Management of Health and Safety
HSE has launched new online guidance to help make it easier for larger organisations and businesses to understand how to manage health and safety.
The “Policy, Organisation, Planning, Audit and Review” process prescribed in HSG 65 is replaced with the "Plan, Do, check, Act" model, commonly found in management systems such as OHSAS18001.
Manual Handling
Construction
Electricial Safety
Work at Height
Work Equipment
First Aid
New versions are now available on the HSE website of:
Chemicals
Rolls Royce fined after worker suffers permanent injury
British engineering company Rolls Royce has been sentenced after an employee was diagnosed with a debilitating condition that has left him with permanent nerve damage.
The employee developed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome after being exposed to high levels of vibration at the company's premises in Wilmore Road, Derby.
The employee operated wet blasting cabinets, used to clean turbine blades cast in the Derby foundry, for up to nine hours a day. He had to hold the blades in his hands as they were blasted with water under pressure which exposed him to high levels of hand arm vibration (HAV).
The court was told that after developing pins and needles and then numbness and pain, the employee reported the symptoms to his line manager and sought treatment from his GP. In September 2009, he was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and was unable to work for around four months.
He has since had four operations on his hands and still suffers dexterity problems in his right hand and weakness in both wrists.
HSE's investigation found Rolls Royce plc did not properly assess the vibration risks faced by workers using the wet blasting cabinets and no suitable control measures were implemented, such as limiting exposure, or providing alternatives.
The employee received no pre-employment screening and was not included in the firm's health surveillance list.
He has since returned to work at the company in a different role that doesn't involve working with vibrating machinery. In 2012, Rolls Royce installed an automated system to replace the use of the Vapormatt cabinets.
Rolls Royce Plc was fined a total of £60,000 and ordered to pay £18,168 in costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, and a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Pirelli in court over injuries at Carlisle tyre factory
Tyre manufacturer Pirelli has appeared in court after an employee sustained major injuries to his left arm when it became trapped in a tyre-testing machine.
The employee broke his arm in three places, was off work for four months and still has difficulty moving his shoulder following the incident on 3 January 2012. Pirelli Tyres Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found that the safety procedures for carrying out maintenance work on the machine were poor. Carlisle Magistrates' Court heard the worker was trying to fix a fault on the machine, which lubricates, inflates and then measures tyres, which occurred when it was switched back on following the Christmas shutdown. He switched it to manual mode and removed one of the guards to repair the fault in the lubricating part of the machine. The employee then returned the machine to automatic mode and it processed two tyres successfully before becoming struck again. Without thinking, he reached back into the machine which then began operating, trapping his arm. The HSE investigation found that the fault had occurred several times in the past after the machine was restarted following previous Christmas shutdowns, but Pirelli had failed to carry out a specific risk assessment for this maintenance work. There was also limited supervision of the maintenance employees, general knowledge of the company's written health and safety procedures was poor, and there was no system in place to check that the company's Safe Working Procedures guidelines were being followed in practice. Pirelli was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £4,330 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The latest figures show 20 people were killed while working in the manufacturing industry in Great Britain in 2012/13
Freight company fined £50,000 after worker hit by falling pallets
A Suffolk-based freight company has been sentenced for a series of safety breaches after a forklift truck toppled and spilled its load onto a worker, breaking his back.
Neil Jennings, 56, of Ipswich, was waiting for his trailer to be loaded in the yard of Eagle Freight Terminal Ltd at its Great Blakenham premises when one of the forklifts doing the loading hit a pothole. The vehicle lurched sideways, shedding its pallets and boxes, one of which hit Mr Jennings.
He suffered multiple fractures to the vertebrae of his upper and middle back and was unable to work for several weeks. Mr Jennings can now only undertake light duties and can no longer carry out everyday tasks without pain and discomfort.
HSE found that the freight yard road surface was pitted with potholes and had been the subject of complaints by the company's employees over a significant period. There was little management of traffic movements and no instructions provided regarding segregation of workplace transport and pedestrians.
The court was told that two Improvement Notices were served by HSE on Eagle Freight after the incident requiring them to remedy the condition of the yard's surface and to introduce systems of control which would allow vehicles and pedestrians to circulate safely at the site. Despite two extensions of time to allow the remedial work to be completed, an inspection carried out in September 2012 revealed no work had been completed and neither of the Notices had been complied with.
Ipswich Magistrates' Court heard that the company had been subject to similar enforcement action by HSE as far back as 2002/3 about the lack of control of workplace transport.
Eagle Freight Terminal Ltd was fined a total of £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,501.23 plus £120 victim surcharge after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, Regulation 9(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, Regulation 17(1) of the Workplace [Health, Safety and Welfare] Regulations 1992 and for failing to comply with two Improvement Notices.
