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NEWSFLASH IN THE COURTS FINE AFTER


CHAINSAW FALL A tree surgeon from Clacton-on-Sea has been fined £10,000 after he fell nearly four metres, still clutching a running chainsaw, and landed on a colleague as they were pruning a garden tree in Little Oakely, near Harwich.


The 71-year-old employer, Gilbert Bradfield, escaped the fall with minor injuries but his friend and 72-year-old co-worker, who does not wish to be named, sustained a severe laceration to the head, a dislocated shoulder, a punctured lung and other internal injuries. As a result, the man now has very little use of both arms and requires constant care.


Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr Bradfield was contracted to fell the tree after the homeowner became concerned for its stability following strong winds. Mr Bradfield engaged three casual employees to help him and, after removing lower


branches with a chainsaw, they erected a three-stage extending ladder to provide higher access.


To increase its height, they placed the foot of the ladder in the rear of their pick-up truck parked at the foot of the tree. Mr Bradfield climbed four to five metres to cut through the trunk and remove the top third of the tree using a heavy rear-handled chainsaw. But as the top of the tree was cut, it swung around and knocked Mr Bradfield off the ladder. He fell, with his chainsaw, and landed on his employee who was ‘footing’ the ladder.


An investigation by HSE revealed that no Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was being worn by any of the men operating chainsaws, nor were they using equipment for working at height such as harnesses or ropes. It was also found that despite his long experience as a tree surgeon Mr Bradfield and his employees had no certificates of competence in even the basics of chainsaw skills or tree surgery.


ROLLS ROYCE


IN HOT WATER Rolls Royce Marine Power Operations Ltd has been fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £176,500 following the loss of a radioactive source at its plant in Derby.


The company, a subsidiary of Rolls Royce plc, which manufactures components for nuclear submarines, uses radioactive sources (containing Ytterbium -169) in its industrial radiography work to test that welds are perfect.


Leicester Crown Court heard that inadequate procedures and deficiencies in training led to a radioactive source (a capsule which was the size of a small screw) being lost for approximately five hours at the Sinfin Lane site on 3rd March 2011.


This resulted in a number of workers at the site being exposed to high levels of gamma radiation, in some cases many times in excess of relevant legal dose limits.


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