Roofing company in court for ignoring safety risks

A roofing company has been fined for exposing workers to serious risk of injury at a site in Deeside, Flintshire.

Mold Magistrates’ Court heard today that Merseyside firm Aston Roofing North West Ltd had been contracted to replace the roofs of light industrial units at Connah’s Quay, Deeside. The work involved replacing fragile asbestos cement roof sheets with metal roof cladding.

On 1 November 2012 an off-duty inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) spotted two men employed by the contractors on the roof of one of the units. He could see that no safeguards had been put in place to prevent a fall from height while this hazardous work was being carried out. He immediately took steps to ensure a prohibition notice was served on the company to ensure all work on the roofs was stopped.

The court heard that HSE found numerous ‘fall from height’ risks at the site including access onto the roof via an untied ladder, no safeguards to prevent a fall through the fragile roofing material and nothing to prevent a fall from the edges of the roof. The workers were some four to five metres from the ground.

Aston Roofing North West Ltd, Kenilworth Drive, Pensby, Wirral, Merseyside pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £100.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Chris Wilcox said:

"The dangers of working at height are well known in the roofing industry yet poor safety standards and lack of safeguards still exist among some contractors.
"These employees were working on fragile roofs and yet Aston Roofing North West had neglected to implement even the most basic safety measures to minimise the risks of falls. It is very fortunate that nobody was injured.

"The prosecution should serve as a reminder to all building contractors to ensure working at height is properly planned and robust safety precautions taken. Employers have a legal duty to manage safety and failing to do so too often ends in tragedy."

Lift engineer's death exposed company's safety failings

A national lift and elevator firm has been sentenced for safety failings that were uncovered after the death of a lift engineer from an electric shock while working at Pentonville prison in North London.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated after Steven Loake, 53, from Archway, died while trying to fix a fault on the chapel lift at Pentonville prison in Holloway on 5 October 2010. The engineer did not isolate the lift from the power supply and was found dead by a prison employee the same day.
ThyssenKrupp Elevator UK Ltd (TKE) was fined a total of £100,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £25,748 for breaches of safety legislation identified during the HSE investigation. It was never contended that the breaches directly caused Mr Loake’s death.

Southwark Crown Court was told that the cause of the incident was Mr Loake coming into contact simultaneously with a live conductor and metal parts of the lift structure, thus creating a path to earth and giving him a fatal electric shock.
Investigators found the lift had not been isolated from the mains and that Mr Loake’s multimeter, an electrical test instrument, had exposed test probes, which can lead to ‘flashovers’ or arcing.

HSE found TKE Ltd, which was the maintenance contractor for all prison service lifts in the UK, had failed to provide a safe system of work for its field operatives, who were required to carry out work on live electrical systems. It had not provided sufficient information and instruction concerning work on electrical systems nor supervised employees properly.

TKE also failed in its duty to ensure Mr Loake’s work equipment was fit for use. The multimeter was not maintained in good repair and insulation had been stripped back exposing an excessive amount of metal, causing an increased risk of shock and burns.

HSE told the court that TKE Ltd was fined £233,000 at Southwark Crown Court for a breach of Section (3)1 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 back in 2010.That case related to the death of a member of the public in March 2003 in an incident involving a lift at the Broadgate Health Club in the City that TKE was responsible for maintaining.

ThyssenKrupp Elevator UK Ltd, of Bull Close Road, Nottingham, admitted single breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 at an earlier hearing at Westminster Magistrates.

After the case, HSE Inspector John Crookes said:

"The company’s failures in providing a safe system of work along with appropriate information and instruction went back more than ten years. The combined effect of these inadequacies was that all TKE’s lift fitters and field operatives were exposed to an unacceptable risk when working with the company’s outdated procedures.

"In that sense, Mr Loake’s death, though not directly caused by the failings, can be seen as an example of the ‘accident waiting to happen’.

"The extent of the breaches demonstrates that TKE’s performance, as one of the leading companies in the UK lift industry, fell well below the required standard. They should be setting the standard in safety and provide an example to other operators."   

Company fined for worker's injuries

A self-employed roofer has been fined after an employee suffered major injuries falling through a skylight at a Nuneaton industrial estate.

A Sutton Coldfield man was re-cladding the asbestos roof of premises at the Centrovell Industrial Estate, on Caldwell Road, on 17 July 2010 when he fell seven metres to the factory floor below. He fractured his pelvis, back and foot and was unable to work for several months.

Self-employed roofer John O’Brien was responsible for the work and was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found he failed to do enough to prevent or mitigate the fall.

Nuneaton Magistrates’ Court heard that although Mr O’Brien had taken some steps to protect workers on the roof, there was no protection in place on the skylight the worker fell through, which was known to be fragile.

John Edward O’Brien, 42, of Newmarket Road, Norton Canes, Cannock, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 in costs for a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Mhairi Lockwood said:

"Normally you would expect netting to be put up under the roof that was being worked on in order to catch a falling person before they hit the ground. This situation was unusual though, as the building had a lot of ducting, so another system was put in place, using metallic mesh.

"However, at the time, there was no covering over the fragile roof lights, meaning the injured person suffered the serious injuries he did.

"Work at height is a high-risk activity which requires thorough planning and execution. The system of work adopted should be clear and unambiguous, involving detailed sequencing of how the work was going to be carried out and the control measures that need to be in place."

Builder fined for failing to provide proper facilities for workers

A builder has been prosecuted for neglecting the welfare of his workers at a construction site in West Cornwall.

David Lawrance, as a partner for Swiftfix Reinforcement Specialists, failed to provide adequate washing facilities and rest areas at a site in Beach Road, Carbis Bay, between May and July 2012 where a new home was being built.
Bodmin Magistrates’ Court heard that when an inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited the site he found there was no hot or cold running water, or even a basin to wash in.

There was also no supply of suitable drinking water, just a hose running from a neighbouring property into a plastic container.

The inspector also found that an area for resting, drying clothes or eating was inadequate. There was a small portable office with room for three chairs, but there were eight workmen on site and there was no electricity supply connected to the office.

An Improvement Notice was served requiring better conditions, but a follow-up HSE inspection revealed nothing had changed.

David Lawrance, of Downside, Rosudgeon, near Penzance, pleaded guilty to a single breach of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. He was given a two year conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £2,141.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Barry Trudgian, said:

"The need to provide running water to wash hands and arms is not a trivial matter on a building site.

"The workmen were pouring concrete and when splashed on the skin this can lead to dermatitis if it is not washed off. Apart from being an unpleasant condition, in some cases it can lead to the loss of use of fingers and hands.
"Site contractors and supervisors like David Lawrance, who are responsible for the work of employees or subcontractors, have a legal duty to ensure that adequate facilities are in place for the welfare of the workforce from the very start to the completion of construction work."

Cabinet manufacturer fined for worker's injuries

A maintenance engineer lost the tips of two fingers when they became caught in machinery in a Plymouth factory.

Darren Robins, (41), from Plymouth, was working at the Rittal CSM plant in Roborough when his fingers got caught in machinery as he was trying to clean it on 1 May 2012.

In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today, Plymouth Magistrates' Court heard that Mr Robins was clearing paint that was clogging up the machinery at the factory, which makes metal cabinets for office computer equipment.

He removed the guard of the paint spraying booth to clean the chain and, as he finished cleaning it, he asked another employee to turn on the machine so he could see if the chains were moving freely. His fingers got caught in the chain. Mr Robins lost the ends of his fingers and surgeons were unable to reattach them.

An investigation by HSE found that no risk assessment had been carried out for maintenance procedures and there was no suitable way to isolate the machinery when maintenance was carried out.

Rittal CSM of Broadley Park, Roborough, pleaded guilty to a breach of Regulation 3 of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,478.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Melissa Lai-Hung, said:

"Working with any moving machinery creates risks to workers and it is vital that assessments are carried out and instructions are in place so employees know how to do their work safely.

"Mr Robins' injuries could have been much more serious and the loss of the tips of his fingers have not only caused him a lot of pain and distress but also meant there are many simple tasks he cannot perform as easily as he did before."

Bradford man may lose lower leg after work injury

A Bradford man may need to have his foot and lower leg amputated as a result of a crush injury caused by the safety failures of his employers more than a year ago.

The city’s magistrates were told that 51-year-old David Wain, from Holmewood, suffered serious injuries when a 1.5 tonne pallet of tin plates fell onto his right lower leg and foot when he was employed by Emballator UK Ltd at their factory in Tyersal, Bradford.

Photo shows the incident scene; the metal plates and pallets having fallen in a waterfall effect from the plate turner

 

The incident, on 6 February 2012, was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which prosecuted the company after identifying a number of safety failings.

Bradford Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr Wain, a coating assistant at the plant, which manufactures tin cans, had been told to use an older machine to turn the bulk tin plate as a fault had developed on the usual, more modern, pallet turner.
He had no experience of using the older machine and a colleague gave him a demonstration of how to use it and how to load the pallets for turning.

Mr Wain used a forklift truck to pick up a pallet of plates, loaded the machine the way he had been told - wedging the load using empty pallets - and switched it on. Moments later, after the machine turned 180 degrees, he saw the plates and pallets moving. He tried to get out of the way but the full load of metal plates spilled out of the machine in a weighty waterfall, trapping his foot against the floor.

Part of Mr Wain’s big toe was severed and the sole of his foot was split. Surgeons managed to reattach the next two toes and he needed plates put into his ankle and screws into his lower leg. He was in hospital for 11 days.
Mr Wain has been housebound since the incident and unable to walk without crutches. He was informed earlier this year by the hospital that his foot and lower leg may need to be amputated.

HSE found Emballator UK Ltd had failed to provide both safe equipment and a safe system of work. There was no clamping mechanism to retain the pallet of metal plates within the rotating machine, and no guarding to keep operators from the machine during turning.

In addition, the firm had not identified the risks involved with using the older machine, and in particular the risk of the plates falling out. Mr Wain was not supervised whilst he used the machine for the first time. No checks were made that he understood the risks and the precautions to take.

Emballator UK Ltd, of City Link Industrial Park, Phoenix way, Tyersal, Bradford, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The firm was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £3,769 in full costs.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Andrea Jones said:

"Everyone has the right to come home from work safe and well. But David Wain suffered life-changing injuries in an incident that was preventable.

"Emballator UK Ltd failed in their duties to provide a suitable machine for turning pallets and a safe method of operation that Mr Wain could use. Manually securing the load in an open box by means of wedges or empty pallets is not a sufficiently reliable method of securing the load.

"A proper examination of the risks would have shown that there was a danger of the load shifting and falling from the machine, during or after turning. A simple clamping mechanism would have secured it, and was indeed applied to the newer machine.

"It is also essential that checks are made by managers to ensure operators are trained and competent to use the machines they provide, understand the risks and associated precautions to take."

Company fined after hoarding injures pensioner

A Hertfordshire firm has been fined for safety failings after a pensioner was struck on the head by an advertising hoarding while walking past a construction site in South East London.

The 85-year-old, who does not wish to be named, sustained a deep cut that required 13 stitches in the incident at Wardroper House on St Georges Rd, Southwark, on 15 July 2010.

She was hospitalised for eight days before eventually making a full recovery.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that Durkan Ltd, of Waltham Cross, was responsible for the hoarding, which stood alongside a pavement outside the ongoing development.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified that it was poorly maintained, badly designed and constructed, and had been overloaded with advertising material.

Magistrates were told that had the hoarding been properly designed and maintained to withstand a specific weight and inclement weather, then the incident could have been avoided.

Durkan Ltd, of High Road, Waltham Cross, Herts, was fined a total of £5,000 and ordered to pay £6,000 in costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Toby Webb said:

"Advertising hoardings of this nature are defined as temporary works and must be properly designed, constructed and maintained to ensure they are safe.

"This sign and hoarding was not maintained in a safe condition, and a pensioner was seriously injured as a result. She could have been killed, and there was a clear risk to other passers-by as well as workers on the construction site it served.

"Durkan Ltd could and should done more to prevent that risk."