Missing racking pins contributed to death

A paper manufacturer has admitted failing to adequately maintain a racking system, which collapsed, resulting in a worker sustaining fatal injuries from falling stock.

Northampton Crown Court heard the incident took place at Merley Paper Converters Ltd’s warehouse in Corby, on
16 March 2009.

Desanka Todorovic, 44, asked a forklift-truck operator to retrieve some flat-pack boxes from racking inside the warehouse. In order to access the boxes, the forklift operator used his vehicle to lift a pallet, which was positioned on top of the boxes. As he was lowering the pallet, the racking collapsed and several boxes of till rolls fell and landed on Mrs Todorovic, partially burying her underneath. She died shortly afterwards from crush injuries.

The HSE investigated the incident and found the racking was in a poor condition. The rack’s horizontal beams were not properly engaged in the uprights and hadn’t been secured with locking pins. The company was issued a Prohibition Notice, which ordered workers to stay out of the warehouse until the racking was made safe.

HSE inspector Roger Amery told SHP: “Had Merley Paper Converters properly erected and then properly maintained its racking, this incident would never have happened.  Quite a few companies attend to their machinery and health risks quite diligently, but then take their racking storage systems for granted. They fail to subject these to the inspections and maintenance that are essential. This neglect is sometimes accompanied by a general failure to grasp that quite small defects within a loaded racking system can have a massive effect on overall stability.”

Merley Paper Converters appeared in court on 13 February and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £70,000 and ordered to pay £30,974 in costs.

In mitigation, the company said it had engaged the services of a health and safety consultancy prior to the incident and feels it was let down by the advice it received. The firm also said it cooperated with the investigation and quickly complied with the enforcement notice.

 Source: SHP 19^th Feb 2013

Unsafe skip loader

A Kent businessman has been given a suspended prison sentence for supplying unsafe plant equipment, which was involved in a fatal incident. Guildford Crown Court heard landscape gardener Ken Pinkerton, 47, hired a one-tonne skip loader and a mini-digger from Brian Beavis, who traded as Heavy Plant Repairs.

Mr Pinkerton hired the equipment after being contracted to build a retaining wall at a house in Reigate, Surrey. On 28 September 2011, he was driving the mini-digger when it overturned on uneven ground in the garden of the house. He then used the skip loader to try to upright the digger, but while he was operating the vehicle it slipped backwards and reversed over some garden waste and overturned. He was thrown from the cab and the machine landed on top of him, causing fatal crush injuries.

The HSE investigated the incident and found a number of defects on the skip loader. There was no seat belt installed, the roll-over protection bar couldn’t be operated as a bolt was missing, and the engine cover, which was positioned under the driver’s seat, was not secured.

The investigation also learned that Beavis had supplied the machines without providing any user information. The HSE subsequently visited Heavy Plant Repairs’ depot in Canterbury and found defects on other pant equipment. In October 2011, a Prohibition Notice was issued to Beavis, which required him to ensure all plant equipment was in a safe condition.

HSE inspector Amanda Huff said: “Brian Beavis could have prevented the incident by making sure that the skip loader was properly maintained and safe. Skip loaders are at risk of rolling when they are used on uneven ground. Had the machine had a working seat belt and functioning roll-over protection, it is probable Mr Pinkerton would have survived the crash.”

Beavis appeared in court on 8 March and pleaded guilty to breaching s6(1)(a) of the HSWA 1974, for failing to ensure the equipment was supplied in a safe condition. He was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, and ordered to pay £10,000 in compensation to Mr Pinkerton’s partner.

Evening Standard Article contrary to HSE statistics

In the London Evening Standard, an article states that the UK's safety record appears to be getting worse amid a "hostile" political climate to health and safety issues, according to the TUC.

The union organisation said fewer visits were being made to workplaces by health and safety inspectors to make sure staff were not being put at risk.  Local authority safety inspection teams are also working with "substantially reduced" funding, despite an increased in workplace deaths, said the TUC.

A report (not referenced in the article) said the upward trend in workplace fatalities will be not be reversed unless there is an increase in the enforcement of health and safety law in all workplaces.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "The Government seems determined to water down health and safety laws despite recent increases in workplace fatalities. It seems incredible that ministers seem unconcerned by the cut in the number of workplace inspections at a time when more people are dying and getting injured at work."

Yet if we look at the HSE’s published statistics, then we see the following:

So, the non-fatal injury figures show a continuing downwards trend, whilst fatalities show a downwards trend which seems to have flattened.  OK, we’d like both to reduce at a faster rate, and self-employed statistics are depressing, but unless there has been a sharp upward trend in the past few months, then the article is certainly not aligned with HSE published data.  See article: buff.ly/ZkKVsS

Roadsweeping company charged with corporate manslaughter

Mobile Sweepers (Reading) Ltd is being charged with the corporate manslaughter, along with its sole director, Mervyn Owens, who faces a charge of gross-negligence manslaughter, in relation to the death of employee, Malcolm Hinton on 6 March 2012.

Mr Hinton died from crush injuries after working on a repair underneath a road-sweeping truck at Mobile Sweepers’ premises at Riddings Farm, near Basingstoke. He had inadvertently removed a hydraulic hose, which caused the back of the truck to fall on him.

Colin Gibbs, senior lawyer in Special Crime for the CPS, said: “I have carefully reviewed all the evidence gathered by Hampshire Police and the Health and Safety Executive during their investigation into the tragic death of Malcolm Hinton [and] have concluded there is sufficient evidence to charge Mobile Sweepers (Reading) Limited with corporate manslaughter under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.  I have also decided there is sufficient evidence to charge the company's sole director Mervyn Owens with gross-negligence manslaughter. In addition, I have authorised charges against both Mobile Sweepers (Reading) Limited and Mr Owens with an offence under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 and also with an offence under regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

The first hearing will take place at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on 21 March.

Source: SHP 7 March 2013