Confined spaces

Research published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has identified some weaknesses in the control measures at a number of ports and distribution centres in relation to workers coming into contact with hazardous substances when examining or unloading freight containers.

The US Department of Labor has presented an Ohio-based vehicle parts manufacturer on its ‘severe violator enforcement programme’ with a fine of $480,240 (approx. £373,000) after inspectors found it had continually exposed workers to multiple machine hazards

Three senior managers at a food waste recycling plant in Leicestershire have been handed prison sentences for gross negligence that resulted in two workers being overcome by toxic fumes and drowning in a road haulage tanker containing pig feed. The Newark-based family-owned and run business, which is being liquidated, has been fined £2m. We spoke to the HSE’s Principal Inspector to get the full story.

Railway infrastructure contractor VolkerRail Ltd has been fined £550,000 after a trench collapsed onto a railway worker, causing life-changing injuries and resulting in him being placed in a medically-induced coma. We spoke to Simon Barber, HM Inspector of Railways at the Office of Road and Rail (ORR), about what happened.

The senior coroner presiding over an inquest into the death of a high-voltage electrical engineer who was overcome by carbon monoxide while investigating a fault on an industrial transformer is warning IOSH members of the risks.

A small-scale mining company that was found guilty of breaching health and safety laws after one of its workers was injured and trapped in a mine collapse, has been fined £100,000, despite the firm facing liquidation.

A diving instructor has been fined after a trainee tragically died while searching a submarine wreck in Scotland.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has accepted a Crown Censure from the HSE following another fatal diving incident.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been issued a Crown Censure by the Health and Safety Executive following the death of a military diver who died during training.

The operator of Walkabout pubs has been prosecuted after a stack of chairs crushed a worker in a service lift.