Contacts

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

A packaging manufacturer has been fined for safety breaches after a worker received severe hand injuries at a factory in Yorkshire. On 15 June 2020 an agency worker injured their fingers when using a table saw without a guard at Loadhog Limited’s site at Hawke Street, Sheffield. The worker, who was operating the saw, received […]

A company director has been fined after workers were exposed to asbestos during the demolition of a hotel in Cornwall. Mr Paul Stephens, director of the now liquidated Stephens and Stephens Developers Limited, was fined more than £60,000 as a result of failures at the former Cliffdene Hotel in Newquay in 2020. The hotel had […]

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. […]

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 […]

A housing company based in Kent has been fined £528,000 after an employee repairing a fence post inadvertently struck an underground cable, suffering burns to his face. The MHS Homes employee and a colleague had been tasked by the company to repair three fence posts in a back garden of a tenant on 10 January […]

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 […]

An Oldham-based haulage company has been fined more than £85,000 after a fork lift truck driver was killed while loading a heavy goods vehicle (HGV). Ian Dawson, 60, of Rochdale, was loading pallets onto the HGV at Chorlton Express Transport Limited on 19 November 2020. As he was doing this, the HGV moved forward, causing […]

A self-employed rogue trader has been handed a suspended prison sentence after carrying out illegal gas work in Gloucestershire. Christian Davis falsely claimed he was Gas Safe Registered but had actually been removed from the register due to concerns about the standard of his work and his competency. Trading as BS1 Plumbing and Heating, the […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

A company has been fined after an inspection by Britain’s workplace regulator found workers were being exposed to excessive levels of wood dust. Breathing in wood dust excessively can cause asthma and nasal cancer. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited Target Furniture Limited’s workshop on Studland Road in Kingsthorpe, Northampton on 26 May 2022 […]

A company in Doncaster has been fined after an employee was killed when a mixer wagon fell onto him. The 52-year-old man was fatally crushed by the vehicle at Booth Mixer Hire Limited’s site at Bankend Quarry on 9 December 2019. He had been replacing the wagon’s two front wheels when it fell on top […]

This April, Britain’s bosses are being invited to follow five simple steps to prevent and reduce stress in their workplace. The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Working Minds campaign has called on employers to support workers mental health during Stress Awareness Month. Liz Goodwill, head of the work-related stress and mental health policy team at […]

An Ipswich-based tobacco manufacturer has been fined £32,000 after failing to put measures in place to prevent access to the rotating blades of a ribbon blade mixer. Whole-body access was possible for employees using the machine, which presented a risk of serious personal injury from an employee coming into contact with the rotating blade. An […]