Safety reps in warehouses

Retail union Usdaw has produced a guide for safety reps working in warehouses. ‘Distributing safety’ says 10,000 work-related accidents in storage, warehousing and road haulage were reported to health and safety watchdog HSE in 2005/6. Over 1,700 of these accidents were classified as major injuries such as fractures and amputations. The main causes of deaths are being run over by workplace vehicles and falls from height. The union says it has over 20,000 members working in the sector. The guide contains guidance on slips and trips, manual handling, vehicle movements, lift trucks, falls from height, work in chillers and freezers, storage systems and welfare.

• Usdaw news release and Distributing safety guide.

#

Two companies fined £44,500 after man paralysed in fall at work

HSE Press Release:

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is urging employers to ensure safe working at height after a man was left paralysed from the waist down following a fall of two storeys at a construction site in central London.

T. J. Myles & Co (Contractors) Ltd of Ickenham, Hillingdon, was found guilty of breaching section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They have been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,339.20 at City of London Magistrates Court.

Crispin & Borst Ltd, of Watford, was found guilty of breaching section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They have been fined £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,155.20 at City of London Magistrates Court.

HSE Inspector Lisa Chappell said: “The risks of working at height are well-known, yet falls from height remain a common cause of death in the construction industry.  The victim suffered serious injuries, which have left him paralysed, but this incident could well have resulted in his death.  This case again highlights the absolute necessity for the creation and implementation of a site-specific assessment of work at height that is fit for purpose in order to identify appropriate measures to prevent injury.”

On the 11 January 2007, the victim involved in the incident, was working on a construction site at Grosvenor Street, London W1, where two buildings were being converted into one. A steel structure was being installed to support the building and being lifted into place by a hoist from the ground floor.

Whilst part of the structure was being moved it became stuck and when freed moved very quickly out of place. The individual was struck and dragged through a hole in the floor, falling 7.3 metres down two storeys to land on the ground floor and as a result is now paralysed from the waist down.

#

Following death of a man in Smethwick HSE warns of the dangers of working at height

HSE Press Release:

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is warning of the importance of carrying out risk assessments and implementing safe systems for working at height following the prosecution of a company and one of its employees after an incident in which an elderly man died.

Pervez Mohammed Iqbal, was (on Friday 21st November) ordered, by Wolverhampton Crown Court, to pay £15,000 in fines, with £2,800 costs after earlier pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This case followed a Police and HSE joint investigation into a fatal incident on 20 April 2007.

The court heard that, on that day, Mr Satnam Singh, 62, fell 5-6 metres (16-20 feet) through a fragile rooflight whilst preparing to undertake work on the roof of a textiles factory in Smethwick. Work had already been undertaken to replace plastic rooflights following a burglary at the site and further work was being undertaken by Kundi Electrical to repair recurring roof leaks. Mr Singh was working under the direction of Pervez Mohammed Iqbal who was carrying out the work for Kundi Electrical.

In undertaking this roofing work, equipment and building materials were being carried across roofs, which are well known in roofing and building industries to be fragile, when Mr Singh fell through and died later in hospital from the injuries sustained.

The roof of the textiles factory was being accessed up a ladder and across several different types of pitched roofs of several factory units and an adjacent engineering company, below which employees were working.

At an earlier hearing, on 11th February 2008, Surjit Singh Kundi trading as Kundi Electrical, from a base in Oldbury, had been ordered, by West Bromwich Magistrates, to pay £25,000 in fines, with £2,301 costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This case followed the same investigation into the fatal incident on 20 April 2007.

HSE Inspector Georgina Speake said:

“The roofs which were being repaired and those being used for access were totally unprotected, exposing anyone crossing them to the most serious risks.  Iqbal had failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment to identify the risks associated with the work being undertaken. Findings should have been passed on to employees so that they were aware of the hazards and then measures needed to minimise the risks put in place. The risk was wholly predictable, therefore avoidable. Such falls remain one of the biggest killers in the construction industry and last year, across the country, 45 people died after falling while working at height.

“Many incidents can be avoided if employers identify a safe way of tackling a job, provide all necessary protective equipment and ensure that workers or casual employees are fully trained and properly supervised. In this instance there were a number of optional methods and routes of access which would have greatly reduced the risk. Precautions that need to be taken to prevent falls are often simple and there is free guidance readily available to help employers take the right action.”

#

Warehousing and storage: new guide from the HSE

The HSE has published a new, free advice guide to health and safety in warehousing and storage. The pamphlet tackles all the most common causes of accidents, such as slips and trips, falls from height, manual handling and injuries linked to vehicles.  The Adobe PDF pamphlet can be downloaded here:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg412.pdf

#