Welcome to HSE prosecutions in brief. An overview of this weeks prosecutions by the HSE.
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Man’s life shattered by builder’s safety breach
A Sheffield man is lucky to be alive after suffering multiple injuries in a three metre fall down a flight of stairs at his home.
Michael Hall fell from the top of a new staircase that had been left without a handrail by a local builder during refurbishment work at his home in Dobcroft Road.
Sheffield Magistrates’ Court heard today (2 April) that Mr Hall’s injuries were life-threatening. He suffered a broken spine, massive head injuries and several broken ribs in the incident on 23 June 2010. He was in intensive care and spent several months in hospital undergoing numerous operations.
Mr Hall, who ran his own car business, has had to learn to walk again and talk properly again after a tracheotomy affected his speech. He still suffers balance problems but has made around a 90 per cent recovery.
The builder working on the refurbishment, Robin Atherton, trading as Mack Construction, reported the incident to HSE – a legal obligation – which investigated and brought the prosecution.
Mr Atherton, of Jordanthorpe View, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for safety failings. He was fined £5,000 with costs of £4,000.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Construction boss fined over risks to workers
The director of a Cardiff construction firm has been fined for failing to take measures to ensure his workers’ safety while working at height.
Paul Cartwright, of Llandaff, trading as Cartwright Construction, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) over safety failings at a building site off Conway Road, Pontcanna, Cardiff.
Cardiff Magistrates’ Court heard that during a visit to the site on 28 September 2011, an HSE inspector observed two employees standing on the outer edge of a partially-completed first storey structure.
No edge protection was in place to prevent workers from falling outward from the beams or inwards through the partially-completed floor. There were also no scaffolds, bean bags or nets in place to offer protection.
Paul Cartwright, of Station Road, Llandaff North, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 6 (3) of the Work at Height Regulations 1995. He was today fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,027.
Read full story here.
Recycling company prosecuted after worker’s foot is crushed
A recycling company has been fined after a teenager with a promising career in motocross had his foot broken by a 16-tonne machine.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Countrystyle Recycling Limited of Lenham, Maidstone, for failing to operate a safe system at working at their site in Folkestone, Kent.
Maidstone Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday (3 April) that on 22 February 2010, Daniel Brown, 19, was sorting waste at the recycling plant in Park Farm Close when a tyre of a 16-tonne shovel ran over his right foot.
Mr Brown broke 16 bones in his foot and is still suffering with pain and arthritis. He has had to give up a possible career in Motocross, having won races at national level and negotiated a potential sponsorship package. He cannot learn to drive for his car licence and has not been able to return to work.
Countrystyle Recycling Limited of Ashford Road, Lenham, Maidstone, Kent, pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 in relation to the incident. The firm was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £6,221 in costs.
Read full story here.
Firm fined after failing to manage asbestos at Tyneside site
A laboratory testing firm has been prosecuted after putting workers at its Tyneside premises at risk of exposure to asbestos.
An investigation was launched into the activities of Exova (UK) Limited following a complaint the company had not dealt with damaged asbestos at its site at The Grubb Parsons Building on Shields Road, Newcastle, despite being recommended to do so on two previous occasions.
Newcastle Magistrates’ Court heard the company’s own accredited asbestos testing branch carried out a survey of the premises on 3 October 2008. Damaged asbestos was identified by this branch in two separate areas of the site and the survey stated the damaged asbestos should be removed, repaired or sealed off.
A further survey was completed in February 2010 and again stated the previously identified damaged asbestos was still there and repeated its earlier recommendation.
Exova (UK) Limited, of Lochend Industrial Estate, Queen Anne Drive, Newbridge, Midlothian, was fined a total of £36,000 (£12,000 for each offence) and ordered to pay £8,000 costs after it pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.
Read full story here.
Firm fined after driver impaled on steel tube
A Darlington engineering firm was today fined after a delivery driver was seriously injured when a steel bar penetrated his chest.
Jason Ripley, 42, of Darlington, was delivering timber to Henry Williams Group Limited in the town’s Dodsworth Street when the incident happened on 19 August 2008.
Darlington Magistrates’ Court was told a horizontal swing barrier on the site, which consisted of a six metre long, 60mm diameter steel tube, had been left open by a Henry Williams Group employee to allow Mr Ripley access to the unloading point.
Mr Ripley had reversed his flat bed lorry through the open barrier so that timber on the left side could be unloaded. He then intended to drive back past the gate to turn the vehicle around and return to unload goods from the other side.
However, the court was told that as he drove toward the open barrier on his way through, the end of the horizontal bar was not visible. It had partially swung back into the carriage way and the surrounding foliage and its face-on position made it difficult to see. The bar hit the bonnet, breaking through the windscreen of the lorry and impaling Mr Ripley through the chest.
Henry Williams Group Limited, of Dodsworth Street, Darlington pleaded guilty to one breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,424.80.
Read full story here.
Worker’s leg amputated following forklift incident
A Cardiff-based cargo company has been fined after a lorry driver had part of his leg amputated after being struck by a reversing forklift truck.
Robert Deverell, from Risca in Caerphilly was at the Cardiff Docks premises of Cargo Services (UK) Limited, as his lorry was being loaded with 18m steel beams by a forklift truck owned and operated by the company.
Cardiff Crown Court heard while Mr Deverell was waiting for the last of the beams to be loaded on to his lorry he began to approach the forklift truck.
As he arrived at its side, the forklift reversed, striking Mr. Deverell and running over his right leg which later had to be amputated below the knee. He also suffered a fractured wrist in the incident and has been unable to return to work at his employers, Dyfed Steels Ltd in Llanelli.
Cargo Services (UK) Limited of Cold Stores Road, Queen Alexandra Dock, Cardiff, was today found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £110,000 and ordered to pay costs of £60,246.18.
Read full article here.
Warwickshire building firm fined for worker’s fall
A building firm from Stratford-upon-Avon has been prosecuted after a worker suffered severe injuries when he fell from a damaged scaffolding plank at a site in South Warwickshire.
The 62-year-old man, Frederick Stuart, from Stratford-upon-Avon, was standing on a single piece of scaffolding board to cut through a pole at the site at Dark Lane, Tiddington, when the wood snapped, Leamington Spa Magistrates’ Court heard.
He plummeted nearly two and a half metres and ended up straddling a joist, breaking his pelvis in two places and cutting his left thigh almost half way through the muscle.
The court heard he was off work for six months following the incident on 28 July 2010 and has been left with a permanent scar on his thigh.
Sibbasbridge Ltd, of Evesham Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, pleaded guilty today to breaching Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £3,353 costs.
Read full story here.
Workers’ injuries lead to fines for two Derbyshire companies
Two companies have been fined following separate incidents at a Derbyshire lead smelting works.
Both incidents happened at HJ Enthoven Ltd in South Darley, near Matlock. The first happened on 19 August 2009 when an employee suffered severe burns following an explosion at the site.
The 43-year-old worker, who has asked not to be named, was transporting molten lead slag, with an estimated temperature of more than 800 degrees Celsius, on a fork lift truck. The pan holding the molten material fell off the truck, spilling the liquid on to the ground where it ran into a drain.
During the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution, North East Derbyshire and Dales Magistrates’ Court heard that as soon as the molten liquid came into contact with water it exploded, sending a number of heavy drain covers several metres into the air. The man jumped from the forklift to try and escape but fell onto the molten slag.
He suffered severe burns to his face, arms, chest, back and left foot which needed months of treatment though he has since returned to work at the company.
The second incident happened on 7 May 2010 when an employee of Key Engineering (Chesterfield) Ltd was investigating a fault on an overhead travelling crane. The 27-year-old worker, who has also asked not to be named, was on the crane gantry while testing it.
As the crane ran along the tracks, he rested his right arm on top of the control panel. As it neared the end of the bay the clearance between the control panel and a roof beam narrowed to a few millimetres, trapping his arm.
The man suffered severe crush injuries, had to have four plates in his right arm along with a number of skin grafts and he suffered tendon damage. It is not known if he will regain full use of his arm.
A subsequent HSE investigation found neither company had carried out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and HJ Enthoven had failed to inform Key Engineering about the narrow gap.
Key Engineering (Chesterfield) Ltd, of Brearley Street, Old Whittington, Chesterfield pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for the incident involving the crane and was £5,000 with costs of £2,305
HJ Enthoven Ltd, of Daley Dale Smelter, South Darley, Matlock, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for the same incident and was fined £5,000.
The company was also fined £10,000 after admitting to breaching Section 2 (1) of the same act for the incident which led to the explosion.
Read full story here.
Building contractor fined after carpenter’s fingers severed
A Tower Hamlets-based building contractor has been fined after a worker’s hand was severely injured by an unguarded power tool.
A prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was brought after the incident on 14 October 2009, when the self-employed carpenter was working on the refurbishment of flats.
The 22-year-old, who does not wish to be named, was working at the property in Cleveland Street, Westminster, for Grand Plans (UK) Ltd. He and his brother were levelling and insulating the floors on the second storey. He had provided his own hand tools, and also used an unguarded bench saw which was available for use on site.
Marylebone Magistrates Court heard yesterday (4 April) that the carpenter was feeding timber through the bench saw, when the wood slipped out. He caught his hand on the saw blade, and half of his little finger and half of his ring finger on his right hand were severed.
The worker has suffered life changing injuries with irreparable damage. He has had several operations since the incident and is due to have more to repair nerve and tendon damage. The injuries mean he cannot continue with his career as a carpenter.
Grand Plans (UK) Ltd, which is now in liquidation, was found guilty of breaching Regulation 11 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment 1998 in relation to the incident after failing to attend the court hearing. The company was fined £7,500 and ordered to pay full costs of £3,881.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
