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Editorial
I feel quite depressed putting together this edition of Brunswicks Regulatory News. As all readers will know each edition does cover a catalogue of death and destruction. However in this edition the death toll seems higher than one normally reports upon and virtually without exception it is the lack of preparation, forward thinking or risk assessment that appears to be the crucial factor.
There is an increasing groundswell of opinion, especially with election fever in the air that ‘elf and safety’ has gone too far.
I’m near the end of the queue when it comes to arguing for more regulations – although a large part of Brunswicks’ business is derived from businesses getting it wrong and getting into hot water.
But if it isn’t to be by regulation and the threat of prosecution and the attendant damage to reputation if convicted, not to mention the various penalties that will be handed down how do you make business, managers and directors plan properly for their operations?
Tangerine Confectionary fined for machine death
The UK’s largest confectionery firm has been fined a total of £300,000 after an employee was crushed to death in one of its sweet-making machines.
The HSE prosecuted Tangerine Confectionery Limited, of Vicarage Lane, Blackpool, following the death of employee Martin Pejril at its Poole factory.
The company that manufactures sweets such as Sherbet Dip Dabs, Mojos, Black Jacks in addition to Butterkist popcorn appeared before Bournemouth Crown Court.
The court heard 33-year-old Mr Pejril, a Czech-born starch room operator, was clearing a blockage in one of the machines at Tangerine’s Alder Road plant in Poole, in February 2008.
He climbed into the machine but as the mechanism restarted he became trapped. Mr Pejril subsequently died of his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The company was found guilty of breaches under s2 HSWA and of breaching reg 3 (1) (a) MHSWA 1999.
The company was fined £150,000 for the HSWA charge and £150,000 for the regulations charge and ordered to pay full costs of £72,901.65.
Following the hearing, HSE inspector, Simon Jones, said:
“This tragic case highlights the need to ensure that machines are safely isolated before any maintenance takes place so it cannot unexpectedly start up. Simply pressing a stop button does not adequately isolate a machine.
“If the machine in this case had been properly isolated from the electrical power source before Mr Pejril attempted to clear the blockage, this accident would never have happened.
“A proper risk assessment would have highlighted the dangers of entrapment. All employees need to be adequately trained in correct company procedures - whether it’s for clearing blockages, operating machines or any other high risk activity.”
Corus fined £240,000 after lorry driver crushed and killed
Corus has been fined £240,000 after a lorry driver was crushed to death at its site in Staffordshire. The firm was prosecuted after three tonnes of steel plates fell on Ross Beddow, at the firm’s base in Wombourne.
Corus (UK) Ltd was also ordered to pay £112,500 costs at Stafford Crown Court today after it pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The court heard how on 4 January 2007, Mr Beddow, who was employed by A Hingley Transport Ltd, was helping to load steel plates onto a lorry. A Corus employee was operating a crane to lift a three-tonne pack of steel from a trailer, however, the load was not level, and as it was lifted it fell on top of Mr Beddow and killed him.
An HSE investigation showed the system of work for loading steel was unsafe. Not all the individual tasks involved had been evaluated and there was scope for misunderstanding between workers.
HSE inspector Dr Wai-Kin Liu said:
“This was a tragedy that could and should have been avoided. All the steps involved in an overall task should be analysed to create a safe system of work, and the consequences of something going wrong should always be taken into account.
“Anyone can make errors - no matter how well trained and motivated they are - but employers must develop a safe way of working that helps to prevent mistakes and reduces the severity of the consequences if they do occur. If Corus had a safe system of working then Mr Beddow would not have been killed simply doing his job.”
Biffa fined £280,000 following death
Biffa Waste Services Ltd has been fined after a member of the public was crushed to death at the Civic Amenity site in Newbury. Mr Dennis Krauesslar was crushed at the waste disposal site on Pinchington Lane, Newbury on 10 September 2007.
He was crushed to death by a motorised loading shovel bucket used to flatten and drag the waste away from the tipping area.
At the time of the incident, the site had a covered pit into which members of the public disposed of their waste. As the 57-year-old Mr Krauesslar was tipping his garden waste into the pit, he was fatally injured after the bucket of the loading shovel struck him.
The Civic Amenity site is now closed.
Biffa pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) HSWA by failing to ensure that the garden waste tipping area was safe for members of the public to use.
The company also pleaded guilty to contravening reg 3(1)(b) MHSWR 1999 by failing to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the garden waste tipping area of the site to ensure people other than employees were suitably protected.
At Reading Crown Court the company was fined £280,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £54,906.57.
Fatal fall
The HSE has prosecuted Ashtead Plant Hire Co Ltd trading as APlant who admitted breaching s2(1) HSWA after an incident that lead to an employee falling 5m to his death.
The company, based at Dalton Ave in Birchwood Park, Warrington was fined £200,000 also ordered to pay £15,698.30 in costs at Maidstone Crown Court today.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) showed that the company failed to follow its own health and safety guidelines for work at height.
Phillip Pearce, aged 55, from the Medway area, had worked as a fitter at the company’s depot at Tovil, Maidstone - where they provide portable accommodation units to the construction industry - for less than three months when he died on 16 August 2006.
Mr Pearce’s job was to prepare the accommodation units - including site huts, welfare units and storage containers - which were then hired out to construction companies.
With two units stacked on top of each other, Mr Pearce climbed onto the top of the stack to help attach lifting chains so that the top unit could be lifted down. He fell more than five metres and died at the scene.
Ashtead Plant Hire Co Ltd had a written procedure for work on top of accommodation units in its depots and at customers’ sites. This required people to wear a safety harness and inertia reel line and climb a secured ladder. If they slipped or fell, the line would lock and prevent a serious fall.
The HSE’s investigation found that workers at the depot had not been issued with this kit or been trained to use it and most did not know the company had a special procedure for doing this work.
The court heard that despite the depot handling up to 15 accommodation unit movements a day, management at the depot did not ensure that workers were aware of the procedure
and did not ensure that the work was only done by those trained, equipped and authorised.
HSE Inspector John Underwood said:
“This was a wholly avoidable incident which led to a tragic and totally unnecessary loss of life.
“It is completely inexcusable that the company had indentified the risks, prepared an adequate procedure to manage the risk, and then failed to implement that procedure to protect their workers.
“Health and safety is not just about filling in forms or thinking about risk, it’s about taking action to prevent people being killed or injured while trying to do their job.”
And another fatal plunge
Rubb Buildings Limited of Gateshead, has been prosecuted by the HSE after Steven Watson from Tyne and Wear fell through the roof while dismantling the disused Brymon hangar at Bristol airport on 16 December 2006. Mr Watson fell approximately 30 feet onto the concrete floor below, and died at the scene from multiple internal injuries.
He had previously cut through the PVC tarpaulin roof and as he went to climb back in to the mobile work platform, he fell through the section he had cut away.
Bristol Crown Court heard that there were no other protective measures in place and Rubb Buildings Ltd should have ensured that Mr Watson had no need to climb directly onto the roof.
Rubb Buildings Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) HSWA and were fined £100,000. The company was also ordered to pay costs of £48,795.36.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector, Steve Frain, said:
“Steven Watson should have been properly protected by Rubb Buildings Ltd, instead he lost his life. The company failed in its duty to ensure there was a properly planned and supervised means of working - there should have been no need to work directly on the roof.”
Directors fined after falling stones kill man
Two directors of a marble and granite manufacturing company have been fined after a worker died and two others were injured when six tonnes of stone slabs fell on them.
The HSE prosecuted Marble City Ltd and company directors Gavin and Jamie Waldron following an incident on 20 March 2008 outside the company’s site in Wandsworth, London while the slabs were being unloaded from a truck.
HH Judge Taylor at Southwark Crown Court heard director Gavin Waldron was supervising the unloading operation, which employees Ronald Douglas (known as Ron) and Franco Moscelli were helping with.
Driver Gelsomino Pacifico, an Italian national, was instructed to park his truck and trailer
nearer the yard. This meant the vehicle was parked on a slope on the road, causing the stone slabs on the trailer to lean towards the kerb.
Mr Pacifico, Mr Moscelli and Mr Douglas got into the trailer to begin the unloading the slabs. As they carried this out, six tonnes of stone slabs that had not been restrained, toppled and fell, crushing Mr Douglas. The slabs fell on Mr Douglas as they had not been restrained. He died from his injuries in hospital a week later.
The court heard that Mr Moscelli and Mr Pacifico tried to catch the slabs but became trapped themselves. Mr Moscelli sustained injuries in his right arm which has led to parasthesia (irritation of nerves in the limb) and Mr Pacifico sustained bruising to his right arm.
Marble City Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) HSWA. The company was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £47,564.00
Directors, Gavin and Jamie Waldron, also each pleaded guilty to two breaches of Section 37 HSWA by allowing their company to commit breaches of health and safety law as a consequence of their neglect. They were fined £10,000 each.
The HSE investigation found that the company had operated an unsafe system of work for unloading deliveries to the site for several years. Failings included not insisting on deliveries being unloaded on flat level ground and ensuring that the slabs were restrained at all times.
The investigation also found that Gavin Waldron failed to establish Mr Pacifico’s competence or make any effort to brief him on the MCL unloading operation. It was company policy only to let competent drivers to be involved with unloading but Mr Pacifico was allowed simply by claiming to have years of experience.
HSE Inspector, Andrew Verrall-Withers, said:
“Employers need to check how well they are protecting their employees and not find out they are failing when tragically it is too late and someone is hurt and killed. The Defendant’s system of work for unloading slabs of stone was dangerous, but it would have been fairly easy to make it much safer. It is vital that work like this is planned ahead and people do not just react to something when it starts to go wrong.”
Ed - Section 37(1) HSWA states: “Where an offence committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.”
Caught on camera
Footage filmed for a TV documentary about medics has been used to help secure a conviction against a construction company following the death of a worker.
Regentford Ltd, of Rookwood Road, Hackney has been fined £250,000 after being convicted
of breaching Section 2(1) HSWA following an 8 day trial at Croydon Crown Court. They were also ordered to pay costs of £71,603.01.[1]
The unsafe scaffolding, as shown on the BBC documentary ‘Trauma’
[Ed - funnily I saw the programme and noted the state of the scaffolding!]
The HSE investigated the death of employee Balwinder Kumar which occurred on 24 February 2005. Mr Kumar was re-pointing brickwork when he fell from scaffolding at the rear of a building in High Street, South Norwood, Croydon. He suffered severe head injuries in the first storey fall, was taken to King’s College Hospital and died on 1 March 2005.
When the HSE went to investigate, the scaffolding Mr Kumar had been standing on had been removed. However during the investigation it emerged that a BBC television crew filming the documentary ‘Trauma’, had been accompanying the medical staff who attended the site, and HSE obtained footage showing scaffolding in very poor condition with insufficient guard rails and an inadequate working platform.
The HSE investigation showed that health and safety on the site had not been managed appropriately by Regentford Ltd. There was no one in effective control of health and safety on the site.
HSE Inspector Nigel Evans said:
“The footage from the documentary crew showed that the scaffolding was totally inadequate for the job in hand. We will use all evidence at our disposal to prosecute employers who fail to manage health and safety risks properly. Mr Kumar needlessly lost his life on a small construction site, and it is these smaller sites where a significant proportion of fatalities in the industry occur each year.
“The message is simple: whatever the size of company or site, you have exactly the same responsibility to make sure employees have a safe and healthy working environment - and we can and will prosecute if these duties are neglected.”
Crush death
On 3 June 2008, a farm worker at Hamilton Farmers (East Lothian), was helping to build a perimeter wall at an open hay shed, when the pre-cast concrete panel toppled over and crushed him. He died from his injuries at the scene.
The HSE investigation found that there had been no risk assessment carried out for the project. Whilst the telescopic handler and the slings and hooks provided with the concrete panels were all in good order, no suitable lifting attachment had been fitted to the telehandler forks.
The investigation also revealed it was inevitable that the slings on the forks were going to slip and slide, especially as the panels needed to be properly handled and rotated. Suspending the concrete panel from lifting slings supported by the forks did not allow the panel to rotate freely as it would have done if supported by another device such as a crane hook.
Hamilton Famers (East Lothian), which is based at Garvald Mains Farm, Garvald, pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) HSWA at Haddington Sheriff Court and was fined £20,000.
Following the case, HSE Inspector Gillian McLean said:
“Tragically this worker was needlessly crushed to death because his employers failed to properly assess the risks and implement a safe system of work.”
“Unfortunately, the use of precast concrete panels to build farm buildings is common place. It is also common place for farmers and workers in the agricultural sector to ‘have a go’ at building constructions when they are not properly trained or equipped in structural engineering and health and safety practices.”
Five-year ban for director
A director of a fuel tank manufacturing business has been banned from directing any company for five years after breaching a raft of health and safety regulations.
A worker paints the underside of one of the fuel tanks with it suspended directly above him with no safety measures in place.
Brian Nixon of Evesham, Worcestershire, and managing director of Transtore (UK) Ltd was also fined £17,000.
Workers at Transtore (UK) Ltd in Stratford-upon-Avon were exposed to lead and other harmful chemicals while paint was sprayed at the plant without the correct safety measures in place. Workers were also put at risk of falls from height with no safety equipment provided.
Inspectors from the HSE investigated and prosecuted Mr Nixon and Transtore (UK) Ltd in Stratford-upon-Avon, after a receiving a complaint from a concerned employee.
Mr Nixon was also ordered to pay £9,169 costs after admitting breaching reg 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations and other offences at Stratford-upon-Avon Magistrates’ Court.
The company, Transtore (UK) Ltd, based at Long Marston Storage, Campden Road, Stratford-upon-Avon was fined £70,000, with costs of £27,507 after being found guilty of eight separate breaches of health and safety law. The company is now in administration.
A worker sprays toxic lead-based paint without the proper equipment.
During HSE’s investigation, specialist inspectors took air samples as well as blood and urine samples from the workers to assess their exposure to lead, among other harmful chemicals in the plant that was being sprayed unsafely.
The company was condemned for allowing workers to spray paint, containing toxic lead chromate, without adequate controls in place, leaving them to breathe in harmful fumes and absorb lead into their blood.
Long-term exposure can led to irreversible central and peripheral nervous system damage, kidney damage and gastrointestinal problems.
All results from the workers showed higher levels of lead than the UK population average.
[3]
A worker balances precariously while working on top of one of the fuel tanks.
Workers were also expected to stand beneath the half-tonne fuel tanks they were painting during the spraying process with nothing to prevent them from being crushed if the lifting equipment, which had not been maintained or checked properly, had failed.
The company was also criticised for allowing its employees to work on top of the tanks with no safety equipment to prevent them falling two metres on to the concrete floor. The workers received no training or instructions and were left to devise their own systems of work.
HSE served four prohibition notices on the company during its investigation to immediately stop unsafe work. It also issued four improvement notices. Mr Nixon ignored the notice prohibiting work at height and continued to instruct his employees to work on top of the tanks.
HSE Inspector Peter Snelgrove said:
[4]
“Mr Nixon deliberately flouted health and safety laws and paid scant regard to the safety of his employees. I agree with what the District Judge said in court about it being a lamentable situation and it was very fortunate that there were no injuries before we carried out our investigation. Legal proceedings highlighted that there was a complete flagrant lack of attention and as we heard in court, a gross dereliction of duty by the management of this company.
“Companies and their managing directors have a legal responsibility to protect their employees. No one should be expected to work in the conditions found at Transtore and it is quite right that an employee contacted HSE to complain. Failure to properly manage health and safety can have catastrophic results.”
Ed - Transtore (UK) Ltd was found guilty of breaching:
Regulation 6(1) of the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002;•
Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005;•
Regulation 8(1)(c) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998;•
Regulation 21(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992;•
Regulation 13(2) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999;•
It was also found guilty of contravening on three occasions prohibition notices that had been issued under section 22 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Life saving coffee break
The Moseley Rubber Company Ltd, a rubber manufacturer, has been fined £10,000 after a worker narrowly escaped being killed in a factory explosion.
Dave Lomas, 56 from Ancoats, was returning from a coffee break on 19 February 2008 when
he saw a five-foot iron girder fly through the factory, smashing his workstation into pieces. A machine had exploded. Mr would normally have been at his desk at the time of the explosion but had left it earlier than usual to make a drink. The autoclave after the explosion.
Trafford Magistrates’ Court heard that an autoclave - a high-pressure machine used to manufacture rubber rollers - had exploded after not being properly maintained. The force of the blast shot an iron girder across the factory and lifted the cement-sheet roof off the building which then fell back into place, bending all the internal roof supports.
Dave, who worked as a machine operator in the factory, suffered injuries to his chest and arm in the explosion. The factory closed down following the incident and Dave has been unable to return to work. He said:
“Whenever I think about it, it just makes me realise how close I was to not coming home that night and never seeing my family again. It’s given me a few sleepless nights. It just happened that, on that day, I’d got to work ten minutes earlier than normal so had set up my machine and gone to make a coffee before the explosion. I was walking back to my workstation when the force of the explosion blew me back about 15 feet.
[2] “If I’d got to work at my usual time then I’d have been killed without a doubt. The girder would have cut me in half.”
The Moseley Rubber Company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 9(1)(a) and 12 of the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 by failing to arrange a routine inspection of the machine and by failing to maintain it.
The company was ordered to pay a fine of £10,000 for the two offences at and ordered to pay an additional £8,153 towards the cost of the prosecution.
The HSE also issued a total of 12 Prohibition Notices when HSE Inspector Matt Greenly visited the factory as part of the investigation, banning the use of other machines which had also not been inspected. He said:
“Incredibly, Dave only suffered minor injuries in the explosion but there could easily have been several deaths. It’s shocking that the Moseley Rubber Company appears to have had such little concern for the safety of its workers, allowing them to work with potentially dangerous machinery for several years.
[3] “The company failed to service the machine for more than a decade, after cancelling its annual shutdown for routine maintenance. It also ignored its legal duty to make sure a routine inspection was carried out by a qualified inspector.
“This case demonstrates how important it is for manufacturing companies to take their health and safety responsibilities seriously. It simply isn’t acceptable to cut back on safety to try and make short-term gains.”
Ed - Regulation 9(1)(a) of the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 states: “the user of an installed system and the owner of a mobile system shall ensure that those parts of the pressure system included in the scheme of examination are examined by a competent person within the intervals specified in the scheme and, where the scheme so provides, before the system is used for the first time”
Regulation 12 of the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 states: “The user of an installed system and the owner of a mobile system shall ensure that the system is properly maintained in good repair, so as to prevent danger.”
Guarding failure
Specialist boring equipment manufacturer, Rigibore Ltd of Guildford Industrial Estate, Venton League, Hayle, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, for failing to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery and has been fined £3,000 for repeated safety offences, leaving workers at risk of serious injury at its factory. Rigibore Ltd was also ordered to pay £3,419.50 in costs.
The court heard inspectors from the HSE visited the site at Guildford Industrial Estate in December 2008 and found machinery without safety guards or a power cut off device to automatically stop the machine in the event of someone getting dragged into it.
The company had previously been served with an Improvement Notice following safety fears about machine guards. Whilst Rigibore Ltd initially complied with this notice other offences were later committed.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Jo Fitzgerald said:
“It’s extremely disappointing that after complying with an Improvement Notice, Rigibore was again found in breach of Health and Safety regulations during a later visit. Rigibore Ltd put its employees at serious risk of having their hands or arms caught in machines, which could have caused all manner of horrific injuries. The company had not managed health and safety as they should have and standards of machinery safeguarding were completely unacceptable.
“Fitting guards and trip devices to potentially dangerous machinery is a relatively simple way to protect workers from severe injury. Employers need to think seriously about ensuring this form of basic protection is in place.”
Guard-rail failure leads to near fatal fall for worker
AB Waste Management Ltd based at High Street, Amblecote, Stourbridge has been prosecuted by the HSE after a guard-rail gave way resulting in a worker falling nearly 3m narrowly missing a crushing machine. They have been fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £1,836 in costs.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5 PUWER 1998.
Walsall & Aldridge Magistrates Court heard how on 16 June 2009, the worker was on just his second day working at Junction Works, Cemetery Road, Darlaston when he was cleaning a crushing machine. During the job a guard rail gave way, and he fell almost 3m to the ground.
The victim’s spine was broken in two places, and he also suffered several deep cuts to his head that required skin grafts. Doctors told him he was lucky to be alive.
Following the case HSE inspector Gardabil Singh Tiwana said:
“The worker was seriously let down by his employers who failed to maintain the safety measures that were supposed to protect him. The employee could easily have been killed if he’d fallen into the crushing machine when it was in operation.
“It’s all very well installing a guard-rail and other precautions, but if they’re not maintained and repaired properly then they are useless.”
Manchester care home fined over Legionnaires’ risk
A care home company has been fined £5,000 after putting elderly residents in Manchester at risk of catching Legionnaires’ disease.
SJ Care Homes Ltd was prosecuted by the HSE after the company failed to comply with an enforcement notice issued at one of its nursing homes.
HSE Inspector Sandra Tomlinson issued the notice after a routine visit to Beech House Nursing Home on Yew Tree Lane in Wythenshawe on 24 February 2009. The visit revealed the care home did not have the required precautions in place to control legionella bacteria.
The enforcement notice gave the company six weeks to write a plan for managing the level of legionella bacteria in the care home’s water system. But when the inspector revisited on 6 April 2009, no action had been taken.
After the hearing at Trafford Magistrates’ Court, Ms Tomlinson said:
“It is vital that care homes have plans in place to make sure the level of legionella bacteria in their hot water systems does not become unsafe. Legionnaires’ disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia, which mainly affects older people and those with poor health.
“Sadly, SJ Care Homes didn’t take this risk seriously and failed to act even when we issued a
formal written warning. We therefore had no other choice but to prosecute.”
SJ Care Homes, of Harrow in Middlesex, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with an enforcement notice. The company was ordered to pay £3,607 in costs.
Housing Association responsible for CO death
Clyde Valley Housing Association Limited has been fined £70,000 after a security guard died from carbon monoxide poisoning on a construction site in Burbank, Hamilton.
Hamilton Sheriff Court heard that on 6 February 2008, the security guard was overcome with fumes from a petrol generator used inside the site office.
On Friday 26 March Clyde Valley Housing Association Limited, 50 Scott Street, Motherwell, ML1 1PN pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) HSWA.
Ed – just a reminder - s3(1) HSWA states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be effected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”
Pet food firm fined
Fold Hill Foods Ltd, a pet food firm of Old Leake, near Boston has pleaded guilty to breaching reg 11(3)(c) PUWER for not making sure the machinery’s protection devices were working. It has been fined £1,250 and ordered to pay costs of £1,545 after one of its machines damaged a worker’s hand.
Boston Magistrates’ Court heard that on 7 January 2009, employee Paul Knowles, 50, of Skegness, was working on a bagging machine when the film that formed the bags was not running through the machine correctly and needed adjusting.
Mr Knowles opened the door on the front of the machine, at which point a safety cut-out switch should have stopped the machine. Unfortunately, the safety device was not working but Mr Knowles did not realise that as, coincidentally, the machine had come to a pre-programmed halt in its cycle.
Mr Knowles put his fingers on to a belt to test its tension when the machine re-started, pulling his fingers into the mechanism. He suffered a deep laceration to his middle finger and was off work for some time.
HSE inspector Scott Wynne said:
“Protection device are there for a very good reason - to stop accidents such as this occurring.
“Mr Knowles was very lucky not to have suffered more serious injuries. I hope this case serves a reminder to other companies of the need to ensure that such devices are in good working order and are efficiently maintained.”
Baker fined
A speciality bread manufacturer, Country Style Foods has been fined after a worker become entangled in a bagel forming machine and broke his wrist.
Leeds Magistrates Court heard employee was removing finished bagels from the machine when he spotted a build-up of dough on a roller.
He used a scraper to remove the dough, but a lack of guarding allowed his hand and wrist to be dragged into the machine and become trapped between the roller and a moving belt.
Country Style Foods which produces goods for supermarkets, bakers and foodservice customers, pleaded guilty to a breach of reg 11(1) PUWER in relation to the incident at a site on Pontefract Lane on 27 April 2009.
The firm was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £4,570 in costs.
The court heard the employee’s injuries also included severe friction burns caused by the moving belt, which along with the broken wrist kept him off work for several weeks. Though the injured man was experienced, and familiar with the type of machine he was using, the HSE investigation found the machine itself was new to the plant and no formal training or written instructions had been completed governing its safe use.
The investigation also revealed that the issue of insufficient guarding had already been raised by a hygiene supervisor, but no action was taken before the machine was put into use.
Following the hearing HSE inspector Angus Robbins said:
“The hazards associated with moving rollers and belts are well understood within food manufacturing, and there are established standards and protocols that should be followed in relation to guarding and clearing blockages.
“The onus is on employers like Country Style Foods to manage and control risks at all times, and set an example for others to follow. There were clear failings on this occasion, and we hope today’s prosecution serves as a reminder that we will call to account employers who fail in their duties to protect their employees.”
Leeds city council fined for high voltage shock
A high voltage shock that endangered the life of a lorry driver and exploded the tyres of a tipper truck has resulted in a £10,500 fine for Leeds City Council.
The council pleaded guilty to two breaches of HSWA following the incident on 19 June 2008 at their Red Hall Estates landscape construction storage site at Shadwell.
Leeds Magistrates Court heard that the life of a lorry driver was endangered when he lifted
the tipper body of his wagon directly underneath a power line. Electricity arced to his vehicle, blowing out his tyres and putting him at risk of electrocution when he left his cab to check what was happening.
Signs and barriers should have been in place preventing the incident from occurring. Lifting machinery was also in operation at the site which could have resulted in a similar incident.
In addition to the £10,500 fine, Leeds City Council was also ordered to pay £2,000 costs.
After the hearing HSE Inspector Charlie Callis said:
“It is sheer luck that the driver of the tipper lorry escaped without serious injury and more importantly his life. As he got in and out of his vehicle whilst the tyres were exploding he could easily have been killed.
“Employers and businesses have a responsibility to ensure staff and visitors are aware of the dangers of overhead power lines. Signs and barriers should have been in place, but the council failed to do this.
“Around 1,000 electrical incidents at work are reported to HSE each year and about 25 people die of their injuries, proving just how serious these types of incidents can be.”
Ed – let us not forget that Leeds City Council are also a health and safety enforcing authority.
FMC fined after worker suffers burns
FMC Chemicals Limited has been fined £13,485 after a worker’s neck and shoulders were scalded at its Wirral factory on 5 June 2008.
Dean Moore, 39, was unblocking equipment containing lithium chloride - a chemical used to manufacture computer batteries - when the steam-heated substance spewed out onto him. Dean Moore’s burns following the accident
Wirral Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr Moore from Connah’s Quay, North Wales, had been employed as a temporary worker at the factory but had not received suitable training to carry out the work.
The court also heard that HSE issued FMC with three improvement notices in May 2007 after a worker suffered burns to the legs during maintenance cleaning work. The company was served with another six notices in December 2007 requiring improvements to safety, which it was working towards complying with at the time of the incident.
FMC Chemicals Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) HSWA. The company was ordered to pay £8,926.50 towards the cost of the prosecution
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Moore said:
“We had been using steam to unblock the pipes and had assumed they were all clear when a load of the chemical poured out. I thought safety measures were in place but obviously they weren’t. I’ve been permanently scarred and was in a lot of pain for six months after it happened and suffered from depression. It’s been a real struggle to find new work since the accident and I’m still unemployed.”
Mark Burton, Health and Safety Inspector at HSE, said:
“Mr Moore was allowed to work in an area he had not been trained to work in and he should not have been there. He suffered burns as a consequence.
“FMC Chemicals was in the process of restructuring its safety management systems as a result of the enforcement notices we served and had appointed a new management team to lead the company.
“Unfortunately whilst the company was prioritising its resources at the time, it forgot the basics on this occasion. Significant risks should have been identified and adequate control measures put into place.”
Run over
All Metal Services Limited (AMS) has been prosecuted by the HSE following an incident at the company’s warehouse on the Wingates Industrial Park in Westhoughton on 8 September 2008 when one of its workers was run over by a forklift truck.[ The forklift truck
Derek Baxter, from Radcliffe, was kneeling down to measure empty pallets at the end of an aisle when a forklift truck ran over his right leg, trapping his foot.
The 54-year-old broke three toes, fractured several bones in his foot, and suffered extensive skin, muscle and tissue damage. He still has difficulty walking more than eighteen months after the incident.
Manchester Crown Court heard that items of stock had been left in the aisle, narrowing the route for the truck, and that there was not a separate walkway for pedestrians.
HSE Inspector Alex Farnhill said:
“Derek Baxter has been left with a badly damaged right leg as a result of AMS’s poor health and safety procedures. He had to take sixteen months off work and still has a swollen foot which makes it difficult for him to walk.
“The company has an annual turnover of more than $180 million with bases in the UK, France and China. Any organisation that size can easily afford to spend time and money on basic health and safety.”
AMS, which supplies raw materials to the aerospace and defence industries, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 17 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 by failing to provide a separate walkway for pedestrians.
The company, which has its headquarters on Horton Industrial Estate in West Drayton, Greater London, was ordered to pay £12,500 in fines and £4,230 towards the cost of the prosecution.
Alex Farnhill added:
“Measures should have been taken to ensure vehicles and pedestrians were effectively separated in the warehouse so they could both circulate in a safe manner. I hope this incident will act as a warning to AMS, and encourage other manufacturers to think more about the potential dangers of vehicles in factories and warehouses.”
Ed - There were 32 deaths and more than 22,400 serious injuries in the manufacturing sector in Great Britain last year. [2
Worker’s roof fall
TMN Fabrications Ltd, an agricultural building company, has been prosecuted for health and safety breaches that led to a worker falling 4m from the roof of a building of Holme on Spalding Moor, East Yorkshire. They were charged with 3 separate offences relating to the incident.
The company, now in liquidation, was found guilty of breaching s2(1) HSWA, reg 3(2) RIDDOR 1995 and reg 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 at Beverley Magistrates’ Court.
The court heard that on 28 January 2009, Dean Lightowler, 28, from Goole fell from the roof of the building at Park Farm, Everingham, York while fitting fibre-cement roof sheeting.
TMN Fabrications Ltd, failed to provide adequate edge-protection, nets or suitable work platforms for its employees during the roof work. A month after the incident employees were again required to work on the roof without adequate safeguards.
The company also failed to report Mr Lightowler’s fall until 17 March - more than two months after it occurred. It was fined £22,500 and £7,103 costs.
After the hearing Inspector Geoff Clark said:
“I hope today’s prosecution reminds companies that inadequate protection when working at height is unacceptable. HSE provides free guidance on the required standards for companies when working at height.
“If these standards are not followed it poses a risk of serious, if not fatal injuries for those at work, and HSE will take action.”
Ed – it is interesting to see the HSE’s increased willingness to prosecute companies in administration or liquidation. Clearly the fines imposed will not be paid but I suppose the attendant publicity can serve as a warning.
It is worth reminding readers of the offences from time to time – even the common ones which I usually skip.
s2(1) HSWA states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.”
Reg 3(2) RIDDOR states: “Where a person at work is incapacitated for work... because of an injury resulting from an accident arising out of or in connection with work...the responsible person shall as soon as practicable and, in any event, within 10 days of the accident send a report thereof to the relevant enforcing authority.”
Reg 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: “Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.”
Recycling firm fined for crush injury
European Metal Recycling Limited, of Alexandra Dock 1, Bootle, Merseyside was fined £8,000 after a worker’s hand was crushed as he attempted to clear a blockage on a magnet conveyor. Costs of £5,506.50 were also imposed.
South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard how on 29 April 2008, employee David Lowery, 49, from Blackhall Colliery, County Durham, and a colleague were working the company’s premises in North West Quay, Tyne Dock, using a machine that separates metal from dirt, eventually recycling the metal.
Both workers were attempting to clear a blockage on a magnetic conveyor that was part of a riddling machine cleaning scrap from mud. The system of work used and the guarding to prevent access to dangerous parts of the machinery was not adequate. The machine was re-
started and Mr Lowery’s right hand got caught inside.
He suffered crush injuries and was left with four broken fingers and was off work for six weeks before returning on light duties. Mr Lowery still suffers pain in his hand in cold temperatures and has not regained full movement in one of his fingers.
Risking your son’s life
A demolition contractor has been fined after allowing his son to work on a pub roof without scaffolding.
The HSE prosecuted Ivan Pope after two men were spotted dismantling the roof of a disused pub in Lincolnshire using just the upturned bucket of an excavator to work from.
Leicester Crown Court heard that between 16 and 25 January 2008, Mr Pope, trading as Westwise Demolition, was demolishing the former Manvers Arms public house on Monks Road in Lincoln. The demolition involved piece-by-piece removal of the two storey pub’s roof tiles.
One man sat on the roof, removing tiles and passing them to the son of the defendant, who was standing in the upturned bucket of an excavator positioned level with the edge of the roof.
Once the bucket filled with tiles, Mr Pope’s son climbed onto the roof before the bucket was lowered, emptied and raised back up; he then climbed back in and carried on the task.
There was no scaffolding to prevent the men on the roof from falling and nothing to protect those working below from any tiles dropped or dislodged during these activities.
Mr Pope, of Hassock Hill Drove, Gorefield, in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching Section 3 (2) HSWA and was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £13,483 costs by Leicester Crown Court.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Martin Giles said:
“This was foolhardy to say the least and could so easily have resulted in serious injury or even death. It is particularly disturbing that Mr Pope was willing to risk the life of his own son by failing to put such basic safety requirements in place.
“Working at height remains one of the greatest dangers to construction workers. Many incidents can be avoided if contractors identify a safe way of tackling a job, provide all necessary protective equipment and ensure that workers, sub-contractors or casual employees are fully trained and properly supervised.”
Construction firm fined for multiple breaches
A Lancashire-based construction company Paddle Limited has been fined for a series of safety breaches, including failing to fence off building sites from the public and failing to
provide adequate welfare facilities for their workers.
The prosecution follows an unannounced visit by the HSE to the site run by Paddle Ltd - often known as Paddle Homes and which has building sites across the UK - at Cedar Road and Sycamore Avenue, Eglwys Brewis, St. Athan, Vale of Glamorgan in December 2008.
When he arrived at the site, HSE Inspector Liam Osborne discovered inadequate or missing fencing to keep the public away from construction work.
There were also unsuitable sanitary and welfare facilities for workers on the site despite the sub-zero temperatures. There was a dirty portable toilet with no washing facilities, and workers were expected to eat, get changed and shelter in a dirty, unheated caravan.
Paddle Limited, based in Blackburn, pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 when they appeared at Barry Magistrates’ Court. They were fined a total of £10,050 and ordered to pay costs of £13,224.45
HSE Inspectors throughout the country have found such poor working conditions that multiple prohibition and Improvement notices have been issued to Paddle Ltd since 2005. These were for dangerous scaffolding, poor site welfare, unprotected excavations and failures to secure and fence their sites.
After the case, Inspector Liam Osborne said:
“Paddle Ltd left their workers with the most appalling working conditions - the sort of things you might have expected to see in the 19th Century not the 21st Century. There was no clean and appropriate toilet facility and workers were often left in the freezing cold or in wet conditions. The site was also very unsecure. During my inspection, children were playing nearby and could easily have just walked onto it, which at the time was full of construction machinery and excavations.
“What makes this case all the more disappointing is that Paddle Ltd had received a considerable amount of advice from HSE inspectors up and down the country. It appears the company has failed to heed HSE’s advice, which is why they have ended up in front of the courts.”
Ed - As part of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, companies must prepare a Construction Phase Plan to make sure that health, safety and welfare problems are spotted at an early stage and put right. Paddle Ltd had not prepared a suitable plan, although it did later submit a document to HSE.
The company faced three charges under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and were fined £3,350 for each charge:
Regulation 9(1)(b) states that: “Every client shall take reasonable steps to ensure 1. that the arrangements made for managing the project (including the allocation of sufficient time and other resources) by persons with a duty under these Regulations (including the client himself) are suitable to ensure that— the requirements of Schedule 2 are complied with in respect of any person carrying out the construction
work; and....”
Regulation 16(a) states: “Where the project is notifiable, the client shall ensure that 2. the construction phase does not start unless— the principal contractor has prepared a construction phase plan which complies with regulations 23(1)(a) and 23(2).”
Regulation 22 (1)(l) states: “The principal contractor for a project shall take reason3. able steps to prevent access by unauthorised persons to the construction site.”
Walker fined after worker strolls through roof
A director of a manufacturing company has been fined for health and safety breaches after an employee fell through a roof at a site in Cradley Heath.
The HSE prosecuted Adam Stephen Walker, director of Steven Walker and Sons Ltd, after Neil Tomkins suffered extensive bruising to his lower back after falling through a skylight onto a machine below.
Mr Walker was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 37(1) HSWA.
West Bromwich Magistrates heard that in May last year Mr Walker and another employee began repair work on a section of the factory roof. No risk assessment had been made, and no specialist equipment was used to prevent anyone falling through the roof apart from a small plank of wood for the employee to kneel on when making the repairs.
During the lunch break, Mr Tomkins climbed on to the roof to look at the repair work and fell through a skylight.
After Mr Tomkins had been taken to hospital, Mr Walker then took another employee on to the roof to replace the damaged skylight.
Again, despite the fragility of the roof and the incident that had just happened, no assessment was made nor specialist equipment used. This second employee however took a scaffold board with him on his own initiative.
HSE Inspector, Amarjit Kalay, said:
“The failure of the company and Mr Walker to make adequate provisions for working on the roof left one of its employees with serious injuries, and could easily have cost him his life. This incident could easily have been prevented by undertaking a suitable risk assessment and by using the necessary equipment to prevent a fall through the fragile roof.”
Worker suffers serious back injuries
A South Yorkshire engineering service company, Ultimate Industries Limited has been fined £1,000 after a worker crushed his vertebra and fractured two bones in his back when he fell almost four metres.
Ultimate Industries Ltd was also ordered to pay £2,125.20 costs at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to breaching regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
Between 20 and 21 August 2008 workers of Ultimate Industries Ltd were roofing a ‘lean to’ building that they had fabricated in a compound at Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd’s car manufacturing site in Burnaston, Derbyshire.
A worker was on the roof of the fabricated frame fixing sheets to the ridge when he fell approximately 3.7 metres to the ground, resulting in serious injuries to his back.
The court heard that by not properly planning the work and not providing adequate safety equipment for work at height, Ultimate Industries failed to prevent, so far as was reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.
Ed – such a small fine
Firm fined after potential asbestos exposure
A building firm has been fined after refurbishment work triggered the temporary closure of country club near Darlington over fears of exposure to asbestos.
Nationwide Building Contractors Limited - which is registered at 1640 Parkway, Solent Business Park, Whiteley, Fareham, Hampshire - was fined a total of £4,500 at Darlington Magistrates’ Court over the incident. The company was found guilty, in its absence, of breaching Regulations 5, 11 and 16 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, between 7 January and 6 March 2008.
The company had been contracted to refurbish Hall Garth Hotel Golf and Country Club, at Coatham Mundeville, near Darlington.
When HSE inspectors visited the site, they found that work was carried out without adequate checks for asbestos or asbestos-containing materials, and served a Prohibition Notice - immediately stopping construction work. Further investigations found large amounts of asbestos pipe lagging in walls and floor voids where work had been undertaken.
HSE worked with local Environmental Health Officers and the hotel management to ensure that asbestos fibres had not spread to the occupied areas of the hotel. The hotel was voluntarily closed while tests were undertaken. Fortunately the test results in the public areas were negative.
After the case, HSE Inspector Victoria Wise said:
“Construction and maintenance workers are the most at-risk groups from asbestos-related diseases due to the nature of their work. The widespread occurrence of asbestos as a product in buildings constructed or refurbished prior to 2000, means that inadvertent disturbance of asbestos-containing materials can be frequent and regular where asbestos products have not been adequately identified or managed.
“Nationwide Building Contractors could have prevented this risk and should have ensured that the asbestos containing materials in the work areas had been identified and, where necessary, removed - then the information passed on to those who were liable to disturb the fabric of the building.”
Ed - Nationwide Building Contractors Ltd is now in liquidation.
Shocking £3,000 fine
Hickman Engineering Ltd has been fined £3,000 after Ben Roberts (21) from Cannock was taken to hospital suffering from burns to his legs, chest, fingers and wrist following receiving an electric shock.
The steel fabrications company, of North Street, Cannock, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 4(2) and 6(a) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. As well as the fine, it was also ordered to pay £1,500 costs.
Stafford Magistrates Court heard how on 11 August 2009, Mr Roberts was working as a labourer at the site. He was helping to manually load the saw before his colleague cut a length of metal handrail. He was not involved in the operation of the machine, which wasn’t even switched on at the time, yet he still suffered an electric shock.
HSE’s investigation discovered that the saw’s electrical cable had been unsuitably repaired with tape, reducing the protection and strength of the wiring. An independent engineering firm also investigated and found that corroded earth connections may also have played a part.
The outer protective sheath was likely damaged, exposing the inner wires. There were also other electrical deficiencies with the saw that posed a danger as well as metal filings on the floor of the workshop which may have contributed to the shock.
Following the hearing HSE inspector Wayne Owen said:
“Ben Roberts was very lucky as faulty wiring and electricity can kill. Every year there are around 1,000 incidents reported to HSE involving electric shocks or burns, around 30 of them fatal.
“One of the main causes of incidents involving electricity, as it was in this case, is the use of poorly-maintained equipment.
“The cable was too long, allowing it to droop onto the workshop floor without any protection, where metal filings were present. The design of the machine was not suitable for the conditions of the workshop, and in many respects this was something just waiting to happen.”
Ed - Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 states: “As may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger.”
Regulation 6(a) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 states: “Electrical equipment which may reasonably foreseeably be exposed to... mechanical damage... shall be of such construction or as necessary protected as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, danger arising from such exposure.”
Trapped
Bradford Magistrates Court has heard that on the 21 January 2009, an employee of CK Hanson and Son Ltd lost his big toe and part of the heel of his left foot, broke all his toes and severely damaged the ankle of his right foot when he fell into a manure auger.
The HSE investigation found that the auger, a screw conveyor that takes the manure out of a battery hen house, had not been sufficiently guarded, when the worker slipped in, trapping both feet.
The court also heard that the doctor attending the incident became so concerned for the worker’s welfare that firefighters seriously considered removing his foot as the only means of getting him out of the machine. The worker is currently still off work and recovering from his injuries.
CK Hanson & Son Ltd of Scholebrook Farm, Scholebrook Lane, Tong, Bradford, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) PUWER and was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,395 in costs.
Water companies fined following roof fall
A water services company and its sub-contractor have been fined after a technician fell through the roof of a pumping station in Cambridgeshire, fracturing a vertebra in his back.
Technician Matthew Morgan, sub-contracted to Anglian Water Services, fell through an unmarked fragile roof light while taking a reading from a rain gauge on top of a pumping station in Willingham, near Cambridge.
Mr Morgan, 28, suffered a fractured vertebra, cuts and bruising, and has had ongoing back pain since the fall on 6 August 2007.
His employer IETG Ltd, of Hapco House, Cross Green Way, Cross Green Industrial Estate, Leeds, appeared at Ely Magistrates’ Court and admitted breaching s2(1) HSWA. Magistrates fined IETG £1,500 and ordered it to pay £3,219 in costs.
Anglian Water Services Ltd, which own and runs the pumping station, sub-contracted work to IETG Ltd to carry out specialist services on its behalf.
Anglian Water Services, of Anglian House, Ambury Road, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, admitted breaching s3(1) HSWA. The company failed to adequately identify the risks associated with working near the unmarked fragile skylights. It was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £3,261 in costs.
The company was also fined a further £12,000 with £6,286 in costs, after it admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in relation to a separate issue.
Whilst investigating Mr Morgan’s fall inspectors found problems with the safety of a number of machines at Anglian Water Service’s sewage treatment plant in Angel Drove, Ely.
Some machines were missing safety guards, which protect workers from dangerous moving parts. And some interlocking devices, designed to isolate power from the machines, were not working properly meaning the machines could automatically start up when the guards were open.
HSE Inspector Penny Leede said:
“Incidents like Mr Morgan’s fall are entirely avoidable. Falling from height is one of the most obvious and well-known dangers for those working on roofs.
“Unfortunately, Mr Morgan is not alone. More than 4,000 British employees suffered serious injury after falling from height in 2008/09. Employers need to plan ahead and assess potential risks before carrying out any work at height.
“Proper safety guards and the isolation of power from exposed machinery play an important role in protecting workers from dangerous moving parts. HSE will continue to prosecute companies that fail to carry out their duties.”
Head injuries
A Hertfordshire company John Doyle Construction Ltd has been fined after a worker was seriously hurt when he was struck by steel beams falling from a tower crane.
Stephen James, 58, was working as a slinger (a person directing crane drivers) for John Doyle Construction Ltd at a residential development at Wilton Plaza in Victoria in September 2007.
City of London Magistrates heard Mr James had slung 20 steel beams onto two chains attached to a tower crane to be moved across site.
The 2.7 metre beams were slung with six metre length chains attached to the crane, but as the load was lowered it hit a piece of reinforcing bar protruding from a first floor slab. The chains came together allowing the beams to slip from the chains.
Mr James suffered multiple injuries including severe damage to his right arm and leg and now has a metal plate in his head and has been unable to work since his accident.
The investigation found the lift was not carried out in safe manner and the site was congested with building materials. HSE asserted that there should have been a specified safe zone for lifting.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8(1)(c) of the Lifting Operations and
Lifting Equipment Regulations. The firm was fined £2,000 with costs of £17,466.
HSE inspector Monica Babb said:
“The terrible injuries Mr James suffered in this incident should and could have been avoided. “This type of incident illustrates the importance of lifting operations being properly supervised and carried out in a safe manner. The site should have been tidier and there should have been a specific area set aside for lifting operations. “This includes indentifying and dealing with the risks that can arise from an overcrowded site.”
Ed - reg 8(1)(c) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations says that “Every employer shall ensure that every lifting operation involving lifting equipment is carried out in a safe manner.”
Finger amputation
A specialist bread manufacturer Bread Factory Limited has been fined after a worker was injured by a dough mixing machine and had his finger amputated.
Thambirasaiyah Roy, 39, from Edgware, was using a spiral mixing machine to make dough in October 2006, at the company’s factory in Garrick Road Industrial Estate, Hendon.
Whilst using the machine Mr Roy’s left hand came into contact with the unguarded beater of the mixing machine. As a result part of his left index finger had to be amputated.
The HSE’s investigation showed the guard covering dangerous parts of the machine had been missing for some time before the incident and previous advice from HSE regarding maintenance of machinery in the factory had been ignored.
Bread Factory Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) PUWER. The company was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,926, at the City of London Magistrates Court.
HSE inspector, Anne Gloor said:
“This incident could easily have been avoided. The hazards associated with this type of machine are understood within the food manufacturing industry and there is clear guidance on the guarding standards which should be followed.
“There were clear failings on this occasion. Had a simple guard been fitted to this machine then Mr Roy would never have suffered these injuries.”
United Utilities fined for damaging sewage spill
United Utilities have been fined £14,000 for a serious water pollution incident in July 2009 which caused the death of over 6,000 fish at Three Pools Waterway, Southport. The company pleaded guilty to a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency at North Sefton Magistrates’ Court, and was also ordered to pay the Agency’s costs of £7,863.54.
The incident occurred as a result of failure of the foul water pumps at the Crowland Street pumping station. On the 2 July 2009, following a call from a member of the public, officers from the Environment Agency visited the site where they met representatives from United Utilities and took samples of the discharge of the effluent and of the watercourse both upstream and downstream. It became apparent that there had been a large discharge of sewage which had had a devastating effect on the fish population.
The pollution caused the oxygen levels in the watercourse to fall and ammonia contained in the sewage is toxic to fish. The Environment Agency tried to reduce the impact of the pollution by deploying hydrogen peroxide to boost oxygen levels in the watercourse, however a three mile stretch of the river was affected. The fish included roach, bream, tench, pike and perch of all sizes and ages. It is estimated that it will take seven to ten years for the river to recover.
A spokesperson from the Environment Agency said, “This was a major incident which had a devastating impact of the fish population. United Utilities own and operate the sewer network throughout the region and are responsible for resolving any problems with this system. This incident caused significant damage to the environment, which could have been avoided or considerably reduced if the company had correctly reset a pump when it responded to an alarm.”
Ed - The seriousness of the incident has meant that United Utilities is also subject to the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (England) Regulations 2009. The regulations came into effect on 1 March 2009 and look to remediate any serious environmental damage. The aim of remediation under the regulations is to achieve the same level of natural resource or service as would have existed if the damage had not occurred and includes compensatory remediation to compensate for the interim losses pending full recovery. The company was served with a liability notice as part of the regulations procedure. It has requested the Environment Agency formulate proposals for remediation and these are under consideration and may involve additional compensatory measures in addition to significant restocking of the river which has recently taken place.
The pumping station has the benefit of a Consent to Discharge which authorises it to discharge storm sewage effluent into Three Pools Waterway and in an emergency if there is a failure of the power supply. A discharge of storm sewage effluent to Three Pools Waterway is only permitted to take place when flows in the sewer are high (in excess of 450 litres per second) and when storage tanks (volume 2,500 cubic metres) are fully utilised. At such times the effluent will be dilute and the watercourse will also provide further dilution minimising any impact.
Composting site fined £20,000
A Preston based company, TEG Group Plc has been fined £20,000 at Leyland Magistrates court for failing to comply with an enforcement notice issued by the Environment Agency. The company was also ordered to pay costs of £2,843 GBP.
TEG Group Plc pleaded guilty to the offence, which required the amount of waste on the site to be reduced to the volumes laid down in their environmental permit.
The company ran the site to accept, store and treat waste for composting. The Environment Agency had granted the site a licence to operate, which outlined conditions to ensure their activities did not pose a risk of harm to the environment or human health. The conditions included limits on the amount of waste which could be stored on site at any one time before treatment (200 tonnes), and the amount of waste being treated (128 tonnes).
During inspections by the Environment Agency in 2007, officers found more than three times the permitted levels of waste being treated on site, breaching their permit conditions. The Environment Agency held discussions with the operator throughout 2008 to try and ensure that the site became compliant with their permit conditions. When the situation remained unresolved an enforcement notice was issued in April 2009.
Further visits to the site in 2009 showed that the company were continuing to treat and store amounts of waste which exceeded the permitted limits. The Environment Agency had also received complaints from members of the public regarding odours in the vicinity of the site. The site had not complied with the enforcement notice, and this resulted in legal action being taken against the company.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach waste fine
Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Holdings) Ltd has been fined £6,000 for a total of six offences of failing to recover and recycle packaging waste.
The company was also ordered to pay costs of £2,631 and compensation of £9,130 for offences which were taken into consideration dating back to 1997.
The company pleaded guilty to six charges brought against them by the Environment Agency at Blackpool Magistrates. They failed to register with the Environment Agency as a producer of packaging waste, and to meet the requirements to recover and recycle packaging waste with respect to each of the two years between 2006 and 2007. Businesses who do not fulfil their obligations under packaging regulations are risking fines of up to £15,000 per year.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach produces packaging waste in a variety of forms, from wrappers used on soaps in their hotel, to drink bottles and food containers.
Ed - The aim of the regulations is to make businesses take responsibility for the packaging waste they produce by making them pay towards overall recovery and recycling costs. This should lead to a reduction in packaging, greater recycling and recovery and a decrease in the amount of packaging that ends up in landfill sites.
Businesses that handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging waste and have a turnover of more than £2 million per year need to be registered with the Environment Agency or a compliance scheme to meet their obligations and must demonstrate they have recovered and recycled a percentage of packaging waste based on the amount of packaging handled in the previous year.
Allison Homes guilty of polluting a stream
A sewage treatment works owned and operated by Allison Homes Eastern Limited was found to be the cause of pollution in a tributary of the Moulton River Drain in Holbeach, by Spalding Magistrates court yesterday (Wednesday 31 March).
Allison Homes pleaded guilty to two separate offences, one from October 2008 were pollution was visible in the stream for 300 metres downstream of the sewage treatment works and one from January 2009 when the same stretch was again polluted. They received a fine of £2,500 for the October offence and £3,500 for the January one. Full costs of £3,186 were ordered to be paid as well.
The treatment works serves 34 houses at Mill Marsh Road and is covered by an Environment Agency consent to discharge treated effluent into the stream. In normal operation, this effluent will not cause any environmental problems, but in both cases the treatment works failed to operate correctly and polluting effluent was discharged into the stream. Biological tests showed that the pollution had affected the invertebrates in the stream, greatly reducing the number and variety that would be found in a healthy stream.
Richard Williams one of the Environment Agency officers who investigated the case said: ‘This case shows that anyone operating a sewage treatment works must ensure that it operates correctly and any problems with it are quickly rectified. We are pleased that Allison Homes has now undertaken work to improve the operation of the treatment works.’
Converted Ice Breaker in Dover Straits
Mr MacGregor was the part owner of the leisure vessel ST DAVID OF LONDON, a 35 tonne, steel hulled converted ice breaker. On 24 August 2009 he was returning to Dover from a pleasure trip to Jersey. At around 08:47 the vessel entered the Dover Straits Traffic Separation Scheme with a friend of Mr MacGregor’s at the controls. For the next 3 hours and 50 minutes the vessel proceeded against the general direction of the traffic for the South West Lane, running a total distance of some 26 miles and during this period had close encounters with three other ships, two of which were carrying dangerous or polluting cargoes.
Mr MacGregor was fined £16,000 and costs of £4,445.
New tower crane regulations come into force
New regulations came into force on 6 April requiring the HSE to be notified of conventional tower cranes being installed on construction sites.
The new regulations:
place the duty to notify on the employer•
require notification of the relevant information within 14 days of thorough examination of • the crane
require cranes already erected when the Regulations come into force to be registered •
within 28 days
allow electronic notification via the HSE website•
Details that would have to be notified to HSE are:
the site address where the tower crane is being used•
the name and address of the crane owners/lessors•
details needed to identify the crane•
the date of its thorough examination•
details of the employer for whom the examination was made•
whether any defects posing a risk of serious injury were detected•
All details notified will be contained in a register that will be open to public scrutiny. Notifications will be subject to an administration fee of £20.
Ed – it may seem bureaucratic but it I suspect it will encourage companies to think about safety more. Given the recent spate of tower crane accidents something had to be done – and notification of a crane being installed seems to be a minimal step by the authorities.
New protection for workers from artificial light
New regulations further protecting workers from the dangers of hazardous sources of artificial light come into force.
The Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations meets a European Union Directive to ensure that standards are set and harmonised across Europe to protect workers from harm arising from exposure to hazardous sources of artificial light.
Some sources of artificial light, particularly UV radiation and light from lasers can harm the eyes and skin of workers and must be properly managed. The regulations will mean few practical changes for most businesses, including those who are already managing the risks as compliance with existing law will assist.
Common sources of light in the workplace such as office lights, photocopiers and computers are not affected by the regulations.
Ed -
Information on the new regulations and what’s required can be found at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/radiation/nonionising/optical.htm[1]
Further information on the EU directive can be found at: www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/europe/euronews/dossiers/aor.htm
HSE’s myth of the month
The HSE bans this that and the other
The reality
We’ve said it all before, but there are still too many reports that HSE and health and safety law are responsible for all sorts of bans – cheese-rolling events, knitting in hospitals and even toothpicks! In reality HSE has banned very little outright, apart from a few high-risk exceptions like asbestos, which kills around 4000 people a year.
Too often health and safety is used as a convenient excuse, but it’s time to challenge this and remind people to focus on the real risks – those that are still causing people to be killed, injured or made ill at work. Challenge the myths, tackle real risks!
The HSE’s copyright in ths cartoon and its caption is acknowledged as is their license to reproduce it.
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www.brunswicks.eu Editor: Andrew Dawson
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