Inside this issue:

Total UK Health and Safety

Fines Triple in First Year of

New Sentencing guidelines

1

DFS Trading Limited Fined

£1m Following Worker’s

Head Injuries

1

An Employee was Caught

on Camera Balanced

Precariously on Scaffold

Tubes 27m in the air.

2

Handson ‘Cartoon Capers’ 2

Worker Severely Injured

after Driving into

Excavation

2

‘Court Case Corner’

Recent (UK) Prosecutions

3

About Handson Safety

Services Limited

4

Recommendations 4

Course Training Dates

March 2017 - August 2017

Why Not Come

and Join us ?

4

Your Safety

in Our Hands

DFS Trading Limited Fined £1m Following Worker’s Head Injuries

March 2017

Issue 38

The Handson team

continue to be

dedicated to providing a

professional and

comprehensive training and

consultancy service to our

Clients /Friends.

We are pleased to say that

once again we have achieved

excellent results in our

accredited courses (including

recent 100% in NEBOSH NGC)

making new friends along the

way, which is always pleasing.

New delegates continue to

join our rolling NEBOSH

National Diploma Programme.

Unit A ‘Managing Health and

Safety’ commences on May

2nd 2017.

Why not

take the leap and come

and join us?

DFS has been fined after safety failings which led to serious neck and head injuries of a worker.

Derby Magistrates’ Court heard that on July 2nd 2015 the worker was unloading wooden furniture

frames at one of their upholstery sites, when he was struck by an unsecured furniture arm which

fell from an unstable load.

The impact knocked him unconscious and he suffered serious neck and head injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that DFS failed to adequately

manage the risks of heavy loads being moved between manufacturing sites.

The court heard the company also failed to supervise the work taking place with a number of

near misses being reported from unsecured loads.

DFS Trading Limited of Rockingham Way, Redhouse Interchange, Adwick Le Street Doncaster

pleaded guilty to breaching sections 3 of the Managing Health and Safety at Work Regulation

and also section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and have been fined

£1million and ordered to pay costs of £15,099. aaaa

Speaking after the case HSE inspector Lyn Spooner said: aaaa

‘DFS is a large national organisation. The fundamental and systemic failings identified in their health

and safety management systems is far from what would be expected from a company of their

size who has the ability to deliver higher standards of safety. Unfortunately DFS were unable to do

that on this occasion and a preventable accident was allowed to occur.’ aaaa

In a statement DFS said: aaaa

‘The health and safety of our employees is extremely important to us. The employee who was injured,

in June 2015, is a valued member of our team; we deeply regret the accident he suffered and

we’re very glad that he is back at work in his previous role. This case has highlighted some areas

where, on occasion, our procedures were not as strong as they should have been. Over the last

eighteen months we’ve invested heavily in health and safety including reviewing our health and

safety procedures and retraining all our employees. Our skilled craftspeople are critical to our

success and we’re committed to ensuring their health and safety at work.’ aaaa

The fundamental and systemic failings identified in their health and safety management systems is far

from what would be expected from a company of their size – HSE

Handson Safety Services provide regular Construction Skills public training courses throughout the year

including the 5 day Site Managers Safety Training Scheme (SMSTS), 2 Day Site Supervisors Safety Training

Scheme (SSSTS). We have now launched our Construction Skills Accredited 1 Day ‘Health and Safety

Awareness’ course required by site operatives wishing to gain their CSCS card.

Why not come along and gain a good understanding of construction site safety legislation, and help to

make your worksites safer and more worker friendly?

The first year of operation of the new sentencing guidelines (which took effect on 1 February 2016) has

resulted in 19 fines of £1m or more; the most notable of these fines being the £5 million imposed on Merlin

Entertainments after five people were seriously hurt in a rollercoaster crash at its Alton Towers theme park.

The largest 20 fines imposed for health and safety offences last year cost the businesses involved a total of

£38.6m.In comparison, the largest 20 fines in 2015 and 2014, cost £13.5m and £4.3m respectively. How the fines work:

Using the 2016 Sentencing Guidelines, a court applies a formula to set the penalty, first deciding

whether the defendant’s culpability was very high, high, medium or low.

The next factor is a matrix cross-referring the likelihood the safety failing would lead to harm and

how bad that harm could have been – from minor injuries to lifelong disability or death.

The judge must also consider how many people were exposed to the risk of harm and whether the

safety failing was a significant cause of actual harm before setting a final harm rating of 1 to 4

(with 1 being the highest rating).

The harm rating and culpability assessment are then applied to a series of tables with fine ranges for

organisations with different levels of annual turnover.

The fines ranges for prosecutions under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 are as follows:

- Micro-organisations (turnover less than £2 million): £50 to £450,000.

- Small organisations (turnover between £2 million and £10 million): £100 to £1.6 million.

- Medium organisations (turnover between £10 million and £50 million): £1,000 to £4 million.

- Large organisations (turnover of £50 million and above): £3,000 to £10 million.

For each harm category at each culpability there is a suggested ’starting point’ fine, ranging from

£200 for low culpability, harm level four for a micro-organisation to £4 million for a large organisation

with very high culpability and harm level one.

Judges can move below these starting points for mitigating circumstances, such as a good

safety record and an early guilty plea.

Aggravating factors, such as obstructing an investigation or cost-cutting at the expense of safety, will

push the penalty up the scale from the starting point. A set of separate guidelines for Corporate Manslaughter offences sets fine

ranges from £180,000 to £20 million.

Total UK Health and Safety Fines Triple

in First Year of New Sentencing Guidelines

A member of the public passed the photograph

to the HSE after spotting David Mullholland

hammering steel beams into place without any

safety equipment during the refurbishment of the

King Street townhouse in Manchester’s city centre.

Manchester Magistrates Court heard that HSE

inspectors arrived at the site on Booth Street,

which is now a hotel, on a rainy 21 January 2015 to

find the 24 year old on the roof.

Inspectors found that a Mullholland had been given

a tower scaffold to enable him to complete the job.

There was also a full time scaffolder ready to build

scaffolding for any contractors on site.

Mullholland later said that he did not realise

how high he was.

The HSE said that his actions not only posed a risk

to his own safety, but he could have harmed

passers by if he dropped a tool.

It is the second time that a member of the public’s

photograph of unsafe work at height on the hotel

refurbishment has led to a prosecution.

Two months after Mullholland was spotted, an

office worker snapped two roofing

company directors balanced on a rooftop beam.

The directors and their company were fined a total of

£16,500 earlier in December.

Mullholland, of Walton le Dale near Preston, pleaded

guilty to breaching Section 7 of the Health and Safety

at Work Act, and was sentenced to 6 months

imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and fined £1400.

He was also ordered to pay costs of £2939.

HSE inspector Matt Greenly said:

‘This case dealt with a serious work at height risk which

could have led to a fatal incident. David Mullholland

failed in his duty to protect his own safety while at

work and also placed others at risk had he dropped

any tool from the position he was seen in, some

27 metres above street level.’

During the HSE’s investigation he said that he did not

appreciate how high he was.

‘Never before in my career as an HSE Inspector have I

seen such a staggering disregard for personal safety. It is a

matter of pure luck that no one was injured or killed.

My thanks go to the member of the public who reported

their concern to us as they have been instrumental in

saving the life of Mr Mulholland and arguably anyone

below him at that time.’

Your Safety in Our Hands

Handson Safety Services can carry out Safety Audits designed to assist you in ensuring that you are brought up to date with

legislative changes and also assist you to meet these requirements. We also continue to provide a high standard of accred-

ited and bespoke courses to suit the specific needs of our clients delivered in a professional and competent manner.

Handson ‘Cartoon Capers’

An Employee of a Steel Erection Firm has been Handed a Suspended Jail Sentence and Forced to Pay

Nearly £3500 after he was Caught on Camera Balanced Precariously on Scaffold Tubes 27m in the air.

Worker Severely Injured after Driving into Excavation

London Container Terminal (Tilbury) Limited (LCT) has been fined after a

worker was seriously injured when the ‘straddle’ carrier he was driving

overturned at Tilbury Docks in November 2014.

Basildon Crown Court heard that on 16 November 2014 a worker inadvertently

drove his straddle carrier into a large excavation at the docks.

The court was told that looking down from his cab, the driver did not see the

road cones, small flashing lights or the ticker tape around the excavation

because it was dark and the weather conditions were poor.

The straddle carrier, a vehicle used in the port terminal for stacking and moving

freight shipping containers, toppled over.

The worker suffered life changing injuries, his head wound required 29 staples to

close and he continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the

precautions taken by LCT were wholly inadequate to prevent the vehicle from

being able to enter the excavation.

The court heard that all of the straddle carrier drivers working in the vicinity of

the excavation had been exposed to the risk for several days during the

course of the excavation works.

London Container Terminal Limited of Northfleet Hope House, Tilbury Docks,

Tilbury pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3 (1) of the Health

and Safety at Work Act 1974 and have been fined £180,000 and ordered

to pay costs of £73,296.

London Container Terminal ceased trading in December and the fine will

be paid by the Port of Tilbury (London) Limited.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Nicola Jaynes said:

‘This was a serious incident and that could have been much worse, and was

preventable if LCT had the correct safety precautions in place, and this case

serves as a reminder that suitable precautions are required to protect both

pedestrians and vehicles from entering excavations.’

*** Handson Safety Now Provide a Qualitative Face Fit Testing Service ***

‘Court Case Corner’ - Recent (UK) Prosecutions

Issue 38

Handson Safety Services Limited continues to excel in assisting companies to implement

Safety, Health and Environmental systems, designed to minimise the potential risks to

colleagues and employers alike. For more information on our consultancy and training

packages please feel free to contact our admin support team on:

01270 252009

enquiries@handson-safety-services.co.uk - or - www.handson-safety-services.co.uk

We specialise in Quarry and Construction safety

A Hull Construction Firm Has Been in Court After Workers Were

Poisoned with Carbon Monoxide When They Used a Petrol-Driven

Saw Within a Makeshift Sealed Enclosure.

Plant Hire Boss Jailed after Platform Collapse Kills Worker

Hull Magistrates Court last week heard that workers for Westlands Construction were using

a petrol powered saw to cut out an existing concrete floor at a fish factory in Hull.

To protect the surfaces of the food factory from the resulting dust, the workers

constructed a sealed enclosure from timber and polythene.

The workers continued working inside the area over a weekend, the space was not ventilated

and there was a build-up of carbon monoxide, leading to one worker being hospitalised.

A HSE investigation found the company had not planned the work or thought through

the dangers that an unventilated tent would cause.

"Petrol driven saws should not be used in a confined space because of the risk of carbon

monoxide exposure, instead, the contractor should have used a system of dust suppression

and local exhaust ventilation (LEV), together with appropriate respiratory protective

equipment to prevent or reduce exposure to harmful dust.

Westlands Construction, of Sproatley, Hull pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of

the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act and was fined £16,000 with £847 costs.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Jennifer Elsegood said:

‘Petrol driven saws should not be used in a confined space because of the risk of carbon

monoxide exposure. Carbon monoxide is extremely dangerous it has no smell and workers can

be overcome by the fumes before they realise they have been effected – making it extremely

dangerous—This is why it is known as the silent killer.’

A plant hire boss has been jailed for two years after a worker was

killed when a mobile platform collapsed on an office job in Scotland.

Safety net rigger Gary Currie and his colleague Alexander Nisbet

were in the basket of the platform removing netting from the facade

of the Buchanan House office block in Glasgow when the third main

boom section buckled causing the platform’s basket to fall 28 metres.

Nisbet was seriously injured and Currie suffered fatal injuries.

After a 16 day trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court, Craig Services’

manager Donald Craig was found guilty of a breach of

health and safety legislation and sentenced to the maximum

penalty of two years imprisonment.

Hamilton based Craig Services & Access Limited was also found

guilty of three charges relating to the collapse of a Mobile

Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) and failures in relation to it

maintenance and use and was fined a total of £61,000. Another

company, J M Access Solutions Ltd, was fined £30,000 for its failure to

carry out a systematic and detailed thorough examination of the

platform and its safety-critical parts. This was following an earlier

incident, in May 2011, involving the platform after which Craig

Services & Access Limited had instructed a repair to the damaged

section of the main boom. The repair had been incorrectly carried

out and J M Access Solutions Ltd subsequently failed in their duty to

carry out an adequate thorough examination of the platform.

Gary Aitken, Head of Health and Safety Division said:

‘This incident, which resulted in the death of Gary Currie and caused

serious injury to Alexander Nisbet, could have been avoided had

Donald Craig and Craig Services & Access Limited heeded advice

and taken measures to maintain the platform in a safe condition.

At the centre of this all was the decision to instruct this repair.

It was a decision that left Gary Currie and Alexander Nisbet

exposed to an unacceptable risk and was essentially an

accident waiting to happen.

A MEWP is a safety critical piece of equipment and therefore it was

highly foreseeable that such a repair would risk the lives of

those using the equipment.

This incident has left family and friends devastated at the loss of a

loved one, and hopefully this prosecution will remind other employers

that failure to fulfil their obligations can have tragic consequences

and that they will be held to account for their failings.’

HSE Principal Inspector Graeme McMinn stated:

‘The death of Gary Currie was entirely preventable.

Craig Services and Access Ltd and Donald Craig were advised by the

manufacturer to replace the damaged boom, but instead, they chose

a much cheaper repair that left the boom in an unsafe condition.

‘Guidance in the British Standard “Safe Use of MEWPS” advises that

repairs to any parts of the MEWP structure should be in accordance

with the procedure specified by the manufacturer.

At the time of the accident the MEWP had a catalogue of defects

some of which were safety critical demonstrating that Craig Services

and Access Ltd did not have an adequate proactive maintenance

and reactive repair system in place within the company.

For a complex piece of equipment such as the MEWP, that system

should have included daily pre-use checks, intermediate inspections

and maintenance based on manufacturer recommendations

and six monthly thorough examinations carried out by a

competent person independent of the MEWP owner.

The competence and diligence of a thorough examiner is vital as it is

they who declare the MEWP safe to use.

JM Access Solutions Ltd failed to carry out a diligent thorough

examination and declared the MEWP safe to use.

The British Standard provides guidance on what an examination should

include following a major repair on a MEWP structure.

Non-destructive testing and load testing should have been carried out

and overload testing discussed with the manufacturer.

This tragic accident should highlight the absolute duty for owners of

MEWPS to maintain them to ensure continued safe operation.’

Handson Safety Services Limited is an established Safety, Health

and Environmental consultancy and training provider, offering

consultancy support and training services throughout the UK.

Our level of expertise enables us to be able to provide a

complete service, from the carrying out of initial site inspections

to the provision of practical solutions to any problems identified.

We also deliver professional accredited or bespoke in-house

or open public course training on a wide range of topics.

Consultancy

We have a large multi-disciplined team of highly-qualified

consultants, who are able to offer complete solutions for all your

Safety, Health and Environmental needs; including the provision

of a Competent CDM Advisor service, assisting the Principal

Designer to meet their competency requirements.

Training

We aim to meet the needs of your organisation and regularly

run NEBOSH, IOSH and Construction Skills courses with

excellent pass rates. Furthermore, we can now offer other

courses on a wide range of sector-specific topics, including

Drivers CPC Periodic Training.

Ralph Stubbs BSc (Hons), PIEMA, MIQ, IMaPS, FIIRSM, CFIOSH Director

Phone/Fax: 01270 252009

Email: enquiries@handson-safety-services.co.uk

Together we can make a difference!

About Handson Safety

Services Limited

We are also able to write and deliver numerous bespoke industry/task specific courses, and

would be pleased to provide you with further information on request.

More detailed information about our extensive suite of courses is available on our

website: www.handson-safety-services.co.uk or contact one of the team on: 01270 252009

We hope we can work with you to enable your colleagues to work in a safe and productive manner.

Course

Duration

Type

March 2017

April 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2107

August 2017

SMSTS 5 Days Block 20th - 24th 15th - 19th 3rd - 7th

SMSTS

5 Days

Day Release

10th (1)

17th (2)

24th (3)

31st (4)

SMSTS Refresher 2 Days Block 29th - 30th 22nd - 23rd 3rd - 4th

SSSTS 2 Days Block 12th - 13th 21st - 22nd 7th - 8th

SSSTS Refresher 1 Day Day Release 9th 11th 12th

NEW - CITB

H & S Awareness

1 Day 27th 5th 15th 8th 6th 15th

IOSH

Managing Safely

5 Days

Block

13th - 16th

30th (1)

1st (2)

8th (3)

15th (4)

24th -27th

IOSH

Leading Safely

1 Day

4th 17th

IOSH

Working Safely

1Day

3rd 20th 14th

NEBOSH

National General

Certificate

10 Days

Plus

Exams

Block

Revision

6th & 7th

Exam 8th

8th - 12th

&

22nd - 26th

Revision

5th & 6th

Exam 7th

28th (1)

7th - 11th

&

21st - 25th

NEBOSH

National General

Certificate

10 Days

Plus

Exams

Day

Release

1st (10)

Revision

6th & 7th

Exam 8th

5th (2)

12th (3)

19th (4)

26th (5)

2nd (6)

9th (7)

16th (8)

23rd (9)

30th (10)

NEBOSH

National

DIPLOMA

10 Days

+ Revision

+ Exams

Day

Release

Unit A

2nd (1)

9th (2)

16th (3)

23rd (4)

30th (5)

6th (6)

13th (7)

20th (8)

27th (9)

4th (10)

Revision 11th

Exam (A) 18th

Exam (B) 19th

Exam (C) 20th

Public Course Training Dates

March 2017 – August 2017

Secure your place now by calling 01270 252009

** NEBOSH National Diploma Day Release - ‘Module A’ - Commences on May 2nd 2017!! **

NEBOSH NATIONAL

DIPLOMA ’Unit A’

Commences on

May 2nd

Book Your Place Now

We believe that recommendations go a long way!

** Diploma News ** - Another delegate (and friend) has

succesfully completed his studies with us.

Congratulations Declan!!

Please contact the

office for details of

our ‘In-house’

CPC Periodic Training

courses