23 October 2007
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...
[Read on about Firm fined £25,000 after worker fell to death]
18 October 2007
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...
[Read on about Council fined over cherry picker accident]
17 October 2007
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
[Read on about Safety warning - fixed rail vertical fall arrest system]
12 October 2007
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...
[Read on about Prison sentence expected for skylight manslaughter]
5 October 2007
The October 2007 edition of the Ai Solutions Newsletter is now available: October Newsletter.
[Read on about Newsletter - October 2007]
1 October 2007
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...
[Read on about HSE looks to industry]
1 October 2007
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...
[Read on about Construction company fined £43,000]
1 October 2007
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...
[Read on about HSE investigates two fatalities from falling bricks]
1 October 2007
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...
[Read on about One third of refurbishment sites dangerous]