Federal workplace safety inspectors found a Wisconsin animal food producer exposed employees to the risks of explosions, fires, and long-term respiratory illnesses from excessive amounts of airborne dust, among two dozen safety and health violations they identified.

The findings follow an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at Strauss Feeds LLC of Watertown in February 2024 after the agency received complaints of unsafe working conditions.

OSHA inspectors found the company’s poor housekeeping, its failure to evaluate spaces for dust hazards, and an absence of engineering controls to reduce dust, created serious combustible and airborne dust hazards. The agency also determined Strauss Feeds did not develop a written respiratory protection programme that includes medical evaluations, fit-testing, monitoring, and training workers to recognise dust hazards.

OSHA also noted workers were exposed to hazards from walking and working surfaces, falls, confined space, and the operation of industrial trucks and forklifts when combustible dust hazards were present, increasing the risks of fire and explosion.

Inspectors cited Strauss Feeds for 19 serious and five other-than-serious safety and health violations. OSHA has assessed the company $161,332 in proposed penalties.

This is valid as of the 23rd September 2024.

A grandfather died after falling through a hole in his own bathroom that had been left by workers. Kenneth Armitage landed on the kitchen floor below, in an incident his daughter Suzy said “should never have happened.”

The bathroom in Mr Armitage’s house on Whitestone Drive in Huntington, York had been getting converted into a wet room by construction company Cooper and Westgate.

The company had removed the room’s floorboards as it accessed pipework but left an unguarded hole in the floor on 8 February 2019. The 81-year-old later fell through the hole and was found dead by his son-in-law the following evening on 9 February.

Investigating, the HSE found Cooper and Westgate failed to adequately secure the hole as its employees were not properly trained. The company had also failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, nor a method statement for the work involved.

Cooper and Westgate Co. Ltd, of Navigation Court, Calder Park, Wakefield, West Yorkshire was found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £150,000 and ordered to pay £50,000 in costs.

HM inspector of health and safety Yolande Burns-Sleightholme, of HSE, said: “Employers need to fully assess and control the risks from work at height, caused by creating holes in domestic properties and recognise the importance of securing them effectively. They should then pass this knowledge on to their employees through suitable training and guidance.

“This incident could so easily have been avoided had Cooper and Westgate properly assessed the risks, put in place safe working practices and provided the correct training to its employees.”

Kenneth’s daughter, Suzy, said: “Our dad, who was sadly taken away from us, was everything to us. He was the kindest person you could ever meet.

“He was a fantastic dad to me, my brother and a loving grandad to all our children. I can’t believe he has gone, I keep thinking it’s a horrible nightmare and I will wake up and he’ll be there. Our hearts were broken that day and may never heal. It should have never happened.

“We are all still struggling to come to terms with losing him.”

This is valid as of the 23rd September 2024.

A car wash firm in Devon has been fined £40,000 after it repeatedly failed to protect workers and members of the public from electrical safety risks.

HSE Investigators carried out multiple visits to Best Car Wash Ltd in Tavistock between July 2021 and November 2022. They found employees were carrying out car washing outdoors, using electrical appliances such as pressure washers and vacuum cleaners. However, the company had failed to ensure the installation had been constructed or maintained to prevent danger to both the employees and members of the public. As a result of the electrical hazards identified, the company was issued with five enforcement notices.

Despite the notices, subsequent visits found they had not been complied with and it wasn’t until April 2023 that a competent person inspected, tested and repaired the installation.

The HSE investigation found the failure of the employer to comply with the initial notice resulted in electrical safety risks to the vulnerable workers persisting for longer.

Best Car Wash Ltd of Plymouth Road, Tavistock, Devon did not provide representation at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court and were found guilty in their absence of breaching Section 3(1) of the Electricity at Work Regs and Reg 33 (1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

They were fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,164 on 6 June 2024.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Principal Inspector Helena Allum said: “We can and will prosecute if companies fail to comply with enforcement notices.

“Those in control of work have a responsibility to ensure safe methods of working. The dangers associated with electricity in a work environment are well known and a wealth of advice and guidance is freely available from HSE.”

This is valid as of the 17th June 2024.

A construction company has been fined following the death of a worker. Gary Webster lost his life two days after drowning in the River Aire on 30 October 2017.

Mr Webster and another worker had been on a boat removing debris at the bottom of the weir gates at Knostrop Weir when their boat capsized. The boat had been pulled into turbulent water, caused by the considerable flow of water flowing over the top of the weir.

The 60-year-old was repeatedly pulled under the water and was eventually recovered by a diver 14 minutes later. The other worker managed to swim to safety.

Mr Webster was pronounced dead on 1 November 2017 at Leeds General Infirmary.

Investigating, the HSE found BAM Nuttall Ltd had several operatives who were trained and authorised to control the weir gates so that the flow of the water could be slowed down. This would have allowed the debris to float away or be reached safely by boat. However, the company failed to carry out this task.

BAM Nuttall Limited, of Knoll Road, Camberley, Surrey, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £2.345 million and ordered to pay £25,770.48 in costs.

HSE inspector Jayne Towey said: “BAM Nuttall Ltd failed to plan the work. It failed to carry out any assessment of the risks involved with the task. It failed to have any regard to the recognised hierarchy of controls to reduce the risk associated with removing debris from the water. It failed to ensure that suitable safety measures were in place and failed to put in place a safe system of work.

“This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Jonathan Bambro and supported by HSE paralegal officer Sarah Thomas.

This is valid as of the 17th June 2024.

The long-term health of workers at a wood waste recycling centre was put in danger due to excessive exposure to the dust their work created, a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution has found.

Esken Renewables Limited, a waste and recycling company that specialises in generating biofuel from renewable waste, ran a wood waste recycling centre in Middlesborough that processed mixed wood waste, hardwood, and softwood into biofuel.

Breathing in wood dust excessively can cause asthma and nasal cancer. In particular, dust from softwood wood dust is a known asthmagen while particles from hardwood are a known carcinogen.

A HSE inspector visited the site in April 2022 to investigate the dust exposures on the site. A few weeks earlier, concerns had been raised about wood dust spreading to the surrounding area. The inspector wrote in detail to Esken Renewables with evidence demonstrating the extent of the wood dust exposure to staff, so that the right action could be taken by the company to control the risks.

The company provided a detailed response, and it was accepted that exposures to the surrounding area was in large part due to four storms in quick succession.

However, the HSE investigation found that the control of wood dust to protect employees working on and around the site was not adequate and fell short of the expected benchmark.

The company failed to design and operate processes and activities to minimise emission, release, and spread of wood dust. One solution would be through the use of local exhaust ventilation, the enclosure of machinery, or the designing of the processes such as using vacuum systems as opposed to compressed air for cleaning and maintenance.

Esken Renewables Limited, who operated the site at Port Clarence Road, Port Clarence, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty of breaching Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 and were fined £160,000 and ordered to pay £5,310.35 in costs at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on 23 May 2024.

This is valid as of the 3rd June 2024.

A North Yorkshire man has received a suspended prison sentence for the illegal deposit of waste on the River Swale flood plain.

In a case brought by the Environment Agency, Phillip Taylor, 70, of Scornton, near Richmond, appeared at York Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to operating an illegal waste activity and an illegal flood risk activity by depositing over 2,400 tonnes of excavation waste within the flood plain.

Taylor was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and was served with a court order to remove the waste to reduce flood risk. He was also ordered to pay costs of £9,500 and a victim surcharge of £115.

The court heard that in 2017 and 2018 excavated waste was transported to land known as the Catterick Complex from nearby housing developments, unbeknown to the house builders. The waste was tipped beside the river to form unauthorised flood defences to protect commercial fishing lakes owned by Taylor.

The downstream village of Catterick flooded in 2012 and has since benefitted from a £6 million Environment Agency (EA) flood alleviation scheme.

The EA regulates works near main rivers, and their flood plains, to ensure that any changes do not increase flood risk to others or damage important riverside habitats.

The illegal dumping of excavation waste at the Catterick Complex could displace or deflect flood water elsewhere, increasing flood risk. Taylor refused to remove the waste when directed by the EA.

Paul Glasby, the Environment Agency’s investigating officer, said: “Due to climate change flooding is becoming more frequent and severe and it’s important that landowners and businesses are aware of the legal restrictions for working in or near main rivers. Before doing so they must first gain authorisation from the EA so we can ensure that changes do not increase flood risk to others or damage the environment.

“Taylor showed a blatant disregard for the law and the community around him. Building unauthorised flood defences or conducting unauthorised works in a flood plain is a serious criminal offence and we are determined to take action to protect flood prone communities and the environment.”

During sentencing, Deputy District Judge Garland said Taylor was given repeated warnings and told him: “It’s clear that there was a deliberate disregard for the rules in the way you went about your business, creating a potential risk.”

The company which transported the waste to the Catterick Complex, Greenford Haulage and Aggregates Ltd, has previously been subject to an Enforcement Undertaking, donating £30,000 to Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust.

This is valid as of 29th January 2024.