Sweet firm fined after forklift spears worker’s foot

A national sweet manufacturer has been fined £120,000 and ordered to pay £9,538 in prosecution costs after the fork on a forklift truck pierced a worker's foot, entering the instep and exiting the bridge, breaking every bone in its path.

Kevin Lowe, 48, suffered life-changing injuries in the incident at Tangerine Confectionery in Blackpool on 19 September 2012 and is now only able to walk short distances with the use of a stick.
The company was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found the incident was one of three collisions in the same location at the factory within a three-month period.
Preston Crown Court was told Mr Lowe, from Blackpool, had been driving a ride-on pallet truck in a warehouse at Tangerine Confectionery's Vicarage Lane plant, and was manoeuvring the vehicle very close to the entrance because of a lack of space inside.
He was injured when another worker drove through the plastic strip curtains that hung down over the entrance, and the two vehicles collided.
Mr Lowe was rushed to Blackpool Victoria Hospital where surgeons initially thought they would have to amputate his foot. He spent nine days in hospital and his foot was eventually saved using large screws. His injury will affect him for the rest of his life and he is unable to return to work or to drive.

The court was told the plastic curtains over the entrance were designed to keep out insects and birds, but they obscured the view of workers going into the warehouse.

The area had also been overcrowded with pallets from two other warehouses while maintenance work was being carried out, which restricted the space drivers had to operate vehicles and increased the flow of traffic.
The company has since removed the plastic curtains and changed its systems so vehicles and pedestrians can move safely around the site.

Tangerine Confectionery pleaded guilty to a breach of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. NEBOSH National General Certificate in occupational Health & Safety

Congratulations Joe you are our Delegate of the Month

Well done to Joseph Cryans who has been picked as our Delegate of the Month for May, Joe attended our NEBOSH Certificate in Environmental Management which was delivered by our Head of Environment – Richard Ball at our York Training Venue. Our Courses in York are currently run at the Novotel Hotel in the centre of York and are easily accessible via road or rail links. York is one of our most popular training venues and with lots of historical buildings and the race course what better place to go for your training requirements. When we asked Joe what he liked about the course he said “it was educational, informative and enthusiastic instructions which made the course come alive”. Joe is currently an Health & Safety Advisor, but is also looking for a new role so as to use his new found knowledge and put in to practice what CRS have now taught him. Joe is married  to Janet and has two teenage girls Jessica 15 and Abigail 13 and he says “they take up most of my spare time but I do like to use the gym as often as possible”. Joe has also worked at a Shell distributor in the past. Joe is now waiting for his results to come through.

If you would like to be nominated as our Delegate of the Month and be in with a chance to win a £50 M&S Voucher, please let your trainer know or contact Ros Stacey – rs@crsrisk.com

Junior school bans children bringing in a snack of fruit or rice cakes

This week, we update CRS readers on the recent myth-busters case where a Junior School sought to ban children bringing a snack of fruit or rice cakes to school on the grounds of "health and safety". Their reasoning is that this is a health and safety risk to children at school with food allergies.

The HSE panel reviewed this case, saying that whilst schools need to have procedures in place for managing pupils with food allergies, they should not misquote ‘health and safety’ as a reason for justifying a disproportionate ban on all snacks. Various guidance by other organisations than HSE make it clear that schools need to have a policy and an action plan in place to manage the risk of allergic reactions. A complete banning of all snacks seems a thoroughly disproportionate response which goes against some of the stated principles in the guidance of helping food allergic pupils to learn to take responsibility for their own allergy – an important life skill given that the world cannot be made nut/allergen-free!

Council decision to ban loose flowers and pots on cemetery graves

A Town Council has adopted a policy that prevents loose flowers and pots being placed on graves because of health and safety concerns. The policy was introduced to make maintenance easier following an incident where a member of the workforce was injured on a broken pot.

This policy has been reviewed this month by the HSE myth-buster panel.  It says that the Council has taken its decision to ban loose pots for flowers because it makes maintenance of the cemetery easier to carry out if they are not there – this is not a health and safety matter but for convenience and ease of operation. The real reason for their decision should be made clear to all visitors. It would also be helpful if they could offer a practical solution that would allow visitors to place some form of floral tribute on the graves – given that there is no real risk associated with doing so.

NEW APPOINTMENT

CRS has recently appointed Adrian Stevens  as Senior Sales Manager for Sales of their open courses currently being delivered nationwide at 15 training venues. Adrian will be covering the West Midlands,  Wales, South West, Home Counties and the South East regions and be responsible for sales of mainly the NEBOSH range of Health Safety & Environmental training courses delivered in Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton, Reading, & Colchester.
Adrian comes to CRS from a career in business and account management spanning some 30 years. Primarily operating in the corporate financial services industry, he has promoted, managed and developed many multi million pound contracts from a variety of sources both in the public and private sectors. He also has senior management experience in the operational control of a specialist vehicle contracts company and has, latterly, managed government contracts on behalf of a social enterprise organisation. Both roles involved training, development and management of health and safety policies. With CRS Adrian is looking forward to managing the existing customer portfolio and developing business growth paying particular attention to the NEBOSH menu of courses. If Adrian has not yet contacted you he will be doing so in the coming weeks. Ros Stacey – UK Sales Director commented “Adrian has certainly hit the ground running and is actively sourcing new business daily, he is also making contact with all our clients in the Southern Region, and is already proving a valuable asset to the Sales Team at CRS”. You can contact Adrian -  adrian.stevens@crsrisk.com

Workplace falls and dangerous machines top reasons for prosecutions

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) successfully brought 65 cases to court in the North West during the 12 months from April 2013, with 14 cases involving work at height and 12 involving unsafe machinery.

HSE prosecutions in the North West included a construction company and sub-contractor from Bolton who appeared before magistrates after a worker suffered a fractured skull and broken back when he fell from a house roof.

A recycling plant in Kelbrook was also fined £46,000 after a worker almost lost his arm when it became trapped in machinery.

On average, 23 people are killed while at work in the North West every year, with an estimated 181 lives lost across Great Britain. In 2012/13, falls from height were the most common cause of workplace deaths, accounting for almost a third of fatal injuries to workers.

The figures also show the manufacturing industry was responsible for almost one in five deaths and injuries to workers, despite the sector only employing around 10% of the British workforce.

Steven Smith, HSE's head of operations in the North West, said: "Sadly, it's often only after the death or major injury of an employee that firms take action to improve safety but hopefully, by bringing these cases to court, we'll raise awareness of the issues and help prevent future incidents.

"It's vital that firms carrying out work at height do more to stop employees being injured in falls. That could include using scaffolding or harnesses, or installing netting under fragile roof panels. NEBOSH Certificate in Construction Health & Safety

"Factories also need to do more to make sure their machines are safe to use. That means installing suitable guards to prevent workers being trapped by dangerous moving parts and ensuring that maintenance work is carried out safely.

"It needn't take any more than a few minutes to assess the risks created by a particular work activity and could end up saving someone's life." IOSH Working Safely – NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health & Safety

JUST A FEW PLACES LEFT –

There is still time to get your name on our guest list for our FREE Seminar “The next step in your career – MIEMA or Chartered Environmentalist”

CRS would like to take this opportunity of inviting you to attend a FREE seminar to find out more about  how you can become a Full Member of IEMA (MIEMA) or a Chartered Environmentalist.

The event is to be held on Friday 16th May at Sahara Force India, Silverstone.

With the government imposing strict legislation on Environmental issues to be implemented by 2020 e.g. Waste Management, Carbon footprint, GHG, and Sustainability, an Environmental Qualification will help you and your organisation to have the knowledge and understanding to become compliant with these changes.  The IEMA Associate Certificate in Environmental Management Course should be considered, taking you on to eventually Full Membership of IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment) and also giving you the chance to become a Chartered Environmentalist.

We have a guest speaker from IEMA, together with our very own Head of Environment – Richard Ball.

Richard will be giving a short presentation on MIEMA and the changes within this qualification he will also give an insight into how you can become a Chartered Environmentalist. (CEnv).

We will also be presenting our NEBOSH Environmental Student of the Year Award 2014 to the delegate who achieved the highest marks on the NEBOSH Certificate in Environmental Management Course.

The seminar will start at 9.15am and finish after a buffet lunch around 1.30p.m.

Why not come and find out more about  MIEMA which incorporates the Associate Certificate in Environmental Management and see how it can help you to not only enhance your knowledge and skills but also put you in a position to increase your salary.(Course discounts for all attendees) Places are limited but the event is free. If you would like to attend please let Ros Stacey know rs@crsrisk.com or telephone 01283 509175 to get your name on the guest list.

Look forward to seeing you there.