Jason Lycett, a director of Brooke Ren, was found guilty of breaching s 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court over the incident, which took place on a building project in Barnsley, South Yorkshire on 24 February 2016. He must also pay £7,027 costs.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that Brooke Ren, which was the principal contractor on the development at Church Street, Jump, Barnsley, had ignored instructions given in the preconstruction phase that the development’s roof structure needed to be designed by a specialist. The project involved demolishing a former public house and constructing two, two-storey blocks of flats. Timber roof structures had been constructed for each block and were being tiled.

The HSE found the three roofers had been working on the roof of Block B and were transferring tiles from ground level using a tile hoist and distributing them over the surface of the roof when the hoist broke down. Two of the roofers had climbed down from the roof and the third was descending a ladder from a scaffold when the roof collapsed, demolishing a small wall at eaves level and distorting the scaffold.

None of the three roofers was injured. However, the investigation found that, had the tile hoist not broken down, the workers would have been on the roof when it fell in. The roof structure was not able to withstand the loads.

The HSE found that Brooke Ren, which had failed to employ a specialist to design the roof structure at the preconstruction phase, only did so after the incident.

HSE inspector Alan Sheldon said: “Principal contractors have an important role in managing health and safety risks during the construction phase, so they must have the skills, knowledge, experience and, where relevant, organisational capability to carry out this work.

“Although there were no injuries, matters could have been very different had the workers still been on the roof at the time of its collapse.”

Warwickshire City Council Trading Standards brought the prosecution against Andrew Weeks, 53, after he was found producing the fake cards at his printing company Nuneaton Print and selling them online for up to £30.99 each.

Forged documents included cards for the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS), the Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) and the Electrotechnical Certification Scheme (ECS).

Other fake documentation included occupational health cards, driving licences, qualification certificates for first aid, and City & Guilds certificates.

A Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) investigating officer was able to purchase a CPCS card from Weeks without providing evidence that he was trained to operate machines such as dumper trucks and excavators.

Solicitors acting for the construction industry served a cease and desist order, which Weeks signed agreeing to stop producing the counterfeit documents. However, he changed his company’s name to Yorkshire Novelty Print and continued trading.

Warwickshire trading standards officers then launched their own investigation and raided Weeks’ business premises.

Weeks pleaded guilty to one offence under s 9 of the Fraud Act 2006 at an earlier hearing and was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court to three years and eight months imprisonment. He claimed in his defense that the “novelty item” disclaimer sent out with his products made his actions “acceptable”.

His Honour Judge Barry Berlin said that producing counterfeit licences and qualification certifications had serious ramifications for public safety and described Weeks’ actions as “fraud to foster more fraud”.

He was also sued by CSCS for copyright infringement and ordered to pay damages of £6,000.

The names of those who had purchased fake documents from Weeks are now in the hands of the certificate awarding organisations.

Warwickshire County Councillor Andy Crump, portfolio holder for community safety, said: “Mr Weeks has committed an incredibly serious offence that could mean that hundreds of people across the UK are employed in jobs and trades that they are unqualified to undertake and in some cases, particularly in construction, electrical installation and caring professions may be putting lives at risk, not to mention those who may be driving on our roads today with fake licences.”

Ian Sidney, fraud manager at CITB, added: “The use of fake cards could easily lead to accidents, injuries or even fatalities where contractors do not have the required skills, training or qualifications. Employers must remain vigilant when checking workers’ documentation and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity.”

Keeley Downey is assistant editor of IOSH Magazine

The ladder, which was defective, had been consigned to a skip but was returned to use because it wasn’t marked as such, Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told this week.

Angelina Lawson had removed droppings from four aviaries using the ladder and was working at 2.5 m up in a fifth enclosure when the steps gave way on 16 July 2016.

After landing on a wooden floor, she sustained neck pain, concussion and grazed her elbow.

District Judge Richard Blake told the court: “She attended hospital the next day for an x-ray which showed swelling of the soft tissue and she was also diagnosed with concussion which can last up to a month.”

Lawson spent several weeks recovering from soft tissue damage to her neck.

The charity, which runs London Zoo in Regent’s Park, conducted an internal investigation and then informed Westminster City Council. The authority found that Lawson, who’d been working at the zoo for four years, had received no training to use the steps. Judge Blake said the lack of training was a direct cause of the accident. The ZSL admitted two health and safety breaches in August.

According to The Telegraph, Charles Barry, representing the charity, told the court Lawson had been due to have ladder training when she fell, but was “at the bottom of the list” as she did not usually work at height.

Barry pointed out that any profit from the ZSL’s £50m annual turnover is used for its animal conservation work and urged the judge to limit the fine.

Calculating the starting point for the two breaches, Judge Blake determined fines of £150,000 for each offence but after considering the ZSL’s early guilty plea, he reduced the total to £200,000. The overall fine was then cut to £100,000 to reflect the charity’s status and then to £40,000 for other mitigating factors. He also imposed £8,000 costs.

Judge Blake said: “In the circumstances, I consider having regard to the charitable nature of this organisation, it is appropriate to take that into account by halving the fine to £50,000 in each instance.

“I reduce the fine further in respect of each offence. I have dealt with this in the manner I have very much recognised the nature of the Zoological Society.”

Passing sentence, the judge added he had sent a “powerful” message to the society, arguing £40,000 was a “significant sum”.

The Evening Standard reported that the conviction follows the zoo’s caution over the escape of a gorilla from its main enclosure in 2016.

Article By Nick Warburton

Nick Warburton is deputy editor of IOSH Magazine 

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that MacAulay Askernish, which operates Askernish Quarry on the Isle of South Uist, had failed to install an adequate guard on the screener unit and did not isolate dangerous moving parts while the maintenance work was carried out on 2 November 2016.

Maintenance worker Donald Campbell was able to lean through the opening in the screener’s conveyor frame to fix a slipping belt. His hand was pulled into the nip point between the machine’s drive drum and conveyor belt and his arm became entangled, causing severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

HSE inspectors also found that MacAulay Askernish, which offers plant hire, carries out civil projects and provides utility services to the public sector, most notably for Scottish Water, had failed to ensure the unit was maintained properly. Officers found other guard panels were not in place on the machinery.

MacAulay Askernish, of Hillside Office, Lochboisdale, Isle of South Uist, pleaded guilty to breaching reg 6(1) of the Quarries Regulations 1999 at Lochmaddy Sheriff Court.

A Bristol City Council investigation into the incident, which took place on 21 November 2016, found that there were no guards on the fan nor on eight others on the roof. The designer and seller of ready-to-assemble furniture had failed also to risk assess maintenance or fault-finding work. IKEA also failed to provide the engineer with safety training to carry out the checks.

During the investigation council inspectors served an improvement notice, which required the Swedish-owned multinational group to adopt safety precautions to prevent any further injuries from fans and other machinery. IKEA has since carried out the remedial work.

IKEA admitted breaching s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act at Bristol Magistrates’ Court. Senior managers attended the sentencing and a letter from a board member was read out, which expressed remorse for the incident. It also said that lessons had been learned and shared throughout the business.

The company must also pay £6,407 costs.