Blog Archives
October 2007
Firm fined £25,000 after worker fell to death
RTAL Ltd of Purley, Surrey - which manufactures items such as handrails and security fencing - has been fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs after a man fell to his death because a protective guard rail had been removed.
Andrew Taylor, aged 29, died on 24 January 2003 when he fell eight metres from a platform whilst installing a kiln.
Managing director of the firm Terry Green was also handed a £2,500 fine and ordered to pay costs of £500, after charges were brought under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Health and Safety Executive Inspector Sandy Carmichael said: "This was a serious breach of obligation to both its own staff and visiting workers, indicative of failure by the company to appreciate the risks from such complex work. Andrew Taylor's tragic and wasteful death could and should have been avoided by straightforward safety precautions."
Source: South Yorkshire Star
Council fined over cherry picker accident
East Riding Council is facing a bill of more than £10,000 after pleading guilty to failing to ensure the safety of an employee at work.
A cherry picker fell on a council worker, 51 year old Elena Tradewell, with the force of a 28-stone hammer because of serious errors in the council's health and safety procedure. The machine was being used by two untrained workers in Princess Mary Promenade on the South Foreshore on September 19, 2005.
The foreshore workers, who were not employed for maintenance work, had borrowed the lift from workers at the Spa, who were similarly underqualified, to help them take down banners. They could have been trained to use the machinery at a cost of £100 each.
The cherry picker glanced off Mrs Tradewell's head, shoulder and back before collapsing on her foot, smashing two metatarsal bones.
The engineer's report into the accident noted four factors which contributed to the lift falling - a light wind, a slight slope on the ground, a missing outrigger leg and, most importantly, its operator turned a screw to level the machine in the wrong direction.
Mr and Mrs Tradewell are continuing to seek compensation from the council.
Speaking in court on the behalf of the Health and Safety Executive, prosecutor Christopher Chambers said that although the injuries had been serious the consequences might have been much worse, with a risk of fatal injury. There had been a number of systemic errors by the Council.
Tom Spencer, mitigating for the council, said: "This council has been at the forefront of bringing workplace accidents down and that reputation has been badly damaged by what happened two years ago.
"The internal investigation was made very rapidly. Conclusions were drawn, lessons were learned and the systems changed very, very quickly. There was a great deal of anguish among very senior officers in the council"
Source: Bridlington Free Press
Safety warning - fixed rail vertical fall arrest system
The HSE advises against using the HACA fixed rail vertical fall arrest system type 0529.7102 which has recently failed the BS test that represents the appropriate standard for this type of equipment. The device is typically used when climbing ladders or rungs attached to fixed structures.
Further information is in the HSE website, http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/fixedrail011007.htm
Source: HSE Website
Prison sentence expected for skylight manslaughter
A supervisor has been told that prison is inevitable when he appears for sentencing for manslaughter on 29 November.
Paul Alker, 34, died in June, after falling through a skylight at a Wrexham store. Steven Smith, 36, from Rhostyllen, near Wrexham, admitted manslaughter, intending to pervert the course of justice and health and safety breaches.
The charge stated that Smith failed to ensure Mr Alker had sufficient training, knowledge or experience to carry out work at dangerous heights, or to carry out roofing works. He also failed to ensure people working on the roof had safety harnesses.
Smith admitted a second charge of failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of Mr Alker and his colleague Aaron Pugh under the Health and Safety at Work Act. He also admitted a third charge of doing acts intending to pervert the course of justice - by installing safety harnesses after the accident and pretending they had been present.
Source: BBC
Newsletter - October 2007
The October 2007 edition of the Ai Solutions Newsletter is now available: October Newsletter.
HSE looks to industry
Although a long-term downward trend is still clear, the rate of decrease has slowed over the last 15 years and there has been very little change in the overall rate over the last five years.
In construction there were 77 fatalities, equivalent to 3.7 deaths per 100 000 workers. Over the last 15 years there has been a statistically significant downward trend in the rate of fatal injury to workers; on average a 3.9% year on year decrease. However, the higher number and rate for 2006/07 changes a pattern consistent with continued reduction up to 2005/06 into one of no change since 2002/03.
Sir Bill Callaghan, Chair of the Health & safety Commission, said, "It is disappointing to see that the overall number of deaths has risen. We have worked hard with industry and trade unions over the past few years to bring the number down. Behind every one of these numbers was a man or a woman, with a life, friends and family... I have to remind you that safety is ultimately the responsibility of those who manage and direct companies and those who work for them. Today's statistics are disappointing and distressing but improvements can still be made. They must be made. HSC/E is taking action. The ball now lies firmly in the industry's court."
HSE Chief Executive Geoffrey Podger added, "Those who are putting the lives of their workforce at risk should know that HSE takes this very seriously. In the past year we have approved 25% more prosecutions than the year before and our inspectors have served 1000 more enforcement notices. No one should believe that they can get away with serious breaches of health and safety."
Source: HSE Website
Construction company fined £43,000
The company admitted at Salisbury Crown Court to failing to ensure the safety of its employees, after 62-year-old George Rogers was killed when he was thrown from a dumper truck, which then ran over his body. The delay in bringing the matter before the court was due to a lengthy investigation by police and the Health and Safety Executive.
Though he had not been authorised to drive a dumper truck, Mr Rogers had helped tidy up the site before it closed for the day by driving a dumper truck filled with spoil to get rid of the load. The truck went over a sunken trench and the jolt had thrown him out of his seat, over the front of the dumper truck's bucket and on to the ground. The truck had then driven over his body.
Ian Dixey, for the prosecution, said it was a well-known hazard with dumper trucks within the construction industry and precautions should have been taken. He said the company's failings included inadequate training for employees on using plant and machinery, no adequate system of checking plant and machinery - three of the truck's tyres were severely under-inflated - no training verification system, no site traffic plan or control of speed on site machinery and no adequate system for controlling use of plant or machinery on site.
But, he said, since the accident, Castleway had taken steps to correct all these issues, including proper training for employees using machinery.
Fining the company £30,000 and ordering them to pay £13,714 costs, Judge Keith Cutler said the company's failings had been "contributory to a degree" to Mr Rogers' death, but were not so important as Mr Rogers' own wrongful actions in driving machinery.
The case was brought by the HSE.
Source: Builder and Engineer online
HSE investigates two fatalities from falling bricks
Reece French, a worker on a Kier Western site at Cattedown Enterprise Centre, was hit on the head by a skip or pallet of bricks. It is believed that he was walking under a telehandler carrying the bricks when the accident happened.
A Kier Western spokesperson said: "We confirm that a fatality occurred early this morning at our Cattedown Enterprise site in Plymouth when an employee was struck during an operation involving a telescopic handler. We are co-operating with the authorities in trying to establish exactly what happened. We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic situation involving a Kier employee and our thoughts are with his family and the site team."
The day before 18 year old Gareth Ritson, working on a building site in Troon, died when a pallet of bricks fell from a lorry-mounted crane while he was underneath it.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is understood to be investigating both accidents.
One third of refurbishment sites dangerous
He continued, "We stopped work on site immediately during 244 inspections because we felt there was a real possibility that life would be lost or ruined through serious injury. It is completely unacceptable that so many lives have been put at risk. Our inspectors were appalled at the apparent willingness to ignore basic safety precautions.
"The simple fact is that despite knowing what they should be doing, too many people are prepared to allow bad practices to continue, even though last year 39 people died on refurbishment, repair and maintenance sites.
"We are determined to tackle this issue head on and will continue to take enforcement action against those rogues who flout safety precautions. Let me be clear to all those who put lives at risk - we will continue to carry out further inspections and will take all action necessary to protect workers, including closing sites and prosecution."
Source: HSE website
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