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..

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have released the 2023/24 statistics for UK work-related fatal injuries and according to these statistics, there were 138 deaths across all UK workplaces in 2023–24 with the construction industry accounting for more than a third of the total with 51 fatalities. The new figures, which can be found here, show that the annual number of work-related fatalities has remained broadly similar for over a decade. Additionally, as per previous years, male workers continue to account for the vast majority of fatal injuries with 95% of those recorded in the year being men. Within the statistics published is one that truly horrified me. A staggering 34% of work..

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..

Managing hazards in a business is fundamental to maintaining the safety of employees. Under UK law, employers have a duty of care to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of all employees. This means it’s an employer’s responsibility to identify the hazards facing their employees and implement measures to mitigate them. It's fairly common for employees (and in many cases, management) to be unaware of the hazards they face regularly. Those who haven't encountered an accident often feel they aren't at risk. Additionally, many workers become accustomed to an unhealthy or unsafe workplace due to working in that environment for an extended period. The best way to prevent injuries..

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.” ..

Last week 22 inspectors from HSE’s Yorkshire and North East Field Operations teams inspected 71 businesses in the Sheffield and Rotherham area. Of those visited 46 companies needed to make improvements to better protect the health, safety and wellbeing of workers in metal fabrication, engineering, general manufacturing and waste and recycling sectors. During the course of the week, inspectors served three prohibition notices and 31 improvement notices. Examples of some of the breaches found included poor controls of welding fumes and metal working fluids. In addition to where notices have been served, HSE has formally written to a further 23 local businesses to compel them to improve v..