Australian glazier handed record fine for contractor’s 33 kV shock

Open-access content Thursday 11th May 2017

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Australian glazier handed record fine for contractor's 33 kV shock

Judge Scotting sentenced WGA Pty on 5 May after the court had heard how a contractor for the company sustained an electric shock while working on a window ledge at a residential apartment construction site in South Hurstville on 19 June 2014.

A SafeWork NSW investigation found that the 49-year-old contractor was installing a piece of aluminum trim to the outside of a window when the current jumped to the metal from nearby 33,000-volt lines feeding the Illawarra train line. The contractor sustained 30% burns to his body, according to a New South Wales report.

Before the incident a SafeWork NSW inspector and Sydney Trains had advised WGA Pty about working safely around the power lines. However, the company failed to follow this advice. The court heard that WGA Pty did not take important steps to protect the worker, such as having electricity to the power lines isolated before undertaking the work.

The defendant has 28 days to lodge an appeal.

Dundee Sheriff Court. Image credit: © iStock/ angusforbes

Worker buried in 2.7 m trench collapse

Thursday 11th May 2017

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that none of the workers had formal health and safety training to manage a construction site and that the excavation work had not been risk assessed. As a result, workers were given instructions through verbal briefings rather than detailed, mapped out plans.

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Two asbestos strikes bring £750k fine for refurb contractor

Wednesday 10th May 2017

Barroerock Construction was converting a nine-storey office building in Ashford, Kent into flats in 2013 when the HSE carried out a routine inspection as part of its refurbishment inspection campaigns.Canterbury Crown Court heard on 3 May that HSE inspectors had discovered that the company had failed to act on the findings of a refurbishment and demolition (R&D) survey, which identified asbestos in the building. As a result, 40 workers were exposed to the hazardous material during the project’s early demolition phase.

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Lawyer Amanda Telfer who was killed when unsecured window frames fell on her. Image credit: © REX/Shutterstock

Supervisor handed jail term over lawyer’s window frame crushing

Monday 8th May 2017

Amanda Telfer, 43, died after being hit by three falling window frames as she was walking past a building site in Hanover Square, London, on 30 August 2012.Site supervisor Kelvin Adsett, 64, was responsible for the placement of the frames and the failure to secure them on a building in the square, which was being renovated by IS Europe. Adsett was jailed for a year on 5 May after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter following a trial at the Old Bailey.

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Francis Crick Institute | Image credit: ©View Pictures/REX/Shutterstock

UPDATE Francis Crick Institute build fatality sees CMF fined £185k

Friday 5th May 2017

Richard Laco, 31, had been contracted by architectural metalwork specialist CMF to install six steel staircases at the biomedical research centre, which opened last year and where Laing O’Rourke was the principal contractor. Each staircase was made up of between 50 and 60 pieces and CMF operatives had already successfully installed two of them (units A and F).

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The railings on the balcony gave way while the sofa (pictured, wrapped in plastic) was being manoeuvred into the first-floor apartment | Image credit: ©Ben Cawthra/REX/Shutterstock

Construction firm guilty of corporate manslaughter over fatal London balcony falls

Wednesday 24th May 2017

Martinisation London was found guilty last week (19 May) at the Old Bailey. The court heard that Polish nationals Tomasz Procko, 22, and Kyrol Szymanski, 29, were part of a team of construction workers that was renovating the flat in Cadogan Square, Belgravia. On 21 November 2014, five workmen used a rope to lift the 114.3 kg sofa up from the pavement and over a balustrade into the first-floor dwelling because it was too large to be carried up the stairs.

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Contractors let unprotected employees on snowy roof

Thursday 27th April 2017

MKM Fabrications was the principal contractor for the project on a factory building at Valley Mills. It subcontracted Clad-It to replace the northern-light roof structure with a composite roof. Members of the public saw the men working on the roof that had unguarded edges and reported it to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which launched an investigation.

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