Unregistered plumber handed suspended prison sentence
An unregistered plumber has received a suspended prison sentence after he carried out illegal gas work at a house in Peterborough. Anthony Rice, trading as Rice Plumbing and Oil Heating, attended the property on Edwalton Avenue on 31 January 2023 where he replaced a gas boiler and altered gas pipe work. However, Rice accidentally connected […]
Care home fined following death of vulnerable resident
A care home operator has been fined £400,000 for safety breaches, following the death of a vulnerable resident at a care home in Scotland. On the night of 16 December 2021, Susan Greens, a resident at Springfield Bank Care Home, could not be found on the premises. Following a search around the site in Bonnyrigg […]
Company fined after worker injured by 300kg batteries
A recycling company in West Yorkshire has been fined £120,000 after batteries weighing at least 300kg fell onto an employee and severely injured him. The man was working with two colleagues at Wastecare Limited’s site on North Dean Business Park, Halifax when he was struck by the batteries being recycled on 22 March 2019. The […]
Engineering company fined after workers loses two fingers
An engineering firm in Perth has been fined £10,000 after an employee lost two of his fingers. The worker, employed by Edwards Engineering (Perth) Limited, had been carrying out maintenance work on a grain dryer at East of Scotland Farmers on 28 June 2020. He inadvertently placed his hand into the blades of an unguarded […]
Farmer fined after friends had to climb tree to escape cow attack
Woman left with broken ribs and life-changing internal injuries A woman and her friend had to climb up a tree to escape an attack by more than a dozen cows on a public right of way in North Yorkshire. Janicke Tvedt and David Hood had set out on a popular circular walk from Masham with […]
Bedding manufacturer fined after employees suffer serious injuries
A bedding manufacturer has been fined more than £250,000 after two of its employees were seriously injured during separate incidents at its site in Rochdale. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Sartex Quilts and Textiles Limited following the incidents, which saw both workers undergo amputations. HSE inspector Elena Pickford described the injuries sustained by […]
Farming company fined £320,000 after death of “much loved” family man
A company involved in fruit and vegetable production has been fined £320,000 after a man “who always put family first” was killed at a site in Burscough. Francis Schlachter, known as Frank, suffered severe head injuries when he fell from a skip at a farm operated by M.A.Forshaw Limited on 3 January 2020. The 64-year-old […]
Worktops firm fined after repeated failures to protect employees
A Stockport-based stone worktop manufacturer has been fined £26,000 for repeatedly putting its workers at risk. Granite & Marble Shop Ltd failed to implement safe working practices despite warnings from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The company consistently put their employees at risk from serious injury by failing to adequately guard dangerous machinery at […]
Textiles firm fined £60,000 after worker’s arm dragged into machine
A textiles company has been fined £60,000 after a man broke his arm when it was dragged into machinery at a site near Chorley. The employee, a man from Blackrod in Greater Manchester, suffered serious injuries to his right arm in the incident at the factory operated by Pin Croft Dyeing and Printing Co. Limited […]
Recycling company fined after worker killed by loading shovel
A recycling company has been fined £2.15million after an agency worker was killed by a loading shovel at its site in Hartlepool. Dean Atkinson lost his life when he was struck and run over by the vehicle at Ward Recycling Limited’s premises on Windermere Road, Longhill Industrial Estate in January 2020. Health and Safety Executive […]
Manufacturing company fined £15,000 for wood dust failures
A manufacturing company has been fined £15,000 after exposing its own workers to wood dust and failing to comply with two improvement notices. Wood dust can cause serious and often irreversible health problems, including sino-nasal cancer, asthma and dermatitis. Employers have a legal responsibility to prevent or adequately control exposure in the workplace. After concerns […]
Company director avoids prison over wood dust failures
The director of a Norwich woodworking company has avoided an immediate spell behind bars after he exposed his employees to harmful wood dust. Wood dust can cause serious and often irreversible health problems, including sino-nasal cancer, asthma and dermatitis. Employers have a legal responsibility to prevent or adequately control exposure in the workplace. John Risby, […]
Construction company fined after worker killed by an excavator
A North Yorkshire construction company has been fined after a worker was struck on the head and killed by a 16-ton excavator. On 13 January 2021, Dean Myers, an employee of HACS Construction Ltd, was undertaking groundwork activities in a partially excavated trench at a site in Ripon, North Yorkshire. During the works, the 56-year-old […]
Pictures reveal state of welfare facilities at sentenced Sheffield firm
These were the inadequate welfare facilities at a Sheffield motor repair shop that was sentenced for breaching health and safety regulations. The pictures have been released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the workplace regulator prosecuted Brightside Motors Ltd for failing to comply with its enforcement action. HSE inspector Kirstie Durrans said the […]
Two companies fined after a worker suffers serious injuries in a fall
A construction company and a roofing contractor have been fined after a roofer suffered multiple fractures in a fall from a building roof. Horizon Roofing Specialist Ltd had been appointed by principal contractor – Bromley-based Property Facilities Group Ltd – to originally undertake the installation of a new roof at Aspire Academy in Welling. Following […]
Company fined after 21-year-old worker dies
A company in Peterborough has been fined £67,000 after a young employee lost his life. George Setchfield was found unconscious over the side of a large container while working for Electrostatic Magic Limited at the firm’s site in Peterborough. George’s mum says his passing has affected “every aspect” of her life. The 21-year-old had entered […]
Company director fined after falsifying documents
A company director has been fined £5,000 after he falsified asbestos removal documents while his firm worked on a block of flats in Brighton. Reliable Insulations and Fibre Control Ltd had been hired to remove asbestos at Abbotts Apartments, on King Street, when the company’s director, James Pett, created a fraudulent document claiming a 4-Stage […]
Manufacturing company fined after worker suffered finger amputation
A West Yorkshire cosmetic manufacturing company has been fined after a worker lost part of a finger while cleaning a machine. On 8 October 2021, the man was working on a tube filling machine at Orean Personal Care Limited at its base in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire. He was supervising five members of staff who were […]
Man handed community order for illegal removal of asbestos
A Hartlepool man has been handed a community order after he admitted removing asbestos from a school when he wasn’t licenced to do so. Sean Thomas Faulkner, 55, also intentionally falsified clearance paperwork after removing asbestos containing materials from Our Lady Lourdes School in Shotton Collery in March 2021. He carried out similar work several […]
Company fined and director receives suspended prison sentence after scaffolder suffers electric shock
A Kent scaffolding company has been fined and its director given a suspended prison sentence after a scaffolder suffered an 11,000-volt electric shock. Steven Gilmore, 36, was working for contractor Canterbury City Scaffolding Ltd alongside a small team of scaffolders, to erect a temporary roof scaffold at an open-air drinks depot in Snow Hill, Crawley, […]