Health
and Safety in the news this week
Institution of Occupational Safety and
Health (IOSH) statement on UK voting to leave EU
IOSH Head of Policy and Public Affairs
Richard Jones said:
"Post-Brexit, the UK now has less
influence over EU law. Now we're
exiting, it's vital the UK continues to apply our successful risk-based health
and safety system, which includes laws from EU directives, because it's been
found to be fit for purpose by several independent reviews and is respected and
imitated across the world.
IOSH will continue to promote agreed
international standards and to defend against any erosion of health and safety
protections.
As UK organisations will want to continue
to trade with Europe, it will be in everyone's interest to maintain the status
quo.
The UK has already helped to influence
sound foundations for European health and safety and beyond and our expertise
will continue to be sought and valued."
HSE prosecution round up:
Suspended prison sentence for
unregistered gas fitter
A gas fitter from Walsall has received a suspended prison
sentence after he fitted a hob at a house in Tamworth when not on the Gas Safe
Register.
Alan Nicholas Price’s work came to the attention of HSE after a
registered fitter subsequently carried out repairs on the gas hob.
Price, 57, from Pelsall, was charged with breaching Gas Safety
(Installation and Use) Regulations. He
failed to appear in court on two separate occasions and was arrested. At
Stafford Crown Court, he pleaded guilty and was given a nine-month prison
sentence, suspended for two years.
He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service
and pay £100 towards HSE’s costs.
Gas Safe
Register
maintains the register of businesses and operatives who are competent to
undertake gas work. Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations,
for a gas engineering business or operative to legally undertake gas work
within the scope of the regulations, they must be on the Gas Safe Register.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Wayne Owen said:
“When working on gas systems it is vital that the person has
sufficient knowledge, training and experience so that they are aware of safe
working practices and standards. This is
due to the level of risk if gas systems are not worked on and fitted safely. The risk is posed not only to the person
carrying out the work but to anyone else who may be in the vicinity of the
systems afterwards; in this case the occupants of the house.”
Wear helmets on quad bikes,
pleads farm safety chief
An agriculture safety chief has urged farmers not to ignore
simple life-saving advice to wear helmets when riding quad bikes.
Rick Brunt’s call comes after details of an horrific incident,
when a teenager suffered a serious head wound, emerged in court proceedings.
The farm worker, aged 17, from Shap, Cumbria, was trapped
underneath an overturned quad bike for an hour with a wound that later needed
17 stitches.
Carlisle Magistrates’ Court heard that family partnership JF
& M Bland had contracted the worker for general agricultural duties and he
was instructed to use the firm’s quad bike to get to a large sloping field.
He did so, without any training, and with no helmet provided for
him to wear. The vehicle overturned and
it was an hour before one of the partners of the company found him.
After investigating the circumstances of the incident, which
happened in April 2014, the Health and Safety Executive decided to prosecute JF
& M Bland, of Dacre, Penrith, for breaches of health and safety laws.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9(1) of the
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. It was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay costs
of £4,693.
Rick Brunt, head of agriculture at HSE, said:
“Vehicle-related accidents are a significant problem in
agriculture and one of the biggest killers. Only people who are trained and capable should
operate all-terrain vehicles, like quad bikes. Every year, on average, we see two deaths and
numerous injuries involving ATVs.”
HSE inspector Matthew Tinsley, who investigated and prosecuted
for HSE, said:
“This is a reminder to all farmers and farm workers that it just
isn’t worth taking unnecessary risk. Training is vital, as is head protection. This
is simple, common sense advice that, if followed, can save lives.”
A man who fitted central heating boilers at two houses in
Greater Manchester has received a suspended prison sentence, after he admitted
he did not have the required safety registration to do the work.
Christopher Dignam, trading at Blue Flame Plumbing and Heating
Services, has never been on the Gas Safe Register, the body which ensures those
who carry out gas work are competent to do so.
One of the two boilers fitted by him in November and December
2014 was found by a Gas Safe investigator to be ‘at risk’ – meaning that faults
were present which could constitute a danger to life or property.
Advertisements for Blue Flame Plumbing and Heating in two local
publications showed a Gas Safe Register logo and a registration number which
does not belong to Dignam, confirming that he knew he should be Gas Safe
Registered, the court heard
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Caroline Shorrock
said:
“Dignam showed a reckless and flagrant disregard for health and safety requirements. He knew he should be registered with Gas Safe and he exposed customers to a risk of serious injury or death.”
Dignam, of Kenyon Lane, Middleton, Manchester, pleaded guilty to
two breaches of Regulations 3(3), and for breaching 3(7) and 26(1) of the Gas
Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. He was sentenced to 12 months custody,
suspended for two years. He was ordered
to pay £460 and £400 compensation to the two homeowners and £3,000 costs.
Fish processing firm fined
after man killed by falling boxes
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A Plymouth company has been fined £500,000 after an employee
suffered fatal injuries when a stack of boxes of frozen fish fell on him.
Tomas Suchy, 22, an employee of Interfish Limited, was helping
to clear up a fallen stack of frozen fish boxes in one of the cold store areas
when there was another fall of stock which struck him. He received multiple and severe injuries which
proved fatal.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive into the
incident, which occurred on 18 October 2013, found there was no safe system of
work or instruction to staff on how pallets should be stored. There was no written procedure for dealing
with falls of stock when they occurred.
Interfish Limited, of Wallsend Industrial Estate, Cattedown
Wharves, Plymouth, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and
Safety at Work etc Act 1974. At Plymouth
Crown Court it was fined £500,000 and ordered to pay costs of £24,800.
HSE inspector Emma O’Hara said after the hearing:
“Safe stacking of stock is a cross-industry necessity and can
often be overlooked when considering safe systems of work. Duty holders need to ensure that they are
stacking safely and that they have a plan for dealing with any unforeseen
circumstances such as a fall of stock.”
Source: www.hse.gov.uk
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