Steel company fined after worker fatality
An Essex-based steel company has been fined after a worker was fatally injured by falling steelwork.
On 4 April 2019, a man visited PCR Steel Ltd at their premises in Essex to collect a load. He was performing an unplanned lifting operation, loading a metal balcony base frame onto a flatbed trailer, when an incident occurred. The load was not properly secured to a telehandler and a balcony frame weighing approximately 400kg fell and crushed the 47-year-old man, who had been standing on the back of the trailer bed.
An HSE investigation found the company failed to ensure that the lifting operation was properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised, and carried out in a safe manner. There was no lift plan for the manoeuvring of balcony frames that could have considered the load’s security, size and weight. There was no plan for how the load would be set down, nor for how to exclude people from the danger zone.
Breaches
PCR Steel Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 and Section 3(1) of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974:
Penalty
PCR Steel Ltd was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,900.
Fines for Director of construction company after sub-contractor suffers serious injuries
The director of a construction company has been fined after a sub-contractor suffered serious injuries when a stack of plasterboards fell on him at a site in Surrey.
On 12 April 2019 sub-contractors were moving sheets of plasterboard weighing 32kg each from the ground floor to the second floor of a house undergoing refurbishment. As there was no staircase in place, they were stacking the plasterboard against an unsecured ladder and sliding them up to the floor above.
During the process of sliding the plasterboards, the boards fell on the worker, fracturing his pelvis.
An HSE investigation found there was no safe system of work in place and workers were not adequately supervised. The stairwell openings were not guarded. The openings were partially spanned with scaffold boards resting on insecure scaffold poles, creating a significant fall risk.
Breach
The director pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974.
- Section 37 makes any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate liable for offences committed by the organisation, where this could be attributed to any neglect by these persons.
Penalty
The director was sentenced to 20 weeks in custody suspended for 12 months, fined £3,400 and ordered to pay costs of £600.
Company and Director fined after workers fall from height
A roofing supplies firm and its director have been fined after two workers fell from a tower scaffold, sustaining serious injuries.
On 27 November 2018 two employees had been working with the sole director of the company to install signage at retail premises in Prestwich. A tower scaffold was being used to carry out the work. During the afternoon, when the director was no longer on site, the tower scaffold moved away from the building and the two employees fell approximately two metres, suffering fractures to their legs and ankles.
An HSE investigation found that the tower scaffold had not been erected by someone with suitable training. The scaffold was missing guard rails and no outriggers in place at the time of the incident.
Although the injuries were notifiable, the company also failed to report the incident as required by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).
Breaches
Rooffabs Direct Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Regulation 3(1) of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Regulations 2013. The director also pleaded guilty under Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974 to the breaches of the above legislation.
Penalties
Rooffabs Direct Limited was fined £20,000.
The director was ordered to complete 100 hours community service, pay compensation orders of £500 each for the two injured persons and was ordered to pay costs of £1,000.
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