Health & Safety

Construction company, Balfour Beatty, has been fined after flooring at a house-building development gave way, injuring a worker. Newcastle Crown Court heard how a worker was on the first floor of a new build domestic property when the floor gave way at one side. The worker and approximately 70 building blocks slid 2.4 metres, vertically, to the ground. He suffered …

An Oldham based building firm has been fined for exposing its workers to dangerous work at height. An Inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued an immediate Prohibition Notice ordering Select Quality Homes Ltd to stop work at a site at Newmarket Road, Ashton under Lyne until workers had protection against falling from height. Manchester City Magistrates Court …

Leyland SDM (LSDM) Limited has been fined after four workers fell more than three and a half metres whilst carrying a ventilation unit. Westminster Magistrates Court heard how LSDM had been in the process of redeveloping a warehouse in Wembley. However, when four workers tried to move a ventilation unit into position, the working platform became overloaded and gave way. …

A self-employed businessman has been prosecuted after his employee fell from the flat roof of a building and died from his injuries. Manchester Crown Court heard how, on 22 December 2013, father of two, Jason Fogarty, a casual employee of Roy Hardaker (trading as 9 to 5 Roofing), was working on a flat roof replacement project. He was working alongside. …

A Canvey Island engineering firm has been sentenced for health and safety breaches after a worker suffered life-changing injuries. Southend-on-Sea Magistrates’ Court heard that on 10 June 2015 Felix Trefas, 27, a welder for F. Brazil Reinforcements Ltd, was making large steel reinforcing cages which were moved by overhead travelling cranes. When one of these cranes broke down, a colleague …

A Manchester building contractor has been jailed following the death of a casual labourer who fell nearly seven metres through a fragile roof. The 45-year-old labourer from Manchester had been carrying out repair work at Witney Mill, Manchester when the incident occurred on 23 November 2013. Saleem Hussain had been engaged by the warehouse owner, who believed him to be …

The director of a construction company has been imprisoned for eight months after failing to take appropriate action which resulted in a young worker receiving serious burns. Cardiff Crown Court heard the young worker was instructed to stand on top of a skip and pour a drum of flammable thinners onto the burning waste to help it to burn. The …

The two owners of Kidderminster based fencing firm Hoo Farm Fencing have been given suspended sentences after a worker was hit by timber posts and frames which fell from a fork lift truck. Forty-nine year old Raymond Lainsbury suffered injuries that still require regular physiotherapy sessions following the incident on 12 February 2016. Worcester Magistrates’ Court heard how Hoo Farm …

A Cleckheaton engineering firm has been sentenced for safety breaches after a worker suffered life changing injuries. H E Realisations Ltd (now in liquidation, formerly Hogg Engineering Ltd) of pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Reg 8(1) of the Lifting Operation and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. Gateshead Magistrates’ Court heard …

Gas safety failings of a Preston Landlord lead to a suspended prison sentence after failing to ensure gas appliances were checked for safety.

The Health in Construction Leadership Group supported by the British Safety Council has announced the launch of Mates in Mind – a sector-wide programme intended to help improve and promote positive mental health across the industry in the UK . Every year, one in four people in the UK will experience either stress, anxiety or depression. In the most extreme …

Three companies from Essex have been fined after a worker suffered brain injuries after falling seven meters through a fragile roof he was replacing. Chelmsford Crown Court heard how Rafal Myslim was standing on the fragile roof at Dengie Crops Ltd in Asheldem, when the asbestos sheeting gave way and he fell 7.5m onto a concrete floor, hitting a number …

Throughout 2017, PASMA, the trade association for the international mobile access tower industry, will be making buyers, owners and users of low-level work platforms (LLWPs) – commonly referred to as pulpits and podium steps – aware of the recently published product standard BS 8620: 2016. Designs for LLWPs had originally been developed in the absence of a formal specification, and …

An asbestos analyst has been fined after he falsified an asbestos air clearance certificate, following licensed asbestos removal in Manchester. Greater Manchester Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Manchester and Salford Court House, heard how, on 19th November 2015, Mr Barrie Lyons, a well-trained asbestos analyst with 29 years of experience, was contracted to carry out the final inspection and air testing, …

A roofing contractor has been fined after putting the lives of two employees at risk while working at height without protection against falls. The employees of MW Roofing (NW) Ltd where removing a chimney on a two storey house, at the site on Bertha Road, Rochdale, when they were seen accessing the roof via a cat ladder. While waste material …

Roger Bisby takes a look at the Man-Up Key, a new tool that is designed to allow manholes to be safely lifted by one person without the need for chiseling or hammering. Man-Up Key, what a great name for a manhole lifter, unless of course you subscribe to the gender neutral version which is a person hole but person-up is …

A Lincoln based Construction Company, specialising in fitting mezzanine floors was prosecuted after a contractor fell onto a concrete floor. Guildford Crown Court heard that M & L Installers Ltd were contracted to install a mezzanine floor at a factory in Sunbury on Thames, Surrey. The design included a hole in the mezzanine floor where a lift was due to …

3 companies have been sentenced in Lincoln Crown Court after a worker’s leg was broken in six places when a trench collapsed on him.

A building company and its director have been fined for breaching Gas Safety law after putting a childminder and children in her care at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Plastic and Wood Specialists Ltd built a structure, that the childminder used to shelter sleeping babies and young children, around the flue outlet for the boiler. A carbon monoxide alarm sounded …