Government of Western Australia | Alcoa of Australia Limited has been fined $400,000 and ordered to pay costs of $5,536.70 after workers received burns from an uncontrolled release of caustic solution at the company’s Kwinana alumina refinery.

The group of people affected by the September 2022 incident included school students on a work experience placement at the site.

Alcoa pleaded guilty in the Rockingham Magistrate’s Court for failing to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers under the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA).

On the day of the incident, a contract worker noticed a burning smell and found a pump that was emitting smoke and debris. The contract worker notified his shift supervisor who attended the scene with other workers.

The shift supervisor checked with the refinery’s control room to see if they could bring another pump online to replace the damaged pump. A control room operator advised the supervisor they would need to change the pump within a short time frame due to potential production consequences.

The shift supervisor was aware the pump could explode if pressure built up.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

FIA | A holiday letting agency in Cornwall has pleaded guilty to serious fire safety breaches following failings at one of its rental properties in St Ives.

Gill (St Ives) Holiday Enterprises, operating from Beach House in St Ives, admitted the offences at Bodmin Law Courts on 11 March 2025. The charges relate to its Premier Apartments on Wharf Road, where inspections uncovered a series of safety violations that placed guests at risk of death or serious injury in the event of a fire.

The court heard that, on or before 17 October 2023, the company failed to take general fire precautions required under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Fire doors were not up to the 30-minute resistance standard, and many lacked self-closing devices, intumescent strips and seals. Emergency lighting and escape signage were inadequate, final exit doors had key locks, and electrical boards on escape routes were not fire compartmentalised. Critically, no suitable or sufficient fire risk assessment had been carried out.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

United States Environmental Protection Agency | The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have announced that U.S. District Court Judge Mark A. Goldsmith for the Eastern District of Michigan accepted Hino Motors, Ltd.’s guilty plea to a one-count criminal information charging it with having engaged in a multi-year criminal conspiracy to defraud both the United States Government and American consumers and illicitly smuggle goods into the country.

Judge Goldsmith also sentenced Hino Motors, Ltd., a Toyota subsidiary, to pay a criminal fine of $521.76 million, serve a five-year term of probation, during which it is prohibited from importing any diesel engines it has manufactured into the United States, and implement a comprehensive compliance and ethics programme and reporting structure. The court also entered a $1.087 billion forfeiture money judgment against the company.

According to court records, between 2010 and 2019, Hino Motors, Ltd. engineers submitted, and caused to be submitted, false applications for engine certification approvals in violation of the federal Clean Air Act.

Hino Motors, Ltd. engineers regularly altered emission test data, conducted tests improperly, and fabricated data without conducting any underlying tests. The engineers also submitted fraudulent carbon dioxide emissions test data, which resulted in false fuel consumption values being calculated for its engines, and failed to disclose software functions that could adversely affect engines’ emission control systems.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

HSE | A company and its operations manager have both been fined after a man fell to his death through a roof at its site in Dudley.

Maciej Rozanski, who was 42, had been working to remove a redundant steel cleaning machine from the company’s Sovereign Works site on Deepdale Lane, on 29 June 2018. However, during the work, Mr Rozanski stepped onto a fragile roof and fell more than 20 feet to the floor below. He suffered serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Surface Technik (Old Hill) Limited, which is now in liquidation, was found guilty following a trial, while Robert Hammond had already entered a guilty plea, but disputed he was responsible for health and safety at the site.

The prosecution was brought following an investigation by the HSE, which found that the company began the work to remove the machinery in December 2017 and that project was led by Robert Hammond. The steel cleaning machine was housed in a corrugated steel tower on the side of the main production building which required partial dismantling in order to remove the machine. On the day of the incident, Mr Rozanski and another employee were tasked with the dismantling works. Once at the top of the tower they used an angle grinder to remove bolts holding the corrugated steel plates in place. It was during this activity that Mr Rozanski fell to his death.

There was no suitable and sufficient risk assessment made for the work at height activities. The work to remove corrugated steel sheets from the disused tower was carried out at height, near to a fragile roof surface without suitable access equipment or safe working practices. The work was not properly organised, planned, appropriately supervised or carried out in a safe manner and the employees were not trained for working at height when the incident occurred.

Surface Technik (Old Hill) Limited formerly of Deepdale Lane, Dudley was found guilty by a jury of a breach of Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and fined £90,000 with costs £28,956.

Robert Hammond of Sutton Coldfield accepted that he did not take reasonable care for the health and safety of both employees when he pleaded guilty to breaching Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Mr Hammond was fined £8,500 and pay the same amount in costs.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

FSM | A company director has been prosecuted after pleading guilty to significant breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Ms Yuting Zhuo was successfully prosecuted by the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service for breaching six charges under the Fire Safety Order.

Zhuo was company director of the Dragon and Peacock Chinese takeaway restaurant in Burgess Hill at the time the premises experienced a fire, caused by a faulty electrical supply, back in September 2023.

Four people were led to safety by firefighters after a member of the public made the 999 call. The rear of the building was significantly damaged.

At the hearing, it was established that Zhuo’s failings had led to an increased risk of death and serious injury to those residing at the premises. It was also unanimously agreed that those inside the building were fortunate that a member of the public notified West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service of the incident.

Zhuo was ordered to pay a total of £9,157.37, including prosecution costs and a victim surcharge.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

Government of Western Australia | Western Power has been fined $220,000 for the unsafe supply of electricity to a house in Wundowie, north-east of Perth, where two nearby residents received electric shocks and “the entire neighbourhood was at risk,” according to a magistrate.

At Perth Magistrates Court, the network operator pleaded guilty to two offences under WA’s Electricity Regulations 1947 following prosecution by Building and Energy.

The penalty is the largest fine against Western Power under laws that prohibit a network operator from supplying electricity to a premises without ensuring it is safe to do so. It follows seven prior convictions against Western Power for the same type of offence.

The court was told that in November 2022, two Western Power workers attended the Wundowie property where a private electrical contractor had installed a new consumer power pole. One Western Power worker noticed the newly installed meter had incorrect wiring, with the active and neutral conductors transposed, but did not take any action.

The court was told that shortly after the Western Power workers reconnected the electricity supply to the original property, two residents of a nearby home received electric shocks in their shower. Fortunately, they were not seriously injured.

Evidence presented in court also showed Western Power failed to follow a procedure that requires the electrical contractor to complete a temporary disconnection tag or notice of completion, which declares the electrical work has been checked and tested for safety and compliance.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

Southwark Council | Southwark Council has prosecuted the owners of Spice N Nice bakery for breaching health and safety regulations.

The case was heard at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on 3 March 2025, culminating in the defendants, Mark Scott and Dezrene Judith Clarke, pleading guilty to breaches to the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The court imposed fines of £1,200 each, along with a £480 legal surcharge and £1,500 in costs. The prosecution resulted from a series of inspections that uncovered serious safety concerns at the bakery, located at 8A Coldharbour Lane, Camberwell, London.

The council’s environmental health team visited the bakery on 9 July 2024 following a referral from the council’s Food Safety Team regarding an unsafe cooking appliance and dangerous electrics. The investigation revealed the use of a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) cooking appliance inside the bakery, along with large amounts of stored bottled gas, which did not comply with safety standards. The owners had previously been instructed to stop using the equipment by another council enforcement officers 18 months earlier.

Concerns were raised about the unsafe gas cooking appliance which posed a fire and explosion risk, endangering both customers and the residents living in the accommodation above the bakery.

Additionally, the council identified dangerous electrical sockets that could pose a significant hazard to staff and patrons. Despite previous warnings, the proprietors failed to take corrective action to make the premises safe, leading to legal proceedings by the council.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

Canadian Occupational Safety
| Metals and mining corporation Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. has been fined a total of $710,488.79 after two workers were hurt at the company’s facility.

Both incidents happened at the firm’s smelter worksite in Kitimat. WorkSafeBC responded to both incidents.

In the first incident, a subcontracted worker received an electrical shock injury from an energised conductor on an electrical power distribution system.

WorkSafeBC found that there were inadequate controls in place to warn workers of and protect them from the electrical hazard.

In the second incident, a subcontracted worker was injured when they made contact with a rotary valve on a dust collector.

Rio Tinto also failed to ensure machinery was effectively safeguarded, and to ensure no work was done until the machinery was locked. These were all high-risk violations.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

HSE | A hydraulics company, with locations throughout the UK, has been fined after an employee became trapped in a machine that he was working on at a customer’s premises in Plymouth.

David Lawrence, a 63-year-old engineer, was undertaking fault finding on a laser cutting machine for Pearson Hydraulics Ltd, on 26 July 2023, when the cutting bed of the machine dropped and trapped both of his legs. After spending five weeks in hospital, Mr Lawrence had to have his right leg amputated above the knee. Despite extensive surgery to save his left leg, Mr Lawrence faces the possibility of having it amputated in the future.

The HSE’s investigation found that Pearson Hydraulics Ltd did not have a safe system of work in place for maintenance activities carried out by its engineers at its customer’s premises. It failed to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the work to be undertaken by Mr Lawrence and there had been a total failure to monitor and supervise his work. The investigation also identified that Mr Lawrence had not been adequately trained by his employer and that his knowledge of hydraulic systems on laser cutting machinery was inadequate, preventing him from carrying out the work safely.

Pearson Hydraulics Ltd of Electric Avenue, Witham St Hughes, Lincoln pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £96,333 and ordered to pay £10,701 in costs.

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Andrew Siddall and paralegal officer Imogen Isaac with counsel Alan Fuller.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

Insurance Journal | James G. Walker of Washington, D.C. has been found guilty on two counts of second-degree murder, and 27 criminal building code violations, for the deaths of two tenants who were unable to exit when his building erupted in flames.

According to prosecutors, on the morning of 18 August 2019, a fire erupted in the basement of 708 Kennedy Street. Two tenants, 40-year-old Fitsum Kebede and 10-year-old Yafet Solomen, were in the basement and were unable to exit the premises. They subsequently died from thermal burns and smoke inhalation.

The District of Columbia government’s evidence was that Walker’s knowledge of the danger posed by the conditions of the property and his conscious disregard of the extreme risk that death or serious bodily injury could occur were the but-for cause of the two deaths.

According to the government’s evidence, Walker was the owner of the Kennedy Street commercial property, but he did not have a certificate of occupancy for the building and the structure was in violation of several fire safety codes. Prosecutors said Walker operated the building as an illegal “rooming house.”

Officials told the court that Walker had received specific warnings on 21 March 2019, from the Metropolitan Police Department that the building was in violation of several building codes specifically related to fire safety and hazardous conditions. He was instructed to correct the conditions and have the building inspected for residential use. He did not, prosecutors said.

The case was heard in Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The case was jointly tried by the offices of U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and D.C. Attorney General Attorney Brian L. Schwalb.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

HSE | A.I.M Access Solutions Ltd has been fined £30,000 for failing to assemble safe scaffolding following an investigation by the HSE.

The HSE investigation was prompted after the regulator was notified of the death of A.I.M Access Solutions Ltd employee Robert Duffy. The 45-year-old passed away in hospital on 23 May 2021, three days after sustaining serious injuries while working at the site on Rice Hey Road.

The prosecution of A.I.M Access Solutions Ltd, of Manorside Gores Road, Knowsley Industrial Park, Kirkby, was not brought on the grounds that the incident was causative of Mr Duffy’s death.

The firm pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It was fined £30,800 and ordered to pay £5,040.75 in costs.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025

WorkSafe New Zealand | A forestry subcontractor was failed by poor risk management from the two businesses above him, both of which have been sentenced for their inaction.

Misha Tremel, 39, was killed while manually felling trees on a small block at Clevedon in June 2022. The qualified tree feller had been brought in by Turoa Logging Limited, which was harvesting 7,800 tonnes of pine on behalf of the forest managers Pulley Contracting Limited.

The trees being manually cut by Mr. Tremel were windthrown, meaning they had been bent and damaged by wind. WorkSafe and the forestry industry strongly recommend that such trees are harvested using machines.

Turoa Logging Limited and Pulley Contracting Limited were sentenced at Manukau District Court where both were ordered to pay a combined total of $335,680 in fines and reparation for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

Forestry had the highest fatality rate of any sector in 2024, with 16.58 deaths per 100,000 workers.

Under its new strategy, WorkSafe is turning about 15% of its targeted frontline activity to the forestry sector because of the high rate of harm, particularly for Maōri.

— Accurate at time of publication | March 2025