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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Cheltenham demolition firm fined for illegal asbestos removal
A Cheltenham demolition company has been prosecuted after exposing its own workers to dangerous asbestos fibres and illegally removing asbestos waste from a property in Gloucester.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted DA Environmental Services Ltd at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court today (5 Nov) for three breaches of regulations relating to asbestos removal.
The court heard HSE found the firm undertook an asbestos survey before demolishing the building showing it contained a quantity of Asbestos Insulating Board (AIB). The report identified that this would have to be safely removed in a controlled manner before demolition went ahead.
However, during a six-week period in August and September 2011, the building was demolished and asbestos boarding removed by DA Environmental Services’ employees, exposing them to potentially significant quantities of asbestos fibres released during the work.
The company did not hold the necessary licence to carry out the asbestos removal and failed to take adequate steps to prevent both exposure to and the spread of asbestos fibres generated by the work. The investigation also found the asbestos debris was not disposed of correctly, potentially extending the risk of exposure and spread of danger into the waste chain.
DA Environmental Services Ltd of Maida Vale Business Centre, Leckhampton, Cheltenham, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 8, 11 and 16 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. The company was fined a total of £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,452.
School fined after pupil hurt in design and technology lesson
A Solihull school has been fined after an 11-year-old pupil suffered serious hand injuries in a design and technology lesson.
The year seven student from Alderbrook School was using a bench sanding machine when his hand became trapped between the rotating face of the sanding disc and the machine’s table edge.
As a result of the incident on 6 October last year the pupil needed specialist surgery to repair tendon damage to the fingers of his left hand. He was off school for several weeks during which time he continued to study at home while recuperating from hand surgery.
As part of this recovery he has required physio. However, he still suffers pain in cold weather and doesn’t have full range of movement in his fingers.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that although the machine had guarding in place, it was designed for use by adults. So the gap between the disc face and the table edge was big enough to trap a student’s hand.
Solihull Magistrates’ Court heard today (5 November) that the school had carried out a generic risk assessment for the machine that highlighted entrapment as a potential hazard. However, it failed to seek advice from the manufacturer and had made no attempt to adapt the machine for safe use by its students, whose experience and hand size is different to the normal recognised user.
Alderbrook School, of Blossomfield Road, Solihull, was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £5,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for failing to ensure the safety of pupils.
Life-changing injuries for worker in scaffold fall
A scaffolding company and its director have been fined for safety failings after a worker suffered life-changing injuries in a 2.5 metre fall from a scaffold platform at a property in Kent.
The worker, who was untrained, fell from the first lift of the scaffold as it was being dismantled. He was passing boards down to another worker when he lost his footing and fell to the concrete below.
The man, from Rainham, Kent, who does not wish to be named, suffered severe head injuries and needed surgery to remove the frontal lobe of the brain. He spent many weeks in hospital and is unlikely to be able to work again.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today (6 Nov) prosecuted Paramount Scaffolding Ltd and director Luke Jessup, both of Gillingham, Kent after investigating the incident at the house in Meopham, near Gravesend, on 25 January this year.
Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court heard that Paramount Scaffolding had a three-man team on site to dismantle the scaffolding. Director Luke Jessup was the only trained scaffolder among them.
The injured worker was standing on the first level of the scaffold and was lifting the boards and passing them to a colleague below. The platform had been six boards wide and was down to three when he lost his footing and fell. The edge protection had already been removed.
Paramount Scaffolding Ltd of Wigmore Road, Gillingham, and Luke Jessup of Wigmore Road, Gillingham, both pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Both Paramount and Mr Jessup were fined £2,000 with £1,000 costs each.
Aerospace firm fined after employee burns eyelid with caustic soda
An aerospace company has been fined for safety failings after an Essex worker injured his eye whilst cleaning out a tank containing caustic soda.
The 39-year-old, who does not want to be named, sustained a chemical burn to his eyelid and inside his tear duct after flicking sodium hydroxide crystals into his face at Inflite Engineering Ltd in Chelmsford on 12 November 2011.
He required emergency treatment at hospital, but avoided a more serious injury thanks to prompt and effective action by his workmates.
Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard today (6 November) that the employee was standing in a tank containing a solid crystalline material composed largely of solidified sodium hydroxide (caustic soda).
Whilst chipping away at the solid crystalline material, his protective mask misted up and as he took it off to clean the visor, some caustic soda crystals flicked onto his eye lid. Had the chemical made contact with his eye it could have caused permanent damage to his vision.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Inflite Engineering Ltd, which operates sites in Chelmsford, Stansted and Manchester, could and should have done more to prevent the incident and protect the worker.
He was not only exposed to risks from working with a hazardous material, but could also have fallen into or from the storage tank.
The company, of Inflite House, Stansted Airport, admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £17,000 and ordered to pay £3,246 in costs.
North Devon plumber fraudulently claimed to be registered gas fitter
A North Devon plumber who fraudulently claimed to be a registered gas fitter has received a suspended prison sentence and tagging order preventing him from leaving his home after 8pm.
Ben Laverty failed to check gas appliances he had been asked to test and produced false certificates declaring them safe at four properties in Barnstaple, a court heard today (7 November 2012).
He appeared before Barnstaple Magistrates charged with two breaches of safety law after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated his fraudulent activity.
Magistrates were told that Laverty was asked to carry out routine gas appliance tests at four properties by a managing agent working on behalf of landlords in the area.
Suspicions were raised about his work when he repeatedly failed to provide a certificate for one of the properties. The agent then checked with the Gas Safe Register and found he was not registered and had been using another member’s identification number on certificates he had previously issued.
An investigation by HSE found that, instead of properly testing the appliances, Laverty had only made a totally inadequate visual inspection of the appliances at three properties and did not visit a fourth.
Laverty, of Kipling Terrace, Westward Ho!, received a four-week prison sentence, suspended to 12 months, after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 3(7) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
He was also given a tagging ordered placing a curfew on him between 8pm and 7am for the next two months, and was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1,938.
Notts company prosecuted after worker loses finger ends
A Nottingham firm that provides processing support for the brewing and food industries has been prosecuted for safety failures after a worker had four finger ends severed on a poorly guarded machine.
Albert McEvoy, 53, from Nottingham, lost the tips of the fingers on his right hand in the incident at Murphy & Sons Ltd in Alpine Street, Old Basford, on 9 March last year.
Nottingham Magistrates’ Court heard today (7 November) that he tried to feed clogged powder back into an industrial mixer through a discharge tube and his fingers struck the rotating blades.
Mr McEvoy lost the tips of his index and little fingers above the first knuckle, and the ends of his middle and ring fingers just below the first knuckle. He was off work for several months and although he has since returned, he now struggles with everyday tasks such as fastening buttons, using cutlery or texting on a mobile phone. He may need a further operation to relieve pressure and pain.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found there was no guard on the mixer to prevent access to dangerous moving parts via the discharge tube. Had a suitable guard been fitted, the incident would have been prevented.
Murphy & Sons Ltd was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £7,674 in costs after pleading guilty to a single breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
Defence company sentenced over explosion death
Wallop Defence Systems Ltd (WDS) has been ordered to pay £376,000 in fines and costs for safety failings that caused a fatal explosion at its Hampshire factory.
Anthony Sheridan, 37, from Over Wallop, was killed from injuries sustained in the blast at WDS, in Middle Wallop near Stockbridge, in June 2006.
Mr Sheridan was emptying one of six industrial ovens used in the manufacture of military flares. The ovens contained high levels of nitroglycerin (NG) that exploded, causing an explosion that destroyed the factory building.
Several other workers were injured in the incident, with blast debris landing up to 600ft away.
Winchester Crown Court heard today (9 November) that WDS had realised in 2004 that their process for curing pellets as part of the production of military flares produced the explosive chemical as a by-product.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that none of the company’s senior management team or technical advisers were competent to deal with the NG issue, but did not seek external professional assistance.
Reviewing the company’s procedures since NG was discovered in 2004, HSE found WDS was not complying with the basics in explosive safety and failed to adhere to licensing requirements for the storage and processing of explosive substances. Their failure to properly assess and manage the risks put workers and the public in danger.
A second explosion occurred in December 2008 when the company attempted to dismantle the remaining NG contaminated oven on the company’s second site. No one was injured in the explosion. The court heard that the company failed to engage with the HSE and seek competent expert advice on dismantling it and that the incident was entirely foreseeable and avoidable.
Wallop Defence Systems Ltd, of Craydown Lane, Middle Wallop was fined a total of £266,000 and ordered to pay £110,000 in costs for three breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, two relating to the fatal explosion and the other to the second blast.
The company pleaded guilty to all three breaches in an earlier hearing at Andover Magistrates Court.
Photos and comments from the HSE.
Lancaster textile firm in court over employee’s injuries
A fabric printing firm in Lancaster has appeared in court after an employee suffered injuries to his hand when it was dragged between two rollers running at full speed.
Abaris Holdings Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at the Standfast & Barracks factory on Caton Road on 12 February 2010.
Lancaster Magistrates’ Court heard today (9 November) that the 56-year-old worker from Lancaster, who has asked not to be named, had been trying to remove a small piece of material from one of the rollers using a plastic tool while the machine was running.
As he turned away, his right hand came into contact with the rollers and his hand and arm were dragged into the machine.
He was able to pull the emergency stop cord but the machine had to be dismantled in order to free him. He suffered a fractured thumb and hand, a swollen elbow and needed four stitches to his thumb.
A HSE investigation found there were no guards or other protective devices to prevent workers gaining access to the rollers while the machine was operating.
Abaris Holdings Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company, of Oxford Road in Denham, Buckinghamshire, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,940.
