Haulage company fined after driver fatally electrocuted
(Scotland)
An East Lothian based haulage company has been fined £150,000 after a 25-year-old LGV driver was fatally electrocuted.
Andrew Black Ltd pled guilty to failing to ensure there were suitable controls in place for work carried out near dangerous overhead powerlines between 15 November 2021 and 5 January 2022.
The procurator fiscal told the court that the fatal incident happened at the company’s premises at Drem Airfield on 31 December 2021.
Driver Grant Borton was finishing for the day and was using the wash bay to clean his truck in preparation for his next shift. After leaving the wash bay, he raised the tipper which made contact with the overhead powerlines. Mr Borton was electrocuted and died.
The HSE investigation revealed that:
A failure to ensure suitable control measures were in place resulted in Mr Grant Borton being electrocuted.
The company had not undertaken a risk assessment in respect of the hazard of overhead powerlines on site.
There were no suitable means to warn drivers exiting the wash bay of overhead powerlines.
It was also found that there was a faded, illegible sign and a single A4 sized laminated sheet, which did not meet with the regulatory requirements for warning signs, pointed in the opposite direction from the wash bay and would not have been visible to a driver exiting the bay.
One of the HSE specialist reports produced for this incident suggested that to manage the risk the company should have contacted Scottish Power to have the lines buried or put in place signage and road markings to form an exclusion zone.
Since the incident, the company has buried all overhead powerlines on the site.
Debbie Carroll, who leads on health and safety investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said: “Grant Borton lost his life in circumstances which could have been avoided had the risks been recognised and simple controls put in place.
“By failing to have suitable controls in place to prevent contact with overhead powerlines Andrew Black Ltd put their employees in danger of electrocution.
“This prosecution should remind employers that failing to take reasonable health and safety measures can have fatal consequences and they will be held accountable for this failure.”
Andrew Black Ltd pled guilty to a charge under Regulation 4(3) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on 4 July 2023. The company was fined £150,000.
This is valid as of 10th July 2023.
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Brazil soccer star Neymar fined $4.5 million for environmental offence
(Brazil)
Brazilian authorities have said that soccer star Neymar has been fined 16 million reais ($4.5 million) for breaching environmental rules during the construction of his coastal mansion in southeastern Brazil.
The luxury project violated rules regarding the use and movement of freshwater sources, rock and sand, local authorities confirmed.
Neymar’s residence is located in the town of Mangaratiba on the southern coast of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state.
Mangaratiba’s environmental body said in a statement on that environmental infractions were made “in the construction of an artificial lake at the mansion.”
Besides the fine, the case will be probed by the local attorney general’s office, the state civil police, and environmental protection office, among other environmental control bodies.
This is valid as of 10th July 2023.
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Thames Water has been fined £3.33 million after millions of litres of raw sewage flooded two rivers near Gatwick.
Judge Christine Laing KC DL told Lewes crown court Thames Water deliberately misled the Environment Agency during its investigation.
The untreated effluent killed several thousand fish after equipment failed in late 2017, and the consequence was sewage pouring into one river and then another for several hours.
Investigators found almost 1,400 dead fish in Gatwick Stream and the River Mole, but the court heard this was a fraction of the number the Environment Agency believes were killed.
Many more would have been lost in vegetation and deep pools or eaten by birds and other animals. An Environment Agency officer said the Mole was “carpeted” with dead fish.
A pump at the company’s sewage treatment works in Crawley was activated in error. This led to a storm lagoon discharging sewage and rainwater into the stream, pushing it into the Mole, despite there being no significant rainfall. The lagoon should only come into operation in wet weather.
Judge Laing heard that in the days after the incident, Thames Water said its infrastructure had nothing to do with the pollution. However, they later pleaded guilty to four breaches of environmental law.
Jamie Lloyd, a senior environment officer at the Environment Agency and who led the investigation, said: “Thames Water missed several opportunities to prevent this pollution incident from occurring. Staff appear to have been oblivious to malfunctions at the sewage treatment works leading up to it and did nothing to intervene. When the alarm was raised, no decisive action was taken until the damage was done.
“Thames Water failed to take responsibility for the incident until several years later and didn’t provide vital information when requested by the Environment Agency during our investigation.
“We brought this case due to the major environmental impact caused, and because it was entirely avoidable. Thames Water failed to have adequate systems in place to manage the pollution-risk from their site and didn’t respond to alarms.”
The Environment Agency told the court it was a “reckless failure” by Thames Water to not put in place systems to avoid the pollution and to enforce them.
The problems started a day before the incident. A pump at the sewage works, in the shadow of Gatwick Airport, started working incorrectly, filling the storm lagoon with untreated sewage. The next day, that effluent overflowed from the lagoon into Gatwick Stream and the River Mole.
Thames Water had allowed untreated sewage to pour into the rivers from the lagoon outside of storm conditions. That was illegal.
The storm lagoon was only three-quarters the legally required size, meaning it filled up with sewage earlier, discharged into the rivers sooner, giving less protection to fish.
A visual check of the storm lagoon would have told them. Staff could have looked at equipment monitoring the rivers and at the water itself. A range of options to mitigate the disaster were available, but all were missed.
Logbooks revealed staff consistently rated equipment as “unsatisfactory” in the months before the incident and several weeks afterwards.
Thames Water pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to four breaches of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 regarding the pollution and operation of Crawley sewage treatment works between 9 and 14 October 2017.
In addition to the £3.33 million fine, judge Laing ordered Thames Water to pay the Environment Agency’s costs of £128,961.05.
Prosecutions of Thames Water by the Environment Agency for pollution incidents have now led to fines of £35.7 million between 2017 and 2023.
This is valid as of 10th July 2023.
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Bournemouth director sentenced for supplying illegal security
A Bournemouth company director, and his business have been prosecuted at Poole Magistrates’ Court for supplying unlicensed security.
The court fined Patrick Briggs £960 and ordered him to pay £1,400.60 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £768. The court also fined his business Principal Protection and Events Ltd (PPE) £20,000 and required the business to pay a victim surcharge of £8,000 and prosecution costs of £1,400.60. Mr. Briggs is appealing the fine.
Patrick Briggs pleaded guilty to Poole Magistrates’ Court for himself and on behalf of his business, PPE. He supplied illegal security to a Bournemouth bar on 13 and 14 January 2023.
The court also fined Bournemouth man, Ricardo Shand £166 and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £430. This follows Shand’s guilty plea to Poole Magistrates’ Court for working illegally as a door supervisor at the Bournemouth bar on 13 and 14 January.
Shand pleaded not guilty to an earlier offence for working at a Bournemouth nightclub on one of the May bank holidays in 2022. The court found him guilty, and he was fined £807, ordered to pay a £322 victim surcharge, and £4,000 costs because of his not guilty plea. The prosecutions were brought by the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
On 5 February 2023 Dorset Police licensing officers shared information with SIA investigators that Principal Protection Events Ltd had deployed Ricardo Shand as an unlicensed door supervisor for two shifts at a Bournemouth bar on 13 and 14 January 2023.
SIA investigators interviewed Patrick Briggs director of PPE, under caution, on the 21 February 2023 where he admitted to deploying Ricardo Shand on 13 and 14 January to the bar. PPE was formerly an SIA approved contractor, Shand told Briggs that his licence application was in progress and that he was in possession of a licence dispensation notice. This was incorrect because PPE was no longer an SIA approved contractor, and the licence dispensation notice facility was not available to either of them. On 21 March 2023, Shand met SIA investigators when he was interviewed under caution. Shand did not respond to any of the questions posed to him by SIA investigators.
Shand was prosecuted by the SIA for working illegally as a door supervisor. On 28 May 2022 (a bank holiday weekend) a joint operation between the SIA and Dorset Police licensing officers carried out inspections of Bournemouth’s night-time economy. When they arrived at a club, they found a man who was wearing a black shirt using a number clicker to capture the number of patrons in the club. It appeared that the man, Ricardo Shand was working as a door supervisor.
SIA investigators asked Mr. Shand to show his licence and he told them that he had left it in his car. When investigators probed further, he admitted to investigators that his SIA door supervisor licence had expired. He said he worked for PPE Security.
On 8 September 2022, Mr. Shand took part in a voluntary interview under caution with SIA investigators. He admitted to them that he was without an SIA licence. He also admitted to having completed 20 shifts at the nightclub between 15 April and 28 May 2022.
Mark Chapman, one of the SIA’s criminal investigations managers, said: “Patrick Briggs, PPE, and Ricardo Shand deliberately supplied and provided illegal security to Bournemouth’s night-time economy. Both Briggs and Shand knew that the SIA licence regime exists to protect the public, yet they chose to operate illegally putting the safety of patrons of Bournemouth’s bars and clubs at risk by their actions. Shand even continued to work despite knowing that he was being prosecuted for working illegally. Both Briggs and Shand now have criminal records. I commend our enforcement partners Dorset Police licensing officers for assisting us to uncover this offending and secure convictions.”
This is valid as of 10th July 2023.
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School fined £35,000 after child severely burned at carol concert
A London primary school has been fined £35,000 after a child received 45% burns to their body at a carol concert.
The school was found guilty after a trial following the incident at a church on 11 December 2019.
During the carol concert, 60 Year 3 children from the school were waiting in costume, in a narrow corridor, holding 10-inch lit taper candles. As they were waiting, a seven-year-old boy wearing a home-made sheep costume made from cotton wool balls, caught fire.
The fire was extinguished with some difficulty and the child received first aid at the scene before being taken by air ambulance to Broomfield Hospital.
Investigating, the HSE found that the school had failed to take appropriate measures to account for the risks inherent with giving lit candles to children, while wearing potentially flammable costumes.
The injuries sustained by the boy will require on-going, regular, invasive surgeries throughout his youth and into adulthood and have been life changing for him and his family.
The school pleaded not guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act but were found guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court on 19 June 2023. At Southwark Crown Court they were fined £35,000 and ordered to pay £25,970 in costs.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Sarah Whittle said: “This was a shocking and scary incident that could have so easily been avoided.
“Common sense alone should have been enough to see the risk. Mitigation in this case would have been the substitution of wax candles for flameless ones, thereby reducing the risk to zero. This was a step the school took after the incident but by then it was far too late for a young child who will be forever affected by this.
“The importance of a suitable and sufficient risk assessment has never been made so clear.”
This is valid as of 10th July 2023.
A London primary school has been fined £35,000 after a child received 45% burns to their body at a carol concert.
The school was found guilty after a trial following the incident at a church on 11 December 2019. During the carol concert, 60 Year 3 children from the school were waiting in costume, in a narrow corridor, holding 10-inch lit taper candles. As they were waiting, a seven-year-old boy wearing a home-made sheep costume made from cotton wool balls, caught fire. The fire was extinguished with some difficulty and the child received first aid at the scene before being taken by air ambulance to Broomfield Hospital. Investigating, the HSE found that the school had failed to take appropriate measures to account for the risks inherent with giving lit candles to children, while wearing potentially flammable costumes. The injuries sustained by the boy will require on-going, regular, invasive surgeries throughout his youth and into adulthood and have been life changing for him and his family. The school pleaded not guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act but were found guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court on 19 June 2023. At Southwark Crown Court they were fined £35,000 and ordered to pay £25,970 in costs. Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Sarah Whittle said: “This was a shocking and scary incident that could have so easily been avoided. “Common sense alone should have been enough to see the risk. Mitigation in this case would have been the substitution of wax candles for flameless ones, thereby reducing the risk to zero. This was a step the school took after the incident but by then it was far too late for a young child who will be forever affected by this. “The importance of a suitable and sufficient risk assessment has never been made so clear.”
This is valid as of 10th July 2023.
Firm fined £240,000 after man killed in crash with litter picking vans
Serco has been fined £240,000 after a man was killed when the lorry he was a passenger in crashed into litter picking vans blocking a lane of a dual carriageway in Norfolk.
Tony Skerratt, 44, from Enfield, was in the passenger seat of a Wren Kitchens lorry when it hit the vans, which were obstructing the inside lane of the A11 near Attleborough, between Norwich and Thetford. The incident happened at around 12.45pm on February 26, 2019.
The vans had been moving along the road slowly, stopping from time to time to allow bags of rubbish to be collected. The litter picking was being carried out by Serco employees. Serco had been contracted by Breckland District Council to carry out the work.
The HSE’s investigation found Serco Limited failed in its health and safety management of litter picking activities on high-speed dual carriageways.
It had not provided its employees with appropriate work instructions to ensure the litter picking activity was safe. It also failed to supervise and monitor the high-risk activity to ensure it was carried out safely.
In a statement, Mr Skerratt’s family said the pain of their loss was as tender now as it was on the day of the incident. They said: “The pain the family feels is as tender as the day we heard the worst possible news imaginable.
“The court case has been ongoing for so long, the wounds are unable to heal until justice is served. Tony was the youngest of four children and the only son to mum and dad. They grieve for the loss of their son – the pain of losing a child is something you can never recover from.
“It wasn’t Tony’s time to go, otherwise we would of had the chance to say goodbye.”
Serco Limited, with head offices based at Bartley Wood Business Park, Hampshire pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £240,000 and ordered to pay costs of 37,074 at Norwich Crown Court on 23 June 2023.
HSE Inspector Saffron Turnell said: “This was a tragic incident where the death of a member of the public could have easily been prevented had Serco Ltd implemented and monitored the robust management systems required to ensure such a high-risk activity could be carried out safely.
“The company’s failings put its employees and those using the dual carriageway at significant risk and this incident has left a family grieving the loss of much loved son, brother and uncle. Our thoughts remain with the family.”
This is valid as of 3rd July 2023.
Company fined after broken arm forces dad out of work
A manufacturing company has been fined after a dad was drawn into a machine and broke his arm in two places.
Paul Pearce, a father-of-two from Lymington in Hampshire, was unable to work for over a year following the incident on 12 March 2021.
He had been working a night shift for HS Butyl Limited, a manufacturer of adhesive tapes, at the company’s site at Gordleton Industrial Park in Lymington when he noticed a build-up of butyl on the conveyor belt of the firm’s hot feed extruder machine.
Mr Pearce, who was 43 at the time, then reached into the conveyor to find out how much of the material was blocking the machine. While doing this however, Mr Pearce’s left arm became trapped and entangled between the machine’s conveyor belt and pulley.
This led to the ulna and radius bones in his left arm breaking with Mr Pearce later requiring surgery to fit metal plates in the arm. However, these plates broke after being fitted and led to Mr Pearce undergoing two more operations. He was unable to work for over a year.
In a victim impact statement presented to the court, Mr Pearce, who is now 45, said: “It was the combination of the incident itself and all of the time off as a result of the incident which depressed me. It was depressing not being able to do all of the things I would normally do. As a result of the time off…I lost [my partner] and had to move out from my home.”
Investigating, the HSE found that HS Butyl Limited had failed to provide guarding to stop its workers from being exposed to dangerous areas on moving machinery.
HS Butyl Limited, of Gordleton Industrial Park, Hannah Way, Lymington, Hampshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. The company was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £4,945.90 in costs at West Hampshire Magistrates’ Court.
HSE inspector Lucy Hacker said: “This incident was wholly avoidable, caused by the failure of the company to provide guarding. Employees should be physically prevented from getting into a position where they can come into contact with dangerous parts of machinery, and experience and procedures alone should not be relied upon to control risk.
“The risk of being drawn in and entangled in dangerous parts of conveyors is a well-known and well-documented machinery risk. The guidance on safe operation of extruders is well established and specifies the requirement for these hazards to be guarded.”
This prosecution was supported by HSE enforcement lawyer Rebecca Schwartz.
This is valid as of 3rd July 2023.
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$2.9 million fine for chemical fire and stockpiles
(Australia)
The company responsible for a 2019 Campbellfield fire that burned for four days, closed nearby schools, and injured two workers has been fined $2.9 million.
Bradbury Industrial Services Pty Ltd, now in liquidation, was sentenced in the County Court after earlier pleading guilty to a single charge under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and five charges under the Dangerous Goods Act.
In relation to the chemical blaze, the company was convicted and fined $500,000 for failing to provide a safe workplace.
The company was also convicted and fined $2.4 million for failing to take reasonable precautions to prevent a fire or explosion in relation to chemical stockpiles uncovered at five other sites in Craigieburn and Campbellfield.
The court heard that on 5 April 2019 at the company’s warehouse in Thornycroft Street, Campbellfield, a worker was decanting highly flammable toluene from a bulk container, held by a forklift, into a drum when there was a large flash and a fire ignited.
The fire quickly spread throughout the building and took four days to extinguish. It caused burns to the worker’s face and throat that left him in hospital for three days. A second worker was also taken to hospital.
The court heard that toluene is a Class 3 Dangerous Good that can build up electrostatic charge as it flows through pipes.
A WorkSafe investigation found Bradbury failed to control the risk of serious injury or death by providing the training, information, instruction, and supervision necessary for employees to work safely with dangerous goods, which included ensuring workers understood the risk of fire and/or explosion from electrostatic charge.
WorkSafe inspections of five other Bradbury warehouses found deficiencies in the storage of more than 10 million litres of chemicals, including bulk containers stacked up to four-high, incompatible dangerous goods stored in close proximity and swollen, damaged and leaking containers.
A dangerous goods expert engaged by WorkSafe also identified inadequate or non-existent fire protection, spill containment, and ventilation systems, as well as potential ignition sources such as switchboards, lighting, and forklifts.
The five warehouses included 9-11 Brooklyn Court, Campbellfield, 1745 Sydney Road, Campbellfield, and 12, 20A and 20B Yellowbox Drive, Craigieburn.
WorkSafe’s investigation found Bradbury failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent fires or explosions at these five sites by reducing the quantity of dangerous goods, excluding ignition sources from hazardous areas, separating incompatible classes of dangerous goods, and ensuring each site had adequate ventilation and fire protection.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Narelle Beer said the fire was a shocking example of the consequences of ignoring safety requirements: “This terrible fire injured two workers, endangered the health and safety of firefighters and emergency responders and blanketed surrounding suburbs in smoke for days, forcing the closure of local schools.
“The sheer volume of hazardous chemicals at Bradbury’s other sites and the unsafe way in which they were stored posed significant risk to workers and the surrounding communities. There is no excuse for such blatant disregard for workplace safety.”
This is valid as of 3rd July 2023.
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Anglian Water pays £154,428 after sewage discharged into Bedfordshire River
Anglian Water has paid a monetary penalty of £150,000 following an investigation by the Environment Agency after sewage was released into the River Til.
The incident happened in 2018 after contractors working for the water company used a tanker jetter to unblock a sewer after sewage gathered in a field in Yielden, Bedfordshire.
This increase in flow caused the small rural Yielden Water Recycling Centre to become overwhelmed resulting in sewage discharging into the river.
The impact to the River Til was limited to 660 metres but ammonia levels were high. Dissolved oxygen was also depressed at a level likely to impact fish but there was no evidence of any dead fish or invertebrates.
Anglian Water reported the pollution to the Environment Agency and took action to clean it up. Other measures were taken to prevent a similar incident happening in the future.
Although Anglian Water had a nine bullet point environmental procedure document to deal with such incidents. There was no adequate written procedure setting out how to assess specific environmental risks and how to overcome them to prevent pollution from small sites like Yielden.
On 4 May 2023, the Environment Agency imposed a Variable Monetary Penalty (VMP) on Anglian Water Services Ltd of £150,000 and costs to the Environment Agency of £4,428.33. This was the first time a water company in England has paid a VMP in relation to a pollution incident.
Jeremy Hay, Senior Environment Officer at the Environment Agency, said: “Polluters should always be held to account, and, as much as our resources allow, we will always investigate significant pollution incidents and bring those responsible to justice.
“We are pleased with the success of this type of civil sanction, which we hope will change behaviour. It’s vital that future civil sanctions are not only proportionate but also an effective deterrent to all who pollute our rivers and waters.”
This is valid as of 3rd July 2023.
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Company fined €750,000 after fatal fall from height
(Ireland)
Ove Arup and Partners Ltd has been fined €750,000, having earlier pleaded guilty to Count 2, Section 12 contrary to Section 77 (9) (a) and Count 3, Section 8 (2) (c) (i) related to Section 77(2)(a) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005.
The fatal incident occurred on 23 September 2019 when a worker stepped onto a fragile surface, whilst in the process of undertaking a preinstall survey for the installation of telecommunication cables in a plant room located on the sixth floor of the building. The fragile surface, which sealed a vertical service duct, gave way and the worker fell from a height.
Other charges related to Section 19 and Section 8(2) (g) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 and Regulation 33(e) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work General Application Regulations were taken into account in judgement.
Mark Cullen, Assistant Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority, said: “Where there is a known risk in a workplace, in this case working from height, employers in control of that workplace have a duty to ensure that the appropriate precautions are in place. This will protect employees and others who may be carrying out work activity at the place of work under their control.
“Failure by the employer in this case as led to the tragic death of a worker. We urge employers to carry out risk assessments and engage with their employees and others to ensure that incidents like this one are prevented.”
This is valid as of 3rd July 2023.
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Metal recycler fined $85,000 in death of truck driver
(Canada)
A metal recycling company, operating under the Ontario license number 1929259, was fined $85,000 in connection with a workplace fatality because it failed to maintain a dump trailer in good condition.
The incident occurred on 5 April 2021, at a scrap metal yard in Brampton, Ontario. A driver employed by Global Metal Sources was asked by the yard workers to park the 45-foot dump trailer adjacent to another transport trailer that was already parked there.
Following the yard workers’ instructions, the driver opened the back of the trailer and then returned to the cab to begin elevating the front of the dump box. Tragically, during the lifting process, the box fell to the side, landing on the adjacent truck’s cab and fatally injuring its driver.
The company purchased the used dump trailer in December 2020 and had work done at an automotive repair center. However, the repairs solely focused on the trailer’s road worthiness and did not address its dumping functionality.
The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigated the incident. Their findings revealed the bearings in the pivot joint mechanism, responsible for hydraulically lifting the trailer box, had not been inspected, lubricated, and maintained for an extended period. This lack of maintenance resulted in the catastrophic failure of the support shaft, causing the box to fall from the trailer.
As a consequence of their negligence, 1929259 Ontario Inc. was found to have violated Section 25(1)(b) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which requires employers to ensure that equipment is maintained in good condition.
This is valid as of 26th June 2023.
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A vape liquid manufacturing company in Manchester has been fined after a worker lost two fingers and a thumb while clearing a blockage in a packaging machine.
The agency worker at VN Labs Ltd was operating a nicotine liquid pod packaging machine at the firm’s premises on Beacon Road, Trafford Park, when it became blocked on 22 October 2020.
While removing the plastic that was causing the blockage, the machine’s blade was freed and sliced the worker’s right hand.
This led to the amputation of two of the worker’s fingers (index and middle) and thumb on his right hand after it became apparent they could not be reattached.
The 43-year-old man, who lives in Manchester, has been unable to work since the incident, now struggles carrying out everyday tasks and has suffered from mental health difficulties as a result of his injuries.
He said in his victim personal statement: “The accident has had an impact on my daily activities because from day one until now I did not have a day without pain. My mind has completely changed. I can’t do simple tasks such as prepare eggs for my children. I used to enjoy hobbies like judo, jujitsu and climbing.
“My mental health has suffered because of the accident and is not regular like it was before, there is a lot of instability. I have good days and bad days. My financial situation has deteriorated and I feel like I have no control over anything. I can’t work and I have to delay all my bills including my rent. It was never like this before.”
The HSE’s investigation found the machine had recently been imported without any guarding. The engineering team at VN Labs assessed the machine and installed a see-through plastic guard over the top. Despite this, access to dangerous parts of the machine was still possible. There was also no formal written risk assessment for the blister pack machines. The company also failed to implement a safe system for clearing blockages and did not effectively supervise and monitor its working processes.
VN Labs Limited, of Beacon Road, Trafford Park, Manchester, pleaded guilty to breaches of Section 2 (1) and 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £180,000 and ordered to pay £7,490.05 in costs.
HSE inspector Joseph Wright said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided. Employers should ensure they carry out an assessment of the risks and put in safe system of works for the operation of all machinery.
“Companies should recognise the need to ensure machinery is guarded to the standard of UK legislation even when imported from another country because they may have different laws around the standard of guarding.”
This is valid as of 26th June 2023.
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