HSE warning over poorly maintained vehicles

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned operators to ensure vehicles are maintained in a safe condition after a company director was banned for knowingly exposing employees to unsafe working conditions.  Preston Crown Court heard that Zarif Mohammed allowed the continued use of the same seriously damaged machine on a Blackburn waste transfer site, despite having a conviction for transport-related health and safety offences following a fatality in 2013.  Mohammed has also been subjected to further enforcement action in 2017 for using a poorly maintained and damaged telehandler.

Driver eye care – minimising risk

With the Department for Transport recording 1,784 reported road deaths in 2018, a conservative estimate would, therefore, suggest that in excess of 500 deaths per year involve someone driving for work purposes. A figure corroborated by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).  HSE statistics show that there were 147 workplace fatalities in the UK in 2018/2019. This figure does not include deaths on the road. These figures show that driving is clearly one of the most hazardous tasks performed for work.  There are numerous options for safety managers to implement safety checks on vehicles, plan safer journeys, make work schedules reasonable, etc, but what about the drivers themselves? Driver checks and training go a long way, but perhaps the most basic first step, that can be overlooked, is to ensure that the driver has eyesight that is adequate for the task.

Major contractors accused of ‘endemic late payment’

Trade contractors have been highlighting “endemic” payment abuse among some tier one firms following a recent spate of specialist collapses.  Companies have been contacting the Enquirer to complain about ongoing payment dispute and delaying tactics used by some main contractors.  One leading specialist trade body said: “Our members feel that payment abuse is endemic with certain tier one contractors.  “Specialists are funding work undertaken for nearly six months when you add up all the tricks and turns the tier ones use.

Company director sentenced after exposing employees to hazardous substances

A manufacturer of agricultural trailers has been sentenced for deliberately putting his workers at risk of developing severe lung disease, after exposing them to substances harmful to health.  Preston Crown Court heard that, over a period of time up to February 2018, James Harrison, former managing director of the now dissolved Laser Shapes (NW) Limited, exposed his employees to hazardous substances and deliberately hid unsafe working practices from HSE inspectors at the company’s former site at Witton Mill, Blackburn.  An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that employees of Laser Shapes (NW) Limited regularly used aerosolised paints containing isocyanates and solvents to spray large tractor trailers. Breathing in products containing isocyanates and solvents can cause occupational asthma, dizziness, liver and kidney damage. However, this activity was being carried out without adequate controls in place to prevent workers from breathing in harmful substances.

Egg production company fined following Forklift Truck overturned

A Chorley company has been fined after a forklift truck (FLT) overturned on a slope trapping the driver.  Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard that on 1 December 2018 an employee of Staveley’s Eggs Ltd had been driving the FLT at the company’s premises at Goosnargh Near Preston, when the truck overturned, trapping the driver between the truck and the ground, leading to him sustaining serious life changing crush injuries as a result.  An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the areas where FLTs were driven had significant changes in gradient which were not a suitable surface for the type of FLTs in use. The company failed to both identify and control the risk of FLT overturn.

Builders firm fined £225k after father-of-four crushed to death when dumper truck overturned

  A FAMILY building firm has been fined £225,000 for breaching health and safety law after a father-of-four was crushed to death when his dumper truck overturned.   David Green, 32, was pulled from underneath the upturned vehicle after it fell from the top of a mound of soil at a building site in Lawford.    Mr Green was carrying out work on Rose Builders’ Summers Park development of 150 homes in October 2016.   Following an investigation, the firm was charged with two counts of breaching health and safety law.

Director of skip hire firm where worker was crushed to death convicted again

The judge said Mohammed had acted with “willful blindness” regarding the safety on what he described as a “chaotic premises.”  The director of a skip hire firm who was convicted of health and safety breaches after an employee was crushed to death in machinery has been convicted of further breaches at a new firm he set up in the unit next door.  Zarif Mohammed, 42, has been banned from acting as a company director after admitting safety breaches at 1First Choice Skip Hire Ltd in Lower Hollin Bank Street, Blackburn.

Roofer sentenced after dangerous carbon monoxide release

A self-employed roofer has been sentenced after leaving a gas appliance flue in an immediately dangerous condition when he removed a chimney stack from a property in March 2019. Truro Crown Court heard how Mark Reski, trading as MR Roofing & Leadwork, was contracted to remove and rebuild a chimney stack from the roof of a client’s property in Fowey. 

The chimney stack was shared between the client’s and a neighbouring property, occupied by a vulnerable elderly woman. In removing the chimney stack, Mr Reski exposed the flue liner for the gas range within the elderly woman’s property. He left the flue liner unsupported, dangling at an angle and exposed to the elements. A flue liner left in this condition would not function correctly, with a high risk of combustion products, including carbon monoxide, entering the property.

Places for People Homes fined after five employees developed Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS)

A property management and development organisation has been fined after five employees developed Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS).  Aylesbury Crown Court heard that between 2009 and 2014 five employees of Places for People Homes Limited used vibrating powered tools to carry out grounds maintenance tasks at sites in Milton Keynes, Rotherham and Hull.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company failed to assess or manage the risks associated with vibrating tools. It also failed to provide suitable training or health surveillance for its maintenance workers and failed to maintain and replace tools which increased vibration levels.

Contractor fined after cable strike injuries

Folkestone Magistrates’ Court heard that, on 15th October 2018, G&R Groundworks operatives were using an electric ground breaker to dig fence post holes for a car park perimeter fence at a Cummins Power Generation site in Ramsgate, Kent.  While operating the electric breaker, one of the operatives struck an 11kv electricity cable causing a large flash and engulfing him in flames. The operative sustained serious burns to his face, chest, abdomen, groin, both arms and both legs, amounting to approximately 50% total body surface area burns. An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that the contractor had failed to source and refer to the underground services plans before breaking the ground to determine the location of any cables within the planned working area. It also failed to provide operatives with cable identification equipment to further locate any cables within that area.