Times Colonist  | An Esquimalt-based company was hit with a more than $61,000 fine and a stop-work order by WorkSafeBC last fall after a “high-risk and repeated violation” involving asbestos during demolition of a Victoria home. 

The action against Van Isle Hazmat Inc. was detailed in a report released by WorkSafeBC.

It said the company failed to prevent the spread of asbestos dust and debris, or to ensure that asbestos was handled according to procedures acceptable to provincial workplace-safety agency.

The company also failed to provide workers with the information, training, and supervision “to ensure their health and safety,” the report said.

It said the stop-work order was lifted about a week later, after the company took action to satisfy WorkSafeBC requirements.

The violations occurred during demolition of a two-storey, wood-framed house built in 1946, when workers were removing exterior asbestos-contaminated paint that was adhered to the soffit and stucco, a summary of the initial WorkSafeBC inspection said.

It said fragments of asbestos-contaminated paint were seen outside the work area designated by warning tape, with the waste unattended and in the open air.

The home was near the ocean and there was a breeze on the property while the inspection was conducted, the summary said.

The stop-work order was lifted after a follow-up inspection.

WorkSafeBC said the company enacted measures to ensure that “all asbestos waste and other waste contaminated with asbestos, including protective clothing and cleanup equipment,” is placed in sealed containers that are labelled as containing asbestos. The company also increased supervision and committed to some retraining for workers.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

An indoor skiing company in Tamworth has been fined £100,000 following the death of a schoolboy.

Twelve-year-old Louis Watkiss had been at a tobogganing birthday party at the Snowdome in Tamworth on 24 September 2021. He was descending the main ski slope on a toboggan when it slid into the back of a member of staff who was conducting a slope walk. He fell backwards onto Louis who sadly died at the scene from head injuries.

The HSE’s investigation found that Snowdome Limited failed to ensure the safety of its customers, including Louis, while they were undertaking tobogganing at the venue.

The HSE investigation also found that Snowdome Limited did not have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for tobogganing activities and had not fully considered all persons likely to be on the slope during tobogganing. As a result, there was no safe system of work, information, instruction, training or supervision to manage the risk of collisions between toboggans and pedestrians.

Snowdome Limited, of Leisure Island, River Drive, Tamworth, Staffordshire, earlier pleaded guilty at Telford Magistrates’ Court to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and were later fined £100,000 with costs of £14,534.

Nathan Cook, senior enforcement lawyer for HSE said: “Louis went to a friend’s birthday party at the Snowdome and should have returned home safely to his family after an enjoyable occasion.

“Tragically, due to the failings of Snowdome Limited, this did not happen. Louis’s death could have been prevented if the company had adequately assessed and controlled the risks associated with tobogganing activities.

“This should act as a reminder that venues and employers must ensure suitable and sufficient risk assessments are in place and employees are provided with sufficient safe systems of work, information, instructions, training, and supervision.

Nathan Cook continued: “Our risk assessment guidance may be more commonly used for workplaces such as factories and construction sites, but the same principles apply for busy venues like indoor ski slopes. The possible risks to people from equipment and the movement of visitors and staff needs to be thought through.

“Our thoughts remain with Louis’ family.”

The HSE investigation into this incident was carried out by HM inspector Keeley Eves, with the support of visiting officer Natalka Heath.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

The Northern Territory Supreme Court will hear an appeal from Darwin construction company Kalidonis NT Pty Ltd, after the Darwin Local Court convicted and fined the construction company over the death of 50-year-old worker Paul Leach who was working on the barge landing upgrades in Maningrida.

On 20 March 2020, Mr. Leach was operating an excavator using chains to tow a broken-down excavator closer to the barge ramp for recovery. During the attempted tow, the chains snapped and recoiled, hitting Mr. Leach in the head.

Kalidonis NT Pty Ltd had pleaded not guilty to two charges under Section 32 of the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011 for failing to comply with a health and safety duty.

The first charge related to the 20 March incident, and the second charge for an incident that occurred eight days earlier on 12 March 2020, when Mr. Leach towed the broken excavator from the low tide mark onto the beach, again using chains. During this incident, the chains had also snapped.

On 23 August 2024, Judge O’Loughlin found Kalidonis NT Pty Ltd guilty on both charges, despite the company appearing to argue in its defence that it was not at fault that Mr. Leach took risks that put himself in danger.

Judge O’Loughlin has now sentenced Kalidonis NT Pty Ltd, which was fined $400,000 for the first charge, and $550,000 for the second charge, with convictions recorded for both charges.

Judge O’Loughlin ordered the sentences to be concurrent, meaning the company is liable to pay $550,000. The company is also required to pay NT WorkSafe’s costs of $70,000 and a victim’s levy of $1500.

The appeal is set for hearing in the Supreme Court on 14 April 2025.

NT WorkSafe withdrew the other charges against Kalidonis NT Pty Ltd and its Director Theofilos Kalidonis in March 2023.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

A County Durham man has been jailed for operating an illegal waste site in a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.

Christopher Williams, 66, of Acton Dene in Stanley, appeared at Newton Aycliffe magistrates’ court for sentencing for breaching the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

He had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of operating a waste site without an environmental permit at Whinfield Industrial Estate in Rowlands Gill, Gateshead.

He was sentenced to 44 weeks in prison, comprising 26 weeks and a further 18 weeks because the conviction placed him in breach of a suspended sentence imposed for previous environmental offences.

The court heard that Williams runs an organisation called the LCA Community Charity, which is not a registered charity, from an industrial unit at the site. It advertises as offering help with clothing, furniture, and household donations.

The organisation and the defendant both hold waste carrier licences, which is a legal requirement to be able to transport waste.

On 17 November 2022, Environment Agency officers attended the unit. Outside, they saw a large amount of household waste, including more than 50 fridges and fridge freezers, dismantled furniture, mattresses, sink units and toilet bowls, baths and doors, amongst other general waste.

Most of the waste was mixed together, with some looking like it had been there for a long time. Inside the unit was an office area with some household items for sale.

Inside one of the two sheds on site, waste was piled 12 feet high. Across the site, the illegally stored waste posed a fire-risk, with no separation between piles, meaning if a fire broke out it would spread quickly.

Officers spoke to Williams, and he was requested to remove the waste by 16 January 2023, and in a follow-up letter, he was advised about waste exemptions, which allows for low level waste activity without the need for a permit that could allow him to sort recyclable waste for recovery and operate within the law.

On 17 January 2023, officers returned, only to find there was more waste present, with a noticeable increase in broken wooden furniture. Officers expressed concerns about the fire risk.

In the following months, through March 2023 and into the summer, Environment Agency officers made numerous visits where they saw waste still on site. At one point, Williams said half of the fridges had “gone to Africa.”

Fridges contain refrigerant gases and blown foam insulation, with old fridges classed as hazardous waste, and should be disposed of at a suitably licensed facility.

He also told officers he had no waste transfer notes, which are a legal requirement to trace the movement of waste between one place and another.

Officers explained to Williams that the deadline for clearing the site passed in January 2023.

During a visit in September 2024, officers inspected the site and found it was still operating as an illegal waste facility. Williams claimed to still be busy clearing the site.

— Accurate at time of publication | February 2025

Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) into an incident which occurred at ‘Planet Fun’ in Carrickfergus in July 2021, Scottish based funfair operator Global Events and Attractions Limited has been fined for health and safety failings.

Global Events and Attractions Ltd were fined a total of £30,000 after pleading guilty to two health and safety offences:

• Article 4(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978, fine £15,000.
• Article 5(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978, fine £15,000.

In relation to the same incident Mr Jeff Johnson, Health, Safety and Accident Investigation Services, who completed a safety inspection at the site prior to the incident, was handed a 12-month custodial sentence suspended for two years for breaching Article 5(2) of the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.

On 24 July 2021, a 53m ‘Starflyer’ suspended chair ride attraction, which had several adults and children on board, started its rotation out of its normal sequence. Subsequently some chairs and passengers on the ride collided with a fence and display signs before the funfair operator stopped the attraction. Several patrons received injuries, with some requiring treatment at hospital. On arrival at the incident scene, a health and safety inspector served a prohibition notice prohibiting any further operation of the ride.

Prosecutors in the PPS’s Fraud and Departmental Section worked closely with the HSENI Ireland to build a robust prosecution case.

The investigation established that a safety inspection was completed by Mr Johnson prior to the incident. A safety inspection certificate was subsequently issued by him indicating that the ride was safe to operate, despite not having any supporting safety documentation, including a suitable design review, relevant inspection reports, and operating instructions. It was also established that he did not adequately inspect the electrical components of the attraction which were later found to have defects.

HSENI Inspector, Kevin Campbell said: “Funfair operators must ensure that all their attractions are properly designed, erected, and properly maintained. The employer must ensure that all their attraction attendants are correctly and appropriately trained in the safe use of the equipment.

“Engineers who undertake safety inspections must thoroughly inspect and review all safety critical aspects of the attraction before issuing a valid safety certificate.

“Funfair attractions can operate at very high speeds and forces. In this incident, the patrons were very fortunate they did not suffer any life-threatening conditions as a result of the attraction malfunctioning.

“HSENI will not hesitate to recommend the prosecution of businesses and individuals who fail to provide safe working conditions for their employees or expose members of the public to danger.”

— Accurate at time of publication | February 2025

WorkSafeBC has fined the British Columbia government $783,068.26 for worker safety violations after untrained Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) staff took over traffic control duties near the Shambhala Music Festival in July 2024, according to a report. 

The penalty approaches WorkSafe’s statutory maximum for 2025 of $798,867.87.

During the festival, the Shambhala festival hired a contractor to implement a traffic management plan. The contractor’s workers were responsible for directing vehicles near the festival’s “east gate,” where traffic exited onto Highway 3.

However, two MoTI representatives who arrived at the scene deemed the contractor’s approach inadequate, CBC reported, citing a WorkSafeBC online summary and an inspection report.

When they instructed changes that the contractor deemed unsafe, the contractor withdrew its staff and reported the issue to WorkSafeBC. The MoTI employees then began directing traffic themselves, despite lacking the necessary qualifications and safety equipment, according to the report.

WorkSafeBC determined the ministry workers were not trained [traffic control persons] and had been directing traffic from an unsafe position on the highway, the incident summary stated.

The agency also found that the provincial government had failed to provide proper “information, instruction, training, and supervision” to protect its workers, classifying the violations as “high-risk.”

MoTI acknowledged that its workers lacked proper traffic control training but justified their actions as necessary due to an urgent public safety risk.

However, the agency said that its workers only intervened “to ensure the safe flow of traffic on Highway 6 during the Shambhala Music Festival, responding to an emergency situation that quickly arose when a designated traffic control person from a private company failed to perform their duties.”

A spokesperson stated that traffic leaving the music festival had caused a three-kilometre backlog, blocking emergency vehicle access and increasing the likelihood of drivers making unsafe decisions.

Meanwhile, a representative for the contractor disputed that the company had not fulfilled its responsibilities, asserting that their team had followed an approved traffic management plan. The contractor, which is not facing any penalties, took photos of the situation and reported it to WorkSafeBC.

WorkSafeBC’s report notes that the MoTI workers’ actions placed them in direct danger due to high traffic volumes. The agency’s findings confirm that the contractor withdrew its workers because it did not believe the work could be done safely under the ministry’s instructions.

The ministry is currently reviewing the fine and has indicated that it may request a formal review.

Following the fine, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announced that it is reinforcing expectations around worker safety and emergency protocols.

WorkSafeBC confirmed that penalty funds will be deposited into its accident fund, which covers workplace injury costs. The agency calculates penalties based on employer payroll size and the severity of the violations.

— Accurate at time of publication | February 2025

The Environment Agency has used powers to impose a Variable Monetary Penalty after Ilchester Estate took more water from the Dorset Frome than it was licensed to do.

Ilchester Estate, located in Dorset, has a licence to abstract water from a spring on the headwaters of the chalk stream Dorset Frome at Evershot. The water is used to supply houses, offices, gardens, and farms that go to make up the Ilchester Estate.

The current annual charge invoiced by the Environment Agency under its charges scheme for the abstraction licence is £120. The estate then sets its own charges for supplying the abstracted water to businesses and residents on the estate.

The licence allows the estate to abstract up to 66.6 cubic metres of water a day, but following an investigation by the Environment Agency, it was found that between December 2022 and July 2023 the authorised licence limit had been exceeded by a total of nearly 7,500 cubic metres, around three Olympic size swimming pools worth of water. Between December 2022 and January 2023 Wessex was officially in a drought.

Now the estate has paid a variable monetary penalty (VMP) of £19,777.69, plus costs of £8,298.60, to the Environment Agency for its breach of the Water Resources Act 1991. The penalty came after the agency had previously warned the estate to stop over abstracting water.

In 2018 the estate was advised by the Environment Agency of how an increase to their permitted abstraction levels could be applied for. Instead, the estate said steps would be taken to reduce the amount of water being taken but amounts abstracted continued to be above the permitted level each year through to 2023.

— Accurate at time of publication | February 2025

A man has appeared at court for failing to clear an illegal waste site for the second time and operating another one in Middlesbrough.

In a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency, Martin Hindmarsh, 38, of High Street, Stokesley, appeared at Teesside magistrates’ court where he admitted he was in contempt of court for the second time for failing to comply with a court order to clear waste from an illegal site at Tame Road, in Middlesbrough.

He had also previously pleaded guilty on 19 November 2024 to operating another illegal waste site at Owens Road, also in Middlesbrough, which he was doing during the investigation and prosecution in relation to the Tame Road site, contrary to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

For the illegal waste site, he was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, with 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 250 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay costs of £7,506.60.

For the contempt of court, he was fined £5,000 and told he must clear the site or expect to be back before the court.

The court heard that Hindmarsh, the director of B8 Waste Services Ltd, which was ultimately dissolved in October 2023, started renting an industrial unit at Owens Road in December 2022.

In June 2023, both Cleveland Fire and Rescue Service and the Environment Agency received information about a large amount of waste on the site.

Officers from both organisations attended the site together and saw it filled with waste, including fridges and freezers, wood, metal, mattresses and gas canisters, all stored in one big pile causing a fire hazard.

Hindmarsh, who was on site, said he did not have an Environment Agency environmental permit, which is required to operate a waste facility.

He was given a notice that required him to stop operating the site with immediate effect and to remove all waste by 14 July 2023. He was also asked for his waste transfer notes, which are a legally required document that record the movement of waste between one place and another.

On 14 July 2023, the Environment Agency returned to the site to assess whether waste had been removed, and while the unit was shut, they found there was an increase in waste stored outside of the unit.

In August 2023, a further visit confirmed the amount of waste on site had increased.

In December 2023, the Environment Agency wrote to Hindmarsh requesting that all waste transfer notes for waste that left the site between 1 July and 20 December 2023 were provided by 29 December 2023.

In February 2024, officers met with Hindmarsh on site. While the majority of waste had been removed, there were still around 40 fridge freezers remaining. Hindmarsh also provided the waste transfer notes this month, six weeks after the December deadline.

At the Tame Road site, in July 2023, Hindmarsh and his other company, B8 Waste Management Limited, were fined and ordered to pay costs totalling almost £26,000 when they appeared at Teesside magistrates’ court. Hindmarsh was ordered to clear the site of waste by 31 December 2023, and disqualified from being a company director for two years.

In July 2024, he appeared in court again where he admitted contempt of court for failing to clear the site by the deadline. He was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,750.

He indicated he would clear the site within two months but subsequent checks by Environment Agency officers revealed the waste was still on site. Waste was also still present during a final visit by officers on the day of sentencing, 4 February 2025.

In mitigation, the court heard that Hindmarsh had cleared the Owens Road site and had recently borrowed money to clear the Tame Road site and expected it to be cleared in the next week. It was added that his family would suffer if sent to prison.

— Accurate at time of publication | February 2025

Australia | A construction company and its director have each been fined $100,000 plus costs in the Parramatta Local Court for providing false information to the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) during an illegal dumping investigation in February 2023. 

The EPA launched its prosecution of He Co Pty Ltd (formerly known as Hemisphere Construction Pty Ltd), and its director George Khouzame in 2023 during an ongoing investigation into the alleged illegal dumping of asbestos-contaminated waste at a property in Canyonleigh in the Southern Highlands.

Director Operations, Adam Gilligan said that when EPA officers discovered asbestos in the waste material, statutory notices were issued to several companies, requesting information and records on how the material came to be on the property: “This is one of the largest fines ever secured for providing false or misleading information to the EPA and reflects the seriousness of Mr. Khouzame’s actions, which could have hindered a major investigation into serious environmental offences.

“Despite multiple requests for information, Mr. Khouzame consistently refused to truthfully answer questions regarding his company’s involvement with the property in Canyonleigh.

“While he maintained that information provided to the EPA was accurate and his company was not associated with works undertaken at the property, evidence gathered by our officers, including reports from neighbours and other contractors, indicated Mr. Khouzame’s assertions were false.

“An EPA request for information is a statutory notice, enforceable under the Protection of the Environment Operations (POEO) Act. Anyone receiving such a request must provide an honest and factual response and if they don’t, we have the powers to prosecute.”

In addition to the $200,000 fine, He Co Pty Ltd and Mr. Khouzame were ordered to pay EPA’s costs of $25,000. He Co Pty Ltd was also ordered to comply with the original statutory notice and a publication order.

— Accurate at time of publication | February 2025

A groundworks firm has been fined £50,000 over safety failings that led to two workers being crushed to death by the collapsing wall of a former milking byre near Linlithgow.

Peter Walker, 53, and James Henderson, 48, were killed instantly when a freestanding sandstone wall collapsed on top of them at Myrehead Farm on 6 May 2019.

Fernbrooke Scotland had been brought in to underpin the wall by installing steel cages filled with stones and concrete at its base.

Sheriff Keith O’Mahony ruled at Stirling Sheriff Court that the work was “extremely unsafe” and that there was “a high likelihood of harm” at the site.

The 9ft 6in (2.9m) high, 63ft (19.2m) long sandstone wall had been left free-standing after the demolition of the centuries-old byre some years earlier.

Mr Walker, 53, from Blackburn, West Lothian, and Mr Henderson, known as Paul, from Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, were using picks and shovels to create a long trench for the cages to sit in when the wall “suddenly split in the middle horizontally”.

It caused 50 tonnes of sandstone blocks, rubble and lime mortar to fall on top of them. Two other men – David McNeil, then 36, and Charles Johnstone, then 21, – were severely injured.

Prosecutor Catherine Fraser told the court that investigations by a HSE inspector found the underpinning had been done in an unsafe manner, which undermined the wall and contributed to its collapse.

There had been no evidence that temporary supports had been used to shore up the wall, and no consulting engineer was supervising the process.

Fernbrooke Scotland LLP, of Blackburn, West Lothian, run by Kevin Dolan, 64, of Avonbridge, near Falkirk, pled guilty to failing to ensure the safety of the men.

The company admitted omitting to check the condition of the wall, and in particular its foundations, prior to starting the renovation.

Sheriff O’Mahony said the firm’s turnover of under £580,000 a year meant it had to be treated as a “micro organisation”, restricting the level of fine given.

He said it had been “a tragic event.”

The work was part of a project to convert a former farmsteading for a housing development.

Peter Gray KC, for Fernbrook, told the court the firm had settled all civil claims relating to the tragedy, and took its responsibilities “very seriously”.

He said the incident was “a matter of the greatest concern and genuine regret” and he offered the firm’s deepest sympathies to the men’s families.

He said Fernbrooke have stopped undertaking any similar type of work.

— Accurate at time of publication | February 2025

(United States) The Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) has announced that Home Depot has agreed to pay $65,000 to a former employee as part of a settlement agreement for failing to stop sexual harassment spanning multiple years.

An MDHR investigation into Home Depot reportedly found an employee at a store in Fridley filed several sexual harassment reports over a span of approximately three years.

According to MDHR, the employee was sexually harassed by three co-workers who made “unwelcome sexual comments, advances and inappropriate touching.”

MDHR said Home Depot took “little to no action” when it came to the reports, and that inaction allowed the harassment to continue.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Home Depot will pay out $65,000 to the former employee. Additionally, the company must enforce anti-harassment policies, provide training for employees, and ensure accountability for store managers.

Minnesota Department of Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said: “Sexual harassment is a violation of the law and a denial of basic human dignity. It harms individuals’ mental health, job performance, and well-being, while also undermining organisational integrity and productivity. Minnesota state law requires that employers create a workplace free from sexual harassment and assault. This agreement reminds Minnesota employers of this obligation.”

The MDHR said it will oversee the compliance of these measures over the next two years.

— Accurate at time of publication | February 2025

 (Canada) Alberta employer Excel Projects Ltd. has been fined $350,000 after one worker was injured in the workplace.

The company was sentenced in the Edson Court of Justice.

The incident, which happened on 5 March 2022, occurred when a worker was preparing equipment for transport off-site. The equipment became activated, and the worker was pulled into the equipment, sustaining fatal injuries.

The employer pleaded guilty to one count under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code.

Under a creative sentence, the company was ordered to pay $225,000 to establish a scholarship for heavy equipment operator programme for students at Olds College and $120,000 for a similar scholarship at Portage College. Students in both programmes must demonstrate a strong safety attitude and culture to qualify for the scholarships.

Excel Projects was also tasked to pay a $5,000 fine inclusive of the 20% victim fine surcharge.

Both the company and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalties.

— Accurate at time of publication | February 2025