Workplace safety breaches by manufacturing company led to workplace death

A textile manufacturer was ordered to pay over £115,000 for workplace safety breaches that led to the death of a worker.

The deceased, a 61-year-old forklift truck operator, was crushed and killed by a falling stack of rag bales. The workplace accident occurred at the firm’s warehouse, when the top two bales, which weighed more than 300kg, struck the worker on the head.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that the manufacturing company had stacked the rag bales unsafely and had failed to put effective measures in place to control the pedestrian activities around the warehouse.

Health and Safety Exectuive inspector Geoff Fletcher said:
"This tragic incident could have been avoided had [the company] taken its duty of care toward its employees sufficiently seriously. The sad consequence of the company's failures is an unnecessary loss of life and the devastating impact this has had on [the worker’s] partner, family and friends.”

Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2013/rnn-yh-3713.htm

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Workplace death at factory after machine falls from forklift

A metal manufacturer has been sentenced after an employee was killed when a machine weighing half-a-tonne fell from a forklift truck.

The 25-year-old was walking alongside the forklift when the machine fell and struck him on the head. The company had been moving machines into a bigger workshop at the factory. During one move, a machine became unstable and fell, resulting in the worker’s death.

The company had only recently taken over the factory and a health and safety audit had not been carried out. The company had not planned the work in advance so that the machine could be moved safely.

The firm, which went into administration in 2011, was found guilty because it failed to ensure the safety of its employees. The company received a nominal fine of £1.

Source: The Health and Safety Executive

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$87,010 in fines proposed for roofing company that failed to provide fall protection

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited a roofing company with seven safety violations following two separate inspections for failing to provide and ensure workers use proper fall protection while conducting roof work on a multicomplex apartment building. Proposed fines from both inspections total $87,010.

"When working from heights, such as roofs, ladders and scaffolds, employers must plan projects to ensure that the job is done safely, provide the proper equipment and train workers," said Kathy Webb, OSHA's area director in Aurora.

The repeat and wilful violations were for failing to provide fall protection. Five serious violations were cited for overloading and improperly using an aerial lift and failing to provide proper lanyard tie offs to workers in the aerial lift. The company was also cited for exposing workers to electrical shock by failing to provide proper ground fault protection and using a ladder that did not extend 3 feet above the landing surface.

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Source: http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=23496

Scaffolding company forced to pay over $300,000 after worker's fall

A man rendered bedridden for months by a workplace accident has been awarded more than $300,000 by an ACT court.

The man broke his leg after falling two metres from shoddy scaffolding. He was disassembling scaffolding at a building site when the structure twisted and collapsed. Medical reports said the accident and treatment resulted in a permanent 1.7 centimetre shortening in his leg, giving him a limp.

The scaffolding company was found negligent because the scaffolding was shoddily constructed, and was ordered to pay the injured worker $311,530.

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Source: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/payout-for-injury-in-scaffold-collapse-20121223-2btu7.html#ixzz2HzhO7FK8

Salad company prosecuted after worker fell over 4m

A salad company has been sentenced for safety breaches after a worker fell more than 4m through a greenhouse roof.

The 44-year-old was cleaning and repainting greenhouse gutters when he lost his footing and fell through the glass roof. He broke his wrist and needed 20 staples across a head wound before being released from hospital after an overnight stay.

The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted the firm for failing to protect its workforce against the risk of falls. The company was fined £12,500 with £3,921 in costs.

The worker was one of a team of employees tasked with working on the gutters of 20 greenhouses at the firm's 30-acre site. The team were told to walk heel to toe along the gutters and to use a long-handled brush to steady themselves against the glazing bars. No equipment was provided and no instruction given to protect them against a fall.

The worker had cleaned some guttering and returned to the ground to collect his brush and paint. He climbed back up and had completed a short length of paintwork when his right foot went through the glass and he fell through the fragile roof.

HSE Inspector Andrew Gale said: "This case highlights how important it is for employers to identify the risks involved in working at height, particularly near fragile materials, and taking the necessary steps to reduce those risks and prevent falls.

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Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2012/rnn-yh-20112.htm

2 companies sentenced over worker's permanent injuries

A building company and a decorating firm have been fined after a worker suffered multiple injuries when he plummeted more than 7m through a skylight.

The incident happened when the worker was painting the roof on an industrial unit. He stepped on to a fragile skylight which shattered and he fell through to the concrete floor below.

The 36-year-old broke his leg, hip, pelvis, wrist and elbow. He also sustained head injuries and lacerations to his face. The father-of-five was in hospital for 3 weeks where he underwent extensive surgery.

The sub-contractor failed to properly assess the risks involved in doing the job. As a result it didn't get a safe system of work in place. The principal contractor made very little effort to ensure the sub-contractors were competent and monitor the work being undertaken.

The injured worker said: "This has turned my life upside down. All of a sudden everyday things that you take for granted can't be done any more.”

Health and Safety Executive inspector Sam Russell said: "Work at height is a high risk activity and steps should have been taken to identify those risks and mitigate against them.”

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Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2012/rnn-em-16212.htm

Young construction worker suffers near-death fall

A 21-year old construction worker started his work day like any other on Monday but it finished with him flat on his back in hospital, with a near-death tale to tell.

He fell more than 5m down a ventilation shaft at his workplace. He is recovering in hospital, with spinal injuries, broken ribs, slight bleeding on the brain & an air bubble trapped in his chest cavity.

The young worker's father was told over the phone his boy had been involved in a ''serious incident'' and was being rushed to Hospital. It is the type of phone call that too many families have taken, work safety authorities said.

The worker found himself at the bottom of the shaft after being knocked unconscious by the fall. ''The first thing he thought was either I'm dead or I'm blind because when he opened his eyes up, there was nothing,'' his father said.

''He couldn't cry out because he couldn't get any air into his lungs and he couldn't call triple 0 because he couldn't get any phone reception. So you can imagine the terror - with the pain he was in and the injuries that he's got.”

Work Safety Commissioner Mark McCabe said bosses were required to report serious workplace accidents and injuries. ''If WorkSafe becomes aware of serious incidents through some other means, often the scene of the accident will have been disturbed and any investigation by the regulator will be compromised.''

Employers who failed to comply with the law faced fines of up to $50,000.

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Source: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/how-a-work-day-ended-in-emergency-20121023-283z7.html#ixzz2AFx3Xm5i

Food company in court following worker's fall

A grain milling company has been prosecuted after a worker was injured in a fall during the night shift.

The 45-year-old fell nearly 3m on to concrete after he climbed pipework to unblock a feed pipe. With no ladder or platform available, he climbed on nearby pipework and sat on one of the pipes to reach the blockage. He unbalanced and fell some 3m, hitting pipes below before landing on the ground. He suffered broken ribs, cuts and bruising in the incident.

A Health and Safety Executive investigation found the incident could have been avoided had the company put basic measures in place to protect workers against falls from height. The firm was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £3,712 in costs.

HSE Inspector Emma Rowlands said:
"You do not have to fall from a great height to either lose or ruin your life. Work at height remains one of the most significant causes of fatalities and major injuries among employees. Employers who put people at risk of serious injury or illness can expect to face enforcement action and for the worst offences criminal prosecution through the courts."

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Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2012/rnn-e-10212.htm?eban=rss-

Building company fined $60,000 after a worker was severely injured in a workplace fall

A building company has been fined $60,000 for an incident which left a worker a paraplegic after he fell from the rafters of a two-storey house.

The 27-year-old worker was injured while he was helping install new roof trusses. The roof and trusses were wet from earlier rain and, when he attempted to lift two trusses laminated together, he lost his grip and fell back into the stairwell void. There was no fall protection above the void.

The worker fell almost 4m to the landing below, breaking three vertebrae. He also suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs, a fractured wrist and a head wound.

WorkSafe’s General Manager for Health and Safety, Lisa Sturzenegger, said fall protection was among the most fundamental measures of construction industry safety.

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Source: http://www.worksafenews.com.au/news/item/268-second-company-fined-$60,000-after-fall-leaves-worker-in-wheelchair.html

Truck company fined over worker's life-changing injuries

A firm has been prosecuted after one of its employees suffered life-changing injuries when he fell from a stepladder while spray-painting a lorry.

The Health and Safety Executive investigation found that the same employee had fallen off a stepladder just one month before the incident, but no action had been taken to improve safety at the site.

The worker had been painting the lorry when one of the feet on the stepladder slipped down a grill in the concrete floor. He fell approximately two metres and shattered his left shoulder and collar bone, broke several ribs and received a deep cut to his head.

HSE Inspector Kim Tichias said: "The dangers of carrying out work at height are well known and the company should have provided secure working platforms rather than giving employees lightweight stepladders. If the firm had planned the work properly and made changes following the previous incident, then the worker's injuries could have been avoided."

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Source: http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2012/rnn-e-98.htm