IN COURT

Firms fined over “life changing” burns to electricity workers A specialist technology company and an electrical services firm have been fined £44,000, following an incident in which two workers were left permanently disfigured after suffering serious burns to the face, neck and arms, while working on a live electricity distribution board. The two men, who both worked for C&F Electrical Services Ltd, were working at Raytheon Systems Limited’s Glenrothes plant when a capacitor from the distribution board fell onto a live conductor causing a ‘flashover’ that severely injured the pair. Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard that on 5 December 2011, the two C&F employees were on site to carry out replacement work on a T3 distribution board. The two men were replacing two capacitors 12 centimetres above live conductors housed within the distribution board, known as busbars. These allow electricity to flow through the distribution board. The HSE investigation found that one of the men, who was standing on a stepladder, lifted the front edge of the capacitor while his colleague, who was standing on the floor, attempted to push the board underneath. However, the capacitor is believed to have slipped backwards into the bay, with its metal casing coming into contact with the top of the live vertical risers on the right hand side. That contact created a short circuit and electrical arcs between the live busbars and the earthed metalwork of the distribution board itself. The two men were severely burned on the face, neck and arms by the flashover. An electrical flashover is characterised by very bright light, loud noise and exceedingly high temperatures sufficient to vaporise the metal of the live conductor. Raytheon Systems Limited, which is registered at Harlow, Essex was fined £24,000 after pleading guilty to breaching regulation 14 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. C&F Electrical Services Limited of Poplar Road, Glenrothes, Fife was fined £20,000 for admitting a breach of the same regulation. HSE inspector, Kerry Cringan, who investigated the case said: “The failure by both C&F Electrical Services and Raytheon Systems to plan the work on the electrical distribution switchgear has resulted in two employees suffering life changing injuries from an electrical flashover. “Live work should only be undertaken if it is unreasonable to make the conductors dead and suitable precautions are taken to prevent injury.In this case, it was reasonable to undertake the work while the distribution board was switched off which would have reduced the risks so far as was reasonably practicable and prevented the accident.” Brothers to pay £182k and serve jail time following building collapse Brothers to pay £182k and serve jail time following building collapse. Two Sheffield brothers were jailed for safety failures after a building collapse left three injured, up to 20 people temporarily homeless, and nearby properties evacuated. On passing sentence the judge said that the very serious incident was caused by arrogance and greed. Naveed and Rizwan Hussain were prosecuted by the HSE at Sheffield Crown Court following the collapse of a three-storey terrace in Brook Hill on 23 March 2013. Two residents and a builder suffered minor injuries and the immediate area had to be evacuated when the front of the property and the flats on the two upper floors caved in. HSE told the court it was ‘remarkable’ that no one had been killed given the extent of the collapse. The property, formerly Butler’s Balti House, was so dangerous after the incident it had to be demolished by Sheffield Council. The court heard the two ‘incompetent’ brothers had destabilised the structure of the building while refurbishing the basement. HSE’s investigation found the central wall between 192 and 194 Brook Hill had collapsed due to the Hussains’ poorly-planned and badly-managed refurbishment project. The construction work by the Hussains involved lowering the floor in the basement and removing a number of internal walls. While that was underway, the central wall was undermined, causing it to collapse. In turn, the floors of the flats above and the front wall caved in, injuring three people. HSE said the Hussain brothers were not competent to carry out the work and were responsible for a number of safety failings – crucially they had no controls in place to support the building while it was being modified. The court heard Naveed Hussain had been the recipient of enforcement notices from HSE on a previous building job relating to failures to plan the work properly. Rizwan Hussain, 39, of Rutland Road, Sheffield, was given a 12 month custodial sentence and a fine of £42,000 with £40,000 in costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, a breach of the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2007 and a breach of the two Prohibition Notices issued on 15 May 2013. Naveed Hussain, 33, Pitsmoor Road, Sheffield, was given a 12 month custodial sentence and fined £40,000 with £60,000 to pay in costs after admitting a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and a separate breach of the same Construction Regulations. After the hearing, HSE principal construction inspector Dave Redman said: “All three people injured in this avoidable incident were fortunate not to have been killed. One was saved by a table that had fallen across his body and shielded him from falling debris. “But their narrow escapes owed more to luck than judgement on the part of the defendants, Rizwan and Naveed Hussain. Both acted incompetently in dealing with the project and fell woefully below acceptable standards. “When carrying out major building alterations it is imperative that skilled structural engineers are employed to advise on the temporary supports needed. It is equally important that competent contractors are then used to ensure that those supports are correctly used for the duration of the work. “The risks associated with this type of project are well-known in the construction industry and they are significant. Where competent people are not used and inadequate controls are employed there is always a risk of a catastrophic collapse and multiple fatalities.” His Honour Judge Murphy, sentencing, remarked: “It was little short of a miracle that more people were not seriously injured or killed. This was a very serious incident caused by your arrogance and greed. “A statement needs to be made to people undertaking such projects in relation to the importance of health and safety. The public would be appalled at anything less than a custodial sentence.” Two firms fined after worker knocked by four-tonne hammer A worker suffered fractures to his back, hip and leg after he was knocked over by a four-tonne piling hammer when it broke free while being lifted into position, a court has heard. Eric Wilson, 62, of Hartlepool, was controlling the piling hammer, suspended from an excavator, during work to renew a sewage outfall across the beach at Burn Road, Hartlepool when the incident happened on 16 September 2012. He was standing in seawater, around one metre deep, using the hammer to drive timber piles into the beach. But as the hammer was moved from one pile to the next, the sling supporting it broke and the hammer fell, knocking him down into the water. He suffered fractures to his vertebra, pelvis and left thigh as well as muscle damage to his back, shoulder and knee and was in hospital for 11 days. He has been unable to return to work and although he can walk unaided he still suffers persistent pain and has had to move to a bungalow to avoid stairs. Hartlepool Magistrates’ Court was told on Monday 20 April that an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Mr Wilson’s employer Southbay Civil Engineering Ltd, a specialist civil engineering contractor, had failed to properly plan, supervise and carry out the lifting operation in a safe manner. The investigation also found that principal contractor for the project, Costain Ltd, had failed to properly manage and monitor this phase of the work. The court was told a smaller hammer, which was easily lifted into position by the excavators on site, had been identified when the work was initially planned. However, the smaller hammer was found not to be powerful enough so a larger hammer was brought in. The additional weight was not an issue for the excavators, but the extra length led to problems when lifting the hammer over some piles, which led to unsafe working practices being used, in which the slings were stressed over the sharp edges of excavator buckets in an attempt to gain extra height. This was what caused the sling to break, and the hammer to fall. This could have been avoided if the work plan had been changed when the larger hammer was introduced and a suitable lifting machine used. Costain Ltd, of Vanwall Business Park, Maidenhead, Berkshire, was fined £19,000 and ordered to pay £14,895.25 costs after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 22(1)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. Southbay Civil Engineering Ltd, of The Bailey, Cumberland Road, North Shields, was fined £19,000 and ordered to pay £8,652.45 costs after pleading guilty to a breach of Regulation 8(1)(c) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998. After the case, HSE inspector Martin Smith said: “This worker’s injuries should not and need not have happened. Had the work plan been changed when the circumstances changed and a different hammer was brought into use, it could have easily been avoided by using a suitable lifting machine. Instead, a system of work evolved that was far from safe and as a result part of the sling was stretched across the sharp edge of the excavator bucket, causing it to break. The failures by both companies to look properly at the risks involved and then organise the lifting operation properly put staff at needless risk. This sadly led to the painful and life-changing injuries suffered by Mr Wilson.”

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