Welcome to HSE prosecutions in brief. An overview of this weeks prosecutions by the HSE.
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Printing company fined £112,500 over death of worker
One of the UK’s leading printing groups has been fined £112,500 at Peterborough Crown Court today after a maintenance engineer was crushed to death in a printing press.
Ian Ebbs, a 43-year-old father of two from Morton, near Bourne in Lincolnshire, was working the night shift at the Wyndeham Peterborough (then known as St Ives Peterborough Ltd) plant in Storey’s Bar Road in October 2008 when an automated process preparing the presses for a new print run came to a halt.
The problem was identified as a stuck locking pin on the paddle wheel assembly, which prevented it moving downwards. Mr Ebbs climbed into the machinery to get at two air lines which controlled the locking pin and swapped them over, freeing the paddle wheel which then came down on him, trapping him between it and fixed parts of the printing press. He died at the scene.
Wyndeham Peterborough admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Peterborough Crown Court and fined £112,500 and ordered to pay £80,000 costs.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Widnes firm fined over employee’s fall injuries
A Cheshire worker could have been killed when he fell from the top of a chemical storage tank, a court has heard.
The 44-year-old from Bala, North Wales, had been carrying out maintenance work on the tank at a plant in Widnes when the chemical vapour inside set alight, causing an explosion. The worker, who has asked not to be named, was thrown from the tank and fell around two and a half metres, landing on a metal girder below.
His employer, Hutchinson Technical Services (HTS) Ltd, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following an investigation into the incident at its Ditton Road site on 13 May 2010.
The company, of Fleming Road in Middlesborough, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £3,588 in prosecution costs on 26 March 2012.
Read full story here.
Carlisle boss fined after ignoring fire warnings
The owner of a pallet manufacturing firm has appeared in court after he allowed fires to be repeatedly lit at his premises next to gas storage sites in Carlisle.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted George Ward after he ignored warnings about lighting fires at Brampton Pallets, which borders two Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storage sites.
Carlisle Magistrates’ Court heard HSE first issued Mr Ward with a Prohibition Notice in December 2007, preventing wood being burnt in an open metal drum at the site on Willowholme Industrial Estate.
Mr Ward signed a letter in April 2009 which prescribed how fires could be safely lit and controlled at Brampton Pallets, after HSE received another complaint about fires at the site.
But a further complaint was made in 2011 and, when two HSE inspectors visited the site on 10 March, they witnessed another unsuitably controlled fire.
George Ward, of Rockcliffe in Carlisle, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure people were not exposed to risks to their safety. He was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £3,687 in prosecution costs on 28 March 2012.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Health screening company failed its duty to workers
A Cornish company has been prosecuted after using unqualified staff to screen the health of workers from dozens of other organisations.
Audio Medical Services Ltd (AMS) carried out tests inadequately for 59 companies over a period of at least four years across the UK. The company failed to provide employers with information to prevent workers’ health deteriorating and did not refer employees to occupational health professionals when required.
The case related to Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) caused by regular use of hand-held power tools or holding materials processed by machinery. Symptoms include pain, numbness and tingling in the fingers and a reduced sense of touch which can be disabling. It is also characterised by finger blanching, known as ‘vibration white finger’. The condition can be prevented, but once developed, cannot be cured.
The court heard that staff employed by AMS to carry out the tests, including Nick Nickson, did not have occupational health training and had not received the relevant training to perform screening for Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome.
The issue came to light following a company identifying anomalies with the screening performed by AMS. HSE then contacted companies who employed the services of AMS and visited a range of firms in the ship-building, quarrying, civil engineering and rail industries.
The investigation identified that numerous employees at these companies had not been suitably referred to an occupational health provider and therefore continued to be exposed to vibration at work. This put individuals at risk of further deterioration and permanent damage.
Audio Medical Services Ltd of Liskeard, Cornwall pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Nick Nickson, the Managing Director of AMS also pleaded guilty to the same offence.
AMS Ltd were fined £3,200 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000 by Bodmin Magistrates Court in a case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Managing Director, Nick Nickson, was also fined £700.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Man loses finger at Birmingham factory
A Birmingham engineering company has been fined after a man’s finger was severed in a tube bending machine.
Robert Cuzick, 53, from Birmingham was working at Hydrapower Dynamics on 24 January 2011 when he put his hand on the machine’s clamping arm to restart it.
However, the unguarded metal arm suddenly moved downwards, trapping Mr Cuzick’s left hand middle finger, cutting it off just above the second knuckle.
Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard that doctors were unable to reattach his finger and he was off work for more than a month.
Hydrapower Dynamics Ltd, of St Marks Street, Birmingham, pleaded guilty today to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 costs.
Read full story here.
Worker lost arm in unguarded farm machinery
A worker employed to clear out an industrial chicken shed lost his arm after it became trapped in unguarded machinery.
Mike Aubry, 27, of Bradninch, near Exeter, was working at Millard Poultry Ltd at Little Acre, Lower Godney, Wells, when the incident happened on 4 December, 2010.
In a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Yeovil Magistrates today (29 March) heard that Mr Aubrey was employed by a contractor to wash out the building using a pressure washer powered by the driveshaft of a tractor.
The driveshaft was not fully guarded and as he moved he was caught by the unguarded part of the machine. His arm had to be amputated at the scene.
Millard Poultry Ltd, of Little Acre, Lower Godney, Wells, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 in relation to the incident. The company was fined £10.000 and ordered to pay £5,000 in costs.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Dorset dairy company fined after worker’s arm crushed
A Dorset dairy has been prosecuted after an employee was injured when his arm was pulled into a slurry separator.
Andrew James Ray, 47, was cleaning the equipment at the dairy owned by M Hooper and Sons Ltd in Winterborne Tomson on 2 January 2009.
Weymouth Magistrates’ Court heard an unsafe system of work was used for cleaning the rollers of the slurry separator by using a hose and hand brush while the equipment was running. Mr Ray’s left arm was subsequently pulled between two contra-rotating rollers, crushing his left hand and arm to the elbow.
M Hooper & sons Ltd of Winterbourne Zelston, Blandford, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety of Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £9,000 and ordered to pay £1,448 in costs.
Read full story here.
Demolition firm fined after man’s arm is severed
A West Midlands firm has been fined after a teenage worker’s arm was amputated after being crushed during the demolition of old Grand Cinema in Ramsey town centre in Cambridgeshire.
Thomas Bird, from Lichfield, Staffordshire, was working as a labourer for UK Demolition Services Ltd on the old cinema site in Great Whyte, Ramsey on 17 March 2010.
Mr Bird, then 19, was loading debris into the selector grab of a hydraulic excavator when it swung round and hit him, crushing his right arm against the building. He was airlifted to hospital but surgeons were unable to save his arm and it was amputated below the elbow.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found the operator of the excavator failed to switch off the ignition when he left the driver’s seat. He lifted the side arm located by the driver’s seat but while getting out of the vehicle he caught his coat on the side arm. This pulled the side arm back down, which in turn engaged the hydraulic power and then allowed the excavator boom to swing into Mr Bird.
UK Demolition Services Ltd of Brownhills Business Park, Lindon Road, Brownhills, Walsall, West Midlands admitted two breaches of health and safety legislation: Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974; and Regulation 37 (1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. It was fined £4,000 for each breach and ordered to pay £3,500 costs.
Read full story here.
Cleaning firm fined over porter’s death at Bolton hospital
A national cleaning company has been fined £175,000 after a hospital porter was killed by an industrial waste compactor in Bolton.
Peter Bonomy’s neck was broken when the lid on the large metal container slammed down on him at the Royal Bolton Hospital in Farnworth in 2006.
His employer, ISS Mediclean Ltd, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found the company had allowed porters to load the waste compactor in an unsafe manner.
Manchester Crown Court heard the 58-year-old from Little Lever in Bolton had been collecting waste cardboard from around the hospital on Sunday 8 October 2006. He was found by a colleague with his head and arms under the lid of one of the compactors.
The HSE investigation concluded that the most likely explanation for Mr Bonomy’s death was that he leaned against a lever while leaning over the waste compactor, causing the lid to snap down.
ISS Mediclean Ltd, part of the ISS group which employs more than 43,500 people around the world, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 after failing to provide a safe system of work for its employees.
Read full story here.
Schindler fined after engineer is crushed to death at Heathrow
Lift manufacturer Schindler Ltd has been fined £300,000 for safety failings after an employee was crushed to death while installing a passenger lift at Heathrow Airport.
Lift engineer Kevin Dawson, 45, was helping with the construction of Terminal 5A at London Heathrow when the incident occurred on 27 October 2007.
Isleworth Crown Court heard that Mr Dawson was working from a ladder within the pit of a lift shaft, into which he and other Schindler employees were installing three new lift cars. As a colleague used one of the cars to fetch equipment from a higher level, a counterweight descended, crushing Mr Dawson and causing fatal injuries.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed the unfinished passenger lift was used to carry workers, tools and materials despite missing key safety-critical components.
HSE also found the company’s radio and telephone arrangements were ineffective, and workers routinely communicated by shouting up and down the lift shaft. This was potentially confusing while others were working in adjacent shafts.
The company, of Green Street, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 in relation to the incident
In addition to the £300,000 fine for the three breaches, Schindler Ltd was also ordered to pay £169,970 in costs.
Read full story here.
Animal feed firm sentenced over finger loss
A Lancashire animal feed firm has been sentenced after an employee lost one of his fingers in machinery.
The 25-year-old worker was trying to clear a blockage at Merit (Feeds and Storage) Ltd when his hand became trapped at its factory at Oakenclough Mill near Garstang.
The company was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found the man had been able to open the door on the machine while it was still operating.
Merit (Feeds and Storage) Ltd admitted breaching Regulation 11(1)(a) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery. The company was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £2,163 in prosecution costs on 30 March 2012.
Read full story here.
Luxury property developer fined for putting lives at risk
A Cheshire property developer has been sentenced after putting the lives of its workers at risk, by allowing them to work in an unsupported excavation.
Huntsmere Projects Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following an unannounced inspection of work on a new luxury five bedroom mansion on Trafford Road in Alderley Edge on 19 August 2010.
The HSE inspectors issued an immediate Prohibition Notice, ordering two workers to leave the excavation for the foundations, which were approximately 20 metres wide and over 5 metres deep, until the site had been made safe.
Macclesfield Magistrates’ Court was told the workers were put at risk of being buried, trapped, crushed or struck by rock if part of the excavation collapsed. Well established health and safety measures had not been implemented, despite the company having received previous guidance from HSE and its own advisers.
Huntsmere Projects Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 31(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 by failing to prevent workers being put in danger.
The company, of Elizabeth Street in Macclesfield, was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £3,837 in prosecution costs.
Read full story here.
