Archive Prosecutions
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The following are posts with the 'Prosecutions' tag:
14 January 2019
Once again, contractors have ended up with a heavy fine after being prosecuted under the CAR12 (Asbestos) Regulations. In the court case two contractors were found guilty of not suitably managing the removal of some ceiling tiles at a school in Derby, they were fined over £100,000 plus ordered to pay a further £9,559 in costs. Asbestos is still being found in many of our refurbishment projects in older buildings as it was a cheap solution in the past. Yet still contractors are failing...
[Read on about Asbestos Court Case Delivers Heavy Fine]
11 May 2017
The SHP has reported that 40 workers were put at risk by being exposed to Asbestos. A hearing was carried out at Canterbury Crown Court and a fine of £750,000 was ordered plus payment of costs totalling £14,874.68. "The company's failings in this case has put many workers at risk to the exposure of asbestos", commented HSE inspector Melvyn Stancliffe. "It was clear there was an endemic failure to effectively manage the construction work on the site in a way which ensured that asbestos...
[Read on about Reckless Asbestos Failure / CDM regulations fine]
6 November 2013
In October, 2012 the Fee for Intervention was introduced by the HSE. This has been applied to those who have broken a Health and Safety Law. It means that law breakers are liable for all HSE related costs which happens to work out at £124 per hour. This includes inspection, investigation and taking enforcement action. Let's put this in perspective. In 2012 - 2013: 7,345 enforcement notices were issued by the HSE. With 8,810 overall in Great Britain in the same period of time. Following a...
[Read on about Spot Checks and the £124 per hour Fee for Intervention]
22 May 2013
The HSE has fined an Essex construction company for putting workers at risk after neglecting to check and maintain a potentially dangerous piece of lifting equipment. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out on 23 June 2011 found that when the truck was eventually examined only six items out of 24 that formed the basis of the report were marked "satisfactory". The remaining 18 items were classed as "repair needed". All these lead to the poor management of the machinery...
[Read on about Construction Company Fined for Maintenance Failings]
26 March 2013
The HSE has published details of a recent case regarding asbestos. A number of workers and Royal Navy personnel were exposed to asbestos after pipes lined with the dangerous material were left on a roadside before being put in an open skip and transferred to a salvage yard, a court has heard. The pipes, lined with asbestos insulation, were removed from HMS Sultan naval training base in Gosport in September 2009 as part of works to replace a hot water system. The subsequent HSE investigation identified...
[Read on about Firms fined for asbestos exposure risk at scrap yard and naval training base]
7 February 2013
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a Birmingham builder after he illegally removed and broke up asbestos panels from a home in Castle Bromwich. HSE inspectors visited a house on Rover Drive on 19 July 2012, following a call from a Solihull Council environmental health officer about possible unlicensed asbestos removal work. The subsequent HSE investigation found that, during works, the builder had been wearing only a dust mask for protection as he removed a number of Asbestos...
[Read on about Builder fined for illegally removing asbestos]
19 January 2013
The HSE has recently issued a press release regarding a hospital trust failing in their duties in regard to asbestos management. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust had an asbestos survey that clearly showed there was asbestos in the door surrounds but, despite several site meetings between the Trust and the contractors, no information on the location or condition of any asbestos was given to the contractors. For more...
[Read on about Hospital trust failed in their Asbestos Management duties]
17 January 2013
A Swansea engineering firm and building contractor have been fined for asbestos exposure. Workers were exposed to dangerous asbestos fibres following a catalogue of errors by an engineering company and a building firm during a demolition and refurbishment project in Swansea. The engineering firm had two asbestos management surveys for the site, which, although later deemed to be inadequate, identified the presence of asbestos material and highlighted other areas, such as the ceiling voids, which...
[Read on about Swansea Firm Fined for Asbestos Exposure]
11 January 2013
The HSE are prosecuting a Swansea engineering firm and contractor after recent investigations revealed several breeches, one included the failure to appoint a competent CDM-C. It was also noted that during the demolition works an asbestos insulation board (AIB) covering a steel column was damaged, and a Wall Colmonoy employee was told to tape plastic bags around it. Work continued in the building for several months with the AIB debris left lying on the floor until an unannounced visit was carried...
[Read on about Swansea Contractor Orders Workers to Tie Plastic Bags Around Exposed Asbestos]
3 January 2013
Staffordshire County Council has been handed a court bill of £15,000 after admitting liability when dangerous asbestos fibres were released into the nursery of a primary school in Cheslyn Hay. Work was being carried out at the school when some board was misidentified and put into a skip. The contractor involved was also fined however they stated that 'only a small amount of fibres were released'. For more on this story please visit www.expressandstar.com Ai Solutions can help you manage your...
[Read on about £15k Fine for Asbestos Fibres found in Nursery School]
23 November 2012
A Lancashire builder has appeared in court after he ignored a formal warning to stop working at the top of a dangerous scaffolding tower. The HSE Inspector could see there were no handrails or toe boards around the platform at the top of the tower to protect the workers from falling some seven metres to the ground. He immediately issued a Prohibition Notice ordering the men to come down from the unsafe scaffolding. For more on this article see HSE Press
[Read on about Lancashire builder risked lives on scaffolding]
7 November 2012
Once again the HSE is fining an organisation in regard to illegal asbestos removal. A demolition firm has been prosecuted after exposing its own workers to dangerous asbestos fibres and illegally removing asbestos waste from a property in Gloucester. The firm undertook an asbestos survey before demolishing the building showing it contained a quantity of Asbestos Insulating Board. The company did not hold the necessary licence to carry out the asbestos removal and failed to take adequate steps to...
[Read on about Illegal Asbestos Removal]
22 September 2012
We are still seeing major issues around the management of asbestos. Recently Staffordshire County Council has had to admit liability when dangerous asbestos fibres were released in one of their schools. The result is a hefty fine after they admitted failing to ensure persons not in its employment were not exposed to risks. Unfortunately cases such as these are still fairly common and yet they can be easily avoided by having an Asbestos Management System in place. Ai Solutions can provide this for...
[Read on about Staffordshire School, Dangerous Asbestos Fibres]
25 August 2012
Once again the HSE has come down hard on those not adhering to the Asbestos regulations. Two companies have been prosecuted after workers were exposed to potentially deadly asbestos fibres at a mill in Bolton. It is sad to hear that even with all the press and coverage situations like these are still occurring. For more on this story visit Firms prosecuted over asbestos danger at Bolton mill
[Read on about Asbestos Prosecutions in Bolton]
18 July 2012
A school in Dorset has recently been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for the unsafe removal of asbestos insulation boards which lead to several people being exposed to asbestos fibres. Sherborne School and Peter Eldridge, the director of a company responsible for the refurbishment project, have been fined after an investigation found they had failed to identify and prevent the risk of asbestos exposure at the school. For more on this story visit HSE Media Centre
[Read on about Safety failings led to asbestos exposure at Dorset school]
22 May 2012
The Safety & Health Practitioner reports that there has been a sharp drop in the number of prosecutions of employees under section 7 of the HSWA in the last five or six years, according to figures collated by the HSE from its prosecutions database. Interestingly, the fall in s7 prosecutions has coincided with a rise in the number of senior managers and directors prosecuted under s37 of the HSWA. Does this mean that more senior managers are being held to account for Health & Safety issues?...
[Read on about Shift in Prosecution to 'Those at the Top']
17 May 2012
The Bournemouth Echo reports that a local builder has been fined after carrying out demolition work on a house. He negated the requirement to carry out an asbestos survey before commencing work. Self-employed Stuart Pearson was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for not having a pre-demolition survey to check all asbestos had been removed from the building. This type of work is very dangerous, along with this the removal of the asbestos must be carried out by professional removers.
[Read on about Verwood Builder Fined - Asbestos Risk]
15 May 2012
A local contractor in Northamptonshire has been fined after a six-tonne dumper truck ran over a worker's foot. Lincoln Magistrates' Court heard that Maypine Construction was main contractor on the job where Ross Smith (23) and a colleague were filling the roadway with stone, in preparation for surfacing. The HSE said: "Many construction transport incidents are usually the result of inadequate separation of pedestrians and vehicles, and by inadequate control of vehicle movements on site." For more...
[Read on about Local Contractor - Dumper Truck Fine]
10 May 2012
Main contractor Bowmer & Kirkland and structural engineer Bingham Davis have been found guilty of breaking safety laws following a crane collapse in Liverpool which left the driver paralysed. Bowmer & Kirkland and Bingham had both denied the charges following the collapse in July 2009 when the tower crane toppled onto an apartment block at Chandlers Wharf in Liverpool city centre. The companies were fined £280k and £1k respectively for the accident where crane driver Iain Gillham,...
[Read on about Huge Fine for Crane Collapse]
5 May 2012
A building contractor has been fined over serious safety breaches after a worker was killed by a piece of falling cob wall being demolished by his son. Two agency workers Jamie Ford 24 and his father, Stephen Ford, 50, were working under the control of Do It All to demolish a barn at Dunbury Farmhouse in Winterbourne Houghton near Blandford in November 2008. The court heard no plan of work for the demolition was in place and Alaister Copland had no experience in demolition work of this kind. The...
[Read on about Dorset contractor sentenced over worker death]
3 May 2012
Here is a warning to those who dump their asbestos waste illegally. The Safety & Health practitioner reported that the owner of a small roofing firm has been electronically tagged after admitting to fly-tipping asbestos on a road in Kent. For more on this story see Roofer given curfew order for illegally dumping asbestos.
[Read on about Roofer is Tagged for Illegal Dumping of Asbestos]
16 February 2012
A construction company has been fined £30,000 this week for breaking work at height regulations after a man was injured in a seven metre fall from a roof. The incident happened to Romanian worker Vasile Ionel Vatca whilst he was employed on the refurbishment of a property in Belgravia, London. The work being carried out on the site included a roof replacement. Read more London construction company fined after worker badly injured.
[Read on about Construction Company Fined: Roof Fall]
5 January 2012
An interesting article in SHP (Safety & Health Practitioner) states that there has been a substantial increase in the number of prosecutions under the HSWA 1974 last year. These are the unofficial figures recently released by the HSE. The figures indicate a 400% increase in prosecutions over the last 5 years, which is enough to ring alarm bells for those who see Health and Safety regulations as a burden on their time, resources and funding. A wake up call indeed! For more on this story see...
[Read on about 400% Increase in Prosecutions: Senior Management]
28 September 2011
Once again the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are making an example of those who put members of the public and their staff at risk during construction works. Marks and Spencer, the well-known retailers, has been found guilty and fined £1m as recent construction works put people at risk of asbestos exposure during a facelift at its Reading store. They were also ordered to pay £600,000 costs on having been found guilty at an earlier hearing in a case brought by the HSE. The HSE's...
[Read on about Major Retailer: Asbestos Fine]
28 March 2011
The Safety & Health Practitioner reported that an exclusive leisure resort in Scotland has been fined £120,000 for failing to put in place adequate controls to prevent Legionnaires' disease. A man died and his wife was also very ill, suffering from Pontiac Fever, a short feverish form of Legionnaires' disease. It makes one wonder if the cuts in Health and Safety are really a wise move. For more on this article go to Golf-resort guest died from Legionnaires’ Disease.
[Read on about Legionnaires Disease Death]
4 March 2011
A Buckinghamshire construction company has been fined £5,000 after a contractor died when a trench collapsed on him. This recently reported story from SHP (Safety & Health Practitioner) is very sad and it really brings it home to us how easily a life can be lost due to lack of planning and no risk assessment. The lad who died is local to us (Leighton Buzzard) our thoughts are with the family. For more on this story see Hard-up building firm to pay £5000 over trench-collapse death.
[Read on about Building firm fined over trench-collapse death]
16 February 2011
The BBC reported on February 15th that Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings has been found guilty of corporate manslaughter in the first ever conviction under the Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007. This is big news as it has taken so long for anyone to be brought to justice. Perhaps now this case has come to light, with consequences, clients will take the act more seriously now. For more on this see Company guilty of Cheltenham geologist's manslaughter
[Read on about Geotechnical Firm Found Guilty of Corporate Manslaughter]
20 January 2011
A very serious accident recently occured when a crane hit a cherry picker and the basket was knocked to the ground leaving Alexander Struthers, a steel erector, with multiple broken bones. Following the case being heard at Lanark Sheriff Court, Health and Safety Executive Inspector Eve Macready said: "This completely avoidable incident has had an enormous impact on Mr Struthers' life. "Duty holders have an obligation to ensure all work at height is properly planned and a proper risk assessment...
[Read on about Working at Height: Cherry Picker Struck by Overhead Crane]
10 January 2011
The HSE has prosecuted two companies after three workers fell through skylights on three separate occasions at an industrial unit in Warrington. The SHP reported that, on three separate occasions, three similar incidents were allowed to happen. An astonished HSE officer stated that "A man was sent on to a roof without safety equipment, despite two caretakers falling through skylights less than a month earlier" As we all know, more workplace deaths are caused by falls from height than anything else...
[Read on about HSE - Falls From Height Prosecutions]
15 October 2010
The SHP (Safety & Health Practitioner) has stated that the charges against the director have been dropped in the first corporate manslaughter trial. This has raised concerns as Sally Roff, partner and head of the safety, health and environment group at law firm Beachcroft LLP, believes that the Corporate Manslaughter Act has been tainted by the latest delay in court proceedings. The long-awaited trial of Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide...
[Read on about Charges dropped in first Corporate Manslaughter Trial]
30 September 2009
Our colleagues at Callsafe report in their latest newsletter that the first Corporate Manslaughter case to be brought to court is to be tried in February 2010. The case against Gloucestershire-based Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings is due to the death of one of their Junior Geologists in September 2008. He was killed when a pit in which he was taking soil samples as part of a site survey collapsed on him. The company has been charged under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Killing Act 2007...
[Read on about Corporate Manslaughter - first case]
30 November 2004
A company has been fined £6,000 for failing to monitor and supervise forklift truck movements in the packing area of its factory. The court heard that the driver had reversed up to the injured person and a colleague in order to have a short conversation with them. She was crushed between the truck and a steel packing table. She sustained a fractured pelvis, damage to internal organs, and a broken left leg and spent some four months in hospital. A colleague sustained a minor foot injury in...
[Read on about Female worker crushed by reversing forklift truck ]
29 November 2004
A man on work experience suffered fractured ribs when he fell from a tower scaffold. The Company was fined £3000 after the magistrates court was told that there was no access ladder on the scaffold, and the working platform and edge protection was incomplete. The man was using the scaffold to maintain a fluorescent light fitting at a factory unit, which the Company was refurbishing. He climbed up the internal bracing of the scaffold and fell 4.5 metres when the bar he pulled on came away. The...
[Read on about Lack of access ladder on scaffold led to fall]