Testimonial:"Appointing Shabbir as our external safety consultant has proven invaluable to the operation of our company. He updated our antiquated health and safety regime with enthusiasm and great professionalism, and his advice has always been easy to follow. We hope to retain his services for many years to come."
Malcolm Kennard, Aldous & Stamp (Services) Ltd
Some recent Health and Safety Court Results:
Three firms
fined for Arsenal stadium injury
30 November
2011
Three
construction firms have been fined after a worker required his leg to be
amputated when a dumper truck ran over him during the building of Arsenal’s
Emirates Stadium.
Principal
contractors Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, and sub-contractors McNicholas plc (now
Skanska Utilities Ltd) and Maylim Ltd were all prosecuted over the incident,
which took place on 30 June 2005 at the site in Ashburton Grove, London.
Michael
O’Donovan, 41, was kneeling to clean steel shuttering, which was used to form
reinforced structures and pillars, when a passing dumper truck ran over his
right leg. He suffered a fractured pelvis and the injuries to his leg were so
severe that it needed to be amputated from above the knee.
The
HSE’s investigation found that all three companies had failed to ensure
vehicles and pedestrians were properly segregated at the site, and that the
cleaning of shuttering was not properly planned, or carried out safely.
HSE
inspector Loraine Charles said: “Traffic needs to be managed effectively on all
construction sites. Had proper controls been in place, this appalling incident
would never have happened. As it is, Michael O’Donovan has suffered a severe
injury and his life has been changed forever.
"At
construction sites, workers and vehicles need to be separated wherever
reasonably practicable. There was no demarcation between the route the dumper
took and areas where people could work, or were working, on this site.
"None
of these three companies had carried out a meaningful assessment of the risk to
workers of being struck by plant, in general, and the dumper, in
particular."
All
three companies appeared at City of London Magistrates’ Court on 25 November
and pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) of the HSWA 1974. Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd
was fined £19,000, Skanska Utilities Ltd was fined £17,000, and Maylim was
fined £18,000. They were also each ordered to pay £10,000 in costs.
Both
Sir Robert McAlpine and
Skanska
Utilities were unable to provide a comment when contacted by SHP.
Young child
seriously hurt playing on construction site
02 December
2011
An
eight-year-old boy suffered serious internal injuries when a stack of roof
trusses fell on him while he was playing on an unsecured construction site.
The
incident happened on 28 April 2009 on the site at Meadowbrook, Linwood, near
Paisley. BDW Trading Ltd was constructing a number of residential properties at
the site, some of which had been completed and had people living in them.
The
young boy lived in one of the new houses and was playing with some friends.
They accessed a part of the site where BDW Trading Ltd was storing a number of
timber roof trusses out in the open, which were intended for use on the
remaining unfinished properties. The storage area was located near the entrance
to the completed properties, and it was only protected by a temporary fence on
one side, which was adjacent to a pavement.
The
children stepped off the path and walked around the fence and began playing in
the storage area. While they were playing, one of the tied bundles of trusses
was disturbed and fell on top of the boy. Two of his neighbours, who lived next
to the storage area, heard the children crying and rushed over to try to help
him. They managed to lever the roof trusses off him, allowing him to escape.
One
of the neighbours drove the boy home, and his father immediately took him to
hospital, where he spent eight days receiving treatment for serious injuries to
his liver and abdomen. He subsequently developed a number of anxiety-related
symptoms, which included nightmares and poor concentration.
The
child’s father contacted the HSE two days after the incident, as BDW Trading
was unaware that it had happened. He submitted photos of the collapsed trusses,
one of which is pictured above.
The
HSE visited the site on the day it was notified and issued an Improvement
Notice, which required the company to improve the standard of fencing to
prevent unauthorised access to the storage area.
HSE
inspector Gerry McCulloch told SHP that not only had the company failed to
install proper fencing but the trusses had not been adequately secured to
prevent them from overturning. He explained that the trusses should either have
been supported by a temporary frame, or they could have been laid flat on the
ground.
Inspector
McCulloch said: “BDW Trading knew that families were living right next to the
storage area of the construction site and, as such, the safety of children
should have been a primary consideration.
"If
the company had taken the straightforward precaution of fencing off the
construction site, the children would not have been able to get into the area,
and this young lad would not have received potentially life-threatening
injuries."
BDW
Trading appeared at Paisley Sheriff's Court on 29 November and pleaded guilty
to breaching s3(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £20,000. No costs are awarded
in Scotland.
In
mitigation, the company said it had had no previous action against it and had
fully cooperated with the investigation. On the day of the HSE’s visit it
ordered temporary fencing and quickly installed this around the storage area so
the only way to gain access was through a locked gate.
Untrained
worker fell from unsupported ladder
29 November
2011
The
owner of a double-glazing firm has admitted he failed to properly protect a
worker who fell five metres from a ladder.
Blackpool
Magistrates’ Court heard that Craig Goss, trading as Direct Windows Co, had
been contracted to install double glazing at a house in Bispham, Lancashire. On
5 April 2011, one of Goss’ employees, a 68-year-old man who wishes to remain
anonymous, climbed a ladder to measure a window at the property. He was allowed
to work alone without anyone at the foot of the ladder to stop it falling.
While
he was measuring the window, which was located on the first floor of the
property, the ladder slipped and he fell five metres and landed on a concrete
patio. He suffered a broken knee and ankle, four broken ribs, and a punctured
lung. He has been unable to return to work owing to his injuries.
The
HSE’s investigation learned that the worker was
employed as a handyman and was not trained to install windows. He was asked by
his line manager to carry out the work, as there was other maintenance work to
do at the property. He was not trained to work at height and, by carrying out
the work, he was breaching the company’s own safety procedures, which state
that only trained workers can use ladders, and that two staff should be present
so one can hold the ladder.
HSE
inspector Allen Shute revealed that no risk assessment had been carried out for
the work and that the job was not properly planned, or supervised. He said:
“The man was allowed to work on his own without anyone checking what he was
doing, contrary to established company policies.
“Craig
Goss should simply never have allowed this to happen and, as a result, the
worker has suffered several major injuries, which have kept him off work for
months.
“Workers
can easily be killed or seriously injured in a fall of just a few metres. It’s
therefore vital that employers properly manage work at height.”
Goss
appeared in court on 23 November and pleaded guilty to breaching reg.4(1) of
the Work at Height Regulations 2005, for failing to properly plan or supervise
the work. He was fined £8000 and ordered to pay £2000 in costs.
In
mitigation, Goss said the incident was a result of staff not following the
company’s procedures but he accepted that he should have ensured this did not
occur. Managers have been retrained to ensure they understand the company’s
safety policies and only members of the installations team are allowed to work
at height. The firm has also employed a health and safety manager.
Drowned fish-farm worker was in overloaded boat with no lifejacket
11 November 2011
A worker at a Scottish salmon farm died when the overloaded boat he was in capsized on a loch on the Isle of Lewis.
Stornoway Sheriff Court heard that five men had been in the boat, an open vessel with an outboard motor at the back, although the recommended maximum capacity was only three people.
Peter Duce, 61, had been employed by Outer Hebrides-based West Minch Salmon, which supplies organic salmon to supermarkets and restaurants. He had been one of five operatives who had gone out in the boat 300 metres offshore to the centre of Loch Heather to inspect fish cages, check on the fish, feed them and remove dead fish from the cages.
The court was told that while the five men usually went out in two teams, on 26 February 2008 they decided to all get in the same boat in an attempt to get the task done more quickly and make it easier to carry out. It heard that the boat had regularly been overloaded in this way.
Ann Poyner, the HSE inspector who investigated the case, explained to SHP that it had been a windy, stormy day and bad weather had been forecast. However, no one realised that Mr Duce was the only person not wearing a lifejacket, or any buoyancy equipment.
She recounted how, on the way back to the shore, the wind had veered round to blow down the length of the loch, causing a build up of large waves. A wave washed over the edge of the boat, filling it with water and upturning it, spilling all the men into the water. Four men managed to swim to shore, but Mr Duce was not able to do so. His body was retrieved the next day.
“The boat was being used outside of its criteria,” Inspector Poyner said. “The company should have assessed the average conditions on that loch and how many people would be needed to work on the cages, in order to choose a suitable boat.”
She went on: “Alternatively, if they used a boat like the one in the incident, they should have issued clear operating instructions for safe use and adequately trained their staff on the boat’s limitations. They had not taken into account the fact that as the fish get bigger, they need more food, so the load in the boat would be greater.”
West Minch Salmon mitigated that the boat operators had all been trained and were experienced. There had never before been a problem in using the boat in such a way. But the inspector said there had been no work practices laid out as to how to do things properly, and a manual that did exist had been left in a filing cabinet.
She said: “The company should have been aware of what the work practices were. It should have ensured that information provided was used and interpreted in the correct way”.
The inspector added that there were too many different pieces of flotation equipment available and the firm had not clarified what and how the employees should use it, causing confusion among the staff. “It was left to the men on the ground to decide what they were wearing on any particular day,” she noted.
Since the incident, the company has tightened up its procedures.
Depute fiscal Jeoff Main said in court that the boat was loaded “clearly in excess” of its safe limits. He said: “Overloading the boat made it more susceptible to sinking.”
West Minch Salmon was fined £70,000 after it pleaded guilty on 9 November to breaching s2(1) of HSWA 1974 by failing to ensure its employees’ safety.
Injured manager didn’t question missing machine guard
14 November 2011
A health and nutrition products manufacturer that supplies clients worldwide has been in the dock after a manager's finger was severed in a blending machine at its factory in Bridlington, East Yorkshire.
Magistrates heard that the manager, an employee of Bee Health, had been helping other operatives because of staff shortages. He had been using a ribbon blender to grind and mix product ingredients on 23 March 2010 and was unaware that a fixed guard underneath the machine had been removed during normal maintenance a month previously, along with a dump valve that needed repairing.
While the part was on order, the blender continued to be operated with a plastic bag to collect the product.
As the man attempted to make a hole in a plastic bag to allow the product to fall through, his fingers were caught in rotating blades. Although he was aware the dump valve had been removed, he did not realise that the guard was underneath it, assuming it was higher up on the machine.
The index finger of the man’s right hand was amputated and he suffered severe cuts plus nerve damage to the middle finger.
Denise Fotherham, the HSE inspector who investigated and prosecuted the case at Bridlington Magistrates’ Court, explained that the company did not look at the risks involved with operating the blender. “As a result, no one knew the valve should not be removed, not even the regular machine operator,” she said. “Workers did not realise the valve formed part of the essential guarding of the machine.”
“Once the valve had been taken off, there was nothing to prevent anyone from putting their hand in under the machine and making contact with the blade,” the inspector told SHP. She said the machine had been used on four occasions after the valve had been removed.
"Bee Health also took no steps to prevent the machine being used if the valve was taken off, such as an interlock. A simple measure like that and adequate instructions for employees would have meant a worker not suffering this debilitating injury," the inspector added.
In mitigation, Bee Health said the injured person was a manager and therefore would have been expected to ask further questions about the presence of the guard and the usage of the plastic bag.
The company has since fitted the machine with a simple interlocking mechanism to prevent the machine being started unless it is safe.
Bee Health, of Wakefield, was fined a total of £7000 on 10 November and ordered to pay full HSE costs of £4888. It was fined £5000 for breaching reg.11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery, plus £2000 for breaching reg,3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 by not making a suitable risk assessment. It pleaded guilty to both charges.
Fall from unsecured ladder led to a broken back
11 November 2011
A Norfolk chicken-processing firm has been fined after one of its employees broke his back in fall from a ladder that should never have been used for the job in the first place.
Magistrates heard that on 24 July 2010, factory worker Peter Sherwood, 61, from Lowestoft, had been taken from his usual duties and was assisting engineering staff in closing off a void above ceiling height in the Diss, Norfolk, factory of Crown Chicken in order to prevent steam from getting into the factory.
Mr Sherwood had been lifting some one-metre-long cladding boards up an unsecured ladder, when it slipped from under him as he moved up and down it, causing him to fall 2.5 metres to the concrete floor.
He broke several vertebrae in his lower spine, and was forced to wear a back brace and stay off work for six months. He has since returned to work, but is only able to carry out light duties.
HSE inspector Saffron Turnell, who investigated and prosecuted the incident, told SHP: “The ladder was not secured in any way. It was not footed, or tied in and was also not the most suitable piece of equipment for the job.”
Inspector Turnell said there had been a catalogue of supervisory failings. “Mr Sherwood should not have been released to do that sort of job,” she remarked. “His supervisor did not make sufficient enquiries as to what sort of work he would be doing and assumed it would be general tidying up and removing waste items from the area.
“In addition, the supervisor was not aware of the actual task at hand. The company had not passed on any information about the risk assessment to Mr Sherwood, and had not told him that a scissor lift would have been the most appropriate piece of equipment for the job.”
On 10 November, Crown Chicken pleaded guilty at Lowestoft Magistrates' Court to breaching s2(1) of HSWA 1974. It was fined £3500 and ordered to pay reduced costs of £3000.
In mitigation, Crown Chicken admitted it had made failings but said there had been a duty on employees to take responsibility for their own health and safety. However, Inspector Turnell said the employee could not do that without the correct information having been provided.
The inspector concluded: “Mr Sherwood was a production worker and he had been released to do maintenance work without proper enquiries being made. Work at height should be properly planned and specific instructions given to the employee. He was not told the appropriate equipment for working at height.”
Cash-and-carry roofers “took no precautions whatsoever”
09 November 2011
roofing workersIn a chance sighting, an HSE inspector spotted three roofers working on top of a Nottingham cash and carry store without any safety equipment, or precautions.
Inspector Frances Bailey had been driving past the premises in the Lenton area of Nottingham, on 20 May 2009, when she noticed the workers were not using any equipment, edge protection, or harnesses to prevent falls from or through the roof, Nottingham magistrates heard on 3 November.
Inspector Bailey, who investigated the case and prosecuted it in court, recounted to SHP that she had been en route to another site, but stopped the car because of the immediate risk to the men. She called them down and issued a Prohibition Notice (PN) to stop work straight away. The men had been replacing 220 fragile roof-lights on the store’s asbestos cement roof.
The PN specified that the contractor had to provide: better access to the roof than the loosely-tied ladder the men had been using, such as a tower scaffold; a barrier walkway across the roof, with proper boards and handrails; and points, on to which safety harnesses could be anchored.
After investigation, it was discovered that this unsafe system of work, without protective equipment and proper supervision, had continued over a period of three weeks, risking injury not only to the roofers but also to employees and customers inside the store itself.
Inspector Bailey said the system of work was so bad that it led not only to a PN being served but immediate prosecution because of the high risk of serious injury, or death. “Roofing is one of the most dangerous activities in construction. On average, one person a month dies falling through a fragile roof, or roof-light,” she stated.
Roofing contractor SPV Road Carpet Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) and s3(1) of the HSWA 1974 by failing to protect its own employees and members of the public in the cash and carry at the time of the incident.
In mitigation, the company said it was a large company with a good reputation, employing qualified and competent staff. Since the incident it had trained a large number of its employees and engaged the services of a health and safety consultant.
One of the three men, Lewis Male, an employee of SPV, pleaded guilty to breaching s7 of the same Act, by failing to take reasonable care of himself and others. He had not followed the method statement provided by his employer.
SPV Road Carpet was fined a total of £14,000 (£7000 on each charge) and ordered to pay £6659 in full costs. Male, from Sheffield, was fined £480 and ordered to pay a contribution to costs of £650.
