Welcome to HSE prosecutions in brief. An overview of this weeks prosecutions by the HSE.
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Firm fined after worker hit by forklift
A Lincolnshire farming company has been fined after a worker was hit by a forklift truck.
Agency worker Algis Jevsejevas, 45, fractured his left leg in the incident at CW Dobbs and Son’s premises near Spalding on 21 October 2010.
Mr Jevsejevas, who was living in Kings Lynn at the time of the incident but has since returned to his home in Lithuania, was walking across the floor of a potato grading shed to get labels for boxes when he was hit by the reversing vehicle.
A HSE investigation found the company had failed to ensure the shed was organised in such a way that vehicles and pedestrians could move around safely.
CW Dobbs and Son Ltd, of Home Farm, Hollands Chase, West Pinchbeck, Spalding, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 at Spalding Magistrates’ Court on the 12th October 2011. The company was fined £7,000 and ordered to pay £2,588 costs.
Read full story here.
Fife farming company fined after worker loses two toes
- A farming company has been fined after a worker had to have two toes from his right foot amputated, when he became entangled in machinery inside a grain reception pit.
On 4 September 2009, due to heavy rain, the grain reception pit at the premises of R Todd & Company at Blacketyside Farm, Fife, had filled with about twelve inches of water. Peter Ednie, 26, from Kirkcaldy, Fife, after discussions with Robert Todd, was trying to empty rainwater from the pit using a bucket. His foot became caught in the unsheathed part of a screw auger inside the pit.
A screw auger is a type of conveyor used to transport grain between the different parts of a grain drying system and consists of a large screw which rotates inside a steel tube. Part of it has to be exposed to collect grain and transport it. Although the screw auger was switched off and not rotating, the power to it had not been isolated before Mr Ednie entered the pit.
While Mr Ednie passed the buckets of water to a colleague standing outside the pit, Mr Todd was cleaning a nearby grain drying bin. This required him to unload the bin and remove left over grain by activating a different screw auger conveyor that ran from the drying bin to the storage bin.
But when he went to the control panel he mistakenly activated the switch for the screw auger inside the grain reception pit where Mr Ednie was working. The auger started to rotate, trapping Mr Ednie’s right foot.
An investigation by the HSE found that there was no risk assessment in relation to any activity that required employees working inside the grain reception pit.
A generic risk assessment document obtained during the HSE investigation did state that no unguarded machines should be cleaned unless they were switched off, but did not explain that power to the machinery must at all times be isolated. It was also found that at no point during his employment had Mr Ednie been given the opportunity to read or consider this risk assessment.
On the 11th October 2011 at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, R Todd & Company was fined £20,000 after it pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Read full story here.
Unregistered gas fitter fined after putting lives at risk
A gas fitter has been fined after he misled a customer into believing he was legally registered and then carried out work that put lives at risk.
Janusz Mazur, 34, of Sunnyhill Road, Lambeth, was self-employed when he carried out work at a flat in Ritherdon Road, Tooting Bec, installing a new boiler and pipework.
It is a legal requirement for any gas engineering business or self-employed gas engineer carrying out domestic or commercial gas work to be registered under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
Investigations by the HSE, found the work carried out was sub-standard. The Gas Safe Register could not confirm the safe operation of the gas pipe work and gas boiler. Gas safety defects with the potential to cause harm were present on installation work, which could have put lives at risk. It was also found that Mr Mazur had falsely pretended to be a Gas Safe registered engineer but was not and never had been.
Janusz Mazur, Sunnyhill Road, Lambeth, was found guilty of breaching Regulations 3(3) and 3(7) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998 and was fined £600 with £1,994 costs.
Read full story here.
Laundry firm fined for ignoring safety notices
A Battersea laundry firm showed scant regard for employee wellbeing and safety after ignoring instructions to make it easier and safer for workers to move heavy loads.
Niva UK (Ltd), trading as Sunbeam Laundry, failed to act on two separate Improvement Notices served by the HSE, following a routine inspection of its premises at the London Stone Business Estate, on Broughton Street, on the 6 May 2010.
The first Improvement Notice required the removal of bags of laundry and other items from walkways, including a stairway, and the entrance to a female staff toilet. The second required an urgent review and improvements to reduce the lifting and handling of laundry.
City of London Magistrates’ Court heard that when HSE made a return inspection two months later, Niva had done nothing to comply with either notice. Employees were still carrying heavy loads through blocked walkways and were routinely risking tripping and falling as a result.
The company pleaded guilty to two separate breaches of Section 33 (1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for failing to take action and was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £5,062 in costs.
Read full story here.
Lorry driver fined after worker crushed in brick clamp
An experienced lorry loader operator from Radstock, Somerset has been fined after another worker was crushed in the brick clamp of the lorry loader, leaving him with serious internal injuries.
Yeovil Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 18 November 2010, Mark Pratten, 53, a lorry loader operator working for Saint Gobain Building Distribution Ltd (trading as Jewson Builders Merchant), attempted to use a brick clamp on a lorry crane to lift Peter Hoy, 47, a self-employed general builder, off the roof of a cabin while he was collecting building materials from a construction site at Mayfield House, High Street, Rode.
The pallet of materials they were collecting was behind an eight foot wall and it was not possible to pick them up normally with the lorry crane that the men were using. In trying to guide the crane into place Mr Hoy climbed onto the roof of the cabin and to get down quickly Mr Pratten tried to lift him with the grab of the crane.
Mr Hoy walked between the arms of the clamp, which was at waist height, in preparation to gain a foot or hand hold. As he did so, Mr Pratten attempted to move the arms. However, he used the wrong switch and inadvertently operated the clamp button.
The arms clamped Mr Hoy’s waist, fracturing his pelvis and causing crush-related internal injuries, including nerve damage. His injuries are so severe that he is still off work.
An investigation by the HSE, found that Mr Pratten fell far short of the appropriate standard required of a lorry loader operator in attempting to use the lorry loader in an unsafe manner and also lift Mr Hoy with the clamp. This was in spite of the fact that Mr Pratten was fully trained to use the lorry loaders and had more than 20 years’ experience in that line of work. He was also familiar with the controls on the machine he was using and aware of its capabilities, including the fact that the brick clamp was not suitable for lifting people.
Mark Pratten pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974 and was fined £1,500 with £1,000 costs.
Read full story here.
Chemical firm in court over major incident in Cheshire
A chemical manufacturer has appeared in court following a major incident at its factory in Cheshire which put workers’ lives in danger.
Thor Specialities (UK) Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety HSE, after a chemical reaction got out of control at its plant on Wincham Avenue in Wincham, Northwich, releasing toxic and flammable substances into the production area.
Chester Crown Court heard the consequences of the incident on 23 August 2007 could have been fatal.
The court was told an employee at the factory had been adding a solid chemical into a vessel containing a liquid chemical. He wrongly assumed he could increase the rate at which the chemical was added when they initially failed to react. The chemicals then reacted rapidly, leading to an uncontrolled ‘runaway reaction’.
None of the workers were in the production hall when the alarms – set off by the incident – began to ring, but one of them returned to investigate. He was driven back by the fumes and fled from the building.
The HSE investigation concluded the company had failed to adequately assess the risks of the chemical reaction and ensure that suitable control measures were in place.
It also found the employee had not received adequate training, instruction and supervision on the operating procedures, and did not appreciate the danger of increasing the quantity of the chemical.
Thor Specialities (UK) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by putting workers at risk. The company, which produces chemical products for the newspaper, cosmetics, and construction industries, was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £15,000 on 14 October 2011.
Thor Specialities operates as a Top Tier site under the Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations. It therefore has a legal duty to prevent major accidents and limit the effects of any incidents on people and the environment.
Read full story here.
