Exploring the Record-Breaking Health and Safety Performance of the 2012 Olympic Games

The London 2012 Olympic Games were the safest Olympics ever in terms of constructing the facilities. Here’s how and why these Games were the safest yet.
During the 2012 Olympics, many records were broken in the pool and on the track, but there is little recognition of the other records that were broken during construction of the many venues, housing, transportation systems and park development.
At one point, the employee count in the London 2012 project peaked to 12,500. In all, 46,000 total workers worked to build the 2012 London Olympics, incurring 62 million man-hours.
London 2012 was the safest Olympic build ever, with a reported injury rate of 0.17 per 100,000 man-hours (0.34 per 100 full-time employees by the method used in the U.S.) – far below the 0.55 building industry average in the U.K. The effort lasted 4 years, and for the first time in Olympic history all projects were completed without a fatality. By comparision:

• 1996 Barcelona construction: 1 fatality
• 2000 Sydney construction: 1 fatality
• 2004 Greece construction: 14 fatalities
• 2008 Beijing construction: 10 fatalities
• 2012 London construction: 0 fatalities

Source: London Olympics Construction Is Safest In Recent Times

Lagging and Leading Indicators

Based on the estimated number of man-hours and the amount of the workers that would be on-site, the United Kingdom estimated that the entire project would incur three deaths and more than 500 serious injuries, with perhaps 100 or so of those dramatically changing the workers’ lives. Source: A Lesson On Safety From The London Olympics
This was unacceptable for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). They took aggressive steps to ensure that no fatalities would occur and that if injuries did happen, they would not be serious or impact the employees for the rest of their lives. How would they pull this off? They knew that they would still have to use traditional safety disciplines at the site to meet regulatory requirements, but would have to deploy new tactics to reach this lofty, “unattainable” goal. After all, these traditional disciplines routinely produce fatalities and serious injuries. It was going to take out-of-the-box thinking that would later produce a formula that would prove successful.
How about this for a work directive: “Build us an Olympic Park. Do it all on time – there is no opportunity for slippage. Do it all on budget – there is a limited amount of money, and it has to be spent wisely. Build it with high quality – it’s all got to work. And, oh, by the way, don’t kill anybody, and don’t cause any harm.”
Pretty straight forward. A speech that many of us have heard before yet cannot accomplish.
Let’s explore this further by going back in history…

The Golden Gate Bridge

In the 1930s, the New Deal created many construction projects that would not only put a majority of our nation back to work and out of the Great Depression, it also served as a breeding ground for some of the most revolutionary advancements in employee, consumer and public safety.
During this era, bridge builders expected to kill one worker per $1 million in construction costs. Using this benchmark, it was expected that 35 workers would lose their lives during the erection of this massive suspension bridge, mostly from falls. These statistics were unacceptable to Joseph Strauss, the chief project engineer. His site was the first for many things considered “overboard,” “not necessary,” “going above what is required,” etc.:

• “Hard Hats Required”
• Use of safety nets
• Use of belt harnesses
• Development of sand-blast, air supplied respirator
• Glare-free goggles
• Mandatory use of hand and face cream to protect against the wind
• Special diets to help fight dizziness
• Hearing protection

During the bridge erection, 11 workers lost their lives. Although this was 11 too many, for that time, this was unprecedented. Additionally, there were 19 members of the ‘Halfway to Hell Club’, a fraternity of men whose lives were saved by the safety nets.
Perhaps Mr. Strauss was onto something? Could it be that he realized that protecting the lives of his workers was of greater value compared to other project managers at that time? Did he realize that the loss of his skilled labour force would only add to further delays in the timely completion of the project? Also, he took into account the health of his employees by recognizing a diet could affect the equilibrium of workers.
So how did London do it? How did they reach this “impossible” goal?
There are a lot of things that happened behind the scenes. But there was one definite approach that had not been used in past Olympic builds. The simple answer = employee health & safety. It merged as one mission, one process, one goal.

The Difference Maker

To any seasoned safety or health professional, the term “combining safety and health” may seem like a catch phrase. After all, a majority of both disciplines still believe that although the two terms can somewhat be connected, they will never be fully connected. However, in the London Olympic project, these idealistic views can be questioned. And the success is not arguable. Health and safety became “health & safety,” a connected term. The ODA took into account the HEALTH of their employees, contractors and subcontractors. They even made the bold statement that “we determined that although many more construction workers have their health damaged than are injured in accidents, it would not happen in our program.”
This caused the ODA to take a closer look at employees that worked on projects. They found that 28 percent were classified as “obese,” 41 percent were overweight and 29 percent had high blood pressure. While these findings are a far cry from not using the right tool or not tying off as necessary to protect against a fall, they did represent hazards brought onto the job site. As safety and health professionals, we all are well aware of the studies conducted regarding these conditions and how it affects (and sometimes even directly contributes) to workplace injuries. It was evident that there were different risk exposures that needed to be addressed to ensure success.
One causal analysis determined that many of the employees elected to skip breakfast and consume fatty foods the night before. This affected their work performance the next day. It might seem elementary, but the employees were more concerned about when they could eat lunch and what they were going to eat instead of focusing on the job at hand. The ODA heeded these warnings and decided to offer a low-cost breakfast option (porridge) to employees showing up at their sites.
Now, porridge was not the difference maker. It was ODA’s concern with not only the “safety” of the employee on the jobsite, but the underlying factors that directly influence jobsite safety: the health and well-being of the employee. The porridge was just one proactive step to avoid a possible injury or fatality. But there were many, many more pre-emptive actions taken based on leading indicators.

Occupational Health Services Involvement

UK Occupational Health Services, a team of medical professionals made up of nurses, physiotherapists and occupational hygienists whose primary focus was employee health and well-being, were not only responsible for treating job related injuries on-site, but also played a crucial role in incident prevention by promoting healthy living.
Success? Seventy-eight percent of those working on sites confirmed that OHS interventions with service “encouraged them to make positive changes to how they worked in order to look after their health” and “73 percent of managers believed they would behave differently in the future as a result of what they learned.” Source: Health and Safety at London 2012
We challenge you to go the Health and Safety Executive web site. Look at these reports. As you read them, notice how many times you see occupational health employee involvement, the frequency of the term “observations,” and how many times directives are aimed at senior level management.
What they also have is a plan to build culture. A plan to build safety culture. How many of you have a written plan to build a safety culture? Most believe it happens through osmosis from a good, well thought out written safety program. It does not. If you don’t have a good safety culture, your program will fail. And if you don’t contemplate the employee’s health into your safety program, it will be a disaster.
Mr. Strauss proved previous metrics wrong by thinking outside the box and not only embracing new tactics to make his jobsite safer, but understanding that the health of his employees was equally as important. So did the ODA and all workers at the London Olympics. Health & Safety: It no longer is a far-fetched concept!
Stephen Asbury, Managing Director of CRS was a member of the panel of judges for both of the ODA Health & Safety Award schemes in 2009 and 2010.  The hundreds of entries to those awards provided the hard evidence of employees’ engagement with the health, safety and environmental programmes on the Olympic site.  We were proud to be associated with London 2012’s success.

Waste company owner given suspended prison sentence for waste tyre offences

The owner of a tyre waste business has been given a 15 month custodial sentence, suspended for 2 years, and a 2 year supervision order after illegally storing almost 84,659 waste tyres at several sites in Devon. The case was brought by the Environment Agency.  Andrew Mayhew pleaded guilty to 5 offences at Plymouth Crown Court of running a waste operation without the necessary permits, which involved dumping large numbers of tyres at several different sites including Hill Barton Business Park, Exeter; Moor Barton Farm in Tiverton, as well as Dawlish, North Tawton, and Hayedown industrial estate, Tavistock.
At the hearing, Judge Darlow described it as a ‘serious offence’ involving a very large number of tyres. He said the law is there for a reason and the Environment Agency had a duty to investigate. Mayhew was also ordered to pay £700 towards the costs of the prosecution. The court heard how Mayhew rented commercial premises from January 2013 to February 2014 and collected or received end of use tyres and then disposed of them by sending them to an illegal place for disposal, abandoning the tyres at the premises either loose or as tyre bales or enter into contracts with haulers to transport them and then fail to pay. This led to the haulers having to dispose of them with the resultant disposal costs.
He also left the owners of 4 commercial sites with unpaid rent amounting to £15,220 and costs to remove the tyres of over £14,540. He has also saved legitimate disposal costs of £9,360 by sending 300 tonnes of end of life tyre bales to Moor Barton Farm. Mayhew received considerable advice from the Environment Agency including guidance and general warnings regarding his activities relating to the depositing of the tyres but he deliberately ignored all advice.
A spokesperson from the Environment Agency said:
The illegal handling of waste tyres is a serious issue that affects the environment and undermines the legitimate tyre recycling industry. We take environmental crime very seriously and won’t hesitate to prosecute offenders. Mayhew conned people into believing he was a legitimate businessman. He got paid to collect waste tyres, then abandoned them at the 4 premises he leased, failing to pay rent and bills in the meantime and left the site owners to pay to clear up his mess. He made some of the waste tyres into tyre bales and sent them to a farm to be buried under a track. These tyre bales were waste. The use of tyre bales is regulated by the Environment Agency and using bales otherwise can be an offence.
Legitimate tyre recycling businesses operate on tight margins. Mayhew deliberately profiteered by not running his business properly. If you flout environmental law, then we will not hesitate to take action. The cost to the Environment Agency of investigating and concluding this case has been incurred in a bid to protect the environment and ensure a level playing field for the tyre recycling industry.
The judge criticised Mayhew’s unacceptable attitude towards Environment Agency staff saying he had been ‘abusive and threatening’.
Mayhew admitted to 5 counts of operating a regulated facility without an environmental permit contrary to Regulations 12(1)(a) and 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010, and received a 15 month custodial sentence suspended for 2 years and a 2 year supervision order.
For further information on which environmental course are right for you click here or email advice@crsrisk.com

Supreme Court orders UK Government to slash pollution

The UK is in breach of European air quality standards and must draw up plans to reduce the amount of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere, the Supreme Court has ruled. The decision, announced on the 28^th April, marks a major victory for environmental NGO ClientEarth, who brought the case to court in an effort to force Government to act.
Nitrogen dioxide is mainly produced by diesel vehicles and can cause breathing difficulties for children, older people and asthmatics. The five Supreme Court judges ruled unanimously that "the Government must prepare and consult on new air quality plans for submission to the European Commission ... no later than December 31 2015".  Announcing the decision, judge Lord Carnwath said: "The new government, whatever its political complexion, should be left in no doubt as to the need for immediate action to address this issue."
Head of Environmental at CRS Richard Ball commented ‘ this ruling  will continue to drive air quality legislation and policy within the UK towards stricter control. Organisations associated with transport, energy generation or high energy usage need to understand this as a strategic business risk’ . To understand more about Air Pollution and the legal controls CRS offer a range of courses including the NEBOSH Environmental Certificate which specifically covers air pollution impacts and controls
Pollution problems
Air pollution causes 29,000 premature deaths a year in the UK - more than obesity and alcohol combined. The World Health Organisation claims the UK could save £53bn a year if pollution levels dropped. International NGO Greenpeace welcomed the ruling, adding that the public wanted to see politicians do more for the environment. Greenpeace UK policy director Doug Parr said: "Systematic failure on air pollution means we need better plans to stop fuel burning in city centres from impacting our health and well-being.
"A UN report says that air pollution costs nearly 10% of European GDP, and in comparison, the economic discussions in the election campaign have been concerning themselves with minor economic details whilst this vast un-discussed failure affects millions of UK residents."
Government response
A spokesperson for Defra said: "Air quality has improved significantly in recent years and as this judgement recognises, work is already underway on revised plans to meet EU targets on NO2 as soon as possible.
"It has always been the government's position to submit these plans before the end of this year. Meeting NO2 limits is a common challenge across Europe with 17 member states exceeding limits."
Source: Edie

Lincoln man guilty of dumping waste near Leicestershire river

Waste dumped near a protected site of Special Scientific Interest and the River Mease led to prosecution and a fine.
Frank Nicklinson, 39, from Lincoln pleaded guilty at Leicester Magistrates Court to two offences relating to the illegal transportation and dumping of controlled waste on land at Lounge Colliery, Ashby Road, Ashby de la Zouch on 5 August 2014. Mr Nicklinson received a fine of £660, was ordered to pay costs of £1700 and a victim surcharge of £66.
On 5 August 2014 an on-duty police officer witnessed Mr Nicklinson and a colleague driving onto the Lounge Colliery site in Ashby de la Zouch and depositing construction and demolition waste from a trailer onto the land without permission and without a valid waste carrier’s licence.
The Lounge Colliery site is within the catchment area of the River Mease which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The river supports nationally significant populations of two fish species, Bullhead and Spined Loach. The main watercourse within the colliery feeds into the River Mease via a brook and therefore any contaminants coming from the waste have a direct link to the river. The River Mease is classed as being in an unfavourable condition due to poor water quality. In addition, the colliery itself is home to a large, regionally significant, population of great crested newts which are a protected species.
Speaking after the case, an Environment Agency officer involved with the investigation said:
The site where the waste was tipped is within the catchment area of the River Mease which could pose serious threat to the natural habitat. The accumulation of waste at the site has also sparked recent arson attacks which again can have significant environmental and economic impact.
The crime was committed for financial gain and has contributed towards significant cleanup costs. This prosecution demonstrates that we take cases such as this very seriously and will not hesitate to prosecute if necessary, to protect the environment and local communities.
Source: Environmental Agency

The ladies get rough at the first Mighty Mini race

Saturday 18^th April saw the first might mini race being held at Oulton Park, Team CRS and driver Caroline had been eagerly looking forward to this first race of the season. The weather held up well and Caroline finished 5th in the first race, but the reverse grid saw Team CRS and Caroline start in 3^rd. Caroline held this position for 2 laps then finished in 8^th, leading the ladies championship from the first meeting! But later that day two other lady drivers were excluded for fighting, this meant Caroline was promoted into 4^th in race 1 and re-assured her position as leading lady.
Why not come and join us for the next Mighty Mini race to be held at Rockingham 16^th-17^th May. CRS are giving away two FREE tickets to be in with a chance of winning please answer the following question: CRS have recently launched a NEW NEBOSH Combined Course please can you tell us what is the title of the course? please email your answer to Ros Stacey – rs@crsrisk.com winners will be notified by Monday 11^th May. Tip – you can find answer on our website.

Full IEMA members earn £10,000 more than Affiliates IEMA survey reveals

IEMA members’ incomes rise and gender pay differences narrow, annual poll finds
The 2015 IEMA survey of environment and sustainability practitioners brings some positive news on pay, training and job satisfaction. Almost three-quarters of respondents say their overall earnings increased over 2014, with their median salary standing at £38,000 a year.
Members who take the step to become an associate can expect to earn a little more, at a median of £38,000 a year. There is a bigger pay premium associated with becoming a Full member, which requires both a written submission and interview. Members at this level can expect to earn a median of £45,000, a full £10,000 above that for affiliates. The mean annual salary at this professional level is £52,854, highlighting that the earnings potential for some practitioners who have achieved full member status can be much higher.
CRS’S Head of Environment commented’ At CRS we offer a unique support process of applied courses and mentoring to help individuals grow their environmental qualifications all the way from beginner through Associate to Full Chartered Environmentalists.  The IEMA shows the range of benefits that can be achieved if you invest in your career’ for more information about these courses click here.
Moreover, this year’s IEMA poll shows the gap between men and women’s annual salaries narrowing to 12.5% overall, with the data suggesting that female practitioners aged 25 to 29 now earn slightly more than male colleagues of the same age. Practitioners continue to benefit from a wide range of training and development opportunities, with webinars playing an increased role. Job satisfaction is up, with 71.5% of respondents reporting that they are satisfied or very satisfied in their current role.
The prospects for both economic growth and the labour market continue to improve. Although major global economic risks, such as the weakness of the eurozone economies remain, most economists consider that the fundamental characteristics of the UK economy are relatively sound. Meanwhile, the number of people in work continues to increase, with the employment rate of 73.2% at its highest level since records began in 1971.
Despite this, earnings continue to grow only at a snail’s pace, with pay including bonuses up by 2.1% during October to December 2014 compared with a year earlier, far below the pre-downturn norm of 4% to 4.5%. Earnings growth may now have officially edged above consumer prices index inflation, which was just 0.3% in January 2015, but there is a lot of catching up to do in view of the massive dent in real earnings caused by the downturn. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that weekly wages for the average employee fell by 10.3% between 2008 and 2014 in real terms.
The 2015 IEMA survey is based on responses from 1,238 members. These environment and sustainability managers, officers, consultants and researchers provided pay and working conditions data based on their earnings and working experience during the 2014 calendar year (for more details of the survey sample, see p.24).
The top findings

• The median – or midpoint in the range – annual salary for IEMA members is £38,000, with the mean or average figure higher at £41,939.
• Members working in business or industry earn more (£41,000 a year) than their public sector counterparts (£34,000), whose pay continues to suffer from the effects of public spending cuts.
• Almost three-quarters (73.5%) of respondents saw their total annual income increase in 2014, compared with 58.9% in 2013.
• Although the going rate for Graduate members starting out in the profession is around £24,000 a year, those who have reached top leadership positions as IEMA Fellows can command a median salary of £82,500.
• The vast majority of survey respondents have higher academic qualifications, with 46.6% possessing a Master’s degree; just 3% report  no formal qualifications.
• IEMA members can achieve significant pay increases by progressing into a higher role, with the median salary differential between project/middle manager and senior manager roles in excess of £11,000.
• There has been a significant narrowing of the gap between the earnings of men and women over the past year, with female professionals earning a median annual salary that is 12.5% lower than men’s in the 2015 poll, compared with 15.1% last year.
• When the annual salaries of women and men aged 25 to 29 are compared, women in this age group earn 6.9% more than men of the same age.
• The vast majority (92%) of respondents undertook some form of professional development in 2014.
• Almost half (49%) of survey respondents participated in an IEMA webinar during 2014.
• Job satisfaction has improved, with 71.5% of environment practitioners now satisfied or very satisfied with their job role, up from 65.1% in 2014.

Source IEMA

Sea Shepherds Operation Jairo: Protecting Endangered Sea Turtles in Florida, Honduras and Costa Rica

CRS is a supporter of the environment, the oceans and marine wildlife. It has been 100% carbon-free since 2005 and plants trees in the National Forest on its significant anniversaries. We have supported Sea Shepherd Conservation Society since 2007, and we’re pleased to share occasional briefings on their campaigns.
Today, Sea Shepherd announces sea turtle defence campaign Operation Jairo, to take place this summer in three regions critical to nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings – south-eastern Florida, Honduras and Costa Rica.
Among the sites to be patrolled by Sea Shepherd volunteers this season is Moin Beach in Costa Rica’s Limón province, the site of the tragic murder of young turtle conservationist Jairo Mora Sandoval, for whom Sea Shepherd has named both a vessel and this upcoming campaign in honour of his work to protect the turtles he cherished so deeply.
Six of seven species of sea turtles are on the brink of extinction. The odds are against these endangered marine animals from the start, with an average of only one in 1,000 hatchlings surviving to adulthood. Sea Shepherd’s Operation Jairo campaign will span the peak nesting months for sea turtles in all three locations, in an effort to save as many hatchlings as possible – giving the next generations of these endangered species a fighting chance at survival.

In Florida, Sea Shepherd will work with Sea Turtle Oversight Protection (S.T.O.P.) to guide hatchlings safely to the ocean from their nests on the beaches of Fort Lauderdale, and to ensure that municipalities adhere to and enforce commercial lighting ordinances put in place to protect turtle hatchlings who can become disoriented by light along the beaches, heading away from the sea and toward dangerous roadways.
Following turtle defence campaigns in Honduras and Costa Rica in 2014, Sea Shepherd will return to once again conduct nightly beach patrols to protect endangered hawksbill, green and leatherback sea turtles at risk from poachers in search of nesting turtles to be killed for meat and their eggs to be sold. During Sea Shepherd’s Operation Pacuare in Costa Rica in 2014, nearly 3,000 sea turtles were saved.

Sea Shepherds offers our readers to join Operation Jairo: It is accepting applications for dedicated and passionate volunteers in all three campaign locations who are at least 18 years of age and who are able to commit to participating in the campaign for a period of two-weeks or longer. Sea Shepherd is also seeking volunteers with training and/or a professional background in videography and photography to assist with campaign media production, and those who are fluent in Spanish. Anyone interested in joining Operation Jairo, should please visit: www.SeaShepherd.org/get-involved/ground-crew

Eight notices and £55K in fines and costs for Welsh waste site

A waste and recycling site in Carmarthen was in such a dangerous condition that visiting health and safety inspectors had to issue eight notices to immediately halt a range of work activities, a court has heard. The site run by Mekatek Ltd at Amex Park, Johnstown was subject to a routine inspection by Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors on 20 May 2013 when a number of serious safety issues were discovered, including access to unguarded dangerous machinery, exposure to risk of electrocution and areas contaminated by asbestos containing materials.
Mekatek Ltd was prosecuted by HSE at a hearing before Swansea Crown Court on 27 February 2015.
The court was told the site had a catalogue of dangerous points. Among these was a “man basket” on a forklift truck to allow workers to carry out work at height. This basket was not secured to the forks of the truck and there was no cage behind the basket to stop workers becoming trapped with the fork lift truck mast.
There were no suitable guards to prevent workers getting caught in the moving machine parts of a granulator, two compactors, a shredder and a paint mixing drum, and electrical cables were found trailing through liquid, leading to a risk of electrocution.
In addition, exposed and damaged pipe lagging, which included asbestos containing materials, was in a poor state and exposed workers at the site to the risk of contamination. This was allowed to continue by Mekatek despite an earlier report by a specialist that had identified the presence of asbestos in the area and recommended its urgent removal.
Mekatek Ltd of Terminus Road, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety regulations, a single breach of control of asbestos regulations and a breach of work equipment regulations and was fined a total of £35,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs.
HSE Inspector Clare Owen, speaking after the hearing, said: “The conditions at this site were extremely poor and the dangers were quite clear. It’s very fortunate no-one was killed or seriously injured there. Mekatek failed to manage basic health and safety at the site and these multiple failings confirm its approach was totally inadequate. The issues identified, such as cables trailing through liquid and management of asbestos should have been immediately obvious. The management also relied on health and safety managers it employed for advice but failed to check if they were competent and had appropriate qualifications, particularly for the management of asbestos. Twenty tradespeople, on average, die from asbestos related diseases in Britain every week and it’s the biggest single cause of work related deaths in the country. The lives of the 34 workers at the site and any visitors depended on the company meeting its legal health and safety obligations fully.”
CRS offers our SafetyShare service for companies like this one.  With around 30 employees, it is sometimes hard to justify a full-time health and safety adviser.  SafetyShare offers part of a competent health and safety adviser’s time – as little or as much as is needed, and offered flexibly to suit the needs of the organisation and its site(s). Read more at http://www.crsrisk.com/info/safetyshare or for a completely free review of ‘where you are’, use our free SafetyCheck ‘app’ available from our website www.crsrisk.com or Apple and Google app stores.

Firms prosecuted after Manchester worker loses left leg

A Tameside factory worker had to have part of his left leg amputated after he was struck by an 850kg metal frame being delivered to a plant in Glossop, a court has heard. Two firms have been ordered to pay nearly £50,000 in fines and costs following an investigation into the incident on 5 January 2012 by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Derby Crown Court heard Vincent Sutton, 49, from Mossley, had been delivering the five-metre long rectangular frame to Delpro Ltd on the Brookfield Industrial Estate after it had been manufactured by his employer, Russell Fabrications (UK) Ltd.

The frame, known as a skid, had been loaded onto a pickup truck at an angle using an overhead crane and chains, with the top end resting on a supporting bar above the driver’s cab. When the frame arrived at the Delpro plant, workers lifted it off the truck using the same chains, this time attached to a forklift truck. The chains consisted of two separate sets, one of which was significantly shorter than the other to allow for the angle of the lift. As they lifted the frame, the shorter chains – attached to the higher side – forced their way out from the hook on the forklift truck. The frame fell around two metres to the ground and landed on Mr Sutton’s left foot. The damage was so severe that his leg eventually had to be amputated to above the knee for medical reasons.
The court was told neither of the companies had planned how they were going to safely lift the metal frame onto and off the pickup truck, and that both the truck and the lifting equipment were entirely unsuitable for the job. Russell Fabrications (UK) Ltd also failed to make adequate arrangements for the metal frame to be transported safely.
Delpro Ltd, which designs and assembles equipment for packaging and printing industries, pleaded guilty to a single breach of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 by failing to ensure the work was properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in safely.
The company, of Peakdale Road in Glossop, was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £8,735 towards the cost of the prosecution on 27 February 2015.
Russell Fabrications (UK) Ltd, of Wood Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, was fined £11,917 with costs of £13,734 after being found guilty of a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 following a trial.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Scott Wynne said: “The failings of both companies contributed to this incident, which could so easily have been avoided had more thought gone into the planning of the loading, unloading and transport of the metal frame. The methods adopted for both the loading at Russell Fabrications (UK) Ltd and the unloading at Delpro Ltd were inherently unsafe and the vehicle used to transport the frame was unsuitable as the loading area was too small to safely accommodate it. Unfortunately the failings of the two companies have led to a worker suffering life changing and permanently disabling injuries.”
CRS says that basic health and safety training, such as the NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety, is preventive of incidents such as this one.  An informed workforce and informed managers do not allow unplanned lifts such as this one.  We run courses on a regular basis in the Manchester area, and we encourage firms to attend.

Lancashire toy firm fined £200K over warehouse roof death

A Lancashire-based toy distributor and a builder have been sentenced after a worker plunged to his death through a warehouse roof. Craig Gray, 39, from Fleetwood, had been helping to clear debris from the roof when he fell nine metres through a fragile plastic panel at Halsall Toys Europe Ltd on 19 July 2012.
The company and builder David Plant were both prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 20 March 2015, after an investigation found no safety measures had been put in place to make sure the work could be carried out safely. Preston Crown Court heard debris had been washing down the roof and into the gutters, causing them to overflow into the warehouse below. Halsall Toys had arranged with Mr Plant, an unemployed builder, for the roof cleaning work to be done, but did not carry out any checks to make sure he was competent.
Mr Plant and Craig Gray climbed onto the roof, which covers 36,000 square feet, without any preparation work or planning having taken place in advance. They failed to use harnesses or any other equipment to keep them safe. The men were four days into the project when Mr Gray stood on one of the clear panels, designed to let in light, which gave way sending him nine metres to the concrete floor below. He died at the scene.
Halsall Toys Europe Ltd pleaded guilty to a single breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure the safety of Mr Gray. The company, of Copse Road in Fleetwood, was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £10,483 towards the cost of the prosecution.
David Plant, 60, of Shetland Road in Blackpool, was given a 6 month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after being found guilty of a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 by failing to make sure the work was carried out safely.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Allen Shute said: “Craig Gray should never have been allowed onto the warehouse roof without being given suitable training and equipment, but both Halsall Toys and David Plant allowed his life to be put in danger. Halsall Toys hired Mr Plant to carry out the work despite him not having any previous experience of working on industrial roofs. The firm should have carried out checks to make sure the work would be carried out safely. Mr Plant also had a legal duty to make sure the right equipment was used for the job, whether it was using harnesses or simply placing covers over the fragile roof panels to remove the risk of them collapsing.”
CRS Managing Director, Stephen Asbury said “Sadly incidents of workers falling through warehouse roofs are all too common, and it’s vital firms do more to make sure this kind of work is carried out safely and by competent people.”

South Yorkshire firm labelled a 'serial safety offender'

A Rotherham-based metals business has been sentenced after it repeatedly risked workers’ lives by making them use dangerous machines – notching up a shocking 31 enforcement notices for safety breaches in just three months.
Sheffield Crown Court was told on 19 March 2015 that Meadowbank Vac Alloys was a serial safety offender. It allowed employees to operate vehicles and plant with category ‘A’ defects, the highest possible level meaning ’immediately dangerous’, and continued to keep the machines in use even after being specifically prohibited from doing so by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Twenty enforcement notices were served by HSE at the end of May 2012 after a visit by inspectors to the firm’s site in Harrison Street. The visit was prompted by a complaint voicing concern about the condition of the firm’s vehicles. These notices covered a multitude of safety and health risks ranging from improvements needed to a variety of plant and lifting machines to the provision of basic welfare facilities for staff. The court heard that there were a further four visits by HSE between then and early August when additional enforcement notices were issued. These included seven which banned use of three forklift trucks, three mechanical grabs and a loading shovel that had no brakes. All had category A defects, identified by an independent engineer.
Although numerous extensions of time were granted by HSE to Meadowbank Vac Alloys to comply with the enforcement notices, the company continually failed to take adequate action and workers had to operate the defective machines. HSE identified that on two occasions in July and August, prohibited machines were still being used. None of the defects had been rectified and again the company director was informed specifically what was needed for the notices to be complied with. During the last inspection, in October 2012, HSE found the dangerous loading shovel still in use and with some 80 hours’ working time clocked up when it should have been idle.
In total, 31 notices were served between 29 May and Aug 2012 identifying 57 safety breaches.
Meadowbank Vac Alloys, of Harrison Road, Rotherham, was fined a total of £36,000 and ordered to pay £36,000 toward prosecution costs after pleading guilty to a single breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; and multiple breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 974, three relating to Prohibition Notices and two for offences of non-compliance with Improvement Notices.
After the hearing, investigating HSE inspector Denise Fotheringham said: “Meadowbank Vac Alloys displayed a reckless disregard for the safety of its employees and a persistent contempt for the legal notices issued requiring the firm to bring equipment to an acceptable standard. HSE exercised protracted patience with the company and was in regular contact with the director to ensure what was needed to comply was clear, unambiguous and fully understood. Despite being given ample opportunity, Meadowbank chose to ignore their responsibilities; put workers in danger on a daily basis; defy the law and turn a deaf ear to information, advice and guidance conveyed by inspectors and an independent engineer.”
CRS believes that HSE regulators should also enforce the current law requiring organisations to have access to competent health and safety advice, and that ignoring such advice should also be regarded as a material breach of health and safety requirements, and prosecuted and where necessary sentenced accordingly. Our consultants are recognised by OSHCR, the HSE register of competent health and safety consultants.

For more information on the requirements for companies, see http://www.hse.gov.uk/business/competent-advice.htm

Kent boys' school fined £10K plus costs over pupil's head injuries

The governors of a boys’ school in Tonbridge have been prosecuted after a 14-year-old pupil was severely injured when he was hit by a shot put thrown by another boy. The incident happened during a routine multi-sport PE lesson at The Judd School in Tonbridge on 20 June 2014. The pupil had left a triple jump area and was standing on the edge of the shot put landing zone to check a friend’s throw when he was struck on the back of his head by a shot. The pupil suffered life-threatening injuries and needed emergency brain surgery on a fractured skull. He has now returned to school but his injury has resulted in a permanent indentation at the base of his skull.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated and identified the school had not adopted measures in its own risk assessment, and PE guidance on multi-event lessons had not been followed.
Sevenoaks Magistrates were told on 24 March 2015 that there were 24 boys in the lesson, divided into six groups and taking part in hurdles, long jump, triple jump, javelin, discus and shot put. It was a lesson format used regularly at The Judd School and the pupils had participated in similar lessons in previous years. The six sports were spread across the field but the end of the landing zone for the shot put was only about three metres from the end of the triple jump sand pit, where the 14-year-old was competing. When the whistle blew to mark the end of the session, he left the triple jump and went to the shot put to see how far his friend had thrown. At the same time, another pupil was completing his throw, turning as he did so he was facing away from the zone. The shot hit the pupil on the back of the head, causing a severely fractured skull and internal swelling. He was in hospital for nearly a month but was able to return to school the following term.
The court heard the teenager is no longer able to take part in some contact sports and may suffer longer-term issues.
HSE found the school had carried out a risk assessment for PE lessons. However, although it had referenced the guidance by the Association for Physical Education (APE), it did not follow their recommendation that such lessons be restricted to a maximum of four sports with only one to be a throwing event. The school’s inclusion of six sports with three throwing events, had significantly increased the risks to pupils, as had the proximity of the triple jump pit to the shot put landing zone.
The Governing Body of The Judd School, Tonbridge, Kent, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £1,375 in costs after admitting a breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Magistrates agreed with HSE that the safety breach had been ‘substantial’.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Kevin Golding said: “By not adopting the measures identified in their own risk assessment, The Judd School put pupils at serious risk leading to a 14-year-old boy being struck by a shot put and suffering life-threatening injuries. It was a horrifying incident for him and his family and, of course, the rest of the pupils and the school itself. While he is thankfully back at school, he will have to live with the consequences of the incident for the rest of his life. It is vitally important that schools review their risk assessments for all PE lessons, but in particular for multi-sports lessons, to check that they are safe.”
CRS assists schools with health and safety risks assessments, and could have helped ensure that APE guidance was noted and incorporated into the planning of lessons.  Contact CRS at 01283 509175 for more information, or to obtain a free copy of the APE guidance.

Farmer fined over £20K after cows cause walker's life-threatening injuries

A farmer has been prosecuted after a walker sustained life-threatening injuries when she was trampled by cows while walking on a public footpath. Emma Smith, 40, from St Martin, near Helston was walking on the path at Well Field, Nance Farm, in the village on 18 June 2013 when she was trampled by the cows. She managed to get to a nearby property from where she was rushed to hospital.
Farmer Jonathan Bryant appeared before Truro Magistrates Court on 24 March 2015 following an investigation into the incident by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The court heard Ms Smith suffered punctured lungs, broken ribs and spinal and facial fractures. She was also left with deep cuts, wrist fractures and extensive bruising to her face and body. She spent five weeks in critical care and nine weeks in hospital. The HSE investigation found that the path was well used by local people but Mr Bryant had not assessed the risk to members of the public from putting cows with calves in the field.
 Mr Bryant, of Swome Farm, St Martin, pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £8,885 in costs.
 HSE Inspector Georgina Speake, speaking after the hearing, said: “Emma has been left with permanent injuries and was very fortunate not to have been killed in this totally avoidable incident. Cows with calves are naturally protective and can see people as a threat. Farmers must be aware of the risks to people who are entitled to use a public footpath. Farmers and landowners should consider how this risk can be reduced such as using fencing, signs, temporary bypasses or moving cows with calves away from fields with public rights of way.”
CRS says that farmers need competent health and safety advice too.  Even though they are often family businesses, they often have full or part-time employees too and this makes them employers subject to the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act.  And as can be seen in this case, the public can also be impacted by their acts and omissions. We urge farmers to contact CRS for a discussion about health and safety, and how we can help you to protect your family, employees and the public – 01283 509175 or advice@crsrisk.com.

Bedfordshire care home owner fined £335K following death of resident

A healthcare firm and its director have been ordered to pay more than £335,000 in fines and costs after a 100 year-old resident died from injuries she sustained in a fall from a hoist at a former Bedfordshire care home. May Ward, who previously lived in Harlington, Bedfordshire, was being moved by carers at Meppershall Care Home, on Shefford Road, Meppershall, when the incident occurred on 28 August 2010.
The owners of the nursing home, GA Projects Limited, and its director, Mohammed Zarook, were both sentenced on 27 March 2015 after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) established that her death could have been prevented had a better system for handling and moving residents, supported by appropriate staff training, been in place.
Luton Crown Court heard that Mrs Ward fell on 27 August 2010 as she was being moved by two carers between a chair and a bed using a hoist. She suffered multiple fractures when she hit the floor, including her skull, hip and knee, and died at Lister hospital in Stevenage the following day as a result of her injuries.
HSE established that her two carers had been employed by GA Projects for less than a year at the time of the incident. The sling used to move Mrs Ward was very complicated to fit correctly and the carers were given no training in how to use the sling safely. The sling was also not the one recommended by Central Bedfordshire Council as being suitable for Mrs Ward’s medical conditions.  Mrs Ward was therefore not securely positioned within the sling and when she moved herself forwards, she fell out, hitting the floor.
The court was told that there was a history of serious safety breaches at Meppershall Care Home. HSE had served five Improvement Notices between October and December 2010 relating to deficiencies in resident handling, risk assessment, other risks to residents and a lack of competent health and safety advice.
Inspectors uncovered evidence that this was not the first of this type of incident at the home, with another resident fracturing a tibia and fibula after falling whilst being moved from her wheelchair to her armchair in September 2009. This incident had not been reported to HSE and was only discovered when HSE inspectors visited the home after Mrs Ward’s fatal fall.
At the time of May Ward’s death, GA Projects Limited owned three care homes including the one at Meppershall.  Despite having no knowledge or experience of running care homes, Mr Zarook proceeded to take vulnerable residents into his three care homes. However, there was no evidence that he had taken steps to fulfil his health and safety obligations through the provision of training, and the management of the risks most commonly associated with the care industry, including resident handling.
In addition, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had carried out inspections at the home on several occasions prior to Mrs Ward’s death that resulted in ‘poor’ or ‘adequate’ ratings. Meppershall Care Home was closed in July 2013 following concerns raised by CQC during a further inspection.
GA Projects Ltd, of Crompton Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £36,992.24.
Mohammed Zarook, of Sauncey Wood, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of £100,000.
Speaking after the hearing HSE Inspector Emma Page, said: “Mrs Ward’s death was a wholly preventable tragedy caused by unacceptable management failings on the part of GA Projects Ltd and Mr Zarook. They put vulnerable residents at the care home at unnecessary risk. Working in a care home is a specialised job, which involves dealing with vulnerable people. Care homes must ensure that they have the correct training in place for all their employees, and that they work to adequately assess and mitigate all possible risks, so far as is reasonably practicable. Moving and handling is a particularly important issue in the healthcare sector and every year vulnerable people suffer injuries caused by poor moving and handling practice.”
For guidance and information on moving and handling in health and social care, and managing health and safety more generally, contact Henderson Risk Management at advice@crsrisk.com. We’re specialist advisers on health and safety to the care home sector, with current clients across the UK.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015  (CDM 2015) came into force in Great Britain on 6 April 2015.
Whatever your role in construction, CDM aims to improve health and safety in the industry by helping you to:

• sensibly plan the work so the risks involved are managed from start to finish
• have the right people for the right job at the right time
• cooperate and coordinate your work with others
• have the right information about the risks and how they are being managed
• communicate this information effectively to those who need to know
• consult and engage with workers about the risks and how they are being managed

CDM 2015 is subject to certain transitional arrangements, for construction projects that began before 6 April 2015 and continue beyond that date.
HSE has published Legal Series guidance that supports CDM 2015 and explains it in more detail.
NEBOSH Combined Construction/General Certificate course

Road construction firms sentenced after road worker loses arm

Three construction firms have been ordered to pay over £400,000 in fines and costs for serious safety failings, after a worker lost his arm when it became trapped in poorly-guarded machinery during a road surfacing operation in Hertfordshire.
The 53-year old road worker was preparing a chip spreader – a machine used to scatter stone chips on asphalt – for resurfacing works on the A1001 in Hatfield when his left arm became caught in the machine’s rotating auger, causing serious injuries.
The highly-experienced worker, from Rushden, Northamptonshire who does not wish to be named, had to have his arm amputated shortly after the incident and has been unable to return to work since.
The incident, on 8 March 2012, was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which prosecuted Amey LG Ltd, Lafarge Aggregates Ltd (acting as Amey Lafarge, a joint venture in charge of the operation) and Ashmac Construction Ltd, who provided workers to the joint venture, for multiple safety breaches at Watford Magistrates’ Court.
The court was told (25 March), in order to prepare the chip spreader for use, the worker placed on the site by Ashmac Construction Ltd started the machine and the rotation of its internal auger. During the operation of setting the machine up for use his arm became entangled in dangerous moving parts.
HSE’s investigation revealed a series of safety failings on the part of all three companies.
HSE found the worker, who was not formally trained in the use of the spreader, and his colleagues were only given one evening to familiarise themselves with the machine by Amey Lafarge when they started work on site six months before the incident.
Amey Lafarge did not give the workers any instruction or training in how to operate the machine safely, including how to secure guards, nor were they given a copy of the operator’s manual for the machine. In addition, there was no safe system of work in place to ensure that the machine was set up and operated properly and that its use was restricted to those who were trained.
The Amey Lafarge did have a risk assessment and a site-specific method statement but these did not reflect the reality of the controls in place for the use of the chip spreader. Indeed, the risk assessment described a different type of chip spreader than the one used on site.
Ashmac Construction Ltd did not take reasonably practicable steps to ensure workers that it placed on site had received appropriate information, instruction and training in the safe use of the chipper they were operating.
Amey LG Ltd, of the Sherard Building, Edmund Halley Road, Oxford, was fined £150,015 and ordered to pay costs of £18,000 after pleading guilty to one breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Lafarge Aggregates Ltd, of Portland House, Bickenhill Lane, Solihull, Birmingham, was fined £175,015 and ordered to pay costs of £18,000 after pleading guilty to one breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Ashmac Construction Ltd of Pavillion Court, Pavilion Drive, Northampton, was fined £30,015 and ordered to pay costs of £18,000 after pleading guilty to a breach of section 3(1) the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Following the case, HSE Inspector Gavin Bull, said:
“This tragic incident has left a worker with life-changing injuries. It was wholly avoidable. The risks associated with plant operating are well-known in the industry.”
“This incident highlights the need for workers to receive the information, instruction and training they need to operate plant safely and for companies to put in place measures to ensure the plant is operated safely on site.” NEBOSH Combined National General/Construction Course