Fines after woman fatally crushed by a roller shutter door
An electrical company in Cambridgeshire has been fined after a woman died when operating a roller shutter door.
On 14 August 2016 the woman pressed the button to open the roller shutter door at Ruth Bagnall Court, Cambridge. She held on the grille as it raised and became trapped as it wound around the roller. This lead to fatal crushing injuries.
An HSE investigation found that safety sensors at the top of the door had not been wired correctly. As a result, these did no longer function as the door opened.
An electrical contractor had worked on the roller shutter door since 2012. The company had also inspected the door a month before the incident. The company had failed to check the operation of the safety sensors and had not identified the fault.
Breach
B.S. Graves (Electrical) Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 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
B.S. Graves (Electrical) Limited and was fined £25,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,500.
Principal contractor receives large fines after worker hit by a load on construction site
A construction company has been fined after a worker was injured when they were hit on the head by a large expanded polystyrene block.
On 20 January 2017 workers were constructing a piling platform at Redhill Station in Surrey. This platform was being constructed from expanded polystyrene blocks when one of the blocks slipped from an excavator bucket while being lowered into place. The block hit the worker on the head. The worker suffered three fractured vertebrae, is still suffering the effects of the injury and is likely to be on pain medication for the foreseeable future.
An HSE investigation found that appropriate lifting accessories had not been used during the lifting operation. Instead, the load had simply been trapped by the bucked against the dipping arm of the excavator.
Breach
Bam Nuttall Limited pleaded guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
- Section 2(1) makes it the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees.
Penalty
Bam Nuttall Limited was fined £833,333.33, plus ordered to pay full costs of £5,478.22, as well as the victim surcharge of £170.
Company sentenced for exposing employees to silica dust
A stone masonry company in Lancashire has been fined after it was found it had not adequately controlled exposure to silica dust.
The court heard that prior to 2017, employees of the company in Accrington had carried out work resulting in exposure to respirable silica dust. An employee developed silicosis.
An HSE investigation found that GO Stonemasonry Limited had been cutting and working with stone for several years without suitable and sufficient dust extraction. The company had failed to ensure that respiratory protective equipment provided to employees adequately controlled inhalation exposure to respirable silica dust.
The HSE also found that the company did not have appropriate work processes, systems or control measures and no health surveillance to identify any early signs of effects on workers’ health.
Breach
GO Stonemasonry Limited, of Turkey Red Industrial Estate, Baxenden, Accrington, pleaded guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Penalty
GO Stonemasonry Limited was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,000.
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