Search Results for: health

Star company of BBC series prosecuted over worker injury

Construction boss jailed

A Bolton based scrapyard, The Scrappers Ltd, that featured in a recent BBC documentary series has been sentenced after an employee suffered facial injuries at work. The vehicle breakers firm and Terry Walker, a consultant for the company, appeared at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester where they denied breaches of health and safety law. Both defendants pleaded not guilty to health …

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Scaffolders get suspended sentence following worker’s death

Colin Marshall Scaffolding

Two scaffolders from St Austell, Cornwall have received suspended prison sentences after a worker fell 7m to his death. Roger Stoddern, 47 (pictured), was dismantling scaffolding on 24 June 2013, when he fell from a flat roof of a property in St Mawes. He was taken to Derriford Hospital but died three weeks later due to the severity of his …

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Surrey construction company fined £800,000 after worker run over

Construction boss jailed

A Surrey construction company has been fined after a contractor was run over on a large site in Wokingham. David Cole was a site foreman on the large housing development project, which started in April 2013 and has a completion date of April 2017. He was struck by and pulled under a large bulk powder carrier. On 7 December 2014 …

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Newquay gas fitter sentenced for unregistered gaswork

Construction boss jailed

An unregistered gas fitter has been ordered to complete 250 hours of community service for illegally installing a LPG gas boiler and hob at a Newquay home as well as producing fraudulent documentation. Dean Marshall, aged 47, of Dukes Way, Newquay, installed the gas boiler and gas hob at a property on Chynowen Lane, Newquay several years after his registration …

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Gangway access incident leads to £400,000 fine

Construction boss jailed

Valero Energy UK Limited has been fined £400, 000 following a serious accident at its Pembroke Refinery. Judge Peter Heywood sitting at Swansea Crown Court heard the Berth 6 access tower walkway that provided gangway access to a stationary tanker vessel on 5 March 2012 had dropped 3.5 metres, causing operator David Thomas to be trapped by a slack wire rope. He …

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Speedskim review – updated

Speedskim review

Since our first look at Speedskim the range is now being distributed by Ox Tools. It is fair to say that the Speedskim is not for everyone as some plasterers simply could not adapt to it but for those plasterers who have embraced it the main benefit is they can complete the laying down of finish plaster without the trowel. …

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Gas engineer fined for unsafe installation

Construction boss jailed

A Gas Safe registered engineer from Middlesex has been fined for safety failings after he carried out an unsafe installation. In a one day trial at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court it was heard how Michael Efthymiou, a self- employed gas engineer, carried out an unsafe installation of a gas combination boiler and flue at a domestic property in Crossfield Road, Clacton-on-Sea. An investigation …

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Roofing firms fined after worker fell to his death

Construction boss jailed

Two roofing companies and one of their directors have been fined after a worker fell to his death through a skylight. Cardiff Crown Court heard how 46 year old Lance Davies, a father of seven, died after falling over seven metres through a roof light at industrial premises in the Crumlin area of South Wales. An investigation by the Health …

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Skills shortage lowering quality of construction work

quality of construction work

Nearly 85% of public sector construction managers, and 58% of private sector contractors and suppliers say the current skills shortage is negatively impacting the quality of their workmanship, as well as one in ten citing it as critically impacting their ability to keep to budget. Sustainability in the Supply Chain, a new report from built environment specialist Scape Group which …

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Bulgarian firm fined for poor work at height

Construction boss jailed

A Bulgarian construction firm has been fined after a member of the public reported unsafe working practices during the construction of an adventure course in Markeaton Park, Derby. Derby Magistrates’ Court heard how a passing member of the public noticed work at height being carried out from a pallet on the forks of a telehandler at the site in Markeaton …

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Don’t make outdoor workers suffer in the heat, says TUC

workers suffer in the heat

With the temperatures set to soar to over 30c in parts of the UK this week the TUC is today calling on employers to make sure their staff working outdoors are properly protected from the sun and the heat. A new report Cool it published by the TUC today says that staff working outside in high temperatures are at risk …

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Construction site security guard dies from carbon monoxide poisoning

Construction boss jailed

Two security companies have been fined after a security guard died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Javaid Iqbal, a 29 year old father of three, was employed by London based KK Security Services Ltd as a security guard on a construction site in Leigh, Wigan. KK Security were sub contracted by Veritas Security (Southern) Ltd, a Southampton based company, despite it being written into the …

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 School fined after worker fell from height

Construction boss jailed

A school in Brentwood has pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations after a worker was injured as he fell from a roof. Chelmsford Crown Court heard how in January 2014 a maintenance team at the school was working to replace components on a bay window of a residential flat within the school grounds. A 63-year-old employee was working …

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Travis Perkins celebrates a year of fitness with British Military Fitness

British Military Fitness

Travis Perkins, the UK distributor of building materials to the trade, construction and home improvement markets, and British Military Fitness (BMF), the provider of outdoor fitness classes, are celebrating a year-long partnership. The partnership, which forms part of Travis Perkins’s commitment to employees’ health and wellbeing, has run 120 dedicated BMF lunchtime sessions with Travis Perkins and plc brand Wickes …

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Company Fined For Exposing Family to Asbestos

Construction boss jailed

A Hertfordshire-based home improvement company has been fined after the unsafe removal of asbestos material from a domestic property. St Albans Magistrates’ Court heard how Ace of Hearts Home Improvement Limited (AOH) removed asbestos containing materials (ACM) from a domestic property in St Albans. Asbestos damage The Asbestos Insulation Board (AIB) soffits surrounding the underside of the guttering around the …

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Wale Tale review

Wale Tale

Roger Bisby takes a look at the Wale Tale (sic), a device designed to minimise the spread of dust when mixing construction powders. Dust and the related health issues are a ticking time bomb in the building industry. Everyone knows about asbestos and most intelligent people do everything they can to avoid exposure to it but dust doesn’t begin and …

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Concrete manufacturer sentenced after worker’s arm severed

Construction boss jailed

A Bristol based manufacturer of concrete products has been fined after a worker’s arm was torn off when it was pulled into the rotating tail pulley of a conveyor belt. Bristol Crown Court heard the injured man was making adjustments to a misaligned conveyor belt at Concrete Fabrications Ltd plant in Henbury, Bristol on 18 May 2015. The court heard …

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Worker trapped by three tonne road roller

Construction boss jailed

An exhibitions and displays company has been fined for safety breaches after a labourer was crushed by a road roller. The incident occurred in November 2015 at Quantum Exhibitions & Displays Ltd in Hipperholme. The 26-year-old injured worker sustained several breaks to his right leg tibia and fibula bones along with burns to his right hand and an open fracture …

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Essex school fined after refurbishment disturbs asbestos

Construction boss jailed

An Essex school has been fined after poorly-planned and managed refurbishment and maintenance activities exposed school staff and others to asbestos. Chelmsford Crown Court heard that managers at The Boswells School, Chelmsford, decided to convert an old boiler room at the school into a cleaning store. During the course of this work, asbestos residue on the walls was disturbed and …

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