A company in Kent has been fined after an accident occurred at a construction site of six houses on Smarden Road in Headcorn, Kent. A sub-contractor, had been installing vertical hanging tiles on one of the new properties when he fell 1.8 metres through an unguarded opening in scaffolding and landed on the ground below. The accident happened on the 5th July 2017 and resulted in Mark Tolley sustaining several broken ribs and serious internal injuries including a punctured lung. He later died on 13 July 2017. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has found that Amberley Homes (Kent) Ltd, a construction company in Kent, did not control the construction site eff..

A manufacturing company (Mifflin Construction Ltd manufacture and install steel components for the construction industry) has been fined £120,000 after a employee was fatally injured in the Leominster workshop. Steve Rooke, 55, an employee of over 27 years, sadly lost his life when a steal beam he was moving rotated and toppled over. The beam which was 18 metres long and weighed 1,800Kg trapped him against another beam causing fatal injuries. Karen Rooke, Steve’s wife said: "It’s changed everything, every plan we had has gone and our future is cancelled. I’ve lost a husband and the girls have lost a loving dad. He'll miss out on so many things like becoming a grandparent.” ..

A 46-year-old worker was crushed to death by two granite slabs whilst working for Graniteland Limited at the company’s Lyde Green site in Halesowen. An investigation by the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) found that the incident which occurred on the 30th November 2020 could have been avoided with the correct training and maintenance procedures. The investigation found that Robert Czachracz, who was from Poland, had been moving the granite slabs onto storage racks, using an overhead crane when two of the slabs, each weighing a quarter of a tonne, fell and fatally crushed Mr Czachracz against a forklift truck. The HSE found that Graniteland Limited and its director, Mr..

A woman's right arm has been severed after becoming trapped in machinery whilst working for F.J Church and Sons Ltd, a metal recycling company in Rainham, Essex. An investigation by the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) followed the incident, which happened on the 12th June 2021. The investigation found that incident occurred after Ms Troia attempted to remove a blockage by reaching through an unguarded rotary valve of a catalytic converter sampling machine. Ms Troia, the victim was rushed to hospital after the rotary valve closed, trapping and severing her arm. She has been unable to work since. The HSE found that F.J. Church and Sons failed to prevent workers accessing..

Atlantic Recycling Limited (a recycling company) has been fined £300,000 after a father-of-two was killed by a shovel loader. Anthony Bilton, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, was fatally injured on 4 September 2019 when he was run over by a shovel loader whilst working on site in Cardiff, Wales. The 59-year-old was walking across a wood processing yard in order to undertake routine maintenance tasks when the tragic accident happened. The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) investigation found that although a risk assessment had been produced prior to the work commencing, it was not suitable nor sufficient and did not include work taking place in the wood yard. Additionally, ..

An engineering firm in Perth has been fined £10,000 after an employee lost his little and ring finger. The worker, employed by Edwards Engineering (Perth) Limited, had been carrying out maintenance work on a grain dryer at East of Scotland Farmers on 28 June 2020. He inadvertently placed his hand into the blades of an unguarded rotary fan in the grain dryer. The fan was rotating at 1200 revolutions per minute when it came into contact with the worker’s hand. He was off work for seven weeks following the incident. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into this incident found Edwards Engineering (Perth) Limited had failed to risk assess the task that the emplo..

A textiles company has been fined £60,000 after an employee suffered serious injuries their right arm in an incident at a factory operated by Pin Croft Dyeing and Printing Co. Limited in Market Street, Adlington, on 20 June 2022. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the employee had been operating a large fabric spooling machine when the brake malfunctioned. During an attempt to manually slow the rotation of the machine, he broke both major bones in his forearm when his sleeve was caught by a rotating spindle. Despite the company being aware of the risk posed by the moving spindle, they failed to either remove or suitably guard this part of the machi..

Show your Forklift Trucks some love on Valentines Day (and forever) - Give them quick pre-drive inspections to make sure they're doing ok ❤️ Monitoring all your forklifts and assessing their environments with regular (pre-use / pre-move) forklift safety inspections will help achieve a safer workplace environment for employees. Pre-use / pre-move forklift checklists will not only increase the likelihood of spotting a fault early before it deteriorates further, but it also provides employees with regular reminders of their safe working practices and ensures your company complies with PUWER and Forklift Health & Safety policies. Forklift trucks are an indispensable piece of equipmen..

A company involved in fruit and vegetable production has been fined £320,000 after a man “who always put family first” was killed at a site in Burscough. Francis Schlachter, known as Frank, suffered severe head injuries when he fell from a skip at a farm operated by M.A.Forshaw Limited on 3 January 2020. The 64-year-old from Southport was described as ‘a rock’ by his wife of 35 years Linda, who said how much he would be missed by his friends and family. Frank had been working at the site off Marsh Moss Lane, tipping food waste into a skip from a container attached to a forklift truck (FLT). The container could not be securely attached to the FLT, which was known to detach from ..

A fascinating report courtesy of TyreSafe Admin National Highways Imperial College London looking at tread depth survey at the point of tyre replacement. The 2023 findings show an overall reduction in the number of illegal and borderline tyres at the point of replacement compared to 2016 but 16.7% of tyres were below the legal limit when replaced. The 2023 findings confirm the number of illegal tyres on Britain’s roads annually is potentially as many as nearly one-in-four vehicles – at just over 6.1 million per annum! How scary is that (especially during these wintry months)? Lack of sufficient awareness among drivers of the need to carry out systematic and regular checks of their tyr..

Damaged pallet racking is not only a severe health risk to workers in warehouses, but also a financial nightmare to any business. As an employer, you are legally required to implement and maintain procedures that minimise these risks. Racking inspections are a form of risk assessment. They look for any damage in the racking and can highlight vulnerable areas. The inspection is a crucial opportunity to identify, repair, or replace any areas of damaged racking. The Health and Safety Executive recommends regular warehouse racking inspections to provide insights for preventative maintenance decisions and reduce health and safety risks. The three different types of racking inspections all hig..

A 24-year-old engineer was fatally crushed whilst attempting to repair a factory goods lift with his colleagues on the 14th January 2020. Lift Monitoring Systems Limited, previously known as RJ Lift Services Limited, was fined £200,000 after a HSE (Health and Safety Executive) investigation into the death. The following information was found during the HSE investigation: Lewis McFarlin (the victim) and two other lift engineers were on site to work on a different lift before being asked to resolve an issue with the door-opening mechanism on one of the lift landing doors. While attempting to resolve the issue, Mr McFarlin was on top of the lift car with one engineer i..

Farmers are being reminded they must change their attitude towards safety as Britain’s workplace regulator readies itself for a wave of inspections in the coming months. Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will visit farms across England, Scotland and Wales as part of a push to change the culture in the industry and check for compliance with long standing legal requirements. People on farms are 21 times more likely to be killed in a workplace accident than other industries. In total, there have been 161 deaths on Britain’s farms over the last five years – an average of 26 people each year. This includes members of the public and children. HSE pla..

TyreSafe has announced the launch of its highly anticipated “Safe and Save” campaign as a part of this year’s Tyre Safety Month - a campaign which aims to educate and empower motorists across various groups to prioritise tyre safety, save money, and reduce the risks associated with driving vehicles with worn or under-inflated tyres. Tyre safety month, which runs throughout October 2023 and provides an opportunity for road safety professionals an ideal opportunity to run awareness, enforcement and educational initiatives to educate drivers about tyre care and maintenance, helping to maximise safety on our roads. There are plenty of ways to get involved in Tyre Safety Month, whos..

A Lincolnshire-based workshop has been fined after his employees were exposed to a hazardous substance. Inspectors found a significant build-up of wood dust and that Local Exhaust Ventilation systems, provided to capture wood dust and protect employees, had not been thoroughly examined and tested. The HSE prosecuted Chris Buckley, trading as The Furniture Chest of Station Road, Heckington, Lincolnshire, on the 7th April 2022. A subsequent HSE investigation found Chris Buckley had failed to prevent or adequately control employees’ exposure to wood dust and had failed to ensure that Local Exhaust Ventilation systems had been thoroughly examined and tested. Improvement Notices had bee..