Welcome to HSE prosecutions in brief. A selection of the latest prosecutions by the HSE. Where possible, links are provided to relevant British Standards, guidance and publications.
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Company fined for worker’s fall in Feltham
A Somerset construction company has been fined after a worker plummeted six metres from a roof he was working on in south-west London.
Wayne Bird, 28, was cleaning dead leaves from the gulleys of a building on the Radius Park in Feltham on 18 January 2011 for Somerset-based company A. R. Berry Design and Build Ltd.
Mr Bird, of Okehampton, Devon, stepped on a fragile skylight, which broke, sending him crashing through to the concrete floor below.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard today (22 Oct) that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident and prosecuted A.R Berry for failing to ensure the safety of its employees.
Mr Bird suffered fractures and severe tendon damage to his left knee and right arm, broke his nose and lost several teeth. He is still unable to straighten his right arm or turn his elbow. As well as receiving on-going medical treatment, he is being treated for the psychological effects of the incident and has been unable to return to work.
The court was told that HSE found the company failed to plan the work properly and did not train their workers to work at height. There was no edge protection in place and, although there were running lines available on the roof, no harnesses had been attached to them to protect the workers.
A.R. Berry Design and Build Ltd of Timberscombe, Minehead, Somerset, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It was fined £5000 and ordered to pay £8000 in costs.
Paper firm fined after death of South Hams worker
An international paper manufacturer has been ordered to pay £260,000 in fines and costs for serious safety failings after a mill worker was crushed between two large rollers running at full production speed.
Family man Richard Zebedee, 45, from Ivybridge died at the Arjo Wiggins site at the Stowford Mill on 28 April 2009. He died after being drawn into poorly-guarded rollers while trying to clear waste material from them.
The incident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive, which brought a prosecution against Arjo Wiggins Ltd, of Manchester, at Plymouth Crown Court today (Monday 22 October).
The court heard there had been significant production problems on the day of the incident before Mr Zebedee started his shift in the drier area of the mill, with paper breaks and waste material affecting the process.
At one stage in production, Mr Zebedee gained access to the large rollers by opening a gate, which had an unlocked padlock, and used a long-handled tool to clear waste material, known as “broke”. At the time, the rollers were running at production speed of 131 metres a minute.
Mr Zebedee was drawn into the rollers and suffered severe crush injuries. Despite the efforts of fellow workers to free him and administer first aid, he showed no signs of life.
HSE found significant failings by the company in guarding the rollers and in the amount of training given to Mr Zebedee. The padlock on the gate was often left unlocked and staff had reported it to management.
In addition, although he had worked at the mill for a year-and-a-half, Mr Zebedee had only started work as a drierman a fortnight before the incident. He had taken part in training after his eight-hour shifts but several items on his training log had not been signed-off.
The investigation also found other staff had been working inside areas of the machine which should not have been accessed.
Arjo Wiggins (Ivybridge) Ltd of Great Bridgewater Street, Manchester, pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £60,000 in costs.
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Cwmbran builder fined for worker fall
A Cwmbran builder has been fined after an employee was seriously injured in a 2.3-metre fall from the roof of a property near Llandegfedd Reservoir.
Andrew Hosking, 34, broke his left femur and had to be airlifted to hospital following the incident at Glascoed Lane, Glascoed, on 17 October 2011. He has been off work ever since.
Colleague Anthony Skarratts, 20, also fell from the roof, but escaped injury.
Abergavenny Magistrates’ Court heard today that the duo were part of a team of workers undertaking a roof installation for Paul Siviter, trading as Paul Siviter General Builder.
They were standing on an old wooden roof beam balanced less than three metres above the ground, in order to receive A-frame trusses from a telehander and assemble them into position.
The beam broke in half and both men fell inwards to the ground below, with Mr Hosking hitting the edge of a disused bath tub beneath. It was this impact that caused his injury.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that although there was scaffolding in place around the exterior of the building, there were no measures in place to prevent workers falling from height within the building, such as birdcage scaffolding or mobile elevated work platforms.
The investigation also found that Paul Siviter’s own site-specific risk assessment identified that the work activity would involve working at height above two metres and identified ‘appropriate scaffolding’ as a necessary precaution to take.
The builder, of Garn Wen Farm, Belle Vue Lane, Cwmbran, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. He was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £2,945.30.
Gillingham worker pays price for firm’s safety failings
A Dartford Scaffolding firm and its director have been prosecuted for failing to provide a safe way of working on a fragile roof after a worker fell and suffered serious injuries.
Mr James Froud, 22, from Gillingham, was hospitalised for ten days and had to take several months off work whilst wearing a back brace and using crutches as a result of the incident at Siemans Windpower Compound at Ramsgate Port on 14 October last year.
Canterbury Magistrates heard yesterday (23 October) that Mr Froud, a scaffold labourer working for London and South Scaffolding Ltd, was fitting hand rails on a fragile rooftop when he fell seven metres through the skylight.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the incident and found that the company and director Gary Peck were aware of how fragile the roof and skylights were, but failed to take adequate measures to prevent a fall, such as using a mobile elevating work platform to avoid standing on the roof, or using staging fitted with guard rails.
London and South Scaffolding Ltd and Gary Peck both pleaded guilty to four separate breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 for not doing more. The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £1,000. Gary Peck was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £2,000 in costs.
Food firm fined for fingers injury
A North Yorkshire food producer has been fined after an employee trapped and crushed three fingers in dangerous unguarded machinery.
Peter Bradbury, 25, was lifting a box of food from the end of a production line at Malton Foods Ltd when his fingers got caught between the conveyor belt and a powered drum roller.
Although his hands were freed in less than a minute, Mr Bradbury, of Riverside View, Malton, suffered severe crush injuries to the end of his left index finger that resulted in long-term nerve damage and limited movement. The ring and middle finger on his right hand were also injured.
The incident, on 23 February this year, was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which prosecuted Malton Foods Ltd for safety breaches at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court today (26 Oct).
The court was told that the end of the conveyor belt should have been guarded by the company to prevent contact by employees with dangerous moving parts. Malton Foods Ltd had been established a year earlier after a management buy-out of Westlers Ltd at the same site in Amotherby, Malton.
Malton Foods Ltd admitted a single breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 for failing to take effective measures to prevent access to a dangerous part of a machine. The company was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £1,381 in costs.
Blackburn firm fined over unsafe work on school roof
A Blackburn firm has been fined for allowing work to be carried out on a primary school roof without safety measures in place.
An inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was passing Clayton le Woods Primary School, near Chorley, on 31 January this year when he spotted four men working on the roof.
No scaffolding or other safety equipment had been installed, which would have prevented them from being injured in a fall. This was despite one of the men working at the edge of the roof next to a 15 foot drop.
The inspector immediately served a Prohibition Notice ordering the men to come down from the roof until safety measures were put in place. HSE today (26 October 2012) prosecuted Hall Isherwood Ltd, the company responsible for overseeing the work, for two breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
South Ribble Magistrates’ Court in Leyland heard that the company had been hired to carry out work at the school on Back Lane in Clayton le Woods, which included painting work and replacing slates on one side of a sloping roof.
The only access to the roof was by using a ladder, which had not been secured to stop it slipping. Once the workers were on the roof, there were no guard rails or scaffolding in place to stop them from falling.
Hall Isherwood Ltd, of Wensley Road in Blackburn, was fined £750 and ordered to pay £1,581 in prosecution costs after admitting both safety offences.
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Fines for leading Hampshire firm and consultant
A Hampshire company and its safety consultant have both been prosecuted for safety failings after two workers were injured in similar incidents just weeks apart.
The two employees each had the ends of fingers sheared off while operating inadequately guarded guillotine machines at Porvair Filtration Group Ltd in Segensworth, Fareham, last year.
The incidents, on 12 April and 26 May 2011, were investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which served a Prohibition Notice stopping work on three guillotines being used by Porvair and also issued two Improvement Notices, one of which required the firm to access competent health and safety advice.
HSE discovered that Porvair’s external safety adviser, John Whiffin, had produced risk assessments for the firm concluding that safety guards on the treadle-operated guillotines were acceptable.
Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court heard today (26 Oct) that HSE found one guillotine was not guarded at the rear of the machine and the other was not properly guarded at the front or rear. Mr Whiffin had prepared risk assessments for both machines in July 2010. He advised the firm that safety guards were present and acceptable.
Magistrates were told that the ring fingers of the injured workers were ‘shaved to the bone’ by the cutting blades as each was working on separate machines. The two employees have since returned to work but suffer some impairment during day-to-day activities.
Porvair Filtration Group Ltd, of Fareham, pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 for failing to take effective measures to prevent employees coming into contact with dangerous moving machine parts. The company was fined a total of £5,000 and ordered to pay £20,358 in costs.
John Whiffin, of Eastleigh, admitted two charges under the same Regulations in that Porvair’s offences were due in part by his actions or default. He was fined a total of £700 with £4,000 in costs.
