Throughout March the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) conducted a large number of successful prosecutions against many organisations. Sadly this makes it all too obvious that Health & Safety is still not at the forefront of some organisations. The majority of prosecutions were related to falls from height, which remains the most common cause of workplace injuries.
A number of falls involved the use of telehanders and cherry pickers. On 4th April 2007 two people fell when a cherry picker overturned due to improper stablisation, one died and the other was seriously injured. As a result a fine of £12,000 was given to the company, with it’s director also fined £2,000. The fines were given as a result of a failure to follow correct safety procedures during an unusual job. Had an adequate risk assessment of this task been performed this accident could have been averted.
A builder was fined £2,500 after he worked on the roof of a building with no safety equipment, his blatant disregard for his own safety and those working for him was only too evident from the adjacent busy road; a road where a HSE Inspector just happened to be driving along.
In the middle of the month the HSE conducted a series of site visits in Greater Manchester and the surrounding area. Whilst almost three quarters passed their visits, the rest cannot be said for the remaining quarter where over 56 enforcement notices were issued to 42 sites. Newly released figures from the HSE indicate that the number of serious injuries in the Greater Manchester area for 2008/9 totally 498, with one death. This number contributed almost 1/3 to the total number of serious injuries for the construction industry in the area over the same period; a number which no doubt had an impact upon the HSEs decision to perform a number of investigations in the area.
Last year HSEs inspectors visited 1759 sites nationwide inspecting over 2145 contractors. Over 270 prohibition notices were issued to stop dangerous work; the majority of these were related to working at height. Construction remains the most dangerous industry in the United Kingdom.