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Health and Safety News

Occupational health and safety news and guidance

Blog posts January 2012

Major construction firm fined more than £100k after death

A 23-year-old Keighley man died from massive crush injuries when his head became trapped in the jaws of a grab machine being wrongly used to move a pallet of cement bags.

Steven Allen was part of a team working for Skipton-based construction company JN Bentley Ltd. on a building project for Bradf…

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Firm fined after worker fractures pelvis

A Hertfordshire company which designs and manufactures shop fixtures and displays has been fined after a worker fell and fractured his pelvis.

On 3 November 2010, Denis Cronin, 47, a production assistant from Baldock, was dismantling racking at a temporary warehouse Benchmark Fabrication Ltd had bee…

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Boat builder fined after man breaks leg in four places

Green Marine Ltd. has been fined after a worker suffered multiple fractures when he was knocked off some steps at a disused factory in Southampton.

Southampton Magistrates' Court heard that Green Marine Ltd, a boat builder, was closing down its factory at Spitfire Quay, Southampton, and moving to ne…

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Scaffolding firm fined after man's fall through roof

A construction firm has been prosecuted after a scaffolder suffered multiple injuries when he fell seven metres through a roof in Stoke-on-Trent.

The 28-year-old employee of Fred Lewis Scaffold Company Ltd was installing scaffolding on 30 April 2010 at a factory in Plantation Road, Newstead Industri…

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Tata prosecuted for endangering workers during gas leak repair

Two workers narrowly avoided being killed or seriously injured when flames up to three metres in length shot from a leaking gas pipe during poorly planned and executed repair work.

The incident at Tata Steel's Scunthorpe Steelworks, on Brigg Road, Scunthorpe, resulted in minor facial burns for one o…

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Hampshire firm fined over death of delivery driver

A Hampshire lift manufacturer has been prosecuted after a lorry driver was killed while delivering goods to its factory in Romsey.

Adam Millichip, 27, from Tenbury Wells, was working for a Worcester-based haulage company and was delivering pallets of sheet steel to Wessex Lift Co Limited in Hamps…

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Three companies fined after worker falls from roof

Three Dundee companies have been fined a total of £336,000 after a worker fell six and a half metres through a roof light onto a concrete floor.

Christopher Carson, who was 23 at the time, competed as a floor gymnast at national level and was also a coach in the sport. As his day job, he was workin…

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Construction firm fined over worker's injuries

An engineering contractor has been fined after a worker suffered severe injuries when his excavator struck a bridge on the M1 motorway in the East Midlands.

A maintenance fitter employed by Nottinghamshire firm Van Elle Ltd was driving a wheeled excavator during widening work on the motorway between…

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Worker's arm amputated at turkey facility

OSHA has cited Jennie-O Turkey Store Inc. for eleven safety violations at its Barron, Wisconsin, facility after a worker’s arm was amputated below the shoulder while the individual was conducting cleaning activities in a confined space.

Jennie-O Turkey Store, based in Willmar, Minnesota, is a di…

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Guidance - Using work equipment safely

Following a number of recent news items about prosecutions for machinery related workplace injuries, I'd like to remind my visitors that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides valuable advice on what you can do to eliminate or reduce the risks from work equipment.

The HSE's free-to-downl…

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Buckinghamshire worker's fingers severed in bubble wrap machine

An international manufacturer has been prosecuted after a worker lost three fingers in a bubble wrap making machine at a Buckinghamshire factory.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Sansetsu (U.K) Limited for beaching health and safety regulations on 18 May 2011.

Milton Keynes Magist…

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Worker burned by molten metal at Worcester factory

A Staffordshire-based aluminium casting company has been prosecuted after a man was burned by molten metal at its Worcester factory.

Asim Qureshi, 41, from Worcester, was operating a die cast machine at JVM Castings Ltd's premises in Droitwich Road, when molten metal sprayed from the back of the …

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Lincolnshire flooring firm fined for worker injury

A hardwood floor company has been fined after a worker's arm was punctured by a large piece of wood.

Paul Murdoch, 40, of New Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, was cutting walnut boards on a circular ripsaw at Weldon Contracts Ltd's workshop in Caunton Road, Norwell, on 11 September 2009 when a 90 centim…

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Norfolk companies prosecuted after cleaner's hand crushed

Two Norfolk companies have been fined after a cleaner's hand was crushed in machinery.

Richard Beane, 34, from Watton in Norfolk was working as a cleaner for SGA House Services Limited which was contracted by Watton Produce Company Limited to work at their Attleborough vegetable packing plant.

Tod…

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Professor Ragnar Löfstedt concerned report could be ‘misused’ for political purposes

Professor Ragnar Löfstedt has raised concerns that his report could be ‘misused’ for political purposes.

David Cameron referred to Löfstedt’s report as he blamed the ‘albatross’ of health and safety legislation for holding back British business.

But the King’s College academic, speaking…

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Worker suffers severed finger at plastics firm

A plastics firm which manufactures cases for computer games has been fined after an employee severed his finger in machinery at a factory in Corby.

The worker was trying to fix a problem on a colour dosing unit attached to an injection moulding machine at DuBois Ltd's premises in Arkwright Road when…

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Worker killed at Cemex plant

A 36-year-old contractor has been killed at the Lawford Road Cemex plant this morning (Wednesday).

Another man was taken to hospital with a broken arm.

Emergency services attended the scene; police officers and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are investigating.

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Tenby landlord sentenced for gas safety failings

A Tenby landlord has been fined for failing to maintain a gas fire safely within one of his properties.

David Ian Douglas-Law of Penally, Tenby, was fined £8,500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,500 at Haverfordwest Magistrates' Court following a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executiv…

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Firm fined after technician's death at Cornish 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 …

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Worker killed by falling steel beem

J H Carruthers Ltd. (formerly Konecranes (UK) Ltd.) 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 und…

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20 Blog Posts