(United States)

The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment in federal court requiring a Peoria dentist to pay $20,000 in back wages for unlawfully terminating a dental assistant who complained about the risk of coronavirus infection, refused a work assignment they believed to be a risk for contracting coronavirus, and discussed workplace safety issues with coworkers.

Judge James E. Shadid of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois entered a consent judgment that requires Dr. Monzer K. Al-Dadah LLC and Dr. Al-Dadah to pay the former dental assistant back wages, provide a neutral employment recommendation and remove any references from employment records relating to the reason for their separation.

OSHA investigators determined that, when Dr. Al-Dadah learned someone had filed a safety complaint with the agency in March 2020, he tried to identify who made the accusation to OSHA and then terminated the dental assistant, who was an employee for more than 20 years. The dental assistant then filed an OSHA complaint alleging the retaliation.

Federal law protects the rights of employees who refuse to perform work assignments when they have reasonable concerns of serious injury or death. Federal law also protects employees’ rights to make internal and external safety and health complaints.

After OSHA determined that the employer violated the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the department’s Office of the Solicitor in Chicago filed suit in April 2022.

This is valid as of 21st August 2023.

Following a prosecution by the Environment Agency, United Utilities Water Limited have been fined a total of £800,000 at Warrington Magistrates Court after illegally abstracting 22 billion litres of water from boreholes in Lancashire, enough to fill 8,800 Olympic swimming pools.

The over abstraction caused additional stress on the environment during a period of very dry weather in 2018 and led to a significant decline in the water level available in the Fylde Aquifer.

The aquifer, an underground water storage area, which helps to support healthy river flows and is an important public water source, will take years to recover.

The case was brought after an investigation by the Environment Agency revealed that United Utilities had taken more water than allowed by five of their abstraction licences in the in the Franklaw and Broughton Borehole Complex.

Carol Holt, Environment Agency Area Director for Lancashire said: “Our priority is to ensure clean and plentiful water for people, the economy and the environment in England and we welcome the sentencing which exposes unacceptable practices from United Utilities Water Limited over a prolonged period of time.

“While water companies are allowed to abstract water from the environment, over abstraction, especially during times of prolonged dry weather, has damaging impacts to our environment. Our actions as regulator have led to the sentencing and we will continue to strive for a better water sector across the country to protect our precious water supplies now, and for the future.”

This is valid as of 21st August 2023.

Network Rail has been fined £1.2m following the death of a grandad who was crushed while carrying out maintenance work.

Long-serving employee Kevin Mauger was crushed by a railway track weighing six tons while working at a rail depot in Hampshire.

The 53-year-old from Eastleigh, had five children and eight grandchildren. His wife Rachael says her husband was the core of their family and that his death has left ‘a hole that can never be filled’.

He had been carrying out maintenance on Network Rail’s rail production line at the Long Welded Rail Depot off Dutton Lane in Eastleigh on 30 November 2020.

As he was cleaning the inside of a butt-welding machine – a machine that welds two sections of rail tracks together. The machine’s conveyor system was on the wrong setting and that meant a section of rail track entered the machine while Kevin was inside. He was crushed and died at the scene.

Investigating, the HSE found Network Rail failed to ensure there was a safe system of work while carrying out maintenance on its rail production line. Network Rail also failed to provide an adequate risk assessment for this type of maintenance.

Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, of Waterloo, London, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £1.2million and ordered to pay £11,410 in costs at West Hampshire Magistrates’ Court in a written judgement given on 8 August 2023.

HSE inspector Amanda Huff said: “This tragic accident was wholly avoidable, caused by the failure of the company to implement safe systems of work.

“There were no written isolation procedures in place when they were working on this highly dangerous piece of machinery and the risk assessment for carrying out maintenance was inadequate – it failed to identify suitable and sufficient control measures.

“This accident could have been avoided if there had been robust isolation procedures in place but tragically this was not the case.”

This is valid as of 16th August 2023.

(United States)

Mewbourne Oil Company (Mewbourne) has agreed to pay a $5.5 million penalty and undertake projects expected to cost at least $4.6 million to ensure 422 of its oil and gas well pads in New Mexico and Texas comply with state and federal clean air regulations and offset past illegal emissions.

These terms are in settlement of claims alleged in a civil complaint, filed jointly by the United States, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), which alleges that, at more than 100 of its oil and gas production operations in New Mexico and Texas, Mewbourne:

• Failed to obtain required state and federal permits.
• Failed to capture and control air emissions from storage vessels.
• Failed to comply with inspection, monitoring and recordkeeping requirements.

EPA and NMED identified the alleged violations through field investigations and repeated flyover surveillance conducted in 2019, 2020, and 2022. Mewbourne’s actions taken pursuant to the deal will eliminate more than 11,000 tonnes of harmful pollutants from the air each year.

In addition to paying a $5.5 million fine, to be shared equally by the United States and the State of New Mexico, the consent decree, filed together with the complaint, requires the company to take numerous steps to ensure that 422 well pads covered by the Decree and located in New Mexico and Texas are operated lawfully. New Mexico’s portion of the fines will be sent to the State of New Mexico’s general fund.

Mewbourne will spend at least $3.6 million to implement extensive design, operation, maintenance, and monitoring improvements, including installing new tank pressure monitoring systems that will provide advance notification of potential emissions and allow for immediate response action by the company.

Mewbourne’s compliance with the consent decree will result in annual reductions of more than 9,900 tonnes of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 1,300 tonnes of methane. In addition, as a co-benefit of these reductions, the consent decree will result in significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, including reducing methane.

Mewbourne will also spend at least $1 million to offset the harm caused by the alleged violations by replacing over 2,000 pollutant-emitting pneumatic devices with non-emitting devices on an accelerated schedule. This offset project will reduce VOC emissions over 15 years by approximately 4,500 tonnes beyond that required by existing regulation.

This is valid as of 16th August 2023.

(Ireland)

An agricultural contractor has been fined €30,000 for breaches of health and safety legislation.

The contractor pleaded guilty to the following offences under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and Construction Regulations 2013:

• Section 12 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 as it relates to Section 77 (9) (a) in that the contractor failed to manage and conduct work activities in such a way as to ensure the safety of individuals at the place of work, not being his employees.
• Regulation 51 (1) (a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013 (SI 291 of 2013) as it relates to Section 77 (9) (a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005, the contractor did fail to ensure that adequate precautions were taken in an excavation to guard against dangers to persons from a fall or dislodgement of earth, rock or other material by means of suitable shoring or otherwise.

In the same case, Judge Francis Comerford also fined the farmer €3,500 for breaches of health and safety legislation.

The farmer pleaded guilty to the following offences under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013:

• Regulation 6 (1) (b) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013 contrary to Section 77 (2) (c) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 in that he failed to appoint in writing a competent project supervisor for the construction stage for construction work on his farm.

The prosecution arose following an investigation into a fatal accident that occurred on 22 January 2021 on a dairy farm in Kilkee, Co. Clare. The contractor was hired by the farmer to dig out an excavation and build a slatted tank. A neighbouring farmer, not being an employee of the contractor, was helping level a freshly poured concrete floor when an old pre-existing wall that formed part of the excavation collapsed on top of him. He received fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

This is valid as of 7th August 2023.

(United States)

Belle Fourche Pipeline Company and Bridger Pipeline LLC, affiliated companies that own and operate a network of crude oil pipelines in Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, have together agreed to pay a $12.5 million civil penalty to resolve claims under the Clean Water Act and Pipeline Safety Laws relating to oil spills in Montana and North Dakota.

EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker said: “These spills impacted iconic Western watersheds that communities in Montana and North Dakota depend upon. EPA will continue to hold companies accountable for spills that threaten human health, drinking water, recreation, and fisheries, and ensure they take meaningful measures to prevent future incidents.”

In 2015, Bridger’s Poplar Pipeline ruptured where it crosses under the Yellowstone River near Glendive, Montana. The pipeline crossing had been installed using the “trench-cut” method. The pipeline failed after being exposed due to river scour.

Bridger has completed its cleanup of the Montana spill site, and Bridger and the State of Montana separately resolved claims under Montana state law.

Belle Fourche’s Bicentennial Pipeline ruptured in 2016 in Billings County, North Dakota. The pipeline traversed a steep hillside above an unnamed tributary to Ash Coulee Creek, which feeds into the Little Missouri River, when the slope failed. The size of the North Dakota spill was exacerbated by Belle Fourche’s failure to detect the spill until it was reported by a local landowner.

Belle Fourche’s cleanup of the North Dakota spill site is ongoing with oversight by the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. The State of North Dakota is a co-plaintiff in this case, and it has worked closely with the United States. Both are signatories to the consent decree.

This is valid as of 7th August 2023.

A Blackpool clothing firm has been fined £40,000 after a man was seriously injured when he was hit by a forklift truck.

Self-employed delivery driver Andrew “John” Robinson suffered multiple leg fractures and a dislocated ankle as he collided with the vehicle while delivering goods at T. Print Limited’s Bristol Avenue site in Blackpool on 25 March 2022.

The 53-year-old, from Blackburn, had to be airlifted from the scene and spent a month in hospital because of his injuries. He has required multiple follow-up operations and, over a year later, has still not recovered sufficiently to be able to work.

Mr Robinson says the incident and recovery has ‘taken a toll on his mental health.’

The HSE’s investigation found T. Print Limited had failed to ensure that there were adequate measures in place to ensure the safe segregation of delivery drivers from the unloading and loading activities, as Mr Robinson was not instructed to stand or wait in a safe area during the unloading of his vehicle. The dangers should have been identified by a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks.

T. Print Limited, of Bristol Avenue, Bispham, Blackpool, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £4,696.95 in costs at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on 20 July 2023.

In a statement presented to court, Mr Robinson, 53, said: “During the incident I sustained serious injuries to both of my legs. I have had six surgeries in the last year, including bone and skin grafts.

“I am still not allowed to weight bear on one of my ankles and have no freedom currently due to my injuries; I cannot drive, and my mobility is limited. I live in a first-floor flat, but the stairs are not manageable without help. Before, I was a strong independent man, but the incident and slow recovery has taken a toll on my mental health.

“Sometimes I wish that I had lost my legs instead, as I have had enough of the pain.”

This is valid as of 7th August 2023.

(Canada)

Following a guilty plea in Provincial Offences Court in Brampton, Ontario, Vitran Express Canada Inc. has been fined $140,000 over the death of a worker following an incident in November 2021. The court also imposed a 25% victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act.

The court heard that, on 4 November 2021, a security guard was working the night shift at a warehousing and distribution facility that included a storage yard for trucks to deliver and remove trailers for shipping products. Among the security guard’s duties were monitoring truck access to the facility and applying and removing “glad hand locks” to prevent or facilitate the movement of trailers parked in the facility yard.

A shunt truck tractor and driver supplied by Vitran Express Canada Inc. were also present to move trailers within the facility yard.

At around 6.20am, the shunt driver advised security that a trailer needed to be moved in the yard. The driver moved the shunt truck into position to back up to a trailer.

The security guard attended and walked to the trailer to remove the glad hand lock. The area immediately around the front end of the trailer was dark when the guard, who was not wearing high visibility reflective clothing, arrived at the trailer connection. The shunt truck driver did not see the security guard enter the area near the trailer.

The shunt truck reversed. The security guard was caught between the truck and the trailer and suffered fatal injuries.

This is valid as of 7th August 2023.

Following David Lloyd Leisure Club Limited pleading guilty to charges against the Health and Safety at Work Act, they were fined £2.55 million and ordered to pay £258,355.80 in costs at Leeds Crown Court today.

The successful prosecution, taken by Leeds City Council, followed an investigation by the council’s environmental health team into the tragic death of a three-year-old boy as a result of drowning, at the David Lloyd Leisure Club, Moortown, Leeds.

During the investigation, health and safety inspectors for the council identified inadequate lifeguarding arrangements at the club over a number of years leading up to the tragic event.

The investigation found that David Lloyds Leisure had been exposing club members to risks contrary to Section 33(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, between 1 September 2015, and 22 April 2018 in the David Lloyd Leisure Club.

Leeds City Council environmental health service are responsible for regulating health and safety standards across a wide range of commercial sectors including retail, wholesale distribution, hotels and catering, offices, and leisure industries.

This is valid as of 31st July 2023.

(United States)

A pet supply store in North Andover operated by a subsidiary of one of the nation’s largest pet care companies routinely exposed employees to live and dead rodents as well as their droppings and urine, a federal workplace safety inspection has found.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) opened an inspection at the Petco Animal Supplies Stores Inc. location on Waverly Road in February 2023, in response to an employee complaint. Inspectors determined the facility lacked an effective and adequate vermin control program to stop rodents from entering the store and sheltering in areas such as the receiving room and on the sales floor.

OSHA cited Petco in 2021 for a similar violation at a Corpus Christi, Texas, location.

The agency’s inspection also found the North Andover store exposed employees to electrical hazards by blocking access to electrical panels. OSHA cited a Columbus, Ohio, Petco store in 2022 for allowing a similar electrical hazard.

In addition, inspectors identified chemical hazards related to unlabeled containers of cleaning chemicals and a lack of adequate facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and skin for employees working with corrosive chemicals.

This is valid as of 31st July 2023.

Two companies have been fined a combined total of more than £400,000 after staff working at a South Wales mental health hospital were subjected to violent attacks by patients over a three-year period.

Parkcare Homes (No.2) Limited and Priory Central Services Limited, both part of The Priory Group, pleaded guilty after failing to manage risks to care staff and patients from violence and aggression.

Cardiff Magistrates Court heard that Priory Hospital in Aberdare – a facility owned by Parkcare Homes (No.2) Limited – was a specialised institution for people with complex mental health, behavioural and learning issues. At any one time, there were up to 12 in-patients being cared for by the staff.

Over a three-year period between 2014 and 2017, there were incidents of violence and aggression towards both care staff and patients, resulting in serious injuries, including loss of consciousness and permanent scarring. Due to the frequency and severity of incidents, concerns were formally raised by senior management of the hospital in November 2016 to Priory Central Services Limited, which was responsible for the provision of training and equipment and the employment of staff at Aberdare. Priory Central Services Limited failed to take prompt and appropriate action to rectify the deficiencies and incidents were allowed to continue.

An investigation by the HSE found there were no suitable and sufficient risk assessments carried out and the equipment and environment was not fit to diffuse violent situations. Staff were not provided with adequate information or training to cope with patients with aggressive traits.

The investigation also found staff were not given the appropriate personal protective equipment, including bite resistant clothing and personal safety alarms.

There were no post incident de-brief sessions carried out with staff involved or even when individuals return from sick level following an injury. No investigations were carried out of incidents to establish what had happened to identify lessons learnt despite repeated serious and significant injuries being caused.

This is valid as of 31st July 2023.

A farmer who allowed waste over his permit level to be deposited on his land and the hauliers who took most of the waste to the farm have been in court where, between them, it has cost more than £120,000.

Philip Skelley, 63, of Higher Bughill Farm, Shaugh Prior, Plympton, appeared before Plymouth crown court, where he was fined £1,340, ordered to pay £94,000 for the economic benefit he gained, plus costs totalling £6,380, after earlier pleading guilty to operating a waste facility without an environmental permit in breach of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

Haulage company, K.P.T. (SW) Ltd, also of Plympton, was ordered to pay a fine of £6,667 after pleading guilty to depositing controlled waste. The company was also ordered to pay a total of £3,180 in costs and a further £11,109 for the economic benefit gained from the offending, also in breach of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

The company’s case was heard in front of Plymouth magistrates’ court, and magistrates ordered the company to pay the entire sum within eight weeks.

The courts heard that Skelley had a U1 exemption certificate allowing for up to 1,000 tonnes of soil and stones to be deposited on his land. However, an inspection by the Environment Agency found that between January 2019 and October 2020, more than 14,500 tonnes had been deposited, the majority of that by K.P.T. (SW) Ltd.

The cases were brought to the courts by the Environment Agency.

Skelley told the Agency that much of the waste was to be used to extend a car park for events at the site and for a bale storage area. He said he had relied on a friend to apply and operate the exemption permit.

After his friend said he had helped out with the application, but had made no financial gain himself, Skelley said the U1 exemption was applied for without his knowledge and that he had no financial arrangement with the hauliers. The Environment Agency believe he was paid at least £94,000 for the waste taken to the farm.

This is valid as of 31st July 2023.