The danger of working on fragile roofs, fines of £68,000 imposed after workman dies in fall

"Everybody involved in planning and carrying out construction work has some responsibility for ensuring the health and safety of the workers. This case brings home the possible tragic consequences if they fail to do carry out their duties." HSE Deputy Chief Executive Justin McCracken said after the court imposed fines totaling £68,000.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today warned companies of the need to make and implement proper risk assessments when working with fragile roofs. The warning follows the death of 28 year old Darren Brownbill.
Darren a scaffolder from Warrington died after falling through a fragile roof light while working on an extension to the warehouse operated by Unichem PLC on Walton Summit, Preston on 9 June 2003.
Three companies and two individuals have been fined a total of £68,000 and ordered to pay £40,407 costs at Preston Crown Court after being prosecuted by HSE.
Ian Connor, Acting Principal Inspector for the HSE, said:
"This was a tragic incident in which a man lost his life in circumstances that could so easily have been prevented. The dangers presented by fragile roof materials have been well known for many years, yet were not taken into consideration in this case.
"Considerable time had been spent planning the job and any one of those involved had the opportunity to realise that somebody could fall through the warehouse roof. Simple steps could then have been taken to prevent this death. If this had been done, Darren would still be alive today."
The following were charged:

Darren's employer Telford Tower & Scaffolding Ltd of Castle Trading Estate, Priorslee, Telford, Shropshire pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act). The company was fined £35,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 costs
Pochin (Contractors) Ltd of Brooks Lane, Middlewich, Cheshire the main contractors for the work, pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 3(1) of the HSW Act. The company was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £15,000 costs
Unichem plc of Unichem House, Cox Lane, Chessington, Surrey, the clients for the work, pleaded guilty of a charge under the Regulation 11 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM Regulations). The company was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £2.407 costs
David Isherwood, a partner in the firm of Isherwood McCann of Rose Park, Lutterworth Road, Blaby, Leicester , the project designer, pleaded guilty to a charge under Regulation 13 (2) (a) (i) of the CDM Regulations. H e was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £1,500 costs
Ian McCann, a partner in the firm of Isherwood McCann of Rose Park, Lutterworth Road, Blaby, Leicester, the planning supervisor for the project, pleaded guilty to a charge under Regulation 15 (1) of the CDM Regulations.
H e was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £1,500 costs

HSE issues a reminder to the asbestos licensed industry

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 were further strengthened on 6 April 2007 by the requirement that anyone who certifies premises to be safe to be re-occupied following asbestos work must be accredited.
Regulation 20(4) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 now requires anyone who issues a site-clearance certificate to be accredited by an appropriate accreditation body as competent to carry out such work. The site clearance certificate requires that premises where licensable asbestos work has been carried out has been thoroughly cleaned and is safe for re-occupation. To demonstrate competence they must conform with the specified requirements in two international standards - ISO 17020 and ISO 17025.
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is currently the sole recognised accreditation body in Great Britain.
The Control of Asbestos Regulations came into force on 13 November 2006. As well as the above requirement for accreditation, the Regulations introduced other changes including:

A single control limit of 0.1 fibres per cm3 of air for work with all types of asbestos;
Specific mandatory training requirements for anyone liable to be exposed to asbestos;
A requirement to analyse the concentration of asbestos in the air with measurements in accordance with the 1997 World Health Organisation recommended method.

All work with asbestos containing materials, whether licensed or not, must be undertaken by trained workers following a risk assessment and in accordance with appropriate controls to prevent exposure to asbestos fibres.
Two Approved Codes of Practice (ACoP) "Work with materials containing asbestos" and "The management of asbestos in non-domestic premises" provide further details and guidance.

Burscough firm director fined £2,000 after ignoring Health and Safety Executive enforcement notices

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today reminded company directors that they must ensure that work is carried out whenever required by an Enforcement Notice or face the legal consequences.
William Beach, a director of Techlink Enterprises Ltd, an office furniture manufacturer, of Abbey Lane Industrial Estate, Burscough was charged with offences related to failing to comply with two Improvement Notices. Ormskirk Magistrates' Court fined him £2,000 and ordered him to pay £1,000 costs.
HSE Inspector Lisa Bailey said:
"The Improvement Notices offered the opportunity to carry out the work that needed to be done to ensure that employees didn't suffer ill health because of the wood dust in the air and that a hand rail was fitted to the mezzanine level.
"When HSE returned the work had not been carried out and this prosecution has resulted. Improvement Notices are only issued where action needs to be taken for the safety and protection of employees. In this case a company director did not ensure the work was carried out when the Improvement Notices were issued, leaving the health and safety of staff at risk.”
William Beach pleaded guilty of two charges under section 37(1)(1) Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, of allowing offences to be committed by the company of failing to comply with the requirements of Improvement Notices.

HSE's machinery warning after Barrow company is fined £2,500

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today warned businesses to ensure that machinery is properly guarded. The warning comes after a 49 year old worker Douglas Moore lost the tip of his index finger when he was using a guillotine.
Agrilek Ltd of Duke Street, Barrow in Furness were fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £1,811.65 costs at Barrow Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to a breach of Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 following an incident on the 9 August 2006.
HSE Inspector Mhairi Duffy said:
"Mr Moore lost the tip of his finger in the guillotine because his employers failed to prevent access to the dangerous parts of the machine. The consequences of this incident could have been far worse. This case graphically illustrates that companies should ensure all their machinery is properly guarded for the safety of all employees."

CDM regulations come in to force

Following extensive consultation with the construction industry, the new Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 (CDM 2007) come in to force on Friday 6 April 2007. Making it easier for duty holders to comply with the requirements, they simplify and clarify existing Regulations.
Through a focus on managing risks on site, reducing paper work, encouraging team work and getting the right people for the right job at the right time, the implementation of these Regulations are expected to see a step change improvement in health and safety performance within the industry.
Construction remains one of the highest risk sectors, with over one fatality occurring each week despite the improvements made in recent years. The revised CDM Regulations aim to improve the level of health and safety performance in the construction industry by clarifying the responsibilities of each duty holder and focusing on effective planning and risk management.
Commenting on what is a landmark for the construction industry this year, Stephen Williams, Chief Inspector of Construction, HSE said: "The industry has worked very closely with HSE to revise the CDM Regulations and ensure that there are clear benefits for all competent dutyholders. The Regulations clarify responsibilities of each duty holder and require greater focus on the risks to be managed by all involved in the construction process. Underlying all the changes is one simple aim - to reduce the unacceptable number of fatalities and injuries in the construction industry."
The revised CDM Regulations will introduce the following changes:

Clarify construction client responsibilities when they are exercising their influence over the health and safety standards on their projects.
Replace the role of Planning Supervisor with a new role of CDM co-ordinator. The co-ordinator will act as the client's key advisor on health and safety issues for the project, particularly effective communication and co-ordination of health and safety information.
Emphasise the importance of competence at all levels in securing health and safety benefits, whilst simplifying the assessment of competence.
Drive out needless health and safety paperwork and bureaucracy. Paperwork should be project-specific, relevant, proportionate to the risk, and of real use in helping to manage the risk.
Simplify when a project is notifiable, and formal plans and appointments are required. Projects will be notifiable if they will involve more than 30 days or 500 person days of construction work. No projects for a domestic client will be notifiable. Formal plans and appointments are only required for notifiable projects.

The CDM 2007 Regulations have been developed in line with the Government's Better Regulation principles and will consolidate and revise the main pieces of existing construction health and safety at work legislation, namely: the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 and the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996- resulting in a single, simplified set of regulations.

Views sought on societal risk

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today, on behalf of Government, published a consultation document, seeking views on how best to deal with societal risk around non-nuclear major hazard sites.
Societal risk in this context is about the number of people, on-site or living or working in the areas around sites, that could be harmed by a single incident occurring at a site.
The risk of major accidents at such sites is very low. But because the risk cannot be completely eliminated, the planning system is used to exercise control over new development around them. HSE's role in this is to assess the risk levels and, when consulted by planning authorities on planning applications, advise them accordingly.
The Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1999 required the operators of such sites to provide information to HSE about the likely potential effects of a major incident. HSE has used this information to produce initial indications of the level of societal risk around major hazard sites.
A cross-government group was established to consider how this information could be used in relation to the management of major hazard sites and the development of the land around them. The consultation document arises from the work of that group and has been agreed by the Government.
HSE Deputy Chief Executive Justin McCracken said, "Industry and the regulators already work together to ensure that risks are as low as reasonably practicable. The risks to individuals are no higher than they were before and are comparable to those we face in everyday life. However, the public has a right to expect the information arising from the 1999 COMAH Regulations to be used when regulatory decisions are made. The aim is to ensure that societal risk data is used in the management of major hazard sites and by planning authorities when making their decisions. This will enable a balance to be struck between protecting the public on the one hand, and the social and economic growth of the surrounding community and industry on the other."
Mr McCracken went on to say, "Ultimately it is for society as a whole to decide what is an acceptable level of risk around non-nuclear major hazard sites. Modern society has gained much from industrialization, including reliable fuel supplies and a wide range of products we use in everyday life. Society must therefore take a balanced view on how to weigh the risks and benefits of people and major hazard sites co-existing."
"This consultation seeks views from all interested parties, including members of the public. We will take account of responses in our future recommendations to the Government."
The consultation exercise will run until 2 July 2007.
Copies of the document can be downloaded from www.hse.gov.uk/consult/condocs
Responses to the consultation should be sent to: Consultation Administrator Societal Risk Consultation Health and Safety Executive Policy Group 5S.1 Redgrave Court
Merton Road Bootle Liverpool L20 7HS
Fax: 0151 951 3418 or email: societalrisk.consultation@hse.gsi.gov.uk

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