Menu

Health and Safety News

Occupational health and safety news and guidance

Blog posts : "Prosecution"

Southport firm sentenced over teenage biker's death

Photo shows the area of the Hesketh Estate where the incident happened

A Southport firm has been ordered to pay more than £100,000 in fines and costs following the death of a teenager who came off his motorbike when it collided with a metal cable strung between two trees.

Seventeen-year-old Ryan Acaster from Chorley had been riding his 110cc off-road bike when it h…

Read more

Construction firm in court over major Liverpool city centre gas scare

Photo shows the damaged gas pipe which sparked fears of an explosion in Liverpool city centre

A construction firm has appeared in court over a major gas leak which caused widespread disruption and sparked fears of an explosion in Liverpool city centre.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the area around the former Lewis's department store on 19 January 2012 after a gas supply pipe was …

Read more

Pirelli in court over injuries at Carlisle tyre factory

Photo shows the machine which caused the workers injuries

Tyre manufacturer Pirelli has appeared in court after an employee sustained major injuries to his left arm when it became trapped in a tyre-testing machine.

The 57-year-old from Carlisle, who has asked not to be named, broke his arm in three places, was off work for four months and still has diff…

Read more

Firm fined for failing to hold insurance

picture shows a solar panelA Sunderland firm has been fined for failing to hold statutory insurance that enables employees to claim compensation should they be injured at work.

An investigation was carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following information received suggesting Sun Spirit Ltd. was uninsured.

O…

Read more

Faulty rope led to amputation for outdoors instructor

Photo shows the site at Carroty Wood where outdoor instructor Josh Senior fell

A Southampton firm has been prosecuted after an outdoors activity instructor was left permanently disabled when he used a defective rope for a simulated parachute landing.

Joshua Senior, 25, plunged some nine metres to the ground at the Rock (UK) adventure centre in Carroty Wood, near Tonbridge, …

Read more

Vauxhall owner sentenced over Ellesmere Port death

Photo shows area of factory where Ian Heard received injuries that led to his death

The owner of Vauxhall has been fined £150,000 over the death of a long-serving worker who was crushed in machinery at its car factory in Ellesmere Port.

General Motors UK Ltd. was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after Ian Heard was found at the North Road plant on 22 July 201…

Read more

Company and director sentenced following house collapse

Photo shows the collapsed buildings on Fulham Road in Westminster

A Buckinghamshire construction company and its managing director have been fined for multiple safety failings following the total collapse of two large properties in Westminster.

The buildings, on Fulham Road, were reduced to rubble in January 2011 and neighbouring properties sustained serious st…

Read more

Two companies prosecuted for gas mains fire in Leeds

Photo shows gas mains fire near residential buildings

Two major companies were responsible for a major blaze in Leeds that led to the evacuation of six homes, the closure of a major road and gas supplies being cut off, a court heard on 31 July 2013.

Leeds-based Northern Gas Networks Operations Ltd. and Morgan Sindall (Infrastructure) plc both neglec…

Read more

Scaffolding firm sentenced over worker's death

Photo shows skylight Tony Causby fell 13 metres through

A scaffolding firm has been ordered to pay more than £100,000 in fines and costs following the death of an employee who plunged 13 metres through the roof of a Skelmersdale warehouse.

Married father-of-one Tony Causby, 42, from Leigh, was helping to dismantle scaffolding when he stepped onto a f…

Read more

Three firms sentenced after man killed by rocketing gas cylinder

Photo shows cylinder with missing valve

Three South East firms have been ordered to pay a total of £685,787.31 in fines and costs for serious safety breaches after a plumber died and six other workers were seriously injured by a barrage of flying gas cylinders.

Adam Johnston, 38, from Sutton, Surrey, was struck by one of 66 heavy cyli…

Read more

Health board fined for asbestos failings

A Scottish health board has been fined for safety failings that led to several workers and contractors being potentially exposed to deadly asbestos fibres.

On 20 June, Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that Greater Glasgow Health Board, known as Greater Glasgow & Clyde NHS, had failed to properly manag…

Read more

Council prosecuted after worker's near-death fall

Photo shows the overturned cherry picker

Bradford Council has admitted serious safety breaches after one of its parks' employees narrowly escaped death when he plunged eleven metres from the cradle of a cherry picker.

Bradford Magistrates heard the 23-year-old arboricultural worker from Bingley was working at a height of some 35 feet pr…

Read more

Worker's six metre fall lands two Kent businesses in court

Photo shows the warehouse where a worker fell to his death

A Kent father and grandfather died after plunging six metres through a fragile skylight because safety measures were neglected both by his employer and a major drinks wholesaler, a court has heard.

Robert Rogers, 61, was working for Richard Parker, trading as Ovenden Engineering, which had been c…

Read more

Farm fined for young worker's death in tractor tragedy

Kim Webb - young farm worker killed in tractor tragedy

A young Somerset farm worker was killed when the tractor she was driving overturned in a field.

Kim Webb, 26, from North Cadbury, was driving a tractor that had no seat belt, cab or roll over bar on a sloping field near North Cadbury when the incident happened on 26 June 2009.

On 18 June, Bristo…

Read more

Rochdale bedding firm fined £50k over multiple safety failings

Photo shows one of the machines at the factory which had been wrapped with pieces of cardboard

A Rochdale bedding manufacturer has been fined £50,000 after a health and safety inspection found the majority of its machines were unsafe to use.

Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had to return to Sartex Quilts and Textiles Ltd. for a second day after finding dozens of missi…

Read more

Bolton recycling firm sentenced after worker crushed

Photo shows the recycling site in Bolton where a 61-year-old man suffered serious injuries

A Bolton company has been ordered to pay almost £130,000 in fines and costs after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was crushed between two trucks at a recycling plant.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted DS Smith Paper Ltd. after the firm failed to observe correct safety p…

Read more

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…

Read more

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…

Read more

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 …

Read more

Wigan worker injured in fall through sports hall roof

Photo shows the corrugated panels Lee Byrne fell through on the roof of Loreto High School in Chorlton

A Wigan roofing firm has been fined after an employee was severely injured when he fell ten metres through the roof of a school sports hall.

Lee Byrne, 29 from Ince, was working on a project to replace the raised roof on the sports hall at Loreto High School in Chorlton with a flat roof when the …

Read more

20 Blog Posts