October 2023 – A roundup of HSE’s top stories

Here are some of the stories published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in October, with the workplace regulator heralding a key milestone in building safety, announcing a new inspection campaign, securing justice and urging employers to try the shout test!

HSE to prosecute Falcon Tower Crane Services Limited following deaths of three men

We started off the month by announcing our prosecution against Falcon Tower Crane Services Limited after a crane collapsed in Crewe and killed three men.

A trial at Chester Crown Court will take place in relation to the incident, which occurred in June 2017, starting on 4 November 2024.

Companies fined as child suffers fractured skull

Three companies were fined last week after a slate tile fractured the skull of a three-year-old girl.

The pre-schooler was placed in an induced coma and required a two-hour operation to remove fragments of slate from her head following the incident.

HSE to visit farms as part of national inspection campaign

Inspectors from HSE will visit farms across England, Scotland and Wales in the coming months as part of a push to change the culture in the farming industry and check for compliance with long standing legal requirements.

The inspectors will also look at risks to members of the public, which often means the management of cattle around public rights of way, as well as child safety on the farm.

BSR register of high-rise buildings represents major momentum for building safety

The Building Safety Regulator’s new regulatory regime has moved further ahead in its vital registration programme of in-scope high-rise residential buildings, that are at least 18 metres or seven storeys tall, with two or more residential units.

Principal Accountable Persons (PAP’s) were given until the 1 October 2023 to register all high-rise residential buildings in England. It is now an offence to allow residents to occupy an unregistered building.

Company fined £240,000 after Liverpool residents put at risk during removal of dangerous cladding

A HSE prosecution was brought against Green Facades Limited after the company failed to take appropriate precautions to ensure the safety of residents living in a Liverpool apartment block.

When a HSE inspector visited the apartment block, they found cladding, similar to that used on Grenfell Tower, lying on residents’ balconies.

Combustible material exposed where scaffold is attached to the building

Try the shout test – protect workers’ hearing

With around a fifth of the British working population potentially exposed to high noise levels, HSE is now urging workplaces to consider the shout test to manage noise at work and ways to give workers’ ears a break.

Bosses must assess and identify measures to eliminate or reduce risks from exposure to noise so that they can protect the hearing of their workers.

Construction company fined after serious injury to 16-year-old on work experience

A teenage boy suffered serious injuries after becoming trapped under a tractor while on paid work experience at Earlcoate Construction and Plant Hire Limited.

The teenager’s dad says his son is now more anxious as a result of the incident.

Notes to Editors:

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. hse.gov.uk
HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk