27 March Machinery Guarding Fine Machinery Guarding is an important control measure to prevent injury to workers using conveyors and other similar equipment. This case is yet another severe injury arising from inadequate guarding and predictable human actions (trying to clear a blockage). Mason Animal Feeds Ltd (based in Co Armagh, Northern Ireland) has been fined £120,000 at Newry Crown … Read More
15 March Process safety – COMAH Fine of £400,000 Process Safety issues (such as major gas releases or the loss of containment of highly flammable liquids) can create significant risks to health, safety, and to the environment. Refer also to our recent Process Safety blog. Following a substantial release of flammable butane gas from its plant, Total Lindsey Oil Refinery (LOR) has been fined £400,000. … Read More
19 December Health and Safety Management – Active Monitoring Active Monitoring of Health and Safety is vital if an organisation is to avoid catastrophe. Good, solid, and sensible active monitoring help an organisation to avoid disaster by ensuring that the control measures that they believe are keeping them safe actually are keeping them safe. Active monitoring helps to avoid the reality gap: the chasm … Read More
15 December Safety and the Internet of Things (IoT) Fairly new to the world of health and safety is the concept of Safety and the Internet of Things (IoT). We have all heard about computer hacking, and some have heard about the Internet of Things (or IoT). Few, if any of us, have included susceptibility to (malicious) outside control under the category of hazards that … Read More
14 December Section 40 is not your friend I have blogged on this issue before, but too many employers gloss over it. Section 40 is not your friend, and you need to know why. Section 40 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) places the burden of proof on an accused in offences consisting of a failure to comply with a … Read More
14 December Driver banned for 128 mph in 50 mph limit Reported recently in the Leicester Mercury: A BMW driver has been caught speeding at 128mph through a 50mph roadworks area on the M1. Amir Nazari was travelling at more than one mile every 30 seconds in his BMW X5 and was putting “lives at risk”, police said. The 39-year-old was caught travelling at the staggering … Read More
13 December Injury after unattended telehandler was left running Once again a recycling company has made the news, again this is not for a good reason. This time the company was fined £666,000 after worker suffers head injuries after an unattended telehandler led to serious injury. Countrystyle Recycling Ltd, a Maidstone based recycling company, was fined after a 34-year old worker suffered life-threatening head … Read More
9 December Cautioned Interview Guidelines Cautioned Interview Guidelines – Facing a Cautioned Interview for Health and Safety or Food Hygiene Matters In this short piece, Peter Phillips (a Senior Health and Safety Consultant with LRB Consulting Limited and an ex-EHO (Environmental Health Officer) gives you some sage advice on what to do if you are invited to a Cautioned Interview … Read More
4 December Lack of separation – people and vehicles (including FLT) The lack of separation between people and vehicles (which also includes things like forklift trucks, FLT) has resulted in a national manufacturer and supplier of fitted kitchens, appliances and joinery products being fined £1.2 million after the death of a visiting HGV driver at one of the company’s premises. The Crown Court in Carlisle heard how an … Read More
3 December Construction Industry – HSE view of the current position Construction remains a hazardous industry, accounting for almost 30% of all fatal injuries to workers. In the five years to March 2016, 210 construction workers died and many more received life-changing injuries at work. Performance has improved over the past decade, and the number and rate of fatal incidents, work-related injury and ill health show … Read More