Construction firm fined for failing to control vibration risks to employees
Two partners in a construction firm have been fined for failing to adequately control the risk to its employees from exposure to vibration when using vibrating tools.
Employees at various construction sites were found to have been using vibrating tools without adequate control. As a result, an employee who had been working at the company for 12 years suffered significant ill-health from hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
An HSE investigation found that on or before the 15 January 2020 the company failed to adequately assess the risk to employees from exposure to vibration. The company did not have appropriate measures to control exposure or place employees under suitable health surveillance to monitor their condition.
Breaches
The two partners pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6(1) and Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Vibration Regulations 2005:
- Regulation 6(1) requires that employers ensure that risk from the exposure of employees to vibration is either eliminated at source or, where this is not reasonably practicable, reduced to as low a level as is reasonably practicable.
- Regulation 7(1) requires that employees are placed under suitable health surveillance, where a risk assessment indicates that there is a risk to the health of his employees who are, or are liable to be, exposed to vibration; or employees are likely to be exposed to vibration at or above an exposure action value.
Penalty
The partners were each fined £1,150 and ordered to pay costs of £3,500.
Companies and employees sentenced after 18-year-old worker’s death
Two companies and two people have been sentenced after an 18-year-old construction worker was fatally injured while working on a house-build construction site in Lincolnshire.
In July 2018 the 18-year-old and another worker, both employed by the same contractor, had been tasked with clearing debris from manholes at a residential construction site in Boston.
While work was taking place, the 18-year old’s colleague was asked if he could move the works van to allow another vehicle to pass. However, he was not aware that 18-year-old was lying on the road with his head and torso in a manhole, directly in front of the van.
As the vehicle moved forwards one of the wheels entered the top of the manhole contacting the employee. The 18-year-old employee was taken to hospital but later died as a result of serious crush injuries.
An HSE investigation found that neither the Principal Contractor nor the groundworks sub-contractor, had ensured that the work was planned in such a way to ensure that workers were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.
A manager, who had worked for groundworks sub-contractor for approximately 10 years, sent employees to carry out the task without a risk assessment or method statement in place despite having previously produced this information.
In addition, workers had not been trained to work in a road, were not provided with any equipment to ensure the work was carried out safely and had not been provided with any instruction on any safety measures to be used at the site.
The manager of the workers did not carry out a site induction for the 18-year-old and failed to carry out suitable checks to ensure the workers had the relevant training. The manager also failed to ensure there was a suitable safe system of work in place of whether there were adequate control measures.
Breaches
The Principal Contractor was found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
- 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.
The groundworks sub-contractor was found guilty of breaching Section 2(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.
The two people were found guilty of breaching Section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
- Section 7(a) requires employees to take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work.
Penalties
The Principal Contractor was fined £00,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1 £15,765.92
The groundworks sub-contractor was fined £24,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,264.87.
One person was sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years, ordered to complete 200 hours of community service and to pay costs of £1,200.
The other person was to eight weeks imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to pay costs of £1,200.
Roofing contractor fined after fatal fall of worker
A roofing contractor has been fined after an employee fell from a roof ladder and died at the scene.
In May 2021, roof replacement work was being carried out on a domestic property in Burnley. On the final day on site, an employee was climbing a triple extending access ladder on the roof to reach scaffolding at eaves level, whilst carrying a pile of slates on their shoulder. They slipped and fell to the ground, sustaining fatal injuries.
An HSE investigation found that the interlocking sections of the ladder did not allow for three points of contact to be maintained, especially when a load was being carried. A single pole access ladder would have enabled this.
The employee had also been wearing loose fitting footwear, which had not allowed for a firm foothold. There was no safe means of transporting materials to the roof, such as a gin wheel and bucket, which would have avoided the need for carrying loads via the ladder. Had these measures been taken, proper contact could have been maintained and the incident avoided.
The HSE investigation also found that the contractor did not have any employer’s liability insurance in place to protect workers.
Breaches
The contractor pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and Section 1(1) of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969:
- Regulation 4(1) requires that employers ensure work at height is properly planned, appropriately supervised and carried out in a manner which is so far as is reasonably practicable safe.
- Section 1(1) requires that except as otherwise provided by this Act, every employer carrying on any business in Great Britain shall insure, and maintain insurance, under one or more approved policies with an authorised insurer or insurers against liability for bodily injury or disease sustained by his employees and arising out of and in the course of their employment in Great Britain in that business, but except in so far as regulations otherwise provide not including injury or disease suffered or contracted outside Great Britain.
Penalty
The contractor was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay costs of £3,600.
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