IN COURT

Firms ordered to pay over £400k after road worker loses arm Three construction firms have been sentenced for serious safety failings, after a worker lost his arm when it became trapped in poorly-guarded machinery during a road surfacing operation in Hertfordshire. The 53-year old road worker was preparing a chip spreader – a machine used to scatter stone chips on asphalt – for resurfacing works on the A1001 in Hatfield when his left arm became caught in the machine’s rotating auger, causing serious injuries. The highly-experienced worker, from Rushden, Northamptonshire had to have his arm amputated shortly after the incident and has been unable to return to work since. The incident, on 8 March 2012, was investigated by HSE, which prosecuted Amey LG Ltd, Lafarge Aggregates Ltd (acting as Amey Lafarge, a joint venture in charge of the operation) and Ashmac Construction Ltd, who provided workers to the joint venture, for multiple safety breaches at Watford Magistrates’ Court on 25 March. The court was told that, in order to prepare the chip spreader for use, the worker placed on the site by Ashmac Construction started the machine and the rotation of its internal auger. He also repositioned the machine’s distribution hopper from kerbside to roadside to allow chips to be loaded – an operation which involved moving the mesh safety guard from one side of the machine to the other. As he was reaching to move the guard across he tripped and fell forward towards the still-rotating auger, entangling his arm in dangerous moving parts as he fell. HSE’s investigation revealed a series of safety failings on the part of all three companies, including: the worker, who was not formally trained in the use of the spreader, and his colleagues were only given one evening to familiarise themselves with the machine by Amey Lafarge when they started work on site six months before the incident; Amey Lafarge did not give the workers any instruction or training in how to operate the machine safely, including how to secure guards; the workers were not given a copy of the operator’s manual for the machine; there was no safe system of work in place to ensure that the machine was set up and operated properly and that its use was restricted to those who were trained; the joint venture did have a risk assessment and a site-specific method statement but these did not reflect the reality of the controls in place for the use of the chip spreader; the risk assessment described a different type of chip spreader than the one used on site; and Ashmac Construction Ltd did not take reasonably practicable steps to ensure workers that it placed on site and allocated to operate the chipper had received appropriate information, instruction and training in the safe use of the plant. Amey LG Ltd, of the Sherard Building, Edmund Halley Road, Oxford, was fined £150,015 and ordered to pay costs of £18,000 after pleading guilty to one breach of section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Lafarge Aggregates Ltd, of Portland House, Bickenhill Lane, Solihull, Birmingham, was fined £175,015 and ordered to pay costs of £18,000 after pleading guilty to one breach of section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Ashmac Construction Ltd of Pavillion Court, Pavilion Drive, Northampton, was fined £30,015 and ordered to pay costs of £18,000 after pleading guilty to a breach of section 3(1) the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Following the case, HSE inspector Gavin Bull, said: “This tragic incident has left a worker with life-changing injuries. It was wholly avoidable. The risks associated with plant operating are well-known in the industry.This incident highlights the need for workers to receive the information, instruction and training they need to operate plant safely and for companies to put in place measures to ensure the plant is operated safely on site.” Inquest continues into child’s death following head injuries at Hugo Boss shop The manager of a Hugo Boss shop where a large mirror fell on to a four-year old, leaving him with “irreversible brain injuries” has told an inquest he carried out regular safety checks. Jurors at the inquest heard that the free-standing mirror should have been wall-mounted. Austen Harrison from Turners Hill in Crawley, West Sussex was with his parents when the incident happened at the shop in Bicester, Oxfordshire, in June 2013. He had been playing when a free standing mirror fell on him while his father tried on suits. He suffered ‘devastating’ head injuries and had emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. His life support machine was turned off four days later. Manager Andrew Morgan told jurors at Oxford Coroner’s Court he checked fixtures daily but refused to say if he documented inspections. Mr Morgan told the court the mirror had been installed by a team of professional shop-fitters rather than staff. “We were working on the basis that the mirror was attached to the wall, that it was done on a professional basis and that there was no reason to doubt it,” he said. He said there had been no reports of any concerns from customers. The inquest continues. Suspended prison sentence following industrial oven death A kayak manufacturer has been fined £200,000 with a £25,000 fine and suspended prison sentence for its managing director after a worker became trapped and died in an industrial oven in 2010. This follows the company being found guilty of corporate manslaughter and two health and safety breaches in January. Alan Catterall, 54, had been trying to scrape up dripped plastic inside of the oven at the Pyranha Mouldings factory in Runcorn, Cheshire when another worker, turned the oven on without realising he had gone inside. Mr Catterall, a senior supervisor at the company who had worked there for 12 years, tried to escape using a crowbar but suffered severe burns and died of shock. During the five-week trial, held at Liverpool Crown Court, the jury heard how the design of the oven meant that the moment it was switched on, the doors automatically shut and locked to save energy. Mr Catterall had no means of escape and no alarm due to the unique design of the oven which had been developed by Pyranha Mouldings Ltd. The court heard that there had been a previous incident where someone was inside the oven when the doors started to close and that staff were fearful of being stuck inside the ovens. There was another near-miss incident when a moulder turned the oven on when a fitter was working underneath it changing the belt on a motor. Pyranha Mouldings Ltd. was found guilty of: Corporate Manslaughter, contrary to section 1 of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. Failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees pursuant to section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Failing to ensure the safety of an article designed, manufactured and supplied for use at work pursuant to section 6(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company was fined £200,000 Peter Mackereth (Director of Pyranha Mouldings Ltd.) was sentenced to nine months in prison suspended for two years and fined £25,000. Pyranha Mouldings Ltd. and Peter Mackereth were also asked to pay costs of £90,000 between them. Delivering his sentence, Mr Justice MacDuff said Mr Mackereth, from Llangollen, Wales, oversaw the design and commissioning of the oven. “You don’t need me to tell you how far short of your duty you fell,” said the judge. “‘It was repeatedly brought home to you in the trial. You will have to live with the consequences of your actions for the rest of your life.” Martin Heywood, from the HSE, said: “Alan Catterall tragically lost his life because the way in which maintenance work was carried out on the moulding ovens at the factory was fundamentally unsafe. “If Pyranha Mouldings and the individual prosecuted over Alan′s death had properly considered the risks to employees when they designed, installed and operated the ovens then he would still be here today.” An escape hatch has been fitted to the oven since the accident.

For more information on IN COURT talk to Safety Services Direct Ltd