A global glass bottle manufacturer has been fined £600,000 after a worker suffered burns when molten glass and hot water spilled into his cab. O-I Glass Limited pleaded guilty to a single health and safety charge following the incident at its Glasshouse Loan site in Alloa on 3 February 2024. The 32-year-old employee sustained scald burns covering eight percent of his body but has since made a full recovery. The company employs around 500 people at the Alloa site, which operates continuously to produce glass bottles. Furnaces used to smelt raw materials are located above two glass reject basements containing large, moveable skips. These skips collect molten or formed glass rejected during the..

An investigation was carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following a gruesome incident which was so severe that an employee had to have his leg amputated above the knee. The incident occurred on the 5th of October 2022, whilst employees were sorting out refuse at the Pink Skips (NW) Ltd site at Levenshulme. CCTV footage provided the HSE investigators with key knowledge about the incident. When reviewed, it showed employees working around and in close proximity to a 360° rotating excavator. One of the employees was standing behind the vehicle whilst it was moving waste, when it suddenly reversed, striking him and running over his leg. The investigation also found tha..

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..

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 47-year-old grandfather sustained multiple fractured vertebrae on the 14th November 2019 at a Pirelli Tyres' factory in Carlisle. The forklift truck engineer was in the process of servicing a truck when two metal skips fell from a stack of waste tyres, crushing Mr Weightman against the ground. A HSE investigation found that in order for Mr Weightman to work on the forklift truck, he had to move the truck. He was however, unaware that the truck was positioned to stabilise the skips. This improvised working method was approved by Pirelli, and carried out by workers regularly at International Rubber and Tyre Recycling Limited and DCS Multiserve Limited. There had been no effective cont..

Capital Karts in Barking, East London has been fined almost £120,000 after an incident on the 6th August 2021. Newham youth group organised a fun filled day at Capital Karts with a group of teens, however the day turned to horror when one of the teens had to be resuscitated at the venue after her hijab (a traditional muslim headscarf) got caught in a go karts drive axle. Ruwaida Adan, 15, died in hospital of hypoxic brain injury and asphyxiation four days after she visited Capital Karts in Barking, east London, she was described by her mother as a "beacon of kindness" with the "sweetest soul". An investigation by Barking and Dagenham Council found that Capital Karts fail..

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..

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..

A straddle carrier tipped over at Eurogate Container Terminal Hamburg earlier this week, killing the driver The accident occurred shortly before the end of the night shift at around 5am CET (3am GMT) on Wednesday, 18th January 2023. The straddle carrier tipped over as the machine was being driven without a load on the way to pick up a container. The 29-year old driver is believed to have died on impact. His body was taken from the cabin by the fire brigade whilst the police and the Office for Work Protection begun their investigation. When we learn more about this tragic accident, we will let our readers know. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of the young man. ..