Welcome to HSE prosecutions in brief. An overview of this weeks prosecutions by the HSE.
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Wakefield builder fined for dangerous gas work
A Batley family was put in danger after a local builder carried out defective gas fitting work while constructing an extension to their home.
Nigel Parker of Tingley, Wakefield, illegally modified the flue of a gas combi-boiler, extended pipework and moved the bayonet fitting for a gas cooker. He also left a gas meter unsafely perched on a plank above trenches that had been dug for the extension.
The HSE, which brought the prosecution, told Dewsbury Magistrates that the self-employed builder was hired to build the extension to the semi-detached property in Batley. Works started at the end of September 2009.
During excavations, the incoming gas main was cut through. The gas authorities were called and they repaired the pipe but disconnected the supply as the gas meter had been left supported dangerously by just a wooden board spanning the excavations for the building’s footings.
Mr Parker later used the wrong type of parts, did not tighten joints enough and used duct tape to hold things in place.
The offences came to light a few months later when the boiler broke down and the householder called out a properly registered gas engineer to repair it. He immediately spotted the dangers and disconnected the boiler. He reported what he had found to the Gas Safe Register and one of their inspectors visited and declared the boiler flue modification to be ‘immediately dangerous’.
Nigel Parker of Haigh Moor Road, Tingley, who traded as Tingley Joinery and Building Services, pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998 between 1 October 2009 and 20 April 2010, and a further breach on or before 9 October 2009. He was fined a total of £5,000 with £1,620 costs.
Read full story here
Warwickshire County Council fined for man’s injuries
Warwickshire County Council has been prosecuted by the HSE after a self-employed heating contractor lost most of two fingers in poorly guarded machinery.
John Shields, 64, who traded as Shieldson Heating and was a nominated heating contractor at the Council’s Headquarters at Shire Hall, Warwick, was checking a heating pump in the basement plant room on 4 October 2009 when his hand was pulled into the running belts of a hot water pump.
Two of his fingers were amputated below the first knuckle as a result, leaving him with a permanent tingling and stinging sensation in his hand. He still needs to take medication for the pain, which is exacerbated by cold weather. He has been unable to return to work and has difficulty carrying out a number of everyday tasks.
A HSE investigation into the incident found that the back of the machine was not adequately guarded to the legal requirements, exposing dangerous moving parts.
Nuneaton Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr Shields, whom the council had employed as the main heating contractor for the building for more than a decade before the incident, believed the pump was not running.
Warwickshire County Council, based at Shire Hall, Warwick, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The council was fined £7,000 and ordered to pay £5,235 costs.
Read full story here.
Company fined after worker falls from balcony
A Pembroke Dock construction company and its director have been prosecuted after a labourer suffered serious injuries on a construction site.
Karl Kraus, 31, from Pembroke Dock was employed by Preseli Construction & Maintenance Ltd, and was working on the build of a large domestic property at Incline Way, Saundersfoot.
Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court heard that on 25 March 2010, Mr Kraus was instructed to remove a concrete block that had been placed across a doorway. As he proceeded to throw the block, he fell backwards on to the balcony and then seven metres to the ground below.
A HSE investigation found that the 3-storey house was being built without scaffold or any form of fall prevention.
Preseli Construction & Maintenance Ltd and its director, Mr Christopher Newell, had failed to ensure that work at height was properly planned and supervised. They also failed to ensure that it was carried out in a safe manner.
Mr Kraus spent 6 days in Morriston Hospital in Swansea where he underwent surgery to pin the bone in his left heel and was in a plaster cast for approximately ten months. Still in constant pain and unable to walk on uneven ground without risking a fall, he is due to undergo further surgery to prevent any further damage to his foot, but his career in the construction industry is over.
Preseli Construction & Maintenance Ltd of Waterloo Industrial Estate, Eastern Avenue, Pembroke Dock pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,376.25.
Mr Christopher Newell of The Glebe, Narberth Road, Tenby also pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. He was fined £4,000, with costs of £2,376.25. Mr Newell is also disqualified from acting as a company director, managing or in any way controlling a company for at least two years.
Read full story here.
Plumber given community service for putting people’s lives at risk
An Ipswich plumber who put lives at risk by illegally working on gas appliances has been awarded 100 hours of community service.
Andrew Davies, 44, of Tower Mill Road, Ipswich, admitted breaching safety regulations when he appeared at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court on December 5th 2011.
A joint investigation by EHOs from Ipswich Borough Council and Gas Safe found Mr Davies carried out work on gas fittings and appliances at the Kwan Thai restaurant in Saint Nicholas Street, Ipswich in July 2010 without being registered to do so. This being a legal requirement for carrying out such work. Mr Davies falsely issued the restaurant owners with a safety record bearing an invalid registration number.
The work carried out by Mr Davies at the restaurant was judged by a qualified engineer to be so dangerous it represented “an immediate danger to life or property.”
The HSE served a Prohibition Notice on Mr Davies on 9 March 2011, which stopped him from carrying out any further gas work, until such time as he obtained registration from GasSafe.
Mr Davies pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 3 (3) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998. Along with 100 hours of community service, he was ordered to pay £3,527.50 costs.
Read full story here.
St Helens manufacturer in court over crushed hand
A manufacturing firm has been sentenced after a worker’s hand was crushed in a metal press at a St Helens factory.
Barry Kelleher lost his little finger and part of the palm on his right hand as a result of the incident at Crane Building Services and Utilities. The 47-year-old from Leigh also needed two skin grafting operations.
The owner of the factory, Crane Ltd, was prosecuted by the HSE after an investigation found the machine could still be operated when a workers’ hand was underneath the mould.
Knowsley Magistrates’ Court in Huyton was told the machine had been installed at the factory on Delta Road in St Helens in 1967, but had not been upgraded to comply with modern health and safety laws.
Mr Kelleher does not remember the incident on 19 January 2011, which occurred while he was using the press to mould metal parts, used by the gas industry.
However, the HSE investigation concluded that the most likely explanation is that he inadvertently pressed the foot pedal on the machine while his hand was under the mould.
Crane Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to prevent workers from being able to access the dangerous parts of the machine while it was operating.
The company, of West Road in Ipswich, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £4,560 in prosecution costs on 9 December 2011.
Read full story here.
Firms fined £100k over forklift death at Macclesfield factory
Two companies have been fined a total of £100,000 following the death of a maintenance worker who fell from the forks of a forklift truck at a Macclesfield factory.
Millennium Rubber International Ltd and United Crane Services Ltd were both prosecuted by the HSE following the incident at Millennium Rubber’s factory at Nab Works, Long Lane, Pott Shrigley.
Chester Crown Court was told United Crane Services had been hired to repair an overhead crane at the factory but had allowed Mr Denton to be lifted in a container designed for materials rather than people.
The HSE investigation found that it had been standard practice for Millennium Rubber to use containers and pallets on forklift trucks to lift workers, despite neither being designed, nor safe, for that purpose.
Millennium Rubber, which produces rubber surfaces for running tracks and children’s playgrounds, admitted two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by putting workers’ safety at risk. It was fined £90,000 and ordered to pay £21,411 in prosecution costs in a sentencing hearing a Warrington Crown Court on 9 December 2011.
United Crane Services, of Claywheels Lane in Sheffield, also pleaded guilty to one breach of the same act for failing to ensure the safety of its employee, Mr Denton. It was fined £10,000 with costs of £5,000.
Read full story here.
Sentencing after Telford fireball incident
A company and its manager have been fined after two workers were engulfed in a fireball when they cut through a live 1,000 volt electrical cable at an industrial unit in Telford.
The HSE prosecuted Birmingham firm RVB Investments UK Ltd and manager Clifford Leigh following the incident on 10 August 2010.
Telford Magistrates’ Court heard RVB Investments’ employees Eamonn Osborne, 53, and David Rawlins, 46, had been told to find an underground water leak at an empty industrial unit owned by the company at Halesfield 5, Telford.
Mr Leigh instructed them to dig at a spot outside the unit. Using an electrical drill, they drilled nearly 40cm into the ground until they hit a live 1,000 volt cable.
They were engulfed in a fireball and suffered burns to their hands, arms and faces. Both were airlifted to hospital and Mr Osborne was so seriously injured that for the first few days, doctors believed he might not survive.
The court heard the estimated power of the fireball was equivalent to 4.3 million watts of energy.
The heat was so intense that part of the electrical breaker’s metal tool was vaporised and a 500 amp fuse was blown in a nearby electrical substation.
HSE’s investigation into the incident found that RVB Investments had not assessed the risks involved, devised a safe system of work or obtained site plans of the area, checked whether there were any electrical cables underground or used safe digging methods. The two men had also received no training about the dangers arising from underground services.
The court also heard that in issuing instructions to the two men, Clifford Leigh had a duty to take reasonable care for their safety. Despite being aware of the guidance which details how to dig safely near underground services, he failed to ensure that proper precautions had been taken before telling them to start work.
RVB Investments UK Ltd, of Hurst Street, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £4,420 costs.
Clifford Leigh, of Longbridge Lane, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs.
Read full story here.
