Work at height
7 January 2011 -£5,000 fine issued after three workers fell through
skylights at the same industrial unit in Warrington on three separate
occasions – leaving one of them paralysed.
HSE prosecuted Bizspace Investments Ltd after a caretaker from Accrington
fell through a fragile skylight while cleaning guttering. The worker
suffered rib fractures and severe bruising.
Another Bizspace employee was sent to take photographs of the scene but fell through a different skylight. He landed feet-first on a mezzanine floor and escaped injury.
Three weeks later a 62-year-old man employed by Massey Roofing and Building Contractors, was sent to repair the skylights. While fixing a skylight he fell more than four metres to the ground, sustaining severe spinal injuries, leaving him paralysed from the waist down.
Bizspace Investments Ltd, of Finchley, London, pleaded guilty to breaching
Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,000.
Anthony Massey, of Bury, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the
same Act. As Mr Massey has been declared bankrupt, he received a conditional discharge which means that he will not be fined as long as he does not commit another offence in the next twelve months.
View news here
Further information
Fragile surfaces – View Here
Working at height – View Here
Roof repair work – What you need to know as a busy builder – View Here
Roofwork – View Here
Demolition
14 January 2011 – Saleh Properties Ltd, of Leicester, endangered the lives
of both its workforce and the public while demolishing a factory in
Leicester.
An HSE inspector found that the building was at risk of collapse, workers
had removed structural parts of the building without properly supporting it.
Workers were spotted standing on the roof, demolishing parts of the building
by hand, and were working at height without suitable equipment to prevent
falls.
Saleh Properties Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 9 (1)(a) and 28
(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and two
breaches of Regulation 6 (3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The
company was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,084.
View Here
Further information
Demolition – View Here
Structural stability during alteration, demolition and dismantling – View Here
Asbestos
12 January 2011 – A company set up by Rotherham Council to manage and
improve council houses has been fined, after allowing a plumber to be
exposed to up to 50 times the legal limit for asbestos.
2010 Rotherham Limited employed a sub-contactor, Nugas of Barnsley, to
remove an old bathroom and install a shower room at a house.
An asbestos survey carried out for 2010 Rotherham on a property next door
highlighted the presence of asbestos in the bathroom, these results were not passed on to Nugas. The result was that their worker unknowingly removed tiles bonded to a wall of asbestos insulating board (AIB), causing
significant damage to the wall. He was not wearing any protective clothing
nor respiratory protection.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching the Health & Safety at Work Act and was fined £7,000 with £3,418 costs.
View Here
12 January 2011 – A property management company was fined £30,100 after
admitting a series of offences which led to workers being exposed to
asbestos fibres.
MA Estates Limited of Halifax was prosecuted by HSE for failing to properly
manage the removal of asbestos-containing materials when employees were
replacing a roof of a factory.
The HSE investigation found the company had failed to carry out an asbestos
survey or risk assessment, had no licence to remove asbestos, had given
staff no instruction or training in removing it, and had left workers
exposed – with no attempts to limit the spread of asbestos or exposure to
it.
View Here
Further information
Asbestos – View Here
Asbestos Insulating Board (AIB) – View Here
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