HSE prosecution round up:
Environmental services firm fined for safety failings
A Lancashire based
environmental services company has been fined after a worker suffered serious
injuries when his arm was crushed by machinery.
Preston Magistrates’ Court
heard how on the 20th May 2015 30 year old worker, Muhammad Shoaib, was working
on a waste line cleaning out waste plastic material from a conveyor belt when
the machinery was started and his arm was drawn in between the rollers and the
belt.
Mr Shoaib suffered crush
injuries in two places on his left arm and needed extensive surgery. He has not
been able to return to work since the incident.
HSE’s investigation found that
no suitable and sufficient risk assessment had been carried out to identify the
risks from the rollers. There was no suitable isolation process or guarding in
place, and no safe system of work for cleaning the rollers.
HSE Inspector Sharon Butler
said:
“This incident was entirely preventable. It is essential to take
effective measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery. As in
this case the outcome for ignoring these simple safety measures can result in
life changing injuries and a substantial fine.”
Consillium Environmental
Services Limited, Tower Road Business Park, Darwen pleaded guilty to breaching
Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £30,000
with £4500 in costs.
London garage owner sentenced for health and safety failings
A garage owner in Seven
Sisters, North London, has been fined for several health and safety breaches
after a worker was attacked by a guard dog.
A Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) investigation into the dog attack in January 2014 which left a mechanic
with injuries to his thigh, uncovered a wide range of serious health and safety
breaches at the garage. These included spray painting without appropriate
control measures to prevent workers and members of the public from breathing in
dangerous hazardous chemicals, an unsafe vehicle lift, and a lack of adequate
welfare facilities. HSE had previously taken enforcement action against the
garage’s owner Mehmet Salih, 54, in relation to these offences.
Westminster Magistrates Court
heard how Mehmet Salih gave HSE a false identity, claiming the business owner
was out of the country and claimed that the business did not carry out certain
tasks.
Mehmet Salih, of North Circular
Road, London, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 4(2) of the Health
and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and Regulation 9(2) of the Lifting Operations
and Lifting Equipment Regulations, 1998. He was given a six months prison term
for each charge suspended for two years, and ordered to undertake 300 hours of
unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £2,000 in costs and £5,000 compensation
to the victim of the dog bite.
HSE Inspector Nick Faber said:
“The horrific injury suffered by Mehmet Salih’s employee was completely avoidable and even basic control measures such as putting a muzzle on the dog would have eliminated the risk. The wide range of safety failings at the garage exposed a number of other people to serious risk including health effects which may only become apparent later in their lives.
HSE supports businesses who
work to comply with the law. This was not the case here, and this prosecution
sends a clear message to those who cut costs and put people in harm’s way,
failing to respond to enforcement action will put your business and freedom at
risk.”
Council and contractors fined after man dies and another
seriously injured in roadworks
Liverpool City Council and two
of its contractors have been prosecuted following two separate incidents
involving roadworks on a busy city centre road.
One man died and another was
seriously injured while attempting to cross Queens Drive in Liverpool during
major resurfacing works in the summer of 2012. Enterprise Liverpool Limited and
Tarmac Trading Limited were contracted by Liverpool City Council to carry out
the works.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how,
on 3 July 2012, a 74-year-old man suffered head injuries after he was hit by a
car while using a crossing at temporary lights. One side of the Queen’s Drive
dual carriageway had been put into a contraflow to allow vehicles to travel in
both directions. However the temporary pedestrian lights were not working
and no alternative was provided.
The Court also heard that the
following month, on the 19th August 2012, 69-year-old Ernest Haughton
died after he was hit by a car while attempting to cross a single lane of
traffic on the same road using a temporary pedestrian crossing. However,
following complaints from motorists, changes were made to the traffic control
lights to alleviate congestion but this removed the natural break in traffic
flow needed to allow pedestrians to cross the carriageway.
A Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) investigation found that Liverpool City Council failed to ensure that the
arrangements for managing the roadworks were suitable, including failing to
appoint a suitable co-ordinator for the work. Instead they had sought to
delegate responsibilities to Enterprise Liverpool Limited.
The investigation also found
that Enterprise Liverpool Limited failed to ensure the designs for the traffic
management were checked or approved, the construction plan for pedestrian
routes and provision of barriers was being followed, and at the time of the
incidents provided no safe means of pedestrians crossing the works area or the
carriageway.
Tarmac Trading Limited who were
responsible for the provision and installation of the traffic and pedestrian
management failed to provide alternative assistance for pedestrians at the time
of the first incident despite it being known that the temporary lights were
broken. A temporary bus stop had also been placed in the middle of the road at
the crossing.
When Mr Haughton was killed the
temporary lights had been removed but no alternative control measures were put
in place to enable pedestrians to cross the live lane of traffic. In addition a
large A-frame sign was placed on the crossing obscuring the view of both pedestrians
and motorists.
Liverpool City Council of Dale
Street, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9(1) of the
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM) and were fined
£15,000 and ordered to pay £100,000 costs.
Enterprise Liverpool Limited of
Newton Road, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 22(1) of the
Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM) and were fined
£25,000 and ordered to pay £80,000 costs.
Tarmac Trading Limited of
Portland House, Bickenhill Lane, Solihull, pleaded guilty to Section 3(1) of
the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act, 1974 and were fined £1.3 million and
ordered to pay £130,000 costs.
Speaking after the case HSE
Inspector Jacqueline Western said:
“The risks associated with road works are
well known in the industry and specific guidance is available to assist with
the planning and implementation. It is not unreasonable to
expect that those who regularly engage in this type of construction work should
be well aware of their roles and responsibilities.
The combined failure of all
three dutyholders to comply with their duties on more than one occasion during
the Queens Drive resurfacing project, led to one man losing his life and
another suffering serious injury. It could quite easily have been two fatal
incidents.
By engaging with the entire
project team at the very start of a project, clients like Liverpool City
Council can ensure that a good health and safety culture is embodied
throughout the life of the project. Ongoing communication and co-operation
between the principal contractors and sub-contractors ensures that the project
is being adequately planned, managed and monitored.”
Recycling firm fined after worker injured in shredder
A Kent based recycling company
has been fined after a worker was injured whilst repairing a shredder.
Maidstone Magistrates’ Court
heard how, on 7 October 2013, a plant mechanic employed by Countrystyle
Recycling Limited was in the process of repairing a shredding machine after the
metal plate forming the roof of the hammer drum had become detached. The worker
was kneeling on a conveyor belt inside the shredder when it restarted and he
was thrown from the machine. He suffered a fractured right leg and left arm.
An investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the company did not have adequate or
suitable systems in place to protect the health and safety of their employees,
including failing to enforce the ‘safe stop’ process which should be followed
when using dangerous machinery. The company had allowed unchallenged poor
practice to become the norm.
Countrystyle Recycling Limited
of Ashford Road, Lenham, Maidstone, Kent, was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay
£8,903 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health
and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.Source: www.hse.gov.uk
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