New publications this month:

HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE (HSE) AND INTERNATIONAL POWERED ACCESS FEDERATION (IPAF)

Safe methods of isolation of platform controls on mobile elevating work platforms

IPAF and the HSE have developed new guidance on safely isolating platform controls on Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs).

HSE

Using nitrous oxide (gas and air) safely in maternity units

This new guidance was published in October 2024.

New registered building control approver guidance

The following guidance was published on the registered building control approver regime during October 2024:

• Registered building inspectors: professional misconduct and criminal offences
• Submitting operational standards rules data
• Building control bodies: contraventions and criminal offences

MINISTRY OF HOUSING, COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Updated guidance supporting the Building Safety Act 2022

Higher-risk buildings are defined as buildings with at least two residential units, care homes, and hospitals which are at least 18 metres in height or have at least 7 storeys.

A recent tribunal judgement concluded that roof gardens should be classified as a storey for the purposes of determining whether a building is a higher-risk building. The following guidance has been updated to reflect this tribunal judgement:

• Criteria for determining whether an existing building is a higher-risk building during building work
• Criteria for determining whether a new building that is being designed and constructed is a "higher-risk building"
• Criteria for determining whether a building is a higher-risk building during the occupation phase of the new higher-risk regime

WELSH GOVERNMENT

Building regulations guidance: part J (heat producing appliances)

Approved Document J, which concerns requirements on heat producing appliances under the Building Regulations, has been updated. The amendments will come into force on 6 January 2025.

The revised requirements concern the provision of carbon monoxide alarms where flued fixed combustion appliances of any fuel type are installed.

MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY (MCA)

The following notes and notices relevant to occupational health and safety were published or updated in October 2024:

• MGN 428 (M+F) Amendment 3 artificial optical radiation regs 2010
• MGN 578 (M) Amendment 2 use of overside working systems on commercial yachts, small commercial vessels and loadline vessels
• MGN 592 (M+F) Amendment 2 anchoring, mooring, towing or hauling equipment
• MGN 659 (M+F) Amendment 2 (entry into enclosed spaces)
• MGN 669 (M+F) Amendment 2 (Asbestos) regulations 2010
• MGN 703: Information concerning the training and competence of Remote Operators working with Remotely Operated Unmanned Vessels (ROUVs), certified under the Workboat Code Edition 3
• Domestic Safety Management code: Instructions for surveyors (MSIS29)
• Safety Bulletin 35 – Lithium storage solutions Ltd – lithium safety store
• Offshore renewable energy installations (OREI) Amendment 1

Company fined after an employee suffered severe head injuries

A company has been fined after an employee sustained a fractured skull.

On 19 October 2022, the worker had been removing cattle from the back of a lorry at Grayshill Limited’s site in Glasgow when a telehandler bucket became detached and struck him. In addition to a fractured skull, the worker sustained a broken clavicle, a ripped earlobe and haematomas down his right side.

An HSE investigation found that Grayshill Limited had failed to implement a safe system of work for the use of quick hitches on the telehandler. A quick hitch is a latching device that enables, in this case, the bucket, to be connected to the arm of the telehandler and changed quickly. A manual quick hitch requires an operator to manually insert a metal pin from the latching device to secure the attachment.

On the morning of 19 October 2022, a self-employed agricultural engineer had serviced the telehandler, which included removing the bucket but the engineer did not correctly reattach it onto the telehandler after the service was complete. The securing pin for the quick hitch had not been reinserted.

Breach

Grayshill Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1), Section 2(2)(a) and Section 33(1)(a) to the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974:

• Section 2(1) applies a duty on every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees.
• Section 2(2)(a) states that the duty under Section 2(1) specifically concerns the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health.
• Section 33(1)(a) makes it an offence to fail to discharge duties under Sections 2 through 7.

Penalty

Grayshill Limited was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £6,000.

Metal recycling firm receives six-figure fine following an HSE inspection

ASM Metal Recycling received a large fine after the HSE identified major safety failings at its site in Aylesbury.

On 3 and 8 August 2023, an HSE inspector attended the Aylesbury premises. The inspector observed dangerous working practices, including a failure to segregate moving vehicles from pedestrians as waste was being manually sorted.

Videos taken during the inspection show three pedestrian workers wearing yellow hi-vis sleeveless jackets, sorting waste in the yard close to three 360 grab excavators operating behind them.  As they continue to hand-sort the waste, an HGV skip lorry pulls forwards and reverses towards and past them.  At this point, two of the workers had their backs towards the reversing HGV. The footage shows there were no measures, such as barriers, to prevent the reversing vehicle striking the workers.

A subsequent HSE investigation identified that ASM Metal Recycling Ltd had previously identified the risks of pedestrian-vehicle collision but had failed to implement effective control measures to prevent this.

The HSE had previously served enforcement notices on ASM Metal Recycling Ltd in 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2018.  The HSE also submitted Notification of Contravention letters to the company in 2021 and 2023.

Breach

ASM Metal Recycling Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Penalty

ASM Metal Recycling Ltd was fined £650,000 and ordered to pay £5,885 in costs.

Yorkshire cosmetics company fined for electrical safety failings

Sabel Cosmetics Limited has been fined after an HSE inspection found serious electrical failings.

On 5 July 2022, the HSE carried out an unannounced inspection at Sabel Cosmetics Limited’s premises in Halifax. This inspection uncovered electrical deficiencies that posed serious risks of electric shock and electrocution to workers.

A subsequent HSE investigation found there was a systemic failure within the company to address the risks identified with the electrical systems. The inadequate construction and maintenance of the electrical system at the premises presented an immediate risk of employees coming into direct contact with exposed live parts on equipment and machinery within the company premises. The company allowed the breaches to subsist over a long period of time.

Breach

Sabel Cosmetics Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989:

•  Regulation 4(1) requires all systems to be of such construction to prevent, so are as is reasonably practicable, danger at all times.

Penalty

Sabel Cosmetics Ltd was fined £56,695 and ordered to pay £5,949 in costs.