Safety Adviser
One Company Director Fined, Two Employees Injured – Three Things You Must Know About Safe Tower Scaffolds
The former director of a scaffold company, Robert Butler, of Nottingham, has been fined a total of £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,000 after pleading guilty to offences under the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) took action against Mr Butler under Section 37 of the act, which states that individuals may be prosecuted where their consent, connivance or neglect causes a contravention. Where this applies, [...]
Fork Lift Truck Accident Costs Lorry Driver His Leg and Company Over £170,000
A lorry driver from Caerphilly has lost his leg as the result of a fork lift truck accident at a dockyard in Cardiff. Robert Deverell was waiting for a fork lift truck driver to finish loading 18m steel beams onto his vehicle at Cargo Services (UK) Ltd’s premises at the Cardiff dockyard. As Mr Deverell approached the fork lift truck, it reversed, knocking him over and running over his right leg. Mr Deverell suffered a fractured wrist and other serious injuries which later led to the [...]
Unsafe Temporary Systems of Work Leads to £9,000 Fine
M Hooper and Sons Ltd, a dairy based in Dorset, have been fined £9,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs totalling a further £1,448 after one of their employees had his arm crushed between the rollers of a machine.
Andrew James Ray, 47, was cleaning the rollers of a slurry separator when his arm was pulled in between two counter-rotating rollers. His left hand and arm were crushed to the elbow.
Weymouth Magistrates’ Court was told that an investigation by the Health and Safety [...]
How Having Effective Storage Could Ensure You Avoid a £26,000 Fine
MM Contracting Ltd, a firm specialising in the manufacture of timber windows and doors, has been prosecuted and fined more than £26,000 by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the death of an employee. Andrzej Rokita, 55, was a Polish national who had only worked for the firm for 10 days. Mr Rokita was killed as he and his son attempted to remove a sheet of timber from a stack piled upright against a wall.
It was standard practice at MM Contracting Ltd for one member of staff to [...]
Asbestos Exposure Leads to Fines and Costs of More Than £10,000
DB Construction (West Wilts) Ltd, a building company based in Bradford-on-Avon have been fined £7,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,617.50 by Chippenham Magistrates. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation identified unsafe work with asbestos insulation board (AIB). The court heard that AIB was removed in an unsafe manner that placed employees, the homeowners and their young children at risk of exposure to both white and brown asbestos.
DB Construction was carrying out [...]
Your Key to Preventing Accidents – How Worker Competence could Save You £10,000
A recent case in Fenton Magistrates’ Court stresses the need for employers to ensure their systems of work are properly designed and planned. Each element needs to work in harmony with other control measures to ensure the activity remains safe. Providing the right equipment for the job goes a long way but you must ensure employees make effective use of the equipment. Managers must monitor activities and intervene where safety is compromised. Competence must be high on your safety agenda. It [...]