Tyre manufacturer fined after engineer injury
Three companies have been fined after a lift truck engineer was seriously injured while working at a factory in Carlisle.
On 14 November 2019, the man was forklift truck that was parked up against a stack of waste tyres on a stillage. Two metal skips were positioned on top of the stack. To work on the truck, the engineer moved the vehicle a short distance away from the stack. As he then walked to the front of the truck, which was leased by International Rubber and Tyre Recycling Limited, both skips fell from the stack and trapped him against the floor. The man sustained fractures to his back and leg.
An HSE investigation found the skips were routinely placed on the tyres so they will be reduced in size prior to them being transported off site. The truck was positioned to stabilise the skips. This improvised working method was approved by Pirelli and carried out by workers at International Rubber and Tyre Recycling Limited and DCS Multiserve Limited. There had been no effective control over access to the truck and the ignition key was routinely left in the cab. There was a lack of clarity over which contractor was responsible for this activity and as a result, no risk assessment had been made and no safe system of work existed.
Breaches
Pirelli Tyres Limited and International Rubber and Tyre Recycling Limited both pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Regulation 11(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999:
- Section 3(1) requires employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons who are not employees who may be affected are not exposed to risks to their health and safety.
- Regulation 11(1) requires employers sharing a workplace to cooperate and coordinate with other employers to comply with their statutory duties and to inform other employers of risks to health and safety.
DCS Multiserve Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Penalties
Pirelli Tyres Limited was fined £280,000 and ordered to pay £4,703.43 in costs.
International Rubber and Tyre Recycling Limited was fined £9,000 and ordered to pay £4,566.13 in costs.
DCS Multiserve Limited was fined £2,600 and ordered to pay £15,000 in costs.
Lincolnshire waste management company fined after a worker suffered electrical burns
New Earth Solutions (West) Limited, which trades as Mid UK Recycling, has been fined after a worker came into contact with a live electrical conductor.
On 14 July 2021, the worker was moving heavy duty electrical cables with a metal crowbar on a mobile elevating working platform. During this task, the bar came into contact with the live conductor, causing an electrical explosion. As well as suffering serious burns, the explosion caused the man to fall from the platform and sustain a broken left arm, fractured ribs and a dislocated kneecap.
An HSE investigation found the task was not part of the normal workload for the injured worker and that he had not received any training regarding undertaking electrical work. The task had not been properly planned nor risk assessed, and the electrical cables were not isolated before work began. In addition, the level of supervision provided was inadequate and safety devices on the electrical supply had been set inappropriately, prioritising continuity of supply over safety of the electrical circuit.
Breach
New Earth Solutions (West) Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Penalty
New Earth Solutions (West) Limited was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £12,466.60 in costs.
Sentences imposed for individuals and company after a person was thrown from a fairground ride
Three individuals and a company have been sentenced after a mother was catapulted from a fairground ride in London.
On 10 April 2018, the woman went on the Xcelerator ride at the Funderpark funfair in Yiewsley. The woman was not suitably restrained in her seat. As the ride picked up speed, she screamed for help and clung on for some time before being ejected. She hit the barrier of the next ride and landed on the ground.
The woman spent the next few weeks in a coma and four months in hospital as a result of her injuries. Her family continues to provide her with the support she needs after suffering multiple fractures to her back, hips, pelvis, ribs, both collarbones as well as internal bleeding and a significant head injury.
An HSE investigation found the ride’s seat restraint system was designed with electrical and mechanical failings by the manufacturer, Perrin Stevens Limited. The ride control system was set up in such a way that it would not have detected all failures. The ride owner had failed to properly maintain the ride, which was in part due to Perrin Stevens’ operator manual lacking information on inspection and maintenance of the seat restraint system.
The HSE also found on the day of the incident the ride operator had no attendant assisting them, despite the operations manual requiring a minimum of two people to operate and monitor the ride. Crucially, the operator did not check each rider’s restraint bar as they should have before starting the ride and did not notice that the woman required assistance and stopped the ride.
DMG Technical Ltd was the appointed inspection body and had overall control of the in-service annual inspection of the ride and responsibility for issuing the declaration of the operation compliance (DOC). A director at DMG Technical Ltd completed the annual inspection in 2017 and did not identify any failed switches or maintenance concerns. The man completed initial tests and signed off the ride for use in 2013. He also completed the required Design Review of the ride but failed to identify the electrical and mechanical design failings. The ride had been in use for a number of months before the design review was signed off.
Breaches
A director of Perrin Stevens Ltd (dissolved) pleaded guilty that their offence under Section 6(1)(a) and Section 6(1a)(d) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 was attributable to his consent, connivance and/or neglect, whereby he was guilty of an offence contrary to Section 33(1)(a) by virtue of Section 37(1) of the Act.
- Section 6(1)(a) requires designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of articles including fairground equipment to ensure, so as far is reasonably practicable, the article is so designed and constructed that it will be safe and without risks to heath during use, cleaning, setting or maintenance.
- Section 6(1a)(d) requires designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of articles including fairground equipment to take steps necessary to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons are supplied with revised information necessary should it become known that anything gives rise to a serious risk to health or safety.
The ride owner pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
- Section 3(2) makes it the duty of every self-employed person to conduct undertakings in such a way to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that they and other persons (who are not their employees) are not expose to risks to health and safety.
DMG Technical Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
A director of DMG Technical Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. He also pleaded guilty that this office was attributable to his consent, connivance and/or neglect, whereby he was guilty of an offence contrary to Section 33(1)(a) by virtue of Section 37(1) of the Act.
Penalties
The director of Perrin Stevens Ltd (dissolved) was handed a custodial sentence of 32 weeks, suspended for 18 months, ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £11,444 in costs.
The ride owner was given a custodial sentence of 18 weeks, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay £4,800 in costs.
DMG Technical Ltd was fined £51,000 and ordered to pay £30,000 in costs.
The director of DMG Technical Ltd was handed a custodial sentence of 44 weeks, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay £24,000 in costs.
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