Hackney Council | The owner of a popular Hackney restaurant has been fined nearly £20,000 after being caught fly-tipping their waste on nine separate occasions.

According to Hackney Council, Facing Heaven, a vegan Chinese eatery off Mare Street, ignored a warning issued after the first offence was committed in January 2023.

Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste and a criminal offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

By disposing of their waste in this way the business not only saved thousands of pounds in disposal costs, but it also passed those costs directly onto the council, in turn costing taxpayers.

The case was heard at Thames Magistrates’ Court and the business owner was prosecuted for fly-tipping on nine separate occasions whilst failing to have proper waste disposal measures in place.

— Accurate at time of publication | May 2025

SIA | The Security Industry Authority (SIA) public consultation on proposed changes to licensing criteria has received over 3,300 responses.

The consultation was centred around a number of proposed changes to further strengthen the criteria that determines what makes someone eligible to hold an SIA licence.

This included changes to the criteria on criminality and providing greater transparency on the wider “fit and proper” test that all applicants and licence holders must meet. When implemented, the changes would also update the list of relevant offences the SIA takes into consideration in licensing decisions.

Based on the feedback received from the consultation, SIA says it will finalise its recommendations and seek ministerial approval in the autumn of 2025.

— Accurate at time of publication | June 2025

HSE| A Northamptonshire-based flour company has been fined £300,000 after a maintenance worker severed one of his fingers in machinery.

The incident happened at ADM Milling Limited at its site on Earlstrees Industrial Estate in Corby on 28 June 2023.

David Wood, who was 59 at the time, had been carrying out maintenance work on a packer closing station. However, the 800-kilogram machine became unbalanced and tipped backwards, trapping his left hand. This resulted in the little finger on the hand being severed.

Investigating, the HSE found the company had failed to safely manage the risks of people performing maintenance at its factory.

ADM Milling Limited were required to fully assess the task that the injured person was assigned, to ensure that his health and safety was not put at risk.

ADM Milling Limited, of Brunel Road, Earlstrees Industrial Estate, Corby, Northamptonshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay £7,517 in costs.

— Accurate at time of publication | June 2025

U.S. Department of Labor | The U.S. Department of Labor has cited The Salvation Army after a 54-year-old maintenance worker suffered fatal injuries following a fall while working at an Orlando donation center and store in November 2024.

An investigation by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found the worker was repairing a roof leak when the fall occurred.

OSHA cited The Salvation Army for a repeat violation of exposing workers to fall hazards.

A similar citation was previously issued at the employer’s Princeton, West Virginia, location in January 2020.

— Accurate at time of publication | May 2025

Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development | Following a guilty plea in Provincial Offences Court, Hamilton, Janco Steel Ltd. has been fined $200,000 and ordered to pay a 25% victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act.

It follows an April 2022 incident which saw a worker being fatally struck by a large industrial forklift.

On the day of the incident, a worker employed by Janco Steel Ltd. was fatally struck by an industrial forklift being operated inside the plant.

The worker was operating an overhead crane, offloading a large steel coil from a transport truck to a weight scale.

While performing the task and looking up at the load, the worker walked backwards into an interior driveway where a large industrial forklift was travelling.

The operator of the forklift did not see the worker and could not see the area immediately in front of the coil being moved by the worker.

The forklift operator was driving two-to-three kilometers per hour and immediately stopped the forklift when another worker yelled, but the forklift had already fatally struck the operator of the overhead crane.

— Accurate at time of publication | May 2025

Security Industry Authority | A man found in possession of two forged SIA licences has pleaded guilty to fraud and been ordered to pay £2,600 in fines and costs.

Charles Ibikunle pleaded guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court to two counts of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006 in relation to a pair of forged SIA licences found in his possession.

The Metropolitan Police stopped Mr. Ibikunle while he was driving a vehicle, at which point they found the two licences which were later confirmed to be forged. The Metropolitan Police then referred this case to the SIA.

— Accurate at time of publication | May 2025

HSE | Two Shrewsbury-based companies have been fined after a worker fell through a roof during extension work on a house extension.

The injured man was one of several workers employed by Roofrite (Shropshire) Limited carrying out work on the roof of the property on 9 December 2022. The firm had been appointed by principal contractor Harding and Houlston Building Contractors Limited to install the roof on the property.

While working on the roof, the man accidently stepped in an area where there was an opening for a window that was yet to be installed, resulting in him falling through and to the ground below. He suffered fractures to his spine and ribs.

The HSE’s investigation found that external scaffold had been put into place around the perimeter of the extension to allow workers access to the roof. However, there were no measures in place internally to prevent falls into the extension and to the ground below.

The HSE investigation also found that Roofrite (Shropshire) Limited had failed to properly plan the work and to provide its workers with suitable instructions for carrying out their duties safely. Harding and Houlston Building Contractors Limited had also failed to ensure that the roof work had been properly planned, and failed to carry out any monitoring of the work that was being completed by the roofers on the site, which was under its control.

Roofrite (Shropshire) Limited of Atcham Business Park, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, pleaded guilty to breaching three charges of Regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and were fined £8,000 and order to pay costs of £2,990 at a hearing at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on 19 May 2025.

Harding and Houlston Building Contractors Limited of Emstrey House North, Shrewsbury Business Park, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and were fined £500 and order to pay costs of £2,990 at the same hearing.

— Accurate at time of publication | May 2025

Ofwat | Ofwat has announced the final decision in two investigations looking into the operations of Thames Water, who will face penalties totalling £122.7 million. These will be paid by the company and its investors, and not by customers.

In what it calls its biggest and most complex investigation, Ofwat has been looking into all wastewater companies’ operation, management, and maintenance of their sewage treatment works and sewerage networks.

As part of that investigation, in August 2024, Ofwat consulted on a proposal to impose a £104.5 million penalty on Thames Water, alongside an enforcement order which would require the company to take steps to ensure its compliance. Ofwat has now finalised both the penalty and enforcement order which have been imposed on the company.

Ofwat’s investigation into how the company was managing its treatment works and wider wastewater network uncovered failings that have amounted to a significant breach of the company’s legal obligations, which has caused an unacceptable impact on the environment and customers.

— Accurate at time of publication | May 2025

United States Environmental Protection Agency | The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalised a settlement with international chemical company BASF Corporation resolving its violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

BASF has certified that it is now in full compliance with federal reporting requirements and has agreed to pay a $700,000 penalty for the past violations.

The violations occurred at BASF’s U.S. headquarters in Florham Park, New Jersey, during the 2020 TSCA chemical reporting period.

— Accurate at time of publication | May 2025

Associated Foreign Press | A German court has convicted and handed prison sentences, some suspended, to four former Volkswagen managers over their part in the “dieselgate” emissions-cheating scandal.

The scandal has caused waves in the global car industry since September 2015, when Volkswagen admitted tampering with millions of diesel vehicles to dupe pollution tests.

Former VW executive Heinz-Jakob Neusser received a suspended jail term of one year and three months from the court in the city of Braunschweig.

The former head of drive electronics, named only as Hanno J., was given a sentence of two years and seven months.

The heaviest sentence of four years and six months was given to the former head of diesel motor development, Jens H., while the fourth defendant was given a suspended sentence of one year and 10 months.

The defendants can appeal against the rulings.

The separate trial of former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn remains suspended because of his ill health.

Volkswagen said in a statement that the “proceedings in the court in Braunschweig are against individuals” and that they had “no significant consequences for the cases before the civil courts that Volkswagen is involved in” related to the scandal.

— Accurate at time of publication | May 2025

HSE | A manufacturing company has been fined £20,000 after a worker lost part of his finger in machinery at its site in St Helens.

The man was injured at Film and Foil Solutions Ltd, which makes flexible film used in the food industry, on 4 December 2023. He was using a machine that converts and folds plastic film at the company’s site on Haydock Industrial Estate. He tried to stop the material becoming tangled by using his hand to stop the poorly guarded rotating shaft. However, in doing so, his right index finger made contact with a rotating part of the machine and became entangled.

He was taken to hospital and due to the seriousness of the injuries, surgery was carried out the following day to amputate part of the finger on his dominant right hand.

An investigation by the HSE found that Film and Foil Solutions Ltd failed to protect its employees, including ensuring the machinery being used to produce it had suitable guarding. The company had failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, resulting in a failure to provide suitable guarding arrangements on the machine and had failed to put in place an adequate safe system of work. It also revealed inconsistencies and inadequacies in the provision of information, instruction and training for those required to use the machine.

— Accurate at time of publication | May 2025

Security Industry Authority | A Birmingham man has been ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £612 after pleading guilty to knowingly making false statements to the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

Ahroon Alam submitted a fabricated character reference from a Birmingham food bank as part of his appeal against the SIA’s decision to refuse his application for a door supervisor licence due to his past criminality.

The SIA investigated the validity of this reference, speaking to multiple senior staff within the food bank who confirmed they did not know Mr. Alam and had not provided him with a reference.

— Accurate at time of publication | May 2025