of marble from a container when it fell on
him. He sustained serious and extensive crush injuries to his legs as well as a
fractured sternum and severe lacerations to the back of his head.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive into the
incident, which occurred on 15 August 2014, found that there was an unsafe system
of work being used to move the load.
GMA Warehousing and Transport Limited, of Central Avenue,
Ransomes Europark, Ipswich, Suffolk, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1)
of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and was fined £100,000 and ordered
to pay costs of £9938.38.
HSE inspector Jessica Churchyard said after the hearing:
“Employers have an absolute duty to ensure that they do everything reasonably
practicable to ensure the health and safety of their employees.”
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