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.
 |
| [relatedPosts title=”Related Posts”] |
|
|
Worker suffers life changing condition after company ignores ozone danger
A Kegworth soft drinks manufacturer has been fined after a contractor was exposed to ozone gas while servicing a UV light system in a plant room.
Richard Sharp, 49, from Wetherby, West Yorkshire, wasn’t told that ozone was present in the room after being given a permit to work at Cott Beverages, on Sideley Road, and was overcome by the fumes.
His exposure on 26 July 2010 resulted in acute irritant asthma. Mr Sharp has been unable to return to work and struggles with day-to-day activities due to his high sensitivity to different chemicals and smells. Anything from perfume to exhaust fumes can trigger an asthma attack.
Loughborough Magistrates’ Court heard today (12 November) that Cott Beverages Ltd was aware of the hazards of ozone since first installing generating equipment in 2001 to disinfect the liquid used in drinks.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks arising from the ozone generating equipment, and failed to implement a safe system of work for servicing the equipment and associated alarms.
In addition, people on site were not adequately trained or supervised to safely issue work permits to the ozone room, and the company failed to implement a system to monitor and review the effectiveness of the permit to work system.
Cott Beverages Ltd, of Citrus Grove, Sideley, Kegworth, Derby, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £20,000 and ordered it to pay costs of £11,565.
Construction company ignored vital safety warnings
A building firm put the lives of its employees and nearby residents at risk after repeatedly ignoring safety warnings on a redevelopment project in Bristol city centre.
Peak Construction (London) Ltd was working on Riverside House in Welsh Back to convert the upper floors to residential accommodation and adding two new timber framed floors on top of the building.
The site was visited six times by inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive between August and October 2011 following initial concerns raised by members of the public about dangerous working practices.
Bristol Magistrates heard today (14 November) that on each occasion inspectors found a series of failings by the company relating to unsafe work at height, including the use of a mobile elevating work platform without worker harnesses, a lack of edge protection to prevent falls, poorly constructed scaffolding and risks with materials falling from the roof.
Inspectors also identified multiple fire risks, including no fire plan, no means of raising an alarm, no fire extinguishers, no marked emergency escape routes and the use of an open flame gas torch in the timber roof with no fire precautions in place.
Seven Prohibition Notices were served ordering work to stop immediately but some dangerous practices continued.
Peak Construction (London) Ltd, of Takeley Road, Bambers Green, Takeley in Essex pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and Regulation 38 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 for failing to make satisfactory safe working arrangements, and for allowing dangerous practices to continue. The company was fined a total of £10,000 and ordered to pay £4,629 in costs.
Care home provider fined after elderly resident died following fall
A South Lanarkshire care home provider has been fined after an elderly resident died after breaking her neck in a fall.
At Hamilton Sheriff Court today, BUPA Care Homes (Carrick) Ltd was fined £57,000 after pleading guilty to a breach of Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, which led to the death of Mrs Elizabeth Stevenson, 88.
BUPA Care Homes (Carrick) Ltd admitted to failing to review and update a risk assessment for Mrs Stevenson and failing to provide adequate instruction and supervision to their employees engaged in moving and handling residents of Highgate Care Home in Uddingston.
On the morning of 22 October 2008, a carer in the home was in the process of assisting Mrs Stevenson in undressing in order to transfer her from her bed to her shower chair when Mrs Stevenson fell to the ground.
The carer, who had only very shortly before taken up work at the home, was unaware that a care plan assessment carried out a month earlier stated that two people were required to transfer Mrs Stevenson safely from her bed into the shower chair.
Mrs Stevenson, who had been a resident at the home since September 2007, was taken to Monklands General Hospital where she was found to have a broken neck. She died the following day as a result of her injuries.
A HSE investigation found that as part of Mrs Stevenson’s care plan a ‘Safe System of Work Assessment’ on how to move Mrs Stevenson safely had been undertaken on 8 March 2008. This stated that she required the minimum assistance of one person, and that this should be updated after 12 months or sooner if there was any significant change in her mobility.
On 8 September 2008 as part of her care plan known as a “Quest Individual Assessment”, Mrs Stevenson was assessed as requiring the assistance of two people for washing, dressing and undressing. However, the Safe System of Work Assessment was not updated and continued to indicate one person would suffice to move her safely.
The court heard that, while BUPA instigated induction training for care staff which covered moving and handling of residents, including the consulting of their care plans, in practice care staff relied upon consulting their colleagues about residents’ moving and handling needs rather than the care plans.
The carer who had been assisting Mrs Stevenson on the morning of her fall had been given insufficient instruction and was not adequately supervised in relation to the handling of this lady and her specific needs.
The investigation concluded that the death of Mrs Stevenson was due to a failure on BUPA’s part to ensure that Mrs Stevenson’s Safe System of Work Assessment was updated and that its employees were adequately instructed and supervised in how to move Mrs Stevenson safely.
Ribble Valley firm prosecuted for unsafe scaffolding
The lives of several construction workers were put at risk as they worked on unsafe scaffolding at a farm in the Ribble Valley, a court has heard.
The men were spotted working on a barn conversion in Mellor Brow in Mellor on 13 March 2012 during a series of on-the-spot inspections carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) targeting refurbishment and roof work.
The inspector immediately served a Prohibition Notice ordering the men to come down from the scaffolding and their employer, Bailey Developments (NW) Ltd, was prosecuted today (14 November 2012) for failing to take sufficient measures to prevent workers being injured in a fall.
Accington Magistrates’ Court was told the company had been served with a Prohibition Notice in 2009 for previous unsafe work at height at a construction site in Preston.
During the site visit to the farm in Mellor, workers were seen on scaffolding platforms more than five metres above the ground, but there were numerous missing guard rails, deck boards and toe boards to prevent them falling. The scaffolding was also potentially unstable and there were unsafe ladders leaning against it.
Bailey Developments (NW) Ltd, of Deanfield Drive, Clitheroe, was fined £5,000 after admitting breaching the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was also ordered to pay £2,000 in prosecution costs.
Firm fined after worker falls into sewage well
A West Midlands company has been fined after a worker fell and slid seven metres into sewage well in Halesowen.
The 34-year-old from Walsall, who has asked not to be named, was clearing a blockage for Tardis Environmental UK Ltd at a partially completed housing development when the incident occurred on 26 August last year.
A pump at the bottom of the sewage well had stopped working because it had become blocked with “rag”, bulky waste material like nappies.
To remove the waste the employee used a road tanker with pump and hose attachments. He opened a grid at the top of the well and stood over it to support and manipulate the hose.
As he did the hose kicked back and hit him, causing him to lose balance and fall into the chamber.
He managed to grab the hose as he fell and slid down it into the waste at the bottom where he stood disorientated for around twenty minutes before he realised he had his mobile phone with him and was able to call for help.
He ingested raw sewage, sustained friction burns to his arms, and bruised his elbows, knees and head in the fall. He was off work for a number of days.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the Tardis employee had been trained in the use of the pumping equipment but had not received any instruction or training in how to empty deep, below-ground sewage wells with specific regard to the risks involved with working at height.
Tardis Environmental UK Ltd, of Fryers Road, Leamore, Bloxwich, today (14 November) pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Dudley Magistrates’ Court. The company was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 in costs.
Mitcham firm fined for rubbish safety
A Mitcham rubbish clearance and skip company has been fined for ignoring safety warnings, leaving staff working on a site in Croydon at risk.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out an inspection at Rubbish Express on Beddington Lane, Croydon, in August 2011 and found that a JCB lift truck had not been thoroughly examined and was operated by staff who had not received adequate training.
The HSE served two Improvement Notices, giving the company until October to provide training and to arrange for a competent engineer to thoroughly examine the telehandler lift truck.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard today (14 Nov) that Rubbish Express did not take any action until February 2012.
Rubbish Express Ltd of Graham Road, Mitcham, pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to comply with two Improvement Notices. It was fined £5,000 for each charge and ordered to pay £3,500 in costs.
Driver crushed during Old Trafford demolition
A demolition firm has appeared in court after part of a stand collapsed onto an excavator driver at Old Trafford Cricket Ground.
The 33-year-old worker from Warrington, who has asked not to be named, suffered serious injuries when a two-tonne concrete slab landed on his vehicle’s cab.
Warrington-based Excavation and Contracting (UK) Ltd was today (16 November 2012) prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following an investigation into the incident at the Talbot Road ground, home to Lancashire County Cricket Club, on 26 April last year.
Trafford Magistrates’ Court heard the company had been hired to demolish a two-tier stand at the stadium. However, the work had not been planned properly and the excavator had been positioned too close to the stand being demolished.
The worker sustained fractures to both legs in several places and severe cuts and bruising when a four-metre wide slab fell from the upper floor onto his vehicle.
Excavation and Contracting (UK) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 by failing to ensure the safety of workers and failing to plan and carry out the demolition work safely.
The company, of West Quay Road in Warrington, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £12,000 in prosecution costs.
Concrete firm in court after worker hit by forklift
A Shropshire concrete firm has been prosecuted after a worker suffered serious leg injuries when he was hit by a forklift truck.
Tomasz Kosmacz, 38, of Hadley, was responsible for removing excess concrete from moulds at Elite Precast Concrete Ltd’s Telford factory.
Mr Kosmacz was putting the excess concrete in a bucket and then onto the prongs of the forklift.
He was working in close proximity to the forklift, when he was struck by the vehicle.
He suffered multiple foot fractures, needed four screws in his broken ankle and also hurt his knee. He had to have two operations and is still unable to work following the incident on 7 July 2011.
Telford Magistrates heard today (16 Nov) that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found there was a written instruction in the factory stating the bucket should be placed on a pallet, not directly on the forks. This had not been translated into Polish for the benefit of the migrant labour the company employed, many of whom, like Mr Kosmacz, did not speak English.
Elite Precast Concrete Ltd, of Unit L, Halesfield 9, Telford, Shropshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The firm was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,897.
