Welcome to HSE prosecutions in brief. An overview of this weeks prosecutions by the HSE.
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Pair fined £13,000 for scaffolding collapse at Exeter trading estate
Partners in a company that erected unsafe scaffolding, which crashed to the ground in strong winds, were sentenced on the 16th November.
Terrence Foster, of Scaffolding Systems South West, was fined £8,000 and his partner in the business, Shaun Greenslade, was fined £5,000. Both were ordered to pay costs of £2,040 each in the case brought by the HSE at Exeter Magistrates.
A large section of scaffolding erected by the firm at a builders’ merchants on 25 March, 2009 fell away from the building, seriously damaging a number of parked cars. The scaffolding had been erected to allow re-roofing to take place at the premises.
HSE inspectors told the court that netting had been fixed to the scaffolding but extended almost a metre and a half above the roof of the building. The netting was attached to the inside edge of the scaffold instead of the outside and acted as a sail to the prevailing wind causing the scaffolding to collapse.
The investigation also found there were inadequate stability measures on the scaffold to withstand foreseeable wind speeds, such as scaffolding ties.
Shaun Greenslade, trading as Scaffolding Systems South West Ltd of Warwick Road, Heavitree, Exeter, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 28(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
Terry Foster, also trading as Scaffolding Systems South West Ltd, pleaded guilty to a breach of the same regulation.
Read full story here
University fined for asbestos failings
Lincoln University has been fined for putting staff, students and contractors at risk of exposure to asbestos.
The failings came to light on 24 February 2010 when a lecturer became trapped in a room after a door lock broke. She enlisted the help of a colleague to release her and once freed, they noticed debris around the door handle.
They notified the university’s health and safety department which examined the door and others in the area, and discovered most were lined with asbestos insulating board (AIB), and that some were damaged.
The university notified the HSE, which carried out its own investigation. It was found that a number of areas across the university’s estate had been subject to asbestos surveys over a number of years and many areas were found to contain asbestos-containing materials or even asbestos debris, yet no remedial action had been taken.
Lincoln University Higher Education Corporation, of Brayford Pool, Lincoln, pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching Regulation 5(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court today. The university was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £12,759 costs.
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Scunthorpe firm in court after worker scarred for life
A construction company has been prosecuted for safety failings after a young worker was left permanently scarred when he struck an underground cable during digging work.
Richard Baisley, 26, of Scunthorpe, received severe burns to his hands, arms, face and chest when he drilled through concrete and pierced a 415 volt cable. The location of the cable was not established by the company before the digging work started.
Scunthorpe Magistrates’ Court heard Mr Baisley and a fellow employee had been instructed by a director of Kim Barker Construction Ltd to dig two holes outside their site entrance so they could erect a new company sign. The sign needed two large holes for the steel posts.
Part-way through the job, the two workers hired a drill to break through some concrete and took it in turns to use it. During Mr Baisley’s turn, the concrete gave way and he pierced the cable, resulting in an electrical explosion.
Mr Baisley, of Burringham, Scunthorpe, was in hospital for three days for treatment to his burns. He is unable to return to his original career as a welder because of the affects of heat on his skin and for some six months after the incident in October 2009 he was unable to ride his motorcycle or play sport.
Kim Barker Construction Ltd, of Flixborough Industrial Estate in Scunthorpe, pleaded guilty to a breach of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 after an investigation was mounted by the HSE. They were fined £13,000 and ordered to pay £2,039.10 in costs.
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Carmarthenshire man fined after roofer fall
A man has been fined after his employee was injured when he fell from a roof at a Carmarthenshire farm.
Anthony William John Daniel, trading as Towy Valley Fabrications was prosecuted by the HSE following the incident at Plasbach Farm in Ffairfach, near Llandeilo on 15 April 2011.
Ammanford Magistrates’ Court heard that Daniel Elliot, 24, from Nottingham was an inexperienced steel erector and had been employed by Mr Daniel to assist in the construction of a new pitched roof between existing buildings on the farm.
The work involved the demolition of a small existing roof, and the installation of new steel frames between the buildings.
Mr Elliot was standing on the roof of one of the existing buildings and pulling up an electrical extension cable, when he stepped backwards onto a fragile PVC skylight and fell 5.5m to the ground below.
Mr Elliot broke two bones in his spine in the fall, fractured his pelvis and suffered an injury to his arm which required stitches. He has not been able to return to work as a steel erector and is now pursuing an alternative career.
The court heard the defendant had failed to notify the HSE of the incident at the time.
HSE was eventually made aware of the incident by Mr Elliot’s mother and a subsequent investigation was launched. It found that Mr Daniel had failed to properly plan and supervise work at height activities, and ensure that appropriate measures were in place to control the associated risks.
Anthony William John Daniel, trading as Towy Valley Fabrications of The Brambles, Llanwrda, Carmarthenshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1) the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. He also pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
He was fined £6,500 and ordered to pay £2,651 in costs.
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Father and son fined for unsafe roof work
A roofer was caught on camera working on an industrial unit roof without any safety equipment, a court heard.
Nottingham Magistrates’ Court today fined Michael Hallwood and his son Michael Thomas Hallwood, partners in Cladding Coatings, after a worker was seen risking his life on a roof at Farrar Close, off Brunel Drive, Newark, on 8 June 2010.
A member of the public reported the worker to the HSE after photographing him undertaking cleaning work on the roof, which contained around 80 potentially fragile roof lights, using no safety equipment, edge protection or harnesses to prevent falls.
Mr Hallwood, of Ashmond, Springhead, Oldham, and his son, of Bradley Fold, Oldham, pleaded guilty to breaching section 4(1)(c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. They were fined £2,500 each and ordered to pay costs of £2,604 between them.
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Scaffold collapse leads to fine for Nottinghamshire director
The director of a scaffolding company from Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, has been fined after a roofing contractor was injured during a scaffold collapse.
The 48-year-old, from Nottingham, fell six metres and fractured his pelvis in four places after scaffolding built on behalf of David Knowles collapsed at a house in Montpelier Road, Nottingham, on 20 October 2009. He was off work for four months.
A HSE investigation found the scaffolding had not been built by a competent scaffolder, was not erected to a standard configuration and had not been tied correctly.
Mr Knowles was prosecuted for failing to ensure that people not in his employment were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.
David Knowles, 54, of Station Street, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court today. He was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £3,944 costs.
Read full story here.
