Global chemical firm sentenced over finger loss
A global chemical firm has been prosecuted for ignoring basic safety guidelines after a maintenance worker seriously injured his right hand at a Runcorn factory.
The 58-year-old worker, who has asked not to be named, lost his ring finger and suffered damage to his middle and little finger after his gloved hand was pulled into machinery.
Ineos Enterprises Ltd, which has sites in the UK, France, Germany and Thailand, admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 when failing to ensure the safety of workers.
The company, of South Parade in Runcorn, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £6,607 towards the cost of the prosecution on 4 July 2011.
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Poole builders fined after scaffold fall
A Poole construction company has been sentenced after a carpenter was seriously injured when he fell three metres off scaffolding while working on a house extension.
P O Sharps Landscapes pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, and was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,000.
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Companies fined £640,000 for double fish farm deaths
Two companies have been fined a total of £640,000 following the death of two fish farm workers on a barge moored at a salmon farm on Loch Creran, Argyll & Bute.
Scottish Sea Farms worker, Campbell Files and engineer Arthur Raikes – employed by Logan Inglis Limited, Cumbernauld – were fixing a hydraulic crane on the barge when they went below deck to find cabling and pipework.
The oxygen levels below deck were very low and Mr Files passed out while Mr Raikes managed to climb back out. In an attempt to rescue Mr Files, two colleagues, Maarten Den Heijer and Robert MacDonald entered the small chamber below deck but lost consciousness almost immediately.
The three men needed to be rescued by emergency services but only Mr Files recovered, while his colleagues died at the scene.
At Oban Sheriff Court today (4 July) Scottish Sea Farms, was fined £600,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Logan Inglis Limited of 14 Dunswood Road, Wardpark South, also pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £40,000.
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Chemical giant ‘INEOS’ fined £100,000 following an oil release
INEOS Manufacturing Scotland Limited has been fined £100,000 following an uncontrolled release of crude oil at their Grangemouth refinery in May 2008.
INEOS Manufacturing Scotland Ltd, of Bo’ness Road, Grangemouth, FK3 9XH, was fined £100,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
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Car components firm fined for woman’s finger injuries
A global car components manufacturer has been fined after a Staffordshire woman fractured and burned her left middle finger while operating a welding machine.
ThyssenKrupp Tallent Ltd, of Aycliffe Trading Estate, Darlington, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1)(a) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The company was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay £5972 costs.
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Halifax company fined after worker hit by steel girder
A Halifax demolition firm was today fined by Doncaster Crown Court after an incident left a worker with devastating injuries when he was struck by a metal girder.
Mr Gareth Dodds, from South Shields, Tyne & Wear, was working on a demolition site in Rossington, near Doncaster, when he was hit on the head by a 20-metre steel girder being moved by a hydraulic excavator in November 2008.
James Hudson Demolition Ltd of Browside Farm, Medley Lane, Northowram, Halifax, West Yorkshire, had pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at an earlier hearing. The company was fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs.
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Demolition firm fined after ceiling collapse injures worker
A family-run demolition firm that sent a worker into a partly-demolished building in Grimsby, moments before the ceiling collapsed, has been sentenced.
Grimsby Magistrates’ Court heard self-employed labourer Daniel Cope, 36, was part of a team demolishing the Old Fish House in Grimsby Docks, in May 2010. After an excavator was used to pull down some asbestos-containing roof sheets, he and a fellow worker were sent in by a site supervisor from H. Cope and Sons (Demolition) Ltd to remove asbestos debris to reduce contamination of the rest of the rubble.
H. Cope and Sons (Demolition) Ltd. of Moody Lane,Grimsby, pleaded guilty to a breach of safety legislation in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution. They were fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £5,000 towards costs for a breach of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
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Father-of-two falls to death through rooflight
A father-of-two died after falling through a rooflight and sustaining fatal head injuries, a Southampton court heard today.
Two firms and a company director were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after Carl Pearson fell approximately six metres while working on a building on Wharfdale Road in Bournemouth on 1 December 2007. He died the following day.
TRN Electrical Ltd, of Cold Harbour Business park, Sherbourne, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the act and was fined £30,000, plus costs of £14,850. Cladcoat UK Ltd, of The Stables, Longham Business Centre, 168 Ringwood Road, Longham, also pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the act and was fined £10,000, with no costs.
Jeremy Walton, Director of Cladcoat Ltd, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 3(1) and 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Mr Walton, of Tarrant Keyneston, Blandford Forum, was given a conditional discharge.
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South Yorkshire firm fined for exposing workers to asbestos
A Rotherham firm continued exposing workers to dangerous asbestos-containing materials despite advice from the local council.
Only when the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued a Prohibition Notice banning entry to two warehouses run by local storage firm, Rotherham Bonding Company Ltd, were employees removed from danger.
Fosters of Thrybergh Ltd, Doncaster Road, Thrybergh, pleaded guilty to two charges under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 and was fined £5,500 with £6,250 towards costs.
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Third company ordered to pay £33k after construction death
A third company has been sentenced over an incident where a foreman died when an excavator bucket filled with concrete fell on him at a London construction site.
Euro Earthworks Ltd general foreman, Gerry Fox, was crushed by an excavator bucket in August 2007 when it fell from the arm of the 12 tonne excavator being driven by a colleague.
Euro Earthworks Ltd, of Boston Manor, Brentford, Hounslow was convicted of a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in connection with the tragedy and fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £13,000.
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Design firm fined after workers injured at fashion chain
A Staffordshire-based interior design company has been fined after two men were injured while carrying out refurbishment work at a TK Maxx outlet in Hounslow.
Three men were pouring concrete to fill in an opening in the first floor of the retail unit, left following the removal of stairs and an escalator.
The men had only just begun to pour the concrete when the temporary propping erected to support the underside of the decking, installed within the opening, collapsed. This caused the men to fall more than 4.8 metres to the floor below.
All three men were taken to hospital, one with a dislocated shoulder, another had a fractured pelvis and elbow, the third worker was unhurt.
Bridgford Interiors Limited, of Fradley Park, Lichfield, Staffordshire pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £23,392.
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