New publications this month:

HOME OFFICE

Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022: fire doors

Updated guidance has been provided on flat entrance door checks.

DEPARTMENT FOR LEVELLING UP, HOUSING AND COMMUNITIES

Joint statement on enforcing the remediation of fire safety defects

This statement sets out the planned approach to enforcement regarding building fire safety defects.

HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE

Work-related fatality figures

Work-related fatality data for the period between April 2022 and March 2023 has been published. 135 worker deaths were recorded.

A dedicated webpage presents the 2022/23 data graphically.

Work with ionising radiations: changes to registration and consent processes

From 1 October 2023 further information will need to be provided on applications to register or obtain consent for activities involving ionising radiation. This online guidance summarises the planned changes.

Research Reports

Three research reports were published in July 2023 and concern workplace noise or vibration exposure:

• RR1182 - Hand-arm vibration and noise emissions of battery powered tools compared with equivalent traditionally powered tools
• RR1183 - Chainsaws noise information from suppliers: usefulness for tool selection and risk assessment to protect workers

• RR1193: Static concrete mixer cleaning Establishing alternative methods for control of harmful noise and hand-arm vibration exposures

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 July 2023:

• MGN 668 (M) Amendment 1: Additional safety measures for bulk carriers
• MGN 353 (M+F) Control of vibration at work regulations 2007
• MGN 636 (M) Health and safety at work regulations 1997
• MGN 447 (M+F) Control of noise at work procedure for exemptions

Workwear company fined after woman suffers serious injury

Johnsons Textile Services has been fined after an employee had the skin ripped off the palm of her left hand.

On 16 December 2021, the employee was working an evening shift for at the company’s site in Burbage, Hinckley. The employee was trying to manually clean a sensor to initiate the movement of a conveyor belt, but as she did so, her hand was drawn into a gap where two conveyor belts meet.

An HSE investigation found that Johnsons Textile Services’ machinery featured inadequate guarding. The company did not have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for the machinery that caused the injury and health and safety management systems were inadequate.

Breach

Johnsons Textile Services Limited, of Logix Road, Burbage, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER):

• Regulation 11(1) requires every employer to ensure effective measures are taken to prevent access to any dangerous part of machinery or to any rotating stock-bar or stop the movement of any dangerous part of machinery or rotating stock-bar before any part of a person enters a danger zone.

Penalty

Johnsons Textile Services was fined £400,000 and was ordered to pay costs of £5,919.63.

Construction company fined after the serious head injury of a bricklayer

A construction company has been fined after a bricklayer fell through a stairwell opening and fractured his skull.

On 8 June 2020, the day of the accident, the man was working for 2 Counties Construction (Midlands) Ltd. The company had been hired as the principal contractor overseeing the refurbishment of agricultural barns in Telford into houses.

Working alongside another employee, the man was laying the blocks to form the gable walls for a two-storey extension. The pair set up a working platform using Youngman boards on the first floor of the property. As there was an unprotected stairwell opening in the property, one end of the Youngman boards was unsupported.

While leaning over to point up the blocks in the gable walls, the man lost his balance and fell onto the unsupported Youngman boards and through the stairwell opening. The man fell four-and-a-half metres onto the concrete floor below, fracturing his skull and damaging his facial nerve. The man was hospitalised for three days following the incident.

An HSE investigation identified a series of failings on the part of 2 Counties Construction (Midlands) Ltd. These failings included a lack of suitable controls for preventing falls into the building and through the stairwell openings. There was also inadequate planning, a lack of selection of equipment for working at height and inadequate site management arrangements.

Breach

2 Counties Construction (Midlands) Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015:

• Regulation 13(1) requires that principal contractors must plan, manage and monitor the construction phase and coordinate matters relating to health and safety to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, construction work is carried out without risks to health or safety.

Penalty

2 Counties Construction (Midlands) Ltd was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £4,139 in costs.

Companies receive six-figure fines after hospital staff were  violently attacked by patients

Two companies have been fined a combined total exceeding £400,000 after staff working at a South Wales mental health hospital were subjected to violent attacks by patients over a three year period.

The companies prosecuted pleaded guilty after failing to manage risks to care staff and patients from violence and aggression. The incidents occurred at Priory Hospital in Aberdare, which is a facility owned by Parkcare Homes (No.2) Limited that was a specialised institution for people with complex mental health, behavioural and learning issues. Priory Central Services Limited was responsible for the provision of training and equipment and the employment of staff at Aberdare.

Over a three year period between 2014 and 2017, there were incidents of violence and aggression towards both care staff and patients, resulting in serious injuries, including loss of consciousness and permanent scarring. Due to the frequency and severity of incidents, concerns were formally raised by senior management of the hospital in November 2016 to Priory Central Services Limited. Priory Central Services Limited failed to take prompt and appropriate action to rectify the deficiencies and incidents were allowed to continue.

Investigation and findings

An HSE investigation found there were no suitable and sufficient risk assessments carried out and the equipment and environment was not fit to diffuse violent situations. Staff were not provided with adequate information or training to cope with patients with aggressive traits. Staff were not given the appropriate personal protective equipment, including bite resistant clothing and personal safety alarms.

There were no post incident de-brief sessions with staff involved or even when individuals returned from sick following an injury. No investigations were carried out of incidents to establish what had happened to identify lessons learnt, despite repeated serious and significant injuries being caused.

Breaches

Parkcare Homes (No.2) Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:

• Section 2(1) requires employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees.
• Section 3(1) requires that employers ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons they do not employ who may be affected are not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

Priory Central Services Limited pleaded guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Penalties

Parkcare Homes (No.2) Limited was fined £363,000 and ordered to pay £43,656 in costs.

Priory Central Services Limited was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £21,828 in costs.