Fine for company after worker fell to his death from church steeple
A specialist construction company has been fined £60,000 after a worker fell to his death from a church steeple in Birmingham.
David Clover was employed by Ecclesiastical Steeplejacks Ltd to carry out restoration work to St Nicholas’ Church in Kings Norton on 13 November 2020. The 64-year-old steeplejack had been suspended from the 60 metre tall steeple of the Grade 1 listed building, sitting in a ‘bosun’s chair’ – a work positioning seat – when he fell, suffering fatal injuries.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified that the bosun’s chair was not supported by a suitable backup system preventing falls, such as, a double or twin leg lanyard fall arrest harness.
Working at height remains one of the biggest causes of fatalities and major injuries. 50 people died as a result of a fall from height in 2023/24. HSE guidance is available.
Fine for MOT testing centre after child crushed by car
An MOT Testing centre in Finsbury Park has been fined £10,000 after a child sustained life changing injuries after being hit by a car and crushed.
A 14-year-old boy was with an adult, sitting down, waiting for an MOT to be conducted at New Auto Tech Limited on 4 May 2022. The chair was situated in front of the brake rollers, however, as the MOT technician attempted to move the car in reverse, the vehicle was driven forwards off the brake rollers, crushing the child against the wall.
The boy required immediate hospital treatment, having sustained multiple pelvis fractures. They were off school for over a year and bed bound for three months following the incident.
There are many known risks associated with the motor vehicle repair industry and detailed HSE guidance is available.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that New Auto Tech Limited had failed to ensure that members of the public were in a safe area when vehicles were being moved.
The MOT Centre had a designated ‘viewing area’ to the side of the brake roller bay. This was a painted box on the floor with a chair placed inside it. However there were no protective barriers and the business failed to stop customers from moving out of this area into parts of the workshop where vehicles were moving.
Repeated wood dust failures lands company with fine
An Essex-based company that makes windows and doors has been hit with a £4,000 fine after repeatedly failing to protect its workers from exposure to wood dust.
Timbercraft Windows & Doors Limited, which also manufactures wooden conservatories, was visited by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on three occasions over a 12-year period.
Those visits, to the company’s workshop on Severalls Industrial Park in Colchester, identified large build-ups of wood dust around machinery as well as other health and safety breaches. These included workers not being provided with suitable respiratory protective equipment (RPE).
- Breathing in wood dust excessively can cause asthma and nasal cancer. Guidance on working in the woodworking industry is available and an inspection-led campaign to protect workers continues.
A subsequent HSE investigation found the company failed to adequately control and prevent its employee’s exposure to wood dust in the following ways:
- inadequate local exhaust ventilation (LEV) and a failure to have its LEV thoroughly examined and tested within the preceding 14 months;
- failure to have employees face fit tested for their RPE;
- common dry sweeping of wood dust;
- using compressed air lines for clearing of wood dust from machines;
- using incorrect L class vacuums; and
- failure to have employees who were exposed to wood dust under health surveillance.
For each of failures above the solutions are widely known in the woodworking industry:
- Health surveillance should be undertaken for employees exposed to wood dust; a system of on-going health checks to detect ill-health effects such as occupational asthma at an early stage.
- LEV in woodworking should be subject to a thorough examination and test by a competent person, no less frequent than every 14 months. It is a detailed and systematic examination sufficient to make sure the LEV can continue to perform as intended by design and will contribute to the adequate control of exposure.
- Adequate LEV will be dependent upon the process, however guidance sheets for control of wood dust at woodworking machines are available for free from the HSE website.
- Face fit testing is required for tight fitting RPE to ensure that it fits the wearers face and does not leak, as this would increase the wearers exposure.
- Wood dust should be cleared on a regular basis using a minimum of an M class vacuum. Dry sweeping and use of compressed air lines should not be used for clearing of wood dust as they create plumes of dust that can then be inhaled once again.
Company fined after dad’s legs crushed by 800kg pallet
A manufacturer in Sheffield has been fined after a steel pallet landed on an employee, leaving him permanently disabled.
The 800kg load crushed Wayne Hatton’s legs during a night shift at Amber Precast Ltd’s factory on 14 January 2021.
Mr Hatton, from Doncaster, had his right lower leg amputated with two toes on his left foot also being removed following the incident at Davy Business Park.
The pallet was being removed from a reinforced concrete cast when it fell onto the father-of-two, who had only recently been employed by the firm as a supervisor.
The then 46-year-old spent seven weeks in hospital and now has a prosthetic leg after his right lower leg was amputated.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found the pallet had not been secured onto the lifting chains of the overhead crane before being removed from the concrete cast. This meant the pallet was not supported whilst being moved.
The investigation also found Amber Precast Ltd failed to consistently implement a system of work to ensure the pallet could be removed safely. Mr Hatton, now 50, and other members on his team had not received any information or instructions on how to remove the pallet safely.
