The inappropriate use of an ordinary trailer as an animal feed trailer resulted in an accidental death when rotten and split timbers supporting it failed, crushing a 36-year old farmer beneath it on a farm in Sibbertoft, Northamptonshire, in January this year.
An inquest coroner returned a narrative verdict urging farmers to assess risks and not rely on previously trusted but flawed systems of work
Illegal asbestos work
A Director of two Eastbourne companies, Sussex Asbestos Solutions (South East) Ltd and Sussex Asbestos Solutions Ltd, has been fined £36,000 with £4,000 costs for breaching The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 plus £4,000 compensation to the shop owner who employed him to remove asbestos insulation board from his shop in November last year.
He undertook the work without the required licence for work with asbestos, and without notifying the HSE.
Fatal fall in Fife
A worker has died after falling through the roof of an industrial building used by Tullis Russell on the Southfield Industrial Estate in Glenrothes. Reports state the man was contracted for cleaning work when he fell some 30m on Monday
Electrocution as scaffold contacts power line at Texas site
A worker was electrocuted in Midland County, Texas, on Thursday when tall scaffolding being propelled to a new build site on county road 1255, west of Midland, contacted high power lines beside the building, another worker is listed in critical condition in hospital in Lubbock, a 3rd worker is listed as stable
Girl recovering from lion attack
An 8-year old girl is making encouraging progress in hospital in Johannesburg following extensive surgery for head, neck and arm injuries after being mauled by a lion at the family's lion-breeding farm in Masvingo, Zimbabwe.
The farmer had been deploying 2 lions to discourage invasion by war vets but one of the animals leapt through an open window and dragged out the girl, her rescue was achieved by workers setting about the lion with clubs
Roller coaster malfunction at Munich Beer Festival
A technical malfunction of a diesel engine is speculated as the cause of the breakdown of the Olympia Looping rollercoaster at the Munich Beer Festival which became stationary 30 metres above ground at the weekend, most passengers exited via an emergency stairway but 4 others were rescued by way of an aerial platform
Worker killed in fall at cement works
A 45-year old Romanian worker has died in a 5-metre fall at the Vassiliko cement plant in Nicosia, the accident occurred during the positioning of a new flue.
HSE safety warning following Alcon prosecution
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned all employers to ensure they protect their workers’ lives after the jailing of a company director for manslaughter.
Sharaz Butt, the director of Alcon Construction Ltd of Norwich, was sentenced to 12 months jail in Norwich Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Wu Zhu Weng. He also received a five-year disqualification from acting as a company director after pleading guilty to breaching section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc 1974 Act.
Mr Butt was prosecuted by Norfolk police, with assistance from the HSE, over the incident on 31st January 2008. Mr Weng was working for Alcon Construction on the refurbishment of a building on Trowse, Norwich, when he fell 12 feet through a skylight, suffering fatal injuries.
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Peter Jacobs said Mr Butt had shown a "cynical disregard” for his workers, including Mr Weng, by employing them illegally and failing to ensure their safety.
HSE Inspector Peter Nickerson said:
"The sentence handed down by the judge reflects the seriousness of the offence committed by Mr Butt. As company director, he was responsible for the health and safety of all his workers, and he failed to fulfil this responsibility.
"Mr Weng’s tragic death could have been prevented had his employer followed basic health and safety procedures. The skylight Mr Weng was working near had had not been properly covered and was a dangerous place to work.
"Mr Butt had also failed to prepare a method statement and risk assessment for the work he expected his staff to do, did not provide appropriate access and egress, and did not ensure that his staff received the necessary training to carry out the work.
"All employers have a duty to protect the safety of their workers. The construction industry in particular has one of the highest rates of fatalities in Britain, and HSE will not hesitate to prosecute those who put the lives of their employees at risk in this way
Bonus scheme fingered in vibration case
A council roadworker who was forced out of his job aged 25 after developing two related occupational diseases has received a £262,000 compensation payout. UNISON member Adrian Bideau, now aged 28, developed Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS – also known as vibration white finger) and carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful repetitive strain injury, as a result of using vibrating tools such as breaker packs, whacker plates and saws
Homicide charges call after tug tragedy
Clydeport should face culpable homicide charges relating to the deaths of three tug crew, a top union official has said. Unite Scottish secretary John Quigley called for immediate action after the release this week of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch’s (MAIB) report into the sinking of the Flying Phantom
Fears Qantas not putting safety first
Pity the poor folk in charge of public relations at Qantas. They have been busier than the proverbial one-armed paper hanger in the past 10 months as the airline struggles to deal with adverse publicity stemming from a series of mechanical glitches aboard Qantas short- and long-haul aircraft. These incidents have ranged from the dramatic (an on-board explosion of an oxygen bottle aboard a Boeing 747 flying over the South China Sea) to more mundane but equally alarming episodes such as detachment of panels, landing gear failure, and the loss of hydraulic fluid necessitating an emergency landing. Technical glitches have also resulted in a number of Qantas flights being cancelled altogether.
Now the airline is having to deal with assertions by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau that a computer ''irregularity'' in the on-board computer of an A330 airliner flying from Singapore to Perth may have contributed to the mid-air incident over Western Australia on Tuesday that injured 20 passengers and crew an incident that was at first thought to have been the result of clear-air turbulence.
