Health and Safety in the news this
week
Key Health and Safety Statistics for Great
Britain (2015/16)
The
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released the latest annual statistics on
illness and injury. Key figures are:-
·
1.3 million working people suffering from a
work-related illness
·
2,515 mesothelioma deaths due to past
asbestos exposures (2014)
·
144 workers killed at work
·
72,202 other injuries to employees reported
under RIDDOR
·
621,000 injuries occurred at work according
to the Labour Force Survey
·
30.4 million working days lost due to
work-related illness and workplace injury.
·
£14.1 billion estimated
cost of injuries and ill-health from current working conditions (2014/15)
The figures show that there has been
a fall of 85% in the number of workers killed at work since 1974, with
workplace injuries down by 1.3% overall since 2013/14 for absences of 7 days or
over. Injuries in construction and
manufacturing have both fallen, by 0.9% and 6.8% respectively compared to
2014/15. Work-related illnesses have
increased overall by 18% since 2011, with an 11.7% increase in construction
compared with 2014/15, and 0.7% increase in manufacturing compared to 2014/15.
Source: www.hse.gov.uk
HSE prosecution round up:
Worker dies when temporary platform collapses
A worker died and two others
were badly injured at a construction site in Putney, when a temporary platform
collapsed.
Southwark Crown Court heard
how, on 29 October 2012, a carpenter and a steel-fixer had been standing on a
temporary wooden platform above a stairwell opening on the 9th floor
of a construction site when the platform suddenly gave way beneath them. They
fell around sixteen metres down the opening. Both men landed on the
partly-constructed concrete staircase below, where the carpenter sadly
sustained fatal injuries. The steel-fixer survived the fall but was so
seriously injured that it took almost 3 years for him to recover sufficiently
to be able to return to work.
An engineer’s assistant who was
working in the stairwell on a lower level was hit by falling debris and also
sustained serious injuries.
An investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) found that similar platforms had been constructed on
other floors throughout the construction site, by using timber joists supported
by unsuitable joist hangers with plywood fixed on top. The platforms, which
were part of ‘temporary works’ were neither built to an agreed safe design, nor
was the quality of the build checked by those in control of the site, even
though they were crucial to the safety of workers on upper floors.
Karen Morris, HM Inspector of
Health & Safety, said
“The risks of falling from height are well-known, and
the risk of joist hanger failure is well-documented. This tragic incident
illustrates what can happen if temporary works are not properly organised. All
those who have a role in planning and managing work on site must take
responsibility for ensuring that serious risks are properly controlled.”
St James Group Limited, of
Berkeley House, Portsmouth Road, Cobham, Surrey, the Principal Contractor,
pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 22(1)(a), Construction (Design and
Management) [CDM] Regulations 2007, and was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay
costs of £14,935.54.
Mitchellson Formwork and Civil
Engineering Limited, of Mitchellson House, Horton Trading Estate, Horton,
Slough, Berkshire, the contractors responsible for constructing the platforms,
pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(2), of the Construction (Design and
Management) [CDM] Regulations 2007, and was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay
costs of £14,935.54.
RGF Construction Limited, of
Howard Road, Seer Green, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, a site agent who
assisted with managing the work, was found guilty at an earlier hearing on 4
July 2016 of breaching Regulations 13(2), and 28(2) of the Construction (Design
and Management) Regulations 2007. The company was fined £20,000.
Packaging firm fined over safety breaches
A packaging company has been
fined after a worker’s thumb was severed due to the company’s failure to take
adequate measures to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery.
Jiffy Packaging Company
Limited, which produces packaging for the food industry and stationery
products, was found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court today after an
investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The Court heard the worker
reached through an unguarded section in the frame of one of the machines to
clean ink from a roller. The rag he was using got caught in one of the
motorised cogs, causing his hand to be pulled into the rotating cogs. His left
thumb was severed, resulting in him receiving skin grafts in hospital and being
unable to work for 15 weeks.
Although the company had
partially guarded the rollers and cogs of the machine with an interlocked
guard, they failed to take adequate measures to prevent access to all dangerous
parts of machinery.
The HSE investigation found the
company’s risk assessment had been written nine years earlier by an employee
untrained in creating risk assessments. The assessment did not identify risks
related to unguarded machinery or any control measures.
The court heard the company had
previously been served with several HSE Improvement Notices highlighting
machinery guarding issues.
Jiffy Packaging Company Ltd, of
Road Four, Winsford, Cheshire was found guilty of breaching Section 2 (1) of
the Health and Safety at work etc Act 1974 and was fined £70,000 with full
costs of £53,509.
HSE inspector Adam McMahon said
after the hearing: “The employee’s life changing injuries could have been
prevented if a suitable and sufficient risk assessment had been completed and
the correct control measures implemented.
“The day after the accident the
company carried out a new risk assessment of the machine guarded the area in
which the employee reached through with a clear plastic screen. The company
followed this up with a written safe system of work relating to cleaning the
rollers.’’
Source: www.hse.gov.uk
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