Northern Irish Harbour Authority fined following the death of an employee
Warrenpoint Harbour Authority has been fined for causing the death of an employee and failing to ensure the safety of their employees.
On 18 July 2019, the worker was fatally injured after being struck by a loading shovel that was being operated by another employee in the dockyard area. On the afternoon of 18 July 2019, the man was assigned cleaning and tidying duties, including using a power washer in and around Berth 1. This was close to the travel route of two large loading shovels being used to transfer wood chip from one part of the berth to another area approximately 150 yards away. The worker was struck and run over by a 20 tonne loading shovel, suffering fatal injuries.
A subsequent HSENI and Police Service for Northern Ireland investigation revealed that workplace transport risks were not being adequately managed. There was an absence of clearly identified, segregated and physically protected routes for pedestrians to safely move about, placing pedestrians at risk of collisions with moving vehicles. At the time of the incident, the loading shovel was carrying two tonnes of wood chip in its 1.69 meter high shovel bucket.
Enforcement action was taken by inspectors following the incident to ensure steps were taken to allow pedestrians and vehicles to circulate in a safe manner around the Port.
Breaches
Warrenpoint Harbour Authority pleaded guilty to two health and safety offences, concerning breaches of Article 4(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000:
Penalty
Warrenpoint Harbour Authority was fined a total of £80,000 after earlier pleading guilty to two health and safety offences.
Fines for plastics manufacturer following fatal accident at their factory
A Derbyshire plastics conversion company has received a six-figure fine after an employee became trapped in an unguarded machine and suffered fatal injuries at their site in Langley Mill.
On 29 May 2020, an employee entered an opening in the side of a plastic conversion machine that permitted whole-body access to dangerous moving parts. The area contained several unguarded mechanisms. The man became trapped in the machine. Despite efforts by the emergency services, including cutting conveyor belts and rollers to free him, he died at the scene from crush asphyxia.
An HSE investigation found that Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for operation of the machine. Appropriate guarding was not in place to prevent access to dangerous parts and the company had no written safe systems of work or isolation procedures in place.
Breach
Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of 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
Reflex Flexible Packaging Ltd was fined £277,500 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs.
Suspended sentence for construction client following serious health and safety failings
A construction client has received a suspended prison sentence after a worker was found dead at a building site.
In December 2018, the Metropolitan Police discovered a man’s body at the site of a synagogue development in Hackney. Although the worker had died as a result of natural causes, four subsequent HSE inspections revealed multiple life-threatening safety failures.
The client was overseeing major structural work to enlarge the synagogue, but he repeatedly ignored warnings about dangerous practices. This included:
- workers operating on the roof beyond the protection of scaffolding edge barriers;
- large, unprotected holes in the ground floor creating fall risks into the basement below;
- a single unsecured ladder as the only access to the first floor, which didn’t extend far enough to provide a safe handhold; and
- construction waste dangerously stacked in the front garden.
Regulation 2 to the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 defines a client as “any person for whom a project is carried out.” HSE guidance states that commercial clients have a crucial influence over how projects are run, including the management of health and safety risks. Commercial clients must make suitable arrangements for managing their project, enabling those carrying it out to manage health and safety risks in a proportionate way.
Breach
The man pleaded guilty to breaching the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015.
Penalty
The man received a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for one year, and was ordered to pay £10,000 in costs.
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