Menu

Health and Safety News

Occupational health and safety news and guidance

Blog posts : "prosecution"

Former pie maker told to pay £375,000 over worker's death

The walk-in oven following the explosion

A West Yorkshire firm was today fined £250,000 for safety offences after a gas explosion in an industrial bakery oven ripped through its factory - killing a father of two and badly injuring another worker.

Andrew Jones Pies, of Huddersfield, which is now in administration, was also told by a jud…

Read more

Macclesfield window firm fined over severed finger

The poorly guarded rotating saw at East Cheshire Glass in Macclesfield

A Macclesfield window manufacturer has been fined after one of its employees had a finger cut off by a rotating saw.

On 25 February, East Cheshire Glass Ltd. was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at its factory on London Road on 30 July 2010.

Macclesfield…

Read more

Balfour Beatty fined after worker suffers severe injuries

The conveyor which caused Mr Hawleys injuries

A major rail infrastructure company has been fined after a man suffered serious hand injuries in two separate incidents less than a year apart.

On 12 May 2009 Keith Hawley, 64, of Chaddesdon, Derby, was manoeuvring a large piece of rail track into a press at Balfour Beatty Rail Track Systems Ltd.…

Read more

Brick firm fined after worker loses thumb

The brick pressing machine which caused the workers injuries

A West Yorkshire brick making firm has been prosecuted after safety failings at its factory led to a worker losing a thumb and having his hand almost severed in a poorly-guarded press machine.

The 60 year-old man was taken to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield after the incident at Normanton Bric…

Read more

Surrey firm fined for worker fall

The rooflight opening through which the worker fell - subsequently boarded to prevent further falls

A Surrey carpentry firm has been fined for safety failings after a worker fractured his skull when he fell through a roof light at a construction site in Cobham.

The 21-year-old, who does not wish to be named, also suffered soft tissue damage to his right hamstring in the fall on 7 June 2012 at a…

Read more

Company fined for dangerous excavation

The unsupported excavation at the development on Britannia Road, High Halstow

A Kent construction company has been fined for unsafe excavation work at a building site in Rochester.

Concerns were raised about the Basi Construction Limited development on Britannia Road, High Halstow, on 26 January 2012 after both Southern Water and Medway Council saw evidence that work was u…

Read more

Fairground owner in court after 12-year-old falls from ride

The fairground ride from which the 12-year-old girl fell

A fairground owner has appeared in court after a 12-year-old girl was badly injured when she fell from a ride at Lostock Hall Carnival near Preston.

The girl fell several metres from the end seat of the High Roller ride, as it swung through the air, and landed on the platform below.

She suffered…

Read more

Halifax worker left disabled by crush injuries

The beam on the factory floor some time after the incidentA West Yorkshire firm has been sentenced for serious safety failings after a worker was left with life-threatening injuries when a 6.5 tonnes steel beam toppled onto his back.

Mark Priestley, 34, was pinned against a skip by the beam at the Halifax factory of Elland Steel Structures Ltd. on 31 Janu…

Read more

Construction firm fined for dangerous site

The Stoneforce Ltd site in Northumberland StreetA construction firm has been fined for exposing workers to risks of falling from height and other safety failings at a site in Newcastle city centre.

Stoneforce Limited, of Hertfordshire, was the main contractor hired to carry out work on the refurbishment of a new retail store in Northumberland St…

Read more

Textile manufacturer sentenced over worker's death

A West Yorkshire textile firm has been ordered to pay more than £115,000 in fines and costs for safety breaches that led to a worker being crushed and Some of the rag bales in WE Rawsons warehousekilled by a falling stack of rag bales.

Forklift truck operator James Welka, 61, died in hospital just hours after the incident at WE Rawson Limite…

Read more

Guarding failures left pensioner with life-threatening injuries at wood yard

The log splitter which caused Mr Fryetts injuriesA 73-year-old worker at a Norfolk wood yard was left with life-threatening and life-changing injuries that could have been prevented had the log splitter he was using been better configured and guarded, a court has heard.

Basil Fryett, of Great Massingham, King's Lynn, has spent almost six months i…

Read more

Trafford scaffolding firm caught on camera risking lives

Workers on unsafe scaffolding outside a row of terraced shops in OldhamA Trafford firm has appeared in court after workers were spotted taking down scaffolding without safety measures to prevent them being injured in a fall.

They were witnessed working on the outside of a row of terraced shops on Ripponden Road in Oldham on 4 September 2012 by a passing inspector from…

Read more

Firms sentenced after factory worker finds brother dead

Two companies have been ordered to pay more than £450,000 in fines and costs for serious breaches of safety after a Stockport factory worker found his brother lying dead in the bed of a machine.

The machine that caused Brians deathThe Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Unisign and WFEL Ltd. after Brian Miller suffered fata…

Read more

Manchester metal firm sentenced over worker's death

The overturned machine which caused Mr Dempseys deathA metal manufacturer in Manchester has been sentenced after an employee was killed when a machine weighing half-a-tonne fell from a forklift truck.

Bruce Dempsey, 25, from Eccles, was walking alongside the forklift as it moved the machine at Applied Fusion Ltd. in Patricroft when it fell and stru…

Read more

Merseyside demolition firm fined after lives put at risk

Workers lives are put at risk as they clamber over rubble on a partially demolished buildingThe lives of several workers were put at risk as they demolished an old office block in Liverpool, a court has heard.

An inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued an immediate Prohibition Notice ordering Total Demolition UK Ltd. to stop work at the site on Blundell Street in the c…

Read more

Refurbishment firm fined for exposing workers to fall risk

Unsafe work on the roof of a large furniture store in Bridgtown, CannockA Willenhall refurbishment and shop fitting company has been fined for safety failings after instructing two employees to work at height without any protective measures or relevant roofwork training.

The men were working on the roof of a large furniture store in Bridgtown, Cannock, on 26 September …

Read more

Medway NHS Trust fined over patient death

Danny Jewitt, 45, from GillinghamMedway NHS Foundation Trust has been sentenced for safety failings after a vulnerable patient died following a fall from a first floor window at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham.

Danny Jewitt, 45, from Gillingham, sustained serious chest injuries in the incident on 10 May 2009 and was pronoun…

Read more

Gloucestershire paper company fined for safety failings

The rollers which caused the workers injuriesA Gloucestershire paper producer has been fined after an employee's hand was crushed in an unguarded machine as he tried to clean it.

The 43 year-old worker received a serious crushing injury, cuts and bruising to his right hand when it was drawn between the rollers of a paper coating machine at Co…

Read more

Firm fined after worker's hair ripped out by machinery

Kelly Nields hair after it was ripped out by machinery at Mainettis factoryA Deeside company has been fined £60,000 after a young worker was severely injured when her hair was ripped out by poorly guarded machinery.

Kelly Nield, 25, of Ellesmere Port, was sorting clothes hangers on a conveyor when her scarf and hair became caught in the chain and sprocket drive of the be…

Read more

UK Power Networks fined over worker death

The fire at the Bishops Hall Lane substation in ChelmsfordUK Power Networks (Operations) Limited, which supplies power to the East of England, London and the South East, has been ordered to pay £420,000 in fines and costs after an employee died while working at one of its Essex sites.

Electrical engineer John Higgins, 59, from Colchester, was killed at a…

Read more

20 Blog Posts