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Death at Port
Associated British Ports of Holborn, London, the largest port operator in the UK has been fined £266,000 and ordered to pay costs of just under £75,000, by Ipswich Magistrate’s Court after pleading guilty to breaching s2(1) HSWA.
On 30 March 2007 Brian Vince, a 60-year-old cargo handler from Ipswich was working as a ramp man servicing a roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) ferry at the Port of Ipswich. Mr Vince was standing
on the bridge between the ferry and the quayside (also called the ‘linkspan’), coordinating
vehicles on and off the ferry when he was struck by a reversing trailer. Mr Vince died at the scene. The company was prosecuted for failing to ensure that persons in their employment
were not exposed to risk and failed to ensure the provision and implementation of a safe system of work for the ro-ro operation.
HSE Inspector Kaitav Patel said:
"This is another example of a fatal incident that could and should have been prevented. The company had identified the risks to the ramp man, yet failed to prevent him being in a position
of danger behind a reversing vehicle. Workplace transport is not specific to the docks industry and many other industries can learn lessons from this tragic incident. Employers in all industries must ensure that the interaction between moving vehicles and pedestrians in the workplace is managed properly. There is plenty of advice and guidance available to help comply with the law and keep people safe when working with transport. HSE will not hesitate
to take action against any business with this level of responsibility that fails to comply with the law."
Serious head Injuries at work
Delico Ltd based at Sutton Fields in Hull, has been fined £160,000 and ordered to pay costs of £40,452. The company had pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) HSWA at a hearing in Milton
Keynes Magistrates’ Court.
HSE investigated the incident at Delico’s meat processing plant in Snelshall West, Milton Keynes on 19 May 2007. An employee, Lynda Trebilcock, was cleaning one of the blending machines when a powered door on the machine closed unexpectedly and Mrs Trebilcock suffered severe head injuries. She died at the scene.
HSE Inspector Karl Howes said:
"Employers must ensure that they implement safe systems of work for staff using machinery.
They must make certain that safety features on machines, such as guards are not overridden.
All areas of risk need to be assessed, including cleaning and maintenance tasks, to make sure that tragic incidents like this do not happen."
Employee Crushed
North Kent Shotblasting Ltd, of Northfleet, in Kent has been fined £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £24,000 following the death of Nigel Harrison on 20 October 2006. The death occurred at North Kent Shotblasting’s Grove Road site where Mr Harrison was due to seal and paint a large heavy metal plate (975kg). However, the plate was left unsecured and unstable causing it to fall on top of him. Mr Harrison died from his injuries. The company pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) HSWA.
David Fussell, Health and Safety Executive Inspector, said:
“The fatal injuries to Mr Harrison were easily preventable, and the incident came about through a combination of events, which included the reliance on a fatally flawed system of work and the company’s complete lack of control over employee’s safety. This resulted in employees deciding for themselves on how best to secure these heavy metal plates. HSE will not tolerate employers exposing their employees to unacceptable risks at work. In this day and age families should not continue to lose loved ones in incidents of this type, and it should not be necessary for each generation to rediscover principles of safety which the generation before already discovered. Crush and trap injuries are a common cause of manufacturing
incidents. If North Kent Shotblasting Ltd had carried out an assessment of the risks when working in close proximity to the heavy metal plates, and carried out the cheap and simple safety requirements that were subsequently implemented after the issuing of Prohibition
and Improvement Notices, then this incident could have been avoided.
We must learn from the experience of others rather than learn the hard way. We must pass onto the next generation a record of what we have learnt in securing a safe environment for employees to work in. We cannot allow the same sorts of incidents to continue seriously injuring and killing people.”
Crane Collapse
Select Plant Hire Company Ltd has been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £33,196.45 after a crane driver suffered severe injuries in an incident in Croydon in June 2007. The company, based in Dartford, Kent, pleaded guilty to a breaching reg9(2)(b); reg9(2) PUWER and; s3(1) HSWA.
The court heard that on 2 June 2007, the jib of a tower crane owned and operated by Select Plant Hire toppled backwards and became detached from the mast. The jib together with the drivers cab fell through the air, crashing onto the roof of the Croydon Park Hotel.
The incident happened during a relatively rare operation to extend the height of the tower
crane from 60m to 98m, using a piece of equipment known as a climbing frame.
The team employed to extend the height of the crane had not used the equipment before and had not had any specific training on its use.
The crane driver was trapped on the roof for over an hour before rescue services were able to get him down. He suffered extensive injuries, including three compression fractures of the spine, a fractured lumber vertebrae, two broken ribs and a fractured skull. Two years on, the driver has been unable to return to work and is still suffering from his injuries.
The court also heard how the crane collapse caused extensive damage to the hotel. At the time of the incident there were approximately 140 residents, customers and staff in the hotel.
The crane narrowly missed a gas pipe in the plant room on the roof of the hotel. Fortunately,
no one in the hotel was injured.
Amanda Huff, HSE Inspector, said:
"This incident was avoidable and was caused by inadequate training of the team asked to extend the height of the crane. This is a high risk operation and it is essential that operators have the right type of training."
Ed -
Regulation 9(2)(b) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 states that: every employer shall ensure that, where the safety of lifting equipment depends on the installation conditions, it is thoroughly examined after assembly and before being put into service at a new site or in a new location.
Regulation 9(2) of the Provision and use of work Equipment Regulations 1998 states that: every employer shall ensure that any of his employees who supervises or manages the use of work equipment has received adequate training for purposes of health and safety, including
training in the methods which may be adopted when using the work equipment, any risks which such use may entail and precautions to be taken.
Canal Tragedy
British Waterways, of Willow Grange, Church Road, Watford, pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) HSWA and two breaches of Reg3(1)(b) MHSWR 1999.
Sea Technical Services Limited (STS), of Blythewood House, Lake Road, Curdridge, Nr Botley, Hampshire, also pleaded guilty to breaching Reg6(1) Diving at Work Regs 1997, and Christopher
Robert Drake of the same address (the diving supervisor) pleaded guilty to breaching Reg10(1)(a)(i), Diving at Work Regs 1997.
British Waterways was fined £80,000 for the HSWA charge and £3,500 for each of the two of Regulation charges (total fines £87,000) and ordered to pay costs of £75,000. STS was also fined £15,000 for its breach and ordered to pay costs of £6,000. Christopher Drake has been fined £6,000 for his breach and ordered to pay costs of £2,000.
HSE prosecuted the companies and Mr Drake following an incident in which construction diver, David Moore (29) was fatally injured at Upper Lode Lock, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
While Mr Moore was involved in construction work on the upstream side of a temporary
dam, a seal at the bottom holding back the water failed and he was sucked against the wall of the dam because of the immense pressure. The force prevented him from breathing or from being pulled to safety by colleagues. After some minutes, he was pulled out of the lock and taken to hospital but was later declared dead.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Diving Inspector, Pete Sieniewicz, said:
"This case has resulted from the committed efforts of both ourselves and the Gloucestershire Police over several years and has highlighted the serious hazard of differential pressure to divers, especially to those working on construction projects. The importance of planning and managing major projects – such as the one in this case – cannot be emphasised enough. In my opinion, it is not good enough to make decisions on the hoof or try and deal with a problem
as things start to go wrong. You cannot take a gamble with peoples' lives. The problem of differential pressure highlighted by this case is so important that we are about to publish health and safety guidance to the diving industry, based on research in this area. Hopefully, this will help to reinforce our safety message to the industry as a whole and prevent further tragic incidents of this kind.
My thoughts are with Mr Moore’s fiancée and family."
Dirty Laundry
OCS Group UK Limited of Limpsfield Road, Sanderstead in Surrey has been fined £80,000 and ordered to pay costs of £33,059, after pleading guilty to breaching s2(1) HSWA, after Joseph Pathmananthan, a worker at the site, was injured in a serious incident.
OCS Group UK Limited provides commercial laundry services at industrial processing plants across the UK, including Balham. This plant had approximately 150 workers.
On 2 October 2007, Mr Pathmananthan, a 61 year-old employee from Sutton in London, was working at the company’s Boundaries Road site in Balham. He was repairing the hopper unit which loads roller towels into the top of a continuous batch washer, which is an industrial
washing machine costing more than one million pounds. The hopper unit needed repairing
after a towel had become entangled in a lifting belt. After several different methods had been used by Mr Pathmananthan and four other colleagues to dislodge the towel, he entered the hoist’s protective cage to continue to try to remove the towel. Mr Pathmananthan
was standing underneath the suspended large steel hopper. As the towel became free the hopper fell two meters onto the victim, crushing him.
He suffered from multiple broken bones and internal injures and was in a coma for 19 days. He stayed in hospital for three months and has not been able to return to work for two years since the incident.
OCS Group UK Ltd carried out an internal investigation into the incident and almost all the blame fell on a number of employees on the Balham site, including the victim who was disciplined.
Despite the HSE subsequently prosecuting OCS, the company’s own internal investigation
made little criticism of the company’s policies or of senior management.
The HSE investigation showed that OCS Group UK Ltd did not have a sufficiently effective system for ensuring the machinery was safe to be operated and maintained, and that there were no checks on the machinery after its repair. Also, the Balham site engineering team had not been provided with a manual which would have clearly shown how to raise the hopper safely for someone to work beneath it.
The court heard that two years prior to the incident, an HSE Inspector had attended the site and had identified that Mr Pathmananthan needed more support. The HSE gave direction on necessary improvements including the need to risk assess the continuous batch washer, but there was no evidence this had been followed by OCS Group UK. The HSE also found the site had inadequate controls in place to stop people slipping and tripping and that the movement of vehicles at the busy site was disorganised and dangerous.
Whilst sentencing the company, Judge Taylor criticised OCS Group UK Ltd for what she said was a systemic failure and its complacency during monitoring. If the company had not pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity Judge Taylor, said the fine would have been £40,000 more.
Andrew Verrall-Withers, Health and Safety Inspector, said:
“I was pleased the company co-operated with the investigation and made good efforts to improve after the incident, but I was surprised and disappointed that their own internal investigation
failed to identify so much of what the company had got wrong. I hope this case sends out a message to other companies, including large ones, that it is vital they make sure that they are protecting their employees effectively. It is no good to anyone if problems are only found after it is too late.”
Death from a height
Mobile Mini UK Ltd, has been fined £80,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,000. It pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) HSWA. The courts heard how on 30 January 2008, employee David Boulton was unloading a temporary accommodation unit from a lorry on Halford’s Lane, West Bromwich. He was standing on top of the unit in order to attach a sling from a crane when he fell on to the road, suffering fatal head injuries.
HSE inspector Tony Woodward said:
"Our investigation showed the company’s systems were fundamentally flawed. There were safety procedures that were not followed, and those systems that were in place were so
cumbersome that employees found them difficult to follow. To make matters worse, the company wasn’t even checking to see if the staff were following the procedures they had put in place, with workers being allowed to use sub-standard equipment. For example, a ladder used in this incident was one of the worst I have ever seen. This case should be used as an example to others to introduce easy to understand systems and ensure staff members adhere
to them. This begins with training and continues with regular monitoring and refresher courses where necessary."
Fall Fracture
1st Response Roofing Ltd, of Ilkley, West Yorkshire, has been fined £23,500 in total and ordered
to pay costs of £3,452 for three safety breaches over the incident in January this year.
The fines are substantially higher than in previous cases of this nature because two of the three breaches continued on the day after the roofer, Adam Lambert, suffered his fall. This meant the new Health and Safety Offences Act 2008 came into play, which gives Magistrates more power to hit guilty parties in the pocket. 1st Response Roofing Ltd is believed to be the first company to be successfully fined using the powers in the new legislation.
The court heard that Adam, an employee of 1st Response Roofing Ltd, suffered a fractured skull after falling through a skylight whilst replacing a roof at the garage of Peter Watson Ltd in Skipton. After falling 2m, he struck a tower scaffold, which had formed part of the working
platform. He then fell a further 2m on to a concrete floor, where he hit his head on a metal vehicle lift, fracturing his skull.
The HSE investigation found that there were no coverings in place on any of the roof’s skylights
to prevent the fall. Furthermore the company had told its employees to erect the tower scaffold when they were not trained to do so. As a result, no handrail was installed and the actual platform was too low to break Adam’s fall. The company had also told the employees to assemble the scaffolding outside the building knowing that they were not trained.
After the hearing HSE Inspector David Welsh commented:
"These are very serious health and safety breaches, as we found that all roof workers at the premises were exposed to risk of injury. As well as poorly assembled scaffolding and tower scaffolds, we found that none of the skylights had been covered to prevent employees from falling through. The measures in place at the time simply did not amount to a safe system of work and as a result Adam Lambert has sustained long-term injuries, which he has yet to recover from fully. The hazards and risks of working on roofs are well documented. HSE has produced a lot of guidance over many years because falls from height are a major cause of deaths at work in the United Kingdom"
Height Injuries
ROK Building Ltd, based in Exeter, pleaded guilty to a breach of s4(1) HSWA and has been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £17,397.14.
Immediately before the incident, the floor covering had been lifted but the underlying sub floor was found to be rotten. A ROK Building Ltd employee lifted the plywood panels so that only remaining floor was a thin, and poorly supported, metal sheet. When Mr Sterry stood on this he fell straight onto the concrete surface of the apron. As a result, Mr. Sterry received severe injuries to his legs. The defendant company (ROK) had identified that work at height might be an important factor in their earlier assessments, but failed to implement the control measures that they identified.
Steve Kirton, HSE Inspector said,
“Any work at height or work near fragile surfaces needs to be properly planned and assessed.
Any identified control measures need to be fully implemented.”
Police Blunder
Thames Valley Police has been fined £40,000 and has been ordered to pay costs of £25,000. It follows a hearing on 23 July 2009 at Southwark Crown Court where the police force pleaded
guilty to breaching s3(1) HSWA.
PC David Micklethwaite, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court on the 18 September, to breaching s7 HSWA. He has been fined £8,000 and has been ordered to pay costs of £5,000.
Commenting on the effect on Keith Tilbury, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said: "The incident has had 'a devastating effect' on his life." In conclusion, he said, the keeping of mixed ammunition
in an unmarked Quality Street tin was a "disaster waiting to happen."
PC David Steven Micklethwaite, a police firearms instructor with Thames Valley Police, was conducting basic firearms awareness training with new civilian police control room staff. As part of the course he used ammunition from an unmarked sweet tin which had been stored in one of the forces armouries. PC Micklethwaite loaded what he thought was a non-live round into a revolver, and then repeatedly pulled the trigger to demonstrate how the cylinder
of a revolver rotated. The ammunition was live and the gun fired hitting a civilian worker,
Keith Tilbury, in the stomach. Mr Tilbury suffered major injuries and was in intensive care for 10 days and hospitalised for a total of 22 days – he has not yet been able to return to work.
The HSE investigation found that a risk assessment had been prepared to cover the use of firearms. This included a section on dealing with a situation where live and non-live ammunition
were mixed. This assessment was also based on the weapons and ammunition being under the control of a competent person (firearms instructor). Had the control measures
detailed in the assessment been followed then the accident would not have happened.
HSE Inspector, Matthew Lee, said:
“Keith Tilbury suffered life changing injuries as a result of this incident and I hope the conclusion
of this case will help in some small way to contribute to his recovery. Risk assessments are necessary and an important way of enabling employers to safeguard their workers safety, but, as this case demonstrates, it is not the pieces of paper or certificates that will stop workers getting injured. It is vital that employers follow up on actions highlighted in risk assessments and ensure staff follows them. HSE only brings prosecutions when there are severe breaches of health and safety legislation with the objective that this will help prevent incidents occurring in the future. We have worked closely with Association of Chief Police Officers,
National Police Improvement Agency and Independent Police Complaints Commission to ensure that there should be no repeat of similar accidents.”
Vulnerable People
Powys Local Health Board was prosecuted under s3(1) HSWA. It pleaded guilty to the charge during an earlier hearing and has been fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of £46,849.50. It follows the death of an inpatient, Sylvan Money, who was found hanging in her room at the Bronllys Adult Mental Illness Unit in Brecon in January 2004. The inquest into Ms Money's death ruled that she took her own life while the balance of her mind was disturbed.
An investigation by HSE revealed that the Trust or the Local Health Board failed to act on a risk assessment – carried out by the Trust’s predecessor – which identified potential ligature
points in the unit i.e. points where material could be tied by people intent on harming themselves by hanging.
HSE Principal Inspector Colin Mew said:
"Powys Local Health Board had a duty to provide a physically safe environment, but failed to do so. There was also no system in place to ensure that measures identified to eradicate risks to patients had actually been carried out. There is an even greater duty up on employers
who care for vulnerable persons as was the case here.”
Dermatitis Risk
Prysmian Cables and Systems Limited pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (as amended) 2002, Reg6(1)(a) requiring risk assessment, Reg7(1) as qualified by Reg7(3) requiring effective control measures and Reg11(1), requiring suitable health surveillance. The company has been fined £27,500 and ordered to pay costs of £10,700.
The investigation found that managers failed to control the risks of exposing employees
to hazardous substances, including a known skin irritant, at the company’s premises in Eastleigh. This resulted in one employee suffering from severe dermatitis, which as the court heard had a huge impact on his life. He was required to take retirement on medical grounds and his future employment prospects are extremely limited. Yet this could have been avoided if relatively simple and low cost control measures had been put into place.
HSE Specialist Inspector in Occupational Health, Anne Bartlett, said:
"This case illustrates the need for employers to take dermatitis risks as seriously as any other risks to health and safety in the workplace. Dermatitis is not just a ‘bit of a rash’ which can be ignored but a painful, debilitating and as this case proves, a life changing condition which can be easily avoided. All employers should undertake risk assessments in a way that correctly
identifies all of the significant risks, including those to health and as a result ensure that an appropriate package of measures, including physical safeguards, safe systems of work, protective clothing, consistent training and appropriate health surveillance are provided
for the safety of all workers."
Ed -
Regulation 6(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (as amended) 2002, states: ‘an employer shall not carry out any work which is liable to expose any employees
to any substance hazardous to health unless he has (a) made a suitable and sufficient
assessment of the risk created by that work to the health of those employees and of the steps that need to be taken to meet the requirements of these Regulations and (b) implemented the steps referred to in sub-paragraph (a).’
Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (as amended) 2002, states: ‘every employer shall ensure that the exposure of his employees to substances hazardous to health is either prevented or, where this is not reasonably practicable, adequately
controlled.’
Regulation 11(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (as amended)
2002, states: ‘where it is appropriate for the protection of the health of his employees who are, or are liable to be, exposed to a substance hazardous to health, the employer shall ensure that such employees are under suitable health surveillance.’
Pupil on Work Experience
Deansfield High School in Wolverhampton employed Making Learning Work Ltd of Brewood, Stafford in 2005 to locate extended work experience placements for 32 pupils at a cost of £650 each.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) HSWA and was given one year’s conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £22,000 following an injury to a pupil on a placement in January 2006.
The court heard that a 14-year-old student was placed at R&B Motor Services, a garage
owned by Harjinder Kumar. The school was led to believe that Making Learning Work Ltd would carry out a full health and safety audit and risk assessment prior to the pupil starting work at the garage.
However, the checks failed to take place and the teenager was almost exclusively supervised by one employee who spoke very little English. During a petrol draining operation the teenager
sustained a burn injury to his left hand.
At a previous hearing Mr Kumar had pleaded guilty to a health and safety offence and was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs.
HSE inspector John Healy said:
"Placing a 14-year-old schoolboy in extended work experience at R&B Motor Services was totally inappropriate. Probable inexperience and lack of maturity makes it essential that young people’s work experience placements are risk assessed before the start-date. Making Learning Work Ltd failed in its duty by exposing this pupil to health and safety risks. Had they carried out a risk assessment, it would have soon been obvious that the garage was unsuitable.
This should send a clear message to all involved in work experience placements that risk assessments are vital. In this case, the consequences could have been much more serious.
HSE has investigated several fatal accidents resulting from petrol draining from vehicles where the appropriate safety device, called a fuel retriever, which costs less than £500, was not used."
Man Dies in Horticulture
Humax Horticulture Ltd, a horticulture company from Godalming, Surrey, pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) HSWA and has been fined £23,300 for failing to ensure proper health and safety standards were in place, following the death of an agency worker at its site in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway.
Colin Neil McCourt, aged 55, from Annan, died at Nutberry Moss Works, Eastriggs, Annan on 31 January 2008 when a tip bucket he was welding moved while he was working on it, crushing him to death.
HSE Inspector Jean Edgar said:
"Workplace risks need to be managed by employers, irrespective of how wages are paid and who pays them. Employers who take on agency staff to plug a temporary gap in their workforce
should not provide any lesser standard of health and safety protection for these people than they would for their own employees. Incidents can happen when inadequate information
and instruction is provided to such workers. It may result in a failure to take the correct action to control risks relating to the work in hand, as shown by this tragic death."
Road Works Warning
Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Services Ltd of Ashwood Park, Basingstoke, has been fined £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £31,139.30 after pleading guilty to a breach of s3(1) HSWA.
On 7 June 2006, three of the company’s employees were carrying out repairs to the A1060 at Boyton Cross, near Chelmsford. They had reduced the road width to a single lane and had put in place a simple control system with one person using a Stop/Go board. There were also signs set out in advance of the roadworks to warn other road users. However, a motorcyclist travelling in the open side of the carriageway collided head-on with a car, travelling
towards him in the opposite direction, and suffered serious injuries.
The HSE investigation identified the road layout the company used was not appropriate for the traffic flows. In particular, a road sign to alert users to the fact that there was traffic control ahead was not put out. Nor was there a supervisor in charge of the works gang.
HSE Inspector Sandy Carmichael said:
"This serious incident could and should have been prevented by the company by ensuring safe systems of working were in place. Where information to road users at roadworks is not prominent, accurate and clear, both workers and road users are at great risk. HSE will not hesitate to take action against any business with this level of responsibility that fails to comply
with the law.”
BUPA fined
BUPA Care Homes (CFH Care) Limited, has been fined £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,500 after an 80-year quadriplegic fell from bed whilst being dressed by a lone, inexperienced
care assistant.
Muriel Lindley suffered fractures to both legs in the fall at West Ridings Nursing Home, on Lingwell Gate Lane, Lofthouse, on 13 July last year. She was admitted to Pinderfields Hospital
where she died nine days later. BUPA, which owns the Lofthouse home, pleaded guilty to a breach of s3(1) HSWA in relation to the incident.
Magistrates heard that Mrs Lindley, a resident on the Swaledale Unit, was able to fall from her bed after protective guard rails were lowered to get her undressed, washed and redressed
for the day ahead.
This procedure, which requires a degree of rolling, should always be carried out by two properly trained carers, as was clearly defined in health and safety policies at the home and written assessments of the patient’s individual care needs. However Mrs Lindley was instead
tended to by a lone employee with limited knowledge and training in the moving and
handling of residents.
The employee in question had only started work on the unit six days earlier and didn’t complete
the necessary formal training on patient handling until 22 July – the day Mrs Lindley died.
Following the hearing HSE inspector Paul Robinson commented:
"This prosecution should serve as a reminder to all carers, management and care home operators of what can happen when the correct training and procedures aren’t adhered to – and why such policies and guidelines are put in place to safeguard patients in the first place."
Asbestos Removal
Mansell Build Ltd (previously Birse Build Ltd) of Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire,has been fined £12,500 and ordered to pay costs of £12,500. Andrew Brightmore, a former manager of ARB Agriplant Ltd has been fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £500 costs and Gary Cusack has been fined £500 and ordered to pay £250 costs. All were prosecuted for health and safety breaches at Rotherham Magistrates’ Court.
Mansell Build Ltd, the principal contractor, was employed to carry out work to remove asbestos insulating board ceilings at the school. The work should have been carried out by a contractor licensed by HSE, but the company contracted to carry out the work, ARB Agriplant
Ltd, did not have a licence.
Now in administration, ARB Agriplant Ltd then subcontracted the work to Gary Cusack, another
unlicensed contractor.
All contractors failed to implement basic requirements to prevent the spread and exposure
to asbestos to both those removing the materials and to others working at the school at the time. After the removal work had been completed, Mansell Build Ltd allowed other contractors to work in those areas without verifying which areas were free from asbestos. It was then found that these areas were contaminated with asbestos. Following the incident ARB Agriplant Ltd provided a forged asbestos licence and a falsified clearance certificate to Mansell Build Ltd, claiming that the work had been undertaken by a licensed contractor and that the area was free from asbestos.
Speaking after the case, HSE inspector David Bradley said:
"Those responsible for employees have a legal duty to protect their health and safety and in the case of asbestos they should know that any disturbance of such a dangerous material
should only be tackled by licensed workers. In this case, the contractors responsible put others in a dangerous situation, which could have been avoided had the work been carried out by a licensed contractor. Asbestos is the biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK, which is why there are strict rules in place to prevent exposure. HSE has published a wealth
of advice for employers to help them reduce the risks associated with asbestos."
Cheltenham Borough Council fined
A council employee fell from a ride-on mower onto a park bench on 21 may 2008, breaking two ribs and suffering a compressed lung. He was forced to stay off work for 11 weeks and HSE have successfully prosecuted his employer, Cheltenham Borough Council. As a result, the council has been fined a total of £14,000, plus £3,000 compensation to the injured person
and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £18,530.31.
Cheltenham Borough Council pleaded guilty to charges under S2(1) HSWA and Reg3(1)(a) Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
The magistrates heard that the council failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment
for cutting the grass with the ride-on mower. The slope that the employee was working on was too steep for the machine he was using according to manufacturer’s guidelines.
The employee had also not received enough information or instruction and there had been previous incidents that should have made the council take action to improve safety while using ride-on mowers.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Alison Fry said:
"This incident was entirely avoidable. This incident sends out a clear message to employers to ensure that they carry out risk assessment, taking all site conditions into account, including
steepness of slopes, before deciding which equipment is suitable. They should provide appropriate training for employees - with adequate, instructions so that operators can work safely. The injured party and his nearby colleague, who escaped any harm, were lucky and the fact that this was not a fatality was only a matter of chance."
Loose Support
Eimco Water Technologies Ltd of Brunel Way, Colchester in Essex, has been fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,661.40 after pleading guilty to breaching s3(1) HSWA, after Grzegorz Trafisz, who was contracted by the company, suffered fractures to his pelvis.
Eimco Water Technologies Ltd supplies water intake systems for power stations - seawater is taken in, re-circulated to cool the power station and then pumped back out to sea.
On 09 July 2008, 25-year-old contractor Grzegorz Trafisz who lives in Southampton was working at Marchwood Power Station Construction site, at Marchwood, in Hampshire. He was assembling two components of a stop-log, which is a steel lock gate used to isolate or control the flow of water. It works as part of a screening system to filter fish and other debris
from the water.
The two components that Mr Trafisz was working on each weighed approximately 2,000 kg.
They were positioned approximately 0.6 meters above the ground on axle stands, normally used for motor vehicles. One of the stop-logs became unsupported and fell on Mr Trafisz, who was working underneath. He suffered fractures to his pelvis.
The HSE investigation found that Eimco Water Technologies Ltd had failed to take steps to protect Mr Trafisz by ensuring a safe and effective working environment. The risks had not been assessed; the company had failed to follow their own assembly instructions and were not using equipment that was suitable for the job in hand.
HSE Inspector James Powell, said:
"This incident could have been avoided if the company had taken all necessary steps to ensure
that not only were their working practices effective but that they also followed them. Companies should remember that they are responsible for ensuring that all their employees, whether directly employed by them or not, are entitled to work in the safest possible environment
with equipment that is fit for purpose."
NHS Failure
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, of Hamstel Road, Harlow, Essex, has been fined £6,500 and ordered to pay £4,500 in court costs after pleading guilty to two health and safety charges at Harlow Magistrates’ Court .
HSE inspectors visited the Princess Alexandra Hospital in November 2007 and found the NHS Trust was not correctly managing the risk of staff becoming sensitised to latex, mainly from latex gloves.
Inspectors served two Improvement Notices - legal notices which require improvements to be made within a certain time-frame. The first notice required the Trust to carry out a suitable
and sufficient risk assessment of the use of latex and the second notice was issued to control the risks identified.
The Trust needed two extensions and significant support from the HSE before it complied with the first notice in May 2008. The second notice was extended three times, finally to 1 July 2008, but when HSE inspectors visited the Trust they found it had still not complied with the notice. Inspectors also discovered the Trust had failed to report that a member of staff had been diagnosed as having latex-linked occupational dermatitis.
HSE Inspector Matthew Tackling said:
"As this case demonstrates, employers need to realise the importance of complying with Improvement
Notices as they can be prosecuted for not carrying out the required work within the specified timescale. Reporting cases of occupational dermatitis is a legal requirement. Employers should ensure they know which substances can cause dermatitis in their workplace,
how to recognise the symptoms, how to prevent it occurring and the need to report
cases if they develop."
The NHS Trust admitted two breaches of health and safety law relating to exposure of staff to occupational dermatitis:
• Failure to comply with an Improvement Notice, which required improvements to the way the Trust managed the risk of staff being exposed to occupational dermatitis, mainly by becoming sensitized to latex gloves - breaching s33(1)(g) HSWA. For this offence the Trust was fined £5,000.
• Failure to report forthwith that one of its employees had been diagnosed as latex allergic - breaching Reg5(1)(a) Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. For this offence the Trust was fined £1,500.
Workplace vehicles
Fairline Boats Ltd, of Barnwell Road, Oundle, Northamptonshire, has been fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Reg17(1) Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 in failing to organise their Nene Valley site such that pedestrians and vehicles could move around premises safely.
On 7 December, 2007 during the afternoon tea break, Thomas Moorehead an employee of Fairline Boats Ltd, was returning to work from the car park on site when he was knocked down by a forklift truck. The driver, unaware of the collision continued driving the truck for approximately 26 metres with the employee stuck under the front until someone caught his attention. Mr Moorehead had fractures to his pelvis and legs.
Neil Craig, HSE Inspector, said:
"This incident could have been avoided if the company had organised the workplace so that vehicles can operate safely in a set area. All companies must assess the risks when pedestrians
and vehicles, such as forklift trucks work in close proximity and take appropriate precautions
which are well documented in HSE guidance."
Maintenance Shock
Stewart Baxter, 24, from Holbeach, suffered an electric shock while connecting a portable welder to an extension cable at D A Green & Sons Ltd, Whaplode, Mr Baxter was sent to hospital and required a week off work for burns to his fingers after the incident in 2008.
D A Green & Sons Ltd, based at Hackford House, High Road, pleaded guilty to breaching Reg4(2) Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. The company has been fined £2,750 and ordered
to pay £1,950 in costs.
Other employees have also reported minor shocks from the equipment over the years. During
the course of the HSE investigation, it was found that much of the company’s electrical installation was in a very poor state of repair, putting workers at risk of serious injury from
its use. Much of the electrical equipment had been installed around 50 years ago and there was no record of it ever being maintained or tested.
All electrical equipment in workplaces must be maintained to prevent injury. In order to do this, regular inspection and testing should be carried out – how often depends on the risks arising from its use.
HSE Inspector Jo Anderson said:
"Around 1,000 electricity-related incidents at work are reported to HSE each year and about 25 people die of their injuries. This prosecution illustrates how important it is for factory owners to regularly inspect their electrical equipment. D A Green & Sons Ltd employs 50 staff whose health and safety has been at risk over many years. They were very lucky that this particular incident wasn’t any more serious.”
Ed –
Regulation 4 (2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 requires that all electrical systems
are maintained, so far as is reasonably practicable, to prevent danger.
Forklift Problems
David John Alcock of Stoke-on-Trent has been fined a total of £1,750 and ordered to pay costs of £2,250 after he pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety legislation.
The charge related to a 17-year-old employee who was operating the forklift truck at a company
based at Britannia Park Industrial Estate in Stoke-on-Trent in June 2008, when it overturned,
causing serious foot injuries. Although the youngster had been told not to drive the fork lift truck, he still managed to use it after the key had been left in the controls.
The court heard the vehicle was found to have a number of defects, while Mr Alcock was unable to produce any record to show that a thorough examination under the Lifting Operations
and Lifting Equipment Regulations had been carried out. It also emerged that another employee had been using the truck, as well as Mr Alcock, without adequate training.
Following its investigation into the incident, the HSE charged Mr Alcock with a contravention
of Reg9(1) PUWER; as well as a contravention of Reg9(4) Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.
Speaking after the case, HSE investigating inspector Hilary Lidbury, said:
“This youngster is lucky to be alive since forklift truck overturns can be fatal. If the key had not been left in the vehicle the accident could not have happened. It is very important that appropriate arrangements are made for the custody of the key of any mobile work equipment,
particularly in view of the coming school holidays. After the accident, the truck was found to have a number of critical safety defects which would have been pointed out to Mr Alcock if he had had a thorough examination carried out as the law requires. Another of Mr Alcock's shortcomings was that he did not ensure that adequate training had been given to those operating the forklift truck. If he had had such training himself he would have known
more about what maintenance and thorough examination was necessary, and about the importance of preventing unauthorised access to the key.”
Illegal gas fitters
Andrew Ian McLatchie, of Hull, has been fined £550 and ordered to pay £500 costs after he pleaded guilty to seven breaches of Reg3(3) Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and four breaches of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968.
The breaches related to work carried out at three properties in Hull for which he was not CORGI (now ‘Gas Safe’) registered. Two of the properties involved work undertaken through insurance companies following the floods of 2007.
A joint investigation between Hull City Council’s Trading Standards and HSE was launched after the owners of the properties discovered Mr McLatchie was not a registered gas fitter. When the work was checked for safety by the gas registration body, numerous defects were found.
After the hearing HSE Inspector Chris Chambers commented:
"We urge homeowners to be on their guard when having gas work carried out at their properties and to always check the fitter is on the Gas Safe Register. In this instance Mr McLatchie installed gas appliances and gas pipework at three properties after falsely claiming
he was registered. Mr McLatchie appeared in court for potentially putting lives at risk by carrying out defective gas work without the proper accreditation, and we will not hesitate to prosecute individuals who break the law and endanger others in this way."
Chris Wilson, assistant Trading Standard Officer for Hull City Council, added:
"By making false claims regarding his registration to work on gas, Andrew McLatchie clearly deceived customers, some of whom were in a desperate situation after suffering flood damage
to their homes. Any allegations of a trader conducting their business in such a manner will always warrant a full investigation by Trading Standards."
Blind daredevil Pledge
A blind daredevil hit back at so-called ‘elf and safety’ myths by making a daring descent over a freezing Scottish canyon. Dean Dunbar, from Blairgowrie, Perthshire, braved two massive waterfalls on the 100m descent along with an inspector from the Health and Safety Executive
to disprove the popular perception the organisation stops people enjoying life.
Adrenaline junkie Dean has Cone-Rod Dystrophy (CRD), an inherited progressive disease that causes deterioration of photoreceptor cells in the eye. His eyesight has been deteriorating
since the age of nine and he is now registered blind.
Since his first tandem skydive 11 years ago Dean has taken part in over 50 activities including
helicopter bungee jumping, wing walking, white water sledging and power boating. He runs his hugely successful Extreme Dreams website from home, helping people with disabilities
find companies willing to help them take part in extreme sports in addition to selling specialist sports equipment to extreme activity enthusiasts.
Extreme Dreams is the thousandth organisation to sign up to the campaign organised by HSE to urge employers to focus on real risks not trivia and pointless paperwork. HSE has had a massive response already to the Pledge from organisations such as BT, Parcel Force, Asda and AIG and hope to encourage more organisations to sign up and commit to debunking
myths surrounding health and safety that trivialise the impact of injuries, ill health and deaths on individuals and their families.
The organisation is concerned about people being told they cannot do something for because
of ‘elf and safety’. HSE say the majority of the time reports are way off the mark and serve only to stoke ignorance and mistrust of the organisation. Dean insists that many organisations
use health and safety as an excuse when really they cannot be bothered making adjustments for disabled people.
He said:
"There are so many exciting activities out there to get involved in and many people are unaware
of them. Some people believe that their personal circumstances render these sports out of reach. I want to prove that most of the time this is not the case. If you really want to do it, the only thing holding you back is you, not non-existent health and safety legislation some people would have you believe."
Gavin Howat, an inspector from HSE’s Adventure Activities Licensing Authority Management Group, who completed the abseil with Dean agrees. He said:
"HSE is concerned with the prevention of death, injury and ill health to those at work and those affected by work activities. We encourage strong leadership but also a common sense approach to health and safety in the workplace. By focussing on core aims we help risk takers
and managers distinguish between the real health and safety issues that people face at work as opposed to the trivial and we will challenge ill-informed criticism and inappropriate risk averse decisions. Dean’s ideology first in perfectly with HSE’s core messages and that’s why I was happy to undertake what looks like a very dangerous activity, safely."
• Dean’s daredevil career has been made possible by organisers being informed of his disability and adapted, where necessary to enable him to take part. Ben Starkie who runs Vertical Descents and organised the abseil, says he has no problem allowing people to fulfil their ambitions and makes reasonable adjustments for disabilities whenever possible.
Migrant Workers
The HSE has informed us of a new campaign being launched to inform Polish construction workers based in London about on-site health and safety.
Research has suggested that foreign workers are vulnerable to potentially dangerous working
practices and the Polish community is one of three nationalities receiving advice in particular. The new HSE campaign wants to get the message across to Polish workers about
the role of the HSE in helping to protect them using existing law and making them aware that they have just as many rights to a healthy and safe working environment as indigenous workers.
Philip White, HSE’s Chief Inspector of Construction said:
“We recognised that we needed to target health and safety information at some of the more vulnerable workers in construction. We have employed specialist outreach representatives from the Polish community to get our messages across much more effectively to London-based workers. Reducing the risks faced by the most vulnerable enables all construction workers to work in safer conditions and we hope will minimise potentially dangerous incidents
on site.”
The campaign stems from HSE research into incidents on construction sites that identifies migrant workers as a particularly vulnerable group of construction workers. Carried out by Synovate, the research concluded that:
• Migrant workers’ knowledge of UK health and safety standards is limited
• HSE is virtually unheard of among migrant construction workers
• The understandable desire by migrant workers to work hard and to stay out of trouble can lead to employers cutting corners on health and safety without being questioned.
As well as employing a Polish outreach worker, health and safety information has been produced
in Polish and other languages, for example wallet-sized cards, 30,000 of which will be distributed among the community.
New Zealand Share Knowledge
A Senior Manager from the Department of Labour (DoL) in New Zealand has been in Great Britain to learn lessons from, and share knowledge with the Health and Safety Executive.
The one week visit to the HSE’s headquarters in Bootle, Merseyside, has been an opportunity
for New Zealand officials to see in detail how Great Britain’s health and safety regulator carries out its duties and discuss how it prepares to continue to drive down death and injury rates in the workplace.
The Group Manager for Workplace Services, Maarten Quivooy, says:
“We are facing similar challenges to HSE in ensuring standards of health and safety are not compromised during a period of economic recession and that stakeholders understand that effective risk control contributes to productivity and economic growth, and adds value for society. That means we need to reflect on how we can use our limited resources to greatest
effect in bringing about better workplaces practices that ensure New Zealand workers are healthy, safe and productive at work. This visit is an excellent opportunity to learn from HSE’s strong history and depth of experience in the field of health and safety. It’s also an opportunity to establish a strong working relationship with HSE so that we can continue to share advice with each other.”
The Deputy Chief Executive of the HSE, Kevin Myers, also commented on the visit.
“HSE has a strong record in reducing and regulating the risks to workplace health and safety,
and this visit is a great opportunity to share our knowledge and experience with health and safety specialists from New Zealand. HSE is always very keen to learn how other countries focus their efforts on improving workplace safety, and this visit offers the opportunity to learn about practical examples of successful interventions in New Zealand.”
Four new Salaried Employment Judges
The Lord Chancellor, Jack Straw, has appointed Rebecca Alexandra Howard and Katherine
Jane Greening Tucker to be Salaried Part-time Employment Judges of the Employment Tribunals (England and Wales) and Brynley Lloyd and Mark Simon Emerton to be Salaried Employment Judges of the Employment Tribunals (England and Wales)
Ms Howard will be assigned to the Manchester and Liverpool Region, working on a 60% pro rata basis, with effect from 1 October 2009, Ms Tucker will be assigned to the Birmingham Region, working on a 50% pro rata basis, with effect from 1 October 2009, Mr Lloyd will be assigned to the Birmingham Region, with effect from 2 November 2009 and Mr Emerton will be assigned to the London South Region, with effect from 7 December 2009.
Graduate Talent
The Government has joined forces with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) to offer up to 10,000 graduates a boost to their future employability, through internships in small and micro businesses announced the Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The Prime Minister said:
“Our guarantee to all young people is that with millions of new opportunities from apprenticeships
to internships to a new class of modern technicians, we will discover, coach, develop
and showcase the wealth of aspiration and talent that exists in Britain. To add to the 100, 000 new young people’s jobs we are already creating, we can today offer in partnership with the Federation of Small Businesses, 10,000 skilled internships so that, even in the midst of tough economic times, we are encouraging a whole new generation of young Britons to embrace ambition and British enterprise.”
Federation of Small Businesses National Chairman John Wright said:
“Over the past few months, the FSB has been calling for the Government to recognise the importance of small businesses in creating jobs for skilled young people graduating from college and university. Small firms are the country’s job creators – central to our economic recovery – and more than half have said they would employ more staff if they were given the right support. The Government’s pledge to set up 10,000 skilled internships is a real victory
for the FSB and a victory for small businesses across the country.
This will help those graduates leaving university at a time when the job market is sluggish at best – they will get real work experience and develop real skills. And small firms will benefit
from the skills of this workforce, which they traditionally find harder to recruit. Research from previous schemes shows that one in four graduates are also offered full-time employment
in the business at the end of their placement. The FSB is committed to promoting this
scheme among its membership, and to encouraging all small businesses to link up with university careers services to offer vacancies and create placements.”
Minister for Higher Education David Lammy said:
“I am delighted that the FSB is going to use its network to encourage its members to take advantage of the talent on offer from our recent graduates. We believe this will give more graduates the chance to work on serious projects, getting hands on experience of working in businesses and to understand the potential which exists in the small and micro business sector.”
The Federation of Small Businesses, which represents 215,000 small businesses across the UK will campaign to encourage its members to offer these internships in addition to places already on offer under existing schemes. This will take the total number of opportunities to 20,000, with 10,000 in small businesses.
The extra places shall be funded through a grant, administered through Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the universities who will administer the scheme. That will provide £ 100 per week towards the wage costs involved. Employers will meet the balance. University Careers services will help match graduates to the opportunities available.
The next generation of entrepreneurs
Young people will now be able to study for brand-new qualifications in enterprise and entrepreneurship
as the National Enterprise Academy (NEA), brainchild of Dragons’ Den entrepreneur
Peter Jones, and backed by Government, officially opens. The NEA, the first-ever UK educational institution dedicated solely to enterprise and entrepreneurship, will pioneer a new and innovative way of teaching. It will expose students to real-life business issues in real-life business environments, with a high level of input from a range of entrepreneurs acting
as mentors, supporting trained tutors.
The NEA will enrol nearly 18,000 learners in its first five years, giving young people and older
learners the skills and confidence to become enterprising employees or entrepreneurs in their own right. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has invested up to £9m, matched by employers, creating a powerful partnership which allows employers to lead and shape the skills being taught.
Speaking at the launch of the Academy at the London headquarters of Orange, the NEA’s exclusive
communications and key corporate partner, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said:
“Enterprise is essential to our future and it starts with young people. This Academy will play a vital role in helping young people unlock their talent and gain the skills necessary for a better
future, both for themselves and the country. The Academy and its students deserve every support and success.”
The two new qualifications have a strong focus on practical skills. The first, a level 2 BTEC
Diploma in Understanding Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, and the second, a level 3 BTEC Diploma in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, have been developed in partnership with Edexcel,
the UK’s largest qualifications awarding body. Both will be available to 16 to 19-year-olds from this September at the NEA’s enterprise centres in Buckinghamshire and Manchester.
The qualifications will also be integrated into diplomas.
Peter Jones, entrepreneur and founder of the NEA, said:
“While it’s true that traditional business studies courses equip students with a wealth of valuable theoretical business knowledge, there is currently no single academic course wholly dedicated to enterprise and entrepreneurship – a fact that inspired me to set about establishing
the National Enterprise Academy. In the UK, we need to foster amongst our young people an ‘I can’ rather than a ‘Can I?’ attitude. That is not to say we do not already possess a great deal of young talent in Britain – far from it. But up until now, we have simply not done enough to unlock the entrepreneurial talents of our young people. There is arguably no better time to create a National Enterprise Academy than during a recession. The UK needs entrepreneurs to stimulate the economy and businesses need inspired employees to help their companies recover quickly. With the continued support of Government and the private sector, the National Enterprise Academy will create both”.
Tom Alexander, CEO of Orange UK, the NEA’s exclusive communications and key corporate partner, said:
“UK businesses play a pivotal role in transforming the entrepreneurial culture in the UK. For us at Orange, constant innovation is essential in order to achieve our goal of becoming the best-loved telecommunications company in Britain. We work in one of the fastest paced industries in the world and it is therefore essential that we hire young people with the skills, ability and drive to become the future leaders of our business. The NEA is a superb way to do just that and we are proud to be supporting this great initiative. “
New Minimum Wage Rules
New rules will come into force to ensure that thousands of workers get a fair deal on tips and wages. The changes make it illegal for businesses to use tips to bring staff pay up to minimum wage levels.
They come into effect on the same day as new increases to national minimum wage rates which will benefit up to one million people.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said:
“When I leave a tip I don’t expect it to be used to make up the minimum wage. I want it to go to the person who has served me as a thank you for their service. This is a basic issue of fairness. Tips are meant as a bonus – not a tool to boost pay to the basic minimum. That’s why the Government has closed this legal loophole. Thanks to the help and support of Unite, the British Hospitality Association, the CBI, Consumer Focus and other stakeholders we are also able to launch a new code of best practice today. This will promote good tipping practices
amongst businesses and ensure that consumers are clear about what happens to their
money.”
The action on tips is the latest development in the 10 year history of the National Minimum Wage. The new rates for this year, which also come into effect tomorrow, are:
• Low paid workers aged 22 and over get an increase from £5.73 to £5.80 an hour.
• The rate for 18 to 21-year-olds has risen from £4.77 to £4.83.
• For 16 and 17-year-olds, the rate has gone up to £3.57 an hour from £3.53.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said:
“The National Minimum Wage remains one of the most important rights for workers. It has made a real difference to the lives of the UK’s lowest-paid workers. It protects them from exploitation and also creates a level playing field for business, making a huge contribution to the UK’s economic success.”
Average house price in August is £155,968
The August data from Land Registry shows a fairly flat market with a monthly house price change of -0.1 per cent. The annual drop of 9.4 per cent – up from a low of 16.3 per cent in February – takes the average house price in England and Wales to £155,968.
London and the West Midlands experienced the greatest monthly price rise with a movement
of 0.8 per cent. The average property price in the capital is now £310,640.
All regions experienced a decrease in their average property values over the last 12 months. The region with the most significant annual price fall was the North West with a movement of -12.7 per cent.
Although the most up-to-date figures available show that during June 2009 the number of completed house sales in England and Wales fell by 17 per cent to 48,903 from 58,636 in June 2008, monthly sales in England and Wales have risen steadily during the first half of the year - up from 26,517 in January.
Van Man Gets Boost
The automotive sector supports R&D, technological innovation and skills and a manufacturing
supply chain that are a mainstay of the wider manufacturing sector in the UK. Industry figures have reflected the positive impacts of the scheme both within and beyond the automotive
sector, with manufacturing benefiting and the whole supply chain, from plastics and steel, to individual component manufacturers receiving a boost.
So far 227,750 orders have been placed through the scheme. The increased funding enables
the scheme to fund a further 100,000 vehicles, bringing total budget to £400 million and covering up to 400,000 vehicles in total. The extension continues as a Government and manufacturer partnership, with matched funding providing the £2,000 discount for each scrappage order.
Alongside the increased funding the Government will work with manufacturers to extend the benefits to van owners with vehicles over 8 years old rather than the current 10 year requirement. Car owners will also get a boost, with the age qualification changed by 6 months to extend the benefits to cars registered on or before 29 Feb 2000 (V registration). The scheme will come to an end in February 2010 or when the funding runs out, which ever is sooner.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said:
“The sector has been strongly affected by the recession, but the scrappage scheme has delivered
a boost to manufacturers and the supply chain. We have listened to the concerns of manufacturers and are increasing the funding of the scheme to £400m. But we must make sure that the help we do offer is targeted, limited and proportionate. This is not a blank cheque to the auto manufacturers but recognition that there is still a short term challenge to boost demand and confidence in the sector.”
Foreign national ID cards roll out
Skilled migrants renewing their visas to stay in the UK will be issued with an ID card from the New Year the Home Secretary Alan Johnson has informed us, three months ahead of schedule.
rom January 2010 skilled foreign workers under Tier 2 of the Points Based System (PBS) will be issued ID cards. This brings the roll out forward from April 2010 and will add around 30,000 foreign nationals a year to those currently being issued with identity cards.
Since their introduction 90,000 cards have been issued, mainly to students renewing their visa under Tier 4 of the PBS and those renewing marriage visas. This announcement means that in addition to accelerating the roll out to include foreign nationals in the UK renewing
their right to stay under Tier 2, the Government has exceeded its target to issue 75,000 cards by November 2009.
The UK Border Agency is also to trial technology at 17 Crown Post Offices to provide foreign nationals applying for identity cards with alternative and more accessible venues where they can enrol their fingerprints. The trials will start rolling out from October.
The Home Secretary said:
"Identity cards have been issued to 90,000 foreign nationals, exceeding our target by 15,000, a month ahead of schedule. By speeding up the roll out of the cards more people will benefit from a secure and simple way to prove they are entitled to live, work or study here and it will prevent those here illegally from benefiting from the privileges of Britain. Our partnership with the Post Office will provide vital extra capacity enabling the UK Border Agency to further speed up the enrolment process and give extra work to help safeguard the Post Office network. It will also give more choice and convenience to migrants about where they can enrol."
Identity cards for foreign nationals who came to the UK from outside the European Economic
Area were introduced in November 2008. They require them to have their photograph
and fingerprints taken, securely locking them to one identity and helping foreign nationals prove their right to live and work in the UK and businesses to crack down on illegal working. Skilled migrants and temporary workers under Tiers 1 and 5 of the PBS, will also be brought forward from 2011 to 2010.
From October foreign nationals who are being issued with ID Cards will be given the choice of providing their fingerprints and photograph at one of the participating Crown Post Offices for a fee of £8 or at one of the UK Border Agency or Identity and Passport Service Offices currently included within the scheme, which will remain free. The Post Office will not be making decisions on whether someone can stay in the UK and detailed checking of enrolment
details will continue to be conducted by the UK Border Agency. It provides extra capacity
for the UK Border Agency and gives customers an alternative for enrolment.
Citizenship conman jailed
The mastermind behind a fake document scam which raked in hundreds of thousands of pounds from immigrants seeking to stay in the UK has been jailed for four-and-half years after a trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Xiang Li, 29, of Stratford, London, who denied the charges, ran two bogus law firms, issued fake passports and work permits, and even staged a phoney citizenship ceremony where the unsuspecting immigrants were greeted by actors playing the parts of officials and local dignitaries against a backdrop of a picture of the Queen and the Union flag.
The investigation began when police officers working at King George Docks in Humberside arrested a Chinese national trying to enter the UK using what he believed to be a legitimate UK passport. Further inquiries by the UK Border Agency's Immigration Crime Team led to two suspicious 'law firms' based around Lombard Street in central London, called Lombard and Borough de Law, who advertised their services in the Chinese language press.
Following operations on both firms, the team unearthed receipts showing the companies had charged up to 50 individuals an average of £20,000 for their services. It was also here that they uncovered evidence of the meticulously planned bogus citizenship ceremony that took place at the Methodist Hall in Westminster close to the Houses of Parliament in December 2007. The gang were also involved in issuing forged documents. This led to the arrest of Xiang Li in January 2008.
Welcoming the verdict, Regional Director for the UK Border Agency Jeremy Oppenheim said:
"Criminal gangs should be warned - we are putting an end to scams like this. Major reforms to the immigration system are making life harder than ever for those seeking to abuse our hospitality. Today's verdict is the result of the strong partnerships we have forged with the police across the UK to crack down on organised criminals seeking to abuse the immigration
system the sentence handed out shows there is no hiding place for those that break the rules. We will take steps to deport Mr Li at the end of his sentence. "
With Xiang Li's conviction the search continues for his alleged accomplice, Tian Zhao, 26 real names believed to be Wentao LI. The trial was the culmination of a twenty-month investigation
by the newly formed North East, Yorkshire and the Humber Immigration Crime Team, which comprises UK Border Agency officers working with detectives from seven police forces in the region to tackle organised immigration crime.
3 foreign ships under detention
The MCA has announced that 3 foreign flagged ships were under detention in UK ports during
August 2009 after failing Port State Control (PSC) inspection.
Latest monthly figures show that there were 2 new detentions of foreign flagged ships in UK ports during August 2009 and 1 vessel under detention from previous months. The overall rate of detentions compared with inspections carried out over the last twelve months was 3.42% this is slightly down from Julys’ twelve month rate.
During the month of August, 161 Port State Control inspections were carried out in the UK. A total of 53 vessels had no deficiencies raised against them, 75 had between one and five deficiencies, 25 had between six and ten deficiencies, 7 had between eleven and twenty deficiencies
and there was 1 vessel inspected that had more than 20 deficiencies. Out of the detained vessels, 1 was registered with a flag state listed on the Paris MOU white list, and 2 were registered with flag states on the black list.
Uninsured drivers
Plans to crack down on the menace of uninsured drivers have been confirmed by Road Safety Minister Paul Clark. The new measures will make it an offence to keep an uninsured vehicle – rather than just to drive when uninsured – making it easier to catch uninsured drivers and keep them off the roads.
Paul Clark said:
“Each year uninsured and untraced drivers kill 160 people and injure 23,000, and uninsured driving costs law-abiding motorists more than £400m in extra premiums. We’ve already taken
action to force this irresponsible minority off the roads –increased police powers mean more than 400 uninsured vehicles are seized every day. But these tough new measures will catch anyone who is keeping an uninsured vehicle, leaving them with nowhere to hide.”
Under the new system:
• The DVLA will work in partnership with the insurance industry to identify uninsured vehicles;
• Motorists will receive a letter telling them that their vehicle appears to be uninsured and warning them that they will be fined unless they insure it within a set period;
• If the keeper fails to insure the vehicle they will be given a £100 fine;
• If the vehicle remains uninsured - regardless of whether the fine is paid - it could then be seized and destroyed.
Vehicles with a valid Statutory off Road Notice (SORN) will not be required to be insured.
Uninsured driving adds around £30 a year to every motorist's insurance premium - amounting
to more than £400m a year in additional premiums. It is also estimated that uninsured and untraced drivers kill 160 people and injure 23,000 every year.
The Government has already given the police powers to seize and destroy vehicles being driven uninsured, along with improved access to the Motor Insurance Database to enhance their capability to detect uninsured driving by using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) equipment. Police removed around 150,000 vehicles in 2007 - more than 400 a day.
Last year a new offence of causing death by driving while unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured
was introduced.
Bogus driving instructor
The DSA has delivered a stark warning to bogus driving instructors who flout the law by illegally
teaching learner drivers.
Offender Deekan Vig, of Southgate, has been sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court to six months' imprisonment suspended for 12 months on condition that he does 100 hours of unpaid community work. He was found guilty of three charges of fraud by misrepresentation
at an earlier trial.
Vig, 40, made up to £4,000 by conning three learner drivers into believing he was an Approved
Driving Instructor (ADI). It is illegal to receive money or monies worth in exchange for driving tuition unless you are a qualified, registered ADI.
Suspicions about him were raised by DSA examiners at driving test centres across north London
- including Barnet, Chingford and Winchmore - who reported that the illegal instructor was presenting candidates for test, and a successful investigation was launched.
DSA's registrar of driving instructors, Charles Morton, said:
"Our message is clear: if you are not an ADI or a Trainee Licence holder and teach for money or monies worth, you can expect to face ever-increasing penalties. Illegal instructors are a danger to the public. They have not been assessed by us to ensure they are able to provide driving instruction to required standards. It is very simple to check that a driving instructor is qualified. Ensure they display an in-date pink or green badge in their windscreen during lessons and that the photo on the badge matches the person providing the instruction. The pink badge indicates that they have trainee status and are entitled to give paid instruction whilst acquiring practical experience. The green badge indicates their name is on The Register
of Approved Driving Instructors, they are fully qualified to give paid instruction and are subject to regular checks by DSA to ensure their continued competence and suitability to give instruction."
NHS ban on premium rate numbers
The use of phone numbers that charge the public or patients a premium rate to contact the NHS are to be banned in England, Health Minister Mike O’Brien has announced. The announcement
follows a recent public consultation on the use of 084 numbers in the NHS.
Almost 3,000 members of the public responded, demonstrating the strength of feeling on this issue.
Health Minister Mike O’Brien said:
“We have been concerned that some people are paying more than the cost of a local call rate to contact the NHS. It is clear from the feedback we have received that patients support
the banning of any number or tariff which is more expensive to call. For people on low incomes, and for those who need to contact their local doctor or hospital regularly, these costs can soon build up. We want to reassure the public that when they contact their local GP or hospital, the cost of their call will be no more expensive than if they had dialled a normal
landline number.”
The Department of Health will work with the British Medical Association’s GP Committee over the coming months to integrate the legislative changes into the GP contracts.
Inventing Children
Civil servant John Brian Agdomar and an accomplice, Olanekan Omatayo Ogunmekan, are behind bars after being caught out by HMRC investigators. Between them the pair fabricated
more than 1,400 fictitious children, hijacked hundreds of identities and illegally claimed more than £1.2m in tax credits.
Jailed for four and a half years, 42-year old Agdomar from Hackney in East London and his accomplice, Ogunmekan, from Bethnal Green, London, were arrested by HMRC on 5 August 2008 on suspicion of a number of charges including conspiracy to commit fraud in relation to tax credits and acquiring criminal property under the proceeds of crime act 2002.
The pair had developed a scheme which saw Agdomar using his job as a civil servant at the Department for Work and Pensions as a cover to illegally access genuine customer records to obtain personal information. This allowed the pair to hijack existing claims for tax credits, diverting the payments into a complex network of bank accounts.
An HMRC spokesperson said:
"This was a deplorable abuse of a position of trust and today's verdict shows that those who believe they can cheat the system should think again. This was no victimless crime, but a calculated fraud involving a significant amount of money. HMRC will not hesitate to seek prosecution where we find instances of tax credit fraud."
Agdomar was also charged with abusing his position of trust within the civil service where he had accessed benefit systems to obtain information such as dates of birth and national insurance numbers to get information on genuine customer records. He is thought to have illegally accessed more than 2,500 customer accounts.
Both men appeared before Southwark Crown Court where 35 year-old Ogunmekan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud. He was later sentenced to 52 months in prison for the offences. In addition, Ogunmekan is also serving a default sentence of 30 months as he
failed to repay £162,652.71 by 15 September 2009, as ordered by the court.
Agdomar pleaded not guilty at this hearing but changed his plea to guilty at a later hearing on 2 September 2009. He has been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court and jailed for four and a half years.
Fancy a pint?
A new imperial glass size, measuring two thirds of a pint, is set to be introduced in pubs and clubs under proposals to change prescribed quantities of alcohol, Science and Innovation
Minister Lord Drayson has announced.
The option of pouring a two-thirds measure follows calls from many members of the pub trade to allow them more flexibility in serving draught beer and cider, especially those with a higher alcohol content. The proposal is contained in the Government’s response to the National Measurement Office’s Consultation on specified quantities – non pre-packages and food information.
Science and Innovation Minister Lord Drayson said:
“There is no question of replacing the British pint, but introducing the option of a new imperial
measure is good news for consumers, providing them with more choice. And the majority
of respondents to the consultation supported our view that the two-thirds of a pint measure
will also offer greater flexibility for landlords, while not imposing any extra burden on them.”
The consultation sought the views of consumer bodies, retailers, licensed premises and other interested parties. The proposals will require changes to legislation, which the Government
will bring forward at the first available opportunity.
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Editors: Andrew Dawson
The assistance of Jonathan Graves in producing this edition is gratefully acknowledged
HSE’s Myth of the Month
Myth: Health and safety bans traditional school ties
The reality
The reality Quite rightly, few parents would see wearing school ties as a safety issue. After all, millions of kids have been wearing ties for years without any real problems.
Taking simple precautions during laboratory work or around machinery makes sense. But if the concern is about kids fighting, although clip-on ties may help, the real issue is discipline.
So no, we don’t ban school ties – it’s down to the school to make decisions about uniform,
not HSE.
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