The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducted an investigation following an incident at Code-A-Weld, Harfreys Industrial Estate, Great Yarmouth on the 19th November 2022. A man (54 years) was airlifted to hospital and placed into an induced coma after being struck by an object whilst manufacturing steel cable drums for the offshore industry. During the manufacturing process, the jacking set-up failed, causing parts to strike the man in the face. This caused extremely serious injuries including fractures to the man's face and skull, and him losing the sight in one eye. The man required facial reconstruction surgery and spent just under three weeks in hospital. Although the company..

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducted a thorough investigation following a site visit to a property where a man was carrying out unsafe work on his home in Manchester. The HSE served enforcement notices to put work to an immediate stop in August 2020. During their initial visit, the Health and Safety Executive found that Abdul Rehman had engaged operatives to help him build an extension to the property on Kings Crescent in Old Trafford. At the property there was an extremely unsafe scaffold, which was subsequently dismantled. A year later, in November 2021, the HSE found that Mr Rehman was once again carrying out work on his property and instructing operatives to re-r..

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation was carried out after the death of a construction worker. Gary Webster, a 60-year-old man was repeatedly pulled under water after his boat capsized during routine cleaning of the River Aire. Mr Webster and another worker (who managed to swim to safety) had been removing debris at the bottom of the weir gates at Knostrop Weir. The accident occured when the boat they were using was pulled into churning water due to the considerable rush of water flowing over the top of the weir. Mr Webster was eventually recovered by a dive team 14 minutes later but was pronounced dead two-days later on November the 1st 2017. The investigat..

A food manufacturing company has been fined following a serious incident at its premises in Wirral. Sharon Bramhall had been supervising four members of staff as they completed high-level cleaning tasks during a night shift on the 22nd April 2022. She had been acting as a "banksman" as the MEWP turned at a right angle into the warehouse and struck Sharon, crushing her left leg. The 58-year-old had to have her left leg amputated below the knee following a incident at Baker & Baker Products on Stadium Road, but said that she felt "lucky" and stated "I know i could have died". An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed a series of failings by Baker & Baker Produ..

An investigation was conducted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the death of a sub-contractor hired by NG Bailey Limited. Alistair Hutton, lost his life whilst working on a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) along an unfinished corridor of the Baird Family Hospital in Aberdeen on 18 January 2023. The 51-year-old immediately lost consciousness, when his head struck a metal lintel. Mr Hutton, who lived in Forfar, was pronounced dead less than an hour after the incident. The investigation by Health and Safety Executive found NG Bailey Limited, the lead contractor for the project, had failed to consider overhead obstructions, especially during the trans..

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..

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 ..

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..

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..