Fines after worker’s legs were trapped in a machine
A hydraulic hose and fitting company has been fined after a worker was trapped in a machine at a customer’s premises.
On 26 July 2023, an engineer was carrying out fault-finding on a customer’s laser-cutting machine. During the investigation, the cutting bed of the machine dropped and trapped both of his legs. After spending five weeks in hospital, the man had to have his right leg amputated above the knee. Despite extensive surgery to save his left leg, the man faces the possibility of having it amputated in the future.
An HSE investigation found that Pearson Hydraulics Ltd did not have a safe system of work in place for maintenance activities by its engineers at customer premises. The company failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the work to be undertaken and failed to monitor and supervise the engineer's work.
The investigation also identified that the worker had not been adequately trained by his employer and that his knowledge of hydraulic systems on laser-cutting machinery was inadequate, preventing him from carrying out the work safely.
HSE guidance stresses that it is important these work situations are properly assessed. Workers carrying out maintenance activities may need to undertake significant regular risk assessment (as the situation may develop and change in ways that could not be foreseen at the outset).
Breach
Pearson Hydraulics Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) 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.
Penalty
Pearson Hydraulics Ltd was fined £96,333 and ordered to pay £10,701 in costs.
Scaffolding services company fined for unsafe scaffolding
A.I.M Access Solutions Ltd has been fined for failing to assemble safe scaffolding on a block of flats in Merseyside.
In May 2021, the HSE identified serious issues with the construction of the scaffold. The assembly instructions had not been followed while the scaffold tower was being built. No ladder was used to access the scaffold. Instead, workers climbed the rungs of the scaffold itself.
The HSE has published guidance on tower scaffolds. The HSE also states that incidents occur associated with this access equipment and are mainly caused by:
- Defects in the erected scaffold: where the tower structure is incorrectly assembled or where a platform guardrail is missing; or
- Erection and dismantling: The manufacturer, supplier or hirer has a duty to provide an instruction manual explaining the erection sequence, including any bracing requirements and the height to which the tower can be erected safely. This information must be passed on to the person erecting the tower.
The HSE investigation was prompted after the regulator was notified of the death of an A.I.M Access Solutions Ltd employee in May 2021. The prosecution of A.I.M Access Solutions Ltd was not brought on the grounds that the incident was causative of this employee’s death.
Breach
A.I.M Access Solutions Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) to the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Penalty
A.I.M Access Solutions Ltd was fined £30,800 and ordered to pay £5,040.75 in costs.
Company and director fined after excavation collapse
A company and its director have been fined after a man was injured during excavation work in West Sussex.
On 23 February 2023, the company was undertaking a full barn conversion, which included the installation of a new septic tank. To install the tank, workers had to dig an excavation approximately three metres deep. Three men had been tasked with doing the work.
The three men were in the hole, preparing to install a concrete base for the septic tank to sit on, when the walls collapsed. One of the men was struck by falling soil, which resulted in multiple bone fractures and required him to be dug out.
An HSE investigation found that no precautions had been taken to prevent the collapse of the excavation, yet the men were expected to work in it.
HSE guidance advises that all work of this nature should be correctly planned, including whether any temporary support structures should be used. This may also include battering the excavation sides to make it safer.
Breaches
JHE Construction Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 22(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015:
- Regulation 22(1) requires all practicable steps to be taken to prevent danger to any person, including where necessary, the provision of supports or battering, to ensure that:
- no excavation or part of excavation collapses;
- No materials forming the walls or roof of, or adjacent to, any excavation is dislodged or falls; and
- no person is buried or trapped in an excavation by material which is dislodged or falls.
The company director also pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 22(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.
Penalties
JHE Construction Limited was fined £16,000 and ordered to pay £2,612 in costs.
The director was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs.
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