A worker has died after inhaling dichloromethane fumes.
The circumstances were:
- Colin Pocock was using an industrial paint and varnish remover
to strip a resin coating from a bath in the bathroom of a housing association property
in Wandsworth on 16 June
2009.
- The stripping agent contained dichloromethane, also known as
methylene chloride, a carcinogenic toxic chemical.
- Fumes rapidly built
up in the confined space and he died at the scene as a result of over exposure.
The HSE investigation found:
- There was insufficient
natural ventilation in the bathroom.
- Mr Pocock's employer, Multicrest
Ltd, a franchisee of Renubath Services Ltd, should have provided
mechanical ventilation equipment to compensate.
- Written documentation from Multicrest stated that work of
this nature should only be done in well ventilated areas, but no
equipment was provided to employees.
- Managers were unaware of how work
needed to be done in bathrooms and failed to provide adequate safe
working arrangements.
Multicrest Ltd., was fined £81,286 (inc. costs).
The HSE inspector said:
"This is a shocking death resulting from totally inadequate
ventilation in the enclosed bathroom space in which Colin Pocock had to
operate. The risks associated with stripping agents containing
dichloromethane are well known, yet he was exposed to lethal fumes with
virtually no protection. Mechanical ventilation equipment is often a
necessity, but all he had to rely on was a small open window, a basic
mask and pot luck. The use of substances that create toxic fumes must only be used
where the fumes cannot build up and affect people, and the work must be
properly planned and supervised - none of which happened on this
occasion."
The sentencing at Southwark Crown Court follows an earlier prosecution of Renubath Services Ltd, Multicrest's franchising company, for identical failings linked to inadequate ventilation arrangements.
Source: HSE LSE/13
European Metal Recycling Limited was fined £370,00 (inc. costs) following the death or a worker because of a failing to properly segregate people and moving
vehicles.
The circumstances were:
- Linas Mataitis was a temporary worker.
- He was working near a large shredding machine
that had been powered down for essential annual maintenance, with
surrounding safety zones and interlocking gates opened up to allow
worker and vehicle access.
- Linas was one of a team of workers using hand shovels to scrape and
clear dirt near conveyors feeding the shredder, which they placed into piles for colleagues using machines to clear.
- On the morning of 18 July there were three vehicles operating
alongside the team on foot; a bobcat, a mini excavator and a wheeled
loading shovel.
- The smaller machines were being used to fill the bucket
of the loading shovel, which then drove away to be emptied.
- The loading shovel was being driven by a
partly trained operator who may have been unauthorised to use it.
- Although EMR had a documented procedure for clearing dirt from around the conveyors,
which mentioned the use of a bobcat, it did not cover the shutdown
operation when the safety gates were open, when more vehicles were
operating nearby and when there was increased pedestrian movement.
- The loading shovel was returning to be refilled for a
fourth time when it struck Linas and crushed him against a conveyor
support.
An HSE investigation found that:
- There were inadequate arrangements for safely managing the movement of people and machinery.
- The
company had confusing and conflicting records of who was trained and authorised,
highlighting failings to properly manage and audit training and
supervision.
Source: HSE 20/5/13 LSE/13
A worker suffered horrific
injuries and had to have his arm amputated when he fell into dangerous
machinery in an asphalt production plant.
The circumstances were:
- John Wyatt was employed by Tynedale
Roadstone Limited and had been carrying out an inspection of the
conveyor area
- Mr Wyatt had
gained access to the conveyor area to carry out an inspection,
- Safety gates to the plant had been fitted with locks to
restrict access these had been disabled
- He
slipped and fell forward and was caught up in the snub pulley roller and
the conveyor belt.
The HSE's investigation concluded that:
- There were no suitable risk
assessments,
- There were inadequate safe systems of work
- There was a lack of information
and instruction for employees.
The HSE inspector said:
"Mr Wyatt’s horrific injuries should not and need not have happened.
This incident was easily preventable had Tynedale Roadstone carried out
an adequate risk assessment of their equipment and properly supervised their employees. Plant of this type is recognised in the industry as being high risk,
which is why they are so heavily guarded with trapped key systems.
Safety devices are installed on machinery with dangerous moving parts to
protect those who work with them. Companies have a legal duty of care
to ensure they are properly fitted and working effectively at all times. Disabling or switching off safety devices puts workers at
unnecessary risk and is simply not acceptable. HSE will not hesitate to
take enforcement action in cases such as this."
Unguarded or poorly guarded machinery is the cause of many injuries
in workplaces across the country. Latest figures revealed eight workers
were killed and more than 1,000 were seriously injured as a result of
contact with the dangerous moving parts of machines.
BAE Systems were fined £350,000 (inc. costs) following a death on an employeed in a press.
The circumstances were:
- Gary Whiting was part of a 4-man team carrying out a routine service of a
large metal press, a machine the size of a two-bedroom house.
- The press was one of only a handful in the
country and used to make Hawk jet trainer components.
- It was serviced
around four times a year and all the maintenance team were experienced
workers.
- Two men were
working at one end of the machine and two at the opposite end. Neither pair could properly see the other.
- Mr Whiting and his
colleague were working with one of the two trays that fed into either
end of the press.
- The other team was testing the tray bed and press
frame at the other side.
- Mr Whiting entered the machine to remove a piece of equipment.
- At the same time, one of his colleagues at the far end
started the full test cycle of the press frame.
- The 45-square-metre
frame descended, trapping and crushing Mr Whiting who died later that day.
The HSE found that:
- There were serious safety failings of BAE
Systems (Operations) Ltd at its plant in Saltgrounds Road, Brough.
- There were a series of flaws in safety practices
during maintenance of the metal press, some of which had existed for
many years.
- There were no suitable assessment of the risks associated with the test process.
- There was a lack of engineering control
measures to prevent entry by workers to dangerous parts of the machine
during testing or to stop the machine if anyone did enter a danger zone.
The HSE Inspector said:
"This was an entirely preventable tragedy that devastated Mr
Whiting’s wife, Jackie, his two children and his wider family. They have
shown admirable resilience during what has been a protracted and, at
times painful, process. The dangers of maintenance work on these types of machines are well-
known yet BAE Systems Ltd failed to identify those risks and its
serious failings led to this tragedy. Although the press machine had been serviced regularly, it was done
in the same unacceptable way and it is surprising there had not been an
earlier incident. The guarding was inadequate and there were no key safety systems, no
light guards or interlocks on the doors of the machine; nothing that
would have either prevented entry to dangerous parts or stopped the
machine if entry was made. In addition, there were no instructions,
either written or verbal, given by BAE to workers about how to carry out
the testing process safely. This incident should serve as a reminder to companies to ensure that
dangerous parts of their machines are identified and measures taken to
properly protect their workers. No company should put its employees at
unnecessary risk."
The accident occurred over 4 years ago.
Source: HSE 21/5/13 Y&H/105/13
Michael Febrey a director of a concrete structures firm has been ordered to pay a
total of £25,000 (inc costs) and Carillion Construction Ltd, was fined
£182,500 (inc.costs)
after a worker died following a fall
from height at a Swansea building site.
The circumstances were:
- The deceased was contracted by Febrey Ltd to work as a scaffolder at the site in Swansea.
- He was dismantling
a scaffold ladder access platform ahead of the installation of a roof
and staircase on the fourth floor when he fell around 19 metres to the
ground, narrowly missing a carpenter working directly below.
The HSE found that
- Febrey Ltd had inadequate and ineffective
health and safety management arrangements
- There was little or no
communication, information and instruction provided to its workforce.
- The management team on site was not adequately trained in health and safety, despite repeated warnings by its health and safety consultants. This led to persistent and systematic failures to control risks at the site.
- Mr Febrey was aware of the failings within his company - his
workforce had raised concerns about the site – yet he failed to take
responsibility for the company’s failings which allowed this culture to continue.
- Carillion Construction Ltd failed to ensure the safety of its
employees and those under its control.
- Carillion, as principal
contractor at the site, was made aware of and had detected many failings
in the safety management of Febrey Ltd. However, it failed to gain
improvement from the company.
Carillion Construction Ltd, was fined
£182,500 (inc.costs)
Febrey Ltd, of Burcott Road, Bristol, which when into liquidation
shortly after the incident fined a
token amount of £85, which - had it still been solvent and able to pay -
would have been in the region of £250,000.
The HSE Inspector said:
"Febrey Ltd did not manage health and safety. I can only echo the
sentencing remarks made by Judge Thomas, that: ‘…there was a lack of
proper and adequate expertise, training and direct responsibility for
matters of health and safety. The personnel, the time, the resources and
the will were all lacking to address the reoccurring problems of people
working unsafely at height as necessary. Disregard for basic safety
measures were left unchallenged. No one took ownership of the issue. In
such an atmosphere, not only the inexperienced and the vulnerable, but
the experienced like Mr Samuel, can become sloppy and complacent. It was
against that background and in that culture that the accident happened. This culture was allowed to continue without proper managerial
intervention and for that reason Mr Febrey, as the managing director,
must bear a portion of direct responsibility. There was a void in the
company’s organisation, which Mr Febrey must have recognised, but did
not rectify. Carillion Ltd. had a duty to plan, manage and monitor the work.
Febrey’s failing were all too apparent, moreover Carillion were aware of
it. Judge Thomas said: ‘Ultimately, what they did not do was stop it -
they did not do enough, they did not achieve the desired necessary
result. Nagging and warning are one thing- positive, effective action is
another. Carillion should have taken robust steps to remedy a situation
which they were perfectly aware of.’ Falls from height are still the biggest killer in the construction
industry and this is the tragic reality of what can happen when adequate
arrangements are not in place to manage health and safety. Mr Samuel was a young man who had a lot to live for. His children
and family will have to live with his loss for the rest of their lives.
It is heartbreaking that his untimely death could so easily have been
prevented."
Source: HSE 13 May 2013
The Swan Mill Paper Company Ltd., of Swanley, have been prosecuted after a worker at its warehouse was injured after being crushed between a forklift truck and a pallet of paper goods.
The circumstances were:
- The injured person was
in an aisle in the warehouse taking tickets off pallets that were filled
with paper goods.
- The pallets were then to be put on racks at either
side of the aisle.
- A colleague using a forklift truck to stack the
pallets on the right hand side of the same aisle, reversed and backed
into the worker, crushing him between the truck and the pallet.
- He suffered three breaks in his right ankle as well as two
fractures to his left leg
The HSE:
- Found that the accident could have been avoided if simple safety precautions had been taken
- Prosecuted Swan Mill Paper Company who were fined £8,000 (inc. costs)
The HSE Inspector said: "The incident was entirely preventable. Swan Mill Paper Company
failed to make sure that there was a safe vehicle and pedestrian system
of work in place within their warehouse. Such a measure would have
prevented vehicles being able to access areas where workers on foot were
moving around. Such a system was entirely possible without any
detriment to the work being done. Due to the clear dangers of pedestrians and vehicles interacting in
the same areas, companies need to ensure, as much as they can, that
workers on foot and forklift trucks on the move are properly separated. The incident at Swan Mill Paper Company was in a fairly narrow
aisle with restricted visibility. The risk of a collision between a
moving forklift and a warehouse operative while both are working in the
same location is significant and should have been obvious to the
company."
Source: HSE 7th May 2013 LSE/96/13
In the Queen's Speech today, there were two bills which affect health and safety:
Mesothelioma Bill
This bill is designed to help people who suffer from Mesothelioma as a
result of exposure to asbestos. It establishes a payment scheme for
those people who cannot trace their employer or their employer's
insurance company, where the employer was responsible for the asbestos
exposure. Anyone diagnosed with mesothelioma from 25 July 2012 will be
able to make a claim. The bill will be funded by a levy on insurance
companies, and it will apply to the whole of the UK.
Draft Deregulation Bill
This draft bill lays out how the government intends to reduce the amount
of regulation with which businesses, individuals and public bodies have
to comply. Measures include exempting from health-and-safety
legislation people who are self-employed and whose work poses no risk of
harm to other people.
David
Wain suffered serious injuries when a 1.5 tonne pallet
of tin plates fell onto his right lower leg and foot when he was
employed by Emballator UK Ltd.
The circumstances were:
- The incident occurred on 6 February 2012 at the Emballator UK Ltd factory in Tyersal, Bradford, which manufactures tin cans.
- A fault had developed on the
usual, modern, pallet turner, which is used to turn bulk tin plate.
- Mr Wain, a coating assistant
at the plant, had been told to use an older
machine to turn the bulk tin plate
- He had no experience of using the older machine and a colleague gave
him a demonstration of how to use it and how to load the pallets for
turning.
- Mr Wain used a forklift truck
to pick up a pallet of plates, loaded the machine the way he had been
told - wedging the load using empty pallets - and switched it on.
- Moments later, after the machine turned 180 degrees, he saw the plates
and pallets moving.
- He tried to get out of the way but the full load of
metal plates spilled out of the machine in a weighty waterfall, trapping
his foot against the floor.
Part of Mr Wain’s big toe was severed and the sole of his foot was
split. Surgeons managed to reattach the next two toes and he needed
plates put into his ankle and screws into his lower leg. He was informed earlier this year by the hospital that
his foot and lower leg may need to be amputated.
The HSE found that:
- Emballator UK Ltd had failed to provide both safe equipment
and a safe system of work.
- There was no clamping mechanism to retain
the pallet of metal plates within the rotating machine
- There was no guarding
to keep operators from the machine during turning.
- The firm had not identified the risks involved with
using the older machine, and in particular the risk of the plates
falling out.
- Mr Wain was not supervised whilst he used the machine for
the first time.
- No checks were made that he understood the risks and the
precautions to take.
Emballator was fined £15,769 (inc. costs).
The HSE Inspector said:
"Everyone has the right to come home from work safe and well. But
David Wain suffered life-changing injuries in an incident that was
preventable. Emballator UK Ltd failed in their duties to provide a suitable
machine for turning pallets and a safe method of operation that Mr Wain
could use. Manually securing the load in an open box by means of wedges
or empty pallets is not a sufficiently reliable method of securing the
load. A proper examination of the risks would have shown that there was a
danger of the load shifting and falling from the machine, during or
after turning. A simple clamping mechanism would have secured it, and
was indeed applied to the newer machine. It is also essential that checks are made by managers to ensure
operators are trained and competent to use the machines they provide,
understand the risks and associated precautions to take."
Source: HSE 1 May 2013 Y&H/93/13
