Monmouth roofing firm in court again over unsafe work

A Monmouth roofing firm has been fined after it allowed workers onto a house roof without safety measures in place, despite an employee being injured in a fall less than five months earlier.

Newlook Roof Coatings Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following a complaint about work at a detached house in Stourport, Worcestershire on 26 March 2012.

Kidderminster Magistrates' Court heard that two of the company's employees had used an unsecured ladder to reach the roof to clean and paint the tiles. There was no scaffolding around the edge of the roof to prevent them falling to the ground below.

The court was told that Newlook Roof Coatings had also been in court after a 26 year-old employee fell from the roof of a house in Cirencester in 2011. Again, the company admitted failing to provide the necessary protection against falls from height.

Lee Hanson fell six metres after losing his footing on a roof ladder, but his fall was broken by a bush. He broke his right wrist, suffered cuts and bruising, and was unable to return to work for six weeks.

Newlook Roof Coatings Ltd, of Wonastow Road in Monmouth, was charged with two breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 following the incident in Stourport in March 2012.

The company was fined £11,500 and ordered to pay costs of £6,737 after pleading guilty to the offences, which relate to failing to properly plan work at height and failing to ensure measures are taken to prevent workers being injured in a fall.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Sue Adsett said:

"This is the second time Newlook Roof Coatings has been prosecuted over unsafe work at height, and follows an incident where a worker was injured after falling from a roof.

"It was only luck that no one was seriously injured on this occasion. There was no excuse for not erecting scaffolding around the roof for a job lasting a day or more like this, especially given the previous warnings the company has had.

"I hope this latest prosecution will mean Newlook finally gets the message about the importance of safety when it comes to working at height."

North Wales company in court after worker's fall

A haulage company has been fined after an employee sustained injuries falling from a wooden pallet carried on a fork lift truck.

The worker, from Waenbridge, St Asaph, who does not want to be named, suffered serious fractures to both his heels when he fell two metres while carrying out repairs to a lorry trailer unit on 22 February 2011.

In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Llandudno Magistrates heard that the employee was asked to repair a high level tear in the curtain sided unit.

To reach the tear, he got on top of a wooden pallet which was raised off the ground by a forklift. After completing the work, he called for another worker to lower him down. The lift truck lurched backwards, causing him to fall off the pallet.

An investigation by HSE found that the work had not been properly planned and no suitable equipment had been provided by the company. The firm also failed to monitor and supervise the work of its employees.

LE Jones Ltd, of Denbigh Road, Ruthin, was found guilty of breaching Regulations 4(1), 5 and 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined a total of £15,000 and ordered to pay £4,041 in costs.

Speaking after the prosecution, HSE Inspector Dave Wynne, said:

"This entirely preventable incident could have caused much more serious or even life-changing injuries.

"The company could have provided a permanent gantry or a cherry-picker for routine repairs on its quite large road fleet.

"Work at height must be properly planned and organised by a competent person.

"This prosecution should send a strong signal to all companies that improvised work platforms are not acceptable in the modern workplace and HSE will take action where ineffectual monitoring and supervision leads to any incident."

Worker's six metre fall lands two Kent businesses in court

 

A Kent father and granddad died after plunging six metres through a fragile skylight because safety measures were neglected both by his employer and a major drinks wholesaler, a court has heard.

The bonded warehouse where the incident happened

 

Robert Rogers, 61, was working for Richard Parker, trading as Ovenden Engineering, which had been contracted by Allied Domecq Spirits and Wine Ltd to fix a leak in the roof and clean the gutters of their bonded warehouse in Dover, Kent.

Canterbury Crown Court was told that Mr Rogers was on the roof with his brother, Trevor, also an employee of Richard Parker, when he fell through one of the 80 skylights and hit the concrete floor below. He suffered multiple injuries and died later in hospital.

Mr Rogers, known as Bob, of Folkestone, left his wife Jennifer, two sons and nine grandchildren.

The incident, on 16 November 2010, was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which prosecuted Richard Parker, of Folkestone, and Allied Domecq Spirits and Wine Ltd, trading as CG Hibbert Ltd, of West London, for safety breaches.

HSE’s investigation identified failures by both defendants. The court heard there was no safety equipment in place for anyone working on the roof, which was itself fragile. This was despite Mr Parker’s employees working on the warehouse roof as often as every month. There were no crawling boards, scaffolding boards, harnesses or nets to protect workers from the risks.

As the owner of the warehouse, Allied Domecq had responsibility for the site and should have ensured contractors planned their work and carried it out safely and that proper control measures were in place.

Richard Parker, t/a Ovenden Engineering, Radnor Street, Folkestone, Kent was today (18 June) fined £26,667 and ordered to pay £4,000 in costs after admitting breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Allied Domecq Spirits and Wine Ltd, t/a CG Hibbert, of Chancellors Road, West London, was fined £266,677 with costs of £10,752 after admitting breaching Section 3(1) of the same Act. Both defendants had entered guilty pleas at a hearing before Canterbury Magistrates in April.

After the sentencing hearing, HSE Inspector Guy Widdowson said:

"This is a tragic case in which a devoted husband, father and grandfather has lost his life whilst at work. It is sickening that such incidents happen despite the widespread industry knowledge of the risks of working at height and of working on fragile roofs with equally fragile skylights.

"Mr Rogers’ death was entirely preventable. Mr Parker should have provided his workers with suitable equipment to work on the roof. He failed to do so.

"Allied Domecq do not contract out their health and safety responsibilities just by contracting out a particular job. It was their duty to ensure there was a safe system of work before the job started and that their contractors followed agreed safe procedures. They too failed to do so."

In a statement to the court, Mr Rogers’ wife of nearly 40 years, Jennifer, said:
"The shock and suddenness of Bob’s death significantly affected me. I was in a daze for a long time, and still find I’m in a daze now sometimes. His death was just after my birthday and near Christmas and I found it very difficult to face Christmas without him. I feel lost without him and do struggle.

"I miss him terribly. I miss talking things over with him. Bob used to help our sons a lot with DIY and we all miss him not being here to help, he was very knowledgeable. My life is empty now without my lifelong companion by my side. He was my soulmate- we did everything together."

Company fined for Derbyshire skip lorry death

A Sheffield company that crushes rubble from construction and demolition waste has been fined £300,000 after an employee was killed by an overturning skip lorry in Derbyshire.

David Vickers, 37, of Walton, was tipping a skip at Adis Scaffolding Ltd's site in Markham Lane, Duckmanton, when the incident happened on 22 July 2008.
Derby Crown Court heard that he had exited the cab of the truck he was driving to deploy the stabilising rear outriggers before raising a skip using the lifting arms. However, as he did so the vehicle overturned and landed on top of him, causing fatal injuries. He died at the scene.

A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the skip was mis-hooked, with the hooks engaging on the lip of a base plate rather than a catch bar, the correct part of the skip. This meant that it tipped normally until reaching an angle of approximately 70 degrees, at which point it broke free and swung out backwards causing the front of the vehicle to lift several feet off the ground. During the course of tipping the offside outrigger retracted causing the lorry to tip over.

HSE also established that there was no safe system of work for the skip operation, including how to handle mis-hooks and other foreseeable problems; that there was inadequate training and instruction; that the skip lorry controls were not marked; and that the risk assessment for loading and unloading skips fell short of indentifying all significant risks and controls.

Adis Scaffolding Limited, now in liquidation but formerly of Queen Street, Sheffield, was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay £124,468 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

After the hearing HSE inspector Edward Walker said:

"The failings by Adis Scaffolding Limited were substantial, ranging from unsuitable equipment, an inadequate risk assessment, inadequate training and instruction, and an absence of safe systems of work.

"These failings led to a situation where things went badly wrong, and where David was placed in an impossible situation. His tragic death could easily have been avoided with better planning, management and foresight."

Blueprint sets out Waste Industry's safety drive

A five-prong plan for driving down the number of people killed and seriously injured in the waste and recycling industry has been published.

The Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) Forum has been working on its blueprint for better risk management since a landmark summit in February, and the final plan puts the focus on those areas where industry leaders agree action needs to be concentrated.

WISH’s plan outlines 24 immediate action points under five strategic themes – providing strong leadership, involving the workforce, building competence, creating healthier and safer workplaces, and providing support for small and medium sized employers.

Key initiatives include the industry developing its own leadership standards, publishing new training materials on successful worker involvement, and work with customers to use their leverage to promote improved competence.
Chris Jones, WISH chair and Director of Risk Management and Compliance at Cory Environmental, said:

"WISH has been working to improve health, safety and welfare in waste and recycling for more than a decade, and we’ve made some good progress in that time.

"There’s no shortage of desire in the industry to improve our record – this was clear from the summit in February and the amount of energy and commitment been shown in getting us to this point in publishing the blueprint.

"If the industry combines its efforts, contributes and supports the work needed then everything is achievable, and without unreasonable cost or burden. The more that take part in, and contribute to, the working groups that are being set up, the greater will be the knowledge base, the wider the experience and the lesser will be the burden upon everybody.

"We wanted this to be a sort of road map to healthier and safer industry – something that lets anyone in waste and recycling join us on a journey. There’s a long road ahead but we’re off in the right direction."

Graeme Walker, HSE’s waste and recycling lead, said:

"This is a really important development in the drive for improved health and safety in the waste and recycling sector – it shows the industry’s unequivocal commitment to reducing the number of people killed, injured or made unwell. We know from our experience in other sectors, such as construction, that long-term sustainable improvements rely on strong industry leadership and that is what we are seeing here."

Key figures from across the industry are being recruited to chair sub-groups to drive forward implementation the plan, which will be updated regularly.
WISH will continue to oversee the implementation and its members will acts as advocates in each of the subgroups.

Wigan worker injured in fall through sports hall roof

 

  

The corrugated panels Lee Byrne fell through on the roof of Loreto High School in Chorlton.
 

A Wigan roofing firm has been fined after an employee was severely injured when he fell ten metres through the roof of a school sports hall.

Lee Byrne, 29 from Ince, was working on a project to replace the raised roof on the sports hall at Loreto High School in Chorlton with a flat roof when the incident happened on 9 November 2011.

His employer, K Pendlebury & Sons Ltd, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found the site fell below the minimum legal standards for safety.

Trafford Magistrates’ Court in Sale heard workers had removed old steel beams under part of the roof so that new beams could be installed. However, this meant the corrugated tin panels on part of the structure were left unsupported.
Mr Byrne was walking over the roof to his colleagues to get their lunch order when the panels under his feet gave way. He fell ten metres, hitting a section of scaffolding on his way down to the ground.

He suffered a fractured pelvis, broken fingers and his right arm and elbow were smashed to pieces. He has had to have an artificial elbow fitted and has so far been unable to return to work due to the extent of his injuries.

The court was told there was no barrier around the fragile section of the roof, and the scaffolding had only been erected under parts of the roof rather than covering the full width.

K Pendlebury & Sons Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 after it failed to ensure workers were prevented from standing on fragile parts of the roof.

The company, of Ormskirk Road in Pemberton, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £3,539 towards the cost of the prosecution on 31 May 2013.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Matt Greenly said:

"The injuries the employee has suffered will affect him for the rest of his life but he could easily have been killed if he hadn’t hit the scaffolding on the way to the ground.

"I issued an immediate Prohibition Notice when I visited the site preventing anyone from working on the roof until safety measures had been put in place due to the risk of injury.

"The company had been removing a series of supporting steel beams but no barriers were put up to prevent access to the fragile roof panels despite the company recognising before the incident that barriers would be needed. There should also have been scaffolding under the whole of the roof to catch anyone who fell.

"This was a big project that should have been carefully planned but sadly the company’s failings have led to an employee being badly injured."

Bury roofer in court again over unsafe work

 

Three men were spotted on the roof of a furniture warehouse in Trafford Park without any safety precautions in place.
 

A Bury roofer has appeared in court for putting workers’ lives at risk, despite previously being prosecuted after a man was paralysed in a fall through a warehouse roof.

Tony Massey, who trades as Massey Roofing and Building Contractors, was photographed with two other men sitting on the ridge of the roof of a furniture warehouse on Wharfside Way in Trafford Park, approximately ten metres above the ground, on 18 October 2012.

He was prosecuted after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found he had not taken any steps to prevent the men falling when climbing up the fragile roof to reach the ridge.

Trafford Magistrates’ Court in Sale heard Mr Massey had been hired to carry out minor repairs to the roof at the Clivedon Furniture warehouse to fix leaks in the valley between two sloping sections.

He was seen climbing up to the ridge of the roof with a casual labourer and an employee from the furniture warehouse to check for other leaks, but failed to provide any safety equipment.

No risk assessment or method statement was produced in advance of the work, and no precautions were taken to prevent any of the men falling from the edge or through fragile glass skylights which run along almost the entire length of the roof.

The court was told Mr Massey had been prosecuted before by HSE after an employee fell through a skylight at an industrial unit on Craven Court Industrial Estate in Warrington on 10 April 2007. The 62-year-old man from Bury sustained severe spinal injuries, leading to him being paralysed from the waist down. Mr Massey had been declared bankrupt at the time of the previous prosecution and received a conditional discharge.

Tony Massey, 70, of Sunny Bank Road in Bury, pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and one breach of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 following the latest incident at the furniture warehouse in Trafford Park.

The charges relate to failing to ensure the safety of workers and failing to have compulsory insurance, which meant the labourer he employed would not have been able to make an insurance claim for compensation if he had been injured in a fall. Mr Massey was ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service in the next 12 months, and to pay £2,000 in prosecution costs on 31 May 2013.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Matt Greenly said:

"It’s shocking that Mr Massey showed such a reckless attitude to safety at the furniture warehouse in Trafford Park, especially as one of his employees was paralysed in a fall in a previous incident.

"Mr Massey chose to ignore the lessons of his past mistakes and instead allowed himself and two other men to climb onto the ridge of a fragile warehouse roof without a single, basic safety precaution in place, putting his own and their lives at risk.

"Work at height has the potential to be extremely dangerous if it isn’t planned and carried out using appropriate equipment. Mr Massey should have known that more than most but has again found himself in court."