New construction guidance to stop workers dying each week from occupational disease

The construction industry has launched new guidance to encourage better management of occupational health risks. The HSE is urging the industry to put an end to the hundreds of construction workers that die of occupational diseases every month.

Inspectors issued more than 200 health related enforcement notices during the recent HSE’s construction inspection initiative.

This highlighted the widespread misunderstanding of what ‘occupational health’ means in the construction sector and the employers’ misguided perception that health is more difficult to manage than safety.

The new guide ‘Occupational health risk management in construction’ ^[1]has been written by the Construction Industry Advisory Committee (ConIAC) Health Risks Working Group and formatted with the assistance of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

It gives practical advice on what ‘health risk’ means for the construction industry, and the role of occupational health service provision in preventing or controlling those risks.

Ian Strudley, Chair of the ConIAC Health Risks Working Group and HSE Principal Specialist Inspector said: ““The misunderstanding of occupational health within the construction sector means that whilst the industry focus on managing the more familiar safety issues, serious health risks get ignored. We cannot let this continue.

“When figures show that construction workers are at least 100 times more likely to die from a disease caused or made worse by their work as they are from a fatal accident, the industry must take action.”

Shelley Frost, Executive Director – Policy at IOSH, said: “There have been huge advances in improving safety in the construction sector over the last 15 years but the industry has yet to generate such advances in improving the picture in occupational health.

“Every week, 100 people die from construction-related ill health in the UK. Less than half of construction workers also stay employed in the industry until they are 60.

“This new guide raises awareness of the occupational health issues in construction, demystifies how to best manage them and provides information as to where firms can get help and assistance.

“Ultimately, if the advice is followed, it could help to lower incidence rates of occupational ill-health and transform the perception of working in construction to that of an attractive and respectful industry with great career choices.”

For more information visit:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/meetings/iacs/coniac/coniac-oh-guidance.pdf

HSE prosecution round up:

 

Contractor in court for putting workers lives at risk with poor site safety

A building contractor has been fined after unsafe excavations at a care home site put workers and members of the public at risk.

Brierstone Limited was issued with an immediate Prohibition Potice (PN) by an inspector from the HSE stopping work being carried out within five meters of the excavations.

Trafford Magistrates’ Court heard that a visit had been made to the site adjacent to 3 Barke Street, Littleborough on the 9 September 2014 following a concern raised by a member of the public regarding unsupported excavations.

The HSE investigation found two large unsupported excavations on either side of the site. One adjacent to the car park of a public house and another next to domestic premises. Operatives were seen working in the direct vicinity of the unsupported faces, which were in excess of four metres deep. Small piles of debris at the bottom of the excavations suggested there had already been some movement.

Brierstone Ltd had failed to take steps to ensure that the excavations were adequately supported or battered back in order to prevent collapse and possible injury to the site workers.

Brierstone Ltd of Sterling house, Middleton Road, Chadderton, Manchester was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,190.97 after pleading guilty to a breach of Regulation 31(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

Worker suffered fatal crush injuries after being hit by lorry

A commercial vehicle company was ordered to pay £212,500 in fines and costs after one of its workers was killed when a lorry travelling at less than 5km/h crushed him.

Warwick Crown Court heard Imperial Commercials Limited failed to provide a safe place for its staff to work, which led to the death of one its employees, Craig Stewart Dunn, in January 2014.

Mr Dunn was hit by a heavy goods vehicle whose driver could not see what was immediately (up to six metres) in front of him, as the front grill of the HGV he was driving was raised. This was not the first time this practice had been adopted at this site. The court was told that occasionally employees of Imperial Commercials Limited would drive HGV’s around the Wellesbourne site in this unsafe manner.

The driver thought he had just hit a stationary vehicle. On reversing, he realised he had crushed Mr Dunn, who had been working outside Imperial Commercials Limited’s workshop in Loxley Road.

Imperial Commercials Limited, registered at Imperial House, High Street High, Wycombe, was fined £166,000, and ordered to pay £46,500 in costs after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to offences under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

 

Drainage company fined for excavation collapse

A Slough drainage company has been fined after a worker was seriously injured when an unsafe excavation collapsed during work to lay new pipes outside a home near Canterbury.

Michael Simpkins, now 42, from Oxshott in Surrey, sustained multiple fractures to his left leg in the incident at a property in Conyngham Lane, Bridge, on 7 April 2011. He was unable to work for six weeks before later resigning because of recurring pain and psychological trauma.

His employer UKDN Waterflow Limited, now in administration and called UWIC realisations limited and then called The UK Drainage Network Limited, was prosecuted by the HSE after an investigation found the excavation pit was missing vital shoring.

Folkestone Magistrates’ Court heard the injured worker was cutting and cleaning a pipe for re-joining at a depth in excess of two metres when a side of the pit suddenly gave way, creating a slip of soil and debris.

The lower half of his body was completely buried, with the weight of the material buckling his leg as it crashed down. He was dug out by a colleague and taken to hospital.

HSE established that there was nothing in place to support the excavation and prevent the collapse, despite this being a clear and common risk for this kind of work. There was also no evidence of suitable planning or supervision.

Magistrates were told that in February 2011, just weeks before the Bridge collapse, HSE received a complaint about another UKDN excavation that suffered a partial collapse. Nobody was injured on this occasion, but it should have served as a warning that adequate shoring is required at all times.

UKDN Waterflow Limited, previously of Waterside Drive, Langley, Slough, was fined a total of £60,000 and ordered to pay a further 39,506 in costs after failing to attend court and being found guilty of three separate breaches of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. 

HSE Myth Busters: 

Dog banned from hire car for “health and safety” reasons

Issue

A dog was not allowed into a hire care for “health and safety reasons”.  The owner was also told that the garage concerned does not like dog hair in courtesy or hire car vehicles.

Panel opinion
Health and safety at work legislation does not prohibit the carriage of pet dogs in vehicles for domestic use.  The company has taken a decision to exclude the carriage of dogs for cleanliness reasons.  The company should be transparent about the real reason for inclusion of this clause in their contract rather than use the “health and safety” excuse.

Child refused entry to swimming pool for wearing incorrect swimwear

Issue
A child was refused entry into a swimming pool for health and safety reasons.  It was cited by the leisure centre that unacceptable swimwear was the reason the child could not swim

Panel opinion

There is no health and safety legislation which specifies that particular swimwear must be worn. The pool management are right to exercise judgment about what is/is not suitable for swimming but it would be helpful to explain this properly, perhaps by displaying a clear policy statement rather than simply falling back on the catch all health and safety excuse when something is deemed unsuitable. 

Disabled children banned from playing with toilet roll centres due to health and safety

Issue
A trainer specialising in delivery of training for disabled children was told that they can no longer give children toilet roll centres to play with because of health and safety.

Panel opinion

A trainer specialising in delivery of training for disabled children was told that they can no longer give children toilet roll centres to play with because of health and safety.

Weighbridge at A23 Handcross, no longer for public use following ‘new health and safety regulations’

Issue

Public unable to use weighbridge at the A23 in Handcross under new health and safety regulations.

Panel opinion

This matter relates to road design and traffic legislation rather than health and safety at work but, on the basis of the information to hand, the panel agree with the relevant authorities that it is a sensible change to have made in the light of the changes to road layout. Vehicles exiting the site would now have to merge into fast moving traffic on the main highway.

 

HSE Chief Inspector challenges small construction sites to act now to manage workers health and safety

The HSE’s Chief Inspector of Construction is challenging the refurbishment industry to act now and protect their workers, after 46% of sites fell below standards during a recent inspection initiative.

HSE targeted small refurbishment sites during the month long drive and 692 enforcement notices and 983 notifications of contravention had to be served where there was a material breach of health and/or safety. Inspectors had to deal with immediate risks, such as work at height, and also to deal with sites where workers were being exposed to silica dust and asbestos, which cause long term health problems.

Health and safety breaches were also followed up with clients and designers, reinforcing their duties under the Construction Design and Management Regulations (CDM) 2015 and help them understand their responsibilities.

Peter Baker, the HSE’s Chief Inspector of Construction said: “It is disappointing that some small refurbishment sites are still cutting corners and not properly protecting their workers. Falls from height are the most common killer in the industry but we still found workers put at risk to save minutes on the job – believing it wouldn’t happen to them.

“The mis-conception that health issues cannot be controlled is simply not true and ruining people’s lives. Harmful dust, whether silica or wood, is a serious issue and can be managed effectively with the right design, equipment and training. Health effects may not be immediate but the ultimate impact on workers and their families can be devastating. Each week 100 construction workers die from occupational disease.”

“HSE inspectors found lots of good examples of small sites carrying out work safely, proving it can be done. Larger construction sites accepted the challenge a few years ago and have made big improvements, which all of the industry can learn from. My message to smaller businesses is don’t wait for an accident or visit from an inspector before you make the change, but act now and learn from your colleagues’ example.”
 

HSE Prosecutions round-up:

 

Building firm fined after worker hit by mobile platform

Construction company Base Build Services Limited has been prosecuted after a worker was injured by a boom type mobile elevated working platform (MEWP) when it fell from the forks of a tele-handler machine.

The 31-year-old worker from Birmingham broke his leg and suffered facial injuries in the incident at Abbey Trading Centre, Alvechurch Highway, Redditch on 19 November 2014.

Redditch Magistrates’ Court heard that the injured worker was employed by a groundworks contractor carrying out work for Base Build Services Limited.

A MEWP had been left in their area of work and needed to be moved to enable work to continue.  A telescopic handler was being used to move the MEWP when it fell from its forks and hit the worker.

An investigation by the HSE found that Base Build Services Limited was aware work was due to start in the area where the MEWP was stored and that the MEWP would need to be moved before work could continue.  However, no plan or instructions for the removal of the MEWP had been provided.

In addition, the lead labourer was standing by the telescopic handler at the time that the lift was taking place but failed to take action to stop the lifting operation, even though it was clearly unsafe.  The HSE investigation found that the telescopic handler was overloaded and the MEWP was not lifted in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

Base Build Services Limited, of Abbey Road, London, pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,647.92

 
Building contractor fined for safety failings

A building company firm has been fined for safety failings after an employee suffered permanent injury to his eye from lack of correct protection.

Luton Magistrates’ Court heard how on 15 November 2013 an employee of Steele & Bray Limited, of Northampton, was injured when he was hit in the eye by a shard of metal when a work colleague was operating a nail gun to fasten a piece of timber to a steel lintel. The court also heard that the eye-protection being worn by the nail gun operator, being lightweight ‘spectacle’ types rather than impact absorbing ‘goggles’, were not adequate for use with nail guns.

Steele & Bray Limited, of Moore Street, Kingsley, Northampton, was fined a total of £6,500 and ordered to pay £898.20 in costs after pleading guilty to an offence under Regulation 4(1) of the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992.

 
Worker’s fall from scaffold leads to life-changing injuries

A scaffold firm was fined after a worker was seriously injured after falling nine metres. 

Bristol Magistrates’ Court heard how an employee of Bristol-based Tubular Access Scaffolds Limited was dismantling a scaffold structure when he fell, causing life-changing head injuries. 

An investigation by the HSE into the incident, which occurred on 23 July 2013, at Berkley Crescent, Clifton, found that there was no evidence of preventative measures taken by the company before the incident. 

Tubular Access Scaffolds Limited, of Duckmoor Road, Ashton, was fined a total of £26,250, after pleading guilty to offences under Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. 

 

 

 

Health & Safety in the news this week: 

New sentencing guidelines for Health & Safety offences 

The sentencing council last week published definitive guidelines for the sentencing of health and safety offences.

These guidelines will have an impact on the fines construction companies will face if found guilty of such offences.

The new guidelines will apply to all health and safety cases sentenced after 1 February 2016, regardless as to when the offence was committed.

Under the new guidelines a court will need to consider the following criteria when deciding upon the correct level of fine:

• the harm the offence caused, with multiple deaths being the most serious harm;
• the culpability of the offender, ranging from a mere oversight to a deliberate act or omission;
• the size of the offender, measured by reference to financial turnover.

Courts will be encouraged to ensure that fines are sufficiently substantial to have real economic impact.  This is intended to bring home to both shareholders and management the need to provide a safe working environment.

The starting point for the fines is linked to the organisation's annual turnover, not profits

The most serious breach leading to a fatality (not corporate manslaughter) attracts a starting point of £4m, with a range from £2.6m to £10m, for a large company (turnover in excess of £50m). For a micro company (turnover under £2m) it will lead to a starting point of £250,000 with a range from £150,000 to £450,000. For a very large company, or in an exceptional case, a judge can impose punishments outside the recommended range.

The guidelines will also apply to individuals prosecuted for health and safety offences.

You can do the following:

• Review your existing health & safety policies and procedures ensuring the systems are robust.
• Ensure a prominent profile for health & safety risks in the corporate risk registers.
• Boards must satisfy themselves that health & safety is embedded in the organisation and is not just a function of the health & safety team.
• Audits must be fit for purpose and not a tick box exercise.
• Investigations of incidents must be thorough with consideration given to invoking litigation privilege.

CHAS announces the launch of Electronic application system (Eforms)

Eforms is an electronic application system which allows submission of a CHAS Assessment with supporting documentation online.

The main benefits of the Eforms system are:

• New efficient online process
• Upload documentation electronically
• Save and retrieve your application at anytime
• An electronic certificate will be emailed instantaneously upon successful completion of your assessment. (A hard copy will be posted within 10 working days)
• Instant email alerts throughout your application process from start to completion
• No more large/multiple emails
• Save on unnecessary trips to the post office & postage costs
• Eforms uses a secure (3d secure Visa verified) online card payment system

Go to http://www.chas.co.uk/ for more information.

HSE Prosecutions round-up:

Firms sentenced after construction death

Two associate companies have been fined after the death of a worker in London, killed when concrete joists fell on him.

Electrician John Walker, who worked for 777 Environmental Limited, died while working on a demolition site on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle, where the Strata Building now sits.

In August 2007, John Walker was working on an area of the site near to remote controlled demolition machines.  Whilst breaking through a structural beam, the machines dislodged several concrete joists which struck him and he died at the scene.

The HSE prosecuted after it found the principal contractor, 777 Demolition and Haulage Co Ltd, and subcontractor, and also sister firm, 777 Environmental, failed to properly plan, manage and monitor the demolition of the structure.

Southwark Crown Court was told the companies failed to prepare or implement an effective and safe system of work for the demolition, which ultimately allowed for an uncontrolled collapse to take place.

The HSE explained that as the principal contractor, it was the duty of 777 Demolition and Haulage Co. Limited to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of those not only in its employment, but affected by its work on site.

777 Environmental Limited was the subcontractor and employer of Mr Walker, and was brought in to undertake the demolition of the building. Its failure to properly investigate the nature of the structure as demolition proceeded led to the uncontrolled collapse. By not having implemented robust exclusion zones this sadly allowed a wholly foreseeable risk to have fatal consequences. It admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, at an earlier hearing and was fined £90,000.

777 Demolition and Haulage Co. Limited of Beddington Lane, Croydon, Surrey denied the charges but was found guilty, after a trial, of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined £125,000.

Costs of £167, 857 were awarded to HSE.

 Skip company and director fined after worker killed in excavator fall

Waste management firm South Coast Skips Ltd and its owner have been prosecuted after one worker died and another was left seriously injured when they fell from the bucket of an excavator.

Lindsay Campbell, a 66-year-old father of ten from Waterlooville in Hampshire, was killed when the bucket of an excavator he was working in tipped causing him to fall nine metres to the ground. Mr Campbell’s colleague, who was in the bucket alongside him also fell and suffered severe leg injuries in the incident on 25 July 2012 at the company’s site at the Rudford Industrial estate in Arundel.

Chichester Crown Court heard that Lindsay Campbell had carried on working for Kevin Hoare, a director of South Coast Skips despite recently retiring. On the day of the incident he was running an electric cable to power a waste screening machine known as a ‘trommel’.

Mr Campbell decided to run the cable along a previously used route in the rafters of the shed and asked to be lifted in the bucket of an excavator.  The excavator driver lifted both Mr Campbell and an agency worker and whilst positioning the cable the hydraulic pressure dropped causing the bucket to tip forward. Both men fell nine metres to the concrete floor.

The court also heard that the bucket of an excavator is not designed to lift people yet nobody on site attempted to stop this activity taking place.

South Coast Skips Ltd of Rudford Industrial Estate, Ford, Arundel pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act, 1974 (HASWA,1974) was fined £65,000 and ordered to pay costs of £25,000.

Mr Kevin Hoare, 65, of Fareham, Hampshire pleaded guilty to section 37 of HASWA, 1974 and was given a 12 month custodial sentence suspended for 18 months.

Scaffold collapse lands three companies in Court

Three companies working on construction of residential apartments have been sentenced after workers narrowly escaped injury when a huge scaffold collapsed in the River Brain.

The work was being undertaken at the Former Riverside Centre, in Braintree, Essex when on 1 July 2014 the scaffold, which was forty metres in length and five lifts high, collapsed into the river.

The HSE investigated the incident and charged three firms with various breaches of law; Principal Contractor Parkland Developments Ltd, scaffolding contractor SC Cousins Scaffolding Ltd and CDM co-ordinator Haze and Safety Ltd.

The court heard the HSE’s investigation found numerous failings on site;

·         The CDM co-ordinator had failed to provide suitable and sufficient advice to the client (Parkland Developments Ltd) or ensure that the arrangements were being implemented on site.

·         The Principal Contractor (Parkland Developments Ltd) failed to implement the construction phase plan or ensure that they planned and managed or monitored the scaffolding works.

·         The scaffolding contractor failed to plan the work or design the scaffold. They also failed to send trained and competent workers to site. In the weeks prior to the collapse, a scaffolding labourer was acting as the supervisor and overseeing trainee scaffolders in erecting, altering and inspecting the scaffold.

·         Not one of the duty holders had identified there was no design for the scaffold.

HSE served a Prohibition Notice following the collapse, stopping all further work until an adequate design had been drawn up.

Following the collapse, SC Cousins continued to send untrained scaffolders to site and Parkland Developments allowed them to adapt the scaffold. Parkland also continued to allow site labourers to adapt scaffolding, even providing the tools to do so.

On Monday 2 November 2015, the court was told Parkland Developments Ltd had received an inspection from HSE at the same site several months prior to the collapse where five enforcement notices were issued for other management failings. A Notification of Contravention was also issued on CDM co-ordinator Haze and Safety Ltd for failing to provide suitable and sufficient advice to the client.

SC Cousins Scaffolding Ltd had also received an inspection from HSE at a different site five weeks before the collapse and had been informed of the design requirements for scaffolding.

Parkland Developments Ltd of Witham Road, Black Notley pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. They were fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,893.

S C Cousins Scaffolding Ltd of Church St, Billericay pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 4(1)(a), 5 and 8(b) of the Work at Height Regulations. They were fined a total of £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,981.

Haze and Safety Ltd of Meadowside, Braintree pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations Regulation 20(1)(a) & (b) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. They were fined a total of £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,981.

Ladder fall leads to court for sub-contractor

A Nottingham sub-contractor has been prosecuted after a worker was injured when he fell from an unsafe ladder.

Lincoln Crown Court heard Charanjit Singh had been employed by Hardev Gutheran Singh to carry out refurbishment work at a site in Ark Road, North Somercotes, Louth.

On 11 May 2013, Charanjit Singh, 57, was painting metal roof struts more than three metres high when the ladder he was working on gave way. He hit the concrete floor below, dislocating his shoulder and shattering his knee.

He spent ten days in hospital and had to have a knee replacement. He has been unable to work since as he still suffers discomfort and has mobility problems.

A HSE investigation found the aluminium ladder had been poorly maintained. A non-slip foot was missing and another was damaged, as was one of the rungs.

On the 6th November 2015, Hardev Gutheran Singh, 32, of Park Street, Lenton, Nottingham, was ordered to complete 180 hours community service after being found guilty of breaching regulation 7(2) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

 

 

 

Health & Safety in the news this week: 

Poppies removed from station amid health and safety fears

Poppies have been taken down at a busy railway station for health and safety reasons amid fears train drivers could mistake them for red signals.

Workmen were spotted by commuters removing the plastic memorial flowers from pillars running the length of the platform at Surbiton station in Surrey only days after they were put up.

The poppies were paid for by South West Trains and installed at the station ahead of next month's Remembrance Day commemorations.

But it was later decided they fell foul of health and safety rules so were moved to other parts of the station - including the booking hall and ticket offices, well out of sight of train drivers.

Sian Freestone-Walker, of South West Trains, said: "To be clear they have only been moved to a different location within the station."

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

 HSE Prosecutions round-up: 

Construction firm sentenced after dumper truck topple

A construction firm has been sentenced after a worker was injured when a 10 tonne dumper truck he was driving over-turned and landed in an open excavation.

Peterborough Magistrates’ Court heard Turner Construction (Midlands) Ltd failed to put in place measures such as stop blocks to prevent vehicles from falling into the excavation, failed to plan and implement a safe system of work, and inadequately trained the dumper truck driver.

The HSE prosecuting said the incident could have easily been avoided by putting simple safety measures in place.

Turner Construction (Midlands) Ltd of Commerce Drive, Penkridge, Stafford admitted a breach of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, Regulation 13(2) and Regulation 9 (1) of Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £7,000 for each charge (£14,000 total) and ordered to pay full prosecution costs of £1607.

The driver of the truck sustained crush injuries to his wrist.

Construction client sentenced over multiple safety failings

A care provider engaged in construction works has been fined after it admitted unsafe working practices, including failure to remove asbestos materials from the old buildings before demolition work. 

The HSE received a complaint in March 2014 from a member of the public living close to the former hospital site on Hospital Hill, Chesham, Buckinghamshire concerning activities going on at the premises. 

Upon attending, HSE inspectors noted the former Chesham Community Hospital buildings had been partially demolished by a contractor. However, on enquiring with the client, Chesham Care Ltd, it was discovered that removal of asbestos containing materials (ACM’s) had not taken place prior to demolition. 

High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court, heard Chesham Care Ltd, a provider of nursing and rehabilitation services, was acting as the ‘client’ for the project, but as it had failed to appoint a principal contractor/construction design and management (CDM) co-ordinator in writing, by law it had assumed the associated legal duties and roles. 

When HSE inspectors arrived, among the catalogue of failings, they found the works had been going on for around 2-3 months and observed asbestos containing materials among demolished building debris, demolition arrangements not recorded in writing, the site not securely locked or with relevant warning signs and no welfare facilities present on site. 

In HSE’s opinion there was also a serious risk of injury from collapse of partially demolished buildings. 

Chesham Care Limited’s registered business address is St Catherine’s Road, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire. The firm admitted multiple failures of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 and was fined a total of £35,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1321.60.

Family exposed to dangerous asbestos

Tenants of a house in Lincolnshire were exposed to dangerous levels of deadly asbestos dust, a court was told.

A judge at Lincoln Crown Court fined Blankney Estates Ltd, the company which rented the property in Scopwick, after it pleaded guilty to health and safety offences. The court heard it did not adequately manage what were clearly deteriorating asbestos materials, and did not ensure that work within the property to remove an asbestos-lagged tank was properly planned and carried out safely by competent contractors.

The same court also fined plumbing company Michael Grace Ltd and Adam and John Thurlby, who were directors of a family-owned demolition company ART Dismantling Co Ltd. These defendants were prosecuted by HSE for breaching the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2006 when they worked on removing the tank from the house.

Blankney Estates Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They were fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs.

Adam and John Thurlby also pleaded guilty and were each fined £12,500 and ordered to pay £7,500 costs for contravening five CAR Regulations while acting as directors of ART Dismantling.

Michael Grace Ltd, registered address of St John Street, London, but trading locally in Lincolnshire, pleaded guilty to three CAR offences and was fined £10,000 plus £5,000 in costs.

Engineering and facilities firms sentenced

Two companies have been sentenced for safety failings after a worker was electrocuted during work on a data centre in Middlesex.

Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Ltd (BBES) was contracted to carry out multi-million pound infrastructure upgrade works at the data centre in Hounslow, while Norland Managed Services Ltd (NMS) were already contracted to provide mechanical and electrical maintenance and had effective control of the site.

Ipswich Crown Court heard Martin Walton, 27, from Blackhall Colliery, Cleveland was killed on 16 October 2010 at Morgan Stanley’s Heathrow Data Centre.

The court heard the function of some new power distribution units being installed was to provide two potential power supply sources to the centre’s data storage equipment. One source was an existing substation on the site and the other was a new substation installed as part of the works.

The existing power supply was under the control of Norland Managed Services Ltd while the new supply was under the control of Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Ltd.

Connection of the first three of these units to the existing data centre infrastructure was scheduled to take place over the weekend of 16th to 18th October 2010. Last minute modifications to the units required them to be tested with two live supplies to ensure they functioned correctly before being connected to the data centre’s existing infrastructure. The first unit was successfully modified, tested and connected to the existing infrastructure. However, Martin Walton, a cable jointer employed by subcontracted company, Integrated Cable Services Ltd, was electrocuted when his forehead made contact with the 415V live terminals of the second unit.

During the sentencing hearing and the earlier trial, HSE told the court the underlying cause of the incident was a succession of failures indicative of the complete breakdown of BBES’s management of health and safety in relation to this project, particularly the breakdown of communication.

While NMS had no role in the construction project, the relevant aspect of their undertaking was the management of the impact of the construction project on the existing operational infrastructure under their control.

NMS issued a permit-to-work to Martin Walton allowing him to reroute the existing site power supply through the new distribution unit, in the knowledge it had the potential to receive a supply from a source not under their control and without confirming that the other supply was isolated.

Mechanical and electrical installation contractor, Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Ltd of Lumina Building, Ainslie Road, Hillington Park, Glasgow, admitted breaches of Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £280,000 in total (£140,000 for each breach) with £42,240 costs.

Facilities management company, Norland Managed Services Ltd, of City Bridge House, Southwark Street, London was found guilty after an earlier trial of breaching 3(1) of the Health and Safety Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £100,000 with £106,670 costs.

Firm fined over safety breach

A woodworking firm was fined for safety breaches after stacks of boards fell onto two employees and injured both of them.

Leeds Magistrates’ Court heard that in August 2012, a fork-lift truck was working closely with two pedestrians during a lifting operation. It hit a stack of boards which knocked into one worker, who then fell onto a second stack, which fell on a second worker. One employee broke both his legs.

The HSE investigated and prosecuted Spa Laminates Limited, of Pepper Road, Leeds. It pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £7,438 costs.

 

HSE Prosecutions round-up: 

Recycling firm fined £200,000 after employee struck by vehicle

A national recycling firm was fined after an employee was struck by a 7.5 tonne telehandler. 

Preston Crown Court heard that Sita UK Limited failed to provide adequate segregation between pedestrians and moving vehicles at a waste transfer station in Darwen, Lancashire.

As an employee walked across an outside plastics hand sorting area, he passed behind a stationary telehandler. The telehandler began to reverse and struck the worker who was knocked to the ground and then run over by the rear wheel of the vehicle. His resulting injuries caused him to be hospitalised for two months.

The HSE prosecuting told the Court the company had identified the risks but failed to put in place suitable controls to stop people being hit by vehicles.

Sita UK Limited of Grenfell Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £200,000 with £11,998 costs.

Logistics Company fined after man injured at work

A logistics company was fined £20,000 after a worker was hit by a fork-lift truck in a busy yard and suffered head injuries.

The HSE investigated and prosecuted UCH Logistics Limited over its failure to segregate vehicles and people in a yard where the danger of such an incident happening was entirely foreseeable.

CCTV footage from the site, in Staines, Middlesex, showed fork-lift trucks loading and unloading vans, with pedestrians routinely weaving between them.

Andrew Elliss, an employee of UCH Logistics, was hit by a reversing fork-lift truck in September 2014.

Redhill Magistrates’ Court was told Mr Elliss, now 53, from Isleworth, sustained head injuries that continue to have an effect on him to this day.

UCH Logistics Limited told HSE the yard had been resurfaced a few years earlier and no markings were put in place to segregate vehicles and people.

UCH Logistics Limited, of Skylink House, Stanwell Moor Road, Staines, Middlesex, pleaded guilty to breaching the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 – specifically Regulations 17(1). It was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay HSE costs of £942.40.

Contractor’s neglect of safety leads to £16,000 in fines

A specialist piling contractor has been fined after it was found to be operating a powerful rig without a safety guard around the rotating auger.

Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court heard how an HSE inspector made an inspection of a site in Maidstone, Kent, in December 2014 and witnessed the piling rig in operation without a safety guard.

The HSE had previously visited three sites where the same company, Southern Piling Limited, had been carrying out work and had raised concerns about the guarding standards on each occasion. After this latest visit, HSE was told that the machine had been in use for at least two-and-a-half weeks without the guard.

Southern Piling Limited, of The Pagets, Newick, Lewes, East Sussex, was fined a total of £16,000 and ordered to pay nearly £5,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaches of Regulation 11(1)(a) of PUWER 1998 and Regulation 13(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

Steel Frame Company fined for safety failings

A company that erects steel frames has been fined for safety failings while cladding a steel framed building.

Swindon Magistrates’ Court heard how on 15 May 2015, Industrial Steel Frames Limited of Derby was visited by a Health and Safety Inspector who found that the company was not taking suitable measures to prevent falling from height, putting their workers at risk of serious injury.

On Monday 5 October 2015, Industrial Steel Frames Limited, of Church Street, Ilkeston, was fined a total of £15,000, and ordered to pay £580 in costs after pleading guilty to an offence under Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

 

HSE Prosecutions round-up: 

Company fined after worker injured in fall from roof

A maintenance company has been fined for safety failings after an employee was injured when he fell from a roof.

Southwark Crown Court heard how in February 2014, an employee of Aspect Maintenance Services Limited of London was working as a roofing engineer on a domestic house in Tooting. He was repairing the roof when he slipped and fell landing on a table on the patio area below. There was no edge protection on the roof at the time of the accident.

He suffered a shattered elbow, a broken jaw, tissue damage to his knee and facial injury.

Aspect Maintenance Services Limited, of Rufus Business Centre, Ravensbury Terrace, London, was fined a total of £20,000, and ordered to pay £4,735 in costs after pleading guilty to an offence under Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company had failed to ensure that the roof work that Mr Jones was carrying out was properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner which is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe.

Restaurant owner fined over employer liability insurance

A restaurant owner has been fined for failing to provide Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI). 

Hasret Sasmaz, trading as Starburger of Frances Street, Woolwich, was fined a total of £1500 (£500 for each offence) and ordered to pay full costs of £1779 at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to three offences under Section 1 of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969.

Firms sentenced after worker killed

Two global companies have been sentenced after a worker was killed and another seriously injured during construction of an offshore wind farm. 

The incident happened when a team of engineers were loading wind turbine blades onto a sea barge for delivery to Greater Gabbard, off the Suffolk coast, on 21 May 2010. 

During the loading of wind turbine components at Pakeston Quay, Harwich, a 2.11 tonne part of the blade transport arrangement fell off, crushing and fatally injuring one worker and seriously injuring another.  

Chelmsford Crown Court heard both workers were employed by Siemens Windpower A/S (SWP) but were working for Fluor Ltd, the principal contractor. 

The injured man, Frank Kroeger, was airlifted to Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge where he was resuscitated twice. He suffered a ruptured spleen, lacerations to his liver, a collapsed lung, multiple rib fractures on his left side, and significant crush injuries to his right arm and hand, with nerve damage to his thumb and fingers.  

His injuries were life-changing and required almost three weeks in hospital in the UK, followed by a long period of rehabilitation and treatment near his home in Germany. 

The family of the fatally-injured man have asked that his name not be released. 

The investigation carried out by HSE found serious safety failings in the two firms’ management systems for the loading operation, which allowed vital parts of equipment to go unchecked before being lifted.  

Following a four-week trial in July, prosecuted by the HSE, Fluor Ltd was found guilty of breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was ordered to pay £275,000 in fines and £271,048 costs. 

Siemens Windpower A/S (SWP) were charged with the same offence and also a Section 2 (1) breach of the same act, but pleaded guilty at an earlier stage. They were also sentenced and ordered to pay £375,000 in fines with costs of £105,355.