Sheffield company fined £700,000 after worker killed

Chesterfield Special Cylinders Ltd was fined £700,000 today for safety breaches after a 64-year-old worker was fatally wounded by shrapnel ejected from testing equipment.  Sheffield Crown Court heard that on 10 June 2015, John Townsend was leak testing eight 1500 litre cylinders, by applying compressed air inside to create pressure, at the company’s Sheffield site. Whilst in the process of venting the air through the test manifold, it catastrophically failed and fatally injured Mr Townsend.

Construction company fined after worker killed during demolition work

A construction company was fined half a million pounds after a father-of-two was killed when a re-enforced concrete slab collapsed underneath him during a demolition project.  Southwark Crown Court heard that on 14 April 2014, 33-year-old labourer Dainius Rupsys from Lithuania was working with an excavator operator at the site on Grosvenor Square in London, as part of the operation to demolish the existing multi-storey building before 31 residential flats could be built.

Worker killed on his first day

A vehicle recovery and repair company has been sentenced after a worker suffered fatal crush injuries during maintenance work. It was his first day on the job.  Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard that on 24 November 2014, Albert Road Recovery and Repair Limited employee John Glenn was fatally injured when a rigid vehicle fell suddenly from an inadequate axle support prop at Siskin Parkway East, Middlemarch Business Park, Coventry.

Roofing company fined after worker fall

A roofing company has been fined after a worker suffered serious back injuries when he fell from a ladder whilst transporting a bucket full of broken tiles.  Folkestone Magistrates’ Court heard that on 2 October 2018, AU Roofing and Building Ltd workers were working on a roof in Elmes Avenue, Ramsgate, Kent where they were required to carry buckets of materials by hand down the scaffold access ladder. Davey Battams, aged 31, was unable to maintain a constant three points of contact with the ladder, resulting in the fall.

Fine after manufacturing worker’s hand crushed

A foundry company which casts parts for the automotive industry has been fined after an employee had two fingers amputated while attempting to clear a blockage in a moulding machine.  Chesterfield Justice Centre was told that, on 28 February 2018, an employee of William Lee Ltd was attempting to clear a blockage of sand in a moulding machine using a length of metal rod at the company site on Callywhite Lane, Dronfield. The blockage cleared without warning and the employee’s right hand was crushed between the rod and the machine, resulting in two fingers being amputated, and a number of fractured bones.  

Sir Robert McAlpine fined £260k after fall from height

Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd has been sentenced for safety breaches after a worker fell 4.8 metres through an unprotected opening.  On 28 April 2016, Mark Smith, aged 36, was working at Stone Gappe Hall, Lothersdale, Keighley, owned by Richard McAlpine, a director of the McAlpine group of companies. Mr Smith was attaching straps to a water tank whilst preparing to move it to a lower floor of a water tower at the property, in order to paint the floor. The HSE found that Mr Smith fell through an opening that did not have fixed edge protection. As a result, he sustained serious injuries including: a right tibial shaft fracture, a distal fibular fracture, a fracture to the left patella, orbital and nasal fractures, lacerations to the face, a concessional head injury, injury to his ribs and he was hospitalised for nine days. Mr Smith continues to suffer from psychological damage and has been unable to return to work.

Haulage company fined after employee fell from height and sustained severe injuries

W D Cormack & Sons, a partnership operating a haulage business, has been fined after a driver fell from a trailer to the ground.  Perth Sheriff Court heard that on 9 February 2016, the employee was securing a load of grain bags on a curtain-sider trailer, at Thormean Granary, Milnathort, when he fell 2.88 metres from the trailer to the ground. He sustained severe injuries as a result of the fall.  An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified that there was a failure to make a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and a failure to provide and maintain a safe system of work.

Urgent action is needed to reduce fatal and serious crashes involving at-work drivers, says IAM RoadSmart

Urgent action is needed to tackle the stagnation in the number of people killed or injured in collisions involving drivers working or travelling on business, according to IAM RoadSmart.  The road safety charity’s concerns about a worrying lack of progress in driving down the number of work-related traffic incidents are highlighted in its latest white paper, ‘The Role of Business Drivers.’

In the paper IAM RoadSmart calls on all groups – the Health and Safety Executive, drivers and their employers, government and police – to do more to address the fact that there has been virtually no change in the number of fatal and serious injury road crashes on UK roads in the last decade.

Driver jailed after crashing sewage tanker while drink and drug-driving

A lorry driver has been jailed for flipping a 26-tonne sewage tanker as he drove around the M25 while over the drink and drug-drive limits.  The former employers of Simon Shea have slammed the “poxy” eight-month prison sentence and 40-month driving ban handed out to him at Maidstone Crown Court for charges of dangerous driving, drug-driving, and drink-driving.  Hydro-Cleansing Ltd (HCL), which operates from Croydon but provides services across the South East, said it has been left to deal with the ramifications after Shea wrote off the £420,000 tanker by crashing it at the interchange for Junction 2 of the M25 near Dartford.

Fedex UK Ltd fined after worker seriously injured by reversing forklift truck

A parcel carrier has been fined after an employee was seriously injured when he was struck by a forklift truck.  Cannock Magistrates’ Court heard that in the early morning of 2 November 2017, an employee was walking across the depot at Burntwood Business Park, near Cannock, Staffordshire when he was struck by a reversing forklift truck. The worker was trapped on the ground by the forklift truck and had to be freed by colleagues using a pallet truck. He suffered serious fractures to his arm and soft tissue injuries to his legs. He was off work for several months.