New publications this month:
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS AND TRADE
Placing manufactured products on the market in Great Britain
The UK Government has announced that qualifying products with CE assessment, declaration and marking may continue to be placed on the Great British market indefinitely. Therefore, products may conform with the European CE or Great British UK Conformity Assessment (UKCA) standards for supply in Great Britain.
A fast-track process will be introduced to allow UKCA conformity and marking to be applied on the basis of conformity to EU essential requirements, as assessed by an EU-recognised conformity assessment body.
Legislation will be introduced to apply these changes. Product legislation benefitting from this system are listed below, including three further product types than were previously announced:
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE
RIDDOR - Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013
The HSE’s online guidance on RIDDOR has been updated to improve clarity. This includes:
Updated RIDDOR forms
In conjunction with the updated online guidance, the HSE’s RIDDOR reporting forms online have been revised. The forms have been reorganised to help users determine whether incidents are reportable or not and further guidance has been provided on the use of the forms.
L60: A guide to the Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 (as amended)
Changes to this guide aim to make it clearer. This includes further information on gas network components, including the start and the end of each network and the status of gas interconnectors. The guide also explains when non-conforming gas may be conveyed and how the gas emergency telephone service operates.
WISH Safety Alert: Working under hydraulic hatches, doors, body sections and similar
This safety alert from the Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum (WISH), follows a fatal accident when a person was working under a top-hinged hydraulically powered rear door of a road sweeper.
WASTE 26: Managing health and safety at household waste recycling centres/civic amenity sites
This guidance document has been updated.
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE AND DEPARTMENT FOR LEVELLING UP, HOUSING AND COMMUNITIES
Building Safety Act Guidance
The following documents relating to the higher-risk building safety regime were published or updated during April 2024:
WELSH GOVERNMENT
The strategic context for the regulatory building control framework Wales
This guidance concerns the connection between the competence of the regulated building control profession and the performance of building control. This has been updated to reflect the introduction of Registered Building Control Approvers.
MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY (MCA)
The following notes and notices relevant to occupational health and safety were published or updated during April 2024:
Haulage company fined after forklift truck operator was killed
A haulage company based in the North West has been fined after a fork lift truck driver was killed while loading a heavy goods vehicle (HGV).
On 19 November 2020, the forklift truck driver was loading pallets onto an HGV at a site in Oldham. As he was doing this, the HGV moved forward. The movement of the HGV caused the fork lift truck to overturn. The forklift truck driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, was trapped beneath the vehicle. The man died as a result of his injuries.
An HSE investigation that Chorlton Express Transport Limited had failed to put sufficient safe systems of work in place regarding vehicle movements or to ensure that all fork lift truck drivers were compelled to wear seat belts.
Breach
Chorlton Express Transport Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
Penalty
Chorlton Express Transport Limited was fined £86,710 and was ordered to pay £5,903 costs.
Fines after an employee lost a finger in drinks bottling machinery
A Leicestershire-based drinks company has been fined after a worker’s finger was amputated after being caught in bottling machinery.
On 17 January 2022, the worker was assisting a colleague who was encountering problems with a bottle capping machine at the plant in Wigston. The worker was able to reach into the machine and into the capper unit to remove the jammed part. When he was reaching into the machine, the capper head descended onto his finger, amputating the tip.
Unsuccessful attempts were made at Leicester Royal Infirmary to re-attach the tip of the finger. It was subsequently necessary to amputate his finger between the first and second knuckle.
An HSE investigation found that Sourcing International Limited, trading as Drinks Chef, had failed to properly guard against access to dangerous parts of machinery. Fixed guarding had been removed and the machine was frequently used without it. An interlock device fitted was also inoperable, so access to moving parts of machinery was further possible.
The HSE has guidance on machinery safety highlighting how employers should consider how their workers use machinery and how they should also have adequate maintenance arrangements in place to ensure it remains safe to use.
Sourcing International Limited t/a Drinks Chef pleaded guilty to contravening a requirement of Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
Sourcing International Limited t/a Drinks Chef was fined £14,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,175.79.
Housing company fined after a worker suffered electrical burns
A housing company based in Kent has been fined after an employee repairing a fence post inadvertently struck an underground cable, suffering burns to his face.
On 10 January 2023, the employee and a colleague had been tasked to repair three fence posts in a back garden of a tenant. They had already repaired two of the posts and started on a third, when one of the workers struck an underground electrical cable as he tried to break through some concrete using a breaker.
MHS Homes failed to provide the employees with information on the location of, or the tools to safely excavate around, an electrical cable and gas pipe.
An HSE investigation found that MHS Homes often undertook excavations. However, the company never provided any information to employees on the location of underground services and did not provide suitable equipment to detect and safely excavate in the vicinity of underground services. MHS Homes had previously identified the risk of underground services in a risk assessment in 2017.
On this occasion, the two employees were digging not only by an electrical cable, but also a gas service. This heightened the risk of a fire or explosion, with the potential to kill employees and members of the public nearby, as well the risk of destroying property.
MHS Homes pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 16(2), by virtue of non-compliance with Regulation 25(4), of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.
MHS Homes fined £528,000 and must pay £4,122 in costs
