HEALTH & SAFETY ONLY MARCH 2009 AND YET!

[brothermagrew]

Only three months into the year and health and safety is as important as ever.

ENGLAND - NORTHERN IRELAND - SCOTLAND - WALES

Business partner fined over ladder fall
A partner in the Beechdean Dairies partnership has been fined a total of £11,000 at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court following an incident where a worker fell from a ladder at its North Dean High Wycombe premises on 19th June 2007.

An employee was felting a link roof and filling in gaps between the link roof, freezers and walls, when the ladder he was standing on slipped or toppled and he fell, breaking both his wrists.

Construction site death in central London
A worker, aged 30, died last Thursday on a commercial development site in Swan Lane, central London. One account states that the accident involved a mobile elevating work platform.

MAIB reports on Fraserburgh fishing crew fire deaths
A Marine Accident Investigation Branch report into the deaths of 3 commercial fishermen as they slept on board the fishing vessel Vision II in Fraserburgh last August concludes that the fire may have been ignited by a cigarette or a faulty heater. The fire alarm did not function because it had no power supply, a fire door closing mechanism was disabled and none of the deceased had the benefit of safety awareness training.

The investigation identified a number of concerns: the fitting out of the vessel; its operation; self-certification; and inspection. It also highlighted the increased number of foreign crews living on board fishing vessels in harbour, without the consequent safety aspects being assessed.

Retailer fined over finger accident
Tesco has been fined £22K plus £7K in costs after pleading guilty to an accident in which a store assistant lost a finger while attempting a manual repair on equipment at its Haverfordwest store. He had been using a Mastermover machine to move roll cages, but a mechanism was malfunctioning. The company admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure equipment was efficiently maintained, failing to provide adequate training and neglecting a duty to ensure the health and safety of an employee.

Scaffold member hit pedestrian
During work in May last year at the Metro Public House on The Burges, in Coventry City Centre, a scaffold pole fell from a height of 5 metres, striking and injuring the leg of a passing pedestrian. Scaffolders had placed the pole temporarily against a rail just before it fell, a colleague positioned to prevent people entering the area below the structure had failed to intercept the injured female passer-by.

Sky Scaffolding (Midlands) Ltd of Warwick was fined a total of £4,000 with costs of £1,761 at Coventry Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to breaching r.10(2) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and r.3[1](b) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

London council fined over scaffolder's electrocution
Camden Council has been fined £40K plus £16K in costs in respect of the electrocution of a scaffolder on the Mayford estate in September 2006 when he contacted the live casing of a faulty light, the earth cable of which had been cut. The council had neglected to inspect its lighting fittings on the estate.

Farming death
It is reported that the HSE is investigating an incident which occurred on Saturday in which a woman was killed in an accident on farmland at Llandysul, Cardiganshire. The incident involved collision with an agricultural vehicle.


Dumper truck accident fine
A. Carpenter & Sons (Builders) Ltd of Shanklin, Isle of Wight, have been fined £7,000 with costs of £5,728 at Newport Magistrates' Court for breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 over an incident in November 2007 in which an employee overturned his small skip-loading one-tonne dumper truck on a site in Wootton, Isle of Wight.

The employee injured his leg, he had not been trained to operate this kind of truck and the risk assessment for the activity was deemed inadequate, He had been negotiating a slippery slope on an awkward route at the time.

Scaffolding collapsed on to rail tracks
The collapse of a 52-metre-long 3-lift scaffolding structure on to the rail lines at Aberystwyth in February 2005 had the potential to cause serious injury and loss of life. The structure had been erected at a building site next to the rail terminus and only good fortune prevented any injury.

Two companies, C. Sneade Ltd of Garthmyl, Powys, and their contractors MW Scaffolding Ltd of Glanyrafon Industrial Estate, Llanbadarn Fawr, were fined, the former £10,000 with £20,000 costs, the latter £8,000 plus £6,700 costs. Neither company had undertaken the required design calculations for the freestanding, untied, scaffolding nor inspected it at the required time intervals and occasions.

NE recycling plant fined over fatal accident
The Alex Smiles Ltd recycling plant was fined £15K plus £5K costs at Newcastle Crown Court after pleading guilty to breaching the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 over the death of a worker killed by a vehicle at the Sunderland plant, the prosecution accepting that the violation by the company did not contribute to the worker's death.

At an earlier hearing a plant operator employee had admitted a charge of manslaughter by gross negligence, with sentencing to follow.

Woman dies at Northants paper plant
An accident investigation is underway at Merley Paper Converters of Corby where a woman has died in a workplace accident.

CO fatal accident at Kent fast food outlet
A 16-year old female worker at the Erith Fried Chicken takeaway in Bexleyheath has died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, a 17-year old male worker is listed in critical condition in hospital. Some paramedics and 4 others also received treatment at the scene and in hospital.

Forklift rollover accident at Teesside mineral company
A forklift rollover accident has left the driver with serious leg injuries in an accident yesterday at industrial mineral company Minelco on the Bowesfield Industrial Estate, Stockton. One lower leg was badly crushed, his condition is listed as stable in the University Hospital of North Tees.

Worker's arm disappeared into machine
Last September, an employee of Kingspan Ltd, of Greenfield Business Park Holywell, Flintshire, was feeding a sheet of steel into a lock form machine when his gloved left hand became caught in the front rollers, pulling his lower arm into the machine and fracturing and crushing it.

Kingspan was fined £3,500 by Scarborough Magistrates with costs of £1,949 after pleading guilty to an offence under r.11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. An HSE inspector explained: "A metal guard for the front rollers had apparently previously been taken off to help line up the sheets to go into the machine. The company removed the rollers and fitted a new clear plastic guard immediately after the accident, but if the situation had been properly planned and controlled effective guarding would have been in place at all times.”

Miner's death 'misadventure'
A rock fall at the Cleveland Potash mine in Teesside on April 19th 2007 killed a 24-year old miner as he installed roof bolts. It remains unclear exactly what occurred and a Coroner's Court jury determined a misadventure verdict.

The deceased man was discovered in an area that was unsupported in front of the bolting equipment and no reason for him taking up this position could be established by investigators.

Fatal accident on London site
A construction worker died in an accident on a site in Hampstead. The deceased was employed as a carpenter and died in the incident in which a crane is reported to have toppled and crushed him.

Fire during demolition of York’s abattoir
A major fire broke out at a former abattoir on Station Road, Thirsk, during cutting work with an oxy-acetylene torch, no injuries were reported at the site which has already been partly demolished.

Elderly woman injured by scaffolding
It is reported that an elderly woman has been injured by a falling scaffolding structure in Byker, Northumbria. The structure was erected at a retail property being refurbished, strong winds at the time may have been a factor.

Worker's ladder was unsecured
Scandinavian Log Cabins Direct Ltd of Theddlethorpe, Lincolnshire, has been fined £500 with £500 costs after an employee fell and fractured his pelvis in a workplace fall in August 2007. Whilst working to construct a log cabin, a scaffold platform was temporarily removed and the accident victim used a ladder to access work at 3 metres height. As he did so the unsecured ladder slipped and he fell to the concrete below. The 48-year old had worked without the benefit of a proper risk assessment and supervision.

Worker was crushed by granite slabs
The employer of a man crushed to death in November 2005 at a Hounslow stoneyard has been fined £4,000 with £2,000 costs at the Old Bailey.

The deceased, along with colleagues at Stoneville (UK) Ltd, was unloading granite slabs and tiles from a shipping container which held 8 wooden crates. After the first 3 crates had been removed he and another colleague climbed inside the container to unload the large granite slabs. Some slabs became unstable and fell towards the centre of the container, trapping the accident victim between the falling slabs and a bundle of granite that was secured inside the container.

Stoneville had failed to conduct a risk assessment, investigation found that there was a camber on the road which caused the load on the trailer to destabilise and lean towards the yard.

Accident investigation at Staffs workplace
Investigation is ongoing into the workplace death of an employee of recycling contractor Verdant while collecting recyclable material at Rugely on 26th February. Verdant is contracted to Cannock Chase District Council, the deceased 18 year-old worker was struck by a vehicle during kerbside loading work.

Resident electrocuted
A man was electrocuted in his garden on Monday in an incident involving power distribution equipment it is reported. The incident occurred in Billinghay, Lincolnshire.

Work experience risk assessment failure
Hockmeyer Motors Ltd, operators of Holdingham Garage, Sleaford, have been fined £15,000 with £9,000 costs in connection with a January 2008 incident in which a school student suffered burns from a fire-ball which melted the plastic print of his t-shirt onto his skin. The fire was caused by brake fluid which ignited after being sprayed onto a running engine by a colleague.

An HSE inspector commented: "This incident left a young man hospitalised, and could have been avoided if the company had assessed the risk associated with such habitual use of the solvent and implemented appropriate risk control measures to reduce identified risks. Work experience pupils are viewed as employees for the purposes of health and safety legislation, yet they are often more vulnerable than a company's trained and qualified employees.
It is therefore imperative that if companies contract to have work experience pupils from local schools they update any risk assessments to take into consideration this particularly vulnerable group of employee.”

Detached HGV tyre kills man in West Sussex
A bouncing detached wheel from a passing lorry inflicted multiple injuries to a man awaiting a lift by the A26 in Arundel, West Sussex, he was struck by 1 of 2 detached wheels. He died later from the multiple injuries; compounding the accident, his father-in-law collapsed and died when told of the incident.

Worker's crush injury
It is reported that a worker was admitted to intensive care in Coleraine hospital following an accident. One account states he was working on a commercial vehicle at premises in Maghera, Co. Londonderry.

Hoist accident
An elderly woman from Thornham, Rochdale, receiving adult care from Rochdale Council died following an incident involving a hoist being used in her bedroom. The incident which resulted in her fall occurred in January, HSE is investigating.

Supply mix up led to electric shock
South Eastern Electrical Plc of Hainault has been fined £50,000 with costs of £20,000 at Basildon Crown Court having been found guilty of breaching of S.3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in the circumstances of an accident on 23rd July 2006 in which a groundworks contractor sustained an electrical shock and consequent injury at a supermarket in Southend, Essex.

Work was being done on 4 lighting standards and an assumption was made that all 4 standards were supplied from the one source, however, one of them was not isolated from its supply. The injured man came into contact with this supposedly isolated cable, rendering him unconscious and causing him to sustain burns. No circuit diagrams had been available, no attempt had been made by South Eastern Electrical to produce a diagram by surveying each column to identify its point of supply and no written permit to work system was in place.

The 4th column was supplied by a separate distribution board that had not been isolated and was also controlled by a light sensor. When the electricians had initially tested the supply there had been sufficient daylight to prevent the supply being switched on. However, during the replacement work, the level of light decreased to such an extent that the sensor energised the circuit.

Company fined over plant accident
At Swansea Crown Court Randalls Groundworks Ltd has been fined £38K after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act in respect of an accident at a site in Pontarddulais where a 3-tonne road roller slid off an embankment into an excavation, the operator managing to leap clear at the last moment.

Worker impaled in fall during media installation
An employee of Virgin Media is listed in serious but not life-threatening condition in Derriford Hospital after falling more than 2 metres from a ladder at a house on Wilton Street, Plymouth, and becoming impaled on a railing spike.

Electrocution death in Midlands
It is reported that the worker in his 40's who received an 11kV shock when his lorry-mounted grab contacted an overhead cable last month has since died. The incident occurred at a property in Badsey, east of Evesham, Worcestershire.

Scrap yard fatal accident
It is reported that a man in his 60's has died following an accident at a vehicle breaker's premises in Awsworth, Nottingham, one account states he sustained crush injuries from under a raised vehicle.

Suspected CO poisoning of 2 men
Steps are being taken to discover if 2 men who were found dead at a residential property in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, have succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. The pair were found in the flatted property owned by Willow Park Housing Trust, post-mortem examination proved inconclusive as to the cause of death.

Electrician fell in cage
An electrician suffered a broken wrist, severe bruising, concussion and was unable to work for more than 8 months after falling 2.5 metres in a man-carrying cage supported by the forks of a telescopic materials handler.

The electrician, who was not an employee of developers Wynbrook Ltd of Nottingham, was working at a site in Wragby Road, Lincoln, in October 2007. The equipment was hired by Wynbrook but the driver had not been trained in the use of the cage, and had failed to secure it to the forks. The occupants of the cage had not worn harnesses to secure themselves to it, the driver was unaware the telescopic handler had a safety pin in the cab to prevent the forks from accidentally being dropped. Wynbrook was fined £10,000 plus £3,362 costs.

Information source: http://www.safetynews.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;