A steel foundry has been sentenced after a South Yorkshire worker was killed when he was struck in the face by a shard from an abrasive disc that exploded from a hand-held grinding machine.

Stuart Stead, 49, of Mexborough, Doncaster, was using the hand-held grinder while he worked on a casting at H.I. Quality Steel Castings Ltd in Forncett Street, Sheffield, on 7 March 2012.

As he used the high-frequency machine, the disc fitted to it suddenly exploded catapulting fragments across his workbay. A shard went straight through Mr Stead’s visor and hit him in the mouth.

Mr Stead, a father of three grown-up children, received fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The incident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which today 11 May prosecuted H.I. Quality Steel Castings at Sheffield Crown Court. The company pleaded guilty to a serious safety breach at an earlier court appearance (9 Feb).

HSE found the abrasive disc was nine inches in diameter although the grinder had a maximum permissible tool diameter of only two inches unless guarded. It was also attached to the grinder using a non-proprietary tool. In addition the disk was rated for 6650 rpm but the grinder was running at 12,000 rpm.

The grinder had no guard so as it exploded, the pieces were forcibly expelled across the bay, one ending up some ten metres away.

Two of Mr Stead’s work colleagues, who were nearby, said later they had heard a loud bang and one turned to see him collapse to the floor. They ran to his aid and saw the visor broken and the piece of disk in Mr Stead’s mouth.

HSE said the excessive speed of the grinder coupled with the added load caused by the non-standard attachment had put stresses on the disc way beyond its capacity, resulting in its catastrophic failure.

The court was told that HSE’s investigation had uncovered a number of previous incidents when discs had come off grinders. However, none of these had been mentioned in monthly minutes of the company’s health and safety meetings for the site.

These included:

• In 2011 a 230mm diameter disc suffered a blade disintegration and part went through the foundry roof
• A sand disc attached to a grinder using an adaptor shattered and put a hole in a bench and shattered a light fitting 30 feet up
• A disc flew off a grinder, being used by Mr Stead, which was never found
• A cutting disc bounced off the stomach of another worker.
• And in the week before the fatality – a lump came off a disc Mr Stead was using and shot down the workshop hitting another worker under the eye.

HSE said H.I. Quality Steel Castings Ltd had allowed the use of unsafe combinations of parts with the grinders, many of which were unguarded. Despite some initial training in abrasive wheels, employees did not understand rotation speeds of machines versus discs and had free access to a wide variety of them, contributing to the prevalence of unsafe combinations.

The company also failed to monitor disc/grinder use so unsafe practices were not picked up and near miss incidents were not properly investigated.

H.I. Quality Steel Castings Ltd of Foundry Street, Whittington Moor, Chesterfield, was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £24,000 in costs after admitting breaching section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Jill Thompson said:

“This was a horrific incident that devastated Mr Stead’s wife, his children and wider family. It is also, tragically, one that could have been avoided had the company focused on its responsibility to ensure the safety of their employees.

“The safety of Mr Stead and others was not ensured while using hand-held grinders. If monitoring and supervision had been provided to ensure necessary precautions were followed, this tragic incident would not have happened.

“The near-misses should have been a big warning flag to H.I. Quality Steel Castings that there was a serious risk that a worker could be severely injured or killed.

“Employers must make sure that all work involving grinding is assessed for safety to make sure that poor or potentially dangerous practices are removed.”

Visit http://www.hse.gov.uk for free guidance on safety in use of abrasive wheels.

Notes to Editors:

The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk

Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.”

HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk/.

Mark Hewitt, a construction client from Birmingham, was fined £3000 and ordered to pay £1255.30 in costs at Sandwell Magistrates Court for failing to properly plan or manage construction work.

HSE inspected the site after a member of the public raised concerns over work taking place next to a public pavement. During the inspection it was clear there was a risk of materials falling from the first floor level onto the pavement and the street, and there were no fall prevention measures in place to protect workers on the site.

HSE Inspector Chris Gregory said:

“As the client for the work, Mr Hewitt should have ensured the appropriate measures were in place in order to plan, manage and monitor the project. He was informed of his duties by his advisors, but failed to act.

Mr Hewitt had a duty to ensure that the safety of those working on site and those members of the public, passing by, were not put at risk, he failed on both counts”

Mark Hewitt of Manor Lane in Halesowen, being a client as defined by the Construction (Management and Design) Regulations 2007, was found guilty of breaching Regulation 9(1) of said regulations.

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk^[1]

2. Further HSE news releases are available at www.press.hse.gov.uk ^[2]

3. Falls from height are responsible for around a third of workplace deaths every year, with 25 people losing their lives in 2012/13. For further information, go to http://www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/index.htm

A Hertfordshire packaging company has been fined for safety failings after a worker broke his arm in a poorly guarded mailing machine at a factory in Melbourn.

Harry Bracewell, 20, of Royston, required surgery to have metal plates and screws inserted into his arm as a result of the incident at Ampac Security Products Ltd, on Saxon Way, on 12 February 2014. He now finds lifting difficult, continues to suffer flashbacks, and cannot sleep without medication.

His employer was prosecuted today (10 April) after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the incident could have been avoided with better guarding.

Stevenage Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr Bracewell was operating a mailing machine that processes rolls of plastic film into sealable plastic bags by cutting the film to size and applying glue on one edge.

He attempted to clean a moving belt on the machine with a cloth and cleaning fluid, but his hand and arm was pulled between a roller and the belt. He sustained crush injuries and a compound fracture to his right arm.

HSE inspectors found that while Ampac had identified the risk of entanglement from the moving belts to the underside of the machine, the area where his arm was caught had not been guarded to prevent access.

Magistrates were told that Mr Bracewell had received training and instruction on how to operate a similar machine elsewhere in the factory. When using the other machine, although unsafe, it was considered normal practice to clean glue from the underside of the delivery belts while the machine was still running. However, this was not normal practice in the case for the machine that injured him – which could have been made clear had he received adequate instructions for this equipment.

Ampac Security Products Ltd was fined a total of £10,000 and ordered to pay a further £2328 in costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, 1998.

After the case was heard, Health and Safety Inspector Sandra Dias said: “No matter what industry you work in, machinery should always be adequately guarded to prevent injury.

“It is also important that adequate are provided to employees – especially when they are operating machinery that differs from what they may have used before.” 

Notes to Editors  

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk^[1]
2. Section (11)(1)a of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations states: “Every employer shall ensure that measures are taken in accordance with paragraph (2) which are effective to prevent access to any dangerous part of machinery or to any rotating stock-bar”
3. Further HSE news releases are available at www.hse.gov.uk/press^[2]

 A Southampton worker suffered serious injuries when his arm was dragged into an unguarded part of a conveyor belt at a chicken hatchery business in Romsey, a court heard.

Superviser Andrew House, from Calmore, needed hospital treatment and was unable to work for several months after the incident at Faccenda Foods hatchery on 17 March 2014.

Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard the victim’s left hand was pulled into the ‘running nip’ of the conveyor belt while cleaning the area.  He was unable to reach an emergency stop control and a colleague had to stop the conveyor running so Mr House could be released.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated and prosecuted Faccenda Foods for safety failings after identifying that the dangerous nip of the belt was totally unguarded.

Following the incident, Mr House spent seven days in hospital, required two operations and needed several months off work. He now has limited use of his hand and although he has been able to return to work, still has physiotherapy to help increase his mobility.

The court was told that Faccenda Foods, a UK foods business based in Northamptonshire, had been prosecuted by HSE back in 2001 as a result of an incident involving poorly-guarded machinery.

Faccenda Foods, of Willow Road, Brackley, Northamptonshire, was fined a total of £7000 and ordered to pay £2909.25 in costs after admitting two breaches of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and a single breach of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Kate Clark said: “Andrew House suffered an awful injury to his hand which left him unable to use it for months. It was debilitating and traumatic.

“The fact is that it need not have happened at all. Faccenda Foods should have carried out a proper assessment of the risks involved in operating the machine. That would have identified the safeguards and controls and that were needed and the firm would have been able to put those measures in place.

“The risk to workers of becoming trapped in moving machinery is well-known in the industry and should not be under-estimated, as these incidents account for hundreds of injuries each year, and even deaths.

“If the guards that Faccenda installed after Mr House’s injury had been there at the time, it is extremely unlikely he would have become trapped.”

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk^[1]

2. Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states: Every employer shall ensure that measures are taken which are effective – (a) to prevent access to any dangerous part of machinery or to any rotating stock-bar; or (b) to stop the movement of any dangerous part of machinery or rotating stock-bar before any part of a person enters a danger zone.

3. Regulation 16(1) of the same Regulations states: Every employer shall ensure that, where appropriate, work equipment is provided with one or more readily accessible emergency stop controls unless it is not necessary by reason of the nature of the hazards and the time taken for the work equipment to come to a complete stop as a result of the action of any control provided by virtue of regulation 15(1).

4. Regulation 3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 states:  Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of)the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work.

5. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk/

A waste management company has been ordered to pay a total of £265,000, for safety failings after a worker was killed when he was struck by a vehicle at a Watford waste transfer station.

Patrick Murphy, a 58-year-old father-of-two from Watford, who had worked as a groundsman at the site since 2004, was struck and run over by a JCB loading shovel as he was clearing litter at FCC Waste Services (UK) Ltd’s Waterdale Waste Transfer Station on 17 August 2012. He died at the scene.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted FCC Waste Services (UK) Ltd at St Albans Crown Court (13 March) after an investigation found the company failed to organise and control the workplace to ensure that pedestrians and vehicles could circulate and operate safely.

The court heard that the site handled household waste and material for recycling which was delivered to the site by refuse collection vehicles. The vehicles would be driven across the manoeuvring yard, referred to as “the apron”, to a large warehouse known as the tipping hall. There were also two loading shovels operated by FCC staff working on the site, moving the tipped waste around and it was one of these which struck and killed Mr Murphy whilst he was litter-picking out on the apron.

FCC Waste Services (UK) Ltd, of Ground Floor West, Northampton Business Park, Northampton, was fined a total of £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £65,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) and Regulation 17(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and to breaching Regulation 5(1) of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

After the case, HSE Inspector Roxanne Barker, said:

“Mr Murphy lost his life in what was an entirely preventable tragedy caused by FCC Waste Services (UK) Ltd’s failure to fully recognise and control the hazards arising from activities in and around the tipping hall at its waste transfer station.

“There are significant risks associated with operating large construction type vehicles on waste sites, particularly when, as in this case, the vehicles have restricted visibility. These risks are well known and easily controlled using reasonably practicable precautions.

“Every year many people are killed or seriously injured in incidents involving workplace transport, and there is no excuse for companies that neglect this risk. Pedestrians, whether they are employees or not, should be kept separate from these types of vehicles through physical barriers or safe systems of work that are clear and well supervised.”

For more information about working safely around workplace vehicles, visithttp://www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/index.htm

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk 
2. Regulation 4(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, 1992 states: Every employer shall ensure that every workplace, modification, extension or conversion which is under his control and where any of his employees works complies with any requirement of these Regulations which (a) applies to that workplace or, as the case may be, to the workplace which contains that modification, extension or conversion; and (b) is in force in respect of the workplace, modification, extension or conversion.
3. Regulation 17(1) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, 1992 states: “Every workplace shall be organised in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles can circulate in a safe manner.”
4. Regulation 5(1) of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 states: “Every employer shall make and give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate, having regard to the nature of his activities and the size of his undertaking, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures.”

A Somerset company has been fined after a quarry blast sent rocks of up to 15 kilos flying outside a danger zone toward employees and across a public road.

Falling rocks narrowly avoided hitting workers as they landed well outside the designated blast zone at Moons Hill Quarry, Stoke St Michael near Shepton Mallet on 7 February 2012. Rocks also fell onto a public highway, exposing road users to unacceptable danger.

Frome-based WCD Sleeman and Sons Ltd, who organised the blast, were prosecuted today (27 February) after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified serious control failings.

Bristol Crown Court heard that workers acting as sentries outside the danger area were aware of rocks flying above their heads and landing all around them immediately after the blast. Rocks also landed in the processing plant area of the quarry, which is on the other side of a public road.

HSE inspectors discovered that the blast had not been properly planned. Too much explosive was used in an area where the ground was already broken and measures put in place to reduce risks were inadequate.

WCD Sleeman and Sons Ltd,  of Valley View, Vallis Park, Frome, was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The court was told the firm was prosecuted by HSE after investigating a similar offence in Devon when they were fined £20,000 with £17,000 costs in July 2013 at Barnstaple Magistrates’ Court.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Catherine Pickett said:

“This was a very serious incident, which put both members of the public and employees at serious risk of being hit by rocks and could easily have led to death or serious injury.

“Blasting operations at quarries are potentially very dangerous. The risks must be rigorously controlled by good explosives engineering practice and in accordance with legal requirements.

“Quarrying remains one of the most dangerous industries to work in with 3,250 injuries, including 27 fatalities, reported to HSE since 2000.

“This is not the first time WCD Sleeman and Sons have been prosecuted for similar offences that have put people at considerable risk and I hope they take more heed of the lessons to be learned.

“Proper planning and control is required at all times in the quarrying industry. The option of stopping and reevaluating the blasting operation for safety is always available to shotfirers, and in this case would have avoided danger.”

Further information on quarry safety can be found on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/quarries/^[1]

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk^[2]
2. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”
3. Details of WCD Sleeman’s previous prosecution are at http://press.hse.gov.uk/2013/rnn-sw-wcd-sleeman-hanson/^[3]
4. HSE news releases are available at: http://press.hse.gov.uk/^[4] .

A demolition firm in Windsor has appeared in court after being caught on camera risking the lives of workers on the roof of a disused pub.

A concerned member of the public contacted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) with photographs showing workers removing tiles from the roof with no precautions in place to prevent them falling up to six metres to the ground below.

An HSE inspector visited the site in Windsor on 7 January 2014, the same day as seeing the photographs, and served an immediate enforcement notice on AG Edwards & Son Demolition Ltd after viewing the dangers first hand. The notice prohibited any further work at height until adequate safety measures were in place to protect the two workmen on site.

Reading Magistrates’ Court was told today (19 Feb) that AG Edwards & Son had clearly put the two men in danger by failing to plan the removal of the tiles to recognised standards. It also failed to manage or monitor the roof work, leading to the workers being exposed to a totally unnecessary risk of falling.

AG Edwards & Son Demolition Ltd, of Oxford Road, Windsor, Berks, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £1,053 in costs after admitting a breach of the Work at Height Regulations.

Following the hearing, HSE inspector Dominic Goacher said:

“AG Edwards & Son put the lives at risk of two workers by carrying out this demolition job in a totally unsafe manner. Anyone falling from the roof of that disused pub would likely be killed and that type of disregard for safety is totally unacceptable.

“The company failed to follow basic safety precautions and heed the freely available guidance available. Had the work been planned correctly, suitable protection such as a scaffold, a fully-guarded platform and edge protection would have been in place.”

Notes to Editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk

2. Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 states: “Where work is carried out at height, every employer shall take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, any person falling a distance liable to cause personal injury.”

A renewable technology company and two sub-contractors have been fined for safety failings after a worker was killed when he fell seven metres from a roof while installing solar panels.

Kevin Brookes, 35, from Tamworth, suffered fatal injuries in the incident at Southam Drive, Kineton Road Industrial Estate, Southam on 31 May 2012.

Principal contractor Alumet Renewable Technologies Ltd was jointly prosecuted today (6 Feb) with sub-contractors Midlands Solar Solutions Ltd, who employed Mr Brookes to install the panels, and Rugby Scaffolding Services Ltd, responsible for installing edge protection. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified serious flaws with the health and safety plan and the way the work was managed.

Coventry Crown Court heard that Mr Brookes was attempting to retrieve a drill that had started to slide down towards the edge of the roof when he slipped and slid through the handrail, over the edge of the building, landing on his head.

Mr Brookes, who was the sole carer for his elderly disabled father, fell into an immediate coma and died 19 days later in hospital.

The HSE investigation found that Alumet had failed to put an adequate health and safety plan in place. The measures outlined in their plan were not sufficient to protect the workers, and those measures that were in place were not being followed by Alumet or the other two companies involved in the work.

The investigation identified that the edge protection did not meet nationally agreed standards. It also revealed that employees of Rugby Scaffolding Services Ltd weren’t properly trained to install the protection and didn’t have appropriate supervision.

The investigation also revealed that there were unsuitable provisions in place to prevent people falling through the skylights.

Alumet Renewable Energy Technologies Ltd, of Senator House, Bourne End, Southam, was today fined £66,000 and ordered to pay £12,491 in costs after admitting breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Rugby Scaffolding Services Limited, of 24 Regent Place, Rugby, Warwickshire, admitted the same charge and was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay costs of £12,491.

Midlands Solar Solutions Ltd, of Emmanuel Court, 10 Mill Street, Sutton Coldfield, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the same Act and was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £12,491 in costs.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Amy Kalay, said:

“This fatal fall was entirely and easily preventable.  The health and safety plan and mechanisms put in place to carry out the work fell far below the required standards.

“All three companies had copious experience of working at height to install solar panels and as such should have been experts.

“Alumet Renewable Technologies Ltd knew that the work was a high-risk activity, and the company should have known what measures to put in place to keep workers safe and making sure these precautions were followed by everyone involved.”

Working on roofs accounts for almost a quarter of all workers who are killed in falls from heights.   Many others are seriously injured and are left with life-changing disabilities. Information on preventing falls is available atwww.hse.gov.uk/falls

 Notes to Editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain’s national regulator for workplace   health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk

2. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”

3. Section 2(1) of the same Act states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.”