A site supervisor has been sentenced for safety breaches after a 46-year-old worker became entangled in a conveyor belt sustaining serious injuries to his hand and arm.

Leeds’ Crown Court heard that, on 20 October 2016, an operative was working on a conveyor belt on an automated waste picking line at Associated Waste Management (AWM) Ltd in Canal Road, Bradford, when it became damaged and needed repair. Whilst the operative was working to repair the conveyor line, it started moving and his arm became entangled, which caused muscle and tissue damage.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that AWM site supervisor Andrew Hughes, who had control of the site in the absence of the site manager, was responsible for completing a permit for the repair work and isolating the line. However, on his way to complete the permit he became distracted with another matter and the permit to work and isolation were not completed. This meant that the conveyor belt restarted during the repair work injuring the employee.

Andrew Hughes of Heathmoor Park Road, Illingworth, Halifax, West Yorkshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was given a four-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay costs of £1,000.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Darian Dundas said: “Mr Hughes failed to implement company policy and procedure in respect of permits to work and isolation.

“This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices.”

Notes to Editors:
1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. www.hse.gov.uk
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/
3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk[3
4. Please see the link below to the page on HSE’s website that is the best guide to doing it the right way: https://www.hse.gov.uk/safemaintenance/permits.htm

A car manufacturing company has been fined after an employee became trapped and suffered crush injuries whilst unloading a chassis from a delivery vehicle.

Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court heard that the employee became trapped between the trolley holding the chassis and a parked vehicle when the delivery vehicle moved.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, which occurred on 18 April 2018, found that the company did not have a safe system of work for unloading chassis.  The risks should have been controlled by offloading the chassis using a forklift truck or implementing a formalised system of work to safely unload them by hand.

 Morgan Motor Company Manufacturing Limited of Pickersleigh Road, Malvern, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.  The company has been fined £60,000.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Elizabeth Thomas said: “A safe system of work should have been in place and this shows that even large, well-established companies can get things wrong”.

 Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. hse.gov.uk
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/
3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk

A Lincolnshire-based food manufacturer has been fined after one of its employees sustained two broken ribs having been crushed within an industrial cooking machine whilst working to clear a blocked water inlet.

Lincoln Magistrates’ Court heard how the employee was crushed in the machine after its safety systems were over-ridden and the machine worked on whilst it was live. It should have been isolated before work on it began.

An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the task was carried out by the employees in this fashion on a regular basis and that the company should have been aware .  No risk assessment of the task had been completed and employees had not been provided with a safe system of work to carry it out.  The lack of a safe system of work for the task and the company’s failure to monitor how the work was done, led employees to devise their own way of conducting the procedure which included  over-riding the safety systems and using unsafe working practices.

Bakkavor Fresh Cook Ltd of Sluice Road, Holbeach St Marks Spalding pleaded guilty of one breach of Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and were fined £130,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2607.10.

At the end of the trial HSE inspector Tim Nicholson commented: “Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers.  If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to this incident, alongside good monitoring of the way the work was done, the injuries sustained by the employee could have been prevented.”

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. hse.gov.uk
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk
3. Information regarding how to safely carry out maintenance tasks can be found on the HSE website at hse.gov.uk/safemaintenance
4. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk

A self-employed gas fitter from Burnley has received a 15-month community order after carrying out gas work without being Gas Safe registered.

Preston Crown Court heard that Adam Kilbride carried out work at two properties in Burnley in December 2018 and January 2019, whilst falsely claiming to be Gas Safe registered.

Following notification of installation defects by the occupiers of the properties, Gas Safe inspectors visited one of the properties and found the work to be of a poor standard. It was classed as ‘At Risk’ and ‘Not to Current Standards’

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Adam Kilbride was not a registered with Gas Safe Register and was also found to have falsely pretended to be Gas Safe Registered.

Adam Kilbride of Burnley pleaded guilty to breaches of Regulations 3(3), 26(1) and 3(7) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. He was sentenced to a 15-month community order and 100 hours of unpaid work . He was also ordered to pay £400 compensation to the homeowner and ordered to pay costs of £6000.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Caroline Shorrock said: “Adam Kilbride undertook gas work which he knew he was not registered to do.  All gas work must be done by registered Gas Safe engineers to ensure the highest standards are met in order to prevent injury and loss of life. Installers will be prosecuted if they carry out gas work without the proper qualifications. We would advise all householders to check that anyone they allow to work on the gas supply is gas safe registered. This can be done at the Gas Safe Register website”.

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. hse.gov.uk
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/
3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk

A yacht manufacturer has been sentenced after an employee was injured when his forklift truck overturned.

Plymouth Magistrates’ Court heard how on 3 August 2018, a 57-year-old employee of Princess Yachts Limited was injured whilst assisting the unloading of a delivery at the company’s Langage site. The victim was using a forklift truck in tandem with another driver to lift a large load from a flatbed lorry. Part of the load was lifted to allow the lorry to move forward, but in doing so another part of the load struck the mast of his forklift causing it to overturn. He sustained ligament and muscle damage to his ankle as a result of the incident and was off work for five months.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the lifting work had not been properly planned or risk assessed. The employees were not aware of relevant procedures and there were safer alternate methods available which had not been considered.

Princess Yachts Limited of Bush Park, Plymouth pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act. The company was fined £200,000.00 and ordered to pay costs of £7,138.20.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Hatti Shipp said: “The risks associated with unloading vehicles should be recognised and controlled. Complex lifts including handling heavy or unusual loads require careful planning and additional considerations.

“This incident could have been avoided if appropriate safeguards had been put in place. Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. hse.gov.uk
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/
3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk