“Management shortcomings” to blame for fatality

A waste-transfer station must pay £105,000 in fines and costs following the death of a worker at its depot in Trowbridge, Wiltshire.

Swindon Crown Court heard that Bert Reeves, 62, was working as a totter for Shanley and Sons Ltd, when he was run over by a reversing skip lorry, on 21 June 2007.

Mr Reeves was standing in the depot’s tipping yard, operating an industrial shredding machine, which is used to process skip waste. At the same time a vehicle was delivering waste products, and the driver was attempting to park in the yard, in order to tip out the load. The driver could not see Mr Reeves as he was stood in the vehicle’s blindspot. He was struck by the rear of the vehicle, and fell underneath its wheels. Mr Reeves suffered serious head and chest injuries and died in hospital two hours later.

The HSE visited the site and issued an Improvement Notice in July 2007 for the failure to separate vehicles and pedestrians.

Inspector Liam Osbourne said: “This was a truly horrific case of a man killed doing his work in a needless and entirely preventable incident.

“Large moving vehicles on waste and recycling sites are a major risk to people who have to work on foot. Safety laws were introduced in 1992 that require managers of these sites to organise them to reduce the risk of people being killed or injured in this way.

Shanley and Sons appeared in court on 25 September and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974, and reg.17 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, for failing to segregate vehicles and pedestrians. It was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay costs of £25,000.

The firm mitigated that it had no previous convictions for health and safety offences, and had complied with the Improvement Notice. It has subsequently installed a one-way system, pedestrian-only areas, and signage to separate vehicles and pedestrians. It has also stationed a traffic coordinator in the yard to guide lorries into the tipping area.

After delivering his sentence Judge Hart revealed that it was his belief that Mr Reeves’ death was caused by “management shortcomings”. He said: “This case makes disturbing reading and there was a substantial gap between reasonable practice for risk management and what was actually in place.

“Failure to put in place pedestrian segregation was a direct cause of the accident. There was also a lack of management strategy and a blatant inadequacy of risk-assessment training and a safe system of work.”

Construction firms warned not to put lives in danger after builder is left paralysed

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is reminding construction companies of their duties to employees after a worker was paralysed in a fall.

Harold Roach fell ten feet through roof joists at a refurbishment site on Gertrude Street in Birkenhead while he was working for Property People (NW) Ltd.

The company, which is based at Stanhope House, Mark Rake, Bromborough, Wirral, was fined £92,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £11,404 at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday 20 July after pleading guilty to two health and safety offences.

Property People admitted contravening Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure the safety of its employees. It also pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1) of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 by failing to report the injury to HSE.

The court heard that the incident happened on 23 April 2005 while joists were being removed from the ceiling of an archway, and that Property People had failed to provide a safe platform for its employees to use. Mr Roach suffered serious injuries to his back from the fall, resulting in permanent paralysis.

HSE Inspector Ian Betley said:

“The injuries Mr Roach sustained were extremely serious and he will need to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

“Working at height remains the single biggest cause of workplace deaths and one of the main causes of major injury. It should be managed by implementing and enforcing suitable and sufficient control measures.

“Companies are required by health and safety legislation to take reasonable measures to ensure the safety of employees and others that may be affected by their work. In this case, a suitable platform should have been used to remove the joints from

below, rather than from above. Had such steps been taken, this incident could have been avoided.

“The tragic outcome of this incident, and the subsequent fine, must act as a reminder that the results can be serious for businesses that fail to comply with the legislation.” More information about working safely at height is available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/

Firm Ordered to Pay more than £42,000 After Worker Injured

A Lincolnshire based company has been ordered to pay £42,631 after a worker was seriously injured after he was struck by a trailer.

Peter Borley of Limagrain UK Ltd endured serious back and chest injuries at the firm's Woolpit Business Park site after he was struck by a trailer on 27th March 2008.

The company admitted to failing to ensure the health and safety of an employee at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday 24th August and were fined £35,000 plus ordered to pay costs of £7,631. The incident occurred after a one-tonne trailer toppled over as it was being lifted onto a chasis.

Mr Borley suffered injuries to his ribs, vertebrae and sternum. Ruth Barber who was prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said that workers had propped a refurbished trailer on its side, before trying to lift it on the its chassis using a forklift truck.

Even though Mr Borley was not involved in the move, he was struck by the trailer when it toppled over despite efforts to hold it back by the manager.

Results of an investigation by the HSE found a risk assessment had not been carried out, staff had not been trained for the task and that the straps used to lift the trailer were marked stating 'not for lifting'.

The company said in mitigation that they regretted the accident and had fully cooperated with the HSE's investigation and that in the past year they had spent £140,000 on health and safety. The company also described the accident as an 'isolated lapse' and had no previous convictions.
Since the incident, the company has introduced a policy of wearing high-visibility vests and has employed health and safety consultants to advise staff.

A spokesman for the HSE said after the hearing: "Cases like this highlight the need for all employers to ensure a proper and full risk assessment is in place.

"It is imperative work is carried out safely, and the HSE will not hesitate to take action against those who are in breach of the law and put people's safety at risk."

Construction Firm Fined After Ignoring Prohibition Notice

A construction firm has been fined £8,500 plus costs of £9,526 after continuing to work on an unsafe excavation even though they had been served a prohibition notice.

JAS Truscott & Son Ltd. was refurbishing a house in Belgravia, London, and was excavating the property's ground floor. They had dug four three metre deep pits to create a basement.

During the basement's development, the company was advised by the local building control that their pits were not supported properly. However, the company continued to work, having received this advice and were subsequently reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The site was visited by HSE Inspector Kevin Shorten on 2nd June 2008, who noticed that two of the pits did not have any supports in place to prevent the sides from collapsing in. The remaining two pits had insufficient supports in place which were present on only two sides of the hole. They also consisted of a plywood backboard which was supported by a horizontal timber strut. The tops of the pits did not have any edge protection.

The company was issued a prohibition notice, prohibiting them from any further work to be carried out with immediate effect until the excavation was suitably planned, and edge protection was put in place. However, when Kevin Shorten visited again the next day, work had continued without any sufficient supports in place and a rope was being used for edge protection.

On 18th August, JAS Truscott and Son Ltd appeared at City of London Magistrate’s Court and pleaded guilty to breaching section 33(1)(g) of the HSWA for contravening a Prohibition Notice and received a fine of £6,500. They were also fined for breaching regulation 31(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 for failing to erect proper supports and for breaching regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £1,000 for each of these breaches and ordered to pay full costs to the HSE of £9,526.

The company mitigated that they didn’t have any previous convictions, and to ensure that the project was concluded safely, they worked closely with the HSE. They have since sub-contracted a specialist company to carry out basement work on their similar sites.

Employees' Warnings About Machine Ignored by Firm

A general operative at a factory received serious injuries while cleaning an unguarded machine. Wayne Lello, who was working at Swancote Foods Ltd in Telford, was cleaning a conveyor-fed potato processing machine, when his hand came into contact with an in-running nip and was drawn into the machine.

This was the first time that he had worked on the machine and he was shown how to clean it by a supervisor. He was instructed to use a scouring pad to wipe the conveyor belt while the machine was in operation when the incident took place on 20th April 2007.

Mr Lello was unable to free himself once the incident had occurred and called out for help. One of his colleagues reversed the conveyor belt to free his hand after isolating the machine. Mr Lello was then rushed to hospital and treated for lacerations, friction burns and tendon damge to his elbow and left forearm. Due to the severity of the accident, he has lost feeling in part of his arm has been unable to return to work for 3 months.

The potential dangers of this way of working had been previously highlighted and these concerns were reported to management, however nothing was done to rectify the situation.

On 31st March this year, Swancote Foods Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000.
A senior manager at the company, Edward Davies, was found not guilty of breaching the same offence.

The firm was very repentant about the incident, and has carried out risk assessments on the machine following the incident. They have also installed guarding to prevent access to the danger area, and introduced a safe system of work, which states that during cleaning, the machine must be isolated.

HSE inspector, David Kivlin, said: "Adequate safeguards on moving machinery and safe systems of working should always be in place. Employees had themselves spotted fundamental flaws in cleaning procedures and raised their concerns that insufficient safeguards existed for their protection, but senior management did not heed those warnings.

"The worker's injuries were sufficiently serious to cause some long-term discomfort and adversely affect his work capabilities. The machine should clearly have been properly guarded.
"This incident could have been avoided if the company had established a safe way of tackling the job and ensuring that competent persons are regularly assessing and minimising the associated risks."

HSE Warns Construction Companies after Deaths Of Two Workmen

A crane company has been prosecuted for breaching health and safety law, prompting the HSE to remind construction companies of the financial penalties of not carrying out full risk assessments or ensuring staff are properly trained.

WD Bennett's Plant & Services Ltd was fined £125,000 plus costs of £264,299 on 31st July 2009 after they were found guilty of two health and safety breaches at Chichester Crown Court at a previous hearing in March. The two breaches led to an incident which caused the deaths of two workers and injuring a third.

Eurolift (Tower Cranes) Ltd have been charged alongside the company and pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Regulation 8(3) of the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 at the start of the trial.
The incident took place at a construction site in Worthing on 11th February 2005, when Steve Boatman and Gary Miles were working on the jib of a crane. Both men died, with another was severely injured.

The injured man was working in the mast of the crane and was instructed to begin de-tourquing the crane's mast bolts. This should have been carried out one-by-one and then retightening each bolt in turn, however, he was not trained in this area of work and did not retighten the bolts, leaving them part undone. Subsequently the crane collapsed as it turned.

Mr Boatman and Mr Miles, died from the injuries they received after being thrown from the crane.

Peter Collingwood, the HSE inspector who led the investigation said: "This fine reflects the seriousness of the company's breaches of health and safety legislation. The accident, in which two men lost their lives, was avoidable. It was caused by the inadequate supervision of a worker who was not trained, nor competent for the task that he was asked to undertake.

"To avoid future tragedies like this, employers and contractors must ensure that tower crane work including erection and dismantling is only undertaken by trained, experienced and competent people who are supervised adequately."

Company and its Director Fined in Case Brought by HSE

An electrical network company based in Cottenham, Cambridge and its director have been ordered to pay more that £12,500 each after breaching health and safety legislation.

The case was brought against Fenland Electrical Network Services Ltd and the company director Nicholas McCarthy by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), after a man needed his leg to be amputated whilst training to work with overhead power lines.

The incident occurred on 17th December 2007 when during training for an emergency descent from a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP), one man from a group of electricity company linesmen fell from the bucket of the MEWP as he was not attached to the bucket by his harness.
The victim's right leg needed to be amputated below the knee after he received significant injuries to it. He also suffered a fractured pelvis, spinal injuries and tendon damage to his left ankle.

Gavin Bull, HSE Inspector said after the case: "The accident occurred during a rescue training exercise, which went tragically wrong when the linesman fell a height of four metres from a mobile elevated work platform.

"The case serves to highlight the need to ensure that essential safety measures are in place for training and work at height."

Fenland Electrical Network Services Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, for failing to ensure the health and safety of those not in its employment, while Mr McCarty admitted breaching Section 37 of the same Act.

The company and Mr McCarty were both fined £7,000 plus costs of £5,503.20.

Company Fined for Legionnaire's Test Failings

A company has been ordered to pay £41,276 after admitting that they didn't carry out the correct water treatment surveys in two care homes in South Wales.

DEBA UK Ltd appeared at Abertillery Magistrates Court on 6th August after failing to carry out legionella surveys on water systems at nursing homes in Tredegar and Llangattock.
This led to vulnerable residents at the homes being put at a considerably higher risk of contracting the potentially fatal legionnaire's disease.

The court was told that DEBA UK Ltd was commissioned to carry out the risk assessments for legionnaire's disease at the nursing homes and found the risk to be low. A following routine check at the nursing homes revealed there to be insufficient controls for legionella, and focus moved onto the work carried out by the company.

The company was fined £24,000 plus ordered to pay costs of £17,276 after pleading guilty to three charges under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Speaking after the case, Matthew Hamar, HSE inspector, said: "The nursing home operators commissioned DEBA UK Ltd to carry out the surveys in good faith and to help them comply with their responsibilities to manage the risk posed by legionella on their premises. They were badly let down in this case.

"Elderly nursing home residents are at greater risk from the bacteria that give rise to conditions such as legionnaires disease, so it is imperative that safety critical surveys like those carried out by DEBA UK Ltd are adequate.

"Fortunately, there was no evidence of any outbreak of the disease as a result of these incidents, but there is a clear responsibility to those companies carrying out specialist work that they need to carry out adequate surveys and provide accurate information.

"The health and safety of all those who use our services, as well as our members of staff, is always our top priority. We take matters such as this very seriously and have been working very closely with the Health and Safety Executive throughout this case. We hope that everyone acts upon the valuable lessons from this case."

Wakefield firm fined for Legionnaire's outbreak

A butchery processing company has been fined after two of their employees contracted Legionnaire's disease.

Boguslaw Plociennik and Zbigniew Rauk contracted the disease at the company's Bamber Bridge premises near Preston in September and October 2006 respectively.

Kepak UK pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulation at Preston Crown Court and were subsequently fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 costs.

A Health and Safety Executive led committee obtained water samples from the building and found significant levels of legionella were present in three locations.

Dorothy Shaw, HSE principal inspector said: "Kepak failed to carry out simple checks on the hot and cold water system. As a result, many of its employees working at the site were potentially exposed to the legionella bacteria, and two individuals were made seriously ill.

"Any system containing water at temperatures between 20 and 45 degrees Celsius, and which may release an aerosol during operation or maintenance, is at risk of exposure to legionella bacteria.

"Legionnaires' disease is a potentially fatal illness and, had the correct procedures been in place, the outbreak at Kepak's premises would not have occurred.

"Legionella bacteria can build up in purpose-built water systems and, if conditions are favourable, the bacteria can multiply, increasing the risk."

Firm to Pay £733,000 After Deaths

An international firm has been fined more than £700,000 after two of its employees died after an argon gas leak.

Stuart Jordan, 50 and Richard Clarkson, 29, who worked for Bodycote HIP Ltd at a Hereford metal refining plant died 5 years ago after argon gas leaked from a large vessel in a pit.

After admitting to breaching the Health and Safety at work Act 1974, Bodycote HIP Ltd of Macclesfield, Cheshire, were fined £533,000 plus costs of £200,000.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who brought the case against the firm, informed Worcester Crown Court that the two men were found collapsed on the stairs that lead to the pit at the College Road site on 14th June 2004. The HSE continued to tell the court that on the day of the incident, the pit's oxygen alarm system was switched off, and the ventilation system, which could have saved the men's lives, was not running.

The HSE also said that there was no evidence that Mr Jordan had received any appropriate safety training.

In it s defence, Bodycote HIP Ltd said that complacency had developed, however there was not a general disregard for health and safety at the company and that since the incident, the health and safety deficiencies have been remedied.

Speaking after the case, HSE inspector Luke Messenger said: "Both these tragic deaths were not only regrettable but also entirely preventable".

He added: "Confined spaces can be found in a wide range of workplaces and these deaths should serve as a reminder to all industries of the dangers of this type of work."

Plant Fined £30,000 After Worker Loses Three Fingers

An employee at a meat processing plant in Prestwick lost three fingers when a machine he was attempting to repair started up. The owners of the company have been convicted of failing to have a safe isolation procedure in place for the machinery.

The incident happened in June 2008 when employee Steven Glass was working on an Endoline tape packaging machine which had been under repair. When the machine wouldn’t work he tried to fix it. As the machine could not be properly isolated to prevent accidental operation, it started and subsequently trapped three of his fingers, which were amputated. One of his fingers was successfully reattached.

Since Mr Glass' accident, the company has been taken over hand has seen significant improvements in regards to health and safety.

On 2nd July 2009 at Ayr Sherriff Court, Belcher Food products Ltd of Prestwick, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1); 2 (2) and 33 (1) (a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £30,000.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has stressed the importance of ensuring machinery is capable of being isolated to prevent operation and to ensure employees are given sufficient training, instruction and supervision.

Helen Diamond, HSE Investigating Inspector is now warning companies of the importance of maintaining machinery and ensure that it is properly guarded: "This serious accident was entirely foreseeable and preventable. The company themselves had identified a large number of serious faults with their machinery well before this accident, yet little was done to rectify these faults. The company also failed to follow the advice of our inspectors.

"It is vital for the safety of all employees that companies ensure machinery is properly maintained and that systems are in place to ensure it cannot accidentally be operated when under repair. Our investigations showed that it was normal practice for employees to repair their own machines."

A year previous to the accident, the court heard that an electrical inspection of their premises identified 866 faults with the electrics and wiring system, 200 of these regarded as most urgent. Little or no work had been done to correct these faults by the time of the accident.

HSE inspectors visited the plant 3 months prior to the accident and informed the company that they have a procedure in place to ensure machinery could be properly isolated while being prepared. This had not been carried out at the time of the accident.

HSE Warns of Dangers of Not Maintaining Plant Equipment After Driver's Death

A telescopic forklift truck driver has died after he was crushed between the descending arm and side of his vehicle. Subsequently, the HSE has warned of the danger of not maintaining plant equipment.

MB Plastics Ltd and Birse Integrated Solutions Ltd were both prosecuted in relation to the incident which occurred in September 2003 at the Davyhulme Waste Water Treatment Works, Rivers Lane, Trafford, Greater Manchester. The two companies were sentenced on 30th June 2009 at Manchester Crown Court.

MB Plastics Ltd of Warrington, who employed the deceased, pleaded guilty to an offence under health and safety legislation and was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £24,323.

Birse Water Ltd of Cheadle Hulme, who was the principal contractor for the project also pleaded guilty and was fined £50,000 with costs of £41,073.

The vehicle's off side cab window usually acted as a guard, however it had been damaged in a lifting operation five weeks previous to the fatality, the court was told. The cab window was completely gone at the time of the incident.

Judge Peter Lakin, commented that while there were no witnesses to the incident, the most likely explanation is that the deceased leant out of the cab window, coming into contact with joystick, which brought the arm of the forklift truck down onto him.

MB Plastics Ltd was charged with failing to ensure the safety of employees under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, while involved in operating and working with, or in the vicinity of a telescopic forklift truck.

Under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Birse Ltd was charged with failing to ensure the safety of people not in its employment. Birse had failed to ensure that MB Plastics Ltd had prepared suitable and sufficient risk assessments in relation to its telescopic forklift truck operations. The court also found that Birse had failed to adequately monitor MB Plastics, subsequently failing to identify the cab's broken window and ensuring it was replaced.

Warren Pennington, HSE Inspector said: "This incident would have been entirely avoidable if the proper health and safety procedures had been followed.

"MB Plastics Ltd did not have a system in place for formal regular inspections of the plant. As a result, the company failed to maintain the cab window which could have saved this man's life.

"Birse, the principal contractor on the site, also had a duty to supervise its subcontractors properly. The company had a comprehensive management system but it was not implemented and, as a result, something as simple as a missing window was not spotted.

"This incident emphasises how important it is that companies should not only ensure they have the proper procedures in place - but also ensure they are followed. We're therefore calling on employers to take their responsibilities seriously so that future tragedies can be avoided."
When passing sentence, Judge Lakin said: "MB had primary responsibility for the welfare of its employees. The harsh reality of this case is that, in relation to this contract, MB completely failed to have any proper regard to their health and safety obligations.

This directly led to the development of an unsafe and sloppy system of work in relation to the use of telehandlers. As a result MB's workforce was exposed to completely unnecessary and avoidable risk.

"Birse, as principal contractors on site, failed to implement their own systems and accordingly failed to properly monitor what MB were doing. This lack of monitoring allowed MB's disregard for health and safety to continue over a number of weeks. In short, Birse failed in their supervisory role."

Corporate Killing Case Referred to Crown Court

Company director Peter Eaton has appeared before magistrates in Stroud to hear a charge of corporate manslaughter against his company, Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings.

The prosecution is the first to be brought under the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act. Eaton, 60, also faces a charge of gross negligence manslaughter, and both he and the company are accused of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The charges relate to the death of 27-year-old Alexander Wright, a junior geologist who was killed in September 2008 when he was buried beneath several tonnes of mud as he collected soil samples in a trench. It took rescue workers two days to recover his body.

No pleas were entered and Stroud magistrates referred the case to Bristol Crown Court, where Eaton will appear on 23 June.

Eaton, who told the court his position in the company was "principal or sole director", was granted unconditional bail.

This story first appeared on Health and Safety Professional

Three Directors Disqualified after Firm "Put Business Before Safety"

A haulage company has been put out of business after it was recently fined for Health and Safety breaches in relation to the death of a member of the public.

Munro & Sons (Highland) Ltd's operating licence was revoked by Scotland's Traffic Commissioner Joan Aitken. She also disqualified two directors for seven years and a former director for two years.

The commissioner's decision came after the company was prosecuted in relation to an incident on 5th July 2006. The company breached sections 3(1) and 33(1) of the HSWA 1974, when a 30-tonne wheeled loader, which the company was considering buying from Umax Ltd, rolled off the trailer it was being transported on for tests, and crushed a car on the A9 Inverness to Scrabster road. A woman was killed in the collision, while another was injured.

Warning other operators she said: "Disqualified operators often seek to re-emerge in other corporate form. I warn other operators and persons to be very wary of providing a front for continued operation by Messrs Munro."

A court concluded that Munro's driver did not have adequate plant, materials or any information about the vehicle's weight. The court also stated that the driver had an inadequate number of sufficient weight-bearing chains to secure the loader and was not informed about the poor quality of the brakes on it.

Further information to the Crown included a remark attributed to Munro's contracts manager, Andrew Gillies, who said: "The chains broke once the lorry went up the hill and the machine came off. These old f**king chains are never checked." The company director William Munro declined any responsibility for the wheel loader or agreement to purchase it, and it was returned to Umax Ltd.

In April 2008, Munro & Sons was fined £3,750, but after an appeal in January of this year, the Appeal Court judge increased this penalty to £30,000. This was after a ruling that the sentencing judge had based the original fine mainly on Munro's ability to pay, and had not taken the gravity of the offence into the account.

Following a public inquiry and driver-conduct hearing in March held at Inverness, the company has now been put out of business.

The Traffic Commissioner said: "The operator clearly had no idea of modern competence in the manner of moving heavy equipment. It was the grossest error of judgement undertaking that journey with that equipment. For a goods-vehicle operator it was an act of astonishing recklessness."

Aitken accepted that the company had organised some driver training, and had appointed a health and safety consultant to look after its road-haulage business. However, she concluded that the directors, William and David Munro, had "put business before safety", adding that their "demeanour as respectable and responsible has the allure of the mirage".

She disqualified David and William Munro for seven years, as well as former director, Pamela Munro, for two.