A lighting manufacturer in Blackburn has been fined after an employee was fatally injured when the forklift truck he was driving struck an overhead steel beam.

Preston Magistrates’ Court heard that on 14 June 2019, the employee was operating a forklift truck to move pallets at the company premises in Witton Business Park, Blackburn, when the mast of the forklift truck hit a low overhead structural beam, which caused the truck to overturn. The employee was trapped underneath the roll cage and received fatal crush injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the traffic routes on site required forklift trucks to travel under a number of overhead structural beams which only had a small clearance gap between the mast of the trucks at their lowest setting and the beams. There were no hazard markings to highlight these overhead obstructions.

MK Illumination (UK) Ltd of Witton Business Park, Preston Old Road, Blackburn, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £53,360 and ordered to pay costs of £7,880.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Anthony Banks said: “The company’s system of work was not safe. With the forklift trucks operating within such tight margins, the company simply relied on the assumption it’s employees would always remember to lower the forks to their lowest position whilst travelling underneath the overhead beams.

“MK Illumination (UK) Ltd not only failed to physically mark the overhead beams in a conspicuous way to provide the forklift truck operators with a prominent warning of the limited headroom, but the company also failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the traffic routes. When this was done after the incident, the revised traffic routes avoided the low overhead beams altogether.”

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

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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today published a report detailing that agriculture has the highest number of workplace fatalities in Great Britain.

Provisional figures from 1 April 2020 until 31 March 2021 show 41 people were killed in agriculture related activities, almost double the number of deaths in the previous year, which was 23.

The report, Fatal injuries in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain 2020/21, has been published to coincide with the start of Farm Safety Week (19 – 23 July). The report shows that agriculture continues to have the worst rate of fatal injuries of all the major industrial sectors, around 20 times higher than the average five-year annual rate across all industries.

While the number of people killed fluctuates each year, the five most common causes of fatal injuries over the last five years remain – being struck by moving vehicles, killed by an animal, struck by an object, falling from height and contact with moving machinery.

Transport-related incidents, such as overturning vehicles or being struck by moving vehicles were responsible for more deaths than any other cause.

Older workers are most at risk, with more than half of workers killed aged 60 years or older. When comparing older and younger age groups, the fatal injury rate is more than four times higher for the 65s and over, compared to the 16-24 age group. The youngest person killed was a two-year-old child who died after being overcome by slurry fumes.

Acting head of agriculture at HSE Adrian Hodkinson said: “Agriculture is a vital part of our economy and everyone involved is rightly proud of the quality and standard of the food produced.

“It is not acceptable that agriculture continues to fail to manage risk in the workplace. We need everyone to play their part to improve their behaviour, do things the right way and ‘call out’ poor practices whenever they are seen.

“Agriculture will continue to be a priority sector for HSE, which will be achieved through the delivery of HSE’s sector plan for tackling the high rates of injury and ill health.”

He added: “It is disappointing to be highlighting another high annual fatality rate in the industry when the causes are well known and the precautions to avoid injury are straightforward.

“There are simple safety measures people should follow to reduce injury like remembering to put on handbrakes, fasten lap belts in cabs, make sure anyone operating a quad bike wears a helmet and receives sufficient training, don’t put cows and calves in fields with public footpaths; and make sure to switch off the power to vehicles or machinery before attempting to carry out repairs.”

The full report and more information on working safely in agriculture is available on the HSE website. HSE’s plan for tackling the high rates of injury and ill health is available here: Sector plan for health and safety in the agriculture.

Farm safety week, which shines a light on safety in the sector, is led by the Farm Safety Foundation.

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.

2. The report highlights trends and provides summaries of each fatality involving employees, the self-employed and members of the public. The full report along with summaries of the circumstances of the individual fatal injuries can be read at https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/resources/fatal.htm

3. Farm Safety Week is an initiative led by the Farm Safety Foundation and supported by the Farm Safety Partnerships, The Health and Safety Executive, Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland and the Health & Safety Authority, Ireland.

4. HSE continues to work with stakeholders across the farming and forestry sector to keep up the pressure to manage risk in the workplace to reduce the likelihood of serious injury, ill health and death. In relation to our response to Covid-19, this includes working with others e.g. public health authorities and government departments.

5. For information on how to stay healthy and safe in agriculture see HSE guidance What a good farm looks like – Agriculture (hse.gov.uk) and Farmwise: Your essential guide to health and safety in agriculture (hse.gov.uk)

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An asbestos removal company has been fined after a worker fell off a garage roof and fractured a vertebrae bone in his back.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that, on 15 August 2017, whilst replacing a garage roof at a domestic property in lnverurie, David Ross an employee of NJS (Scotland) Limited, fell approximately two metres through the roof whilst removing bolts, resulting in a back injury.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that NJS (Scotland) Limited failed to provide a suitable work platform from which to work to prevent employees falling from or through the roof of the garage. The Company ought to have been able to anticipate and solve the challenges presented by a double skinned roof given their extensive experience of working at height including roof dismantling and replacement, its health and safety procedures manual and its equipment such as a mobile elevated work platform (MEWP), crawl boards and fall arrest harnesses, which the operatives were appropriately trained and certified to use. The HSE inspector considered that the company was complacent in its approach to this much smaller scale domestic job. There would normally be a pre job toolbox talk and all operatives would be required to sign that they had received and understood the plan of work before the job began, but that did not happen on this occasion.

NJS (Scotland) Limited of Pinefield Parade, Pinefield Industrial Estate, Elgin pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and were fined £8,000.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Elizabeth Hunter said: “Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work-related fatalities in this country and the risks associated with working at height are well known.”

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

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Granville Oil & Chemical Company Ltd has been sentenced for safety breaches after a worker suffered chemical burns to both arms and one leg.

Sheffield Magistrates’ Court heard that on  27 September 2016, a worker was involved in a spillage incident when tasked with making engine degreaser at plant in Rotherham. The water-based product is made by blending Ultra-Concentrate with water.

The worker used a forklift truck to lift a container carrying 1,000 litres of Ultra-Concentrate in order to decant 250 litres of concentrate into three containers on the ground, each of which contained 750 litres of water. The company had specifically manufactured a rigid metal pipe to transfer the concentrate from one container to another. As he drove the forklift truck into position, the forks of the truck suddenly dropped one or two feet. This caused the metal transfer pipe to hit the ground and break. Ultra-Concentrate began to cascade out of the container. Having exited the cab of the forklift truck, the worker put his hand over the damaged valve to try and stem the flow. A large pool of concentrate had already formed on the ground and stood in it to reach the valve. The worker suffered chemical burns to both arms and one leg which required hospital treatment.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the worker had no eye protection and his clothes were soaked in Ultra-Concentrate. He wore only safety boots, a high visibility waist coat and a pair of latex gloves. HSE found that there was no drench shower on site and workers were given no assistance or instructions to change from clothing or wash properly in the event of contact with harmful substances.

Granville Oil & Chemical Company Ltd of Goldthorpe Industrial estate Rotherham South Yorkshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £9,928.60 in costs.

After the hearing HSE inspector, David Coackley, commented: “The company had no systems in place for dealing with spillages and was not properly equipped to deal with the consequences of employees being contaminated with substances which might be harmful to their health.

“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. hse.gov.uk^[1]
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/ ^[2]
3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk^[3]

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A construction company has been fined for failing to comply with work at height regulations after a worker fell from a garage roof in Worcester.

Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court heard that on 4 February 2020, the worker had accessed the roof using a ladder and was working on his knees with his side to the open edge whilst fitting a rubber trim. There wasn’t any edge protection in place and he fell from the roof. He sustained a broken hip, fractures to his foot and knee damage as a result of the fall.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the work was not suitably planned. Although the company owned edge protection and suitable equipment to provide access to the roof, it was not used to carry out work on the garage. There was no suitable audit system to monitor what equipment was being used.

A.E.S. (Roofing Contractors) Ltd of Ankerdine Road, Worcester, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.  The company was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of £510.30.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Aaron Fisher said: “Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work-related fatalities in this country and the risks associated with working at height are well known.

“Companies should be aware that unsafe work at height without suitable and sufficient controls in place is not acceptable. 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
4. Further information about health and safety in roof work can be found at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg33.htm

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