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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Work to develop a 15- acre brownfield site in Lewes, East Sussex is to begin following the completion of final legal requirements. Planning for the North Street Quarter development was approved in December 2015 by the South Downs National Park’s planning committee. Permission was granted in May 2016 and the judicial review period has just concluded. The way is now …

A construction company in Gateshead has been fined after a worker suffered injury when he fell down a service riser shaft. Newcastle upon Tyne Magistrates’ Court heard how Meldrum Construction Services Limited (MCS) was the principal contractor for refurbishment work at premises in Percy Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne. MCS failed to plan for the requirement for temporary platforms to be …

A construction company has been sentenced after a worker suffered crush injuries when he was hit and then run over by an excavator. Complete Demolition Ltd had been contracted to demolish a school on the site at Stanney Lane, Ellesmere Port to make way for a new leisure centre when the incident occurred. The firm was prosecuted by The Health …

The Access Industry Forum (AIF), the forum for nine of the leading trade associations and federations involved in work at height, has announced details of its first national, one-day conference. Supported by the Association for Project Safety (APS), Hire Association Europe (HAE) and the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM), Implementing change and innovation in work at height …

Provisional annual data for work-related fatal accidents in Great Britain’s workplaces has shown a rise in deaths among construction workers. Forty three construction workers were killed while at work in 2015/2016 – up from 35 in 2014/5. The construction industry has the highest death rate of all industries. HSE figures show 144 people were killed accross all industries in 2015/2016 …

A Somerset based Timber company has been sentenced for safety failings relating to a construction project which an HSE inspector has said should act as a warning to other construction firms. Oxford Magistrates’ Court heard how The Timber Frame Company (TFC) was contracted to work at Tracey Farm, a country retreat. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) served a Prohibition …

A gas engineer undertook gas work despite his registration with Gas Safe Register (GSR) lapsing and produced false gas safety checks.

Two companies based in Northamptonshire have been fined after a worker died following a fall through a roof. Northampton Crown Court heard how an employee of A-Lift Crane Hire Limited, who had been hired by Premier Roofing Systems Limited to provide them with a crane to lift roofing sheets onto a factory roof at Virani Foods Limited in Wellingborough. Whilst …

A man who fitted central heating boilers at two houses in Greater Manchester has received a suspended prison sentence, after he admitted he did not have the required safety registration to do the work. Christopher Dignam, trading at Blue Flame Plumbing and Heating Services, has never been on the Gas Safe Register, the body which ensures those who carry out …

A young entrepreneur from Glasgow has redesigned the traditional kneepad to launch a product aimed at tradespeople which reduces pressure on the knee by 76%. Vicky Hamilton, 25, a product design engineering graduate from the University of Strathclyde, originally developed Recoil Kneepads as part of her final year project. She was inspired to help her dad, Gordon Hamilton, 48 who …

A stonemasonry company in Perth has been fined after an apprentice stonemason was seriously injured from contact with an overhead power line. Perth Sheriff Court heard how 20 year old apprentice Rodd McFarlane was working for T& M Stonemasonry, carrying out repairs at Waulkmill Cottage in Perth. During this work, McFarlane erected a tower scaffold to carry out some re-pointing …

British Telecom plc (BT) has been fined £500,000 after an engineer fell seven metres from a loft in London, breaking his back and his ankles. The Old Bailey heard how a BT engineer, David Spurgeon, was fixing a telephone fault in the roof void of a residential block of flats in Tower Hamlets, East London. Mr Spurgeon was working alone …

A gas engineer has been sentenced to 120 hours of community service for putting tenants at risk in rented homes in Chelmsford. Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard that James Wilkinson was Gas Safe- registered for some types of gas appliances, but had been carrying out work for which he was not competent. Wilkinson was contracted to work on gas warm air …

A company based in Cardiff has been fined for safety failings during a property development which included breaching the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Pontypridd Magistrates’ Court heard Ziman Trading Limited, formerly Ziman Investments Limited (Ziman), was acting as the principal contractor at the property development of the former New York Hotel, York Street, Porth. An investigation by the …

A Bracknell based roofer has been fined for safety failings after a complaint was made to the HSE regarding unsafe roof work. No-one was injured in the incident at Sabine Gates, Old Bracknell Lane, Bracknell on 27 August 2014, however members of the public were endangered by the potential for falling objects. Reading Magistrates’ Court heard that Terry Colwell trading …

The number of unannounced construction inspections being undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive continued to drop last year according to construction union UCATT. In 2015/16 there was a total of 9,219 inspections compared to 9,656 in 2014/15, a decrease of 4%. The number of construction inspections has been declining steadily in recent years with figures revealing that in three …