October 13th, 2009
Sugar company Tate and Lyle has been fined for breaching health and safety regulations after an incident in which an employee was killed.
Keith Webb, 53, was sub-contracted to work at the firm’s sugar refinery in Newham in March 2004 and had been unloading raw sugar from a ship using a bulldozer.
However, part of the crane holding the machine in place suddenly snapped, causing the bulldozer to plunge onto the ship and then into the sea.
Mr Webb was killed instantly and Tate and Lyle was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Its investigation found that the company had failed to properly manage staff and to provide safe access to the ships.
Tate and Lyle has now been fined £270,000 plus £90,000 costs for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
HSE inspector John Crookes said: "In failing to identify and address these inadequacies before they led to the death of a worker, Tate and Lyle’s performance fell well below what could be reasonably expected of them."
Employers must act to remove where possible hazards that could cause accidents or death. If this is not carried out to a satisfactory standard, victims or their families may be eligible to claim compensation.
Tags: Breaches, Bulldozer, Health And Safety, Health And Safety At Work, Health And Safety At Work Act, Health And Safety At Work Act 1974, Health And Safety Executive, Inadequacies, John Crookes, Keith Webb, Mr Webb, Newham, Raw Sugar, Safety At Work, Safety Regulations, Sugar Company, Sugar Refinery, Tate And Lyle, Workplace Accident
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October 1st, 2009
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a warning after a worker suffered serious injuries in a fall from a roof.
Lucasz Czuba, 26, was an employee of Webber Trading and had been asked to carry out work on the roof of Shoe City in Gateshead in 2007 when the accident occurred.
He stepped out onto a plastic rooflight that was not supported and it gave way. Mr Czuba fell seven metres to the floor of the building, suffering terrible injuries.
Webber Trading was prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was given a fine of £6,000.
HSE inspector Martin Smith commented: "The director and the company failed to recognise the risks posed in working on the fragile rooflights. This serious incident could have been avoided."
According to statistics published by the HSE, 23 per cent of major fall injuries occur at heights of over two metres.
Tags: Czuba, Fall Injuries, Health And Safety, Health And Safety At Work, Health And Safety At Work Act, Health And Safety At Work Act 1974, Health And Safety Executive, Hse Issues, Martin Smith, Rooflight, Rooflights, Safety At Work, Shoe City, Statistics, Webber, Workplace Accident, Workplace Health
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February 27th, 2009
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a warning to care providers that they must ensure the safety of their patients.
Its warning comes after a man staying at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield tried to open a window in May 2004.
Although the window was not supposed to open more than ten centimetres, it had not been properly maintained and swung open fully.
The 18-year-old fell 12 metres to the floor below, suffering a serious internal injury and several fractures.
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was fined for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
HSE inspector Kirsty Welsh said hospitals need to ensure that vulnerable people are not put at risk.
"The risk of falls from windows is well-known in the care sector. Hospitals have a responsibility to ensure they have preventative measures put in place," she added.
Anyone who is injured within a hospital or care home may be able to claim personal injury compensation and should seek the advice of a solicitor within three years of the incident.
Tags: 18 Year Old, Breaches, Care Sector, Foundation Trust, Fractures, Health And Safety, Health And Safety At Work, Health And Safety At Work Act, Health And Safety At Work Act 1974, Health And Safety Executive, Kirsty, Northern General Hospital, Personal Injury Compensation, Preventative Measures, Risk, Safety At Work, Sheffield, Solicitor, Teaching Hospitals, Welsh
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November 14th, 2008
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a warning to all operators of cable cars and similar vehicles after five members of the public suffered serious injuries.
A cable car on the Nevis Range Gondola – situated near Fort William and the only one of its kind in Britain – came off the suspension rope and fell 30 feet to the ground after colliding with another car in July 2006.
Five people were injured quite seriously in the incident.
Nevis Range Development Co and one of its employees was fined for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
HSE inspector Douglas Conner said: "This was a serious incident which could easily have had fatal consequences. It is vital that aerial uplift operators have robust operating systems in place and that these are regularly reviewed."
Anyone injured in such an incident may be able to claim compensation if it can be proven that it was the fault of the operators.
Tags: Cable Car, Cable Cars, Development Co, Fatal Consequences, Health And Safety, Health And Safety At Work, Health And Safety At Work Act, Health And Safety At Work Act 1974, Health And Safety Executive, Hse, Members, Nevis Range, Operating Systems, People, Public Health, Rope, Safety At Work, Uplift
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November 11th, 2008
Two companies have been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after an employee was killed in an accident.
The unnamed worker had been walking along a steel structure with platforms and walkways at various heights where boilers were being installed in July 2005.
However, floor gratings that were moved during the installations had not been replaced and the man fell 23 metres to his death.
Lentjes UK, the principal contractor and Rafako S.A., the sub-contractor, were prosecuted for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Work at Height Regulations 2005 respectively.
HSE inspector Peter Collingwood said that had the gratings been replaced or had the fitters not been permitted to remove them, the worker’s death would not have occurred.
"Another life has been lost because of the inability to plan and implement simple and basic precautions and employers need to understand that this is simply not acceptable," he remarked.
Under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, every employer should make sure that work is not carried out at height when it can be successfully carried out at ground level.
Where work at height is carried out, employers are legally obliged to take adequate steps to prevent falls.
Tags: Adequate Steps, Boilers, Breaches, Floor Gratings, Health And Safety, Health And Safety At Work, Health And Safety At Work Act, Health And Safety At Work Act 1974, Health And Safety Executive, Lost, Peter Collingwood, Platforms, Principal Contractor, Prosecution, Rafako, Safety At Work, Steel Structure, Walkways
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