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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Kent glazing firm fined for gas safety breach
A Kent double glazing company with three outlets in Medway towns has been fined for safety failings after building a conservatory over a gas flue.
Family firm Supaglazing Ltd., of Strood, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for breaching gas safety regulations – the second time the firm has been convicted for such failings.
Dartford Magistrates’ Court was told (3 September) that the firm’s workers had constructed a conservatory over an existing gas flue for a boiler at a property on Beavor Road, Allington, Maidstone so there wasn’t sufficient ventilation for combustion products.
As a result the occupants of the home, including a woman who was pregnant at the time and a child, were potentially put at risk.
The incident came to light following a report from a registered Gas Safe engineer who went to the house to give an estimate for relocating a flue for a gas boiler.
Magistrates heard that HSE, which investigated the safety breach, had prosecuted the firm in January 2009. In that instance it had also built over an existing flue at a house in Maidstone.
Supaglazing Ltd, of Knight Road in Strood, which also has outlets in Dartford and Sittingbourne, admitted breaching the Gas Safety Regulations between 23 July and 2 October 2010. It was fined £14,000 and ordered to pay £2,826 in costs.
British standards relating to gas safety.
Engineering firm sentenced over severed fingers
A Skelmersdale firm which makes outdoor shelters has appeared in court after an employee lost parts of three fingers when his hand became trapped in a forklift truck.
PRF Engineering, which manufactures shelters for bikes and supermarket trolleys, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at its factory on Grimrod Place on 19 May 2011.
Ormskirk Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday, Monday 3 September, that the 36-year-old worker from Kirkby, who has asked not to be named, had been helping to transport a three metre-wide metal sheet when he was injured.
He and a colleague stood on top of the sheet to stabilise it on the prongs of the forklift so it could be moved, but as the sheet was lowered the worker’s left hand became trapped.
He was taken to hospital by ambulance where his fingers were reattached but has only been able to regain partial use of his hand.
The court was told the company had failed to carry out a proper assessment of the risks faced by their workers. It should not have allowed employees to stand on top of the forks and should have found another way to transport the sheets of metal such as using a large metal basket.
PRF Engineering pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure the safety or employees. It was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £5,164 in costs.
British standards relating to Health & Safety.
Contractor fined after worker left severely brain damaged
A Darlington contractor has been fined after a worker was left severely brain damaged following a fall from a house roof.
Mark Lambton, 50, from Darlington, was working for James Wilson, trading as J Wilson Home Improvements, when the incident happened on 2 July 2011.
Mr Wilson had secured work to replace roof tiles, point ridge tiles and fit a dry verge system to the gable end of a house in Wheeldale Close, Darlington. Mr Lambton and a third man were hired to assist.
Darlington Magistrates’ Court heard today (5 September) that Mr Lambton was on the roof clearing concrete debris and fell around six to seven metres while attempting to move onto a set of ladders at the gable end of the property. He landed on the path at the side of the property.
He was rushed to hospital and was placed in a drug-induced coma for more than two months. He remains severely brain damaged, in a vegetative state with no likelihood of improvement.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found the manner in which the work was carried out was unsafe as there were no precautions to prevent the workers from falling from the roof.
James Wilson, trading as J Wilson Home Improvements, 53, of Mallard Road, Darlington was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 costs after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1)(c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
British standard relating to working at heights.
Warrington worker struck by forklift at recycling plant
A recycling firm, which ignored warnings about safety at its plant in Warrington, has been sentenced after a worker was struck by a forklift truck.
The truck was carrying a large bale of crushed aluminium cans when it hit the 43-year-old man as he walked across the warehouse floor at the site on Thelwall Lane in Latchford. The worker, who doesn’t wish to be named, suffered damage to his ankles and feet.
Novelis UK Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident on 18 November 2010.
Warrington Magistrates’ Court heard today (5 September 2012) that HSE inspectors had given Novelis advice about improving the vehicle and pedestrian segregation four months before the incident. Workers at the plant had also previously raised concerns about the issue.
The court was told forklift trucks were regularly used in the warehouse, but there was not an adequate system in place to keep vehicles away from pedestrians.
Novelis UK Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 by failing to ensure workers and vehicles could move safely around the site. The company was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £3,365 in prosecution costs.
British standards relating to Health & Safety.
Norwich firm fined after aircraft painter injured in fall from scaffold
A Norwich scaffolding firm has been fined after a self-employed aircraft painter was injured after falling more than two metres when a wooden scaffold board broke.
The 37-year-old, from Basildon Essex, who does not wish to be named, was working on an aircraft at the Air Livery, Aviation Way, Southend on Sea, Essex when the incident happened on 30 January 2011.
Southend Magistrates’ Court heard today (5th September) that scaffolding had been put up around the aircraft by DSJ Scaffolding Limited to allow access.
The aircraft painter was on the first level of the scaffold arrangement when he walked onto a wooden bridging board which broke, causing him to fall more than two metres to the ground below.
He suffered injuries to his back and knees which prevented him from playing with his children or do normal things for some months afterwards. He still has problems with his knees and two lumps are still present more than a year after the incident. He also suffers from panic attacks.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that the condition of the plywood bridging board had deteriorated significantly and the layers had started to separate. The damage was clearly visible at the time the board was placed on the scaffold and it should not have been used.
DSJ Scaffolding Limited, of Staden Park, Trimingham, Norwich, pleaded guilty to of breaching Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £1,500 in costs.
British standard relating to working at heights.
Death of Bradford worker ‘avoidable’
A Bradford firm has been ordered to pay £140,000 in fines and costs after admitting safety failures that led to the death of a 61 year-old worker who was crushed beneath an unsecured racking system.
Jim Murphy died from head injuries when the ‘A’ frame metal racking unit, weighing more than a quarter of a tonne, toppled over and pinned him underneath. As he fell his head hit part of another machine just feet away. The overloaded unit had not been bolted or secured in place.
Mr Murphy, of School Green Avenue, Thornton, had worked for refrigeration company George Barker & Co. (Leeds) Ltd for nine years.
The incident at the firm’s factory in Highfield Road, Idle, on 1 December 2009, was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which uncovered a ‘catalogue of errors’.
Bradford Crown Court was told today (6 September) that Mr Murphy had been asked to help dismantle the stacking system so that the area in the premises could be reorganised. He was kneeling on the floor in an aisle removing labels from various parts when the unit next to him toppled. Mr Murphy’s head hit a raised part of another machine nearby.
The court heard the racking was not bolted to the floor and other employees had started to use it to shelve components, making it increasingly unstable. HSE found there was no system at the company to safely move or inspect the racking, no indication of its maximum load and no training given to employees.
George Barker & Co (Leeds) Ltd was fined £110,000 and ordered to pay £30,000 in costs for a breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company had admitted the offence at an earlier hearing.
British standards relating to Health & Safety.
British standards relating to Racking Systems.
Liverpool rubber firm sentenced over burn injury
A Liverpool rubber manufacturer has been fined for safety failings after an employee seriously injured his hand when it became trapped in machinery.
Robert Devonport was left with a severe burn to his left hand and a crush injury to his thumb as a result of the incident at Ley Rubber Ltd’s former site on Bridgewater Street on 6 December 2010.
The company was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found there was no guarding on the machine to prevent employees’ hands being trapped.
South Sefton Magistrates’ Court was told today (6 September) that the 47-year-old, from Toxteth, was making adjustments to a machine while it was running on a timed cycle.
The machine was operating at temperatures of around 200 degrees Celsius to connect two pieces of rubber together when the metal clamps which hold the rubber moulds in place were released.
The top left clamp trapped Mr Devonport’s left hand against the machine’s control panel, causing his injuries. He was taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital for treatment and needed nine months off work to recover.
Ley Rubber Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 by failing to carry out an assessment of the risks employees faced while using the machine.
The company, which has since moved to Knowsley Industrial Estate on Admin Road in Kirkby, was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £3,518 in prosecution costs.
British standards relating to machine safety.
Risk Management of Machinery and Work Equipment by John Glover
Double scaffold fall leads to fine
A Leicestershire house builder has been fined after two self-employed bricklayers fell more than two metres from a scaffold.
Darren Bird and James Allies were contracted to help build houses at a small development in Normanton, near Bottesford, by Cairns Heritage Homes No2 Limited.
On 8 December 2011 the two men were fitting a wall plate and finishing off the brickwork near the top of a house. Mr Bird had opened the scaffold’s loading bay gate ready for a telehandler to lift mortar on to it when he and Mr Allies felt the scaffold shake. Mr Bird fell against Mr Allies, who was crouching down, and both men fell into the first floor of the house.
Mr Bird, 43, of Newstead Village, Nottingham, suffered severe bruising and tissue damage to his hip, pelvis and neck and lacerations to his face, arm and stomach. He recently returned to work but will require long-term physiotherapy.
Mr Allies, 44, of Wollaton, Nottingham, suffered muscle and nerve damage to his neck and back and bruised his shoulder, leg, face and arms. He has not yet returned to work.
Leicester Magistrates were told today (7 September) that a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that although the company had a policy of installing fall protection nets when installing roof trusses, the internal fall risk area was left unprotected until that stage.
Cairns Heritage Homes No2 Limited, of Old Parsonage Lane, Horton, Loughborough, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1)(c) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Magistrates fined the company £6,500 and ordered it to pay costs of £1,836
British standard relating to working at heights.
Glasgow firm fined after worker loses finger
A Glasgow firm has been fined after an employee lost a finger and seriously injured his hand and arm when they became caught in machinery.
Daniel Campbell, 29, was working for Robert Cullen Limited, a manufacturer of corrugated cartons and moulded pulp products, at its premises in Dawsholm Avenue, when the incident happened on 5 July 2010.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) established that the safety gates on a pulp products machine were not working properly, which meant it could operate when the gates were open.
The investigation also found that the company had failed to provide adequate training for Mr Campbell in the use of the machine, and in particular he was lacking knowledge of how to clear blockages safely.
On 4 September, Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that Mr Campbell had worked at the site, known as ‘The Pulp Factory’, for ten years but it was only days before the incident that he started work on the machine that caused his injuries.
On 5 July 2010 he was told when he started his nightshift that he was expected to operate the machine as the worker who usually operated it was on leave. The machine jammed and stopped and he climbed into it to clear the blockage.
A colleague thought he heard Mr Campbell shout to him to start the machine. When he did so Mr Campbell was still within the machine trying to unblock it and he was trapped by his hand and forearm in the machinery.
His colleague was unable to release him and had to make contact with a worker who was at home to get instructions on how to do so. Mr Campbell remained trapped for up to 20 minutes.
His right index finger was so badly damaged it had to be amputated and he required 124 stitches to close wounds in his hand and arm. He was in hospital for seven days and continues to receive treatment as an outpatient. He still has limited movement and sensation in his hand, suffers chronic pain and may never make a full recovery.
Today (7 September), Robert Cullen Limited, of Kirklee Circus, Glasgow, was fined £50,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
British standards relating to machine safety.
Risk Management of Machinery and Work Equipment by John Glover
Preston steel firm in court over employee’s drilling injuries
A Preston steel firm has been sentenced after one of its employees suffered serious internal injuries when he became trapped in an industrial drilling machine.
Joseph Spencer narrowly avoided being paralysed when a rotating drill passed through his overalls and jeans, and became lodged close to his spine.
The 45-year-old sustained long-term injuries including a split bowel, twisted pelvis and nerve damage to his right hand. He is also being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.
His employer, Leach Structural Steel Work Ltd, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at its factory on Garstang Road in Claughton on Brock on 29 November 2010.
Preston Crown Court heard today (7 September 2012) that Mr Spencer had noticed that coolant was not properly feeding onto the drills on a machine which drills holes in steel beams used in frames for new buildings.
As he positioned himself between the drill and one of the beams to try and fix the problem, the drill moved forwards causing him to become trapped. He was unable to reach the emergency stop button and a colleague eventually stopped the machine after hearing his screams.
A HSE investigation found Mr Spencer had been able to gain access to the machine through a loosened fence panel, which was regularly used as a gate by workers at the factory.
This meant they avoided passing photoelectric light guards that automatically stopped the machine when someone walked through them. The court was told there had previously been problems restarting the machine after the light guards had been activated, and so workers avoided passing them.
Leach Structural Steel Work Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery. The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £12,500 towards the cost of the prosecution.
British standards relating to machine safety.
Risk Management of Machinery and Work Equipment by John Glover
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