Bottom line problems, financial and human!
Bad news for the unlucky and the careless
It seems that workplace accidents and work-related ill health cost UK plc between £13.2 and £22.2 billion in the period 2001/2 according to the HSE. Health and safety failures cost employers between £3.9 and £7.8 billion, individuals between £10.1 and £14.7 billion and society between £20 and £31.8 billion. Scary or what?
Fools and Horses?
A pub chain that failed to report an accident has been fined £25,000 by Reading magistrate's court. A customer fell through an unsupervised trap door into the cellar of the Three Guineas on Reading railway station at closing time. The Pub owners also had to pay £3,654 costs to the council.
Part 2. A 60-year-old man fell almost 4m through an unguarded opening at a construction site being developed by Roger Tippet Property Developments of Redruth. The company was fined £8,000 for one breach and £2,000 for another. In mitigation, the company said that it had now brought in a health and safety consultant to deal with all its health and safety management.
Rooftop plunge lands company in court
An unsafe system of work led to the prosecution of a County Durham company boss who was fined £2,000 plus £3,000 costs which was less than the amount requested by the HSE. Although the charge did not relate directly a specific accident, a prohibition notice was issued to stop work so that a safe system of work could be provided. The company boss said that he had not appeared in court previously and that he had co-operated fully with the HSE.
Machinery supplier ignored HSE improvement notice
A Warrington based machine supplier, which ignored and HSE improvement order has been forced to consider ceasing trading The Company supplied a wooden pallet-making machine to Northwest Pallet Company where a crush injury had occurred. Four notices were served to get the machinery put right without a response from the machine manufacturer. The fine in this case was £5,000 with costs of £2,745.
Three warnings of danger and then the fine.
A demolition company that was issued with three prohibition notices by the HSE regarding work at height has now been fined £4,000 plus costs after a worker fell 8m through a fragile roof. In mitigation, the company reported the incident to the HSE without delay and undertook its own investigation. It cooperated fully with the HSE and has now reviewed its working procedures.
Scaffolder fell 7m to his death
A scaffolder fell 7m to his death and a falling beam struck a colleague because t here was no edge protection on the structure they were working on. Of the three companies involved in the work, one was fined a total of £50,000 for two offences, and the other two were fined £15,000 plus costs of £2,925.The investigating inspector criticized the lack of a safe system of work.
First day on the bins, two broken legs
A 16-year old boy on his first day of a paid job fell from the lorry he was traveling on and was then run over because there was no room for him in the cab. The Council involved was fined a total of £23,500 and ordered to pay costs of £15,214. The bin teams have now been reduced from seven to four and a strict audit trail established with regards to safe systems of work.
£150,000 for construction site death
McDermott Bros Contactors Ltd (MBCL), a London-based construction company, has been fined £150,000 at Southwark Crown Court.. The prosecution, brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), followed its investigation into the death of Mr Vincent Dooley at a building site on 4 December 2000.
Mr. Dooley, a 54-year old carpenter, was working for MBCL on the 14th floor of the building, and was busy striking out timber and plywood shuttering around a hole that had been cast in the floor. Mr. Dooley fell through the hole some 4 m to the floor below. He suffered severe head injuries and died later that day. The court found that MBCL had failed in its duty of care towards Mr. Dooley by exposing him to risks to his safety. At the time of the incident no measures were in place to prevent Mr. Dooley's fall, although a general method statement had been prepared that indicated that safety harness would be worn.
The case does however provide some very valuable lessons about working at height which if put into practice should help to prevent this kind of incident occurring.
- First, those who are responsible for planning work should carefully assess the work and decide what safety measures are appropriate. There is a hierarchy of control measures for working at height and the use of personal fall arrest equipment. Harnesses are at the bottom of this hierarchy. Harnesses are almost always a last resort measure and properly constructed working platforms and/or guardrails are nearly always preferable.
- Secondly, principal contractors should always look critically at any method statement that specifies the use of harnesses to check whether this is the safest option. Where, ultimately, harnesses are chosen then there should be a detailed method statement and a high degree of supervision to make sure it is followed.
- Lastly, all those who use a harness should have proper training, which should include how to inspect and wear it, what constitutes a suitable anchorage, and the limitations of harness use.
MBCL, was ordered to pay £15,175.01 costs.
Serious Injury at Oxford Circus Tube Station
Metronet Rail BCV Limited has been fined £5,000 at the City of London Magistrates' Court following a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a contract cleaner sustained a serious leg injury on 11 February 2003.
Mr Dennis Louisy was working with colleagues at Oxford Circus tube station on escalator No. 3, cleaning the supports and trustwork under its steps. A number of step frames had been removed to enable access for this work. At the time of the incident the cleaning operation had been completed and Mr Louisy was travelling on the escalator to the top landing so the step frames could be replaced. It was when Mr Louisy, who was standing a few steps below the gap, moved forward to alight that his right leg went into the gap and got caught between a step frame and the top comb. Mr Louisy was trapped for about 45 minutes before the emergency services managed to lever the step frames from his leg.
Metronet Rail BCV Limited, pleaded guilty to a single charge of breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was yesterday fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,842.
Amey Rail fined £4,000
Amey Rail Limited was fined £4,000 at Camborne Magistrates' Court in a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The prosecution followed an investigation into an incident which took place on 25 January 2004 at Hayle Station, Cornwall resulting in Mr Stuart Light, a contract machine controller, receiving serious injuries.
The incident took place within an engineering possession of the main line during plain line track renewal. A road rail vehicle (RRV) was returning from a site some 3 miles away to Hayle Station. The RRV was propelling a trailer on which a ballast brush had been positioned. Three workers stood on the trailer behind the brush for the journey. As the vehicle entered Hayle Station a protruding spigot on the brush made contact with the platform's coping stones, dislodging the brush from the trailer. The three workers jumped into the 6 foot area between up and down lines. Mr Light, lost his footing on the sleeper ends and fell beneath the rubber tyred driving wheels of the RRV. suffering serious spinal injuries resulting in paralysis from the waist down.
This incident has however effected a positive change in the safety culture of all parties involved. If this momentum is sustained, it should result in a lasting improvement in controlling the risks associated with the operation of rail mounted plant and machinery across the network"
Better health gets Financial boost
Constructing Better Health (CBH), the construction industry's occupational health pilot scheme, received a welcome boost this week when the Association of British Insurers (ABI) pledged a contribution of £100,000 for 2005, with the potential for a further £100,000 donation in 2006. The ABI's support for the pilot comes at a key stage as the CBH Board of Directors embark on a major initiative to raise a further £450,000 to fund the project. Commenting on the ABI's contribution, CBH Chair, George Brumwell CBE said: "This is fantastic news, this project is probably one of the most important initiatives that the industry has undertaken in recent years. The ABI's generous offer of support shows the commitment to improving occupational health across our industry"
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