Health & Safety
A Third of Sites Shut in Safety Raids
Health and Safety Executive inspectors called a halt to work at 31 sites in Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley during July and the first half of August 2007. In all, 86 sites were checked.
"I am very disappointed at the number of sites where work had to be stopped where the risks should have been evident to a contractor familiar with this type of work." - Dave Bradley, HSE Inspector
Inspectors had to issue seven improvement notices following a crackdown on working at height and electrical safety.
Scaffolding Debris Hinders Housing Fire Investigation
Safety experts have been hampered by unstable scaffolding in their bid to find how a fire caused £10 million of damage to a Hertfordshire housing development.
Investigators moved in to examine the wreckage at the site in Hatfield, where a scheme of 84 flats was completely destroyed by a fire on a Saturday afternoon.
At its height, the blaze was tackled by 50 fire fighters and 12 fire engines.
Yorks Fatality
A 66 year old man died after falling from height on a project in West Yorkshire. The man was carrying out installation work on a retirement complex in Holmfirth, near Huddersfield. The fatality took the HSE's industry death toll to 25 in August 2007.
Injury Fines
Two firms have been fined £180,000 in total after an accident that left a worker paraplegic. The Exeter based company A was fined £175,000 and also another company B based in Winchester was fined £5,000 after the labourer was injured working on a site for company A on a company B piece of land. Both company A and company B pleaded guilty at Winchester crown court.
Firm to Probe Fatal Accident
An employee of a demolition contractor was killed instantly when a beam struck him from just 1m while he was working on a scheme to pull down a 1960's office block in the Elephant & Castle area of London.
Two Fatalities
Two men have been killed on sites in London and Manchester during the same week of August 2007. A 44 year old man fell 18m to his death from scaffolding on a job near Cannon Street in the city centre of London. He was working as a subcontractor for a demolition firm on a redevelopment job.
In Manchester, a 47 year old Polish man died after being hit by a metal girder on a site in the city centre. He was working for a well known construction company.
Both incidents were investigated by the Health and Safety Executive.
Safety Jailing
A home owner has been given a six-month jail sentence by Bradford crown court for ignoring a health and safety prohibition notice which resulted in a near fatal accident at a building site in Bradford. The home owner was in charge of building an extension to his home in the city when an employee was hit on the head by a concrete block in November 2005. The home owner was also fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £90,000 in compensation to the injured party.
Ladder Fatality
A 35-year-old man has died from severe head injuries after he fell 3m from a ladder in Debenham, Suffolk. He was taken to Ipswich Hospital where he died two days later. He was a subcontractor for Ec02 B.V which is carrying out work on at the site of storage company Anchor Storage. The HSE is investigating.
Pile Death Fine
A civil engineer contractor has been fined £100,000 after the death of an employee while dismantling heavy machinery. The Bedfordshire based company was also ordered to pay £76,000.
Corroded Ladder Leads to £21,000 Fine
A Lancashire Brickwork cleaning contractor was fined £7,000 plus £14,257 costs for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.
T5 Lift Death
A 45 year old man was killed on Heathrow's T5 site whilst working in a lift shaft. The unnamed worker was an employee of a lift manufacturer. The Police are leading a joint investigation working with the Health and Safety Executive.
January 2008