Brewer fined for ignoring safety warning

A microbrewery has been sentenced for failing to take sufficient action to prevent unsafe work at height and improve manual handling at its Marsh Gibbon production plant.

Oxfordshire Ales Limited was warned in May 2010 that it needed to improve after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) served an Improvement Notice requiring action to protect workers transferring materials from racking to processing machinery.

A visiting HSE inspector raised concerns about manual handling operations, principally the filling of hoppers with malt and barley, which involved employees lifting heavy sacks weighing up to 25kg in awkward circumstances. The notice required the company to carry out a thorough assessment of the handling risks and to take appropriate action.

Aylesbury Magistrates' Court heard today (1 October) that HSE revisited the brewery on 8 November 2010 and again on 3 February 2011, but on both occasions little had changed.
Further concerns were also identified with a mezzanine floor that was accessible via inadequate steps. A second Improvement Notice was served in March 2011 to trigger action on this failing before improvements were belatedly made.

Oxfordshire Ales Limited, of Peartree Industrial Units, Bichester Road, Marsh Gibbon, was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £8,623 in costs for breaching Section 21 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company pleaded guilty to the offences at an earlier hearing.

Afterwards HSE Inspector Stephen Manley said:

"The response of Oxfordshire Ales to the original Improvement Notice was disappointing to say the least. The improvements were necessary in order to protect workers from injury and prevent falls, yet the company took far too long to take appropriate action.

"Thankfully no employees were hurt, but there were clear risks that could easily have been remedied a lot sooner."

Building contractor to pay £548,000 following death of worker

A building contractor was today ordered to pay a total of £548,000 after a worker fell through a roof while working on the construction of the Menai Centre in Bangor, Wales.

Thomas Whitmarsh, 21, of Batley in West Yorkshire, was employed by a roofing contractor working for principal contractor, Watkin Jones & Son Ltd, on the roof of the shopping centre on 29 May 2007. He fell nearly six metres through an unguarded opening in the roof to the floor below, sustaining serious head injuries.

He spent several months in hospital and was making a gradual recovery. However, the brain injury Mr Whitmarsh suffered exposed him to a much higher degree of infection. He contracted acute meningitis and died on 17 December 2009.

Evidence presented to Mold Crown Court included a pathologist's findings which suggested that there was more than an 80 per cent chance that the injuries from the fall contributed to his death.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Watkin Jones & Son Ltd for failing to ensure Mr Whitmarsh's safety while at work.

The court was told today (4 Oct) that edge protection around the opening in the roof had been removed prior to the incident, and the company had failed to provide an alternative means to protect against falls.

The company, which is based at Llandygai Industrial Estate in Bangor, was found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £450,000 and ordered to pay £98,000 in costs.
Following the hearing, HSE inspector Chris Wilcox said:

"Poor co-ordination between the principal and the roofing contractors on this particular part of the site led to the edge protection being removed from around the roof opening without alternative safeguards in place.

"Falls from height are an alarmingly common cause of death and serious injury in construction. All too often straightforward practical precautions are not considered and workers are put needlessly at risk. Poor management of risk in this industry is unacceptable and HSE will take strong action when necessary.
"This tragic case should remind all contractors that work at height must be managed effectively and adequate safeguards should be in place to prevent falls."

Demolition contractor fined for unsafe work at height

A self-employed demolition contractor has been fined after members of the public reported workers operating unsafely at roof height during the demolition of a Derbyshire pub.

Colin Rogers, 59, of Andrews Drive, Langley Mill, trading as Central Demolition & Salvage Specialists, was the principal contractor at the former Jolly Colliers pub on Jessop Street, Ripley, in May 2011.

Worker on the roof of the former Jolly Colliers pub
 

Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court was told that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) received complaints from three different members of the public, one of whom took photographs of some of the unsafe work taking place at the site. They showed workers on the roof of the two-storey building without any measures to prevent them from falling.

As a result, HSE gave Mr Rogers advice on safe working at height. However, during a follow-up visit to the site on 19 May, Inspectors saw unsafe practices still taking place, including one worker throwing timber from the edge of the building at roof level with no safety measures to stop a fall.
Two Prohibition Notices were served by HSE preventing any further work until a suitable demolition plan was adopted and adequate fall prevention measures introduced.

The court fined Mr Rogers £2,500 and ordered him to pay costs of £2,500 after he admitted breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Speaking after the hearing HSE Inspector Lee Greatorex said:

"The dangers that the workers faced were so great and so obvious that no fewer than three members of the public took the trouble to contact HSE with their concerns, one of them with photographs.
"Colin Rogers blatantly ignored HSE's advice leaving a worker at the site exposed to an unnecessary risk of a serious or even fatal injury. Demolition and work at height are high risk activities. There is a need to adequately plan for such work and ensure those plans are fully implemented and monitored effectively to ensure the safety of those involved."

RR946 - Age related changes and safety critical work - Identification of tools and a review of the literature

The removal of a compulsory retirement age may have implications for health and safety at work, and as such is a cross-cutting issue for HSE. HSE is concerned that some workers may continue to perform tasks with deteriorating performance. This may be a particular issue in safety critical and major hazard industries, and could potentially lead to an increase in the risk of major incidents or injury. More generally, dutyholders may also be finding it difficult to judge whether workers have the functional capacity to work to the required level of safe performance.

This piece of work has aimed to assess existing evidence on age related changes in performance and safety critical work, identify tools that assist dutyholders to assess human function and performance and to critically consider what the findings mean in terms of the need for future work.

This report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.

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Cornish firm fined following excavation plunge

A member of the public sustained spinal injuries and a fractured skull after he plunged 15 feet into an open excavation that had been left unprotected by workmen.

The 31-year-old male, who does not want to be named, was visiting the home of a friend in The Terrace, Port Isaac, when the fall occurred on 6 October last year. In addition to injuring his spine and skull, he also burst his eardrum.
The large excavation was in a neighbouring garden and had been dug out as part of a major domestic refurbishment project.

Bodmin Magistrates' Court heard today (3 October) that HML Builders Ltd, of Wadebridge, was responsible for the work.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had not installed any edge protection to stop people falling into the pit, despite the edge of the excavation running along a path directly to the front of a chalet on the neighbouring property.

HML Builders Ltd, of Bess Park Road, Wadebridge, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 31 (2) of the Construction (Design and Mangement) Regulations 2007. The company was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £3,793 in costs.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Helena Tinton, said:

"The failure to put any edge protection in place to stop people falling into the excavation could easily have caused a death. It was dark at the time of the fall and the injured man had no reason to know the hole was there. His serious injuries could have been avoided by some very simple measures, such as suitably supported guard rails and toe boards. HML's negligence not only put the lives of their own workers at risk but also those of members of the public."

Builder faces jail over toddler's death

A Welsh builder has been sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of gross negligence manslaughter in the case of a three-year-old girl who was killed when a substandard wall collapsed on top of her.

Builder George Collier was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter today at Mold Crown Court in a case brought by the Crown Prosecution Service. His company, Parcol Developments Ltd, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at an earlier hearing.

The court heard that Collier was doing construction work outside a house in Ffordd Penrhwylfa, Meliden in Prestatyn on 26 July 2008 when three-year-old Meg Burgess and her mother, Lindsay Burgess, were walking in front of it on a public footpath.

 

Aerial view of the scene of the wall collapse

 

An investigation by North Wales Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the wall had recently been built and had been backfilled by Collier shortly before it collapsed, killing Meg, who was walking behind her mother.
The wall was acting as a retaining wall but had not been designed or constructed for this purpose and fell under the weight of the earth stacked up against it.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Debbie John said:

"This was an entirely preventable incident that resulted in the tragic death of an innocent three-year-old girl. There were basic failings in the way that George Collier and Parcol Developments Ltd. planned and managed the construction of the wall, leading to its collapse.

"On the day of the incident George Collier and Parcol Developments Ltd backfilled the wall despite knowing that retaining walls should be designed by a specialist structural engineer. Neither had engaged a structural engineer to design a safe retaining wall.

"This case is an important reminder to those working in construction to make sure that design work is done by competent people and building is done to the appropriate standard. It also highlights the importance of ensuring that members of the public are kept away from construction work."
Rosemary Ainslie, lawyer for the CPS Special Crime division, said: "This was a tragic case, in which a young girl lost her life.

"Mr Collier was responsible for the design and construction of the wall but did not make sure it was built to safe standards, nor did he prevent members of the public from walking past it, with terrible consequences.

"The jury has found Mr Collier guilty of gross negligence manslaughter and his conviction should act not only as a reminder of the dangers of sub-standard building work but also of the consequences for those who carry it out.

"I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of young Meg Burgess."
George Collier, 49, of Llys Glan yr Afon, Kinmel Bay pleaded not guilty to charges of gross negligence manslaughter December 2011. His company, Parcol Developments - of the same address - pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at the same time. No additional penalty was given to the company.

Carpet cleaner died after being electrocuted by faulty wiring at London home

The heartbroken girlfriend of a carpet cleaner electrocuted while working at a London house paid tribute today to her “first and only love”.

Diyan Hristov, 22, was found slumped over furniture at the £1 million Victorian terrace home in Putney after suffering a shock from faulty wiring.

His cleaning machine and an electric pedal fan were both still running when his body was discovered in an upstairs bedroom on a chaise longue.

An inquest at Westminster coroner’s court heard that poor wiring in the house — which had undergone extensive renovation — led to exposed metal on an appliance becoming live.

Tonka Bimbelova, 26, who moved to London from Bulgaria with Mr Hristov in 2007, said: “We came over because there wasn’t much work in Bulgaria. He hardly ever took a day off. If he had the choice to work or have a day off he always chose work.”

The couple met as teenagers working at a hotel reception in the Black Sea resort of Bourgas, and had been planning to get married and start a family. Mr Hristov, who worked as a contractor for Perfect Clean, had been hired to clean carpets at the house owned by commercial lawyer Jean-Pierre Douglas-Henry in July 2010. His body was discovered by Mr Douglas-Henry’s wife. She called the emergency services but paramedics could not save him.

Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe, who recorded a verdict of accidental death, said experts from the Health and Safety Executive had concluded there were no faults with the cleaning machine.

She said: “Therefore, his conclusion is it must have been as a result of a fault with the electrical installation.”

Ms Bimbelova said she would not make any decisions about pursuing a private prosecution until she had spoken to her lawyer