Global firms sentenced after worker killed
Two global companies have been sentenced after a worker was killed and another seriously injured during construction of an offshore wind farm. The incident happened when a team of engineers were loading wind turbine blades onto a sea barge for delivery to Greater Gabbard, off the Suffolk coast, on 21 May 2010.
During the loading of wind turbine components at Pakeston Quay, Harwich, a 2.11 tonne part of the blade transport arrangement fell off, crushing and fatally injuring one worker and seriously injuring another.
The injured man, Frank Kroeger, was airlifted to Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge where he was resuscitated twice. He suffered a ruptured spleen, lacerations to his liver, a collapsed lung collapsing, multiple rib fractures on his left side, and significant crush injuries to his right arm and hand, with nerve damage to his thumb and fingers.
His injuries were life-changing and required almost three weeks in hospital in the UK, followed by a long period of rehabilitation and treatment near his home in Germany.
The family of the fatally-injured man have asked that his name not be released.
The investigation carried out by HSE found serious safety failings in the two firms’ management systems for the loading operation, which allowed vital parts of equipment to go unchecked before being lifted.
Following a four-week trial in July, prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Fluor Ltd was found guilty of breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was today ordered to pay £275,000 in fines and £271,048 costs.
Siemens Windpower A/S (SWP) were charged with the same offence and also a Section 2 (1) breach of the same act, but pleaded guilty at an earlier stage. They were also sentenced today and ordered to pay £375,000 in fines with costs of £105,355.
Builder fined for unsafe gas work
A builder has been fined for safety failings after he undertook work on gas appliances while not Gas Safe registered.
Redhill Magistrates’ Court heard how Allan Mainwaring, 49, from Kent carried out building work at a house in Ashtead, Surrey between April 2014 and February 2015. This work included the installation of a new boiler, moving the location of a gas cooker and associated gas pipework.
Mainwaring undertook the work, but the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuting, told the court he was not registered with the industry body, Gas Safe.
Allan Mainwaring, of Mount Pleasant Road, Dartford, Kent, pleaded guilty to Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, at Redhill Magistrates Court today.
Sentence after man dies in industrial blender
A pellet manufacturing company based in Mansfield has been fined after an employee was killed when he was pulled into an industrial blender.
51-year-old George Major, a father of one from Mansfield was clearing material from the blender at Rettenmaier UK Manufacturing Limited, a pellet manufacturer based in Mansfield, when it unexpectedly started up.
The subsequent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the 21 January 2011 incident found the guard had been removed from the machine and it had not been isolated and locked off from the electricity supply.
Nottingham Crown Court heard the blender was part of a process line in which shredded recycled paper was mixed with bitumen and oil before being pressed into pellets, dried and bagged. The pellets were then used to reinforce asphalt mixes for use in road surfaces.
The court was also told the production line was installed on a number of floors of the Crown Farm Industrial Estate building, and was computer controlled with control screens on two floors.
However, there was no computer control screen on the same floor as the blender with the control screen in use at the time of the accident on the floor below. There was no line of sight from this control screen to the blender. It was also pointed out in court that when the line was running, the factory was noisy.
Investigators found on the day of the incident Mr Major had been helping to clear a blockage from machinery when he was dragged into the blender and killed.
The court heard there was no written system of work or instructions for isolation and no instruction to lock off isolators. There were no manuals or written instructions for operating plant. There was no proper training for staff. There were no risk assessments for any work on the plant.
Rettenmaier UK Manufacturing Limited, of Strawberry Way, Crown Farm Industrial Estate, Forest Town Mansfield, admitted breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and was fined £200,000 with costs of £100,000.
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