Health and safety sentencing
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Legal Development 09 April 2024 09 April 2024
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UK & Europe
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Regulatory risk
Health and safety sentencing update
| Date | Turnover/size of company (N.B approx only) |
Court | Fine | Sector | Incident type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12th March | £366.9 million | Falkirk Sheriff Court | £400,000 | Manufacturing | An employee of the defendant manufacturing company was seriously injured when attempting to clear a sump that contained a caustic solution. While in the sump area he stepped onto the corner of the grating with his right leg. The grating gave way, with the worker’s right leg falling into the sump and becoming saturated with the caustic solution. He was submerged in the solution for three seconds before pulling himself out of the sump and was later treated for burns. The defendant had failed to undertake a risk assessment of the work involved. There was also no safe system of work in place. The grating was not secured and there were no barriers in place to prevent a fall into the sump. The defendant pleaded guilty to an offence under section 2(1) and section 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. |
| 8th March | £119.8 million | Stratford Magistrates' Court | £200,000 | Waste | A woman’s arm was severed (and later amputated) whilst working for the defendant scrap metal recycling company. She passed her hand through an unguarded rotary valve to remove a blockage in a catalytic converter sampling machine. The defendant failed to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery, namely the rotating parts of a rotary valve inside the sampling machine. It pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. |
| 5th Feb | £21.2 million | Leeds Magistrates' Court | £330,500 | Construction | The victim was struck on the head and killed by a 16-ton excavator whilst undertaking groundworker activities. He had moved to the foot of an existing manhole directly adjacent to the trench when the excavator was reported to have met resistance whilst digging. With nothing in place to prevent his entry into the danger zone of the excavator, the victim exited the manhole via a makeshift opening to investigate. However, the excavator driver and other workers were not in a position to see that he had entered the danger zone. Here the excavator bucket then swung into him with fatal consequences. The defendant had failed to identify or assess the risk arising from using the existing manhole chamber as an improvised refuge. This meant the defendant failed to implement a safe system. There was also inadequate supervision on site, alongside a failure to carry out monitoring visits which would have identified crucial safety failings. The defendant pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. |
| 7th Feb | Small company | Wirral Magistrates' Court | £320,000 | Agriculture | The victim suffered severe head injuries when he fell from a skip at a farm operated by the defendant. He had been tipping food waste into a skip from a container attached to a forklift truck (FLT). The container could not be securely attached to the FLT, which was known to detach from the vehicle during the procedure. As he attempted to manually assist in the operation, he was standing on top of the skip when the container slipped from the FLT causing him to fall to the ground, resulting in fatal head injuries. The defendant had not fully assessed the risks involved in this daily task. It also failed to maintain equipment in safe working order and to properly instruct staff in safe working practices. The defendant pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. |
| 20th March | Small company | Maidstone Nightingale Court | £25,000 | Construction | A sub-contractor fell nearly two metres through an unguarded opening in a scaffold. He sustained several broken ribs and serious internal injuries including a punctured lung, and later died. The defendant principal contractor had not appointed a person with the necessary skills, knowledge, experience and training to manage the construction site. It had not ensured that a safe working platform on the scaffold was maintained throughout the different phases of the project. The defendant pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. |
| 1st Feb | Small company | Peterlee Magistrates' Court | £15,000 | Manufacturing | The defendant manufacturing company exposed its workers to wood dust and failed to comply with two improvement notices. The defendant was found guilty of contravening two counts of section 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulations 9(2) and 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. |
| 14th March | Micro company | Dudley Magistrates' Court | £18,000 | Retail | The victim was crushed to death by two granite slabs at the defendant’s site. He was unpacking and moving the slabs onto storage racks, using an overhead crane. Two of the slabs, each weighing 250kg, fell and crushed him against a forklift truck while he was operating the crane’s handheld pendant control. The defendant failed to implement staff training or develop safe systems of work for the unloading, loading and handling of concrete slabs. There was no evidence that employees had received training in the safe operation of machinery, including the overhead crane. The overhead crane and forklift truck had also not been thoroughly examined, as required by law, and that webbing slings, that could have been used during the unpacking process, were damaged. It pleaded guilty to breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. |
| 21st March | In administration | Manchester Magistrates' Court | £40,000 | Construction | The worker sustained serious burns to his body when an electrical flash blew him backwards and burnt his arms and face. He had been working on new apartment blocks. The defendant electrical installation company had incorrectly assumed the guard panel was sufficient separation of the workers from the live bus bars. It failed to take into account a gap in the guard panel, which risked nuts, bolts, tools and even fingers coming into contact with the bus bars. There was also a failure to issue a permit to work on or near live components, which resulted in the main switchboard being left live. There was also a distinct lack of live works monitoring by the defendant, with the electrical site manager rarely visiting the work area. The defendant pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. |
| 10th Jan | n/a | Wellingborough Magistrates' Court | £480,000 | Care |
An employee of the defendant NHS Trust suffered a brain injury after he was found unconscious in a manhole. He had been unblocking a drain when he was found by other members of staff. |
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