HSE | A Gloucestershire farmer has been fined after the shepherdess he employed was killed in a quad bike crash.

On 2 June 2023, Laura Simmons, 22, was found fatality injured after her overloaded quad bike overturned at Charlton Abbots farm. The HSE found the ATV had uneven tyre pressure, lack of baffles in the spray tank, an unstable load and no pre-use checks or training.

Prosecutor found Toby Baxter failed to provide suitable equipment, ensure pre-use checks, implement a filling system, train employees or assess risks. Baxter pleaded guilty to breaches of regulations 2(1) & 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £6,161.72 costs.

Inspector Emily O’Neill said the incident was avoidable with proper controls and this prosecution highlights ongoing agricultural safety concerns.

HSE | A construction company has been fined after a kitchen fitter was crushed to death by concrete blocks at a Cotswolds site.

On 23 January 2020 at Ebrington Rise, near Chipping Campden, Martin Dunford, 33, was pinned against a lorry by two stacks of blocks. HSE found Piper Homes Construction Ltd failed to provide level storage areas or inspect pallets; the company is in liquidation.

Piper Homes pleaded guilty to breaching CDM Regulation 13(1) and was fined £300,000 plus £5,236 costs.

Inspector James Lucas emphasised the need for planned material storage, level areas and regular pallet inspections to prevent such avoidable incidents.

HSE | A paddleboard business owner has been jailed for 10 years and six months for gross negligence manslaughter following the deaths of four people in 2021.

Nerys Lloyd, 39, owner and sole director of Salty Dog Co Ltd, admitted gross negligence manslaughter for the deaths of four paddleboarders at Haverfordwest Town Weir on 30 October 2021. She and assistant Paul O’Dwyer led a trip despite heavy flooding, failed to check or brief participants on hazards, and did not inform them of the dangerous weir. All four victims drowned after being swept over the weir.

A joint investigation by Dyfed-Powys Police and HSE found Lloyd was unqualified to lead river tours and breached health and safety regulations by not assessing or managing obvious risks. HSE inspector Helen Turner and Detective Superintendent Cameron Ritchie offered condolences and emphasised that proper safety measures are essential to prevent such tragedies.

HSE | A road haulage company in Nuneaton has been fined £90,000 after a metal heat exchanger fell from its lorry killing a cyclist.

An HGV operated by JW Morley Transport Ltd overturned a heat exchanger weighing over 10,000 kg on College Street, Nuneaton, on 18 June 2021 when a securing strap snapped. The load shift caused a heat exchanger to fall, killing 70-year-old cyclist Christopher Baker.

HSE found the load was inadequately secured and the ratchet straps were in poor condition. The lorry should not have been on public roads with such an unsecured load, and proper framing, multiple straps and friction matting would have prevented the incident. JW Morley pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £90,000 plus £8,047.55 costs.

HSE | Cambridgeshire County Council has been fined £6 million after serious safety failings on its Guided Busway led to three deaths and multiple injuries over ten years.

From 2011, three pedestrians died after being struck by buses in unlit or inadequately separated areas of the busway: Jennifer Taylor (2015), Steve Moir (2018), and Kathleen Pitts (2021), plus serious injuries to cyclists. The council delayed its first risk assessment until August 2016 and failed to install basic safety measures such as lighting, speed limits, barriers or warning signs.

HSE principal inspector Graham Tompkins said proper risk management and simple safety measures would have prevented these tragedies. Cambridgeshire County Council pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £6 million plus costs.

Fire Industry Authority | A hospitality business owner has been fined over £12,000 after serious fire safety breaches at The Tree Inn in Stratton, Bude.

Simon Floyd faced inspections by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service in May and September 2023, which found inadequate fire detectors, blocked escape routes and missing fire doors.

Floyd admitted four offences under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, receiving an £8,000 fine, £2,755 costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge. All issues have since been corrected.

Construction Enquirer | UK Power Networks was fined £40,000 for unguarded excavations in west London.

Kensington and Chelsea Council prosecutions followed May 2024 inspections at Adam and Eve Mews and Queen’s Gate Mews, where UK Power Networks operatives worked with open excavations and mini diggers without continuous barriers, risking public safety.

The company pleaded guilty under the New Roads and Street Works Act and was fined £40,000 plus costs.

West Midlands Police | A national plant hire operator was fined over £800,000 for moving an abnormal load without proper notification.

During a March 2024 Multi Agency Road Safety Operation at the NEC, officers found a heavy goods vehicle carrying an excavator on an unnotified axle configuration, overweight, and oversized without additional safeguards. L Lynch Plant Hire and Haulage Ltd pleaded guilty to three offences, fined £800,000 plus £2,000 surcharge and £130 costs.

HSE | A waste and recycling company in Oldham was fined £250,000 after a man was run over on his first day on the job.

On 28 July 2021, a new employee hand-picking waste was struck and run over by a shovel loader, suffering fractures and nerve damage. HSE found no risk assessment, supervision or segregation of vehicles and pedestrians after the conveyor removal.

Wheeldon Brothers Waste Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £250,000 plus £4,102.32 costs.

BBC News | A company was fined £16,000 for importing and selling thousands of unsafe heated plates.

Essex Trading Standards investigated after a shopper’s complaint in May 2023, finding hotplates with no UK plugs and “poor construction” that posed burn and shock risks. Safa Food 1 Ltd admitted 10 offences under the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 and was fined £16,000 plus £11,853 costs. Magistrates ordered destruction of 69 remaining plates.

Mark Durham of Essex County Council thanked the “eagle-eyed” shopper, noting the hotplates presented serious safety risks.

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