NHS trust fined after employee found unconscious in manhole
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been fined £480,000 after an employee suffered a brain injury after he was found unconscious in a manhole. The man had been unblocking a drain at the hospital on 1 February 2022 when he was discovered by other members of staff. He was rescued from the manhole by […]
Garden landscaper sentenced after worker dies
A garden landscaper has been handed a suspended prison sentence after a worker was killed when a moving circular saw kicked back into his groin. The labourer, who had been working for Watford-based gardener Mr Fernando Araujo for just two days, was killed in the incident at a house on Harewood, Rickmansworth, on 11 August […]
Arriva and cleaning firm fined after worker killed at bus depot
A national bus company and a commercial cleaning firm have been fined after a “much loved young man” was killed at a depot in Hemel Hempstead. Albin Trstena, from Tottenham, was working for Cordant Cleaning Limited, when he was hit by a reversing bus being driven by a colleague on 5 November 2019. The 25-year-old […]
Monthly roundup – December 2023
The final month of the year has seen the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conclude complex prosecutions against two care settings. December also saw cases relating to two frightening offshore incidents that resulted in fines totalling more than £1million. Another prosecution came about after a member of the public captured shocking footage on their mobile […]
Company and director sentenced after worker fractures arm and leg
A company and its director have been sentenced after an employee fell from height and suffered serious injuries. Andrew Smith fractured his left femur, left elbow, left arm and pelvis after falling approximately three metres off a ladder on 28 July 2021. He had been working for Profascias Ltd at Park Lane Primary School in […]
North Wales health board fined after failings resulted in woman’s death
One of the largest health boards in Wales has been fined £200,000 after a patient died in its care. Llandudno Magistrates’ Court heard that 46-year-old Dawn Owen was found unconscious at the Hergest Unit – a secure mental health unit – at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor on 20 April 2021. Dawn’s family have called on […]
Roofing firm and company business partner sentenced following HSE investigations
Company fined for failings in two separate incidents. Two workers seriously injured after falling through roofs in separate incidents. Business partner at scaffolding firm sentenced following incident in Swansea. A roofing company has been fined a total of £881,000 after two workers were seriously injured during two separate incidents. Billy Hewitt, a worker at Mitie […]
Company fined as stunt performer sustains life-changing injuries during filming of Fast and Furious movie
A production company has been fined after a stunt performer was injured during the filming of Fast and Furious 9: The Fast Saga. Joe Watts, from Surrey, sustained life-changing injuries after he fell approximately 25 feet at Warner Bros. studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire on 22 July 2019. He had been filming a fight scene for […]
Food company fined £360,000 after worker loses consciousness
A company in Fife which grows and prepares vegetables has been fined £360,000 after a worker was dragged into a machine and lost consciousness. Remigiusz Cyrek, a hygiene operative at Kettle Produce Limited, was undertaking a routine clean of a machine that makes carrot batons on 22 June 2018. The 37-year-old was trapped by a […]
Company fined as HSE inspection identifies failures
A manufacturing business in Lincolnshire has been fined for failing to protect its workers from hazardous substances. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspection of W.S. Barrett and Son Limited’s site at Riverside Industrial estate in Boston, Lincolnshire, found the company’s workers were being potentially exposed to welding fume and dusts from powder coating. Welding […]
McCain Foods fined after employee loses fingers
A frozen food company has been fined £700,000 after an employee lost two of his fingers following an incident at the firm’s premises in Lincolnshire. Tom Matthews, from Grantham, now champions health and safety in his current job at a different company, warning others to avoid his misfortune. He had been working a night shift […]
Priory Healthcare fined following patient death
The company that runs The Priory Hospital has been fined for failing to ensure the safety of patients on the hospital’s Emerald Ward following the death of 21-year-old Francesca Whyatt. Francesca, from Knutsford in Cheshire, was found unconscious at The Priory Hospital in Roehampton, London. She died three days later. Priory Healthcare has been fined […]
Manufacturer fined after workers fall from height
A manufacturer of shopping trolleys has been fined after two men fell approximately three metres when a metal cage they were dismantling collapsed beneath them. On 12th May 2018, two employees at Wanzl Limited were taking apart a large metal cage as part of an ongoing programme of improvement works at Prologis Park in Coventry. […]
Manufacturing company fined half-a-million pounds after forklift truck death
The mother of a man who was killed when the forklift truck he was driving overturned says she still feels angry as he ‘simply went to work and didn’t come home.’ Jamie Anderson was killed on 4 June 2019, when the forklift truck he was operating overturned at a depot in Newark. The 35-year-old father […]
Suspended prison sentence for builder over gas safety failures
A builder has avoided an immediate spell behind bars after being convicted of carrying out gas work at a property in Berkshire when he was not qualified to do so. Thomas Murray, who traded as Kerbgold Design and Construction Ltd, was given an eight-month prison sentence which was suspended for 18 months. Reading Crown Court […]
Waste company fined after woman hit by vehicle and dies
A waste company has been fined over £250,000 after a member of the public was run over by one of its vehicles and died. The woman was collecting wood from Martins of York’s yard on Osbaldwick Lane, York, when she was hit by a reversing skip wagon on 29 January 2020. She later died from […]
Printing company fined after worker’s hand crushed
A commercial printing company has been fined £100,000 after an employee’s hand was crushed by a laminating machine. The man had been working for Celloglas Limited at the firm’s site at Cross Green Industrial Estate in Leeds. He was attempting to fix a laminating machine on 25 November 2020 when his right hand was drawn […]
Fine for BA subsidiary after father of two left in coma following fall at work
An aircraft maintenance company has been fined £230k after a worker fell from height while inspecting wings at its facility in Cardiff. Iain Mawson, a British Airways Maintenance Cardiff Ltd employee, was placed into an induced coma for three weeks such were the extent of his injuries, which included numerous skull fractures and a brain […]
Plant hire company in court over work at height and welfare issues
A plant hire company has been fined for leaving workers at risk of a fall from height and failing to provide minimum welfare facilities. Blackpool Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 17 November 2020, Ruttle Plant (Birmingham) Ltd was in the process of building a new aggregate recycling facility at their site at Common Bank Lane, […]
Lincolnshire food manufacturer fined after employee crushed in cooking machine
A Lincolnshire-based food manufacturer has been fined after one of its employees sustained two broken ribs having been crushed within an industrial cooking machine whilst working to clear a blocked water inlet. Lincoln Magistrates’ Court heard how the employee was crushed in the machine after its safety systems were over-ridden and the machine worked on […]