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Work at height
Manufacturing and engineering

Dairy giant Müller in court over worker’s roof fall

Open-access content Tuesday 3rd January 2017
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 2 years old.
Muller-logo_chrisdorney-shutterstock_786702919

IStock

Dairy giant Müller has been fined £400,000 after a worker was seriously injured when he fell 4.5m through an unmarked fragile roof panel.

Manchester Crown Court was told that on 8 July 2015 three men were carrying out a routine task, changing refrigeration gas inside the chilled storage units. They were working in the roof void of the chilled store building above the units.

The victim stood at the edge of the roof on a fragile fire board panel. The board gave way and he fell into the void between the chilled unit and the building shell. He sustained injuries to his head.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found there was no adequate risk assessment and the company had not informed workers about the presence of fragile roof panels in the void prior to the work being undertaken. The panels were not clearly visible, had no warning markings and there were no barriers to prevent access to fragile areas.

Müller UK and Ireland Group, which employs around 12,000 people and whose brands include Müller Corner, Müllerlight and Müller Rice, pleaded guilty to breaching s 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. It was ordered to pay costs of £9,336.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Jane Carroll said: 'This case highlights how important it is that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment is undertaken for all work at height and work within roof voids, to identify the potential for fragile panels to be present.'

 

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©Hoskins/ Associated Newspapers/REX/Shutterstock

 Warburtons fined £2m over worker’s mixing machine fall

Tuesday 24th January 2017
Andrew Sears was cleaning a mixing machine on 11 November 2013 when he lost his footing. He sustained a spinal compression fracture and was unable to return to work until the end of the following year. He was dismissed in December 2015 after another long period of sick leave.
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 Suspended jail sentence for construction worker with 'staggering disregard for personal safety'

Tuesday 3rd January 2017
Manchester Magistrates’ Court was told that David Mullholland, a 25-year-old employee of a steel erection company, was working at height during a hotel development project in Manchester. On 21 January 2015 he climbed up the scaffolding to hammer some steel beams into position.A nearby worker took the photo of Mullholland from their office window and contacted the HSE. Inspectors went to the site and questioned him.
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 Canada to ban asbestos by 2018

Thursday 5th January 2017
In a statement, government ministers of health, science and the environment said new regulations will outlaw the production, use, import and export of asbestos under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act 1999. It will establish new rules to reduce the risk of exposure in the workplace and change building codes to prohibit asbestos use in new construction and renovation projects across the country. Science minister Kirsty Duncan said: “There is irrefutable evidence that has led us to take concrete action to ban asbestos.”
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 Contractor fell through unguarded floor hole

Monday 9th January 2017
The company was installing a mezzanine floor at a factory in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey when the incident occurred on 13 January 2015. The contractor was working on the floor when he stepped backwards and fell through a hole where a lift was due to be installed.
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 Two-year jail sentence for director follows MEWP failure fatality

Tuesday 10th January 2017
The company was also fined £61,000 for failing to ensure that those using the equipment were not exposed to the risk of injury or death, for failing to maintain the equipment and for hiring the cherry picker out when it had not been certified as safe. Another company, J M Access Solutions, which had been hired to carry out statutory thorough inspections was also fined £30,000 for failing to do so.
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 Logistics firm pays £280k over two forklift accidents

Friday 16th December 2016
On 6 October 2014, a 39-year-old employee of Rudolph and Hellmann Automotive, which was contracted to manage materials movement on the production lines, had his left foot crushed when he was run over by forklift truck.  The next day, a 55-year-old operations manager was seriously injured by a falling metal box as he walked along a marked pedestrian footpath. The box fell off a forklift and pinned him to the ground. He sustained punctured lungs, internal bleeding and a fractured pelvis.
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