New publications this month:
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE
HSG141: Electrical safety on construction sites
This Health and Safety Guidance document has been updated.
Safety in high-rise residential buildings: Accountable persons
Guidance is provided on the roles and legal duties of accountable persons regarding high-rise residential buildings.
Updated Managing Health and Safety Guidance
The HSE has updated its general guidance on managing health and safety and controlling risk for businesses, with the objective of making this clearer and more usable. This includes the following new and updated documents:
Violence and Aggression at Work
The HSE’s guidance on violence and aggression at work has been updated.
Safety notice: High concentration of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in cargo and slop tanks
This safety notice is targeted towards floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) and floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessels and floating storage units (FSU) in the UK continental shelf (UKCS).
The notice concerns the presence of high concentrations (up to 16,000ppm) of H2S, which are above the upper measuring limits of standard portable gas monitoring equipment.
Research Report RR1192: Industrial Cleaning: Exposure to Dust Hazardous to Health
This new research report compiles information on dust exposure with respect to industrial cleaning.
UK REACH
Regulatory Management Option Analysis (RMOA) Report on PFAS (Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances)
This RMOA document sets out recommendations for the regulation and management of PFAS. Recommendations include proposals to restrict or ban the use of PFAS under UK REACH. The HSE plans to introduce proposals on the restriction of PFAS in firefighting foams this year.
MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY (MCA)
The following Marine Guidance Notes and Merchant Shipping Notices relevant to occupational health and safety were published or updated during April 2023:
EUROPEAN CHEMICALS AGENCY (ECHA): EU AND NORTHERN IRELAND
ECHA recommends eight substances for REACH authorisation
ECHA has recommended that the following eight substances are added to the authorisation list under EU REACH:
Trucking company fined after death of mechanic
A Lancashire trucking company has been fined after a mechanic died while repairing a forklift truck.
On 13 October 2020, a mechanic and a new employee were fixing a steering fault on a forklift truck at the company’s site in Clitheroe. The mechanic told the new employee to move the forklift truck forwards. However, the forklift truck reversed, trapping the mechanic against a trailer. The mechanic was rushed to hospital with severe head injuries but later died the following day.
An HSE investigation found that the forklift truck being worked on was over 30 years old and had not been maintained or subject to statutory examinations under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 examination in many years. Additionally, they found no controls for working with vehicles had been implemented, such as separating pedestrians and vehicles or a designated safe repair area.
Breach
E. Jackson (Chatburn) Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
Penalty
E. Jackson (Chatburn) Limited was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £3,712.80 in costs.
Company fined after worker’s leg crushed by forklift truck
A manufacturing company has been fined after a worker’s leg was crushed by a forklift truck.
On 8 May 2018, a worker for AkzoNobel Packaging Coatings Limited was injured while using a pedestrian crossing when a forklift truck hit him. The collision resulted in the injured workers leg and ankle being crushed. The driver had not seen the worker as their vision was restricted: the forklift was carrying multiple intermediate bulk containers (IBCs).
An HSE investigation found that AkzoNobel Packaging Coatings Limited had failed to provide an adequate risk assessment, a safe system of work and appropriate supervision. This led to the development of an unsafe customs and practices on site.
Breaches
AkzoNobel Packaging Coatings Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
AkzoNobel Packaging Coatings Limited was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,188.60.
Company was fined for putting employees at risk of radiation exposure
A company in Cornwall has been fined after putting its employees at risk of exposure to ionising radiation over a 10 years.
In 2009, an external Radiation Protection Adviser (RPA) identified failings in the access controls and warning systems at Terrill Bros. (Founders) Limited’s foundry. In the ten years subsequently, the company received further RPA visits, reports and advice but no remedial action was taken. In February 2019, the company received an unannounced inspection by the HSE.
The HSE inspection found the door to the company’s industrial radiography enclosure did not have adequate interlocks nor a suitable key system to prevent access. Additionally, there were no pre-exposure warning systems or automatic and failsafe warning lights in place. The company’s employees were put at risk of exposure to high doses of ionising radiation due to the reliance on administrative controls, rather than the standard industrial engineering controls.
Terrill Bros. (Founders) Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9(1) of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 and Regulation 8(1) of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999, which apply similar obligations:
Terrill Bros. (Founders) Limited was fined £33,750 and ordered to pay costs of £47,601.
