Collective failures led to death of worker; employer found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison
A County Durham man has been jailed and a Tyneside firm and one of its directors fined after a demolition worker fell to his death from a cherry picker that was knocked over by a falling roof beam.
Ken Joyce, 53, of Lanchester, County Durham, was working for Allan Turnbull, trading as A&H Site Line Boring and Machining, dismantling the structural steelwork of the roof of the Burning Hall at the Swan Hunter Shipyard in Wallsend, Newcastle.
Mr Joyce was working from one cherry picker while two colleagues were working from another cherry picker and a crane. They were dismantling the structure and were using a crane to lower the steel beams to the ground. While removing a beam brace connecting two plate girders, one of the plate girders struck the basket of the cherry picker in which Mr Joyce was standing, knocking the equipment over. Mr Joyce fell to the ground below and suffered serious head injuries. He was pronounced dead soon after.
A joint investigation carried out by Northumbria Police and the HSE established that North Eastern Maritime Offshore Cluster Ltd (NEMOC) had sub-contracted the dismantling work to Allan Turnbull.
The jury was told that NEMOC and its director Christopher William Taylor failed to ensure the safety of its employees and sub-contracted workers by neglecting to check that Mr Turnbull had the necessary competence to carry out the work.
Allan Turnbull had failed to adequately plan the work after identifying a lack of suitable and sufficient lifting plans to ensure a safe system of work was in place for the dismantling of the structural steelwork.
Allan Turnbull was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter and pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) by virtue of Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
NEMOC, which had been operating from the Swan Hunter Yard, was fined £1 for each offence after it was found guilty in absence of breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company is now in liquidation.
NEMOC director Christopher William Taylor, 51 was found guilty of breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) by virtue of Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was fined a total of £30,000 (£15,000 for each offence) and ordered to pay £50,000 costs.
Allan Turnbull had also prosecuted in November 2005 after an employee sustained serious leg injuries while dismantling a redundant brick manufacturing plant.
Three firms sentenced after man killed by rocketing gas cylinder
Crown House Technologies Ltd, Kidde Fire Protection Services Ltd and Kidde Products Ltd have been ordered to pay £685,787.31 in fines and costs for serious safety breaches after a plumber died and six other workers were seriously injured by a barrage of flying gas cylinders.
Adam Johnston, 38, from Sutton, Surrey, was struck by one of 66 heavy cylinders as they rocketed at speeds of up to 170 mph after one toppled over, discharged high-pressure gas, collided with others and set off a frightening chain reaction.
Mr Johnston, was walking with a colleague when he was struck by one of the argonite gas cylinders as they were propelled alarmingly around the building. He suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene.
Several other workers, including electricians working in the argonite store room, suffered injuries and long term effects resulting from the trauma of that day.
An HSE investigation found that Mr Johnston died as a result of a series of unsafe practices relating to the installation of fire suppression equipment at the new-build storage facility.
80 cylinders, nearly two metres high and each weighing 142 kg, were stored without their safety-critical protection caps and left without being properly secured in racks. Other trades involved in the construction project were also working next to these potentially unstable cylinders, unaware of the deadly risks involved.
One or more of these cylinders was de-stabilised and probably fell over, causing its unprotected valve to shear off near the cylinder neck. This released an uncontrolled jet of liquified argonite gas under high pressure [equivalent to some 300 bar] the force of which caused the cylinder to move, colliding with others. These, in turn, were also knocked over and sustained similar damage.
A chain reaction developed rapidly and for several minutes shocked and terrified workers desperately sought shelter as they endured a barrage of heavy cylinders rocketing around them. Some of the cylinders developed sufficient energy to penetrate walls and ceiling voids, travelling into more remote parts of the building.
Crown House Technologies Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 was fined £117,000 and ordered to pay costs of £119,393.65
Kidde Fire Protection Services Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 6 and 13(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and was fined £165,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £59,696.72.
Kidde Products Ltd, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £165,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £59,696.72.
The court was told that the three companies involved failed to recognise the significant risks involved in the project or to carry out an adequate risk assessment. The principal contractor and the main contractors failed to co-ordinate the scheduled work activities or to co-operate meaningfully in light of the risks. There had also been insufficient training and supervision.
Firms fined after worker is left paralysed by roof fall
A construction company and a roofing contractor have been fined after a worker was left paralysed from the waist down when he plunged four metres through a hole in a roof at a Swindon building site.
The worker fell through a waterproof membrane into the unguarded hole while working at the Marlborough Park development in the town on 31 August 2011.
The companies, Tego Roofing Ltd and principal contractor Wates Construction Ltd for safety failings relating to the incident.
The worker was carrying out metalwork prior to the installation of a vent on the roof of the new apartment block. The hole he plunged through was where the vent was to be placed. He fell four metres onto a concrete floor below, causing permanent injuries that have left him unable to walk and confined to a wheelchair.
Scaffolding under the hole inside the building had been removed because it was obstructing an emergency escape route, and that scaffolding planks had subsequently been placed over the hole instead. However, these planks were in turn removed to allow workmen to lay a waterproof membrane over the hole in preparation for the vent to be installed.
The court was told that the risk assessment and method statement for the work was unsuitable and insufficient because it failed to refer to the installation process for the vent. There was confusion about who the site supervisor was when the incident happened and, although the site manager had seen the roofers working near the hole, he did not stop the work or ensure the scaffolding boards were replaced.
Tego Roofing failed to provide adequate supervision or instruction to its employees while working on the roof, and also that workers failed to identify the risk or warn others, including the injured worker, of the hazard created by the removal of the boards covering the hole.
Construction company Wates failed to plan, manage and monitor the work and did not ensure there was a risk assessment in place.
Tego Roofing Ltd was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £9,460 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 13(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
Wates Construction Ltd was fined £18,000 with costs of £11,127 after also pleading guilty to a separate breach of the same regulations.
Firms fined for North Devon quarry blast damage
Frome-based WCD Sleeman and Sons Ltd, who organised the blast, and quarry operator Hanson Quarry Products Europe Ltd were both prosecuted after a quarry explosion sent rocks flying 200 metres into the air and onto a public road, causing damage to waiting cars.
The falling blast debris landed well outside of designated danger zone during the incident at Brayford Quarry in Brayford and narrowly avoided striking a workman who had halted traffic whilst the blasting took place.
The HSE identified serious control failings.
Two cars waiting in the queue on a nearby public road, were hit by flying rock, which dented the bonnet of one and a smashed the windscreen of the other. The HSE inspectors discovered an 8.5kg piece of rock on the other side of the road. Six other smaller pieces of rock were also recovered from the road.
A workman acting as a sentry on the road to manage traffic during the blasting heard the rocks coming through the trees and covered his head with his stop-go board and took cover next to a large van which was waiting on the road. The driver of the van saw pieces of rock pass over the workman.
WCD Sleeman and Sons Ltd was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £17,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Quarry operator Hanson Quarry Products Europe Ltd was fined £20,000 with £14,000 costs after pleading guilty to single a breach of the Quarries Regulations 1999.
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