http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php Copyright 2012, Carbel Health and Safety Consultants Carbel Health and Safety Consultants en-US SPHPBLOG 0.5.1 http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120426-145523
Suffolk Mushrooms Limited was also housing 37 employees in a disused office block with a potentially unsafe gas boiler on the Shepherd Grove Industrial Estate, East Stanton in Suffolk.

Bury St Edmunds Magistrates' Court heard today that in September 2010, St Edmundsbury Borough Council informed HSE, who then investigated and prosecuted the company.

The HSE investigation found that the heating in the living accommodation was provided by a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) fired boiler in the men's toilet. There was no landlord's gas safety certificate for this boiler, which is a legal requirement.

In the factory used as the mushroom farm, HSE inspectors found a number of safety failings. The gates on the work platforms used by employees to reach the highest mushroom beds were propped open and an HGV regularly reversed 100m between the two growing sheds where people might be walking. Inspectors also found that forklift trucks were being operated by drivers who were not properly trained and equipment was being towed around unsafely with pieces of knotted rope.

Suffolk Mushrooms Ltd of Shepherds Grove Industrial Estate, Stanton, Bury St Edmunds, admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £10,000 and £750 for not having a landlord Gas Safety report for the boiler, and ordered to pay £8,446.05 in costs.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector John Claxton said:
"What we discovered at this farm was very disturbing. It is difficult to believe that workers can be exposed to such unnecessary risks.

"Suffolk Mushrooms invested more than £1.5m in refurbishing its factory and mushroom growing equipment, yet failed to spend even a few hundred pounds to keep its employees safe. The workers were from Eastern Europe and most were unable to speak good English, and so were vulnerable to this type of exploitation.

"There is absolutely no excuse to treat employees like this. There is plenty of free advice and guidance available from HSE to help businesses comply with the law and keep people safe. HSE will not hesitate to take action against companies failing to comply with the law."]]> http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120426-145523 Carbel Health and Safety Consultants Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:55:23 GMT http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120425-101002 Concentra Ltd, based in Waltham Cross, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after inspectors found that the incident on 26 September 2008 was preventable.

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard yesterday (18 April) how a member of the public was waiting for a bus on York Road, London, when she was hit by a piece of machinery being lifted to the fifth floor of a nearby office block.

The woman suffered severe multiple injuries including several broken bones and cuts and swelling to her head. She was in hospital for eight days and the injuries have affected her work and studies.

The building was being refurbished and instead of traditional scaffolding being used on the site, a mast climber had been erected, which allowed workers to be raised and lowered on the outside of the building.

The HSE investigation found that a crane and lifting slings were being used to lift a 380kg, 0.6m square by 2m high, air handling unit. The crane was not fitted correctly and during the lift, the unit hit a mast climber and was knocked out of its sling causing it to fall from height and hit the member of the public.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Bose Ogunsekan said:
"Concentra Ltd failed in its duty to manage the safety of persons affected by its activities. A high risk activity such as using a crane to lift this sort of load on the site should have been fully risk assessed during the planning stages of the project.

"In addition, further measures that would have also protected members of the public from site traffic, such as an alternative pedestrian route and a temporary bus stop elsewhere, could have prevented injury to passers by."

Concentra Ltd of High Street, Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, EN8 7D, were found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in relation to the incident. The firm was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £21,000.
]]> http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120425-101002 Carbel Health and Safety Consultants Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:10:02 GMT http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120423-155258
It's hard to tell where some of these ridiculous and baffling myths originate, but they all have one crucial thing in common - they are not required by health and safety law.

To mark the launch of the new Myth Busters Challenge Panel, HSE has published its top ten worst myths. We want people to work with us to challenge these myths - the time has come to end the madness!

1. Children being banned from playing conkers unless they are wearing goggles
2. Office workers being banned from putting up Christmas decorations
3. Trapeze artists being ordered to wear hard hats
4. Pin the tail on the donkey games being deemed a health and safety risk
5. Candy floss on a stick being banned in case people trip and impale themselves
6. Hanging baskets being banned in case people bump their heads on them
7. Schoolchildren being ordered to wear clip on ties in case they are choked by traditional neckwear
8. Park benches must be replaced because they are three inches too low
9. Flip flops being banned from the workplace
10. Graduates ordered not to throw their mortar boards in the air
]]> http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120423-155258 Carbel Health and Safety Consultants Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:52:58 GMT http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120417-101135
The construction site for a new Art and Design Academy at Liverpool John Moores University following a scaffolding collapse.

Two companies have been fined a total of £100,000 over the incident, which occurred during the construction of an atrium for a new Art and Design Academy at the university.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that workers had been pumping concrete onto the third floor of the building for most of the day on 19 September 2007 when the supporting scaffolding holding up the concrete suddenly collapsed. The workers' injuries included cement burns to their skin and eyes, and bone fractures.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found both the principal contractor for the project, Wates Construction Ltd, and the concrete subcontractor, MPB Structures Ltd, allowed the supporting scaffolding to be erected from a preliminary design, clearly marked 'for discussion and pricing purposes only'.

The drawing did not include all the information needed to erect the scaffolding correctly or safely. The companies also failed to ensure the scaffolding was checked before allowing the concrete to be poured.

Both companies admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by putting workers at risk. Wates Construction Ltd, of Station Approach in Leatherhead, Surrey, was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £35,591 in prosecution costs on 10 April 2012.

MPB Structures Ltd, of Crucible Road in Corby, Northamptonshire, was also fined £50,000 with costs of £35,362.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Susan Ritchie said:
"This incident resulted in seven men falling roughly ten metres onto wet concrete which contained various bits of metal and wood.

"The companies should have made sure they had an appropriate design they could use to build from, and that the structure was inspected before the concrete was poured.

"Instead, more than 250 tonnes of concrete was poured onto scaffolding incapable of taking such loads and the inevitable happened - it collapsed. These basic errors could easily have resulted in several people losing their lives.

"This incident should act as a stark reminder that if you fail to plan and manage projects properly then there is a real potential for things to go seriously wrong."

Last year, there were 50 workplace deaths and nearly 3,000 major injuries reported in the construction industry in Great Britain. Information on improving safety is available at www.hse.gov.uk/construction.

]]> http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120417-101135 Carbel Health and Safety Consultants Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:11:35 GMT http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120330-160329
The 27-year-old woman, who does not want to be named, was repairing a gutter at Provimi Ltd's site in Eastern Avenue, Lichfield, when she tripped and fell through a rooflight.

She fractured two vertebrae and suffered extensive bruising in the fall, keeping her off work for two months, Burton-on-Trent Magistrates' Court heard.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Provimi Ltd and the woman's employer, Alan Riley, trading as Riley & Sons, following the incident on 4 April 2011.

The court heard Provimi had obtained two quotations to repair the warehouse roof, one from a roofing maintenance firm and one from Mr Riley, who had never worked on fragile roofs before.

The court was told Provimi commissioned Mr Riley because his price was £20,000 less than the roofing firm, but did not check whether he was competent to carry out the work.

HSE's investigation into the incident found the boards on the roof had no guardrails, workers had no harnesses, and there was no netting underneath to prevent them from landing on the concrete floor.

Magistrates heard Provimi made no attempt to stop the work and its staff even helped Mr Riley by lifting materials to the unprotected roof edge.

HSE inspector Mr Lindsay Hope said after yesterday's hearing:
"Provimi decided to cut costs by hiring a cheap contractor without checking whether he was competent to do the job.

"When Provimi staff saw there was no protection to prevent a fall at the edge of the warehouse roof, the company should have stepped in straightaway to stop this unsafe work, but instead helped Alan Riley to carry on.

"Alan Riley should never have taken on the work. He had no experience of working on fragile roofs and did not take enough precautions to protect workers on the roof and because of this a woman suffered serious injuries which could easily have been fatal.

"Clear guidance on working at height is available from HSE and it is unacceptable to see such failings."

Provimi Ltd, of Dalton Airfield Industrial Estate, Dalton, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £1,924 costs.

Alan Riley, 62, of Salisbury Avenue, Burton-on-Trent, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,924 costs.
]]> http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120330-160329 Carbel Health and Safety Consultants Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:03:29 GMT http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120329-121008
Richard Caddock, 38, from Bexleyheath, London, was talking on a mobile phone and could not hear the approaching truck above the noise of nearby motorway traffic, when he was hit from behind on 8 April 2008.

The Health and Safety Executive today prosecuted his employer Costain Limited for failing to ensure adequate precautions were in place to separate the movements of people and vehicles.
Maidstone Crown Court heard that Mr Caddock, of Bexleyheath, London, had left a parked van and was walking northbound along a section of the central reservation closed off as part of a £65 million scheme to ease congestion between junctions 1b to 3.

As he talked on the phone, a tipper lorry delivering crushed stone entered the same section and reversed northbound. Mr Craddock had walked approximately 30m when the truck hit him.
The surveyor sustained multiple injuries as a result of being run over by the eight wheel vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Melvyn Stancliffe said:
"This was a terrible tragedy that could easily have been avoided had Costain Limited implemented basic safety precautions.

"Mr Caddock may have been distracted on the phone, but the drone of nearby traffic was such that he would have struggled to hear the reversing alarm on the lorry regardless. Quite simply the two should never have been allowed to be in the same place at the same time.

"The movement of people and vehicles on construction sites requires careful planning and effective control. It must be considered a critical part of transport management. This case highlights that a failure to be in control can have devastating consequences."

Costain Limited, of Vanwall Business Park in Maidenhead, pleaded guilty to breaching 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in connection to the death. In addition to the £250,000 fine, the company was ordered to pay £45,000 in costs.


]]> http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120329-121008 Carbel Health and Safety Consultants Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:10:08 GMT http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120312-164133
Fugro Engineering Services Ltd was appointed principal contractor to deliver a series of ground investigations, known as Package 16, as part of the multi-billion pound project to connect Maidenhead, Shenfield and Abbey Wood to central London.

At a sentencing hearing today, the Central Criminal Court heard that on 7 February 2008, a Fugro employee was using a hydraulic breaker to create an inspection pit for a borehole outside 1 Hanover Street, London, when he struck a high voltage electric cable.

The employee, who was 63 at the time of the incident, suffered severe injuries as he was treated for 60 per cent burns.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that the system of work in place at the time of the incident did not ensure that the roles of those involved in the project were clearly defined. Effective lines of communication were not established and appropriate training in safe digging techniques was not provided to operatives.

Furthermore, key safety documentation showing the presence of the cable was not kept at the borehole location. Although the site was scanned with a cable avoidance tool to detect underground services, no markings were made on the road to indicate where cables were found.

After the hearing HSE inspector Lisa Chappell said:
"It is completely foreseeable that electric cables would be present in a busy London street, and there is well-established guidance and training to ensure digging is carried out safely.
"Had Fugro Engineering Services provided the correct training, supervision and a safe system of work, proportionate to the level of risk involved, then this serious incident could have been avoided."

Fugro Engineering Services Ltd, of Wallingford, Oxfordshire, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in relation to the incident. The company was fined £55,000 and ordered to pay £30,000 in costs.
]]> http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120312-164133 Carbel Health and Safety Consultants Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:41:33 GMT http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120306-113738
Ronald Wood, 59, from Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, was struck on the head by the steel vacuum lifter, which weighed two-thirds of a tonne, when it was knocked from its mountings by a trailer being towed out of the Montracon factory.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation following the fatal incident exposed serious safety failings at the company's premises on Holme Road in Market Weighton.

Hull Crown Court heard that Mr Wood, a driver and long-standing employee of Montracon, was standing underneath the steel lifter with a fellow worker as a large trailer, which was being towed out of the factory, hit the brackets holding the machine in place. The impact knocked it loose and it fell more than three and a half metres - landing on top of Mr Wood. His colleague escaped with only a minor injury.

Mr Wood, who was a grandfather, never regained consciousness and died in hospital the same day.

Montracon Ltd., registered at Carr Hill, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two breaches of Health and Safety legislation. It was fined a total of £100,000 and ordered to pay £33,030 in costs.

Inspector Steven Kay, who carried out HSE's investigation, said after the hearing:
"There were obvious failures in basic safety precautions, sadly leading to an unnecessary death and the tragic bereavement of a family.

"If Montracon had a suitable plan to control the movement of trailers in the workshop area, then they would have realised it was not safe to manoeuvre a trailer past a heavy piece of equipment that could be dislodged. But it failed to consider the risks or take basic and inexpensive precautions relating to storing heavy equipment at height.

"Work changes had also taken place in the factory which should have led the firm to re-think the risks, but it did not. Whenever work activity changes, then risks must be reassessed.

"Montracon also failed to follow up several minor incidents which, had they been investigated, could have led to action to prevent this tragedy. All employers need to have a system to record near misses and investigate them. The resulting information could prevent loss of life."
In a statement to the court on behalf of Mr Wood's family, his daughter Emma Wood said:

"It is so difficult to put into words the devastation caused to our family by Dad's death. It was traumatic beyond belief and it still is...like a horrendous nightmare. We are all in total disbelief with what has happened and completely lost without him.

"To many he was a friend and work colleague - to us he was a husband, dad, granddad and great-granddad who we miss dearly every day."

There were five deaths and more than 550 major injuries in the manufacturing sector in Yorkshire and the Humber according to the latest 2020/11 HSE statistics. A further 1,900 less severe injuries were recorded.
]]> http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120306-113738 Carbel Health and Safety Consultants Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:37:38 GMT http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120227-153947
David James, 34, of Queensland Road, Weymouth has been unable to return to his job because of the injury which caused him severe pain.

Aden Pro Form Ltd, of Parkstone Road, Poole, was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £17,104 in costs in the case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) at Bournemouth Crown Court.

The court heard that the incident happened at a workshop in Westminster Road, Wareham in April 2009, when Mr James and a colleague were working on a machine producing flashings (metal components for the roofs of industrial buildings).

The company had developed a system of working, whereby Mr James helped guide the metal sheets into the press brake by hand from the back of the machine, working inside the fence guard. The press brake is designed to work without the need for anyone manually feeding the metal through from the back of the machine, but the company believed it would be easier and produce a better quality product if they did so.

The press brake started as Mr James had his arm in the six inch gap in the press brake, trapping his arm in the machine as the aperture closed. Staff quickly released him and he was sent to hospital.

Both Mr James and his colleague had last received training on the machinery seven or eight years previously.

HSE Inspector, David Bell, speaking after the hearing, said: "Aden Pro Form could have prevented this incident by ensuring all staff were carrying out their work safely, particulary on potentially dangerous machinery such as this.

"Mr James has suffered significant pain and has had to leave the metal fabrication industry. Employers must ensure their staff training is up to date and safe systems of work are used at all times. Dangerous practices such as this must be stopped before other serious injuries, or a fatality, result."

Aden Pro Form Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Further information on power presses and press brakes can be found on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2003/e03156.htm
]]> http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120227-153947 Carbel Health and Safety Consultants Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:39:47 GMT http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120222-115719
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted R & G Construction Ltd of Harrow as a result of the incident on 7 March 2011.

Vasile Ionel Vatca, a 28-year-old Romanian, had been working on a major refurbishment project at Eaton Mews North in Belgravia. The project included the construction of a basement, and a roof replacement. Mr Vatca was on top of the roof and had been clearing up debris left over from construction work which had been carried out on the roof.

HSE's investigation found that work on the roof had been carried out by employees and subcontractors who had previously been protected from falling off the roof by scaffolding, but this had been removed the previous month. Although the site's fall safety equipment was used after the 7 March incident, it was deemed to be entirely inadequate, and workers remained at risk of falling from height.

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard that on the day of the incident, Mr Vatca was on the top of the roof, and the only way to get there was using a ladder which only reached to the lower part of the roof. While he was climbing down, the ladder fell away from the building, Mr Vatca lost his footing and fell about seven metres, suffering a broken leg, heel and wrist. He was hospitalised for a week and is still not working. When sentencing, the judge commented on the severity of Mr Vatca's injuries and the fact that he is now registered disabled.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers said:
"This was an appalling and entirely preventable incident which has severely affected a young man's life.

"Companies have a duty to take steps to reduce risks and prevent falls using equipment such as guardrails and working platforms, or even nets and airbags if needs be.

"If the company had properly planned and organised the work and sufficiently assessed the risks of working at height, along with the use of appropriate work equipment - the likelihood of this happening would have been much reduced."

R & G Construction Ltd of College Road in Harrow pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1)(a), Regulation 5 and Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £7,515.
]]> http://www.carbelhealthandsafety.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry120222-115719 Carbel Health and Safety Consultants Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:57:19 GMT