Fines for company that exposed workers to flour dust
A bakery company based in East Yorkshire has been fined after employees suffered long term exposure to flour dust, a respiratory sensitiser.
The HSE found that between April 2002 and April 2016 employees had been consistently exposed to flour dust, presenting risks to their health. Some employees were medically diagnosed as suffering from occupational asthma.
An HSE investigation found there was no effective method of control in place to prevent the dust from becoming airborne and employees from being exposed to breathing it in.
Breach
Coopland & Son (Scarborough) Ltd pleaded guilty to v of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
- Section 2 (1) requires that every employer ensures, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees.
Penalty
Coopland & Son (Scarborough) Ltd was fined £159,080 and ordered to pay £4,594 in costs
Fines for NHS Trust fined after two employees stabbed
An NHS Foundation Trust in Kent has been after two nurses were repeatedly stabbed by a service user. The nurses suffered life-changing injuries.
On 17 July 2016 a health care assistant was preparing toasted sandwiches for the staff and some of the patients in the kitchen on the Burgess Ward of the Bracton Centre. The Bracton Centre is a medium secure forensic unit. He went to leave the kitchen to speak to a service user, leaving the knives on the work surface.
As the health care assistant opened the door, which had been locked from the inside, one of the service users who had been seen nearby pushed him back into the kitchen. The service user then grabbed a kitchen knife from the side and stabbed the assistant multiple times in the chest and stomach.
A psychiatric nurse who was also working on the ward saw what was happening and shouted for the attack to stop. The service user then went to attack him out on the corridor, allowing the health care assistant to lock the kitchen door. The psychiatric nurse was then stabbed multiple times.
The service user then went to his room and collected a lighter and some belongings. He came back out to the communal area and set a small fire. Armed police attended and arrested the service user.
Both employees were treated for multiple stab wounds and were air lifted to Kings Hospital, where they received blood transfusions and surgery to repair the damage caused by the attack.
The health care assistant was found to have suffered several stab wounds to his arms, abdomen and chest, causing serious internal damage which he needed several operations to repair. He remained in hospital till the 29 July 2016 and was able to return to work on a phased return.
The psychiatric was stabbed around 17 times, he also received emergency surgery to repair the internal damage caused and remained in hospital until 23 July 2016. He was unable to return to work until March 2017 and he has since had several periods off work due to the injuries.
Both nurses still suffer pain, medical problems and the psychological damage from the attacks. Two other members of staff who, for their own safety, had to hide on the ward and witness the attacks on their colleagues have suffered both emotional and psychological damage.
An HSE investigation found that although the Bracton Centre routinely received high-risk patients, at the time of this incident there was no patient specific risk assessment identifying the risks posed by a patient and the measures required to control those risks prior to admission.
The investigation also found that the use of knives on an acute ward was fundamentally unsafe. Staff were entering and exiting the kitchen area several times whilst knives were in use and there were no instructions or control measures in place regarding kitchen knives. Following the incident all knives were removed from the acute wards.
Breaches
NHS Oxleas Foundation Trust pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
- Section 3(1) requires that employers conduct their activities in a manner to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons they do not employ are not exposed to risks to their health or safety.
Penalty
NHS Oxleas Foundation Trust was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs of £28,000.
Local authority in Essex fined after a member of the public contracts Legionnaires’ disease
Tendring District Council has been fined after a member of public contracted Legionnaires’ Disease. The member of the public had been a regular user of the council’s leisure centre facilities.
The court heard how the member of public frequently used the showers at Walton Lifestyles. In November 2016 he fell seriously ill and was taken to hospital where he remained for 18 days. He was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease, sepsis, pneumonia and chronic kidney failure.
Water samples taken from the men’s shower tested positive for the legionella bacteria. An HSE investigation found that the Council had failed to adequately manage the water systems at a number of leisure centres in the district.
Significant failings identified included not having suitable and sufficient Legionella risk assessments for the leisure facilities and not providing adequate control measures required for Legionella control. Staff were not adequately trained and a lack of monitoring meant these failings went unnoticed for several months.
Breach
Tendring District Council pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Penalty
Tendring District Council was fined £27,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,500.
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