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Health and Safety News

Occupational health and safety news and guidance

Blog posts May 2012

Equipment supplier fined after County Durham worker's hand severed

A worker from County Durham had his hand severed while carrying out maintenance on glass cutting machinery a court heard.

The 34-year-old maintenance technician was investigating a fault on a new tilt table with a colleague at the UK’s largest glass manufacturer Solaglas.

Lisec (UK and Ireland…

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Feed firm fined for driver's injuries in lorry fall

A Devon firm has been prosecuted after a driver suffered severe injuries when he fell from the top of a lorry onto a concrete floor while removing the cover from his load at a Wiltshire feed mill.

Lee Waters fell from the tipper truck because Mole Valley Feed Solutions had failed to put basic…

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Illegal North Somerset gasman lied about credentials

How do I know my gas engineer is qualified to do the work?A Clevedon man has been prosecuted for illegally installing a gas boiler and flue at a property at Severn Beach, Bristol, while not registered with CORGI, the then industry body.

CORGI was superseded by the Gas Safe Register in April 2009.

North Avon Magistrates’ Court was told that Jeff…

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Firm fined after worker burned in gas pipe fire

Metal gas pipe at demolition site that ignited in workers faceA demolition firm has been fined for safety failings after an employee suffered serious burns when a gas pipe ignited in his face.

The employee, 37, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was carrying out demolition work at a warehouse in Burton-on-Trent when he used an angle grinder to cut into a m…

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Fines imposed following scaffolding fall death

Scaffold over-roof at Washington Avenue, St. Leonards on SeaA firm, its director and a supervisor have been sentenced for safety failings after a worker died from injuries sustained in a fall from scaffolding at a construction site in East Sussex.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Apex Scaffolding (Sussex) Ltd., its director, Michael Wa…

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Developer in court after shopworkers cheat death following building collapse

The building after the gable end collapsed, with the roof structure missing from the left hand sideA Sheffield property developer has been fined for dangerous safety failings after a building partly collapsed and sent tonnes of rubble through a neighbouring shop roof - just missing two shopworkers.

Developer Ghulam Rasul put the lives of the workers and of the local community at serious ri…

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West Yorkshire company fined after worker's fingers severed

A Keighley firm has been fined £15,000 for a serious safety breach after a worker severed three fingers in a machine with rotating spikes.

The 26 year-old employee lost two fingers completely and a third just below the knuckle on his dominant hand while working on a carding machine at JTS Cu…

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Telford firm fined after worker's hand is severely injured

A sand and gravel supplier has been fined for safety failings after an employee had three tendons in his hand severed.

Jamie Roden, 26, from Telford, was trying to clear a blockage in a machine used to bag quarried material when his hand was caught by a dangerous heat-sealing device with a blad…

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Cheltenham machine operator injured after safety mechanism is disabled

A component engineering company in Cheltenham has been fined after an employee suffered head injuries on a machine that had a safety mechanism deliberately disabled.

Grzegorz Chylenski, 33, from Cheltenham, was working with a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machine at PG Components Ltd.…

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Farm owner fined after overlooking legal requirements

The owner of a Bedfordshire farm has been prosecuted for failing to complete legally required documentation in relation to safe working near overhead power cables.

On 17 May, Bedford Magistrates' Court heard that, on 23 June 2010, an employee of Davison & Co (Barford) Ltd., the owners of Co…

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Waste company prosecuted after worker loses arm

A waste management and recycling company has been fined for safety failings after a worker lost most of his arm on an unguarded conveyor system at a Kent quarry.

Agency employee Vladislavs Golovacs, 45, from Gravesend, was attempting to clear a blockage at Pinden Quarry, in Longfield, near …

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Grimsby firm fined after worker's warehouse death

The banded steel coils after their collapse in ABCs former warehouse in Immingham DocksA Grimsby haulage company has been sentenced for safety failings after a worker was killed when a row of steel coils 'collapsed like dominos' trapping him under their five-tonne weight.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted ABC (Grimsby) Ltd. after Alan Burr, a warehouseman and for…

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Fines for 'unsafe' Croydon construction company

Unsafe working practices at the Anza Ltd. siteA Croydon-based construction company has been fined for continuing unsafe working practices at a site in Lewisham despite repeated warnings.

Anza Ltd. was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after inspectors found serious safety issues during two visits to a construction sit…

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Adhesive firm fined after worker loses part of thumb

An adhesive tape manufacturer has been prosecuted after a 19-year-old agency worker severed his thumb in machinery at a factory in Wellingborough.

The worker had only been working at Latrave Ltd. for three weeks when the incident happened on 25 August 2010.

He was being trained to fix a kn…

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Bradford worker injured after just weeks in job

A Bradford textile firm has been sentenced for safety failures after a worker was left with a long-term hand injury after only a month in the job.

The 30 year-old employee joined Whitaker Fibres Ltd., trading as Howarth Scouring Company, in March 2011 as a wool sorter, a job that did not in…

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'Unsafe' Swindon equipment hire company fined

A Swindon-based equipment hire company has been fined for continuing unsafe working practices and ignoring safety warnings from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Chippenham Magistrates Court heard, on 15 May, that HSE served four Improvement Notices on Rapid Hire (Swindon) Ltd. on 12 October…

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Fine for West Yorkshire firm after printer crushed to death

The platen press involved in the incident after being modified by Bezier to improve the safety features of the machineA retail marketing company has been ordered to pay £118,500 in fines and costs for serious safety failings after a worker at its Wakefield printing site was crushed to death.

Bezier Ltd., which employs some 700 people across nine UK sites, failed to heed warnings that could have saved the li…

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Employer fined after electrician injures back in fall

An apprentice electrician sustained serious back injuries after falling through a ceiling while working in the loft space of a Swindon youth centre.

Richard O'Connor's employer Roberts and Prowse (Swindon) Ltd. failed to carry out a specific risk assessment for the work, and failed to ensur…

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Northamptonshire construction company fined after dumper truck breaks worker's foot

A Northamptonshire construction company has been fined after a six-tonne dumper truck ran over a worker's foot.

Self-employed ground worker Ross Smith, 23, from March in Cambridgeshire, was helping to build a roadway at a construction site on Wolsey Way, Lincoln, on 11 March 2011 when the incid…

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Asbestos - The Hidden Killer

asbestos - the hidden killerDid you know that every week in the UK, on average...

4 plumbers die
20 tradesmen die
6 electricians die
8 joiners die

due to exposure to asbestos?

Asbestos was extensively used as a building material in the UK from the 1950s through to the mid-1980s. It was used for a variety of purpose…

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20 Blog Posts