Author Archives: GovWorldMag

Company fined £250,000 after crushing leaves worker with brain damage

A passenger air transport firm has been fined after an employee suffered brain damage after being crushed by hangar doors in Bedfordshire.

St Albans Crown Court heard how an employee of Signature Flight Support London Luton Ltd was injured while she was opening the doors of Hangar 219 at Luton Airport to move aircraft inside. On moving one of the doors the employee became trapped causing crushing injuries resulting in severe brain damage.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which occurred on 28 April 2015 found that the company failed to conduct an adequate planning or provide adequate training and written instructions.

Signature Flight Support London Luton Ltd of Hangar 63, Percival Way, London Luton Airport, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. It has been fined £250,000 and ordered to pay costs of £19,483.50.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Andrew McGill said: “The injured person’s family have been left devastated after this incident. Her husband gave up work to care for her daily and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Employers must provide suitable systems of work, training, information and supervision to ensure safety. If a safe system of work had been in place prior to this incident, it could have prevented the life-changing injuries sustained by the employee.”

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. hse.gov.uk[1]
  2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk/ [2]
  3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk[3]

Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases.

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HSE

If you cut budgets and push out teachers then life in school will become even harder for the most disadvantaged – Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on the EPI report on trends in educational attainment and disadvantage, said:

“The findings of this report are deeply concerning but unfortunately come as no surprise. 

“If you cut school budgets and push out  teachers, as the Tories have done, then life in school will become even harder for the most disadvantaged kids. It is no wonder that we are still generations away from closing the attainment gap.

“The Tories’ key election pledge was to bring back grammar schools and segregate our children, a move that would make the situation even worse. A Labour Government would deliver an education system for the many, not the few.”

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Labour •

If holiday makers are to avoid further havoc, the Government must engage with Schengen member states – Andy McDonald

Andy McDonald MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, commenting on the delays for passengers at European airports, said:

“It is right that measures have been put in place to ensure safety at a time of increased terror threats but any measures taken to strengthen security have to be accompanied by proper border force staffing levels to avoid the chaos we’re seeing at the moment.

“The aviation industry warned that problems were around the corner months ago but the Government hasn’t listened, insisting that we’d already seen the worst of the delays.

“If holiday makers are to avoid further havoc, the Government must engage with Schengen member states to ensure they take immediate steps to resource their borders controls properly as ensuring safe and smooth travel from and to the UK is in our mutual interests.”

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Labour •

Stewart Carmichael exhibition – talk and tour

From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee :

On Saturday 5th August at 2pm, I will be giving an illustrated talk and guided tour to accompany the exhibition Stewart Carmichael: Celtic Visions in the Lamb Gallery at the University of Dundee. 

The exhibition marks 150 years since the birth of one of Dundee’s most significant artists, Stewart Carmichael (1867-1950).    For six decades, he was one of the leading figures of Dundee’s cultural scene, a constant champion for the role of art and culture in society. 

The talk will take place in the D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre on the ground floor of the University Tower Building, and will be followed by an informal tour of the exhibition. 

Attendance is free and there is no need to book. 

The event has been organised in collaboration with the Scottish Society for Art History.
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Fraser Macpherson