August 28th, 2009
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has urged the construction industry to take more precautions to avoid falls from height in the workplace.
This comes after an accident in which a 31-year-old man died when he fell from scaffolding in Hastings earlier in August.
Melvyn Stancliffe, HSE inspector for the case, commented that workers must be properly trained and provided with equipment to ensure they are not at risk if working at height is unavoidable.
"It is simple – work to the recognised industry standards and working practices and falls can be prevented," he added.
Additional figures from the HSE reveal that falls are the biggest cause of fatal injury in British workplaces, with 34 out of the 72 deaths in the construction industry in 2007-08 resulting from a fall from height.
In addition, there were another 4,000 major but non-fatal injuries – such as broken bones – in the construction sector during the same timespan.
Tags: Broken Bones, Construction Industry, Construction Sector, Deaths, Fatal Injuries, Hastings, Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Hse Issues, Old Man, Risk, Scaffolding, Timespan, Working At Height, Working Practices, Workplaces
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March 27th, 2009
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned construction companies that they must secure a safe working area in order to avoid injury to members of the public.
Its warning comes after a pedestrian suffered a serious cut to her leg after she was hit by a falling scaffolding pole last year.
The unnamed woman was walking past scaffolding that had been erected around the Metro Public House in Coventry city centre by Sky Scaffolding.
One of the men above had leant a pole against a guardrail while he turned away to reach something, but it fell and hit the woman on the leg, cutting her quite badly.
She was immobilised for several weeks and still suffers from anxiety. Sky Scaffolding was prosecuted and fined for breaching health and safety regulations, but HSE inspector Carol Southerd said the accident could have been fatal had the pole hit the pedestrian on the head.
"The company had failed to take more-robust steps to ensure that the system of work was effective to protect the public from simple human error," she added.
Employers must deal with any hazards that are likely to arise and might cause serious injury to their workforce or passers-by.
A compensation claim can be made if it can be proved that companies breached this duty of care and that this resulted in accident or injury.
Tags: Anxiety, Compensation Claim, Construction Companies, Coventry City Centre, Duty Of Care, Guardrail, Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Hse Issues, Human Error, Members, Metro Public, Pedestrian Injury, Public House, Safety Regulations, Scaffolding, Sky, Workforce
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March 18th, 2009
All companies which use scaffolding during the course of their business have been issued a warning by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after serious injury was narrowly avoided during an accident.
Scaffolding erected by SGB Services and John Davies Interiors in Birmingham collapsed across an alleyway that was being used by construction workers and members of the public in December 2006.
HSE inspector Mike Ford said it was only good fortune that prevented anyone being injured.
"The two companies had failed to provide a scaffold that was suitably tied to the building and failed to ensure that the scaffold was inspected regularly after the erection," he commented.
Mr Ford added that 3,750 workers were seriously injured after falling from height last year and that the accident should act as a warning to business owners.
Employers must deal with any hazards that are likely to arise and might cause serious injury to their workforce.
A compensation claim can be made if it can be proved that employers breached this duty of care and that this resulted in accident or injury.
Tags: Act, Alleyway, Business Owners, Compensation Claim, Construction Workers, Duty Of Care, Erection, Ford, Good Fortune, Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Hse Issues, John Davies, Mike Ford, Scaffold, Scaffolding, Sgb Services, Workforce
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January 29th, 2009
A man who injured himself after falling from a ladder at work has secured a compensation settlement of £118,500.
The individual, who has not been named, was working for Portchester Plastics Decorators as a painter and decorator in Brighton at the time of the accident.
Although a scaffolding tower had been provided, the employee believed it to be unsafe and instead used a stepladder to reach high areas that he needed to paint.
However, he fell ten feet from the ladder and suffered a fractured leg, an injury which has left him reliant on a mobility scooter to leave the house. He has also undergone numerous operations.
The victim sought legal action and has now secured the payout, which his legal representative said should help to alleviate the "severe disruption and stress" the injury caused.
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, Brighton, Decorators, Disruption, Fractured Leg, Ladder, Legal Representative, Mobility Scooter, Painter And Decorator, Plastics, Scaffolding, Stepladder, Stress, Ten Feet
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January 9th, 2009
An employer has been prosecuted after one of its workers sustained a serious injury in an accident on a building site.
The unnamed man was labouring on a site for Peter Ernest Homes in 2007 when he left his position to get a drink.
However, as he crossed the site, another worker dropped a scaffolding pole, which fell on him as there was no netting between the scaffolding and the ground.
The man suffered partial paralysis and has still not fully recovered.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Joanna Woodcock said that falling materials pose risks on any site and should be managed as such.
"Those in control of scaffold operations should keep others out from below because it only takes a simple human error to drop something," she remarked.
According to the HSE, six million working days were lost to injuries in 2007-08, with 299,000 reportable injuries occurring.
Tags: Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Human Error, Joanna, Partial Paralysis, Prosecution, Quot, Reportable Injuries, Scaffold, Scaffolding, Unnamed Man, Woodcock, Worker Injury
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