September 9th, 2008
A council has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after failing to protect its workers from exposure to asbestos.
North Tyneside council was deemed to have breached health and safety laws after a caretaker was allowed to sweep the school boiler house at Wallsend Jubilee Primary School.
It was contaminated with asbestos and although previous staff had been warned, those new to the school had not been advised of this.
The exposure was only discovered when the school was visited by a company specialising in asbestos removal.
HSE inspector Stephen Britton said: "Authorities and employers in general have a duty to ensure that any asbestos present in premises is managed properly and need to warn anybody likely to come into contact with it of the danger it poses to their health."
The council was found guilty of five breaches of the Control of Asbestos at Work regulations and was ordered to pay a £17,005 fine as well as £3,911 costs.
If a person can prove they were exposed to asbestos at their place of work, they may be able to make a claim for compensation as a result.
In the UK a personal injury compensation claim for an asbestos-related disease or asbestos-related illness has to be started within three years of the date a person is informed of their condition by an appropriately qualified doctor.
Tags: 911, Asbestos Disease, Asbestos Exposure, Asbestos Regulations, Asbestos Related Disease, Asbestos Removal, Boiler House, Breaches, Britton, Caretaker, Company Specialising, Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Hse, North Tyneside Council, Personal Injury Compensation, Personal Injury Compensation Claim, Premises, Safety Laws
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August 28th, 2008
A firm has been issued a fine of £400,000 following an accident in which two of its workers lost their lives.
Scottish Coal, which describes itself as the UK’s largest surface coal producer, was issued the fine during a hearing at Ayr sheriff court after pleading guilty to breaching health and safety laws.
The incident occurred in February last year when employees Colin Fergusson and Brian French were killed after their vehicle was crushed by a dumper truck at the company’s site in Dalmellington, East Ayrshire.
The driver of the 100 tonne capacity truck could not see their vehicle because it was in a blind spot.
"These two deaths were entirely preventable and arose from the clear failure of Scottish Coal to provide suitable means of communication between different vehicles on site in order to reduce the risk of collisions," stated Health and Safety Executive inspector Norrie Buchanan.
Tags: Ayrshire, Blind Spot, Buchanan, Coal Producer, Collisions, Dalmellington, Deaths, Dumper Truck, Failure, Fergusson, Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Means Of Communication, Norrie, Safety Laws, Scottish Coal, Sheriff Court, Surface Coal, Tonne Capacity
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August 15th, 2008
A farmer has been ordered to pay £20,000 after a worker was paralysed when health and safety laws were breached.
Geoffrey Eccles was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 costs after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted him over the incident which left a 21-year-old employee paralysed from the waist down, a broken jaw and with a leg amputated above the knee.
The worker was crushed by a round silage bale which could have weighed as much as a tonne, the Burnley Express reported.
The HSE recommends that bales be stacked no more than three high, but the worker was struck by a bale falling six metres from a six-high stack.
Last month the HSE urged farmers in Kent to keep their mobile equipment such a tractors well maintained.
There have been 22 serious injuries and four deaths in the county over the last five years caused by farm vehicles and machinery, it said.
It is now carrying out random vehicle checks in the area with the Vehicle & Operator Services Agency and Kent Police.
Tags: Bales, Breach, Broken Jaw, Burnley Express, Eccles, Farm Vehicles, Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Kent Police, Mobile Equipment, Operator Services, Random Vehicle, Safety Laws, Silage, Stack, Tonne, Tractors, Vehicle Checks, Waist Down
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June 4th, 2008
A Cheshire company has been fined £30,000 after a teenage agency worker lost his right arm in a work-related accident.
Oliver Britton, 18, was working at Airbags International when his limb was crushed and had to be subsequently amputated at the shoulder.
According to the Sentinel, he also suffered severe injuries including several compound fractures.
In April, the company admitted contravening heath and safety laws – as outlined in Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 – at South Cheshire Magistrates’ Court.
At a hearing on Friday (30th June) at Chester Crown Court, Judge David Boulton ruled that Mr Britton had been "grievously injured" in what was "an accident waiting to happen".
Iain Evans, an inspector for the Health and Safety Executive, commented: "This should serve as a timely warning to all companies that they have a clear responsibility to ensure the health and safety of their workforce."
Tags: Airbags, Britton, Chester Crown Court, Compound Fractures, Court Judge, 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, Heath And Safety, Judge David, Magistrates Court, Right Arm, Safety At Work, Safety Laws, Section 3, South Cheshire, Work Related Accident
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