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Motorsport engineering firm fined for failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees

A motorsport engineering firm based in Kent has been fined after Britain’s workplace regulator identified numerous health and safety breaches. Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited Hispec Motorsport Limited at its Dartford premises four times between February 2017 and July 2023. The company – a specialist designer and producer of aftermarket brake […]

Companies fined as electrician falls and fractures skull

Two companies have been sentenced after a worker fell from a scissor lift and fractured his skull, leaving him in an induced coma. The electrician, employed by Optilight Electrical Services Ltd, had been repairing light fittings at Expert Tooling and Automation Ltd’s site on Sayer Drive, Coventry when he fell from a scissor lift and […]

Awarding success: Winners of the Risk Reduction Through Design Award 2024 announced

In a bid to highlight workplace health solutions, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has unveiled its 2024 ‘Risk Reduction Through Design’ awards winners, celebrating design changes that mitigate the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the workplace. The Risk Reduction Through Design award 2023/24, sponsored by HSE and the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and […]

Contractor fined after young carpenter dies

A carpentry contractor has been fined after a 22-year-old man died after he was struck by construction equipment on a building site. On 30 October 2019, Niall McCormack from Kettering, Northamptonshire had been working for KM Carpentry Contractors Limited installing roof trusses at a new build site at Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire. Both the truss packs […]

Company and director fined after workers exposed to asbestos

A company and its director have been sentenced after workers were exposed to asbestos and its potential harmful effects. Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited Eye Track Limited’s site in Stretford, Manchester, and found an uncontrolled spread of asbestos containing materials around the premises. HSE has recently updated its webpages on asbestos safety and […]

Farming business fined for multiple health and safety risks

A farming business has been fined for multiple health and safety breaches which placed employees and others at risk over many years, in an attempt to cut costs. Seymour Stevens Limited operate a beef and arable farm in Faversham, Kent. A site visit carried out in November 2022 identified multiple, serious health and safety failings. […]

Drinks company fined after employee loses finger in bottling machinery

A drinks company has been fined £14,000 after a man’s finger was amputated after being caught in bottling machinery. Daniel Richardson, then 32, assisted a colleague who was encountering problems with a bottle capping machine at the plant in Wigston, Leicestershire on 17 January 2022. Mr Richardson, from Leicester, was able to reach into the […]

Council fined after vulnerable man choked to death on food

Fife Council has been fined £100,000 for safety breaches following the death of a vulnerable man who choked to death on a sandwich unsuitable for his prescribed diet. In its role to support the care of those who live in supported living accommodation, Fife Council was responsible for the safe ingestion of food for 66-year-old […]

Shipping Services company fined after worker loses finger

A company which provides shipping services, cargo handling and storage has been fined after a worker severed part of his finger while at work. Dundee Sheriff Court heard that on 13 July 2021 Gordon McMillan, 55 at the time of the incident, works as a ‘stevedore’ (steve-eh-door), a role which involves the dockside loading and […]

Aviation company fined after worker death at Heathrow Airport

An aviation company has been fined £160,000 after a man, described by his family as a “legend”, was crushed to death at London Heathrow Airport during the unloading of baggage containers from an aircraft. The man was working for Dnata Limited, a provider of ground handling and cargo services to major airlines, at Terminal 3 […]

Company fined £30,000 for unsafe removal of asbestos

A company based in Kent has been fined £30,000, and its director fined £5,000, after failing to ensure the safe removal of asbestos across two separate sites. Ironically, the firm in question was trading as ‘Asbestos Gone’. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that DOV Services Ltd, the company behind the […]

Company fined as worker has leg amputated

A company that grows mushrooms has been fined after an employee’s leg became trapped in a machine and was later amputated. Luka Ilic’s right leg was caught by the rotating blades of a mushroom filling machine and became stuck in the device’s moving parts on 16 October 2019. He was part of a team of […]