Articles on Working Safely, News of Injury & Illness and Useful Information
Rail Worker Crushed to Death Whilst Cleaning Machine
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In late November 2020, Kevin Mauger was crushed to death whilst maintaining a machine at Network Rail’s Long Welded Rail Depot around Eastleigh – near Southampton. Mauger’s task was to clean the interior of a butt-welder. A butt-welder is takes two sections of rail track and welds them together. Whilst under the impression the machine […]
Unnecessary Workplace Practice Sees an Employee’s Fingers Severed by a Bandsaw
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An employee who replaced and lubricated a bandsaw – a totally unnecessary practice – has had his fingers severed in an accident at work. The worker had replaced the blade of the saw after it had begun to squeal and emit smoke. Whilst applying the lubricant to the new blade with a cardboard tube of […]
Driver Crushed By Vehicle At Work Suffers Severe Damage To Arm
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During October 2019, an employee of Stagecoach Devon Ltd was crushed by a vehicle in his depot. A culture of complacency cost the man usage of his arm. It had become custom for drivers to reverse without a banksman or rely on other, untrained drivers. Buses would reverse out of the depot to become ready […]
Farmer’s 4-Year-Old Nephew Killed in Fatal Telehandler Accident
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Brian Nutter has received a suspended prison sentenced after a preventable telehandler accident killed his young nephew on the family farm. The workplace accident took place in 2019 and involved the young boy – Harry – riding on the footplate of a telehandler. As Brian Nutter turned the vehicle in the field, Harry fell from […]
Hermes Depot Worker Dies from Crushing Injury Sustained by two Trailers
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In March 2019, a night shift employee of Hermes’ Motherwell depot was killed after a crushing injury. The accident was caused by being stuck between two loaded trailers, one of which was moving. David Kennedy was crushed in the chest, which lead to a collapsed lung, several fractured ribs, and other serious internal injuries. These […]
Scaffolding Company injures two employees after scaffold collapse.
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A company, operating in London and based in Kent, called RPS Scaffolding Ltd, has been fined after non-conforming scaffolding collapsed to cause injury to two workers in August 2020. The scaffold was erected without the necessary strength and stability calculations, leading to an entirely preventable workplace accident. The workers were on site to decorate a […]
Employee Found Fatally Injured by Side Loading Forklift Truck
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A manufacturing company, Cutting Edge Trading Ltd, has been fined after their employee, Mitchell Poutney, was fatally injured when a forklift truck crushed him. An HSE investigation into the fatal injury caused by workplace machinery found that the forks which crushed Poutney were unsupported. They also observed that there was no safe working system in […]
HSE Looks to Bring Down Occupational Lung Disease Rates by Tackling Wood Dust Exposure
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The HSE has begun inspecting businesses across the UK that work with wood to reduce the rates of Occupational Lung Disease – caused by wood dust – one of the deadliest industrial diseases affecting UK workers. Woodworking companies, such as those operating sawmills, manufacturing composite wood board and carpenters are all likely to have an […]
Faulty Brakes Seriously Injure Construction Employee Operating Truck
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A company’s failure to maintain the working condition of a dumper truck has caused and employee to suffer serious personal injuries. Nelson Plant Hire, of Andover in Hampshire, neglected to keep the brakes of a key vehicle in working condition and have since been fined by HSE for the incident involving the faulty equipment. The […]
Teaching Assistant Falls Through Ceiling and Breaks Back in School
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A junior school in Todmorden has been sentenced after a teaching assistant fell through a fragile ceiling. The employee dropped four metres down through a loft space above the school hall, resulting in serious personal injury. The fall from height accident occurred after the TA, who entered the loft space to look for a spare […]
Boss of Scrap Company Runs Over Employee with Forklift Truck
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Both a vehicle scrap company, and its sole director, Ghol Mohammad Navabi, have been fined after causing serious crushing injuries to an employee whilst operating a forklift truck. The unnamed worker of Cambridge-based Queensferry Car Breakers Ltd suffered multiple fractures in both their legs in the workplace accident. On 1st March 2021, the employee was […]
18-Year-Old Injured by Negligent Recycling Company Suffers Several Broken Bones
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After a young employee was injured clearing a blockage, HSE has fined the recycling company responsible for the workplace accident. The employee fell through a waste chute, 4 meters above concrete. A fellow employee spotted the fall and attempted to catch him using the telescopic handler he was riding in. However, the machine operator only […]
Multiple Broken Arm Bones for Manufacturing Employee Working with Machine
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A manufacturer of self-adhesive vinyl and plastic films, Kay Premium Marking Films Ltd, has been fined after a worker suffered a severely broken arm. His hand was caught by two driven rollers, which pulled him further into the machine, causing significant personal injury. The workplace accident happened in summer 2019, when the employee was trying […]
Farmer Imprisoned After Cattle Tramples a Walker to Death
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Most farm animals are fairly innocuous, but large animals like cows and horses can pose a serious risk to people. In the event of David Tinniswood, the lack of appropriate safety measures led to an irreversible, but avoidable, tragedy. It’s instances of such misfortune that show businesses don’t just have a duty of care to […]
Construction Employee Killed Falling Through Fragile Asbestos Roofing.
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On the 22nd of May 2017, Marius Andrus was performing work on a replacement roof project in Liverpool. The roofer had reached a part of the roof made with old Asbestos cement sheets. They collapsed, and he fell through the roof, six metres down, sustaining fatal injuries. The company responsible for the tragic workplace death […]
Unlicensed removal of Asbestos results in fine for printing company directors
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Two directors of printing company D&M Heritage Ltd have been fined for breaching Asbestos health and safety regulations. In 2016, Charles Dunn and Jeremy Mills organised the removal of Asbestos Insulation Board (AIB) using untrained staff, resulting in the spread of dangerous Asbestos fibres. Dunn and Mills were made aware by a licensed Asbestos removal […]
Unprotected exposure to vibrating tools leaves 30 employees with life changing hand injuries
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A glazing company based in High Wycombe has been fined for failing to assess the risks posed to employees who use vibrating tools. They have left a significant portion of their technicians with permanent injuries to their hands in the form of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). The company in question, PSV Glass & Glazing […]
Significant casualties in American factory after workers given 20 minute Tornado warning – is this corporate manslaughter?
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A series of deadly tornados, including one category EF5, hit multiple US states last Friday evening (10th December 2021). EF5’s can reach speeds higher than 200mph. The “Quad-State Tornado” wreaked havoc across 200 miles of land, destroying homes, businesses, and claiming lives. In Mayfield, Kentucky, the strongest of these tornados hit Mayfield Consumer Products (MCP), […]
Seriously Poor Working Conditions for Factory Workers in India Supplying Major UK High Street Retailers
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Overworking, low-pay, abusive management and a lack of breaks are just some of the unfair working conditions these women in India making clothing for Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and Ralph Lauren are experiencing.
Are unionised workplaces better for employee health and safety?
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The theory suggests that workers belonging to a union are more familiar with their rights, as well as knowing how and when to file safety complaints.
