Turkey: Coal mine blast kills nineteen
Nineteen miners have been killed in a suspected methane gas explosion at a coal mine in western Turkey. The 10 December explosion happened at a depth of more than 200m (700 feet), causing a shaft to collapse and starting a fire. ICEM news briefing • Today’s Zaman • BBC News Online • Risks 437 Hazards news,
19 December 2009
Britain: Company ignored asbestos warnings
A company has been fined for failing to carry out proper risk assessments for the presence of asbestos before a major office refurbishment in Merthyr Tydfil. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says Waxport Ltd put employees and contractors at risk when work started on the refurbishment without an asbestos survey. HSE news release and Hidden killer campaign • Local London • Risks 437 Hazards news,
19 December 2009
Britain: Six figure payout for injury HSE wouldn’t probe
An electrical engineer who had his left leg amputated below the knee after falling from a ladder in Rotherham has been awarded £450,000 in compensation. Keith Waring fell 13ft off the ladder on to a block paved patio, seriously injuring his left ankle- the case led to criticism of the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) role, after Hazards revealed HSE had been informed of the September 2002 incident, but had refused to investigate because it was not considered serious enough. Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • Yorkshire Post • Sheffield Star • Risks 437 Hazards news,
19 December 2009
Britain: Firm’s ‘relaxed attitude’ led to death
An organic farm owned by the wife of the multi-millionaire owner of JCB and top Tory backer Sir Anthony Bamford was ordered to pay more than £90,000 last week after one of its employees died because of a relaxed attitude to safety. Gardener Tony Cripps, 57, was crushed under a JCB while he tried to collect elderflower from the Daylesford Organic farm shop to make lemonade for the owner Carole Bamford. HSE news release • BBC News Online • The Telegraph • The Independent • Risks 437 Hazards news,
19 December 2009
Britain: Manslaughter verdicts on firefighter deaths
A fireworks factory owner and his son have been convicted of the manslaughter of two firefighters killed in an explosion at the East Sussex site. Alfa Fireworks owner Martin Winter, 52, and his son Nathan, 25, were “grossly negligent”, Lewes crown court heard, and were sentenced to seven and five years in jail respectively. BBC News Online • The Telegraph • The Guardian • Sussex Express • Daily Mirror • Risks 437 Hazards news,
19 December 2009
Britain: £150,000 fine for Preston chemical fire
An international waste management company has been fined £150,000 for health and safety breaches following a major chemical fire in Preston which closed two motorways. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Veolia ES Cleanaway (UK) Ltd after carrying out a joint 15-month investigation with the Environment Agency and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service. HSE news release and fire and explosion webpages • Central Radio • Risks 437 Hazards news,
19 December 2009
Britain: Injury exposed catalogue of offences
A printing company and two of its directors have been prosecuted after an investigation into a worker's injury exposed a series of health and safety breaches at its Bedfordshire site. The legal action against Flitwick firm Colpac Ltd and two of its directors, Terry Langton and Stephen Burton, was brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). HSE news release and print industry webpage • Risks 437 Hazards news,
19 December 2009
Britain: Union calls for urgent work death inquiry
Construction union UCATT has called for an urgent inquiry following the death of a worker in Hull last week. Raymond Jessop 53, died on 8 December after falling from a ladder while painting a council property in the city. UCATT news release • Risks 437 Hazards news,
19 December 2009
Britain: Directors’ duties are overdue, says TUC
The TUC says the case for legally-binding safety duties on company directors is watertight, adding they would be “the biggest driver yet in changing boardroom attitudes towards health and safety.” The union body says the current law “means that if a board of directors refuses to have any involvement in health and safety, however bad the record of the company, there is almost nothing that can be done to force them to take responsibility beyond disqualification (which is almost never done).” TUC directors’ duties briefing document • Risks 437 Hazards news,
19 December 2009
USA: Worker killed at enforcement opt-out site
A worker was killed last week at a US plant exempted from safety inspections by the official safety watchdog because it has opted in to a ‘Voluntary Protection Programme (VPP).” Tommy Manis, 40, was killed and two other workers were injured at Valero Energy’s Texas City refinery. The Pump Handle • Houston Chronicle • Risks 436 Hazards news,
12 December 2009
Britain: Sellafield fined after radiation exposures
The company that runs the Sellafield decommissioning operation has been fined £75,000 and ordered to pay £26,100 in costs after two contract workers inhaled radioactive material. The prosecution followed an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into an incident on 11 July 2007 at the Sellafield Nuclear Licensed Site in Cumbria. HSE news release • Construction News • Risks 436 Hazards news,
12 December 2009
Britain: Vehicle repair firm fined after death
A commercial vehicle repair centre in Kettering has been fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £25,000 costs after an employee was crushed to death underneath a 24-tonne lorry. FW Abbott Ltd pleaded guilty at Northampton Crown Court to health and safety breaches which led to the death of Martin John Carswell, 47. HSE news release and motor vehicle repair webpages • Risks 436 Hazards news,
12 December 2009
Australia: Deaths go through the roof
A series of deaths in young workers installing insulation to make homes “greener” has led to a government clampdown on dangerous contractors. The Australian government’s Energy Efficient Homes Package has been dogged by safety concerns since the rebate began in July, with accusations of inexperienced and unscrupulous operators rushing to cash in on the scheme. ACTU news release • Green jobs blog • Risk 435 Hazards news,
5 December 2009
Britain: Firm fined after lung disease outbreak
A Yorkshire company has been fined £20,000 after an outbreak of lung disease caused by metalworking fluids. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors described the case as “shocking”, after Barnsley Magistrates Court heard the entire 380-strong workforce at Koyo Bearings (Europe) Ltd was exposed to a hazardous mist during everyday operations. HSE news release • Yorkshire Post • Risk 435 Hazards news,
5 December 2009
Britain: Government lab done for cancer risks
A government-run laboratory exposed workers to chemicals known to cause cancer without using any of the accepted health and safety controls. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) in Suffolk accepted a Crown Censure for health and safety breaches, the equivalent of a prosecution for a government body.
HSE news release [pdf] • Cefas news release • Lowestoft Journal • BBC News Online • Risk 435 Hazards news,
5 December 2009
Britain: Scots criminals can’t plead poverty
Employers convicted of criminal offences in Scotland could soon be subject to full financial background inquiries to ensure they are punished correctly for serious offences. The new measures are part of the Criminal Sentencing (Equity Fines) Member’s Bill proposed by MSP Dr Bill Wilson, which has now received the backing of the Scottish government and might now be incorporated in the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill. Construction News • Proposed Criminal Sentencing (Equity Fines) Bill and Scottish Parliament Justice Committee report on the bill • Risk 435 Hazards news,
5 December 2009
Britain: Campaigners win a cranes register
Construction union UCATT have welcomed confirmation from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that it intends to introduce a new statutory crane register from April 2010. The decision was made at November’s HSE board meeting. HSE news release • UCATT news release • Risk 435 Hazards news,
5 December 2009
Britain: Cameron’s myth-fuelled attack on safety
David Cameron has been accused by the TUC of creating a Conservative policy on health and safety that “seems to consist of little more than a medley of Daily Mail headlines.” A speech by the Conservative leader called for an end to the UK's “over-the-top” health and safety culture, saying it had created a “stultifying blanket of bureaucracy, suspicion and fear.”
David Cameron’s speech to Policy Exchange [pdf] • TUC news release and Stronger Unions blog • The Guardian • The Times • BBC News Online • The Express • The Telegraph • Risk 435 Hazards news,
5 December 2009
Britain: STUC issues Cameron a safety challenge
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has challenged Conservative leader David Cameron to visit Scotland and meet families who have lost a loved one as a result of a neglect for health and safety in the workplace. Grahame Smith, STUC general secretary said the Tory leader’s speech to the Policy Exchange, calling for curbs on safety regulation, was “deeply offensive” to the injured and bereaved, adding: “We would say to David Cameron if you want to learn about the true consequences of health and safety failures read Hazards magazine and come to Scotland and meet families who have lost loved ones due to health and safety failures by employers.” STUC news release • Hazards deadly business special investigation • Risk 435 Hazards news,
5 December 2009
Britain: Unions berate ‘confused’ Conservatives
Unions and campaigners have accused the Tories of being “confused” on health and safety and having a poor understanding on the issues. Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) spokesperson Hilda Palmer said: “Cameron is completely bankrupt and his comments are absolute populist nonsense,” adding: “All the models the Tories are proposing come from America where they have been shown to have failed.” Prospect news release • UCATT news release • FACK news release • Morning Star • Risk 435 Hazards news,
5 December 2009
Britain: Rail luxury for chiefs, dole for workers
Rail union RMT has blasted senior Network Rail chiefs “for holding meetings in the five star opulence of London’s Langham Hotel while multi-billion pound cuts have left 1,500 essential safety maintenance staff facing the sack.” The Network Rail board met at the luxury hotel on 2 December and RMT believes the job cuts package was one of the items under discussion - members, carrying banners emblazoned with the unequivocal message ‘Cuts cost lives – safety first’, lobbied meeting. RMT news release • Risk 435 Hazards news.
5 December 2009
Philippines: Fears for media staff after massacre
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has pledged its full support to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) in an urgent campaign on news safety as reports emerged that an estimated 20 media workers died in a 23 November massacre of journalists and political campaigners in the Philippines. Press reports say 57 people were killed in the atrocity. IFJ news release • International News Safety Institute (INSI) safety appeal to aid journalists in the Philippines • BBC News Online • ABC News • Risks 434 Hazards news, 21 November 2009
China: Over 100 dead in mine blast
A total of 104 coal miners have been confirmed dead in China's worst mining disaster for almost two years. China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based organisation supporting workers' rights, said the Xinxing deaths showed that nationalising mines was not enough, adding more effective safety measures were needed, including giving a voice to workers, whose safety concerns are often overruled by their bosses. The Guardian and related video clip • China Labour Bulletin and related blog entry • New York Times • Risks 434 Hazards news,
28 November 2009
Britain: Firms fined after fatal scaffold collapse
Two construction firms involved in a major scaffolding collapse have been fined for their role in the incident, which left one man dead and two others seriously injured. Principal contractor McAleer & Rushe Limited was fined £90,000 and ordered to pay costs of £42,000 and cladding contractor Lee Smith Carpentry Limited was fined £36,000 and ordered to pay costs of £28,000. HSE news release • Video interviews with Mark Robinson and Ivan Penkov • Risks 434 Hazards news,
28 November 2009
Global: Paper deaths prompt transatlantic campaign
An increase in workplace fatalities and serious injuries in the paper industry may have been brought on by employers trying to increase profit margins at the expense of health and safety, unions in North America and the UK have warned. In January, Workers Uniting will offer a freephone number for members to report unsafe work practices, which will be then be reported to the health and safety authorities in both the US and the UK. Unite news release • USW news release • Risks 434 Hazards news,
28 November 2009
Global: Concrete action need on media murders
There must be sustained and concrete international action to address the murder of journalists in peacetime and in war, an international forum has agreed. In a declaration adopted unanimously at the fourth World Electronic Media Forum (WEMF 4) in Mexico City, broadcasters noted: “Most journalists are killed not in war zones but in their own countries as they try to shine the light of the truth into the darkest recesses of their societies.” INSI news release • Risks 433 Hazards news,
21 November 2009
USA: Workers dare not report injuries
More than two-thirds of injured or sick workers in the US fear employer discipline or even losing their jobs if their injuries are reported, a study from the official Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found. The GAO survey of more than 1,000 occupational health practitioners found a third of these health professionals reported being pressured by employers to provide insufficient treatments to workers to hide or downplay work-related injuries or illnesses. Workplace safety and health: Enhancing OSHA's records audit process could improve the accuracy of worker injury and illness data, GAO report, published online 16 November 2009 [pdf] • New York Times • AFL-CIO Now blog • Risks 433 Hazards news,
21 November 2009
Bangladesh: Workers killed in peaceful protest
Global union confederation ITUC and the UK’s TUC have strongly denounced the killing of three workers on 21 October in Tongi, near Bangladesh’s Dhaka airport. The police opened fire against the workers, while they were protesting against dismissals at the gate of the factory. ITUC news release • TUC letterRisks 433 Hazards news, 21 November 2009
USA: Sixteen deaths per day
Every day in the US, 16 workers go to work and don’t come home. It’s an old story, that needs new approaches to ram the home the message that workplace deaths are unacceptable – and now a new video from Brave New Films shines a spotlight on the weak deterrence and penalties provided by workplace safety laws. Sixteen deaths per day, YouTube clip • AFL-CIO blog • Risks 433 Hazards news,
21 November 2009
Britain: Reports slam ‘collapse of enforcement’
Britain’s health and safety enforcement regime is in serious decline, two new reports suggest. The inspection trend, with Health and Safety Executive field inspector numbers and inspections undertaken dipping markedly in recent years, has fallen dramatically and taken enforcement action down with it in what criminal law experts have described as the “collapse of enforcement”.
Steve Tombs and David Whyte. A deadly consensus: Worker safety and regulatory degradation under New Labour, British Journal of Criminology, 2009; doi: 10.1093/bjc/azp063 [abstract][full paper pdf] • Escaping scrutiny, Hazards magazine, Number 108, October-December 2009 • The new issue of Hazards magazine is out now • Risks 433 Thinking Allowed BBC Radio 4 programme examining white collar crime and punishment. The 11 November issue deals with workplace safety crimes. Hazards news,
21 November 2009
Britain: Liability insurance dodger fined £1,000
A Cambridgeshire retailer has been fined £1,000 for failing to have compulsory insurance to protect his employees. The case prompted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to remind all employers about the need for insurance and warn that it will take action against those who fail to protect their staff – uninsured staff could find they are not eligible for compensation or benefit payouts if they suffer work-related injury or ill-health. HSE news release • Risks 433 Hazards news,
21 November 2009
Britain: Director fined for serial safety crimes
Paul Richard Llewellyn James, a businessman from Northamptonshire, has been fined £60,000 after ordering a worker to clean a moving machine that trapped and mangled his arm, leading to its amputation. The injured worker’s replacement also suffered arm injuries in a near identical incident 14 months later. , 58, pleaded guilty to two criminal safety offences. HSE news release • Northampton Chronicle • BBC News Online • Risks 433 Hazards news,
21 November 2009
Britain: Ship repair firm fined over death
Ship repair company A&P Falmouth has been ordered to pay more than £105,000 in fines and costs for safety breaches after a man was crushed to death. John Datson, 51, died in August 2006 at Falmouth Docks after being struck by a crane platform while he was standing between it and the base of the crane. HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 433 Hazards news,
21 November 2009
Britain: Firefighters welcome Buncefield guilty plea
Firefighters have welcomed the guilty plea by oil giant Total UK to safety and environmental charges relating to the Buncefield oil depot explosion in December 2005. Their union FBU has warned, however, that cutbacks could affect the ability of firefighters to respond to future incidents. FBU news release • Buncefield investigation webpage • The Ecologist • BBC News Online • Risks 433 Hazards news,
21 November 2009
Britain: Action call on self-employed site deaths
Construction union UCATT has called for action by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), after an analysis of the watchdog’s statistics revealed a sharp rise in fatalities in self-employed site workers. The union says figures supplied by HSE show the number of self-employed site workers killed increased from 19 to 20, in contrast to a sharp drop in the number of fatalities to employees in the industry, down from 53 to 33. UCATT news release • HSE construction injury statistics • Risks 433 Hazards news,
21 November 2009
Britain: Pet food firm fined £100,000 for death
A pet food manufacturer has been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £28,380.91 costs at Northampton Crown Court after one of its workers was crushed to death. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Butcher's Pet Care Ltd over the incident in November 2003, in which John O'Connor, 38, was crushed in a canning machine. HSE news release • Risks 432 Hazards news,
14 November 2009
Britain: £10 padlock could have stopped death
A Kent rice manufacturing company has been fined £140,000 for health and safety breaches after one of its employees died when his leg became entangled in a machine. Veetee Rice Ltd employee Balwinder Singh Aulkh’s leg became trapped in an unguarded underfloor screw conveyor - a piece of machinery used to take rice from the silo; the court heard a cheap padlock could have blocked access and prevented the tragedy. HSE news release • Risks 432 Hazards news,
14 November 2009
Australia: Low pay causes lorry deaths
Australian lorry drivers and members of the public are being put in deadly peril because irresponsible firms are refusing to accept the need for a “safe rate” for professional drivers. Tony Sheldon, national secretary of the transport union TWU, said drivers were frustrated little action had been taken since a report into the industry released 12 months ago showed that transport clients were forcing unsafe driving practices through low rates of pay. TWU news release • Australasian Transport News • Risks 432 Hazards news,
14 November 2009
Britain: Asbestos victims lose out, bankers cash in
Construction union UCATT has said it is disappointed that the government has “once again been able to find billions of pounds to bail out the banks but seems unable to find just a few million pounds to compensate pleural plaques victims.” The union was speaking out after the 3 November announcement that the government was to make available a further £33.5 billion bailout for the disastrously mis-managed Royal Bank of Scotland. UCATT news release • Morning Star • Risks 432 Hazards news,
14 November 2009
Britain: HSE pulls director leadership case histories
The Health and Safety Executive has removed a “directors’ leadership” case history on BP from its website, after the watchdog was criticised for providing an undeserved public relations push for “a serial safety offender.” The criticism of BP came in a 2 November letter sent by campaigning magazine Hazards to HSE chief executive Geoffrey Podger in the wake of a record US safety fine on BP for failing to remedy hundreds of problems at its Texas City refinery. Letter from Hazards to HSE chief executive Geoffrey Podger • HSE director leadership case histories • Risks 432 Hazards news, 14 November 2009
Britain: HSE withdraws lead safety advice
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has withdrawn advice on the dangers of working with lead after an investigation found it greatly under-estimated health risks that could be affecting over 100,000 workers. The HSE move came after a report by academics at Stirling University, published in Hazards magazine, said the official health and safety warnings about the dangers of lead were so complacent the watchdog was guilty of “extreme recklessness” with workers’ health. Dangerous lead, Hazards magazine, October-December 2009 • Channel 4 News report and video clip • The Guardian • HSE statement • Green jobs blog • Risks 432 Hazards news, 14 November 2009
Britain: Train drivers say rail chief must go
Train drivers’ union ASLEF has said the top boss of Network Rail should be fired after an investigation revealed serious management failings contributed to a level crossing incident in which three people died. The union made the call for the dismissal of Network Rail chief Iain Coucher after an enquiry found the company’s ‘gross incompetence’ had contributed to the three deaths at the Halkirk level crossing in Caithness last month. ASLEF news release • Risks 432 Hazards news,
14 November 2009
Britain: Government told to act on fatalities report
The government should swiftly implement the recommendations of a report into construction site fatalities, the union UCATT has said. The union is concerned the delay could mean any recommendations requiring primary legislation will not be including in the Queen’s Speech on 18 November. UCATT news release • Risks 432 Hazards news,
14 November 2009
Mexico: Oil industry deaths and corruption exposed
Mexico’s offshore industry is riddled with repression and corruption that is costing workers’ lives, a report has charged. The report from global union federation ITF was launched at a major safety and industrial relations conference held in Mexico City. ITF news release • Risks 431 Hazards news, 7 November 2009
USA: BP hit with largest ever safety fine
British multinational BP has been hit with the USA’s largest ever safety fine. US labor secretary Hilda Solis announced on 30 October that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had levied the largest fine in its history - $87.4 million [over £53m] - against BP for failing to correct safety problems identified after a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers at its Texas City refinery. OSHA/Department of Labor news release and BP prosecution webpage • New York Times • AFL-CIO blog • BBC News Online • Risks 431 Hazards news,
7 November 2009
Britain: Director fined after asbestos exposures
Two businesses and a company director have been fined after workers in Manchester were exposed to potentially deadly asbestos fibres. Recon Packaging Ltd pleaded guilty to breaches of the control of asbestos regulations; Industrial & Commercial Building Services Ltd (ICBS) and its managing director, Kevin Bennett, pleaded guilty to a breach of workplace safety law and of the Asbestos Licensing Regulations 1983. HSE news release and asbestos webpages • Risks 431 Hazards news,
7 November 2009
Britain: Manslaughter fines could be smaller
A proposal that fines for corporate manslaughter should be related to a firm’s turnover has been rejected by the Sentencing Guidelines Council (SGC). Guidelines put out to consultation by SGC say while corporate manslaughter fines will not be linked to either profit or turnover, they should “seldom” be below £500,000 and adds fines may be accompanied by a publicity order, remedial order, or both. Sentencing Guidelines Council news release [pdf], letter to consultees [pdf], advice [pdf] and consultation document on the guidelines [pdf] • The deadline for responses is 5 January 2010 • SHP Online • Personnel Today • Risks 431 Hazards news,
7 November 2009
Britain: Some businesses not keen on Tory plans
Conservative plans to pare back health and safety regulation may be less popular than the party hopes. A Tory Green Paper says an “earned autonomy” system would allow firms to arrange their own independent safety audits, with qualifying firms given the right to refuse entry to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors. Construction News • Risks 431 Hazards news,
7 November 2009
Australia: Don’t cave in to business on safety!
Unions in Australia are concerned time is running out in their battle to persuade politicians not to cave in to a big business bid to slash regulation at the expense of workers’ health and safety. Jeff Lawrence, secretary of the national union federation ACTU, said draft laws circulated in September would put workers at risk from lower safety standards. ACTU news release • Risks 430 Hazards news, 31 October 2009
Britain: Over £1m in fines after rail deaths
Carillion and Network Rail have been fined £1.1m and ordered to pay £100,000 costs between them, following the deaths of two rail workers. David Pennington, 46, and Martin Oakes, 38, were hit by a reversing road rail vehicle (RRV) while laying new track over night near Hednesford, Staffordshire in September 2004. Contract Journal • Express and Star • Risks 430 Hazards news,
31 October 2009
Britain: Directors fined after explosion death
A North Devon crop spraying manufacturing company and two of its directors are facing a fines and costs bill totalling £152,165 following the death of employee Anthony Reed, 40, in an explosion. At Exeter Crown Court, RJ Bateman Engineering was fined £65,000 for safety offences and ordered to pay costs of £67,165 and the directors of the family-owned firm, father-and-son Richard and Jason Bateman, were each fined £10,000. HSE news release • North Devon Gazette • Risks 430 Hazards news,
31 October 2009
Britain: UK Coal closes mine after death
Britain's biggest coal producer, UK Coal, has suspended production at one of its sites following the death of a worker. The company said investigations were continuing into the incident – one of series of fatalities that has hit the firm - and the colliery in Kellingley, north Yorkshire, would remain closed for the next fortnight. The Guardian • The Scotsman • Risks 430 Hazards news,
31 October 2009
Britain: Worker gets 3,300-volt electric shock
A Scottish company has been fined £1,500 for breaching health and safety law after a worker was burned by live power cables. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Grangemouth-based refinery and petrochemical company Ineos Manufacturing Scotland Ltd for failing to ensure a safe system of work was in place before undertaking excavation work near live electrical cables. HSE news release • Risks 430 Hazards news,
31 October 2009
Britain: Broken back highlights demolition dangers
A Norwich employer has been fined £7,500 after a worker broke his spine in a fall at the former RAF Watton site in Norfolk. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Tim Philpott, trading as Philpott Demolition and Recycling, for his role in the incident on 20 April 2007. HSE news release and falls webpages • Norfolk Eastern Daily Press • Risks 430 Hazards news,
31 October 2009
Britain: Work fatalities at a record low
Workplace fatalities fell to a record low last year, according to latest Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures. Fatal injuries at work fell from 233 in 2007/08 to 180 in 2008/09 and reported major injuries at work fell to 28,692 in 2008/09 (94.8 per 100,000) compared with 29,389 in 2007/08 (96.5 per 100,000). HSE news release • Health and safety: Statistics 2008/09, National Statistics, 28 October 2009 • Risks 430 Hazards news,
31 October 2009
USA: Watchdog recognises it’s all about workers
At a quick glance the change isn’t too dramatic. But the simple revisions to the website of US government health and safety watchdog OSHA represent a fundamental shift in the constituency it wants to be seen to serve - below a simple headline plumb centre on the site – ‘Worker fatalities’ – is a regularly updated, rolling list of single sentence summaries describing how individual workers died that week. OSHA website and fatalities updates • The Pump Handle • Risks 429 Hazards news,
24 October 2009
Britain: Store fined for horrific facial injuries A supermarket giant has been fined after one of its staff lost half his face in an accident as he arrived for work. Morrisons was fined £172,000 for health and safety offences and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £16,681 following a hearing at Chester Crown Court. The Sentinel • Risks 429 Hazards news,
24 October 2009
Britain: Power cables cause massive burns A scaffolder suffered burns to 52 per cent of his body and had to have his heart re-started when a pole he was carrying hit a 66,000 volt overhead power line. Manor Homes (Midlands) Ltd and G Wright Scaffolding of Redditch were both fined after pleading guilty to safety charges following the incident in November 2007. HSE news release • Contract Journal • Risks 429 Hazards news,
24 October 2009
Britain: Tories promise to ‘tame’ HSE A Conservative government would allow firms to opt-out from Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspections, with qualifying firms allowed to bar the watchdog from their premises. Instead the Conservative Party is recommending an audit system modelled on the financial sector controls that gave us Enron, Madoff and that nearly brought the entire banking system to its knees – and cut ‘sunset’ HSE entirely. Regulation in the post-bureaucratic age, Conservative Party [pdf] • Risks 429 Hazards news,
24 October 2009
Britain: Unions slam ‘disastrous’ Tory plans Unions have said Conservative Party plans to allow firms to opt-out from official health and safety oversight will be “disastrous” for health and safety. Sarah Page, national safety officer of HSE inspectors’ union Prospect, said: “Is Ken Clarke seriously saying that employers in these industries should regulate their own health and safety arrangements and close the door to our protectors?” Unite news release • Environmental Health News • Contract Journal • Construction News • Risks 429 Hazards news, 24 October 2009
Britain: Regulation is popular and lifesaving Nearly two-thirds of people in Britain agree they benefit from regulation in their everyday lives and 70 per cent think the benefits of regulation outweigh the burdens, according to a new report from the Department for Business (BIS). ‘Better regulation, better benefits: getting the balance right’ says “70-85 per cent agreed ‘overall the benefits outweigh the burdens’ for environmental standards on air/water, food hygiene, health and safety and smokefree law.” BIS news release • Better regulation, better benefits: Getting the balance right, BIS, October 2009[pdf] • TUC Touchstone blog • Risks 429 Hazards news,
24 October 2009
Britain: Women fall victim to deadly asbestos
The deaths of a garment worker and a school cleaner from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma highlights how it’s not just men in traditional dusty jobs that are at risk from the fatal fibre.
Thompsons Solicitors news releases on the school cleaner and garment worker deaths • Risks 428 Hazards news,
17 October 2009
Britain: Sugar giant fined after worker drowns
Tate and Lyle has been fined £270,000 after a contractor was killed on one of its ships in the Thames. Keith Webb, 53, drowned when his bulldozer crashed into the river while unloading raw sugar from a vessel at the company's riverside wharf in Newham, London. HSE news release • East London Advertiser • Risks 428 Hazards news,
17 October 2009
Britain: Pupil loses eight fingers in art horror
A Lincolnshire school’s governing body has been fined £16,500 after a 16-year-old girl lost most of her fingers when she put her hands in a bucket of plaster of Paris during a school art lesson. The teenager was attempting to make a sculpture of her own hands during an art and design class on 31 January 2007, Boston magistrates court was told. HSE news release • Daily Mirror • The Guardian • The Independent • Risks 428 Hazards news,
17 October 2009
Britain: Hand nailed to pallet prompts prosecution
A Herefordshire builders' merchant has been prosecuted after a worker had his hand pulled in to a machine and nailed to a pallet. Pontrilas Timber and Builders' Merchants Ltd of Pontrilas, Herefordshire, was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £8,973 costs at Hereford Magistrates Court. HSE news release • Building • Construction News • Risks 428 Hazards news,
17 October 2009
Britain: Firm lands in court after scaffold fall
A safety warning has been issued to construction companies after a Liverpool worker was seriously injured in a fall from unstable scaffolding. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted John Doyle Construction Ltd following the incident at the Hilton Hotel construction site in central Liverpool in July 2007. HSE news release • Building • Risks 428 Hazards news,
17 October 2009
Britain: Firm exposed workers to asthma risk
A Gateshead company has been fined after exposing its workers to hazardous soldering fumes. Turbo Power Systems Ltd was fined £3,000 last week at Gateshead Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay £3,000 costs after it pleaded guilty to three breaches of health and safety legislation. HSE news release • Risks 428 Hazards news,
17 October 2009
Britain: Women fall victim to deadly asbestos
The deaths of a garment worker and a school cleaner from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma highlights how it’s not just men in traditional dusty jobs that are at risk from the fatal fibre.
Thompsons Solicitors news releases on the school cleaner and garment worker deaths • Risks 428 Hazards news,
17 October 2009
Britain: Director fined after pet food firm death
The operations director of a pet food firm where a worker was crushed to death has been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £4,000 costs for criminal safety breaches related to the death. Philip Thompson, 50, was responsible for protecting workers' safety at Butcher's Pet Care in Crick when engineer John O'Connor, 38, was crushed in a canning machine. HSE news release • Northampton Chronicle and Echo and related article • Risks 428 Hazards news,
17 October 2009
Britain: Chemical firm fined after repeat injury
A Welsh chemical company has been fined £26,000 after two workers suffered serious hand injuries in near identical incidents in less than a month. Magistrates heard the two men needed skin grafts after being injured by a bagging machine at the Warwick International site at Mostyn. HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 427 Hazards news,
10 October 2009
Britain: Director guilty after roof fall
A Lancashire company and its director have been convicted of safety offences after a worker fell seven metres through a fragile roof. Burnley-based Webber Trading Ltd was fined £6,000 and £2,838.20 costs at Gateshead Magistrates Court last week after pleading guilty to two safety charges; Jeffrey Robinson, director of Webber Trading Ltd, who was present on the roof directing the work at the time of the incident, was fined £1,000 after also pleading guilty to two criminal safety breaches. HSE news release • Risks 427 Hazards news,
10 October 2009
Britain: Worker crushed by one tonne plate
A Kent firm has been fined £150,000 after a vehicle spray painter was crushed to death. North Kent Shotblasting Ltd was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court last week following the death of Nigel Harrison on 20 October 2006. The firm was also ordered to pay £24,000 costs. HSE news release • Local London • Risks 427 Hazards news,
10 October 2009
Britain: Firms fined for ‘unpardonable’ asbestos job
Two companies have been prosecuted after workers and members of the public were exposed to “unacceptable” levels of asbestos during a removal project. HSE inspector Sarah Snelling the actions of a roofing company were “unpardonable” and added: “A&T Roofing Ltd’s cavalier attitude towards the removal of the asbestos has put the future health of their employees, their employees’ families and members of the public in general at serious risk.” HSE news release • Daily Mirror • Local London • Risks 427 Hazards news,
10 October 2009
Britain: Business wants inspection tip-offs
The business lobby is using the economic downturn to push for a removal of safety “burdens” – and is calling for appointment-only inspections by workplace regulators. In a new policy paper launched ahead of the Conservative Party conference, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) singles out health and safety as “the biggest burden on small businesses in terms of time.” FSB news release • Regulatory Reform – a route to economic recovery, FSB Policy paper, October 2009 [pdf] • For reports on HSE inspection and enforcement trends, see the Hazards ‘deadly business’ webpages • Risks 427 Hazards news,
10 October 2009
Britain: Anger at site deaths inaction
Safety campaigners have reacted angrily at news the government will hold further talks with industry before announcing its response to the Donaghy report into construction fatalities. Trade journal Construction News revealed last week that work and pensions secretary Yvette Cooper wants to hold further talks with the industry before implementing any recommendations from the government-commissioned report. Hazards Campaign news release • Construction News and earlier related report Hazards news,
10 October 2009
USA: Work exposures rise as inspections fall
The US official health and safety regulator OSHA is doing fewer health inspections despite more workplace exposures to toxic and hazardous substances, according to an analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). It says while workplace exposures are linked to the premature deaths of 10 times more workers than all workplace accidents combined, OSHA now spends less than 5 per cent of its limited resources on workplace health protection. PEER news release • Risks 426 Hazards news,
4 October 2009
India: Dozens die in chimney collapse
Dozens of workers have died after a giant chimney collapsed in bad weather at a partially built power plant in central India. The 23 September tragedy occurred at the Bharat Aluminium Co (Balco) power plant, part-owned by the British mining company Vedanta, in the central state of Chhattisgarh. Vedanta statement • The Times • Times of India • Risks 426 Hazards news, 4 October 2009
Global: BP ‘failed’ to make safety changes
London-based multinational BP’s claims to have long since addressed the safety malaise in its refineries have been discredited after the latest intervention by the US safety regulator. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) told BP last month it had failed to make agreed-upon safety improvements at its Texas City refinery following the March 2005 explosions that killed 15 workers. Galveston Daily News • Risks 426 Hazards news,
4 October 2009
Britain: Presenteeism harms employee health
UK workers are so terrified of losing their jobs in this recession they are working while sick, a new study has found. According to those surveyed as part of Simplyhealth's Bothered Britain Report, 43 per cent of people living in Britain haven't taken any days off in the last 12 months, up from 36 per cent in 2008. Simplyhealth news release and Bothered Britain report • Personnel Today • Risks 426 Hazards news,
4 October 2009
Britain: Take notice of dermatitis risks or pay
An NHS Trust has been fined for ignoring official notices calling requiring it to sort out dermatitis risks in a hospital. The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust was fined £6,500 and ordered to pay £4,500 in court costs after pleading guilty to two health and safety charges at Harlow Magistrates’ Court for failing to remedy risks posed by latex exposure and for not reporting a case of latex dermatitis. HSE news release • Harlow Herald • Risks 426 Hazards news,
4 October 2009
Britain: Worker crushed then blamed in laundry horror
A giant laundry business who blamed workers for a highly dangerous incident that left employee Joseph Pathmananthan, 61, in a coma has been fined. OCS group was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay costs of £33,059 at Southwark Crown Court last week after admitting a criminal safety breach. HSE news release • Thompsons Solicitors news release • Wandsworth Guardian • Risks 426 Hazards news, 4 October 2009
Britain: Fine for death in meat blender
A company has been fined £160,000 after a worker was fatally injured while cleaning a blending machine at a meat processing plant in Milton Keynes. Lynda Trebilcock, 53, was killed at the Delico plant in May 2007 when a door without a working interlock slammed shut on her head. HSE news release • MK News • BBC News Online • Risks 426 Hazards news, 4 October 2009
Britain: Recycling firm fined after lorry fatality
The death of a man who was run over by a skip lorry has led to a waste and recycling company being fined. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecution against Shanley and Sons Ltd, who were fined £80,000 and ordered to pay costs of £25,000 last week at a hearing in Swindon Crown Court. HSE news release and waste industry webpages • Risks 426 Hazards news, 4 October 2009
Britain: Take notice of dermatitis risks or pay
An NHS Trust has been fined for ignoring official notices calling requiring it to sort out dermatitis risks in a hospital. The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust was fined £6,500 and ordered to pay £4,500 in court costs after pleading guilty to two health and safety charges at Harlow Magistrates’ Court for failing to remedy risks posed by latex exposure and for not reporting a case of latex dermatitis. HSE news release • Harlow Herald • Risks 426 Hazards news, 4 October 2009
Britain: HSE warning after crane collapse fine
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned tower crane suppliers to make sure staff are adequately trained when carrying out high risk operations. The warning followed the prosecution of Select Plant Hire Company Ltd at the Old Bailey, where the firm was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £33,196.45. HSE news release • The Argus • Risks 425 Hazards news, 26 September 2009
Britain: Firm fined £80,000 for fall driver death
Mobile Mini UK Ltd, the UK wing of an American company that supplies temporary buildings and storage cabins, has been fined £80,000 after one of its lorry drivers died falling from a cabin he was delivering. Keith Boulton, 58, died in January last year after the incident at a construction site in West Bromwich. HSE news release • Express and Star • Risks 425 Hazards news, 26 September 2009
Britain: Asbestos death toll ‘under-estimated’
The Health and Safety Executive’s estimate of 4,000 asbestos related deaths a year falls well short of the real toll, campaigners and health experts have said. Consultant thoracic surgeon, John Edwards, commended the HSE campaign and said the safety watchdog’s figures are “an under-estimate, if anything” and Laurie Kazan-Allen, coordinator of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS), said: “When mesothelioma and asbestosis deaths are added to fatalities caused by cancers of the lung, larynx, ovary and stomach – other cancers now linked to asbestos exposure – the huge price paid for the country’s failure to act on the asbestos danger becomes apparent.” IBAS statement • The Guardian • Marketing Week • SHP Online • Risks 425 Hazards news, 26 September 2009
Britain: Peat firm fined after agency worker death
Horticulture firm Humax Horticulture Ltd has been fined £23,300 following the death of an agency worker in southern Scotland. Colin McCourt, 55, of Annan, died when a tip bucket he was welding moved and crushed him. HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 425 Hazards news, 26 September 2009
Australia: Bereaved families back strong laws
Family members of people who have died at work have joined with unions to lobby Australia’s federal government over new health and safety laws. In a letter to the deputy prime minister, Julia Gillard, leaders of victim support groups in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia warn of the “devastating effects” workplace deaths have on communities. ACTU news release and letter from victims’ groups [pdf] • Sydney Morning Herald • Risks 425 Hazards news, 26 September 2009
Sweden: Worker-blaming firm faces labour court
A firm that fired a worker after an incident where a colleague broke his legs was in fact to blame for injury, the official inspectorate has said. The Swedish Work Environment Authority (SWEA) has filed a complaint against Mondi about health and safety practices following the injury at the firm's Dynäs mill in Väja, Sweden. RISI Pulp & Paper News Service • Risks 424 Hazards news,
19 September 2009
Australia: Big business would hurt workers
Big business is backing changes to national workplace health and safety laws that would put workers at risk of injury or illness, Australian unions have warned. Jeff Lawrence, secretary of the national union federation ACTU, said it was unacceptable for the changes to health and safety laws to lead to increased profits for businesses at the expense of workers’ safety. ACTU news release and radio advert • Courier Mail • Sydney Morning Herald • Risks 424 Hazards news,
19 September 2009
Britain: Crush death leads to £7,500 fine
A Northampton company found guilty of criminal safety breaches after an employee was crushed to death has been fined £7,500. Trackline (International) Ltd was also ordered to pay £6,690 costs at Lincoln Crown Court after Shaun Porter, 31, died when his forklift truck was obstructed in its path, toppled over and crushed him. HSE news release • Rutland and Stamford Mercury • Northampton Chronicle and Echo • Risks 424 Hazards news, 19 September 2009
Britain: New call for safety duties on directors
Company directors have failed to respond to a series of pleas to voluntarily take health and safety seriously in the boardroom, so they should be required by law to do so. The latest call for statutory duties on directors comes as part of a new campaign from safety magazines Health and Safety at Work and Health and Safety Bulletin (HSB). HS@W article • Sign up to the HS@W/HSB petition calling for statutory directors’ duties • Risks 424 Hazards news,
19 September 2009
Britain: HSE warning on offshore ‘complacency’
The new head of the Health and Safety Executive’s offshore division has put tackling industry complacency at the top of his priority list. However, there are worrying signs some of the progress welcomed by HSE may already have been reversed. HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 424 Hazards news,
19 September 2009
Britain: Worker suffers waste site shock
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning employers to be wary of operating machinery near overhead power cables after a Staffordshire man suffered serious burns when he was hit by an electrical charge. John Rowland Fallows, the owner of the site and who trades as Fallows Recycling Services, this week pleaded guilty at Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court a breach of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. HSE news release • Construction News • The Sentinel • Risks 423 Hazards news,
12 September 2009
Britain: Safety breaches cost worker his leg
A Wolverhampton company has been fined £14,000 after a worker was seriously injured when his legs were crushed by a load that fell from a forklift. KJ Plant Developments Ltd was also ordered to pay £6,015 costs after pleading guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. HSE news release • Risks 423 Hazards news,
12 September 2009
Britain: Bupa fined for safety training failures
Bupa Care Homes has been ordered to pay £15,000 for ‘miserably failing’ a severely disabled Wakefield grandmother who died days after breaking both legs while in the firm’s care. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who brought the prosecution, said the fine should serve as a warning to care home operators that they must have the correct training and patient handling procedures. HSE news release • Yorkshire Evening Post • Risks 423 Hazards news,
12 September 2009
Britain: Fines for unlicensed asbestos removal
Three contractors who carried out unlicensed asbestos removal at Kelford School in Rotherham in 2006 have been fined. Mansell Build Ltd (previously Birse Build Ltd) of Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire, was fined £12,500 and ordered to pay £12,500 costs. Andrew Brightmore, a former manager of ARB Agriplant Ltd, was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £500 costs and Gary Cusack was fined £500 and ordered to pay £250 costs. HSE news release and hidden killer campaign webpages • Risks 423 Hazards news,
12 September 2009
Britain: Work experience shouldn’t hurt you
Schools are being told to make sure full health and safety checks are carried out before pupils head out on work experience, following the prosecution of a Stafford company after a teenager on placement suffered burns. Deansfield High School in Wolverhampton employed Making Learning Work Ltd to locate extended work experience placements for 32 pupils, at a cost of £650 each. HSE news release • Risks 423 Hazards news ,
12 September 2009
Australia: Massive rallies for stronger laws
A strong turnout at rallies and events around Australia sends a powerful message that workers will not back down in their push for stronger national health and safety laws, unions have said. Workers concerned about the weakening of workplace safety standards under a proposed new national law were joined by relatives bereaved as a result of work-related illness and accidents. ACTU rally news release, survey news release and Don’t risk second rate safety campaign • VTHC news release • Queensland Business Review Hazards news, 5 September 2009
Britain: Poor protection leads to turkey firm fine A food firm has fined after an agency worker who had not been provided with a protective apron accidentally stabbed himself with a knife – the fourth stabbing incident at the firm. Robert Bogdan, from Hungary, suffered a 4 inch-deep stab wound while working on the turkey processing line at Cranberry Foods in Scropton in August 2008. HSE news release • Burton Mail Hazards news, 5 September 2009
Britain: Firm fined after worker’s foot is crushed A Staffordshire company has been fined after a worker lost a toe and had his foot crushed when a piece of machinery fell on him. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Hotchkiss Ltd, a ducting manufacturing company, over the incident in Wombourne on 16 July last year. HSE news release Hazards news, 5 September 2009
Britain: Energy giant fined after work death
A major energy company has been fined £160,000 after a worker died in a fall from scaffold. EDF Energy Contracting Ltd pleaded guilty at Chichester Crown Court to breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. HSE news release • Construction News • The Argus Hazards news, 5 September 2009
Britain: Directors told to pay asbestos compensation Company directors who pocketed the assets when they closed a company have been ordered to pay an asbestos disease settlement from their own pockets. The former bosses of Stalybridge engineering firm Vernon & Roberts will have to hand over £60,000 to the widow of Frederick Hughes, who died of mesothelioma in 2001 after being exposed to asbestos working for the firm in the 1960s. Manchester Evening News Hazards news, 5 September 2009
Britain: HSE blast response ‘too little, too late’
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector whose unheeded warning could have averted the ICL Stockline factory disaster has criticised the UK's workplace safety watchdog for its “slack” response to the tragedy. Alan Tyldesley criticised his former bosses at HSE after they announced the safety watchdog’s official response to the tragedy. HSE has set a target of 2015 - 11 years after the tragedy - to fix gas pipes across the country. Sunday Herald Hazards news, 5 September 2009
Britain: UCATT concern over site death
Construction union UCATT has made an urgent approach to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a worker died on an Aberdeen construction site with a history of safety problems. Malcolm Doughty, 63, died on 1 September after he fell from scaffolding while working on the former Grampian Hotel Site in the city. UCATT news release • BBC News Online Hazards news, 5 September 2009
Australia: Ex-Hardie directors get business ban
The fines and bans handed down to former executives and directors of Australian asbestos giant James Hardie are not enough considering the extent of their immoral and illegal behaviour and the harm the company’s deadly asbestos products have caused, unions have said. ACTU news release • Unions NSW news release • News.com.au • The Australian • Perth Now • Risks 421 Hazards news, 29 August 2009
Britain: Scrapyard boss on manslaughter charges
A scrapyard manager has appeared in court charged with manslaughter following the death of a worker. Robert Owen Roberts, 55, appeared at Flintshire Magistrates Court at Mold on 25 August charged with unlawfully killing Mark Wright, who was working at Deeside Metal in Saltney when he died in April 2005. Flintshire Chronicle • Risks 421 Hazards news, 29 August 2009
Britain: Machine death sparks road work alert
An investigation into a fatal incident involving a top cutting machine, which is used to prepare trenches in roads, has prompted a safety alert from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). On 30 July, Stuart Meakin, 28, was killed when he became entangled in the rotating drum of a top cutting machine. HSE news release • Risks 421 Hazards news, 29 August 2009
Britain: Third serious incident at power station
A Nottinghamshire power station where a union had raised concerns about safety management has experienced a third serious safety incident in less than four months. This week a man had to be airlifted to hospital after his legs were crushed at Staythorpe power station near Newark. BBC News Online • Building • Risks 421 Hazards news, 29 August 2009
Russia: Power station tragedy kills dozens
A total of 76 workers are thought to have died as a result of a 17 August explosion at Russia’s biggest hydroelectric power station. Initial reports said 12 people had been confirmed dead and 64 were missing after the explosion at the Sayano-Shushenskaya plant in southern Siberia. The Times • BBC News Online • Risks 420 Hazards news,
22 August 2009
Australia: Stats prove case for strong law
Australia is falling well short of national targets to reduce workplace deaths and injuries - and proposed new national occupational health and safety (OHS) laws could put Australian workers further at risk, unions have warned. ACTU news release • VTHC news release • Risks 420 Hazards news,
22 August 2009
Britain: Building firm fined over fall West country building firm F Dewey Limited has been prosecuted after an employee fell through the asbestos roof of a building he was trying to demolish. Magistrates in Devizes heard that plumber Peter Flippance sustained a broken hip and wrist after falling through the roof at the site in Pewsey in April last year. Wiltshire Times • Risks 420 Hazards news,
22 August 2009
Britain: Farm worker survives five metre fall
Employers are being warned to take correct precautions when their staff work at height, after a farm employee sustained serious injuries when he fell nearly 5 metres through a roof. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Francis Caley, of Manor Farm, Sproatley Road, Hull for safety offences relating to the incident in May 2008. HSE news release • HSE falls webpages • Risks 420 Hazards news,
22 August 2009
Britain: Tanker fall death ‘preventable’
The death of a Scottish tanker driver could have been prevented if a second guardrail had been fitted to his vehicle, a sheriff has ruled. James Hutchinson, 57, died after falling from his tanker at a farm in Leuchars, Fife, in February 2007. BBC News Online • Risks 420 Hazards news,
22 August 2009
New Zealand: Minister snubs unions on work deaths
Unions in New Zealand are outraged that they were not invited to take part in an investigation into workplace deaths. Labour minister Kate Wilkinson called the 12 August meeting of corporate chief executives to discuss ways to reduce injuries at work. NZ Department of Labour news release • RMT/MUNZ news release [pdf] • NDU news release • TVNZ • Risks 419 Hazards news,
15 August 2009
Britain: Centre for Corporate Accountability to close
The Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) is to cease all operations from 28 August. CCA, which has undertaken widely reported research on health and safety penalties, regulation and enforcement, has not been able to secure the necessary funds to continue. The centre also offered a support service for those bereaved by workplace incidents, which is also to be discontinued.
Other sources of corporate accountability information: TUC corporate responsibility webpages • Hazards magazine deadly business webpages • Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) • Risks 419 Hazards news,
15 August 2009
Global: Union Carbide repeats Bhopal excuses
Union Carbide is defending its former chief executive, now wanted for arrest in India, saying managers couldn't have foreseen a gas leak at the chemical company's Bhopal plant 25 years ago. The move came after an Indian court issued a warrant for Warren Anderson and ordered India's government to press Washington for his extradition. FACK news release • KVOA.com • San Francisco Chronicle • New York Times • Daily News • Risks 418 Hazards news,
8 August 2009
USA: Union tires of deadly oil industry attitude
US union the United Steelworkers (USW) has pulled out of talks with the American Petroleum Institute and other oil industry representatives over plans to develop a set of worker fatigue and safety standards in the wake of the deadly 2005 explosion at BP's Texas City refinery. The union said the industry excluded environmental and public interest groups from the discussions and did not give equal weight to input from workers in crafting the standards. USW news release • Risks 418 Hazards news,
8 August 2009
Britain: Waste firm fined after worker is killed
A waste firm has been fined £60,000 after the death of a 78-year-old worker at its site in Tadley. At Winchester Crown Court, Judge David Griffiths imposed a £90,000 fine on John Stacey and Sons – reducing it to £60,000 because the company pleaded guilty. HSE news release • Basingstoke Gazette • Risks 418 Hazards news,
8 August 2009
Britain: Crane firm turns up to receive deaths fine
A second crane hire company has been fined on charges relating to the death of two workers who fell to their deaths when a crane collapsed. Gary Miles, 37, and Steven Boatman, 45, died in 2005 as the 118ft (36m) tower crane was being dismantled in Durrington, West Sussex. HSE news release • Earlier HSE news release and BBC News Online coverage • Risks 418 Hazards news,
8 August 2009
Britain: Rib crushing giant hardly touched by fine
A multinational industrial firm has received a small fine after a worker was badly injured in an unguarded machine. Calder Industrial Materials Ltd, which manufactures lead products, was fined £4,500 and ordered to pay full costs of £1,050 at Chester Magistrates Court. HSE news release • Risks 418 Hazards news,
8 August 2009
Britain: Firm fined over worker's lost finger
A Teesside firm has been fined £5,000 after a worker lost a finger and had another crushed in an horrific accident. TC Industries of Europe admitted at East Langbaurgh Magistrates’ Court failing to ensure the safety of its employees. HSE news release • Evening Gazette • Risks 418 Hazards news,
8 August 2009
Britain: Bury worker loses three fingers
A Bury firm with a turnover of over £80 million has been fined £50,000 after a young worker lost three fingers in a “totally avoidable” incident. Tetrosyl Ltd pleaded guilty last week to two offences under health and safety legislation at Manchester Crown Court. HSE news release • Risks 418 Hazards news,
8 August 2009
Britain: Hidden deaths mar offshore ‘zero fatalities’ figure
New official statistics show no worker fatalities were recorded offshore last year. However, offshore unions have said repeatedly that the failure to include offshore and marine transport fatalities and injuries in HSE’s offshore statistics – and there are a lot of them - creates a false impression of the real risks faced by offshore workers. HSE news release and offshore statistics • Press and Journal • BBC News Online • STV • The Scotsman • Risks 418 Hazards news,
8 August 2009
Italy: Bosses face trial over asbestos deaths
An Italian judge last week ordered top bosses of a construction multinational to stand trial on charges relating to thousands of asbestos-related deaths. Prosecutors say Stephan Schmidheiny of Switzerland and Jean-Louis de Cartier of Belgium were key shareholders in Eternit, a Swiss construction company. Asbestos in the dock campaign and news release • Business Week • MSNBC News • Risks 417 Hazards news,
1 August 2009
Korea: Five killed in steel frame collapse
Five workers were killed and eight were injured last week when a heavy steel frame collapsed at a light rail transit construction site in Korea. The tragedy took place when a launching girder, a 30 metre-long and six metre-wide construction machine connecting the bridge deck, fell. Korea Times • NDTTV • Risks 417 Hazards news,
1 August 2009
South Africa: Mine deaths ‘a national disgrace’
The number of deaths in South African mines was a national disgrace, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has said. “Urgent action is needed to put an end to this carnage,” Vavi told a memorial service for nine mineworkers who died in July at Impala Platinum's Rustenburg mine. Iol.co.za • SABC News • Risks 417 Hazards news,
1 August 2009
Britain: Fall bounce worker ‘lucky to be alive’
A worker is lucky to be alive after falling through a roof and landing on pallets, then bouncing off these onto the floor. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Tower Roofing Ltd following the incident at Magnesium Elektron Ltd’s premises in Swinton. HSE news release and roofwork webpage • Contract Journal • Risks 417 Hazards news,
1 August 2009
Shop death fall due to bad lights
A Glasgow shopworker would not have died if Debenhams had cared as much about its staff as it did about its shoppers, a grieving relative has charged. Marie O'Neill, 38, fell to her death in an unlit stairwell while working at Debenhams in Argyle Street, Glasgow, last February. Glasgow Evening Times • BBC News Online • Risks 417 Hazards news,
1 August 2009
Britain: Contractor fined for roof fall death
A construction contractor has been fined £25,000 after a worker died falling through a roof at a DIY superstore in Wigan. David Battisson from CRN Contracts Ltd in Birkenhead was working on the roof of The Range store when he fell ten metres to the floor through a PVC light. HSE news release and falls webpages • Contract Journal • Construction News • Risks 417 Hazards news,
1 August 2009
Britain: Multinational failed to learn deaths lesson
A firm has been fined £533,000 following the deaths of two workers five years ago. Richard Clarkson, 29, and Stuart Jordan, 50, who worked at a Bodycote HIP Ltd metal refining plant in Hereford, died in 2004 after an argon gas leak – the firm had failed to learn the lessons of a double fatality at one of its US plants, where workers were also asphyxiated by argon gas. HSE news release and confined space webpages • BBC News Online • Birmingham Post • Risks 417 Hazards news,
1 August 2009
Britain: Scallop boat workers lost at sea
Three crew members died when their Cumbrian scallop dredger capsized off the coast of Scotland. Skipper Tony Hayton, 45, Peter Hilton and Thomas Sanderson, both 52, all from Maryport, died when the Aquila overturned. The Sun • BBC News Online • Risks 416 Hazards news,
25 July 2009
Britain: Chance to avoid Puma crash missed
A chance to prevent the North Sea helicopter crash in which 16 offshore workers died was missed, experts investigating the incident have revealed. Two crew and 14 passengers died when the Bond Super Puma crashed off the Aberdeenshire coast on 1 April. AAIB special bulletin, 16 July 2009 • BBC News Online • Risks 416 Hazards news,
25 July 2009
Britain: Official apology for blast factory failings
In the wake of Lord Gill’s report into the fatal ICL Stockline factory blast, both the UK government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have expressed “regret” at the disaster, with HSE also issuing a rare apology. DWP news release • HSE news release • Sunday Times • Risks 416 Hazards news,
25 July 2009
Britain: Families call for HSE reform
The “toothless” Health and Safety Executive must be given more resources and powers and should stop going easy on dangerous employers, families bereaved by the ICL Stockline disaster have said. STUC health and safety officer Ian Tasker, speaking on behalf of five of the bereaved the families, said: “This report reinforces our case that we have made all along - that 'soft touch' regulation simply does not work.”
ICL Support Group statement [pdf] • STUC news release • Stirling University OEHRG news release • FACK news release • Risks 416 Hazards news,
25 July 2009
Britain: Boss gets three years for teen’s death
Building firm boss Colin Holtom has been jailed for three years for the manslaughter of 15-year-old construction worker Adam Gosling. Contractor Darren Fowler, who had subcontracted the work to Mr Holtom, was sentenced to 12 months in jail after admitted breaking health and safety law and running a company while disqualified from being a director. HSE news release • Construction News • Enfield Independent • BBC News Online • Morning Star • Risks 416 Hazards news,
25 July 2009
India: Six killed on Metro construction job
Six workers have been killed and dozens are thought to have been injured in a serious accident on the Delhi Metro construction site. The 12 July tragedy occurred when a pre-fabricated concrete segment of viaduct weighing 1,000 tonnes gave away, taking with it a launching girder. BWI news release and update • New York Times • BBC News Online • Risks 415 Hazards news,
18 July 2009
South Africa: Dangerous construction companies will pay
Construction companies that do not comply with safety and health laws will be prosecuted, South Africa’s labour department has warned. The department's drive comes after labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana stated workers’ rights are human rights and that employers should not put profit above safety. SA Labour Department news release • SABC News • Weekend Post • Bush Radio News • Risks 415 Hazards news.
18 July 2009
Britain: MPs back directors’ duties and big fines
Dangerous companies should face more prosecutions and tougher penalties, a top parliamentary committee has concluded. The latest report from the Work and Pensions Select Committee also calls on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to explain the dramatic drop off in prosecutions for safety offences, down by 40 per cent in four years, from 1,720 offences prosecuted in 2003/04 to 1,028 in 2007/08. Work and Pensions Select Committee news release • Workplace health and safety: follow-up report, (HC 635-I), Work and Pensions Committee, 12 July 2009 • Risks 415 Hazards news,
18 July 2009
Britain: Campaigners say government must act
Two reports in a week calling for action to rein in Britain’s deadliest bosses must be acted on urgently by government, unions and campaigners have said. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber welcomed this week’s Work and Pensions Committee report, which comes on the heels of the Donaghy report into construction fatalities, and called for prompt action by the government. TUC news release • Hazards Campaign news release • Risks 415 Hazards news,
18 July 2009
Britain: Unions back construction deaths report
Unless the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is provided additional resources, the recommendations of an official inquiry into construction fatalities will be “meaningless”, the inspectors’ union has warned. Prospect is calling on government to heed the findings of the Donaghy Inquiry. Prospect news release • GMB news release • Risks 415 Hazards news,
18 July 2009
Britain: Lobbyist defends deadly construction practice
The “disgraceful and outrageous” comments on safety made by a construction industry leader have been condemned by the chair of a government committee and trade unions. UK Contractors Group director Stephen Ratcliffe dismissed an official inquiry’s call for a crackdown on illegal employment in construction, saying the industry could regulate itself. UCATT news release • Morning Star • Construction News • Risks 415 Hazards news,
18 July 2009
Britain: Builder guilty of teen’s work death
A builder has admitted the manslaughter of a 15-year-old boy who was crushed to death as he was left unsupervised to prop up a falling wall. Essex teenager Adam Gosling died from head injuries while working on a five-bedroom house in Hadley Wood, north London, in April 2007. HSE news release • FACK news release • Risks 415 Hazards news,
18 July 2009
Britain: Concrete contractor fined over Wembley death
Construction firm PC Harrington (PCH) has been given 12 months to pay a £150,000 fine for the death of a carpenter on the Wembley Stadium construction site. The concrete firm was handed down the fine and ordered to pay £25,203 in costs at the Old Bailey last week in relation to the 2004 death of employee Patrick O’Sullivan. HSE news release • Contract Journal • Construction News • The Independent • Risks 415 Hazards news,
18 July 2009
Britain: HSE says offshore challenges remain
The safety of the UK's offshore installations is improving but the “challenges are ongoing,” the Health and Safety Executive has said. The HSE progress report comes 18 months after a critical report that followed a major three-year investigation into safety on more than 100 offshore installations. Offshore KP3 report - review of industry’s progress • BBC News Online • Risks 415 Hazards news,
18 July 2009
Britain: Scotland’s work prosecutors start work
Specialist prosecutors are now leading the investigation and prosecution of dangerous workplace incidents across Scotland, the solicitor general has said. The prosecutors will adopt an approach similar to the specialist units for investigating sexual offences and environmental crime. Crown Office news release • BBC News Online • Risks 414 Hazards news,
11 July 2009
Britain: Maltings firm fined after forks fall
A Berwick maltings firm has been fined £10,000 after an employee suffered serious injuries in a fall from the forks of a forklift truck. Simpsons Malt Limited was also ordered to pay £5,883.75 in costs after it pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety legislation. HSE news release • The Journal • Risks 414 Hazards news,
11 July 2009
Britain: £150k fine for driver’s death
A company has been fined £150,000 and ordered to pay costs of more than £24,000 after one of its forklift truck drivers was crushed to death. MB Plastics Ltd pleaded guilty to an offence under health and safety legislation at Manchester Crown Court and
Birse Integrated Solutions Ltd, principal contractors for the project at the Davyhulme Waste Water Treatment Works where the incident happened on 18 September 2003, also pleaded guilty and was fined £50,000 as well as being ordered to pay costs of more than £41,000. HSE news release • This is Cheshire • Building • Risks 414 Hazards news,
11 July 2009
Britain: Meat plant pays £30,000 for fingers
A Scottish meat processing plant has been fined for criminal safety offences after a worker lost three fingers. The court heard that a year before the incident, Belcher Food products Ltd commissioned an electrical inspection of their premises which identified 866 faults with the electrics and wiring system, of which nearly 200 were rated as most urgent – neither these nor recommendations from the Health and Safety Executive were acted on by the firm. HSE news release • Risks 414 Hazards magazine,
11 July 2009
Britain: Damning inquest on office worker death
An office manager was killed when a huge pane of glass weighing 1.8 tonnes fell on top of him. An inquest into the death of Alan Fletcher returned a narrative verdict, saying inadequate safety procedures, lack of training and failure to monitor company policy had played a part in the 59-year-old’s death. Yorkshire Evening Post • Risks 414 Hazards news,
11 July 2009
Britain: Government must act on deaths report
Campaigners and unions have said the government must act promptly to implement the recommendations of the Donaghy inquiry into construction industry fatalities. Hazards Campaign spokesperson Mick Holder said: “We now need a properly resourced Health and Safety Executive (HSE)... capable of making these good ideas workable ideas and for government to stop their obsession with pandering to irresponsible elements in business that believe operating safely is a ‘burden’.” UCATT news webpage • Hazards Campaign news release • Construction News • The Guardian • Risks 414 Hazards news,
11 July 2009
Britain: Boss to face scrapyard death charges
A scrapyard general manager is to face a manslaughter charge over the death of an employee four years ago. Deeside Metal boss Robert Owen Roberts is to appear at Flintshire Magistrates Court in Mold on 25 August to face charges of manslaughter and a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 relating to the horrific fireball death of 37-year-old Mark Wright. Flintshire Chronicle • FACK • Risks 412 Hazards news,
4 July 2009
Britain: Director fined over bus driver death
The former managing director of a Sussex bus firm has been fined £5,000 for health and safety failures that led to the death of one of his drivers. Roy Trundell, 62, died after he was crushed between two vehicles on 4 September 2006 at the depot he worked from in Eastbourne. HSE news release • BBC News Online • Eastbourne Herald • Risks 412 Hazards news,
4 July 2009
Britain: What does the ICL blast report really say? A report of the independent inquiry into Glasgow’s deadly ICL plastics explosion has been handed to ministers of the UK and Scottish governments. However, campaigners have expressed concern that comments on the report’s findings from work and pensions secretary Yvette Cooper and Scottish justice minister Kenny MacAskill were made this week while Lord Gill’s report remains under wraps. DWP news release • FACK news release • ICL disaster campaign webpage • Risks 412 Hazards news, 4 July 2009
Britain: Business wants less time on safety compliance
A business lobby group thinks it is not worth spending 15 minutes a day of a single manager’s time on health and safety. The Forum of Private Business (FSB) ‘Referendum survey’ ranks health and safety second on its regulatory burdens list after “employment red tape” and wants the time small businesses spend “complying with regulations” to be slashed. FSB news release and related safety news release • Who pays?, Hazards magazine, Number 106, 2009 • Risks 412 Hazards news,
4 July 2009
USA: Voluntary safety approaches failed - report
An investigation by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has confirmed what union and other workplace safety advocates have charged for years - the Bush administration’s reliance on voluntary policing by employers of their safety and health actions did not improve worker safety and let some dangerous employers escape scrutiny. AFL-CIO Now • GAO report [pdf] • Risks 412 Hazards news,
27 June 2009
Britain: Director in court on manslaughter charges A company director appeared in court on 23 June facing charges under corporate manslaughter legislation after one of his employees was buried under tonnes of soil when a trench collapsed. Peter Eaton and his company, Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd, are being jointly charged in the UK's first prosecution under the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter Act. Stroud Life • Risks 412 Hazards news,
27 June 2009
Britain: Crane hire firm fined over deaths A crane hire company has been fined after two workers fell to their deaths when a crane collapsed; Gary Miles, 37, and Steven Boatman, 45, died in 2005 as the 118ft (36m) tower crane was being dismantled in Durrington, West Sussex. They were working for Eurolift (Tower Cranes) Ltd, which was taken over by WD Bennett Plant & Services Ltd in 2003. HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 412 Hazards news, 27 June 2009
Firm ignored HSE for eight years An aerospace engineering company routinely ignored health and safety rules for eight years, despite having a series of warnings from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). HSE finally saw Crest Engineering Company Ltd in court this month after finding safety guards missing or not in use on several milling machines, used to shape metal. HSE news release • Risks 412 Hazards news, 27 June 2009
Britain: Firm fined for migrant’s shredder horror A firm that makes bedding for pets has been fined after a Polish worker was serious injured in a shredder. Snowflake Animal Bedding Ltd, which is based in Ashton-under-Lyne, was fined £13,300 and ordered to pay full costs of £8,655.16p at Boston Magistrates’ Court. HSE news release and migrant workers and forklifts webpages • Risks 412 Hazards news, 27 June 2009
Britain: Rail unions dismayed at fatal crashes snub Rail unions have criticised a government decision not to hold a public inquiry into two fatal rail smashes. Instead, two “independent inquests” are to be held into rail accidents at Potters Bar in Hertfordshire and Grayrigg in Cumbria, the government said. Ministerial statement • ASLEF news release • TSSA news release • BBC News Online • Risks 412 Hazards news, 27 June 2009
Britain: Tender pressure puts safety at risk Construction quality and safety standards are at risk as firms are being forced to cut costs to win competitive tenders, a leading industry body has warned. The findings come from a new survey of the sector published by the Scottish Building Federation (SBF), with the group warning that the cost pressure could lead to the possibility of “shoddy work” and “unscrupulous” behaviour by firms desperate to win work. Construction News • Risks 412 Hazards news, 27 June 2009
Britain: Nuclear problems linked to HSE staffing Britain’s nuclear safety watchdog does not have sufficient experienced staff to police the industry, its top official has admitted in a secret report. The report, obtained by the Observer, written by the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) chief nuclear inspector, Mike Weightman, discloses that between 2001 and 2008 there were 1,767 safety incidents across Britain's nuclear plants. The Observer • Risks 412 Hazards news, 27 June 2009
Britain: Caution urged after big fall in fatalities
The TUC has welcomed provisional figures showing workplace fatalities at an all time low, but has warned against complacency and has called on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to maintain a focus on enforcing safety laws. Provisional data published by HSE show that 180 workers were killed between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009 - a rate of 0.6 per 100,000 employees. HSE news release and provisional fatalities figures 2008/09 • TUC news release • Risks 412 Hazards news,
27 June 2009
Spain: Government to punish 'barbaric bakery'
A Spanish bakery accused of barbaric behaviour towards an illegal worker will face “the full weight of the law,” the government has vowed. The statement came amid shock over the case of a Bolivian worker whose arm was cut off in an accident at work; the union CC.OO says he was dumped 100 metres from the hospital entrance and the severed limb was thrown in a rubbish bin. BBC News Online • Think Spain • Risks 411 Hazards news,
20 June 2009
Italy: Deaths reignite workplace safety anger
The deaths of two Italian workers this week after entering a water purification system has reignited anger over the country’s appalling workplace safety record. Cesare Damiano, work spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Party, called for a “culture of safety involving prevention, rules and restrictions.” Life in Italy • Risks 411 Hazards news,
20 June 2009
Britain: Stockline blast victim gets £250k payout
A survivor of the Stockline disaster has been awarded £250,000 damages. An explosion at the Glasgow plastics factory five years ago - which caused the building to collapse - killed nine people and left 30 injured; spray painter Gordon Bell, 48, was trapped under the rubble for 15 minutes before managing to claw his way free. Scotsman • BBC News Online • Daily Record • ICL/Stockline campaign website • Risks 411 Hazards news,
20 June 2009
Britain: No HSE prosecution after nuke near disaster
Questions have been raised about a decision by the Health and Safety Executive’s nuclear arm not to prosecute a nuclear power firm that narrowly and seemingly by chance averted a nuclear disaster. An official interim report suggested that lack of staff resources at the NII was a factor in the decision not to prosecute. Lowestoft Journal • The Guardian • Where is the justice?, Hazards magazine, number 104, October-December 2008 • Risks 411 Hazards news,
20 June 2009
Britain: Firm fined after engineer is electrocuted
A Hatfield firm has been fined £35,000 after 30-year-old Ricky Cronin was electrocuted. SF (UK) Ltd, the engineering arm of British Gas, was also ordered to pay £65,000 costs at St Albans Crown Court. HSE news release and electricity at work and risk assessment webpages • Welwyn and Hatfield Times • Risks 411 Hazards news,
20 June 2009
Britain: HSE wrong on bogus employment deaths
Construction union UCATT has accused the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of failing to track accurately the deadly impact of bogus self-employment in the sector. It said the watchdog’s failure became apparent during an evidence session of the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee last week. UCATT news release • Risks 411 Hazards news,
20 June 2009
Britain: Shame of site firm’s double conviction
Construction firm Bouygues UK has said the two safety convictions it received in court over the past week – including one for the death of a worker – were “deeply regrettable”.
HSE news releases on the 8 June 2009 and 3 June 2009 fines • Construction News • Risks 410 Hazards news,
13 June 2009
Heat exhaustion killed silo worker
The parents of Scunthorpe worker Paul Sharp, who collapsed and died while working in a fat silo, have told of their heartache after their son’s death. Gainsborough-based Silocheck Limited was fined £30,000 at Swindon Crown Court last week after admitting breaching two counts of the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997. HSE news release • Scunthorpe Telegraph • Risks 410 Hazards news,
13 June 2009
Britain: A dead rabbit gets swifter, better justice
Safety campaigners have reacted furiously after the death of a rabbit was treated more seriously by the courts than the death of a construction worker. Discovery Homes (Scotland) Ltd was fined £5,000 and the firm’s director Richard Pratt £4,000 on 8 June after the death of employee Andrezej Freitag; on the same day Steven Appleton was jailed for causing unnecessary suffering to a rabbit at Magistrates Court in Caerphilly after he stamped it to death, receiving a six month custodial sentence. FACK news release and website • The death at work of Gordon Field, Sharon Norman’s father [pdf] • Contract Journal • BBC News Online • Risks 410 Hazards news,
13 June 2009
Britain: Director fined over shaft death
A construction company and one of its directors have been fined after a Polish worker died in Dundee. Andrezej Freitag, 53, fell down an exhaust shaft at flats being built in the city in May 2008. Kinross-based Discovery Homes (Scotland) Ltd pleaded guilty at Dundee Sheriff Court to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £5,000; company director Richard Pratt also pleaded guilty to breaching section 37(1) of the same Act and was fined £4,000 - only the second successful prosecution of a company director in Scotland in six years for a breach of health and safety legislation. HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 410 Hazards news,
13 June 2009
Britain: Campaigners blast 'damp squib' strategy
The Health and Safety Executive’s new five-year strategy has been described as a “damp squib” by campaigners. Hilda Palmer of the Hazards Campaign criticised the strategy, which urges employers to sign up to a voluntary safety “pledge”, for failing to call for either statutory directors’ duties or new rights for safety reps. Hazards Campaign news release • FACK news release • Construction News • SHP Online • Building • HSE ‘Be part of the solution’ strategy and pledge • Risks 410 Hazards news,
13 June 2009
Britain: Concern at power station safety failings
A large steel beam was dropped by a crane near workers at Staythorpe power station – the second serious crane incident on the site in three weeks. In the 1 June “serious health and safety incident” a 5 tonne steel beam fell near workers. GMB news release • Nottingham Evening Post • Risks 410 Hazards news,
13 June 2009
USA: They want more than blood
American Red Cross blood transfusion centres have been picketed across the US in response to plans to boost profits by jeopardising the safety of the blood supply and mistreating workers. The union-backed protesters are concerned that blood safety will suffer because the Red Cross national office is insisting that workers take pay cuts and that qualified nurses be replaced with unlicensed supervisors. Union gal blog • AFL-CIO Now blog • Risks 409 Hazards news,
6 June 2009
Britain: Firm fined £280,000 for fatal breaches
A shipping firm was fined £280,000 last week for safety breaches which a judge said probably contributed to the deaths of three workers. Finlay MacFadyen, 48, died on board the Viking Islay in September 2007 as he tried to save two colleagues from an oxygen-starved compartment. Nautilus news release • Press and Journal • BBC News Online • Yorkshire Post • Risks 409 Hazards news,
6 June 2009
Britain: Shell fined record sum over fire safety
Shell International was fined £300,000 this week over deficiencies in fire safety at the Shell Centre in central London, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said. The company was also ordered to pay £45,000 in costs after it pleaded guilty at Inner London crown court to three breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO). London Fire Brigade news release • The Guardian • Risks 409 Hazards news,
6 June 2009
Britain: Injury fine for serial offender
A West Midlands flooring firm has been prosecuted and fined for a third time for failing to guard moving machinery parts. The latest court appearance for The Amtico Company Ltd came after employee Ian Burridge’s hand was crushed between heated high-speed rollers in September 2007. HSE news release and 'Using work equipment safely' guidance [pdf] • Coventry Telegraph • Risks 409 Hazards news,
6 June 2009
Europe: Backdoor attempt to undo regulation
Health and safety legislation across the European Union is being threatened by an unaccountable “high level group” created by the European Commission with a deregulation brief. The ETUC’s health and safety research arm, HESA, says the Stoiber group is “taking positions that far exceed its remit limited to administrative burdens”, and instead is trying to attack legislation and its application, including REACH, drivers’ hours rules and working time regulations. Community bureaucracy and “better regulation”… pot – kettle?, special report on better legislation, HESA newsletter, number 39, 2009 and [pdf] • Risks 409 Hazards news,
6 June 2009
Britain: Work’s a lot worse than you think
Workers massively under-estimate the risk of suffering a serious workplace injury, new research has found. Survey results released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to coincide with the launch of its new strategy reveal almost half of Britain’s workers know someone who has been injured at work but, on average, employees think that just 3,000 people were killed or seriously injured at work last year – 45 times lower than the number reported each year to HSE. HSE news release and Be Part of the Solution strategy and pledge • Risks 409 Hazards news,
6 June 2009
USA/Iraq: KBR gets bonuses for deadly work
The US Department of Defense paid former Halliburton subsidiary KBR more than $80 million (£50m) in bonuses for contracts to install electrical wiring in Iraq. The award payments were for work that resulted in the electrocution deaths of US soldiers, according to Department of Defense documents revealed last week in a US Senate hearing. The Nation • Risks 408 Hazards news,
30 May 2009
Britain: Untrained worker trapped by dumper
Employers are being warned to make sure staff are properly trained to use heavy workplace vehicles, after an Ascot company was prosecuted for a criminal safety breach. Ascot-based Shorts Group Ltd was fined at Maidenhead Magistrates Court following the incident on 21 May 2008 when a demolition labourer was injured. HSE news release and HSE Construction Information Sheet 52 - Safe use of site dumpers [pdf] • Maidenhead Advertiser • Risks 408 Hazards news,
30 May 2009
Britain: Firm fined for forklift folly
A chance sighting of unsafe work practices has landed a Macclesfield company with a £6,000 fine. Eazyfone Ltd was also ordered at Macclesfield Magistrates' Court to pay £2,285 costs after pleading guilty to a criminal breach of safety law. HSE news release and Shattered lives campaign • Risks 408 Hazards news,
30 May 2009
Britain: Sellafield workers exposed to radiation
Nuclear company Sellafield Limited is to be prosecuted for alleged breaches of health and safety law after two site workers were exposed to airborne radioactive contamination. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said two employees of a site contractor had been exposed to the radiation during the decontamination of an area of concrete floor in July 2007. HSE news release • Construction News • Risks 408 Hazards news,
30 May 2009
Britain: Digger death company closed down
A haulage firm responsible for an incident that led to a woman's death has been put out of business by the Traffic Commissioner. A public inquiry in March heard 28 prohibitions had been issued against Munro & Sons (Highland) Ltd for safety breaches since 2005. BBC News Online • Scotsman • Press and Journal • Risks 408 Hazards news,
30 May 2009
Britain: £10k fine for untrained worker injury
Havering Council has been told to pay almost £20,000 in fines and costs after an untrained temporary worker was injured when he severed a main power cable. The StreetCare employee struck the 11,000 volt cable while using a hydraulic breaker. HSE news release • Romford Recorder • Contract Journal • Construction News • Risks 408 Hazards news,
30 May 2009
Britain: Polish worker electrocuted on farm
A fruit farmer has been fined less than £10,000 after a Polish berry picker was killed by an 11,000 volt shock from an overhead cable. Farmer Peter Thomson had been warned about the danger just two weeks before the tragedy, but took no action. HSE news release and electricity webpages • BBC News Online • Daily Record • Risks 408 Hazards news,
30 May 2009
Britain: Polish workers 'exploited' by gangmaster
A gangmaster has been stripped of his licence after a seven week investigation identified a catalogue of safety and employment abuses. Jagjit Singh, who ran Saphire Trading in Southampton, is said to have created an “atmosphere of fear and intimidation in the workplace.” GLA news release • BBC News Online • Risks 408 Hazards news, 30 May 2009
Australia: Go-ahead for national safety law
Australia is to move to a national system of workplace safety laws after state and territory governments agreed to harmonise their laws in a move designed to reduce business red tape. Unions have criticised the changes, with Jeff Lawrence, secretary of the national union federation ACTU, saying they would “significantly undermine protections” for many workers. The Age • Sydney Morning Herald • The Australian • Risks 407 Hazards news,
23 May 2009
Britain: Fine after worker loses leg
Agricultural contractor Pete Mellor Ltd has been fined £12,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,564 after a worker’s leg had to be amputated as a result of being crushed by a falling weight. HSE news release • Burton Mail • Derby Evening Telegraph • Risks 407 Hazards news,
23 May 2009
Britain: Who’d have thought rotating blades were dangerous?
A metal recycling firm has been fined after an employee working on a machine with inadequately guarded rotating blades suffered a severe hand injury. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted JBM International Ltd for its failure to make a suitable risk assessment of the dangers posed by the rotary valves of the dust extraction unit. HSE news release and risk assessment webpages • Risks 407 Hazards news,
23 May 2009
USA: WR Grace escapes justice on asbestos crimes
A federal jury in Montana has acquitted chemical giant WR Grace and Company and three of its former executives of knowingly exposing mine workers and residents of Libby, Montana, to asbestos and then covering up their actions. The verdict has was greeted with disappointment in Libby, where residents had already seen to their increasing dismay a hostile judge repeatedly attack prosecutors and rule inadmissible key evidence of WR Grace’s culpability. Andrew Schneider Investigates • Democracy Now! • The Pump Handle • Risks 406 Hazards news, 6 May 2009
Australia: Unions push for tougher laws
Tougher national health and safety laws are needed urgently to tackle the terrible toll of death, disease and injury facing Australian workers, unions have warned. Families of victims of workplace tragedies and unions this week launched a hard-hitting new advertising campaign that aims to lift health and safety standards and improve legislative protections for workers. ACTU news release, action campaign and factsheet [pdf] • VTHC news release • ABC News • The Australian • Risks 406 Hazards news,
16 May 2009
China: Bosses cover up mine deaths
Seven people died of gas poisoning in a central China coal mine earlier this month, but the management attempted to conceal most of the deaths. A local government investigation found that five bodies had been removed to other places and one who died in a hospital went unreported, reported the city government of Dengfeng, where the incident took place. Xinhua China Daily • Risks 406 Hazards new,
16 May 2009
Britain: HSE action on one in five sites
One in five construction sites failed health and safety checks during the latest national inspection blitz carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). HSE took enforcement action on 348 of the 1,759 sites visited - the equivalent of almost 20 per cent of all sites visited - and inspectors issued nearly 500 enforcement notices. Contract Journal • Construction News • New Civil Engineer • Building • Risks 406 Hazards news,
16 May 2009
Britain: Worker paralysed in site fall
A Surrey construction firm has been fined £15,000 after a worker was paralysed in a fall of over three metres. Fine Construction UK Ltd was prosecuted at City of London Magistrates Court. HSE news release and Shattered lives campaign • Construction News • Risks 406 Hazards news,
16 May 2009
Britain: Tesco fined £20,000 for worker's injury
Tesco has been fined £20,000 after a 17-year-old worker severed her Achilles tendon at a Cambridgeshire store. South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) prosecuted Tesco Stores plc for a safety breach after employee Rachel Harris severed her Achilles tendon at the Fulbourn Tesco store in June 2007. SCDC news release • Cambridge News • Risks 406 Hazards news, 16 May 2009
Britain: Company fined for crush death
A paper firm has been ordered to payout £125,000 in fines and costs after a worker was crushed to death. Avery Dennison Materials UK Ltd was sentenced last week at Aylesbury Crown Court. HSE news release • Risks 406 Hazards news,
16 May 2009
Britain: Families remember ICL blast victims
Families who lost loved ones in a Glasgow factory disaster gathered this week for an emotional church service to mark the fifth anniversary of the tragedy. Nine people died and 33 others were injured, many of them pulled from the rubble, in the 11 May 2004 blast at the ICL/Stockline Plastics factory in Maryhill. Patricia Ferguson MSP and Ann McKechin MP joint statement • Evening Times • ICL/Stockline campaign website • Risks 406 Hazards news,
16 May 2009
Britain: Two suffocated on fish farm barge Two men have died after suffocating in a fish farm barge. Maarten Pieter Den Heijer, 30, and 45-year-old Robert MacDonald died on Loch Creran, a sea loch north of Oban, on 11 May; a third man, aged 42, survived after being airlifted to hospital. Strathclyde Police news release • BBC News Online and earlier report • The Herald • Risks 406 Hazards news,
16 May 2009
Britain: Death case may affect site fatalities probe
The chair of the government convened inquiry into construction industry fatalities has indicated the prosecution last week of a construction giant could influence her findings, a trade journal has reported. Rita Donaghy was present at last week’s Old Bailey judgment against Laing O’Rourke, when the firm was fined £135,000 and told it should be “thoroughly ashamed” over a workplace fatality. HSE news release • Laing O’Rourke annual review [pdf] • Construction News • Building • Dartford Times • FACK • Risks 406 Hazards news,
16 May 2009
South Africa: Mine deaths continue to rise
The number of miners killed in South African mines is rising again, a union has warned. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says that the official death count is over 60 so far this year. ICEM news report • Risks 405 Hazards news,
9 May 2009
Britain: ‘Green’ lightbulbs poison workers
Workers in China could pay a high price for the production of “green” lightbulbs in cost-cutting factories. Large numbers of Chinese workers have been poisoned by mercury, which forms part of the compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Sunday Times • Risks 405 Hazards news,
9 May 2009
Britain: Factory fined over two finger loss
Oldham firm Ribble Packaging Ltd has been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,769.50 after an employee of the corrugated cardboard factory lost the tops of two fingers. HSE news release • Risks 405 Hazards news,
9 May 2009
Britain: HSE issues fragile roof warning
A construction company has been fined £6,600 after a self-employed worker was lucky to survive a fall through a fragile roof during replacement of leaking roof lights. Keen Construction Ltd was also ordered to pay costs of £3,625. HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 405 Hazards news,
9 May 2009
Britain: HSE warning on deadly balers
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned farmers of the dangers of working with baling machinery following inquests on two Staffordshire farmers who died while carrying out contract work. HSE news release • The Sentinel • Risks 405 Hazards news,
9 May 2009
Britain: Why was no-one held responsible?
A sister has criticised enforcement authorities for failing to bring anyone to justice after the death of her brother on a construction site. Anthony Lockey died on 20 June 2007 when a reversing dumper truck filled with cement fell into the trench where he was working. Guardian • HSE statement • Risks 405 Hazards news,
9 May 2009
Britain: Review condemns ‘woeful’ enforcement
A review of workplace health and safety enforcement has criticised a continuing pattern of “woeful” sentencing which is failing to discourage safety offenders. Howard Fidderman, author of ‘Deterrent, what deterrent?’, said HSE has “already gone soft”, adding: “The statistics do not lie: it is inspecting fewer premises, investigating fewer accidents, serving fewer enforcement notices, taking fewer prosecutions and securing grossly inadequate penalties.”
Howard Fidderman. Deterrent, what deterrent?, Health and Safety Bulletin, number 377, pages 5-18, 2009 • Risks 405 Hazards news,
9 May 2009
Britain: Company fined after fall
Two companies have been after a self-employed roofer fell and injured himself due to shoddy scaffolding in 2007. At Sheffield Crown Court Pinnacle Scaffolding Ltd of Stockton on Tees, Cleveland, were fined £27,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,000, while L J McLaren Engineering Ltd of Wooler, Northumberland, were fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,000. HSE news release • Risks 404 Hazards news,
2 May 2009
Britain: Director fined for health and safety death
A north-west company director has been fined after the death of an employee. George Robertson Graham, the senior partner at Carlisle company Auto Recoveries was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs by Carlisle Crown Court. News and Star • Risks 404 Hazards news,
2 May 2009
Britain: First charges under corporate manslaughter law
For the first time charges have been brought under of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. The Crown Prosecution Service authorised a charge of corporate manslaughter against Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd and Peter Eaton, a director of the company has been charged with gross negligence manslaughter and with an offence contrary to Section 37, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. CPS news release • Risks 404 Hazards news,
2 May 2009
Britain: Who pays for employers failures?
A new report has shown that those responsible for occupational injuries and diseases only pay a tiny fraction of the cost. 'Who pays? You do', by Stirling University's Professor Rory O'Neill, concludes that thousands of lives each year could be saved if businesses were prevented from 'cost shifting' onto individuals and society the real bill for work-related ill-health. Hazards news release • Hazards report • Risks 404
Hazards news,
2 May 2009
Britain: Enforcement notices issued on fire service
The HSE has issued two safety improvement notices on Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service after an inspection by the Health and Safety Executive. The service has been told it must improve its training four years after two of its men died fighting a tower block fire in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. FBU Release • Risks 404 Hazards news,
2 May 2009
USA: Blast ‘could have eclipsed’ Bhopal
A US chemical plant explosion could have surpassed the 1984 Bhopal disaster, according to a report released this week by congressional investigators. The 28 August 2008 explosion at the Bayer CropScience Institute plant, in which two workers died, turned a 2.5-ton chemical vessel into a “dangerous projectile” that could have destroyed a nearby tank of the deadly Bhopal chemical methyl isocyanate (MIC), according to the report by House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee staff. CSB news release • Charleston Gazette • Committee report [pdf] • Risks 403 Hazards news,
25 April 2009
Mexico: Court sides with danger mine owners
A Mexican arbitration board ruled that Grupo Mexico can shut its largest mine and fire striking workers, saying they had damaged equipment. However independent experts from the US, who carried out a detailed health and safety audit at the Cananea mine, had earlier found safety and equipment standards were appalling and that this was the fault of management at the mine, not the workers. USW news release • IMF news release • Risks 403 Hazards news,
25 April 2009
Britain: HSE tells the hole truth
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning employers of the dangers of leaving holes in walkways. The watchdog is also stressing the need for inadequate hazard warning signs, after a man was seriously injured at Drax Power Station. HSE news release and shattered lives campaign • Risks 403
Hazards news,
25 April 2009
Britain: Worker crushed by toppled crusher
A Cardiff worker was lucky to survive after being crushed by an 800kg machine. Pullman Design and Fabrication Ltd, pleaded guilty to a safety offence and was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £27,500 costs at Cardiff Crown Court. HSE news release • Wales Online • Risks 403 Hazards news, 25 April 2009
Britain: Director told staff to rip out asbestos
Staff at a Telford firm were ordered by their boss to rip out asbestos with a crowbar and clean up with a vacuum cleaner. Roger Lavender, 37, the managing director of Secal Laser Ltd, was fined £6,666 and ordered to pay £11,039.88 in court costs and a £15 surcharge after admitting a safety offence. HSE news release • Shropshire Star • Risks 402 Hazards news,
18 April 2009
Britain: Firm fined £2,000 after serious injury
A lift manufacturing and maintenance company has been told to pay up £10,000 for breaking health and safety rules after an employee was seriously injured. The UK Lift Company was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £8,000 costs at Lincoln Magistrates' Court for failing to ensure the safety of its employees while working at height. HSE news release • Northampton Chronicle and Echo • Risks 402
Hazards news,
18 April 2009
Britain: HSE had never visited blast death factory
A pie factory that was destroyed in an explosion, killing one worker, had never been inspected by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). David Cole, 37, from Halifax, died when the blast at Andrew Jones Pies brought down part of the roof and started a fire on 10 April. BBC News Online • Daily Mirror • Yorkshire Evening Post • Risks 402 Hazards news,
18 April 2009
Britain: Two serious injuries lead to two small fines
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is reminding employers of their safety duties following two incidents in Mansfield where employees at the same company suffered serious injuries within weeks of each other. SDC Trailers Ltd was fined £3,300 and SDC Parts and Services Ltd was fined £2,600, with both also ordered to pay costs of £1,824.60. HSE news release • Risks 402 Hazards news,
18 April 2009
Britain: Fine after man caught in machinery
A timber firm has been fined £4,000 plus costs of £2,497 after a man was dragged into machinery, suffering serious leg injuries, while clambering over it to replace a part. The common practice at FW Mason and Sons Ltd was only stopped following the injury to Paul Huckle, whose trouser leg caught on a rotating gear, pulling him into the machine. Nottingham Evening Post • Risks 402 Hazards news,
18 April 2009
Britain: HSE to publish some deaths information
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will now report work-related deaths on a monthly basis. The move, with will see HSE list work deaths once the related inquest has commenced, follows a Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) complaint to the Information Commissioner, who ruled last year that HSE must make this information available. HSE operational note • HSE Freedom of Information webpages • Risks 402 Hazards news,
18 April 2009
Britain: Council fined after waste collector dies
A Scottish council has been fined after a waste collector was killed at work. Stephen Welsh, 35, an East Dunbartonshire Council employee, who was struck and fatally injured by a reversing waste recycling lorry. HSE news release • Risks 402 Hazards news,
18 April 2009
USA: Safety watchdog failed under Bush
With 5,680 workers dying on the job each year, unions say a new report has shown just how callous the Bush administration was when it came to protecting workers. A report by the US Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) reveals that the Bush administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the national health and safety watchdog, systematically failed to perform follow-up inspections for employers who put workers in serious danger – and that failure could have led to nearly 60 deaths. AFL-CIO Now and John Sweeney statement • OIG report [pdf] • The Pump Handle • The Washington Post • Risks 401 Hazards news,
11 April 2009
Colombia: ‘Fatally flawed’ safety blights US mine
A US owned mining giant operating in Colombia is putting workers in deadly danger, the global union confederation ITUC has charged. It says it “strongly condemns” the situation at the opencast mine in La Loma, operated by Drummond Company Inc for the last 13 years. ITUC news release • Risks 401 Hazards news,
11 April 2009
Australia: Union slams fatalities ‘spin doctoring’
Production at BHP Billiton sites could be halted at any time after the Western Australia state government said it would issue immediate stop work notices for any further safety breaches at the company’s operations. But the move, at a site that has seen five deaths since July 2008, has been slammed by mining union AWU as “spin doctoring” to cover up the inadequacies of an under-resourced mines safety inspectorate. AWU news release • The West Australian • Risks 401 Hazards news,
11 April 2009
Britain: Minister announces crane safety register
The government is to introduce a statutory register for tower cranes. The move, which comes after both ministers and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had initially rejected the idea, follows pressure from unions and site safety campaigners. DWP news release • UCATT news release • Risks 401 Hazards news,
11 April 2009
Britain: Construction deaths report is delayed
Construction union UCATT has welcomed the decision to delay by two months an inquiry report into fatalities in the construction industry. The chair of the inquiry, Rita Donaghy, was due to have submitted her report to work and pensions secretary James Purnell by 30 April; it is now thought the submission date has slipped until late June. UCATT news release • Construction News • Contract Journal • Risks 401 Hazards news,
11 April 2009
Britain: HSE faces haemorrhage of expert staff
Workers are being put at risk because the Health and Safety Executive is haemorrhaging experienced staff, unions have warned. Environmental Health News • Risks 401 Hazards news,
11 April 2009
Britain: Water worker manslaughter trial collapses
Three bosses charged with killing a worker have walked free from Cardiff Crown Court after the prosecution called a halt to their trial. The case collapsed due to inconsistencies in the prosecution evidence. South Wales Argus • Wales Online • Risks 400 Hazards news,
4 April 2009
Britain: Two firms guilty over crane deaths
Two firms have been found guilty of health and safety breaches relating to the deaths of two men on a construction site in Worthing in 2005. WD Bennett's Plant & Services Ltd was found guilty at Chichester Crown Court of two health and safety breaches that led to two workers being killed and a third injured and Eurolift (Tower Cranes Limited) pleaded guilty to breaches of the same laws. HSE news release • Contract Journal • Risks 400 Hazards news,
4 April 2009
Britain: Firm fined after fatal accident
A Great Yarmouth company has been fined £25,000 for breaching health and safety rules, after a welder was electrocuted in an incident in a dry dock. Kevin Hall, 46, was killed while working for Richards Dry Dock Engineering on 5 August 2005. HSE news release and confined space webpages • Norwich Evening News • BBC News Online • Risks 400 Hazards news, 4 April 2009
Britain: Fine after serious site fall
A South Wales construction company has been prosecuted after a worker was seriously injured when he fell nearly three metres. RJ Heale and Co Ltd was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £6,605.25 costs. HSE news release and shattered lives campaign • Llanelli Star • Risks 400 Hazards news,
4 April 2009
Mexico: Union wants a work homicide law
There is an urgent need for a corporate homicide law to punish companies that put their workers’ lives in danger, a Mexican mining union has said. The call comes after another spate of deaths in the mines and metals industry, including four deaths in one week at Mittal Steel and Peñoles. IMF news release • Risks 399 Hazards news,
28 March 2009
Global: Trade and safety newsletter
Increasing numbers of workers around the world are employed by international companies, exploiting tax and regulatory exemptions to produce goods for export – with safety often an early casualty. The Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network (MHSSN) newsletter - Border/Line Health & Safety – is the single best source on the issue.
Border/Line Health and Safety [pdf] • Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network (MHSSN • Risks 399 Hazards news,
28 March 2009
Britain: Directors must ‘lead by actions, not words’
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has called on directors to demonstrate personal commitment and spend more time outside the boardroom to show they really care about health and safety. HSE chair Judith Hackitt told a meeting of the Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in London: “Personal responsibility is fundamental to credibility and strong leadership.” HSE news release • Risks 399 Hazards news,
28 March 2009
Britain: Director pays £4k for work death
The former director of an aggregates firm has been fined £4,000 over the death of a lorry driver in east London in 2001. John Peter Wootten, formerly trading as AEP Aggregates, was hit with the fine and £750 in costs at the Old Bailey after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations. HSE news release • Construction News • Risks 399 Hazards news,
28 March 2009
Britain: Dairy boss done for ladder fall
A dairy boss has been fined after an employee broke both wrists in a fall from a ladder. Andrew Howard, a partner in the Beechdean Dairies partnership, was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,000 after pleading guilty to safety offences. HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 399 Hazards news,
28 March 2009
Britain: Waste director gets £2,000 injury fine
A King’s Lynn waste disposal business and its managing director have been ordered to pay out £16,000 in fines and legal costs after an employee was seriously injured. Baco-Compak had commissioned a new, prototype machine to separate wood and rubble, but broke health and safety laws when it failed to install a safety guard on its conveyor belt. HSE news release and work equipment webpages • Lynn News • Risks 399 Hazards news,
28 March 2009
Britain: Another fine, another waste of a life
A waste company in Sunderland has been fined £15,000 after one of its workers was killed when he was hit by a 20-tonne dumper truck. David Liddle was struck by the vehicle as he walked across the yard operated by Alex Smiles Limited in December 2007. BBC News Online • Sunderland Echo • Northumberland Gazette • Hazards deadly business webpages • Risks 399 Hazards news,
28 March 2009
Britain: Council fined £40k after electrocution
Camden Council has been fined £40,000 after a scaffolder was electrocuted by a faulty security light while working on a local authority housing estate. Ralph Kennedy, 24, died instantly when he touched the live metal casing during improvements work in September 2006. HSE news release • The London Paper • Contract Journal • Risks 399 Hazards news,
28 March 2009
Britain: Six figure fine over worker death
A Scottish linoleum manufacturer has been fined £330,000 over the death of an employee. Oliver Byers, 55, was crushed to death at the Forbo Nairn plant in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in September 2007. The Courier • STV • Fife Today • BBC News Online • Risks 399
Hazards news,
28 March 2009
Britain: Pet food firm fined for death
Dog food manufacturer in Naturediet Pet Foods has been fined £157,500 after one of its workers was crushed to death in packing machinery - but manslaughter charges on company bosses were dropped. The court was told that approved safety measures were not in force, there was a faulty safety mechanism that exposed workers to a risk of being trapped or crushed, and company had failed to act after being warned about the failures two years before the tragedy. HSE news release • Get Surrey • Sussex Express • BBC News Online • Risks 398 Hazards news,
21 March 2009
Britain: UNISON welcomes meat industry report
A report calling for a review of the ‘light touch’ enforcement of meat hygiene and for more resources for food safety has been welcomed by the meat inspectors’ union UNISON. The union had earlier warned that the there had been too little support for bullied and harassed meat hygiene workers. UNISON news release • BBC News Online • Risks 398 Hazards news,
21 March 2009
Britain: HSE must act on management failings
The Health and Safety Executive’s new strategy must address management failings and should be backed up by new legal safety duties on company directors, unions have said. GMB news release and full submission [pdf] • Contract Journal • Risks 398 Hazards news,
21 March 2009
Britain: TUC rebuke for official ‘don’t prosecute’ line
A government report saying safety enforcers ‘should not generally prosecute or impose a punitive sanction’ on some small and medium sized firms (SMEs) guilty of criminal workplace safety violations has received a strong rebuke from the TUC. BERR news release and Government response to the Anderson review, March 2009 [pdf] • Environmental Health News • Risks 398 Hazards news,
21 March 2009
Britain: Fine for pupil’s fireball injury
A Sleaford motor business has been fined after a youth on work experience was hit in the chest by a fireball. Year 11 student Jamie Fenn-Smith was on a work experience placement at the garage when he was hit by the fireball, which melted the plastic print of his t-shirt onto his skin. HSE news release • Sleaford Standard • Risks 397 Hazards news,
14 March 2009
Britain: HSE strategy needs ‘beefing up’
Mainstream safety organisations have said a new Health and Safety Executive (HSE) draft strategy falls well short on detail and on intent. Safety professionals’ organisation IOSH has called on HSE to 'beef up' some of the strategic goals contained in its new strategy. IOSH news release and full response to the HSE strategy [pdf] • RoSPA news release • Risks 397 Hazards news, 14 March 2009
Britain: Unite demands ‘Flying Phantom’ inquiry
There should be a public inquiry into the loss of the Flying Phantom tug and three of her crew in December 2007, the union Unite has said. Unite news release • Risks 397 Hazards news,
14 March 2009
USA: Obama backs safety enforcement
Barak Obama has pledged to increase the enforcement of workplace safety. The US president said mounting workloads and dwindling staff have hindered the government's ability to protect workers, so his budget is seeking a funding increase of $27m for the official safety watchdog, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), with a stipulation the increase is used to rebuild OSHA's enforcement role. Charlotte Observer • Risks 396 Hazards news,
7 March 2009
Australia: Unions defend safety prosecutions role
Australia’s occupational health and safety laws should include a trade union right to bring safety prosecutions against dangerous firms, a top union official has said. Geoff Fary, assistant secretary of the national union federation ACTU, said a system for union-initiated prosecutions already works well in New South Wales (NSW) and shouldn’t be jettisoned. Business Spectator • Safety at Work interview with Geoff Fary • ACTU OHS webpages, including links to ACTU submission • Risks 396 Hazards news,
7 March 2009
Britain: Worker's death costs metal firm £70,000
A Sheffield metal company has been fined £20,000 fine and ordered to pay £50,000 costs two years after a young Polish worker died in an horrific fireball. Patrycjusz Handzel, 24, suffered 80 per cent burns in the explosion in March 2007 at Transition International, when his synthetic fibre top burned for 12 minutes at boiling point on his skin. HSE news release • Sheffield Star • Sheffield Telegraph • Risks 396 Hazards news,
7 March 2009
Britain: Director fined after teenager’s death
A company director has been fined more than £7,000 at Nottingham Crown Court for health and safety breaches after an apprentice died at his workshop. Christopher John Pridmore, 32, was also ordered to pay £2,500 costs after admitted breaching the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. HSE news release • Nottingham Evening Post • BBC News Online • Risks 396 Hazards news, 7 March 2009
Britain: Firm fined for fatal lifting blunders
A Croydon construction firm has been fined £66,000 after an employee was killed by a falling excavator bucket. P Colohan and Company Ltd was prosecuted after the death of construction supervisor John Walsh in 2004; in addition to the fine it was ordered to pay costs of £40,950 at the Old Bailey after pleading guilty to a breach of The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER). HSE news release • Risks 396 Hazards news,
7 March 2009
Turkey: TUC concern at Turkish shipyard deaths
The TUC has called on the Turkish government to bring to an end the “horrendous record of death and maiming” at a major shipyard complex in the country. TUC letter to the Turkish ambassador • Risks 396 Hazards news,
7 March 2009
France: Manslaughter blast trial starts
A subsidiary of the French energy giant Total has gone on trial over a 2001 explosion at a chemical plant which killed 30 people and injured thousands. Total subsidiary Grande Paroisse and the head of its AZF plant in the southern city of Toulouse are charged with manslaughter, involuntary injury and destruction of property. BBC News Online • Oil and Gas Journal • Radio Netherlands • News24 • Risks 395 Hazards news,
28 February 2009
China: Inquiry ordered into coal mine blast
Chinese authorities have ordered a probe into an explosion in a coal mine that killed 74 workers. The authorities have also fired three of the mine's top managers. The sackings were reported a day after the explosion ripped through the Tunlan mine in Shanxi province on Sunday 22 February, in the deadliest accident to hit the industry in more than a year. China Daily • Rednet.cn • Radio Australia News • ICEM news report • BBC News Online • Risks 395 Hazards news,
28 February 2009
Britain: Firm fined for mangling arm
A West Yorkshire firm has been fined £20,000 after a factory worker suffered serious arm injuries. The 47-year-old worker suffered a compound fracture of his arm, lost tissue and suffered muscle and nerve damage when the sleeve of his overalls became entangled in a vertical jig borer he was using at the factory in Heckmondwike. HSE news release • Huddersfield Daily Examiner • Risks 395
Hazards news,
28 February 2009
Britain: Stockline probe refused to hear experts
The inquiry into the Stockline disaster in Glasgow will fail to learn vital lessons because it has been restricted to the immediate cause of the gas explosion, experts are warning. The inquiry's chair, Lord Gill, barred academics who authored a report on the wider causes of the accident from appearing as witnesses because he regarded their evidence as outside the inquiry's remit. Sunday Herald • Stockline campaign website • Inquiry website and related correspondence from those excluded • Risks 395 Hazards news,
28 February 2009
USA: Contractors jailed for asbestos crimes
A federal judge sentenced two contractors to prison for undertaking asbestos removal jobs that left homes and businesses contaminated. US district judge David Hurd sentenced John Wood of Plattsburgh to four years in prison and Curtis Collins of Willsboro to two years after they pleaded guilty to Clean Air Act violations and other crimes related to asbestos removal jobs that left much of the cancer-causing material behind. WTEN news Hazards news,
21 February 2009
Britain: HSE asbestos enforcement on 1-in-5 sites
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued asbestos-related improvement notices to 22 per cent of sites visited in a Kent inspection blitz. Inspectors visited 151 sites in Thanet, Cantebury, Dartford and Dover, and issued 33 improvement notices and two prohibition notices. HSE news release • Contract Journal • HSE asbestos – hidden killer campaign • Risks 394 Hazards news, 21 February 2009
Britain: Downturn is leading to safety cuts
The recession is leading to some firms lowering the priority they give to workplace health and safety, two surveys have found. Research conducted for PPE product manufacturer 3M found the downturn is encouraging some construction companies to skimp on the cost of personal protective equipment (PPE) and a survey by National Accident Helpline found 62 per cent of employees believed that their employer was placing less emphasis on health and safety as a result of the recession. Contract Journal • Management Today • Risks 394 Hazards news,
21 February 2009
Britain: UCATT condemns ‘Gestapo’ rant
Construction union UCATT has condemned comments made by the head of a leading construction body, who told a trade journal that the safety ‘Gestapo’ was a problem for the industry. Bob Whincap, president of the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation, had complained: “There is a health and safety Gestapo out there and if there is the minutest risk of something happening it will be eliminated and the problem is you can’t build.” UCATT news release • Builder and Engineer • Risks 394 Hazards news,
21 February 2009
Britain: Manufacturers resist directors’ duties
The organisation representing manufacturing firms is urging the government to resist calls for new legal safety duties on directors. EEF, which speaks for member firms in the manufacturing sector, says it survey shows many more company directors are already taking a leading role in health and safety management – but a separate study for the Health and Safety Executive found manufacturing was lagging behind on the issue. EEF news release • Personnel Today • Risks 394 Hazards news,
21 February 2009
Britain: Directors blame unions for board failings
Construction union UCATT and safety campaigners have reacted with incredulity after the Institute of Directors (IoD) blamed unions for the failure of company directors to adopt a directors’ safety code. Alexander Ehmann of IoD had said: “The unions have not been as committed to disseminating the guidance as they could have been, and are not utilising themselves as a conduit for it.” UCATT news release • Safety and Health Practitioner • Morning Star • Contract Journal • FACK • Risks 394 Hazards news,
21 February 2009
South Africa: Mine audit exposes lack of action
A presidential audit of mine safety in South Africa has revealed a failure to progress cases against those responsible for the industry’s horrific fatality record. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says the report details 100 cases against mine bosses that have not been progressed by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). NUM news release • ICEM news briefing • DME webpage • Risks 393 Hazards news,
14 February 2009
Global: ‘Callous indifference’ to media killings
This year could be the deadliest year yet for journalists, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has warned. A wave of killings in the first days of 2009 have undermined hopes that the falling death toll recorded in 2008 might be the first sign of a change in the recent upward trend in media deaths. IFJ news release • Perilous assignments: Journalists and media staff killed in 2008 [pdf] • Risks 393 Hazards news,
14 February 2009
Britain: Worker killed in second incident
A construction worker was killed on a Doncaster construction site on the day he returned to work after a previous injury, a court has heard. Michael Broughton had just started his first day back at his job after four months off recovering from injuries sustained in another workplace incident, Doncaster Crown Court was told. HSE news release • The Star • Risks 393 Hazards news, 14 February 2009
Britain: Grieving mum’s safety warning
A Keighley mum has said her son would not have died at work if safe and suitable equipment had been available. Judith Allen was speaking after a Bradford jury returned a verdict of accidental death at the inquest for 23-year-old construction worker Steven Allen, who died when his head became trapped in a “scissor-grab” machine. Telegraph and Argus • Risks 393 Hazards news,
14 February 2009
Britain: Inquest narrative spells out neglect
The family of Mark Wright, a father of two who died after an explosion at Deeside Metals in 2005, has been left devastated after an inquest returned a narrative verdict. Mark's widow, Andrea, and parents Dorothy and Douglas Wright, who are founder members of Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK), hoped the inquest jury in Macclesfield would return a verdict of unlawful killing. Daily Mirror • Chester Chronicle • Daily Post • Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) • Risks 393 Hazards news,
14 February 2009
Britain: Unsecured shifting load killed driver
A transport firm has been fined £150,000 after a poorly secured load shifted and crushed a lorry driver in his cab. Coastal Container Line Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, was also ordered to pay costs of £26,732 at Liverpool Crown Court. HSE news release • HSE vehicles at work webpages • Risks 392 Hazards news,
7 February 2009
Britain: Rail firms lose death fines appeal
Two rail maintenance firms have failed in their legal challenge to fines totalling almost half a million pounds after safety breaches led to the death of a worker. LH Access Technology - a subsidiary of the UK's largest manufacturer of rail-adapted equipment - and Border Rail and Plant were each fined £240,000 by an Edinburgh sheriff. Edinburgh Evening News • BBC News Online • Risks 392 Hazards news,
7 February 2009
Britain: Union welcome for death fine hike
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has welcomed a Court of Appeal decision to impose an eight fold increase in the safety fine on a company prosecuted after the death of a member of the public. STUC news release • BBC News Online • Risks 392 Hazards news,
7 February 2009
Britain: HSE backs new tower crane register
An official tower crane register came a step closer after the Health and Safety Executive backed the move in recommendations submitted to the government. Under the plans, discussed at an HSE board meeting on 28 January, the register would be voluntary at first but would become mandatory at a later date. Construction News • Risks 392 Hazards news,
7 February 2009
Britain: More flak for site deaths inquiry
The government’s inquiry into construction site deaths has been criticised by a top parliamentary committee after it was revealed a large part of the evidence to be considered would be hand-picked by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The Department for Work and Pensions select committee said the HSE’s heavy involvement in the inquiry smacked of the “guilty providing their own evidence.” Building • Construction News • Risks 392 Hazards news,
7 February 2009
Britain: Action on nuke inspector recruitment crisis
Measures to stem the crisis in recruitment of nuclear inspectors have been welcomed by Prospect, the union representing 15,000 engineers and scientists in the nuclear industry. A top government adviser has recommended a marked improvement in pay and conditions in a bid to address the recruitment and retention crisis. Prospect news release • BERR consultation webpage • Where is the justice?, Hazards magazine, No.104, October-December 2008 • Risks 392 Hazards news,
7 February 2009
Britain: Directors’ duties code a ‘complete failure’
A voluntary safety code for company directors has been dismissed as a “complete failure” by UCATT, after official research found threequarters of business leaders were unaware of its existence. The construction union is now calling for the swift introduction of statutory directors’ duties. UCATT news release • HSE news release • Leading health and safety at work, ING417, HSE [pdf] • Risks 392 Hazards news,
7 February 2009
Italy: National strike over docks deaths
Dockers’ unions held a national one-day strike across Italy on 23 January in protest over poor workplace safety, which has led to a series of deaths in the country’s ports. The action was called by Italy’s major port unions, Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl and Uiltrasporti. ITF news report • Risks 391 Hazards news,
31 January 2009
Britain: Five figure fine for fork lift fatality
A firm has been fined £10,000 after employee Mark Kiveal, 38, died when a container of dye crushed him during an unloading operation. Cheshire-based Townley Dyestuffs Ltd was also ordered to pay £6.963.25 costs after pleading guilty to safety offences. HSE news release • Burnley Express • Risks 391 Hazards news, 31 January 2009
Britain: Boss jailed for roof death plunge
A roofing firm boss has been jailed for 12 months for manslaughter due to gross negligence after a 20-year-old employee fell 20ft (6m) through a skylight. Colin Cooper, 48, and his company IC Roofing Ltd were convicted over the death of Darren Hoofe in 2005. HSE news release • Sussex Express • Eastbourne Today • BBC News Online • Construction News • Contract Journal • Building • Risks 391 Hazards news,
31 January 2009
Britain: Family's ‘disgust’ at teen death fine
The mother of a teenage ground worker killed in a farm machine has branded the £7,500 fine handed to his bosses as “disgusting.” Father and son Roy and Michael Hill were convicted of health and safety breaches following the death of 17-year-old Lee Mason in April 2007. Bristol Evening Post • BBC News Online • Risks 391 Hazards news,
31 January 2009
Britain: Mixed reaction to new penalties law
Safety professionals have said it’s momentous, safety watchdog HSE has said it won’t have any effect on its enforcement practices, the business lobby has said HSE will now wave a bigger stick and the TUC has said its impact depends on the courts. IOSH news release • HSE news release • FSB news release • Construction News • Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 • Risks 390 Hazards news,
24 January 2009
Britain: Site deaths could soar in the recession
Construction site deaths could soar as a result of the recession, a union leader has warned. Writing in Tribune, Alan Ritchie, general secretary of the building union UCATT, said: “If there is any reduction in the next annual fatality figures, it will be due to a combination of luck and less available work due to the economic downturn.” Tribune • Contract Journal • Risks 390 Hazards news,
24 January 2009
USA: Murdered shopworker’s family gets payout
The family of an African American woman who was stabbed to death at a Californian store has settled a workers' compensation claim against the retailer, which initially refused to pay benefits because the killing was allegedly racially motivated. San Francisco Chronicle • Risks 389 Hazards news,
17 January 2009
Sri Lanka: Press freedom campaigner pays with his life
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed shock at the murder of Lasantha Wickramatunga, one of South Asia's leading journalists and press freedom campaigners, who was shot dead in a targeted assassination. Lasantha, editor in chief of the Sunday Leader in Sri Lanka, was shot on 8 January after his car was ambushed by two assassins on motorcycles. IFJ news release and editorial predicting his death by Lasantha Wickramatunga • IRIN News • Morning Star • BBC News Online • Risks 389 Hazards news,
17 January 2009
Britain: Firm fined over electric shock to worker
A Birmingham train repair firm has been fined £75,000 after a train technician suffered a severe electric shock. Christopher Harris, an agency employee for Maintrain Limited, was working on a faulty carriage in February 2007 when he received the shock from a cover used to protect the train axles. ORR news release • Birmingham Mail • Risks 389 Hazards news,
17 January 2009
Britain: Anger over bakery death findings
The family of a lorry driver crushed to death in Glasgow has said criticised a fatal accident inquiry into his death has failed to identify who was to blame. Graham Meldrum, 40, died after being struck by a faulty tail lift on his truck while unloading at an Allied Bakery plant in the city in July 2005.
Graham Meldrum Memorial Campaign statement [pdf] and YouTube webpage • BBC News Online • Risks 389 Hazards news,
17 January 2009
Britain: Small fine after unsafe skip injures worker
Luton waste management firm F & R Cawley Ltd has been fined almost £6,000 for potentially fatal safety violations that led to a worker suffering head injuries. HSE news release • Risks 389 Hazards news,
17 January 2009
Britain: Waste firm wastes a teen’s life
A teenager lost his life after a Bradford waste firm removed essential workplace safeguards and left the worker in “a desperately dangerous situation”, a court has heard. Associated Waste Management Ltd (AWM) was fined £75,000 following the death of 18-year-old employee Kristopher Dixon. HSE news release • Telegraph and Argus • Yorkshire Post • Risks 389 Hazards news,
17 January 2009
Britain: Second five year plan for deadly waste
A waste industry voluntary charter seeking to improve the sector’s horrific injury and fatality rate over five years has been launched – right after an earlier voluntary five-year plan had flopped. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says the number of fatal incidents in the waste and recycling industry remains more than 10 times the national average and reportable accidents are more than four times the national rate. HSE news release and waste website • Risks 389 Hazards news,
17 January 2009
Palestine: NUJ action call after Gaza deaths
UK journalists’ union NUJ has joined with journalists’ unions around the world to call on the United Nations to investigate the targeting of media by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. In a letter to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, the NUJ said the UN should take action against Israel where it has violated international law and a Security Council resolution on protection of media in conflict zones. NUJ news release • IFJ news release • INSI news release • Risks 389 Hazards news,
17 January 2009
Britain: Primark cannot be allowed to ‘cut and run’
Working conditions in Manchester factories supplying clothing to UK retailers, including Primark, represent the import of third world conditions into British workplaces, the global trade union representing workers in sector has claimed. ITGLWF news release • BBC News Online • The Observer • Risks 389 Hazards news,
17 January 2009
USA: Worker advocates issue safety wish list
Worker health and safety advocates in the US have published a wish list of seven key priorities for the incoming Obama administration. ‘Protecting workers on the job - Priorities for Federal action in 2009’, released by the National Council on Occupational Safety and Health and the American Public Health Association’s occupational health and safety section, sets out to reverse the erosion of the worker safety protections that has put the nation's workers at a heightened risk of injury, illness and death, the groups say. APHA news release • National COSH news release • The Pump Handle • Washington Post • Protecting workers on the job - Priorities for Federal action in 2009 • Risks 388 Hazards news,
10 January 2009
Global: Firms fail on corporate codes
Consumers should know that some high profile brands are failing to live up to their own hype when it comes to corporate social responsibility, the global union representing workers in the clothing, textile and footwear industries has said.
ITGLWF news releases on CSR and Wal-Mart • Risks 388 Hazards news,
10 January 2009
Global: A bloody year for the news media
More than 100 journalists and media support workers died covering the news in 2008, according to a new analysis. The International News Safety Institute (INSI) counted 109 casualties in 36 countries, and says the great majority were murdered apparently because of their work. INSI news release and fatal incidents listing • Risks 388 Hazards news,
10 January 2009
Britain: Ship death sailor 'needed permit'
A crew member who suffocated in a cruise ship's ballast tank did not have the necessary hazard permit, a formal investigation report has revealed. Filipino Joselito Zordilla, 43, died testing water on the Saga Rose as it docked at Southampton on 11 June 2008. MAIB Saga Rose report • BBC News Online • Risks 388 Hazards news,
10 January 2009
Britain: Death vessel firm fined £500,000
A Norwegian shipping company has been fined nearly £500,000 after eight people were killed when one of its vessels capsized off Shetland. The Bourbon Dolphin tipped over as it towed an oil rig's anchor and chain during the routine manoeuvre in April 2007. Maritime Journal • Press and Journal • The Guardian • BBC News Online • The Scotsman • Risks 388 Hazards news,
10 January 2009
Britain: Taylor Woodrow fined for Welsh assembly death
Construction giant Taylor Woodrow has been fined £200,000 over the death of a worker during the building of the Welsh assembly's debating chamber. John Walsh, 53, was a supervisor at the Cardiff Bay building site in March 2004 when a cavity wall he was filling with concrete collapsed, causing him to fall from near the top of a 10ft ladder. HSE news release • Building • BBC News Online • Risks 388 Hazards news,
10 January 2009
