This month in our Newsletter:
Novice roller driver costs firm £10,000
Construction firms fined following road death
HSE urges greater awareness of trench collapse dangers
£245,000 fines after asbestos case
CITB-ConstructionSkills Supports Training Culture in the Industry
Forthcoming Events in Occupational Safety and Health
From the IC Wales website
Novice roller driver costs firm £10,000
A CONSTRUCTION worker who had only had two minutes' training with a roller vehicle reversed
over a colleague who was helping him to restart the machine with both road-flattening wheels, a
court heard yesterday.
Colin Neil Muldoon had already been taken off several large vehicles when it was found he could
not control them properly before he was given road-flattening duties on the heavy-duty roller in
North Dock, near Llanelli.
On the same day as he was first introduced to the machine, he careered backwards into 63-year-old
colleague Malcolm Jones, breaking his pelvis and causing internal bleeding, before smashing into a
parked car.
Mr Jones had only just returned to work after a hip operation and was due to retire shortly, but is still
receiving medical attention for his injuries.
The contracting company responsible, Alun Griffiths Contractors Ltd, was fined £10,000 yesterday
in a case that magistrates described as "serious and potentially fatal" after pleading guilty to
contravening health and safety legislation.
And Mr Griffiths, whose Abergavenny-based company works throughout Mid and West Wales,
apologised publicly for the slip in safety standards at the Carmarthenshire site.
Prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, Garth James told Llanelli magistrates that Mr
Muldoon was previously a forklift truck driver who had been with the company for under a month
when the incident occurred on September 12 last year.
"He had a foundation course to drive an excavator, but it was known that he had limited
experience," said Mr James.
The incident happened after the roller got stuck and stalled with Mr Jones, who was driving a JCB
nearby, walking over to help out.
Mr James said, "He told Mr Muldoon that he should drive forward, but he only went a couple of feet.
Next thing Mr Jones knew, he had reversed over him with the two rollers.
"He was in intensive care for seven days and in hospital for three months.
"The training offered was completely insufficient. To operate a roller one usually needs a five-day
course. It is the industry standard. As a consequence of this, Mr Muldoon and other employees
were put at risk."
Mr Griffiths, whose company was founded in 1968, said, "It should not have happened and that is
why I have pleaded guilty. It was a tragic accident.
"Mr Muldoon was not just plucked from thin air, though. His father had been with me for several
years and is a very good machine operator. And his son had been on a specialist construction
course."
Magistrates, who fined the company £8,000, found that the training "fell short of the standards
required".
From the HSE Website
Construction firms fined following road death
Two construction firms were fined a total of £40,000 at Isleworth Crown Court, London, following an
investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the death of Mr Mark Lewis, aged 21,
on 26 February 1999 during the muck away operation at the Lakeshore site on Bedfont Road,
Middlesex.
Foundation Developments Ltd (FDL), of Clarendon Road, Wallington, Surrey and Exterior
International Plc, of Appold Street, London EC2A, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 3(1) of the
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, in that they failed to ensure persons not in their employment,
including Mr Lewis, were not exposed to risks to their safety. Mr Lewis, from Sunbury, was driving
along Bedfont Road when his car skidded on mud from the site and crashed into an oncoming
delivery van. He later died as a result of his injuries.
FDL had been hired by the principle contractor Exterior to remove 40,000 cubic feet of material from
the Lakeshore development at Bedfont Lakes, Middlesex. Whilst leaving the site, the trucks used to
remove the material were leaving deposits of clay on the road, which the road cleaner FDL used
was unable to clean away.
Exterior and FDL were each fined £20,000 and both were ordered to pay costs of £30,000.
From the HSE Website
HSE urges greater awareness of trench collapse dangers
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is reminding construction workers of the dangers they face
when working in excavations following recent fatalities caused by trench collapses.
There have been three fatal incidents since April where workers have been killed due to trenches
collapsing on top of them. These could have been avoided if the appropriate safety measures had
been taken.
HSE Specialist Inspector Nigel Thorpe said:
“Trench collapses are entirely avoidable. Without suitable support, any face of an excavation will
collapse; it’s just a matter of when. The steeper and deeper the face, the wetter the soil, the sooner
the collapse.”
“Trenchless technologies are available which avoid many of the hazards of excavation, but if a
trench is required modern proprietary systems allow the ground support to be installed without the
need to enter the excavation.”
Practical advice on working in excavations is available from HSE, and includes:
*
if appropriate, using trenchless technology such as directional drilling or impact moling, to
avoid the need to excavate a trench in the first place;
*
if a trench is used, preventing the sides and the ends of trenches from collapsing by battering
them to a safe angle or supporting them with proprietary support systems, trench sheets or timber;
*
providing suitable edge protection to prevent persons or materials falling into the excavation,
and not entering unsupported excavations;
*
avoiding surcharging the ground adjacent to the excavation with plant, stored materials, spoil
or foundation loads from existing structures;
*
never working ahead of the support;
*
ensuring there is a suitable means of access and egress;
*
remembering that work in shallow trenches can be dangerous, i.e. if the work involves
bending or kneeling in the trench; and
*
locating existing services in the vicinity of and above the line of the excavation.
From the HSE Website
£245,000 fines after asbestos case
A Nuneaton company and its officers were fined a total of £245,000 at Birmingham Crown Court on
Tuesday 3 August in relation to the removal of asbestos, following an investigation by the Health
and Safety Executive (HSE).
Dalebrick Ltd was contracted to carry out clearing and stripping works on the premises on New John
Street West, Birmingham, before they could be converted by a development company. Dalebrick
hired a team of temporary workers to work on the site, without warning them of the asbestos risk.
Five people were hired, aged between 16 and 26, to do the work, as well as a foreman. The
youngest worker had just finished his GCSE examinations. After almost five weeks the team walked
off site. A second team was then hired, comprising four men and the same foreman. This team was
on site for two days before an HSE inspector, who was contacted by one of the original team,
inspected the site and ordered the work to stop.
HSE inspector Pam Folsom said after the case:
“This one of the worst situations I have come across, not only in the relation to the asbestos risks,
but because work was allowed to go ahead despite the concerns of the workforce.
“There were serious breaches of health and safety law and these attracted serious fines. The law
requires work with asbestos to be done safely and there is published guidance available to help
achieve compliance. HSE is grateful to the worker who, realising that the conditions were not right,
alerted us to the problem. Had he not done so, this work could have gone on for much longer. “
Pam Folsom also found that there were neither lavatories nor running water on the site. Because of
the lack of even basic washing facilities, the original team had tried to use the fire hoses to dampen
down the dust in the work areas and to wash themselves.
Dalebrick Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching: sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work
Act 1974 (HSW Act); regulation 3(1) of the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations 1983 (ALR); and
regulation 17(1a) Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 1987 (CAWR). The company was fined
£50,000 for each offence, and ordered to pay £65,000 costs.
Mr Morris Edward Williams pleaded guilty to breaching: sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the HSW Act;
regulation 3(1) of the ALR; and regulation 17(1a) CAWR. Mr Williams was fined £10,000 for each
offence and ordered to pay £10,000 costs. Mr Williams was also disqualified from holding any
directorship for a period of two years from 3 August 2004.
Ms Joanne Carroll pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the HSW Act. Ms Carroll
was fined £2,500 for each offence and ordered to pay £500 costs. Ms Carroll was also disqualified
from holding any directorship for a period of one year from 3 August 2004.
From the CITB
CITB-ConstructionSkills Supports Training Culture in the Industry
Construction firms can now access £88.4million in CITB training grants for 2004/05, £2million more
than in 2003/04. The new CITB Grants scheme was available from August 1st 2004.
The industry is embracing the training culture thanks to the on-going promotion of the Grants
Scheme and a proactive team of CITB-ConstructionSkills regional advisers.
There has been an 18% increase in the number of employers claiming grants in 2003. Already
1,384 employers have implemented training and development plans (2002/03, 957), demonstrating
that they are taking a longer-term view of their training requirements.
The increased demand for grants has prompted CITB-ConstructionSkills to impose a time limit on
grant applications. All 2004/05 grant applications must be made by the end of September 2005.
To further encourage those businesses that are qualifying their experienced staff, CITB grants for
the achievement of N/SVQ qualifications have been increased. For example, the OSAT N/SVQ
Level 2-achievement grant has doubled from £175 to £350.
Sir Michael Latham, Chairman CITB-ConstructionSkills said: "We are seeing an encouraging trend
with more employers claiming grants for training and have changed the Grants Scheme to reflect
this. We have increased the grants for apprenticeships by 30% in the last two years and this has
prompted a 50% increase in the number of apprentices supported by CITB proving that the grants
scheme is really helping to secure the long term future of the industry."
CITB-ConstructionSkills works on behalf of the industry to tap into funds from many different areas.
During 2003, 40% of its income for example came from sources such as the Learning and Skills
Council and the European Social Fund, sales of publications, adult courses and card schemes. As a
result, total benefits in 2003 equated to £1.69 for every £1 paid in levy.
Forthcoming Events in Occupational Safety and Health
September 2004
6 – 8 National Safety Symposium 2004: Practitioners making an impact, University of Portsmouth
October 2004
12-14 Managing Health and Safety, Earls Court 2 London
14th European Week Event “Constructing a safer and better Environment”, Aston Villa Football Club
25-27 Health and Safety in the police and emergency services 2004, International Centre, Telford
November 2004
10-11 European Occupational Health and Safety Conference 2004, The Royal National Hotel,
Russel Square, London
May 2005
17-19 Health and Safety Expo, NEC Birmingham
September 2005
18-22 XVIIth World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, International Labour Organisation,
International Social Security Association and the US National Safety Council, Orlando, Florida
For previous newsletters and information on our services visit:
www.richardson-hill.co.uk