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Health and Safety News

Occupational health and safety news and guidance

Blog posts : "hswa"

High school fined after pupil's climbing wall injury

Photo shows the climbing wall at Manningtree High School where a child was injured

An Essex high school has been fined for safety failings after a 14-year-old boy fell more than four metres from a climbing wall.

The teenager was one of four pupils selected to try their first-ever 'lead climb', a more advanced, mainly rock-climbing technique, during a PE lesson at Manningtree Hi…

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Building firm in court after Wolverhampton house collapse

Photo shows the partially collapsed house after the incident

A Wolverhampton building firm has been fined for neglecting basic construction safety after it dug a trench that caused the partial collapse of a house next door.

On 4 June, Wolverhampton magistrates court heard that Astbury Design and Build Ltd. had been employed to build an extension at a prope…

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Bury roofer in court again over unsafe work

Photo shows three men who were spotted on the roof of a furniture warehouse in Trafford Park without any safety precautions in place

A Bury roofer has appeared in court for putting workers’ lives at risk, despite previously being prosecuted after a man was paralysed in a fall through a warehouse roof.

Tony Massey, who trades as Massey Roofing and Building Contractors, was photographed with two other men sitting on the ridge …

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Rugby firm fined for London skylight fall

Photo shows the skylight at a north London warehouse

A Midlands firm specialising in the installation of solar panels has been fined for safety failings after a worker sustained life-threatening injuries when he fell through a fragile skylight at a north London warehouse.

Brian Dolan, 58, from Warwick, fractured his skull in two places, broke five …

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BAE Systems sentenced for death of worker

Photo shows the press frame resting on the rails between which Gary Whiting was found

Global defence company BAE Systems has been ordered to pay almost £350,000 in fines and costs after a worker died when he was crushed by the 145-tonnes weight of a metal press at its East Yorkshire plant.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), prosecuting, described the death of maintenance engi…

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Recycling firm fined after worker crushed

Photo shows the conveyor support beam Linas Mataitis was crushed against

A worker at one of the world’s largest metal recycling firms was killed because of a failing to properly segregate people and moving vehicles, a court has heard.

European Metal Recycling Limited, which operates across Europe, Asia and the Americas, was (on 20 May) ordered to pay more than £370,…

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Wirral chemical firm fined £120,000 after fireball engulfs employee

Waste deactivation area where an employee was engulfed by a fireball

A chemical firm has been fined £120,000 after an employee sustained severe burns when he was engulfed by a fireball at a factory in Wirral.

The 45-year-old from Kirkby was kept in an induced coma for seven weeks following a chemical explosion at SAFC Hitech Limited’s plant in Bromborough on 28 F…

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Missing safety catch leads to fine for company

Excavator at the collapsed culvert at Rother Valley Country Park

A York civil engineering firm was responsible for safety failings that led to one of its workers suffering multiple and life-changing injuries, a court was told on 18 April.

The 58 year-old man, from Rothwell, near Leeds, was felled by a seven-metre sheet pile as he worked at a site in Rother Val…

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Waste industry dangers highlighted in court

Metal fragmentiser

A Lincoln man suffered life-changing injuries because of a series of safety failings at the waste recycling plant where he worked in Scunthorpe, a court has heard.

The 25 year-old worker had his arm severed when he tried to clear a blockage on a conveyor forming part of a metal sorting line. The …

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Estate agent and forklift operator prosecuted after electric shock incident

overhead power linesA farmer from Holford received an electric shock when the forks of the fork lift materials handler he was riding on came into contact with an 11,000 volt overhead power line, Taunton Deane Magistrates’ Court heard.

The accident happened in April 2011 at the machinery auction site at Walford Cro…

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Farmer crushed by badly fitted door

The barn with the roller shutter on the ground

A North Yorkshire farmer died when he was crushed under a half-tonne roller shutter door that had been badly installed, a court has heard (on 16 April).

Robert Ireland, 71, died from multiple injuries on 28 October 2010 at the family farm in East Heslerton, near Malton, when a roller shutter door…

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Leeds City Council sentenced after toddler's injury

Flagpole after falling and injuring toddler showing signs of decay

Leeds City Council has been fined for safety failings after it ignored warnings from its own staff about a rotting flagpole, which later collapsed and fractured the skull of a two-year-old girl.

The toddler had been playing in the park at Otley Memorial Garden with her mother on 31 March 2012 whe…

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International chemical firm prosecuted over multiple incidents

The corroded walkway which gave way when a worker stepped onto it

An international chemical firm has been fined more than £100,000 after workers were put in danger in three separate incidents at its Cheshire factory.

One employee at Tata Chemicals Europe Limited’s plant in Northwich suffered severe burns to his right foot which removed a layer of skin and requ…

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Building firm sentenced after employee falls to death

manhole chambers above the circular tank

A building firm and one of its directors have been sentenced after an employee fell 15 metres to his death in an empty water storage tank in Macclesfield.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Galt Civil Engineering Ltd. and Peter Stuart following an investigation into the death of Pet…

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Ignoring known risks ends in fine for farm manager

Picture taken by a worried passer-by at Newton Valence Farm that was then passed to HSE

A Hampshire farm manager has been prosecuted after he was caught on camera putting two workers at risk by using the grain bucket on a telehandler to lift them up to a barn roof.

The dangerous practices of Peter Kirby, 62, of Newton Valence Farm, near Alton, were spotted and photographed by a conc…

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Hotel chain fined for asbestos risk

A leading hotel chain has been ordered to pay more than £200,000 in fines and costs after construction workers and guests were put at risk of asbestos exposure at a Kent hotel.

Cheshire-based Britannia Hotels Ltd. failed to ensure a full asbestos assessment was undertaken before construction wor…

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Boatyard firm fined for crane danger

The overturned crane on its side

An Isle of Wight boatyard business has been fined for safety failings after a poorly maintained mobile crane overturned during a lifting operation at Yarmouth Harbour.

No-one was injured in the incident at Harold Hayles Ltd. on 1 November 2011, but a car was badly damaged by the jib of the 35-ton…

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Businessman's safety failures led to worker's injury

The shattered stone slabs after the incident

A South London businessman and his company have been prosecuted for safety breaches after a worker narrowly escaped being crushed by a collapsing load of stone slabs.

The two-tonne set of ten slabs fell from the side of a lorry as workmen were trying to unload them at a workshop owned by Granite …

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Packaging firm fined £200k over worker's severed fingers

The remains of the workers glove in the machine at the Smurfit Kappa factory in Hensingham

A packaging firm has been fined £200,000 after an employee severely injured both of his hands when they became trapped in heavy machinery at a Whitehaven factory.

The 25-year-old from Egremont, who has asked not to be named, lost four fingers and severed parts of two others in the incident at th…

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Worker suffers severe head injury in barn roof fall

The barn in Edale where the worker fell through the roof

A worker suffered multiple head injuries and was left blind in one eye after he plunged nearly five metres through a fragile barn roof in Edale, a court has heard.

The 31-year-old from Wirksworth, who has asked not to be named, was helping to carry out repairs to the roof when one of the corrugat…

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20 Blog Posts