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.

A building supplies e-commerce start-up is taking on industry heavyweights B&Q, Travis Perkins, Selco, Jewson and Wickes to offer savings of 20-35%. Go Banana is said to be the UK’s first comparison website for building and DIY supplies. With 50,000 searchable products Go Banana provides an online platform for builders, tradespeople and DIY enthusiasts looking to purchase supplies quickly and …

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 …

With a growing demand for building services and a lack of fresh talent coming in, the construction industry has a momentous few years ahead.

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 …

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 …

There’s been lots happening on the Skill Builder YouTube channel in 2016; here’s a few highlights. Power tools In January 2016 we published the first part of the new 18v drill test which was first published in 2014. This time we split it into three parts looking at: Part 1 – batteries; Part 2 – flat bits; Part 3 – …

Two Essex-based companies have been fined after exposing workers to potentially deadly asbestos over a period of years, despite knowing of its presence, in units that they occupied in Manor Road Trading Estate, Benfleet. Basildon Magistrates heard that asbestos had been found in poor condition when Connect Packaging Ltd moved into the Benfleet premises in 2007, but that it failed …

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 …

A specialist roofing company and its two directors have been sentenced after admitting working unsafely at height on a hotel development in central Manchester during a major refurbishment and extension works. On the 17 March 2015, a member of public witnessed and photographed unsafe work at a construction site and contacted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Manchester Magistrates Court …

A pre-Christmas zero-tolerance nationwide crackdown on fly-tippers is underway  – as councils up and down the country use new powers to seize and crush vehicles used by the dumpers. Councils are also calling for a legal loophole – which means enforcement officers have to give some fly-tippers seven days written warning before inspecting them and seizing evidence – to be …

Two London based construction companies were prosecuted after a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspection identified serious safety breaches on a double basement construction project. Westminster Magistrates Court heard that emergency services had been called to a property at Bathurst Mews, London, where excavation work to form a double basement was being carried out.  They rescued a labourer with a …

Roger Bisby goes Dutch with some Fluxaf Green. Ever since the completely justified EU ban on using methylene chloride in paint stripper, the trade has struggled to find viable alternatives. Modern strippers just don’t have the instant, crackle and pop of the old stuff. All too often they require re-applying several times in order to penetrate the built up coatings. …

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today informed BAM Nuttall Limited, Ferrovial Agroman (UK) Ltd, and Keir Infrastructure and Overseas Ltd that they will be prosecuted in relation to three incidents that took place during the construction of the new Crossrail railway tunnel construction, which runs east to west across London. All three companies will appear at Westminster’s Magistrates …