New publications this month:
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE (HSE)
Revised and extended guidance: exposure to welding fume
Guidance on controlling exposure to mild steel welding fume has been updated to make it more accessible. This follows a safety bulletin that was originally published in February 2019 following scientific evidence that mild steel welding fume can cause lung cancer and possibly kidney cancer.
A series of supporting task-specific COSHH guidance documents has been published for welding operations:
Welding
Cutting etc
Allied jobs
MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY (MCA)
Code of safe working practices for merchant seafarers (COSWP) 2019
This code of practice has been updated to include amendments since the last full edition in 2015.
Manufacturer fined after employee was pulled into a lathe
A manufacturer of farm equipment in Suffolk has been fined after a worker was seriously injured when his arm was pulled into a metalworking lathe.
In January 2018 an employee was using emery cloth to hand-polish a workpiece as it was being rotated on a manual lathe. The employee was wearing gloves. The employee was caught on the rotating chuck, causing his arm to be pulled into the machine. Contact with moving parts of the machinery fractured his arm in four places.
An HSE investigation identified that employees were not provided with adequate information, instruction or training to carry out this work safely. A risk assessment had not been undertaken, nor was there company policy on the dangers of using emery cloth or wearing gloves while operating a lathe. The lathe was also in operation without an emergency stop fitted.
Breach
Richard Western Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974:
Penalty
Richard Western Limited of Woodbridge, Suffolk was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,717.19.
Roofing and cladding company fined after self-employed workers suffer burn injuries
Fines have been issued against a company that failed to protect self-employed workers from the risk of a cable strike explosion or electrocution whilst carrying out repairs at AVL Powertrain in Coventry.
On 28 November 2018 two self-employed workers received serious burns to their hands. These occurred when the workers were using a drill to attach a pre-fabricated cowling to a cable tray. An electrical explosion occurred when one of the fixings went into a cable, striking one of the phases.
An HSE investigation found that Unique Envelope Façade Solution Limited’s risk assessments and method statements did not consider the risk of drilling into cable trays containing live cables and did not require that electrics were isolated or other methods of fixing applied which did not involve drilling.
Unique Envelope Façade Solutions Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(3) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989:
Unique Envelope Façade Solutions Limited was fined £20,160 and ordered to pay costs of £1,178, as well as a victim surcharge of £170.
Egg company fined after forklift truck overturned, trapping the driver
A company has been fined after a forklift truck overturned on a slope, trapping the driver.
On 1 December 2018 an employee of Staveley’s Eggs Ltd had been driving the forklift truck at the company’s premises at Goosnargh in Lancashire, when the truck overturned. The driver was trapped between the truck and the ground, leading life changing crush injuries.
An HSE investigation found that the areas where forklift trucks were being operated had significant changes in gradient. The surfaces were not suitable for the type of forklift trucks in use. The company had failed to both identify and control the risk of forklift trucks overturning.
Staveley’s Eggs Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Staveley’s Eggs Ltd was fined £60.000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,259.42.
