Security Industry Authority | A security company has been fined £4,000 and must pay back more than £42,000 in proceeds of crime after it repeatedly deployed unlicensed security services to several high-profile sites across Scotland, contrary to the Fraud Act 2006.

Glasgow-based SPS Doorguard Ltd knowingly provided several clients with unlicensed security guards to protect properties, including one near the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021.

After an investigation by the Security Industry Authority (SIA), Glasgow Sheriff Court ruled that the company had received a criminal benefit of £42,039. This will now be seized using a court-issued confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Glasgow Sheriff Court fined the company £4,000 at the sentencing, which is in addition to the £42,039 to be seized. The company must also pay a £175 victim surcharge.

Nicola Bolton, Criminal Investigations Manager at the SIA, said: “An important part of keeping the public safe is ensuring that people working in the private security industry are properly licensed. By working illegally, SPS Doorguard Ltd profited significantly at the expense of those they were employed to protect. They are now facing the consequences.”

— Accurate at time of publication | January 2025

U.S. Department of Labor | A Chambersburg soap and detergent manufacturer faces $161,310 in federal penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation of a chemical gas release that sent a dozen workers to the hospital in July 2024.

The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) initiated an inspection after being notified by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and AFCO, the facility’s operator, about an incident involving a release of nitrogen dioxide gas. The release occurred when chemicals reacted during processing by AFCO employees.

A manufacturing subsidiary of Zep Inc., AFCO is based in Atlanta and specialises in producing and distributing maintenance, cleaning, and sanitation solutions.

OSHA inspectors determined the company had taken no action to assess the impact of the release immediately and did not swiftly evacuate workers from the building as a precaution. Inspectors discovered that workers were exposed to nitrogen dioxide gas levels exceeding the chemical’s ceiling limit, resulting in 12 employees being evaluated at a local hospital, with two of them requiring hospitalisation.

Additionally, inspectors determined that the company had no emergency response plan in place, and that its respiratory protection and hazard communication programmes failed to meet federal requirements. OSHA has cited AFCO for one repeat violation, and nine serious and two other-than-serious violations.

Since 2022, OSHA has cited Zep for four serious violations for its failures to protect employees at its Emerson, Georgia, facility from hazardous chemicals.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

— Accurate at time of publication | January 2025

Environment Agency | A Weston-super-Mare company boss blamed a sacked employee for pollution that killed more than 300 fish in the River Banwell.

However, the company, Brooke Additives Ltd of the Rolston Farm Business Park, Weston-super-Mare has now been fined £3,600 after admitting a charge relating to the pollution incident in April 2023. The company was also ordered to pay costs and a victim surcharge totalling £5,119.18 for its breach of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

In a case brought by the Environment Agency, Exeter magistrates heard that officers went to Silver Moor Lane after a member of staff reported seeing dead fish on the River Banwell. Tests showed high levels of ammonia and the dark colour of water in a rhyne, entering the river and staining of riverbed vegetation, showed the pollution had been entering the water for some time.

More dead fish were seen downstream and, after following the rhyne, the officers found a pipe discharging a clear liquid directly into the watercourse. A test at this point showed very high levels of ammonia and calcification in the pipe, indicating the liquid had been discharging over a considerable period.

The pipe was traced to Brooke Additives Ltd, which produces AdBlue, a urea-based fuel additive. Agency officers spoke to company staff and to limit further pollution a soil bund was created. Brooke Additives director Glyn Brooke blamed a sacked former employee for the pollution.

The Environment Agency’s investigation found 345 dead fish with environmental damage stretching over a two-kilometre length of watercourse.

During a later interview, Mr. Brooke and fellow director Mark Heuff said the company accepted responsibility for the pollution but maintained it had been caused by a sacked former employee. They said staff had seen this person pouring liquid down a drain, which was not company procedure. However, the Environment Agency showed that the pollution continued for two months after the alleged sacking.

Following the incident the company also took further remedial action, including diverting site drains to a newly built sump, installing CCTV, and providing staff training.

— Accurate at time of publication | January 2025

HSE | A company that produces stone products and its director have been fined a total of just under £20,000 after repeatedly failing to protect workers from exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS).

The HSE carried out several inspections on Warmsworth Stone Limited, which produces carved stone masonry products using limestone, sandstone, granite and marble, at the company’s site at Knabs Hill Farm on Clayton lane in Thurnscoe, starting in May 2023.

Following these inspections, the company was served with seven improvement notices, which covered several failures including exposure to stone dust, control of legionella bacteria and inadequate welfare facilities.

When HSE inspectors returned in September 2023, five of the improvement notices had still not been complied with – despite the company being given an extension to do so following another visit in August.

According to the HSE, the company had shown reckless disregard of several health and safety issues including the assessment and control of respirable dust, and the company’s standard of health and safety management was far below what is required by health and safety law, leading to HSE’s proactive prosecution for failure to control the exposure of workers to RCS.

Stone workers are at risk of exposure to airborne particles of stone dust containing RCS when processing stone, by cutting, chiselling and polishing. Over time, breathing in these silica particles can cause irreversible, life-changing and often fatal respiratory conditions such as silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.

Warmsworth Stone Limited of 1-3 Sheffield Road, Warmsworth, Doncaster, South Yorkshire pleaded guilty to breaching section 21 of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 by failing to comply with an Improvement Notice, breaching Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 by failing to adequately control employee exposure to a substance hazardous to health namely RCS and breaching Regulation 9(2)(a) the same Regulations by failing to have local exhaust ventilation subject to a thorough examination and test at least every 14 months.

They were fined £18,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,064.

Director Simon Jonathan Frith pleaded guilty to being a director of a company that had breached Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 by failing to adequately control employee exposure to a substance hazardous to health namely RCS and breaching Regulation 9(2)(a) of the same Regulations by failing to have local exhaust ventilation subject to a thorough examination and test at least every 14 months, those offences being committed with his consent, connivance or neglect.

He was fined £1,062 and ordered to pay costs of £3,782.

After the hearing the HSE inspector Charlotte Bligh said: “The company management responsible for health and safety were neither informed nor competent enough to carry out their role under the law.

“Over time, the basic measures to secure the health of all on site had not been taken, there had been no attempt to assess health risks and existing control measures had not been properly maintained.

“The company failed to take the initiative in health and safety matters and seek guidance, instruction and competent advice on implementation and communication of those measures necessary to control the risks at the site.

“The provision of suitable protection for worker’s health is a basic requirement that this company has failed to meet. HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate action against those that fail to comply with the requirements of enforcement notices.”

— Accurate at time of publication | January 2025

Channel News Asia | Members of parliament have spoken in favour of a workplace anti-discrimination law, but called for groups such as platform workers and those with less visible disabilities to also be protected.

Manpower Minister Tan See Leng tabled the Workplace Fairness Bill in November 2024, and it has now been presented in parliament for a second reading.

He said that while Ministry of Manpower (MOM) surveys have shown declining workplace discrimination over the years, this should not be taken for granted.

This is the first of two Bills on workplace fairness. A second Bill on how private employment claims can be made for workplace discrimination will be tabled later.

If passed, the legislation will be implemented sometime in 2026 or 2027.

For now, the Bill covers five categories of protected characteristics where there is “broad societal consensus.” Together, they account for more than 95% of discrimination complaints received by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) and MOM.

These include:

•  Age and nationality, the top two causes of discrimination reported

•  Sex, marital status, pregnancy and caregiving responsibilities

•  The characteristics of race, religion, and language ability

•  Disabilities and mental health conditions.

Some have called for the broadening of the definition of disability in the Bill, which now covers autism, intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities, and sensory disabilities. This excludes individuals with learning disabilities like dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, and conditions like cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.

Meanwhile, others have said outsourced workers and freelancers, including platform workers, may be an underserved segment of workers.

Although sexual orientation and gender identity or expression are not explicitly covered, any employer who runs afoul of the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP) should be investigated and can have enforcement actions taken against them.

MPs on both sides of the House also highlighted that the Bill does not mandate reasonable accommodation for those with disabilities (PWDs).

Reasonable accommodation refers to necessary and appropriate modifications or adjustments provided to people with disabilities at all stages of employment. For example, an employer may provide ramps for wheelchair users or assistive technologies such as screen readers for the visually impaired.

Calls were made that, if immediate legislation for reasonable accommodation is not feasible, a clear road map aiming for full implementation by 2030 should be established.

— Accurate at time of publication | January 2025

A fire that left many South Koreans in a panic about the reliability of electric vehicles has prompted the country to take unprecedented measures to assuage public fears over battery safety. 

Earlier in 2024, an unplugged Mercedes-Benz electric sedan caught fire and exploded, destroying an underground car park in Incheon, west of Seoul. The blaze left more than 200 families homeless for weeks and took firefighters more than eight hours to extinguish.

The incident quickly soured public perception of battery-powered cars, with most of the news coverage and posts on social media focused around the risk of EV fires and South Korea’s lack of safety regulations. Discussions among car manufacturers and lawmakers followed, leading the government to announce an overhaul of EV policies in early September.

The new set of regulations included mandating carmakers disclose the brands of their batteries, expanding the scope of safety inspections for existing EVs and preventing vehicles from being fully charged.

The government has also directly stepped in to ensure the safety of batteries via a state-run certification system. The pilot project has been running since mid-October with five companies taking part.

The project is aimed at improving EV safety by having the government examine and certify the safety of EV batteries before installation. Before the initiative, EVs were sold in South Korea without any third-party safety tests. Under the new system, state-run agencies like the Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute will put batteries through their paces before installation, ensuring they meet government-backed safety certification standards.

The government is also mandating carmakers and cell manufacturers disclose more details about their batteries. Previously, companies only shared the capacity and maximum output of a battery. Now, they’re required to specify the battery type (prismatic, pouch or cylindrical) and the raw materials used.

Officials say the pilot should provide consumers with significantly more information when purchasing an EV. Its full implementation is expected from February.

New buildings are also now required to feature enhanced fire monitoring systems and use more fire-resistant materials. Smaller fire trucks will be deployed nationwide, starting next year, so that they can enter underground lots. These measures are especially critical since most Koreans live in high-density flats, where a large number of charging stations are located in underground garages.

The government has pledged to work with its EV safety task force team through the end of the year to develop further measures to mitigate fire risks.

South Korea Morning Post
Accurate at time of publication | November 2024 

Spain’s government has approved a “paid climate leave” of up to four days for workers to avoid travelling during weather emergencies, a month after floods killed 230 people. 

Several companies came under fire after the October 2024 catastrophe for ordering employees to keep working despite a red alert issued by the national weather agency.

The firms said the authorities failed to inform them sufficiently and sent telephone alerts too late during the European country’s deadliest floods in decades.

The new measure aims to “regulate in accordance with the climate emergency” so that “no worker must run risks,” Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz told public broadcaster RTVE.

If emergency authorities raise the alarm about a risk, “the worker must refrain from going to work,” said Díaz.

Employees can resort to a reduced working day beyond the four-day period, a mechanism that already exists for emergencies, the government said.

Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo warned the cost of extreme weather events could double by 2050 as the government confirmed €2.3 billion of fresh aid for flood victims.

Scientists say climate change driven by human activity is fuelling the increased length, frequency, and ferocity of natural disasters.

Associated Foreign Press
Accurate at time of publication | November 2024 

Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Woodstock, Saputo Products Laitiers Canada S.E.N.C./Saputo Dairy Products Canada GP (Saputo) has been fined $79,500 and ordered to pay a 25% victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act due to a June 2023 incident which saw a worker being critically injured while attempting to clean waste cheese particles out of a groove in a conveyor drive roller. 

The court heard that, on 4 June 2023, a worker was cleaning and sanitizing the equipment used to process and package various cheese products.

The fixed-in-place guards, designed to prevent worker access to in-running nip hazards, were removed from a conveyor to allow the worker access to all parts of the machine for cleaning.

While attempting to clean waste cheese particles that were stuck in the groove of a conveyor drive roller, the worker was critically injured. The conveyor had been running while the worker was cleaning it.

A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation found that worker would not have been injured had the conveyor been equipped with a guard to protect the worker from accessing the in-running nip hazard.

Saputo failed, as an employer, to ensure the measures and procedures prescribed by section 25 of the Regulation for Industrial Establishments were carried out in the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
Accurate at time of publication | November 2024 

Two companies have been fined more than £100,000 after a man fell 30 feet through a fragile skylight as he was working on a roof.

Nicolas Vilela suffered multiple injuries in the incident at Graystone Action Sports Centre, on Brunel Avenue in Salford on 23 November 2022.

Now 43, Mr Vilela had been fixing a solar panel into position on the roof when he took a step back and fell through one of the skylights to the skate park below, narrowly missing several people. His horrific injuries included a partial lung collapse, broken ribs, pelvis, femur and left wrist as well as fractures to lower vertebrae. He spent a month in hospital.

The HSE’s investigation found that H2O Renewables Limited (H2O) were the principal contractor engaged for work to install solar panels to the roof of the indoor skate park and had engaged Green Projects Ltd (GPL) as sub-contractor to fit the roof mounted system. H2O planned the work during which time they were aware of multiple fragile rooflights in close proximity to where the solar panels would be fitted.

The risk assessment produced by H2O stated cones and warning tape would be used as a control measure to warn operatives of the risk of falling through the fragile roof lights, and fixed scaffolding would be used to prevent risk of falls from the perimeter of the roof. By the time the work started on 22 November 2022, the fixed scaffold had only partially been erected, and only the cones had been placed next to the skylights.

Despite the insufficient control measures being present to mitigate the risks from work at height, GPL’s operatives were allowed to start work to fit the solar panels.

The investigation also found that H2O Renewables Limited and Green Projects Ltd, had failed to take suitable and sufficient precautions to ensure the safety of workers on the roof. Both companies had also failed to put in place a safe system of work for the installation of solar panels that were to be fitted in close proximity to many of the fragile roof lights present.

H2O Renewables Limited of Hazel Grove, Stockport, pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. They were fined £106,720 and ordered to pay £40,995 costs.

At the same hearing, Green Projects Ltd of Albert Street, Oldham, pleaded guilty to breaching regulations 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. They were fined £13,340 and ordered to pay £1,600 costs.

Speaking as the companies were fined, Mr Vilela said the incident had affected him both physically and emotionally: “It has had an overwhelming and complicated impact on my life, having, until then, been a very active, dynamic person”

“A fall from a height of 10 metres is not something you survive. I broke my femur, pelvis, wrist, vertebrae and ribs. A lot worse could have happened but I am grateful for the fact that I am alive and can walk, but I will live with this trauma for the rest of my life.

“I have developed a fear of heights and a fear of any physical activity that could cause me harm. I am also really worried about how my body will respond in old age as a result of these injuries.

“I am unable to walk for more than a kilometre without feeling pain and getting very tired due to the loss of strength and mobility in my leg. My pelvic fracture impedes me from doing any heavy lifting and I live in fear of damaging it even more.”

After the hearing, HSE inspector Phil Redman said: “This was a very serious incident that Mr Vilela was extremely lucky to survive. A fall from this distance frequently results in life-changing injuries or death.

“It is a timely reminder that all work at height activities must be suitably planned, managed and monitored using a safe system of work.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Kate Harney and paralegal officer Rebecca Withell.

HSE
Accurate at time of publication | December 2024 

A Co. Antrim company has been fined a total of £2,000 at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court for breaches of packaging waste legislation. 

Galgorm Group of 7 Corbally Road, Ballymena pleaded guilty to the offences.

Galgorm Group pleaded guilty to two charges under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007, namely failure to purchase required number of Packaging Recovery Notes by the 31 January 2023 deadline, and failure to submit a Certificate of Compliance in relation to the 2022 compliance year.

The company was fined £1,000 in respect of each charge and an offenders levy.

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency contacted the company on numerous occasions reminding them they were required to purchase Packaging Recovery notes as a producer of packaging in 2022.

The company failed to purchase the appropriate recycling and recovery evidence for that year.

The company also failed to submit the required Certificate of Compliance to the Agency.

Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
Accurate at time of publication | November 2024 

The Ontario government has introduced the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024, which would build on the previous five Working for Workers acts with a suite of proposed measures to protect the health and wellbeing of workers, bring more people into the skilled trades, and keep costs down for Ontario workers. 

In addition to previously announced proposed measures, including creating a new parental leave and long-term illness leave, expanded cancer coverage for firefighters, and WSIB changes that will give more money back to Ontario workers and businesses, this package would support workplace safety by cracking down on bad actor employers, with mandatory minimum fines of $500,000 for corporations convicted of repeated offences within a two-year period under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The government is also proposing to expand existing roadside safety laws under the Highway Traffic Act to require motorists to slow down and move over for roadworkers, such as highway maintenance workers.

The proposed sixth Working for Workers Act and its related regulatory changes, if passed, would:

• Enhance safety for roadside workers by expanding existing requirements for drivers to slow down and move over when passing emergency vehicles and tow trucks under the Highway Traffic Act to also include prescribed work-related vehicles at roadside with flashing amber lights activated (excluding construction zones with posted speed limits).
• Support the safety and wellbeing of workers and their families by:
  • Creating a new parental leave for parents through adoption and surrogacy so people never have to choose between being a worker or a parent.
  • Creating a new 27-week job-protected long-term illness leave for workers with a serious medical condition which would be one of the longest provincial leaves in Canada.
  • Requiring properly-fitting PPE for women in all sectors to bring more women into the trades.
• Improve cancer coverage for firefighters, investigators, and volunteers by removing the requirement that a firefighter’s primary-site colorectal diagnosis must be made before the age of 61, and lowering the required duration of service for primary-site kidney cancer from 20 to 10 years, the lowest duration of service in Canada.
• Grow Ontario’s workforce by investing up to $1.4 billion through the Skills Development Fund to train over 1 million workers in every corner of the province, and attract more health care workers to Ontario by expanding immigration pathways for qualified health care workers.
• Keep costs down for workers and businesses by giving back over $2.5 billion through rebating WSIB surpluses to hundreds of thousands of safe employers, reducing business premium rates to the lowest average level in half a century, and putting more money back into workers’ pockets by waiving the fee for apprentices taking their first Certificate of Qualification exam.
• Honour workers by celebrating the contributions of the “Golden Generation of Skilled Tradespeople” who built the province into what it is today, and who are passing on their wisdom and expertise to the next generation of workers to shape Ontario’s future, by creating a new Skilled Trades Week during the first week of November.
• Crack down on bad actors that exploit newcomers and harm workers by introducing new standards, fines, and lifetime bans for fraudulent immigration representatives that exploit newcomers.

The proposed Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 builds on the actions across five previous Working for Workers Acts since 2021 to grow Ontario’s workforce, keep costs down for workers and businesses, and support the wellbeing of workers and their families.

Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
Accurate at time of publication | November 2024 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have announced a settlement with BCP Ingredients Inc. to resolve alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act at its Verona, Missouri, facility. 

According to EPA, the company had a release of ethylene oxide (EtO), a toxic and flammable substance, and failed to comply with regulations intended to protect workers and the surrounding community and the environment from chemical releases.

BCP manufactures choline chloride, which is an animal feed additive and requires EtO in its manufacturing process. It also repackages EtO for other users.

Pursuant to the settlement, the company has agreed to:

• Pay a $300,000 civil penalty.
• Invest in a state-of-the-art scrubber system that is estimated to remove up to 16,550 pounds of additional EtO air emissions over its useful life.
• Spend $350,000 to implement projects benefiting the surrounding community, including providing:
  • Emergency equipment for the Verona Fire Department.
  • Two vehicles to be used as mobile health clinics.
  • Localised medical services through the Cox Health Foundation to communities at or near the facility, including the cities of Verona, Aurora, and Monett, and Barry and Lawrence counties in Missouri.

Ethylene oxide (EtO) is a hazardous air pollutant that is associated with potential health risks for acute and long-term exposure, including increased risk of certain cancers.

EPA conducted an inspection in June 2022, after an EtO release at the facility in April 2022. EPA determined that BCP violated the Clean Air Act by:

• Failing to develop operating procedures and conduct hazard analyses for preventing and/or responding to accidental releases of EtO.
• Failing to fix malfunctioning EtO alarms, which allowed the April 2022 EtO release to continue for over seven hours.
• Failing to conduct required audits of the facility’s compliance with the Clean Air Act and correct deficiencies identified in prior audits.
• Failing to conduct annual coordination with emergency responders.
• Failing to have written safety information for the facility’s ventilation system.
• Failing to update the facility’s Risk Management Plan every five years.

BCP agreed to enter into a compliance order with EPA in September 2022 to address these alleged violations and return the facility to compliance. EPA says that BCP has met all the requirements of the compliance order.

The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.

United States Environmental Protection Agency
Accurate at time of publication | December 2024