NEWS IN THE C A round up of prosec
EMPLOYEES EXPOSED TO HAND ARM
VIBRATION SYNDROME A community housing association has been sentenced after it failed to effectively manage its employees’ exposure to Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) over a prolonged period of time.
Newport Magistrates’ Court heard how, between July 2010 and May 2015, employees of Tai Calon Community Housing Limited were routinely exposed to vibration in their day-to-day work. Following the company’s introduction of health
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY WORKER SUFFERS LIFE THREATENING
INJURIES A construction company as been sentenced for safety breaches after a worker suffered life threatening injuries.
Sheffield Magistrates’ Court heard that, in September 2016, a 48-year- old employee of K. D. S. Construction Company Ltd was working in a 2-metre-deep excavation when he was struck on the head and pinned down by a large segment of concrete. He suffered multiple
surveillance in May 2015, a number of employees were diagnosed with HAVS which has side effects such as pain and loss of strength in the hands and has been known to cause distress and sleep disturbance.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Tai Calon failed to adequately assess the risk to employees from the use of vibratory tools, failed to implement adequate measures to reduce employees’ exposure to vibration, failed to place employees under suitable health surveillance and failed to provide employees with suitable information, instruction, and training.
injuries, including fractures to his skull, ribs, left arm and vertebrae.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the construction company had been contracted by Abbey Forged Products Limited to carry out groundworks for the installation of a new underground water drainage system at the company’s Beeley Wood Works site in Sheffield.
The investigation also found that KDS employees had dug out a number of excavations for the new tanks and pipework. After one tank had been installed, work started on another excavation for a second tank adjacent to the first. While this was being dug, one of the groundworkers was asked
Tai Calon Community Housing of The Rising Sun Industrial Estate, Blaina, was found guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974 and was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £2789.25 in costs.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Paul Newton commented: “No one’s health should not be made worse by the work they do. In this case, if Tai Calon had understood why health surveillance was necessary, it would have ensured that it had the right systems in place to monitor its workers’ health.”
to cover over some pipework which was sticking out of the first tank to protect it from being damaged by backfill. When he descended into the excavation to do this, a section of unsupported concrete which was overhanging the excavation broke off and fell onto him.
K.D.S. Construction Company Ltd of Taylors Court, Rotherham pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £70,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,016.15.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Alison Outhwaite commented: “The employee’s injuries were life changing and he could have easily been killed. This serious incident and devastation could have been avoided if basic safe guards had been put in place.
“This case highlights the need to be aware of the risks of working in and near excavations. The groundwork industry need to appreciate the risks even where excavations are thought to be ‘shallow’ or the ground considered to be stable.
“If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to the incident, the life changing injuries sustained by the employee could have been prevented,” concluded the inspector.
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