Safety Matters - february 2006

Welcome to the February 2006 edition of the Mesh Consultants Safety Matters email newsletter.

This newsletter is available on free subscription only and is our way of keeping you informed about developments in Health and Safety. To review or amend your subscription details, please see the notes at the end.

In this issue:

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 delayed

Draft corporate manslaughter bill needs more work ministers decide

Companies urged to prevent employee access to dangerous machinery

Construction sites to be subjected to targeted inspections by the HSE

Construction company owner has been found guilty of the manslaughter

Court decision finds a company vicariously liable for the actions of contractor

Campaign launched to help people deal with work-related stress

European decision to overhaul regulations for professional drivers

Accident waiting to happen

Workers arm ripped off by unguarded conveyor

Sprayer saved from more serious injuries by respirator

Timber firm fined for four injuries in five weeks

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 delayed

The new legislation was due to take effect on April 1, 2006 and affects all non-domestic premises in England and Wales. It places greater emphasis on fire prevention, with responsibility for complying with the Order resting on the "responsible person" such as an employer or any other person who may have control of any part of a premise. They will be responsible for conducting fire risk assessments and the local fire and rescue service will be responsible for enforcing the new rules. The Order also abolishes Fire certificates.

The reason given for the delay is to provide fire safety experts and businesses more time to prepare for the new regime.

Also despite extensive efforts it is clear that all the guidance documents will not be ready in time to enable the order to come into force on 1 April 2006.


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Draft corporate manslaughter bill needs more work ministers decide

A provision to prosecute individuals, allowing for the prosecution of a parent company, employment agencies and sub-contractors, improving the fining system and developing more innovative corporate sanctions are amongst the 57 conclusions and recommendations made.

It was also identified that there should not be any further unnecessary delays to introducing the bill.



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Companies urged to ensure that measures are taken to prevent employee access to dangerous machinery

The Health and Safety Executive issued the warning following the successful prosecution of a company for failures that led to an employee becoming trapped in a laminator machine.

The Amtico Company Ltd pleaded guilty to breaching s.2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £40,000 plus £8,567 costs for an accident in which employee suffered third degree burns to his whole forearm.

Prosecuting HSE inspector Jenny Skeldon said: "In this case The Amtico Company Ltd failed to ensure that adequate measures were implemented to prevent access to the dangerous parts of the machine, in particular the hazards created by in-running nips and heat.

At the time of the accident, there was no guard in place and access to the dangerous parts was easily accessible. It is the employers duty to ensure that risks to safety within the workplace are adequately assessed and that adequate control measures are implemented to avoid injury"

What is clear is that if the laminator machine had been fitted with fixed guards, as required under PUWER the incident would have been prevented.

Do you have machinery where employees can gain easy access to moving parts? Have you undertaken a full risk assessment and identified measures to control such hazards? Are you aware of what the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 98 requires of you? If the answer to all or any of these is no, then contact MESH as we have experts who can assist you.


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Throughout February 2006 construction sites will be subjected to targeted inspections looking at good order and management

Slips and trips are the biggest cause of reported injuries in the construction industry and in most cases these can easily be avoided by implementing effective site management.

Good order on site includes: traffic routes segregated from pedestrian routes; the procurement of material should be managed to ensure that only minimum amount of materials are sorted on site at any time; and everyone working on the site should be aware of the site policy for management the movement and storage of materials around the site, and the removal of waste from work areas.

The Good Order initiative aims to identify contractors that have failed to take on board that it is not acceptable for corridors and stairwells to be obstructed with materials.



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The owner of a construction company in Staffordshire has been found guilty of the manslaughter of an employee who fell to his death from improvised equipment while constructing a steel-framed barn

The proprietor of A and E Buildings pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 s.2(1) and to a single charge of providing a telehandler and equipment that was not properly maintained.

The incident leading to the death arose when three workmen were installing the barn roof, two of them using an improvised basket balanced on the forks of a telehandler, both of which belonged to the business owner.

The telehandler tipped over, throwing both occupants eight metres to the ground. One of the workers sustained serious injuries, the other died.

The Health and Safety Executive principal inspector commented: "This case is a reminder to all those involved in the construction industry of their legal obligations to manage health and safety. The verdict shows that the business owner failed in both his duty to ensure the safety of his employees and in his responsibility to provide safe and suitable means of working at height."


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A Court of Appeal ruling upholds a High Court decision finding a company vicariously liable for the actions of contractor

Luminar Leisure was found to be vicariously liable for the actions of doorman Jeffrey Watson even though the firm did not directly employ him.

The ruling means that organisations employing contract workers may be held responsible for their actions while working on their premises depending on the level of control that they retain.

Do you have robust policies and procedures that cover not only your employees but also contract workers and contractors? At MESH we have helped a wide range of companies to develop robust Health & Safety systems.



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Campaign launched to help people deal with work-related stress while avoiding the effects of depression and anxiety associated with it

Health education charity Developing Patient Partnerships (DPP) has published a report on the findings of a survey which found that many people were unlikely to admit to suffering from stress because they feared the reaction of their employers.

Over 60 per cent said that they would not consider taking time off with stress; only 23 per would talk to their manager about it and 15 per cent would speak to their occupational health department.

A spokesperson for mental health charity Mind commented: "There is an urgent need for employers to assist workers in managing stress at work, now a major economic problem. Just as all workplaces have a physical health policy, so they should have a mental health policy".

Employers are being urged to be more understanding and open to stress and mental health problems in the workplace.


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European Parliament decision to overhaul regulations for professional drivers

Professional drivers should find themselves working less, resting longer and taking more regular breaks.

A weekly driving time maximum of 56 hours has been introduced instead of the current 74 hours. The period of consecutive daily rest has been increased from eight to nine hours, and drivers have been given the right to have a weekend rest (45 hours at least once a fortnight).

A legal loophole, which allowed workers to drive for almost nine hours with just a 15-minute break, will now be closed. Now, drivers must get a 45-minute break once they have worked for four and a half hours.

To supervise this digital tachographs must be installed on all new lorries from May 2006.

The deal must be formally endorsed before it can become law.



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Accident waiting to happen

Pharmaceutical giant SmithKline Beecham plc has been fined £15,000 after an agency workers thumb was severed by a toothpaste machine.

The worker had been running the machine whilst setting up for a new production run, the guard that prevented access during normal operation had been opened to enable the worker to hold a plastic bag over the machine nozzle. During the process his hand slipped and became trapped by a moving part.

The HSE inspector prosecuting the case identified that a similar accident had happened 3 years previously, but the company had failed to pass on HSE guidance to the workforce. This led to some workers incorrectly believing that it was okay to perform routine tasks inside a moving machine with the guards open, and this process was passed onto new workers.

The inspector commented that this was an accident waiting to happen, because poor safety management failed to spot and prevent unsafe practices.

Does this happen in your workplace? Are you aware of what actually happens to guards when machines are being used for production, are being maintained or being cleaned? HSE research identifies that most accidents are caused by unsafe actions - have you accounted for this in your risk assessments? At MESH we have the experience and knowledge to assist companies to develop comprehensive risk assessments and safe methods of working.


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Workers arm ripped off by unguarded conveyor

An employee's arm was ripped off when he tried to clear a blockage from a waste plant conveyor. He had noticed that a small piece of metal was caught up and put his hand into the machine to try to dislodge it, the hand became caught on the in-running nip, pulling it in and severing his left arm and part of his shoulder.

The employer pleaded guilty and was fined £12,000.


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Sprayer saved from more serious injuries by respirator

The sprayer sustained 35% burns to his body in a solvent explosion, but had he not been wearing an air fed mask he would have inhaled burning vapour and may well have died.

The court was told that neither the spraying equipment nor the vessel being sprayed had been earthed. The particles from the spray gun were ignited by static electricity that had built up and a jet of flame shot out across the workshop and burned for around 30 seconds.

The company pleaded a poor financial state in mitigation and that it had since spent a substantial amount rectifying matters. The court fined the company £6,500 and ordered them to pay costs of £5,000.



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Timber firm fined for four injuries in five weeks

Cambridgeshire magistrates were told that in a space of five weeks a local company experienced two accidents involving forklift trucks (FLT), driven by untrained drivers and two accidents involving circular saws.

The accidents included:

• A load from a FLT falling onto an employees leg;
• An employee being dragged under a FLT;
• A loss of a finger tip in a saw machine;
• A finger cut to the bone on a saw.

The men using the saw had not been adequately trained, it transpired that their trainer did not know what he was doing and used the saw dangerously himself. Although the saws had guards fitted the men did not know how to adjust them to protect themselves.

The company agreed it had not being doing enough on safety and pleaded a poor financial state. The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £3,500 costs.

Have you recently audited your health and safety systems and was staff training considered, including the training of those that supervise staff? Legislation requires that management, supervisors and operators have all received appropriate H&S training. At MESH we can assist organisations to identify any training deficiencies and also deliver training as needed.



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