Care home fined after boy drowned in disused quarry

A Kettering based care home company has been fined after a 16-year-old boy drowned at a disused quarry on a day trip.

The Old Bailey heard how two 16-year-old boys who were residents at Castle Lodge Home near Ely, Cambridgeshire, were taken on a day trip to Bawsey Country Park near Kings Lynn, Norfolk.

The park is a disused sand quarry containing parkland and flooded pits, and the two boys went into the water at the pits despite the no swimming signs. One of the two boys became trapped in weed on the bottom of the pit and drowned. His body was recovered later.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which took place on 16 July 2013 found the two residential support workers who accompanied the boys had very little experience and did not attempt to prevent the children entering the water.

No risk assessment was carried out prior to the trip and Castle Homes’ procedures were ineffective in ensuring the safety of the children while on trips outside of the home.

Castle Homes Limited, of High Street, Rothwell, Kettering, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay costs of £20,000.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Anthony Brookes said: “This boy’s tragic death was entirely preventable if the Care Home had planned properly and managed the risk of taking residents to the abandoned quarry.”

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

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



£600,000 fine for Council contractor after major burns to employer

The underground cabling at the scene of the incident

Gloucester Crown Court heard the 61-year-old man was working at the site on Eastgate Street on 29 May 2015. While trying to replace the traffic light pole he came into contact with a live underground cable which immediately gave him the electric shock and set him on fire. The man, who was an employee of another company asked by Amey to carry out the work, received burns to his to hands, arms, stomach, face, legs and chest.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that although this was the first time this particular group of individuals worked on an Amey project, Amey did not provide adequate information on the location of underground services in the area. The inquiry also found that Amey’s supervision of the work was not adequate, and it had not properly managed the risks from the underground services.

Amey LG Limited, of Edmund Halley Road, Oxford, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 25 (4) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The company was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay costs of £15,498.

After the hearing HSE Principal Inspector Helena Tinton said: “This man suffered life changing injuries as a result of this incident. He’s not been able to return to work, he still can’t use his hands properly and has been left both physically and mentally scarred by what happened. Had Amey given adequate information to the team working on site, and had Amey ensured the work was properly planned and supervised, this incident could have been avoided.

“This case should act as a reminder to local authorities and their contractors of the risks of working underground and the danger of severe electric shocks.”

For further information please visit www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/underground.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. hse.gov.uk
  1. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/
  1. HSE news releases are available at www.hse.gov.uk/press

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



Company fined after worker’s foot was exposed to machinery

A company that produces and supplies wood shavings for use as horse bedding has been fined after a worker suffered a serious foot injury at its site in Andover, Hampshire.

Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard that Bedmax Limited failed to protect its employee from dangerous parts of machinery. On 26 October 2015 Philip Eyers was operating the log deck, which is part of a machine that shreds trees, when his foot slipped and became lodged in a gap exposing him to the wheels of the machine which conveyed the logs. The severity of the injuries to his toes meant his big toe was cut back several times, his other four were fractured and eventually reconstructive surgery was required.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that a panel that would have prevented access had been removed and not replaced where the employee was working.

Bedmax Limited, whose office is in Belford, Northumberland, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The court heard on 8 March 2017 that the company was fined £17,293.60 and ordered to pay costs of £623.60.

Speaking after the judge passed sentence, HSE Inspector Andrew Johnson said: “Bedmax fell below the expected standard. The necessary panel that would have prevented the incident was missing, rendering the man vulnerable as soon as he took to his task. This was a fundamental and basic health and safety failing which should have been easily avoided.”

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


HSL: Site and Transport Safety – Birmingham, 22 Mar 2017

Book Course

HSL is to run a 1 day course on Site and Transport Safety – BIRMINGHAM.

22 March 2017

PLEASE NOTE – THIS COURSE WILL BE HELD IN BIRMINGHAM

Introduction

Vehicle movements and loading and unloading vehicles can be some of the most dangerous activities carried out on a worksite.

This course will help you understand the legal requirements of both road traffic law and workplace safety law, how and why things go wrong, and how you can take practicable steps to reduce risk in your business.

Course includes

  • Background for load securing
  • Legal principles and UK and European requirements
  • Use of the vehicle structure for load securing
  • Lashing loads for safe road transport
  • Responsibility and communication in the transport chain
  • Working at height and fall prevention
  • Vehicle/pedestrian separation and preventing incidents
  • Risk assessment and systems of work for loading and transport

Who should attend?

Site managers and transport managers working in general haulage, retail, warehousing and distribution.

Cost

The cost of this course is £525 per person (includes course notes, certificate of attendance and lunch/refreshments).

Venue

etc. venues
Maple House,
150 Corporation Street
Birmingham,
B4 6TB

Book Course

Please note the invoice option is not available within 4 weeks of the course date, or for overseas customers.  If you are selecting the invoice option for payment, it will be mandatory to input a purchase order/reference number as we are unable to process booking forms without this.

For further dates and additional information email: training@hsl.gsi.gov.uk or contact the Training & Conferences Unit
at HSL directly on +44 (0)1298 218806.

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RR1088 – Multi-site delivery issues for heavy goods vehicles

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