CCTV has captured the moment a welder was crushed while working at a shipyard in Sunderland.

David Vinsome sustained multiple rib fractures as well as internal injuries, including an abdominal wall burst, following the incident at Pallion Shipyard on 18 October 2022.

The 37-year-old from North Shields was crushed between an excavation bucket and a fabrication table. Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Midland Steel Traders Ltd has been fined £100,000.

At the time of the incident, welders had been using an overhead gantry crane and a fork lift truck in tandem to rotate a large excavator bucket. David Vinsome was crushed as he attempted to attach the chains from the overhead crane to the bucket, and a fork lift truck started the lifting operation, unaware of his position behind it.

In a victim personal statement, the father-of-one, recalls how he spent nine days in hospital, before returning home.

“When I did come home, I was in bed for about a month before I tried to get down the stairs,” he said.

“My partner is a NHS nurse, so she helped a lot.

“I am still suffering a lot of pain with my shoulder. I have a daughter and I cannot do the school run anymore or take her out for meals or ice cream.

“I am worried about getting back to work. I don’t know when that will be or how I will manage.

“I don’t think I will go back to welding.”

The investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Midland Steel Traders Ltd had failed to ensure that the lifting activity was properly planned by a competent person, or carried out in a safe manner. They also failed to establish a safe system of work for this activity – leading to a breakdown of communication between the multiple operators involved.

HSE inspector Matthew Dundas said: “Lifting operations can often put people at great risk, as well as incurring great costs when they go wrong.

“It is therefore important to properly resource, plan and organise lifting operations so they are carried out in a safe manner.

“Had that been done in this case then Mr Vinsome wouldn’t have been so seriously injured.

“HSE provides detailed guidance on lifting operations including the importance on how they should be properly resourced, planned and organised, to enable them to be carried out in a safe manner.”

Midland Steel Traders Ltd, Portobello Ind Est, Shadon Way, Chester le Street, pleaded guilty to breaching the Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £100,000 and told to pay £4,916 costs at Newcastle Magistrates Court on 13 February 2025.

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Jonathan Bambro and supported by paralegal officer Melissa Wardle.

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here.
5. HSE guidance on lifting operations including the importance on how they should be properly resourced, planned and organised, to enable them to be carried out in a safe manner, is available.

A multi-national company that manufactures wood-based products has been fined more than £1 million after two workers were injured in separate incidents.

West Fraser (Europe) Ltd, formerly known as Norbord pleaded guilty to several health and safety breaches related to two incidents that took place at its plant in Cowie within six months of each other in 2020.

In the first  Sean Gallagher, 29, a utility operator, suffered serious injuries after his leg became entangled in moving parts at the bottom of a storage bunker in January 2020.

In July of the same year, David McMillan, 39, a scaffolder, plunged more than 13 feet to the ground after a rusty plate gave way on a rooftop gantry.

Both incidents led to investigations by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The same company had  been fined more than £2million in 2022 after another employee died after suffering serious burns at the same plant.

Stirling Sheriff Court heard that Mr Gallagher had been employed by the firm for a period of five years, spending the last two of which working at its biomass plant. On 20 January, he noticed a fault on a bunker at the plant.  He initially entered the bunker to carry out an inspection, and did so in accordance with the company’s safe system of work procedure.

However, when he identified further issues later into his shift, he entered the bunker again, but this time had not turned off the power. He became entangled in the machinery and had to use his own phone to alert a control room operator. He was eventually extracted from the machine and taken to hospital, with injuries including compound fractures to the tibia and fibula of his right leg.

As a result of the incident, the company installed a mesh guard across the bunker hatch, which is padlocked shut. It can only be unlocked by the supervisor once the system has been isolated.

The second incident happened on 21 July and resulted in David McMillan suffering multiple fractures to his body, including his neck and ankle. He had been working at height when a plate on the steel gantry gave way causing him to fall to the ground. He spent 20 days in hospital. The subsequent HSE investigation found there was no maintenance schedule or system of checks for the gantry structure. The steel flooring to the gantry was found to have been corroded in places, while some of the welds holding the plates in place were at the point of failure. Following the incident, the gantry was immediately placed out of bounds before it was dismantled and removed from the site.

In relation to the first incident, West Fraser (Europe) Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to comply with regulations 11(1) and (2) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £28,000 at Stirling Sheriff Court on 17 February 2025.

For the second incident, West Fraser (Europe) Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to comply with sections 4(2) and 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £1,040,000 at Stirling Sheriff Court on 17 February 2025.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Stuart Easson, said: “This is the second time in five years this company has been handed a large fine for failing to protect workers.

“Although both men sustained very serious injuries in these latest incidents, both are lucky to be alive.

“We hope this outcome demonstrates that repeated failures of this nature are not acceptable.”

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here.

A North-East manufacturing company has been fined more than £200,000 after a worker sustained serious burns to his hands.

Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visited Novares Peterlee Limited on 30 March 2022. During the visit to the site on Northwest Industrial Estate, inspectors found unsafe working practices, including workers operating machinery at height, with risks of falling. Due to the safety failures, inspectors served eight prohibition notices against the company.

Further investigations during the visit determined that an employee had sustained serious burns to his hands on 13 October 2021, due to an incident involving an injection moulding machine. The injured worker had placed the machine in manual mode when he noticed that there were some ‘pips’ of hardened plastic material on the machine nozzles. He entered the machine, flicked the pips off, at which point molten nylon, at a temperature of approximately 260-300C, ejected from the machine and hit him. The molten nylon hit him in the hands and chest, causing significant burns.

The subsequent HSE investigation found the worker had not retracted the machine carriage to release the pressure before entering the mould area, and he was not wearing suitable PPE. They also found the company’s safe system of work which was in place at the time of the incident, did not contain adequate detail on the task and safety controls for the clearance of blockages, and the man had not received formal training on a safe system of work to remove blockages from the injection moulding machines.

Novares Peterlee Limited, Northwest Industrial Estate, Fiennes Road, Peterlee, pleaded guilty to breaching the Sections 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, Regulation 12 (1). The company was fined a total of £204,000 told to pay £6,272 in costs at Peterlee Magistrates Court on 14 February 2025.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Clare Maltby said: “This company failed to protect its workers from several risks, including working at height.

“Falls from height remain one of the leading causes of workplace injury and death in the workplace.

“Companies who operate injection moulding machines should risk assess work at height and setting, fault finding and maintenance tasks and devise and implement documented safe systems of work.”

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. Relevant guidance can be found here Work at height – HSE.
5. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here.

A self-employed roofer has received a suspended prison sentence after a man suffered serious injuries after falling from scaffold in Devon.

Daniel Hooper was given a 16-week custodial sentence, which will be suspended for a period of 12 months, following Iain Smith, 36, falling from a height of more than 25 feet while working for him, on 13 June 2023.

Father of three Mr Smith had been manually carrying old roof slates down a ladder attached to the scaffold platform at a domestic property in Honiton when he fell, suffering serious injury, including five broken vertebrae, as well as skull and rib fractures. Devon Air Ambulance took Mr Smith to Derriford Hospital where he was put into an induced coma for five days. He has since made a remarkable recovery but does still suffer from the effects of his injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Daniel Hooper, 28, trading as Hooper Roofing, failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of his employee as he did not undertake any planning or appropriately supervise the work at height or supply suitable equipment to do the task safely.

Falls from height remain a leading cause of workplace death and serious injury and HSE has published guidance about how these incidents can be avoided. It is vital that employers plan work at height on any size building or roof work project. Every employer should take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury. While ladders can be used for accessing a scaffold platform, HSE guidance is clear that they should only be used for low risk and short duration tasks. Work equipment or other measures must be used to prevent falls where working at height cannot be avoided.

The HSE investigation found that ladders were used to transfer heavy slate tiles to and from the scaffolding platform and this practice was not, so far as reasonably practicable, safe.  There are alternative methods of transferring the slate tiles to and from a scaffolding platform that eliminate the need for ladders to be used for this task. These include the use of a pulley system or use of a mechanical conveyor.

Daniel Hooper, of Brook Road, Cullompton, Devon pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. He was sentenced to 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work in the community at Exeter Magistrates Court on 6 February 2025.  He was also ordered to pay costs of £10,875.

HSE inspector Thomas Preston said “Falls from height account for around half of all deaths in the construction industry and Mr Smith is very fortunate to still be alive today.

“The risks of working at height and the control measures are well established, including the need to supervise the work appropriately.  Alternative methods of moving materials up and down from a scaffold platform are available and must be considered when planning roofing projects.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Iain Jordan and paralegal officer Helen Jacob.

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE guidance about working at height safely is available.
5. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here.

New guidance to protect Britain’s midwives from excessive nitrous oxide exposure has been published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The guidance is aimed at those responsible for ensuring the safety of workers and new mothers on maternity wards.

More commonly known as ‘gas and air’ when mixed with oxygen, nitrous oxide is an invisible gas used widely in healthcare, including for pain relief during childbirth.

Depending on how well exhaled gas from women in labour is controlled, midwives are at greater risk of exposure to higher levels of nitrous oxide due to the extensive time they spend working in labour rooms.

Over time, high levels of exposure can cause serious health effects including neurological problems and anaemia so it is important that levels are properly controlled.

The recently published guidance on how gas and air should be used safely has been developed by HSE together with maternity specialists in the NHS and is also relevant for professionals working in other parts of the healthcare sector, outside of maternity wards.

Nitrous oxide is subject to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH). It has a long-term workplace exposure limit of 100 ppm or 183 mg.m3 8-hour time weighted average.

HSE advises that all hospitals using gas and air should carry out a COSHH risk assessment of each space in which it is used.

Helen Jones, head of HSE’s health and public services sector said: “This is an essential piece of guidance.

“It should be taken on board by those responsible for managing health and safety in maternity units and for controlling the risks faced by staff who work with nitrous oxide. This should include consideration of workers who may be more vulnerable to the effects of exposure, such as those who are pregnant.

“Workers must also be fully consulted when it comes to monitoring how effective the control measures are, including how results are to be used.

“This will include how workers will be managed if results suggest their exposure should be reduced.”

There are three main types of control systems used in maternity wards:

• a demand valve and mouthpiece or facemask used by the patient which captures exhaled breath, ensuring it is not released into the room.
• an associated extraction or scavenging system with an extraction unit located close to the breathing zone of the patient.
• general ventilation.

The demand valve and mouthpiece or facemask system is the most effective method of control. This is because the exhaled air is not released back into the room, as long as the mouthpiece or facemask is not removed before the patient exhales.

General ventilation is least effective because it:

• is located at a distance from the source (exhaled air)
• relies on the effectiveness of the room ventilation

It is important that exposure monitoring for any airborne contaminant includes the relevant contextual information for each sample taken. For nitrous oxide in a maternity department, this would include:

• the time midwives and student midwives, doctors and/or support staff attend to the delivery of a child or children (the actual exposure time, assessed over a representative number of days)
• an estimate of the level of demand by the expectant mother
• any controls present, for example scavenging equipment
• any other information that is likely to affect the exposure levels, such as movement of people or other activities in the room.

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
3. Guidance on the safe use of nitrous oxide in maternity units is available.

• HSE programme has led to greater collaboration amongst offshore companies
• HSE inspected various North Sea production operators as they determined how PSLP was being adopted
• A report on the PSLP inspection programme was published today (Thursday 6 February 2025)

An inspection programme by Britain’s workplace regulator has led to major safety improvements in the offshore industry.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspected 13 production operators between January 2022 and May 2024 as part of its Process Safety Leadership Principles (PSLP) programme.

In addition to their inspections, HSE inspectors were also engaging with senior leaders at offshore firms and industry groups as they determined how PSLP was being embedded across the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS).

The programme was launched by HSE after it noted a stagnating safety record in the offshore industry.

A report on the PSLP programme was published today (Thursday 6 February). To view the report, click here.

Samantha Peace, director of Energy Division at HSE, said: “One of the main successes from our PSLP programme is that offshore companies are now engaging with one another on an unprecedented level. We found that firms were looking at themselves, identifying areas of improvement, engaging with other companies and above all, finding solutions.”

This has led to developments in process safety leadership, Major Accident Hazard (MAH) management and performance, workforce engagement and utilisation of the Elected Safety Representatives.

While there were successes from the programme, HSE found cumulative risk continues to be a challenge amongst offshore companies, with the regulator also noting that the industry is prepared to accept a greater degradation of MAH barriers, rather than fixing them.

The programme also identified that a reduction in headcount has consequently led to a decrease in skills, knowledge and competency in the industry.

“Although the programme has now finished, we will continue to challenge industry,” Samantha added.

“We will continue to question companies on how they are implementing PSLP and whether they are still collaborating with other firms on the same level we witnessed during the programme.

“We will also focus on the challenges we have identified in the industry, such as risk management and risk tolerance. It is not just down to HSE to develop safety standards in these areas however, companies will need to drive their own self-improvement. The PSLP programme shows that this can be done through collaboration, engagement and application – industry now needs to continue along this path.”

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
3. The PSLP inspection programme report can be found here

A Lancashire farm partnership has been fined £80,000 after a man with ‘a heart of gold’ died following an incident at a dairy farm in Hutton near Preston.

Joshua Hardman, who was just 23, suffered fatal head injuries as he helped to inflate a tractor tyre at the farm on 7 May 2021. The father of one from Longridge, was working as a farmhand at the farm run by W Hesketh and Sons.

At the time of the incident, Joshua had been helping one of the partners in the business, Bill Hesketh, re-seat and inflate a large tractor tyre. As Mr Hesketh inflated the inner tube within the tyre, it suddenly exploded and the catastrophic release of compressed air propelled the wheel rim into Joshua, causing traumatic head injuries. He was taken to hospital and underwent skull and brain surgeries, but he subsequently passed away on 11 June after a further deterioration in his condition.

• Tyre removal, replacement and inflation should only be tackled by competent staff and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance is available.

In a statement, his family said: “Joshua was a very loving, caring, kind and gentle person. He had a heart of gold.

“He was also an amazing dad, and it is heart-breaking that he will never reach his full potential in that role.

“His five-year-old daughter will miss out on a great deal of love and affection and the role he would have played in her life.”

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that W Hesketh and Sons had failed to properly assess and plan this work activity. They also failed to identify and put in place the measures necessary to control the risks involved when inflating large commercial tyres.

The investigation also found that the risk of an explosion was much higher because the tyre, wheel rim and inner tube were all in a poorly maintained condition. A suitable and sufficient assessment had not been made to determine whether the damaged tyre, inner tube and wheel rim were suitable to be inflated safely.

W Hesketh and Sons, of Grange Lane, Hutton, Preston, pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974. They were fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £8,605 costs at a hearing at Preston Magistrates Court on 4 February 2025.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Anthony Banks said: “This was a tragic incident, and a much-loved young man has lost his life. It could have easily been avoided with the right controls in place.

“HSE would like to make all employers aware that, before they undertake the inflation of large commercial tyres, they need to have correctly assessed the risk and have in place the suitable controls for the task.”

The prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Gemma Zakrzewski and supported by paralegal officer Rebecca Foreman.

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here.
5. HSE guidance on working safely with tyres is available.

A company that operates several household waste and recycling centres in Wales has been fined for failing to protect workers and members of the public.

Sundorne Products (Llanidloes) Limited pleaded guilty to the failures identified at Llandrindod Wells Household Waste and Recycling Centre in Powys. The charges arose following an inspection by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on 6 October 2022.

A HSE inspector identified a risk of serious injury to both workers and the public. Action was taken to stop the use of three waste compactor machines due to there being unrestricted access to the controls and to dangerous parts of the machines, namely the compaction chambers.

HSE guidance, including information on the various safety hazards, is freely available on HSE’s waste management and recycling webpages.

Further enforcement action was taken to secure improvements in the management arrangements and improved control measures.

A subsequent HSE investigation identified that the risks associated with the compactors operation had not been adequately assessed and there was no clear instruction or training provided to workers.  The pre-use checks were considered inadequate and there was no recognised safe method of clearing blockages within the compaction chambers.

Sundorne Products (Llanidloes) Limited of Potter House, Henfaes Lane, Welshpool, Powys, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,077 at a hearing at Welshpool Magistrates Court on 28 January 2025.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Joe Boast said, “Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers in the safe system of working.  The charges extend to failings in respect of risks to the public”.

“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in England and Wales can be found here and for those in Scotland here.

The director of a Sheffield-based skip hire company has avoided an immediate spell behind bars after being found guilty of multiple breaches of health and safety law.

Following an investigation and subsequent prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Jamie White, the director of M White (Skips) Limited, was given an eight month custodial sentence, suspended for a period of 12 months. His company was fined £65,000.

Both White and his company appeared at Sheffield Magistrates Court on 23 January 2025 to be sentenced, the same court where they had been found guilty of several charges brought by the HSE following a five day trial in October last year.

HSE has detailed guidance on waste management and recycling including about how it should be safely sorted and processed.

The court heard that HSE inspectors visited the company’s site on Worthing Road in the Attercliffe area of Sheffield, on 8 August 2022, after receiving multiple reports of poor conditions both there and along the public highway. When inspectors arrived, they found skips loaded with waste material stacked along the public highway and piles of other waste preventing workers from safely moving around the site, as well as blocking access to welfare facilities, including the staff toilets.

Immediate action was taken by HSE, with prohibition notices being issued preventing any further stacking of the already loaded skips. However, a follow-up visit less than a month later found no improvements had been made – as well as evidence the enforcement action had been ignored.

Subsequent enquiries found the company did not hold Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance), a legal requirement for employers. Further prohibition notices were served, including the prevention of hand sorting of waste materials from skips on the public pavement due to the obvious risks to members of public trying to walk past.

The subsequent HSE investigation found there had been a steep decline in general health and safety standards at the firm, giving rise to significant risk to employees and members of the public. With no effective health and safety management and an apparent loss of control over general conditions, there had been no attempt to reduce the risk from hazards on site to safeguard employees. The company, and White, failed to comply with the law, despite enforcement notices being served requiring action to be taken.

M White (Skips) Limited of Worthing Road, Attercliffe, Sheffield was found guilty to non-compliance with three Prohibition notices and to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and also Section 1(1) of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. The Company was fined £65,000 and ordered to pay £13,280 in costs at a hearing at Sheffield Magistrates Court on 23 January 2025.

Jamie White, of Blonk Street Sheffield, Director of the company when HSE visited, was found guilty to non-compliance with two Prohibition noticesand to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 by virtue of Section 37(1), and also Section 1(1) of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. He was given an eight month custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months, and must complete 150 hours of unpaid work. He was also disqualified as a company director for a period of three years and ordered to pay £13,280 in costs.

After the hearing the HSE inspector Laura Hunter said: “As the sole director, Jamie White also worked on the site and was fully aware of the poor conditions which his employees were subjected to.

“Full skips were deposited and stored on the public highway, with employees later needing to use the street to sort through waste materials when the site became inaccessible.

“By law, employers are required to insure against liability for injury or disease to their employees arising out of their employment – it is compulsory insurance. Mr White failed to arrange for his company to obtain it for his workers, despite HSE serving an enforcement notice legally requiring him to do so.

“Companies should ensure that they understand and follow health and safety laws and guidance and act responsibly to protect both their employees and the public from the activities under their control.”

The HSE prosecution was brought by senior enforcement lawyer James Towey and enforcement lawyer Kate Harney, supported by paralegal officer Imogen Isaac.

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences can be found here.
5. HSE guidance on waste management and recycling and about how it should be safely sorted and processed is available.
6. HSE guidance for employers on Employers’ Liability Insurance is also available.

A manufacturing firm in Ipswich has been fined after two workers were struck by slabs of stone, with one of the men sustaining multiple bone fractures as a result.

Three slabs of quartz stone fell from a stillage onto Steven Constable and Struan Dunsmore while they worked at Bespoke Stone Ltd’s workshop on Dales Road.

The pair, both from Ipswich, had been preparing to lift one of the slabs onto a saw bed when all three fell onto them on 17 June 2022.

After sustaining multiple bone fractures and soft tissue damage, Mr Constable has required a number of operations and has been unable to work for over two years. The 54-year-old sustained fractures to his right femur, hip, left tibia and foot. He has spent a total of 12 weeks in hospital.

Mr Dunsmore, 31, sustained bruising to his body and required time off from work following the incident.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found Bespoke Stone Ltd’s handling and storage of slabs was unsafe in that the material was not secure. The restraint system provided did not fit around larger sizes of material. The company also failed to accurately report the injuries sustained by Mr Constable and the time taken off work by Mr Dunsmore under RIDDOR regulations.

HSE guidance states slabs should always remain restrained during loading/unloading operations, whether from vehicles or from storage when any person could be in the hazard zone into which a slab might fall from its racked position or fail during lifting. Further guidance can be found at: Handling and storage of large sheet stone slabs – HSE

Bespoke Stone Ltd, of Dales Road, Ipswich, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £6,600 and ordered to pay £4,875.40 in costs at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on 17 January 2025.

HSE inspector Jessica Flint said: “Bespoke Stone Ltd failed to grasp the importance of safe handling and storage of stone materials in stone masonry, with employees regularly working within the hazard zone of slabs during operations within its workshop.

“The CCTV footage makes clear how serious this incident was, with one of the employees sustaining a number of horrific injuries which have affected his ability to return to work. Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Matthew Reynolds and supported by HSE paralegal officer Melissa Wardle.

Further information:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.
2. More information about the legislation referred to in this case is available.
3. Further details on the latest HSE news releases is available.
4. HSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.  The sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences in England and Wales can be found here and for those in Scotland here.
5. CCTV footage can be found here: CCTV footage – HSE v Bespoke Stone Ltd.mp4 – Google Drive