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Self-employed haulage contractor killed by reversing lorry

A Swinton transport company and a director were in court today following the death of an HGV company owner at their Sandywood Industrial Estate.

Daniel Adams, 63, of Farnworth, rented a unit on the industrial estate owned by Alec Sharples Farm Supplies and Transport Limited where the fatal incident occurred on the 7 May 2014.

Manchester Crown Court heard how Mr Adams had been working on one of his own lorries when an HGV owned by Alec Sharples reversed into Mr Adam’s section of the yard.

The HGV driver spoke with Mr Adams. However, when the conversation was over the HGV driver reversed his truck, inadvertently crushing Mr Adam’s between the two vehicles. Daniel Adams was taken to Salford Royal Hospital where he died of internal injuries two days later.

The incident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which prosecuted Alec Sharples Farm Supplies and Transport Limited for serious safety failings in the organisation and operation of the site.

The HSE investigation found the firm had failed to implement a safe system of work for reversing HGV’s and training drivers. There was no segregation of pedestrians and HGV’s or any banksmen provided.

Alec Sharples Farm Supplies and Transport Ltd of Roscow Road, Kearsley, Bolton pleaded guilty to a breach of Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay costs of £14,000.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Ian Betley said: “This was a tragic and wholly avoidable incident, caused by the failure of the host company to implement safe systems of work, and failure to ensure that health and safety documentation was communicated and followed.

“This risk was further amplified by the company’s failure to undertake a number of simple safety measures including segregating vehicles and pedestrians, ensuring that vehicles were fitted with reversing ‘bleepers’, and ensuring that reversing manoeuvres were supervised, in accordance with their site rules.

Information on workplace transport is available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/hsg138.pdf

Notes to Editors:

  1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement hse.gov.uk
  2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/
  3. Further HSE news releases are available at press.hse.gov.uk

Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases.

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News story: UK’s national cyber security centre to help improve skills in Wales

Opened officially by Her Majesty The Queen on Tuesday 14 February 2017, the National Cyber Security Centre’s operational nerve centre in London will manage incidents, analyse threats and offer advice for online security.

By working with businesses, educational facilities and authorities across the UK, the centre will enable generations to navigate the internet safely and be protected from the growing threat of online attack.

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Ben Gummer, toured the centre and outlined the important role UK regions will play in boosting British cyber security.

He said:

Although the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is based in London, cyber attacks can happen anywhere, at any time – and we need to be prepared.

That is why we are expanding our outreach programmes such as CyberFirst, GCHQ degrees and academic centres of excellence, so we can increase skills, build capability and fight cyber attacks wherever they occur.

Alun Cairns, Secretary of State for Wales, said:

Cyber security is of growing importance in our daily lives and I am pleased Wales is playing its part through offering GCHQ-certified degrees.

Hackers are no respecters of national boundaries and businesses and Government installations in Wales are under threat as much as anywhere else in the UK. Wales will now be able to produce the highly skilled workforce we need to combat this new frontier in crime.

The Government is fully committed to defending against cyber threats and a five year National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) was announced in November 2016 by the Cabinet Office, supported by £1.9 billion of transformational investment.

It has also announced the creation of Industry 100 – a pioneering initiative that will grant 100 highly competitive NCSC secondments to private sector staff who will work in the centre to bring innovation that wouldn’t have been possible without collaboration.

A key objective of the NCSC is to reduce risks to the UK by working with public and private sector organisations to improve their cyber security. Industry 100 will see high quality staff embedded into the NCSC to achieve a better understanding of cyber security using wide and diverse thinking.

The NCSC will work closely with law enforcement and the wider public sector, including the National Crime Agency (NCA) to support cyber security awareness campaigns. The NCSC is tirelessly committed to enhancing the UK’s reputation of being a world centre for cyber security research, innovation and skills.

The popular CyberFirst programme is inspiring, encouraging and developing a cyber-savvy cohort of students to help protect the UK’s digital society.

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