27 August Prosecution: Roofing company fined following fall from heights HSE case A Welsh-based company have been fined £40,000 after a roofer fell through an unguarded skylight. He sustained serious head trauma, broken ribs, a ruptured spleen and kidney damage, having profound long-term effects on his health. Following the incident, he now suffers with PTSD. The subsequent investigation by the HSE found that the company … Read More
7 May Process Start-up is a Dangerous Time (again) Following a problem in the process start-up, styrene gas was released at a chemical, plant in India. At least 13 people have died and nearly 1,000 have fallen sick after a cloud of toxic styrene gas leaked out of an Indian industrial plant in the small hours of Thursday morning. Distressing images on social media … Read More
23 September Worker died after fall from a scaffolding access ladder £53,000 fine after fatal fall from an insecure ladder An Aberdeen-based roofing contractor has been prosecuted by the HSE after a worker died when he fell from a ladder while exiting scaffolding. JF, a 56-year-old employee of Henderson and Aitken, fell from the top rungs of the ladder after it slipped sideways in Jute Street … Read More
13 June (Yet another) fatal injury arsing from a fall from height Work at height can be very dangerous. As a result, the work needs to be planned and suitable control measures put in place to avoid what can only be termed as “wholly avoidable accidents” Two contractors have been fined after a worker suffers a fatal injury following a fragile roof fall during construction work. Wolverhampton … Read More
12 June Valero Energy UK fined £5 million after four people died in an oil explosion Valero Energy UK Ltd and B&A Contracts Ltd have been fined after an explosion killed four workers and seriously injured another at an oil refinery in Pembrokeshire in 2011. Dennis Riley, 52, Robert Broome, 48, Andrew Jenkins, 33, and Julie Jones, 54, died after a storage tank exploded at the site. Andrew Philips also sustained … Read More
11 June Failure to plan (a second article) and to do the basics – lifting operation Same start as the first article: Lifting operations must be planned. Not a difficult concept. Think about what is being lifted (the load) and what can go wrong, and make suitable arrangements. The construction firm BAM Nuttall has been fined more than £800,000 after a worker was struck by a large expanded polystyrene (EPS) block. … Read More
29 April Electrical burns to a demolition worker Two companies have been fined after a worker received serious electrical burns during demolition work. The Magistrates’ Court in Chelmsford heard how in April 2017 two demolition workers employed by a sub-contractor (R B Haigh & Sons) were removing electrical distribution equipment from a switchgear room at the former Molecular Products site in Thaxted, Essex. … Read More
31 July Workers leg crushed by concrete block Leg crushed – life-changing injuries for an agency worker The construction company Kier Infrastructure has been fined £600,000 after a seven-tonne concrete block fell on an agency worker on a rail bridge site in Cardiff. The court was told that agency worker, PW aged 42, suffered life-changing injuries when a seven-tonne block of pre-cast concrete fell on … 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
25 August Life changing injuries A 21-year-old worker has been left with life changing injuries, and the Company has been fined. Devonshire based textile company Heathcoat Fabrics Limited has been fined after a 21-year old employee suffered life changing injuries (to his hand). In August 2014, AS was preparing a piece of machinery for the next shift. During this operation, his … Read More