Worker injured from safety failings at concrete manufacturers

A company manufacturing precast concrete panels was fined after a worker was injured while loading freestanding concrete units onto a vehicle.

Nottingham Magistrates’ Court heard how on 8^th August 2014 a contractor working for Unbrako Precast Concrete Limited of Langar was loading freestanding concrete units onto his vehicle using a sideloader.

He was unscrewing a lifting shackle from the top of the concrete units when an attachment slid off the forks of the sideloader. The attachment struck him, knocking him off the vehicle. He suffered a broken collar bone, fractures to both shoulders and two broken ribs.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, found that there was an inadequate risk assessment and an inadequate safe system of work.

Unbrako Precast Concrete Limited, of Southfields Business Park, Harby Road, Langar, was fined a total of £26,000, with costs of £2,579 after pleading guilty to offences under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Lindsay Bentley said: “This incident was entirely avoidable had the risks been adequately assessed. The injured person should not have been near the moving sideloader or on the back of the trailer.”

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Firm fined after worker’s hand was caught in machinery

A Northampton luxury kitchen manufacturer, Bespoke in Oak Limited, was sentenced on 12 January 2016 after a worker had two fingers amputated following an industrial accident.  The incident occurred on 31st October 2014 when the worker caught his dominant right hand on a revolving cutting block.

Northampton Magistrates’ Court heard that the cutting block provided was not suitable for use in manual mode on a single-end toning machine. The machine was not guarded correctly and there was access to dangerous moving parts.   Also the company had failed to adequately train the worker or supervise him sufficiently to use the woodworking machine. Neither he nor his supervisor recognised that the working method was unsafe.

Limited cutter projection tooling is a requirement for hand-fed woodworking machines as it significantly reduces the severity of injury if a machine operator’s fingers contact the rotating tool.  This type of tooling has been a requirement on hand-fed machines since 2003.  Following the accident, the company was able to improve the guarding of the machine by making a guard from wood using the skills within the company.

Bespoke in Oak Limited, of East Haddon Hill, East Haddon, Northampton, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 4(1), 11(1), 9(1) and 9(2) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) and was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £1,896.

After the hearing, Inspector Neil Ward said ‘This case involved an entirely avoidable accident.  The worker’s fingers were so badly injured that surgeons had to amputate.  The worker was unable to work for three months and more than a year after the accident, he is still unable to do any heavy work.  The defendant company fell far short of a safe and reasonable standard in its duties under health and safety legislation’.

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Cardiff specialist coatings company fined for lead paint offences

A company who specialises in paint coatings has been fined for exposing its employees to health risks.

Newport Magistrates’ Court heard recently (21 December 2015) how in March 2015 Limited Specialist Paint Coatings Limited of Cardiff was refurbishing 72 metal window frames at premises on High Street, Newport. They exposed employees and others to health risks by high pressure shot blasting old lead based paint.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, found that there was an inadequate risk assessment and a lack of control measures to reduce the risk of exposuring workers and others to lead.

Special Paint Coatings Limited, of Llewelyn Goch, St Fagans, Cardiff, was fined a total of £9,000, with costs of £1,324 after pleading guilty to offences under Regulation 5, Regulation 6 and Regulation 10 of the Control of Lead at Works Regulations 2002.

CDM failures on Essex multi-storey refurbishment put over 100 lives at risk

A Shrewsbury construction firm carrying out construction work to convert an eight-storey former Ford office block into 384 flats has been prosecuted for safety failings that put over 100 lives at risk.

On 26 May 2015, HSE was contacted by the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) to inform them of concerns for men sleeping on the construction site at Trafford House, Station Way, Basildon, Essex.

HSE carried out a joint inspection with ECFRS the same day and found numerous failings on site. HSE concluded that there was a significant risk to life in the event of a fire and issued a prohibition notice preventing workers from sleeping on site.

Forty-eight workers had to be re-housed into safer sleeping accommodation. At the time of the inspection, approximately 120 men were working across the site. A second prohibition notice closed the entire site until the appropriate steps had been taken to protect all workers from the dangers posed by fire.

RGB (Plastering and Construction) Limited, of Monkmoor Road, Shrewsbury, pleaded guilty/not guilty to breaching Regulation 29(a) and (c) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. They were fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,130.

CRS says “This case highlights the importance of ensuring those who undertake construction work have the relevant skills, knowledge, training and experience to do so. There doesn’t have to be an injury or incident for HSE to take action. If you irresponsibly endanger the lives of those who are simply trying to earn a living, then HSE can and will take proactive action to protect them.”

21 HAVS cases in South Wales lead to over £60K in fines and costs for Linde

A Merthyr Tydfil based manufacturer has been fined after twenty-one employees were left permanently injured after being diagnosed with hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).

In 2011 Linde Heavy Truck Division Ltd appointed a new health and safety manager who recognised the need to put measures in place to manage HAVS, including health surveillance. These measures had not been in place before.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard how the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) investigation showed there had been no recognition of the risks from hand-arm vibration and no effective management of these risks over many years.

A total of 21 employees were diagnosed with HAVS and this was reported to HSE under RIDDOR. The employees that are affected by HAVS suffer symptoms such as tingling, pins and needles, numbness and pain in their hands. This affects sleep when it occurs at night and they have difficulties in gripping and holding things, particularly small items such as screws, doing up buttons, writing and driving. The biggest impact on the employees’ lives was that the factory closed down at the end of 2013 and they were made redundant.

The duties of employers regarding hand-arm vibration have been very clearly set out for many years, yet the company failed to implement the necessary measures until the risks had been identified by their new H&S manager.

HSE Inspector Helen Turner said: “The employees were exposed to the risk of hand arm vibration on a daily basis yet Linde Heavy Truck Division failed to recognise this. There was no health surveillance to identify employees who might already have some vibration damage even though they employed ex-miners and experienced fitters, or to pick up whether someone was suffering symptoms before they became serious. From 2000, when the factory opened, until its closure in 2013 there was never a fully compliant management system for hand arm vibration and 21 employees have suffered life changing injuries as a result.”

Linde Heavy Truck Division Ltd pleaded guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £50,000 and was ordered to pay £14,793.60 in costs.

Four employees gave accounts of their conditions and future prospects:

Employee 1:

“I suffer with depression. I have tingling in both hands and it feels like they are swollen. When I’m driving I can feel the tightness and sometimes I have to pull over. The cold can affect my hands and I find it difficult to write. When I was at Linde I was a skilled worker on good money. I have to declare my condition to future employers; I think my condition has hindered my chances of future work.”

Employee 2:

“I have constant tingling in both hands, it’s like pins and needles. When it’s really cold my hands go purple and claw like. I have not worked with any vibrating tools since I finished at Linde. I thought, naively, that my condition would get better, not worse.”

Employee 3:

“I don’t suffer during the day but I wake at night with my hands in a locked position. They are painful and tingling and I have to open and closed them until the feeling comes back. I find it difficult picking up small items such as nuts and bolts and I find it difficult to do up buttons on shirts. I really liked the type of work I used to do but now my work is not regular and I worry about the future.”

Employee 4:

“I suffer from pins and needles and numbness in both hands all the time. When I go to pick things up I really struggle and have to really concentrate as I can’t really feel anything in the tips of my fingers. I used to ride a motorbike but I had to give this up because of the pain in my hands and I felt it was not safe to drive.”

CRS says that hand-arm vibration is a widespread hazard for employees in many industries and occupations. It can arise from the use of hand held power tools such as grinders and hammer drills, hand guided machinery such as lawnmowers and plate compactors and hand fed machines such as pedestal grinders. Prolonged and regular exposure to his vibration can cause irreversible damage to the nerves, blood vessels, soft tissues and bones in the hands. However the risk can be controlled and managed so that employees are protected from ill health.