A housebuilder has been fined £800,000 after a teen apprentice was injured when a temporary stairwell covering collapsed.  Charlie Marsh, 17, had been working as a contractor on a Taylor Wimpey UK Limited site as it built around 450 new homes on its Meadfields site in Weston-Super-Mare.

A college in Nantwich that specialises in outdoor-based careers has been fined £40,000 after a student’s fingers were severed when his hand came into contact with a mitre saw.  Aaron Maguire, from Crewe, was a second year Horticulture student at Reaseheath College when his hand came into contact with the blade of the saw on 20 September 2023. He had been using the saw to cut a piece of wood along its length when the wood twisted and pulled his hand into the cutting disc of the saw.

MD Safety comment:  Another case to highlight why the HSE is targeting the health risks of airborne hazards

A company that manufactures popular stone kitchen worktops has been fined £60,000 after it repeatedly failed to protect workers from exposure to hazardous dust.  Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited Inova Stone Ltd nine times over a six year period, and found little or no improvement across several areas of concern.

MD Safety comment:  Another case to highlight why the HSE is targeting the health risks of airborne hazards

A wood supplier has been fined £40,000 for failing to protect its workers from exposure to wood dust.  Fakenham-based Nat Pal Limited was visited by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in April 2023. Dust was found scattered across the floor, and the inspection identified failings in the company’s control measures to prevent exposure of their employees to wood dust and enforcement action was taken.

A farming partnership has been fined £20,000 after an employee trapped his leg in a potato harvester machine whilst working on a farm in Cheshire.  The employee, who was 20-years-old at the time, was working for LP Ollier & Son on its potato farm when the incident occurred on 18 October 2023. Whilst assessing a blockage in the potato harvester machine, the roller mechanism caught his right leg and pulled it into the device, causing serious injuries including crushing, fractures, nerve damage and skin damage. He has been unable to work in agriculture since the incident.

A manufacturing company has been fined £20,000 after a worker lost part of his finger in machinery at its site in St Helens.  The man was injured at Film & Foil Solutions Ltd, which makes flexible film used in the food industry, on 4 December 2023.

A 63-year-old man has died after an 'industrial incident' involving a forklift truck at the Port of Liverpool.  Merseyside Police said the incident happened around 10:15 BST on Seaforth docks, and the man died at the scene.  A spokesperson said a joint investigation into the circumstances of his death would be carried out by detectives and the Health and Safety Executive. 

A tanning salon owner has been jailed after a 15-year-old girl suffered life-changing burns which needed plastic surgery after using a sunbed.

A County Durham quarry operator is facing trial later this year following a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inquiry into a workplace injury accident.  Stonegrave Aggregates Ltd, which operates Aycliffe Quarry in Newton Aycliffe, is being prosecuted by the HSE for allegedly failing to ensure the safety of employees arising from the incident, on March 24, 2023, in which a worker was injured.

A paddleboard business owner has been jailed for 10 years and six months for gross negligence manslaughter following the deaths of four people in 2021.  Nerys Lloyd, 39, from Aberavon, who was the owner and sole director of Salty Dog Co Ltd, was charged with the gross negligence manslaughter of Paul O’Dwyer, 42, Andrea Powell, 41, Morgan Rogers, 24, and Nicola Wheatley, 40, following their tragic deaths following the incident in Haverfordwest Town Weir on 30 October 2021.