HSE prosecution round up:
Engineering firm fined over safety breach
An engineering firm was
sentenced for safety breaches after a worker suffered life affecting injuries.
Leeds Magistrates’ Court heard
how 39 year old father of two James Smith suffered a shattered knee cap in
October 2015 when his leg was struck by a rotating chuck of a CNC lathe machine
at Sigma Technologies Ltd’s Bradford plant.
The investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive found that the foot pedal that operated the jaws of the
chuck was faulty and the machine’s safety mechanism had been overridden. The
company had allowed the machines to be operated with the guards open for
setting and polishing for some time.
Sigma Technologies Ltd of
Dockfield Road, Shipley, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health
and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £31,500 with £2,222.10 costs by Leeds
Magistrates’ Court.
After the hearing, HSE
inspector Andrea Jones commented:
“The risks associated with CNC
machines include entanglement with rotating parts or ejection of components
resulting in serious injuries. The safe guarding principles of CNC machines are
well established.
It is essential that CNC
machines are only operated for setting purposes with the guards open on a
limited speed and limited functionality programme. Overriding the safety
mechanisms should never be allowed by management or supervisors.”
Construction Company fined after worker injured
A construction company from
Crawley, West Sussex has been sentenced after a worker fell from scaffolding
and was injured.
Paisley Sheriff’s Court heard
how Alan Wilson, a sole trader contracted to supply labour to carry out all
joinery work, fell from scaffolding between timber panels at a construction
site at Ivy Gardens, Millerston, Paisley on 3 February 2012. At the time of the
incident Mr Wilson, who had worked for the Company periodically for over an
eight year period, was erecting a timber frame to construct a block of two
storey properties.
The investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the Company had failed to make and put in
place suitable arrangements for the effective planning, organisation, control,
monitoring and review of the work at height being carried out on the timber
frame of a new build property by a contractor engaged by them.
They had also failed to
sufficiently assess the risk to the safety of the workers on their sites.
O’Brien Properties Ltd,
Brighton Road, Crawley, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1)
of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (1974) and were fined £7,500.
Staffordshire Logistics Company fined over safety failings
A Logistics company based in
Staffordshire has been fined after two employees were injured in two days.
Oxford Crown Court heard how a
39 year old male employee sustained crush injuries to his left foot when he was
hit by a forklift truck (FLT) at the Oxford Mini plant on 6 October 2014. The
court also heard that the following day a 55 year old Operations Manager
sustained severe injuries including internal bleeding, a fractured pelvis and
punctured lungs after a large metal box became unstable and fell from the forks
of a truck striking and pinning him underneath. He was walking along a marked
pedestrian walkway at the time of the incident.
A Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) investigation found that FLT operators and their supervisors were not
properly trained and the risk assessments in place were poor. The investigation
also found that there was inadequate segregation of pedestrians and vehicles.
After the hearing, HSE
inspector Kelly Nichols said: “It is vital that drivers are competent and have
received appropriate information, instruction and training. Sites should be
well-designed and maintained with suitable segregation of vehicles and people
in order to minimise the risk of workplace transport accidents.
“The risks from workplace
transport in warehouses and the required control measures to manage those risks
are well known and publicised in HSE publications. It is really disappointing
to find Rudolph & Hellmann Automotive Limited (RHA) failing to manage and
control the risks associated with the lifting and movement of vehicles and
goods in a busy workplace.
“Sadly, in this case, the
prosecution shows that RHA’s management of FLT driving operations and risk
control measures failed which exposed employees to danger from falling loads
and from being struck by a vehicle. These serious injuries were preventable.”
Rudolph & Hellmann
Automotive Limited, of Sandford Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire, pleaded
guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
1974, and was fined £265,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £14,943.30.
Fatal accident to company Managing Director
A textile manufacturing company
and one of its directors, Wazir Hussain were sentenced after a fatal accident
to the company’s Managing Director, 36 year old Nasir Hussain.
On the 1 February 2012 the
carding machine forming part of a production line at Felt Supplies Ltd
Dewsbury, had become blocked with waste. Nasir Hussain, brother of Wazir
Hussain, gained access to the line whilst it was still running.
Leeds Crown Court heard how
Nassir overrode the safety system using a spare key to unlock one of the gates.
He then stood on top of the carding machine with a metal bar in order to clear
the blockage while the line was still running. Although the machine was
switched off after a time it was still running down when his clothing became
entangled and he was pulled into the machine and killed.
The investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive found the use of a spare key to access machinery, whilst it
was operational, was commonplace by the workforce. It was custom and practice
for workers to gain access to the machinery in order to clear a jam or
blockage.
Despite HSE issuing a
Prohibition Notice to stop these unsafe practices and taking the spare keys
into possession the unsafe practices were allowed to continue for a sustained
period following the fatal accident with the knowledge and consent of company
director Wazir Hussain.
Felt Supplies Ltd of Wharfedale
Business Park, Edward Street, Bradford, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1)
and 22(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974 and was fined £175,000
with £64,165.55 costs by Leeds Crown Court.
Wazir Hussain of Garden Street,
Dewsbury, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 22(2) of the Health and
Safety at Work Act 1974 and was handed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended
for 18 months.
After the hearing, HSE
inspector Jacqueline Ferguson commented:
“This is a tragic incident that
could so easily have been avoided. In this case it was the Director that was
fatally injured and it could so easily have been an employee, in which case, we
may have been looking at a corporate manslaughter charge. Companies should be aware that HSE will not
hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below
the required standards especially where there has been a deliberate breach or a
flagrant disregard for the law.”
Air conditioning Maintenance Company in court over worker’s fall
A Leeds based air conditioning Maintenance
Company has been fined after a worker fell 3 metres through a false ceiling.
The 26 year old worker from
Warrington suffered serious injuries in the incident which occurred at Iceland
Foods Ltd in Clayton, Manchester, on the 17 June 2015.
The incident was investigated
by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which prosecuted ICH Ltd for serious
safety failings.
Manchester Magistrates Court
heard that two engineers had been replacing a motor in an air handling unit. One
worker was stood on a working platform, accessed via the cold room roof
surrounded by a wooden barrier, on which the other engineer was stood.
Whilst stood on the platform
fitting the new motor, the engineer stepped backwards off the platform, which
was positioned over a false ceiling, falling three metres to the ground below.
ICH Ltd of Union Bridge Works,
Roker Lane, Leeds pleaded guilty to a breach of Regulation 4(1) of the Work at
Height Regulation 2005 and was fined £20,000.00 and ordered to pay costs of
£1,050.18.
Speaking after the hearing HSE
Inspector Jennifer French said:
“Falls from height continue to
account for a significant proportion of all workplace deaths and serious
injuries. Businesses should ensure that all work at height, including work on
false ceilings, is properly planned, properly supervised and carried out
safely.”
Trio of firms fined £2million after worker’s leg is broken in
trench collapse
Three companies have been
sentenced in Lincoln Crown Court after a worker’s leg was broken in six places
when a trench which he was working in collapsed on him.
Vincent Talbot, 47, from
Lincoln, suffered serious leg injuries when his leg was crushed in the incident
at Fleet Street, Holbeach, Lincolnshire on 9 March 2012.
He was trapped in the trench
for 15 minutes before being extracted by the fire and rescue service and then
airlifted to hospital.
His right ankle has been left
permanently damaged, pointing 10 degrees off line. He was off work for more
than a year and vows never to work in a trench again.
An investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) found insufficient measures were taken to protect
those working in trenches, and a series of safety errors had led to the
collapse.
Principal contractor, Kier MG
Ltd, was appointed by Lincolnshire County Council to install new storm drains.
Kier MG Ltd sub-contracted the
installation work to John Henry & Sons (Civil Engineers) Ltd, who
subsequently further sub-contracted the work to Lawless Civils Ltd. Mr Talbot was a self-employed contractor hired
by Lawless Civils Ltd. John Henry &
Sons (Civil Engineers) Ltd, failed to inform Kier MG of the appointment of
Lawless Civils Ltd. Lawless were approved contractors of Kier MG
but not approved for this type of specialist excavation work. Lawless
appointed a supervisor who had never supervised work, and he did not have the
relevant training and qualifications to do so.
After the accident to Vince
Talbot, John Henry & Sons (Civil Engineers) Ltd, backdated the method
statement to give the impression that it was signed by the workers prior to the
trench collapsing.
A three-metre long trench box
shielded workers but the pipes being laid in the trench were six metres long,
meaning workers weren’t protected over the length of the pipe.
Other trench support systems
such as trench sheeting were not used, and the unsupported trench had water
leaking into it.
The trench had been left open
overnight and concrete was being used to bed the pipes in at the bottom of the
trench, instead of pea gravel as specified by the client.
Water mixed with the concrete,
making the pipe levelling process extremely difficult as the level of the pipe
bed had to be continuously adjusted.
When Vince Talbot was
attempting to level a pipe section for a second time, the sides of the trench
collapsed and trapped him.
Kier MG Ltd (formerly known as
May Gurney Ltd) of Tempsford Hall, Sandy, Bedfordshire, pleaded guilty to
breaching Regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management)
Regulations 2007. They were fined £1.5million and ordered to pay £23,327.83.
John Henry & Sons (Civil
Engineers) Ltd of Barnwell Road, Cambridge denied the charge but was found
guilty, after a trial of breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at
Work etc Act 1974. They were fined £550,000 and ordered to pay
£166,217.86.
Lawless Civils Ltd of
Doddington Road, Lincoln, pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They were fined £40,500 and ordered to
pay £53,346.59.
HSE inspector Martin Waring
said:
“This incident was foreseeable
and avoidable and Mr Talbot’s injuries were the result of multiple failings by
the duty holders, from the planning stage through to the execution of the
project, resulting in the inevitable collapse of an unsupported trench.
Sufficient trench support systems were not provided.
Even while the excavation phase
had begun, a catalogue of errors and omissions led to the injuries of Vincent
Talbot. It is inevitable that at some time an unsupported trench will collapse,
for this reason safe systems of work, should be in place in order to protect
persons who work in trenches. We could easily have been dealing with a fatal
incident.”
Crushing plant operative left seriously injured
A crushing plant firm has been
fined after worker lost his left arm when it was dragged into exposed
machinery.
Rotherham Magistrates Court
heard how the worker was cleaning down a large piece of machinery at a titanium
alloy processing plant in Rotherham when his left arm was dragged into part of
part of the unguarded mechanism, the belt and flywheel. One of his colleagues
heard him screaming and found him unconscious, initially believing he was dead.
An investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive found that workers on the crushing plant were required to
clean down the machinery after each batch to ensure the titanium product was
not contaminated; this placed them immediately next to unguarded belt and
flywheels. Although the company had enclosed all the machinery with a fence
including an interlocked gate, which ensured that the machinery was not powered
when the gate was open, the belt and the flywheel could still move with
considerable power if it was caught or nudged.
The worker was 56 years old at
the time of the incident on 2 September 2014. He suffered crush injuries to his
left upper limb so severe it had to be amputated above the elbow. He had
previously worked for the company for 24 years but has not been able to return
to work following the incident.
AMG Superalloys UK Ltd of
Fullerton Road, Rotherham, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £240,000 with £227,941.55
costs.
HSE inspector Carol Downes
said:
“This entirely preventable
incident resulted in serious life changing injuries to a worker. The risks of
unguarded machinery are well-known within the industry. If AMG
Superalloys had carried out their legal duty and assessed the risk of this
piece of equipment and how the workers cleaned the machine they would have
realised the dangers they were exposed to.
Fitting simple guards would have prevented this worker’s arm from been
dragged in, resulting in his life-changing injuries and the continuous pain he
is still suffering.”
Asbestos removal supervisor fined for exposing workers to deadly
fibres
An asbestos removal supervisor
has been sentenced after admitting exposing numerous workers to deadly asbestos
fibres during licensed asbestos removal works.
Manchester Magistrates Court
heard that a concern was received by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
claiming that Alan Burdett was allowing people into the sealed asbestos
enclosure, which is designed to keep dangerous fibres from escaping and
contaminating people or other areas, without any form or protective clothing or
face mask.
Alan Burdett was a supervisor
for Asbestos Decontamination Services Limited of Erdington, Birmingham, and was
engaged in large scale asbestos ceiling removal at the vacant Raleigh House,
Discovery Park, Stockport, where he was in control of a group of removal
operatives on a day-to-day basis.
HSE’s investigation found that
significant amount of metal framework which had supported the asbestos ceiling
boards was stacked in the open building without being wrapped or sealed to
prevent the spread of asbestos fibres. Alan Burdett had been filmed allowing
workers to enter the asbestos enclosure without any face masks or protective
clothing to prevent them being exposed to asbestos, as well as potentially
releasing the deadly fibres into the main building where there were no controls
to prevent exposure.
Alan Burdett of Mason Road,
Erdington, pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates Court to breaching Section
7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was sentenced to 6 months
imprisonment which was suspended for 18 months, fined £1,500.00 and was ordered
to pay costs of £3,518.13.
HSE inspector Matt Greenly said
after the case:
“Alan Burdett totally failed in
his duty to protect himself and his workers from a foreseeable risk of serious
harm from asbestos fibres.
Although he was qualified and
experienced he chose to completely ignore the risks from asbestos and in doing
so has exposed several people to a risk of developing a deadly disease at some
point in the future. As an asbestos supervisor he was in a trusted position and
he has abused this trust.”
Employee prosecuted for dangerous work at height
An employee of a steel erection
firm has been sentenced at Manchester Magistrates Court after admitted working
unsafely at height on a hotel development in central Manchester.
Manchester Magistrates Court
heard that on the 21 January 2015 a member of public contacted HSE claiming
that a man had been seen balancing on scaffold tubes in the rain while working
on the roof of the multi-storey hotel. HSE Inspectors found David Mulholland working
on the roof.
An investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive found it was David Mulholland in the photograph provided
to HSE. He had climbed up the scaffold to hammer the steel beams into place and
had not used the tower scaffold that had been made available for him. There was
also a full time scaffolder on site available for any of the contractors to
utilise to ensure safe working platforms were in place.
David Mulholland, Victoria
Road, Walton le Dale, Preston, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7 of the
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was sentenced to 6 months
imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, fined £1,400.00 and was ordered to pay
costs of £2,939.18.
HSE inspector Matt Greenly said
after the case:
“This case dealt with a serious
work at height risk which could have led to a fatal incident. David Mulholland
failed in his duty to protect his own safety while at work and also placed
others at risk had he dropped any tool from the position he was seen in some 27
metres above street level. During HSE’s investigation he said that he did not
appreciate how high he was.
Never before in my career as an
HSE Inspector have I seen such a staggering disregard for personal safety. It
is a matter of pure luck that no-one was injured or killed.
My thanks go to the member of
the public who reported their concern to us as they have been instrumental in
saving the life of Mr Mulholland and arguably anyone below him at that time.”
National airline prosecuted for not protecting workers
British Airways PLC has been
prosecuted for not protecting their workers from hand/arm vibrations.
Paisley Sheriff’s Court heard
how employees working within the composite workshop at the Glasgow base, who in
the course of their work used hand held power tools to carry out repairs on
various components, were exposed to the risk of Hand/Arm Vibration (HAV), a
condition that can cause symptoms such as tingling, pins and needles, numbness
and pain in the affected person’s hands.
The condition can affect sleep
when it occurs at night and cause difficulties in gripping and holding things,
particularly small items such as screws, doing up buttons, writing and driving.
An investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) highlighted the company’s failure to make a suitable
and sufficient risk assessment to control the effect of exposure by workers to
the vibrations from hand held tools. Potentially this exposed the work force to
the risk of injury whilst working within the workshops.
British Airways PLC, Waterside,
Harmondsworth, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5 (1) of the Control of
Vibration at Work Regulations (2005) and was fined £6,500.
Essex companies fined after workers exposed to asbestos
Two Essex-based companies have
been fined after exposing workers to potentially deadly asbestos over a period
of years, despite being alerted to the risks at their premises.
Basildon Crown Court heard that
asbestos was found in poor condition when Connect Packaging Ltd moved into
industrial units in Manor Road Trading Estate, Benfleet in 2007, but that it
failed to act to control risk. As a
result, its employees were exposed to risk from airborne asbestos fibres.
When Connect Packaging Ltd
moved out of the units in January 2009, it sublet them to Creo Retail Marketing
Ltd, another company within its group, but continued to exercise some control
over maintenance and repair work at the premises.
In 2014, Creo Retail Marketing
Ltd undertook its own asbestos survey following the appointment of a new health
and safety officer. This confirmed continuing risk of exposure to airborne
asbestos fibres from sources including poorly-enscapsulated blue asbestos
(crocidolite).
Despite this, workers remained
exposed to these risks while the companies debated their responsibility for its
removal and failed to act effectively to prevent exposure.
Health and Safety Executive
(HSE) launched an investigation and its scientists found asbestos fibres at
locations including the workers’ clocking-in point, on rafters above work
areas, and within a stationery cupboard.
When asbestos fibres become
airborne, they can be inhaled, and these tiny fibres are known to cause
respiratory diseases and cancers which can be fatal. The court heard that
workers at both companies were exposed to risk over an extended period of time.
Connect Packaging Ltd,
registered at 91 Soho Hill, Birmingham was fined £65,000 and ordered to pay
£8,150.23 in costs after pleading guilty to a breach of Section 4 of the Health
and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Creo Retail Marketing Ltd,
registered at 350 Euston Road, London, was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay
£8,149.63 in costs after pleading guilty to breaches of Sections 2 and 3 of the
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
After the hearing, HSE
Inspector Nikki Hughes said:
“Connect Packaging Ltd is now under
new ownership but while it held the tenants- repairing-lease on the rented
units it had a legal duty to manage asbestos within these non-domestic
premises, as did its sub-tenant, Creo Retail Marketing Ltd.
After this asbestos was
identified, both companies should have acted promptly and effectively to
control the potentially lethal risk to which their workers were exposed.
Asbestos-related disease has a long latency period, so we cannot predict the
consequences this failure to manage asbestos may have on their workers’ health.
This prosecution should act as
a reminder to all persons in control of the repair and maintenance of
non-domestic premises of the need to ensure that the correct control measures
are put in place to prevent exposure to asbestos, so far as is reasonably
practicable.”
Dairy Manufacturer fined after worker’s fragile roof fall
A dairy manufacturer has been
fined £400,000 after a worker suffered serious injuries when he fell 15
feet through a fragile roof panel.
Muller UK and Ireland Group
LLP, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court, after an investigation by
the Health and safety Executive (HSE).
The Court heard that on the 8th
July 2015, a worker was carrying out a routine job with two
colleagues to change the refrigeration gas of the chilled storage units at the
firm’s premises on Lake Road, Trafford Park. They were working in the roof void
of the chilled store building above the chilled units. One of the workers
stood on a fragile fire board panel at the edge of the roof space and fell down
the void between the chilled unit and the building shell. He suffered injuries
to his head and body.
HSE’s investigation found that
the workers had not been given any information from the company about the
fragile roof panels in the void, despite having worked there on a number
of previous occasions.
The company had failed to carry
out an adequate risk assessment prior to permitting access to the area and
failed to share information about the presence of the fragile panels prior to
the work being undertaken. The fragile panels were not clearly visible, had no
warning markings and there were no barriers to prevent access to fragile areas.
HSE inspector Jane Carroll said
after the hearing:
“This case highlights how
important it is that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment is undertaken
for all work at height and work within roof voids, to identify the potential
for fragile panels to be present. Falls from height through fragile roofs
remain a common cause of life changing or fatal injuries for individuals at
work”.
Muller UK and Ireland Group
LLP, of Tern Valley Business Park, Shrewsbury Road, Market
Drayton, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety
at Work, etc. Act 1974 and was fined £400,000 with £9,336.90 costs.
Housing association prosecuted for safety failings
A housing association has been
prosecuted after allowing renovations to take place that put residents at risk
of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Dumfries Sheriff Court heard
that Dumfries & Galloway Housing Partnership Limited, Scotland’s second
largest registered social landlord, had allowed chimneys to be removed from
properties on two separate occasions. It was later discovered during the annual
gas checks that the chimneys acted as the necessary gas flue for adjacent
properties.
HSE’s investigation into both
incidents revealed that, at the time the chimney removals took place, not only
was there was no procedure in place for the Company’s workers to follow in
respect of this type of work, neither were any risk assessments carried out in
relation to the chimney removals which would have identified the risk to carbon
monoxide poisoning for the residents.
Dumfries & Galloway Housing
Partnership Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and
Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £8,000.
Around seven people die each
year from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by gas appliances and flues that
have not been properly installed, maintained or that are poorly ventilated.
Bolton resident dies in lift shaft fall
A property management company
has been fined after a resident of Marsden House in Bolton died
after falling down a lift shaft.
Bolton
Crown Court heard how 29 year old Craig Jones and a friend were
trapped in a lift and unable to raise the alarm. They attempted a self-rescue
by forcing the doors open and sliding out onto the floor below.
Craig Jones slipped under the
lift car and fell five stories down the lift shaft and died of multiple
injuries. His friend escaped unhurt.
An investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which
occurred on 30 August
2014 found that Warwick Estates Property Management Limited
(the management company for the building) failed to take suitable and sufficient
steps to prevent Craig and his friend self-rescuing.
Warwick Estates Property
Management Limited, of Edinburgh Way, Harlow,
Essex, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and
Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and was fined £120,000 and
ordered to pay costs of £45,000.
Speaking after the hearing HSE
inspector Sarah Taylor said:
“Those who manage lifts have a
responsibility to ensure they are properly maintained but if people are trapped
they have a way to raise the alarm and are not in a position to try and rescue
themselves. The problems with this lift
were well known and if Warwick Estates Property Management Ltd had fulfilled
their health and safety responsibilities Craig Jones would probably be around
to celebrate Christmas with his family.”
