Welcome to HSE prosecutions in brief. An overview of this weeks prosecutions by the HSE.
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Gas fitter sentenced for series of safety breaches
A North Wales man, who falsely claimed to be a registered gas engineer, has been sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment after dangerously installing a gas boiler at an address in Rhyl.
The Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Mr Lee Hampshire, trading as LH Heating and Plumbing, for carrying out gas work and falsely claiming to be registered with the industry registration scheme.
Chester Crown Court heard that, on 11 August 2009, Mr Hampshire made several errors when installing the boiler at the domestic property. One fault was classed as ‘immediately dangerous’, which led to the gas supply being disconnected.
Following installation the pressure gauge on the boiler developed a fault and Mr Hampshire recommended the householder contact the manufacturer directly.
An engineer was sent out to the property to assess the problem but noticed the flue for the boiler was not fitted with the appropriate screws, and there was a visible gap between the flue and the boiler, which should always be airtight.
At the time of fitting the boiler, Mr Hampshire falsely claimed to be a member of the official gas registration scheme, Gas Safe Register, by providing the householder with an expired registration number from CORGI, the previous official registration body.
The court heard HSE had previously served Mr Hampshire with a Prohibition Notice on 20 November 2008 for failing to register with the scheme, and for putting his customers at risk of serious personal injury.
Lee Hampshire, of 69 Marion Road, Prestatyn, Denbighshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) and Section 33(1) (g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and four breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. He was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment.
Read full story here.
Lichfield firm fined after man’s neck broken
A Lichfield logistics firm has been fined after a forklift driver broke his neck when a computer cabinet he was loading onto a trailer fell on him.
Barry Hill, 60, was operating the truck at Palletways (UK) Ltd, Fradley Distribution Park, when he noticed that one of the cabinets was rocking on the forks.
Stafford Crown Court heard Mr Hill got out of the forklift to catch the cabinet but it fell forward, hitting him on the head and knocking him to the ground. His neck and right wrist were broken and he has not worked since the incident on 22 August 2008.
After the incident Mr Hill was bleeding from a visible head wound, but the depot manager did not know who the first aiders were and took him around the site looking for help rather than leaving him in the office with a colleague.
A trained first aider assessed Mr Hill but did not recognise the seriousness of his injuries. Nobody called an ambulance and instead the first aider drove Mr Hill by car to a hospital with no accident and emergency unit, from where he was airlifted to Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham.
He spent six days in hospital and 14 weeks in halo traction and still suffers from discomfort in his neck. He has been left partially disabled following the incident.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the incident found that Palletways (UK) had failed to assess the risks of moving and loading goods, and to instruct, monitor and supervise forklift drivers properly.
In addition, the company did not have a clear system for dealing with employees who had suffered incidents or injuries at work.
Palletways (UK) Ltd of Wood End Lane, Fradley, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £60,000 in total and ordered to pay £41,339 costs.
Comments from HSE through the link.
Manchester worker paralysed in crane crush
A HGV driver from Manchester will never walk again after being crushed by metal tubes which fell from a crane.
David Collins, a 31-year-old father of two who worked for Bury firm Spectra Scaffolding, suffered severe injuries to his head, back and leg and is now paraplegic.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Spectra Scaffolding following the incident on 7 November 2008 at Festival Park, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, where refurbishment to retail premises was being undertaken.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how Mr Collins was unloading 21ft long scaffolding tubes from the back of a truck using a vehicle-mounted crane.
As he stood under the load operating the crane controls, one of the lifting slings detached from the crane hook, causing the metal tubes, which weighed nearly one and a half tonnes, to fall onto him.
HSE’s investigation into the incident found Mr Collins had not been properly trained or supervised and Spectra Scaffolding had failed to plan the work adequately.
The court also heard that a safety catch on the crane hook was faulty, which led to the scaffolding tubes falling. Although the company had known about this for some time before the incident, no action was taken to replace the catch and Mr Collins had not been trained to realise its importance.
Spectra Scaffolding, of Warth Road Industrial Estate, Bury, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £45,000 costs.
Comment from the HSE through the link.
Suffolk County Council fined for health and safety breaches
Suffolk County Council has admitted breaching health and safety laws at three of its workplaces, including two schools.
Ipswich Magistrates’ Court heard the council faced six charges resulting from Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigations into incidents at Burton End Primary School in Haverhill, Farlingaye High School in Woodbridge, and the council’s highways department.
One charge related to an incident on 11 October 2009, when a nine-year-old Jamie Griffin pupil at Burton End Primary School, was playing on a climbing frame in the school grounds when he fell over 1.5 metres onto concrete slabs below. He fractured his skull, suffered a bleed into his brain and was temporarily blinded. It was 10 weeks before he returned to full-time schooling.
The HSE investigation found Suffolk County Council had ignored a requirement to provide an impact absorbing surface under the climbing frame and it had not provided the school with enough information to ensure pupils could play on the climbing frame safely.
Two other charges followed an investigation into an IT technician’s fall while he was taking down a screen at the back of a stage after a Farlingaye High School theatre production on 21 October 2009.
The council was fined a total of £48,000 and ordered to pay costs totalling £43,772.
Read full story here.
Chocolate manufacturer fined over fractured finger
High street chocolate chain Thorntons has been fined after a worker broke her finger while operating a wrapping machine.
Ellen Yardley, 37, from Derbyshire was working at the company’s Somercotes plant on a foil wrapping machine, where chocolates were wrapped in foil and dispensed down a chute into a tray.
During a short break in production, while the machine was still running, Ms Yardley attempted to clean the inside of the output chute which had become covered in caramel. However, the cloth she was using became tangled in rotating parts which gripped the chocolates and her right hand was dragged into the machine.
Ms Yardley’s middle finger was fractured and cut, and she was off work for 10 weeks following the 17 November 2009 incident.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the machine had guarding installed but it was inadequate.
Thorntons PLC, of Thornton Park, Somercotes, Derbyshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court fined the company £20,000 and ordered it to pay full costs of £7,680.
Read full story here.
Plumber put lives at risk with illegal gas work
A Milton Keynes plumber who put a householder at risk by illegally installing and working on a gas boiler has been sentenced.
Trading as C&H Services, Christopher Johnson, 45, of 2 Bogart Place, installed a new gas boiler in the kitchen of a residential property in Fairfield Road, Dunstable in April 2010.
He was called back to the house in October 2010 as the resident reported a banging sound coming from the appliance. Mr Johnson determined that the boiler needed a new part. He left the appliance with its casing off but still connected to the gas supply.
After Mr Johnson’s visit, the resident contacted the boiler manufacturer which classified it as “immediately dangerous” and disconnected the gas supply to prevent it being used.
An engineer from Gas Safe also inspected the work and confirmed the existence of immediately dangerous defects which posed a significant risk to people in the house. Gas Safe found the boiler and flue were not compatible and the boiler casing had not been replaced resulting in the seal between the boiler and the kitchen becoming ineffective.
Both defects could have resulted in potentially lethal carbon monoxide escaping. The investigation also found that Mr Johnson was not registered with Gas Safe and so was working illegally.
At Luton & South Bedfordshire Magistrates’ Court today, Mr Johnson pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 3(1) and 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998. Along with a three month community order, he was ordered to pay £475 costs.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Door firm fined after worker suffers severe hand injuries
A door-making firm has been fined after a Derbyshire machine operator suffered severe and permanent hand injuries.
Hugo Valdes Vera, 37, of Loscoe, was working for SIG Manufacturing Ltd on Milnhay Road, Langley Mill, Derbyshire on 18 February 2010 when his left hand was trapped between two heated platens in a multi-platen door press.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought the prosecution, told Derby Crown Court that Mr Valdes Vera had been working at the factory for one month. He was loading and unloading doors with colleagues at the recently-supplied door press and was working at the rear of the machine when he became trapped.
The press was guarded at the sides and had a two-hand control at the front, which meant the operator had to keep both hands on the control buttons whilst the press operated. There was no guarding at the rear of the machine press, just a trip wire at low level which protected the area beneath the platens. The flush engineered doors were loaded from the front of the press and unloaded at the rear.
Visibility around the back of the machine press for anybody operating it was restricted and the employees used a ‘thumbs up’ signal system when someone was working in this area to indicate when they were clear. One of the employees operated the press, not realising Mr Valdes Vera was behind it. His hand was between two of the heated platens and was trapped as the press closed.
He lost part of three fingers, required ongoing hospital treatment and has not yet been able to return to work.
SIG Manufacturing Ltd, of Sheffield, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £23,154.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Lancashire roofer caught on camera risking lives
A Lancashire roofer has been prosecuted after he and two employees were spotted on a shop roof without any protection to stop them falling.
Ross Singleton, who trades as Ross’s Roofing, was photographed by an inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as he and the two other workers carried out repairs to the roof of a hairdressers’ on Skipton Road in Colne.
Burnley Magistrates’ Court heard the inspector immediately issued a Prohibition Notice ordering the men to come down from the roof but, despite initially stopping work, they later returned to the roof without any safety measures in place.
The court was told Mr Singleton had also put members of the public at risk as he was working above a busy row of shops, and any falling debris could have struck someone.
Ross Singleton pleaded guilty to breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 after he failed to take action to prevent workers being injured in a fall, and ignored a Prohibition Notice.
Mr Singleton, 23 of Dickson Street in Colne, was fined £350 and ordered to pay £300 in prosecution costs on 12 January 2012.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Demolition worker fined after colleague was severely injured
A demolition worker from Croydon has been taken to court after his actions left one of his colleagues with serious leg injuries.
Devon Stoner, 44, of Whitehorse Road in Croydon was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the incident in January this year, when he was carrying out demolition work for Sloane Demolition Limited in Kent.
Maidstone Magistrates’ Court heard that on 20 January 2011, five employees, including the defendant were sorting through rubble and reclaiming bricks at the former Leybourne Grange Hospital in West Malling, Kent. The two-storey building was being demolished with the use of a 360 excavator – a large, 13 tonne vehicle so-called as it rotates 360 degrees.
Workers were putting bricks from a demolished chimney breast into the bucket of the excavator which the operator had left switched off but with the keys left in it.
Mr Stoner climbed into the excavator and began to move it around the site. However he was unable to control the machine and caused a wall to collapse. His co-worker was unable to move out of the way quickly enough and was trapped. He suffered serious injuries to his left leg, a broken right ankle and a shattered shin. He has had to have a steel plate inserted into his right shin and ankle.
Mr Stoner was not authorised by his employers to operate the excavator and it was his actions alone that caused the incident.
Devon Stoner pleaded guilty to breaching section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was ordered to undertake 120 hours community service and pay £500 in costs.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Suspended prison sentences for illegal gas fitters
Two men who operated a Harrogate-based plumbing firm have been handed suspended prison terms for falsely claiming to be Gas Safe registered engineers and leaving one local family in “immediate danger”.
The men, sole employees and directors of PH Plumbing and Heating Engineers Ltd, were found out when two householders complained separately to Gas Safe after having problems with work done at their homes. Both householders had been told by the firm that they were Gas Safe registered and one was given a business card with the Register’s logo on.
Both defendants pleaded guilty to a number of breaches of the Gas Safety Regulations before Harrogate Magistrates’ Court last month and were back in court for sentencing today (13 Jan).
The court heard that Steven Paffett and Ben Leeming were reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) by Gas Safe when the first offence came to light after they installed a condensing boiler at a house in Strensall, near York, on 3 February 2010.
HSE Inspector Kate Dixon, who investigated, told the court that a short while after PH Plumbing fitted the boiler, the householder called in a registered gas engineer from a different firm to do a separate job. But when he saw the boiler, the engineer deemed it to be immediately dangerous and disconnected it.
Numerous faults included an unsealed internal flue that could have led to the gases and water produced leaking throughout the house. Incorrectly-sized pipes were found to be reducing the gas being supplied to the appliance.
When the householder contacted Mr Paffett to carry out remedial work, the firm didn’t respond, despite being paid £1,600 for the work. After getting a complaint, Gas Safe called on HSE to investigate and Prohibition Notices were served on both Mr Paffett and Mr Leeming in August 2010, stopping them from carrying out further gas work until they were competent and registered to do so. In the meantime, the Strensall homeowner had to spend a further £2,000 for the work to be done properly.
In November 2010, a Harrogate resident contacted PH Plumbing after his boiler began to leak water. Mr Paffett inspected it and recommended a new boiler, quoting £1,650 for the work. After Mr Leeming did the work – in breach of the Prohibition Notice – faults became apparent and the householder contacted Gas Safe. Their inspection found the work below current standards and HSE was asked again to investigate.
Steven Paffett, of St James Meadow, Boroughbridge, York, who had admitted three breaches of the Gas Safety Regulations, was sentenced to a total of six months’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months. Ben Leeming, of Frances Street, York, who’d pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Regulations and one offence of contravening a Prohibition Notice, was also given six months jail suspended for 12 months. In addition, each defendant was given 150 community service.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Steel beam falls and fatally injures worker
A specialist crane supplier has been fined £180,000 after a worker was killed when a large steel beam fell on him at an incinerator in Slough, Berkshire.
Colin Dickson, 38, of Motherwell, Lanarkshire, died when the temporary suspension points on a suspended beam he was under failed at the Lakeside Energy from Waste installation in Colnbrook.
The 1.4 tonne beam fell five metres onto Mr Dickson causing fatal injuries to his chest, and fractures to his legs and back.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Mr Dickson’s employers J H Carruthers Ltd and one of its supervisors, John Hamilton, after an investigation into how the lifting operation failed.
Reading Crown Court heard on 29 August 2007, a team of five people were installing two cranes in the hall of a new incinerator building. They were lifting two steel beams to a height of approximately 18 metres, which then had to be welded to the underside of the roof beams that were fixed to the rafters.
The HSE investigation found that the lifting operation could have been successful if the whole process had been planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a safe manner from the outset.
J H Carruthers Ltd (formerly Konecranes (UK) Ltd), of Peel Park Place, College Milton, East Kilbride, pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The firm was fined £180,000 and ordered to pay costs of £74,000.
Mr John Hamilton, of Orchard Gardens, Strathaven, Lanarkshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. He was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay costs of £400.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Firm fined £160,000 after technician’s death at factory
An experienced technician at a plastic products factory in Cornwall was killed after he was crushed between the plates on a machine used to make plastic lids.
Shaun O’ Dwyer, 54, originally from North Yorkshire, but living in Redruth died in the incident on 30 May 2008 at Curver UK Ltd’s factory on Cardew Industrial Estate.
The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted Curver UK Ltd (formerly Contico Europe Ltd) for failing to provide adequate safety measures
Truro Crown Court heard that in preparing the machinery Mr O’Dwyer needed to access the plastic mouldings machine’s plates. This was normally done via a guard which, when opened, prevented the machine from operating. However in this case one of the conveyors on the machine had been removed and Mr O’Dwyer was able to access the machine through an unguarded gap. Whilst he was inside the press started to operate and the plates closed crushing him at a pressure of over 1,000 tonnes.
Curver UK Ltd of York Gate, London, pleaded guilty to committing a breach of Regulation 11 (1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations under Section 33(1) (c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £160,000 and ordered to pay £32,000 costs.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
Liverpool businessman fined £112k over roof fall death
A Liverpool businessman has been fined £112,000 after a labourer died following a fall from the roof of an industrial unit, just months after another worker was injured in a fall at the same site.
John McCleary fell 15 feet while fitting roof panels at a construction site in Toxteth being managed by Taj ul Malook Mann. He lost his balance while on a narrow beam he was using as no scaffolding had been erected.
The 51-year-old father-of-two, from Toxteth, was paralysed from the waist down and died of pneumonia just over seven months later as a result of his injuries. Mr Mann was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following Mr McCleary’s death.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Mr Mann had hired Mr McCleary to fit roof panels on an industrial unit he owned in High Park Street, Toxteth. But no scaffolding was supplied and Mr McCleary had to carry out the job while standing on four-inch wide steel beams, leading to him losing his balance and falling.
He underwent an eight hour operation after the incident on 12 June 2008 and was readmitted to hospital in December with illnesses related to his condition. He died on 27 January 2009.
During the HSE investigation, video was discovered which had been filmed by Mr McCleary on his mobile phone in the weeks before his fall. It shows labourers carrying out work while on top of the narrow roof beams.
Investigations also revealed a bricklayer had escaped with minor injuries after falling from scaffolding at the site in an earlier incident. The worker had refused to continue working for Mr Mann after the incident.
Taj ul Malook Mann, of Queen’s Drive, Liverpool, admitted four breaches of health and safety regulations after failing to take steps to prevent a fall which could have resulted in injury, and failing to ensure that work on his site was being carried out safely. He also did not fulfil his legal duty to report the incident to HSE.
He was fined £112,000 and ordered to pay £19,331 in prosecution costs on 13 January 2012.
Comments from the HSE through the link.
