Welcome to HSE prosecutions in brief. An overview of this weeks prosecutions by the HSE.
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Perthshire malt company fined after worker loses part of leg
A national malt company, Pauls Malt Limited, has been fined after a worker had to have the lower part of his left leg amputated, when he became entangled in machinery inside a grain silo.
On 27 October 2008, Derek Kinmond was trying to fix machinery within a silo when he became caught in it at the company’s premises at Sidlaw Grain Store, Sidlaw, Burrelton, Perthshire.
The grain silo was emptied using a large piece of rotating machinery known as a sweep auger. The sweep auger had not been moving around the silo so Mr Kinmond switched off the electrical supply and went into the silo on two occasions in order to attempt to release the machinery which appeared to be blocked with grain. On his third attempt he did not isolate the power to the screw auger, and whilst inside the silo, he slipped and his legs became entangled in the auger.
Mr Kidmond was taken to hospital, where his left leg was amputated below the knee. His right leg was also badly broken and is still held together by plates and pins.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that although the company had put in place procedures for working inside silos, they were not safe because there was no supervision on site to ensure that they were followed. The company used a ‘Permit To Work’ system which required an independent and competent person to verify that the auger was switched off before an employee entered the silo. However at the time of the incident the person nominated by the company, the site manager, had been absent for a number of months and his substitute had left the previous week.
At Perth Sheriff Court on Tuesday 4th October 2011, Pauls Malt Limited were fined £8,000 after they pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Read full story here.
Forklift worker suffers head injury in Leigh
- A worker could have been killed when he fell off a forklift truck in Leigh while trying to climb onto its roof, a court has heard.
The 29-year-old man from Tyldesley, struck his head on the ground and was knocked unconscious for several minutes in the incident at Moss Industrial Estate on St Helens Road in Leigh.
His employer, Serviceplan Contracts Ltd, was prosecuted by the HSE for failing to make sure the work was planned, supervised and carried out safely.
Trafford Magistrates’ Court in Sale was told the worker had been trying to climb on the roof of the forklift to carry out work to the lifting equipment on 3 August 2010. He suffered severe headaches, a painful swelling to his head, and was off work for one week as a result of the fall.
The HSE investigation found it was common practice for Serviceplan’s employees to service the lifting mast and chains on a forklift truck by climbing on top of it.
However, they should have been given a stepladder or mobile steps to use to reach the equipment safely. Some of the work could also have been carried out from the ground.
Serviceplan Contracts Ltd admitted breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company, of Smallbrook Lane in Leigh, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 in prosecution costs on 30 September 2011.
Read full story here.
Bromley building contractor fined for working without asbestos licence
A building contractor from South East London has been fined for running a construction site which led to workers being exposed to asbestos-containing materials.
Fadil Adil, of Coniston Road, Bromley, was prosecuted by the HSE for the way work was carried out on a construction site he was in charge of, on Bromley High Street between 21 and 29 June 2010.
The project involved the demolition of a building which had a restaurant on the ground floor and flats above. Asbestos insulating boards in the restaurant’s ceiling were broken up during the demolition which Mr Adil was overseeing. Three workmen demolished the building using sledgehammers and hand-operated breakers, meaning they could have been exposed to asbestos fibres.
The HSE investigation found that the defendant did not have a licence to work with asbestos. He was also was not trained in construction management. At no point did the defendant carry out an asbestos survey, nor did he provide any guidance to the workmen regarding the presence of asbestos.
On the 6th October 2011, at the City of London Magistrates’ Court, Fadil Adil pleaded guilty to breaching the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. He was fined £19,300 and ordered to pay costs of £7,654.
Read full story here.
Stourbridge builder fined for illegal gas work
A builder from Stourbridge carried out gas work at four houses in Worcester despite not being Gas Safe registered.
The HSE prosecuted James Raybould, who trades as Jim Raybould Electrical, Plumbing and Building Services, following the incidents between September 2009 and 15 July 2010.
The Gas Safe Register is the official compulsory registration scheme for gas engineers in Britain and it is illegal to carry out domestic gas work without registration.
Worcester Magistrates’ Court heard the offences were discovered when James Raybould failed to fix a leak in a gas boiler he had earlier fitted.
His client contacted a registered gas engineer who told her the work was substandard. She then alerted the Gas Safe Register, who checked the four properties where the gas work had been carried out and they found two of the fires Mr Raybould had fitted were immediately dangerous.
The court also heard a family at one of the houses had suffered from headaches, which they suspected had been caused by the gas fire.
Mr Raybould, of Lady Greys Walk, Stourbridge, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. He was fined £1,330 and ordered to pay £1,170 costs.
Read full story here.
Landlord fined for taking risks with gas safety
A man who rented out his Huddersfield home left his tenant at risk by ignoring repeated warnings to have the gas appliances in the property safety-checked.
Anthony Brownson, who now lives in Cheshire, was contacted by Kirklees Council and then by the HSE several times between May 2010 and March 2011.
Leeds Magistrates’ Court was told he persistently ignored requests by the council and HSE to produce a landlord’s Gas Safety Record for his former home in Lane Top, Linthwaite. He also failed to respond when HSE served him with an Improvement Notice and did not attend a scheduled interview with an inspector under caution.
In the meantime, Mr Brownson’s tenant and her daughter had been left with a faulty boiler system and without a safely working gas fire during one of the coldest winters in recent times. They eventually left the property. Finally in March this year, Kirklees Council ordered safety work to be carried out, again after Mr Brownson failed to fulfil his landlord’s responsibilities.
Mr Brownson, of Boyds Walk, Dukinfield, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to a breach of gas safety regulations by failing to carry out an annual safety check on gas appliances between April 2007 and March 2011. He also admitted an offence of failing to comply with an Improvement Notice between December 2010 and March 2011. He was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £2,089.25 in costs.
Read full story here.
