Skip to main content
IOSH Magazine: Safety, Health and Wellbeing in the world of work - return to the homepage IOSH Magaazine logo
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit @ioshmagazine on Twitter
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on LinkedIn
Non-verbal communication
How to build trust
March/April 2023 issue

Main navigation

  • Home
    • Browse previous issues
    • Member accolades
    • Member tributes
  • Health
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Sickness absence
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Rehabilitation
      • Personal injury
      • Return to work
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Achieving Fellowship
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Professional skills
      • Qualifications
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Jobs
  • Covid-19
  • Knowledge Bank
    • Back to basics
    • Book club
    • Infographics
    • Podcast
    • Reports
    • Webinars
    • Videos
  • Products & Services
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Sickness absence
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Leadership
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Qualifications
      • Professional skills
      • Achieving Fellowship
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Transport and logistics
  • Third sector
  • Retail
  • Mining and quarrying
  • Rail
  • Rehabilitation
    • Personal injury
    • Return to work
  • Utilities
  • Manufacturing and engineering
  • Construction
  • Sector: IOSH Branch
    • Sector: Northern Ireland
    • Sector: Midland
    • Sector: Merseyside
    • Sector: Manchester and North West Districts
    • Sector: Ireland East
    • Sector: Ireland
    • Sector: Edinburgh
    • Sector: Desmond-South Munster
    • Sector: Qatar
    • Sector: Oman
    • Singapore
    • Sector: South Coast
    • Sector: South Wales
    • Sector: Thames Valley
    • Sector: Tyne and Wear
    • Sector: UAE
    • Sector: West of Scotland
    • Sector: Yorkshire
  • Healthcare
  • Sector: Fire
  • Sector: Financial/general services
  • Sector: Energy
  • Education
  • Sector: Communications and media
  • Chemicals
  • Sector: Central government
  • Catering and leisure
  • Agriculture and forestry
  • Sector: Local government
  • Sector: IOSH Group
    • Sector: Financial Services
    • Sector: Sports Grounds and Events
    • Rural industries
    • Sector: railway
    • Public Services
    • Sector: Offshore
    • Sector: Hazardous Industries
    • Sector: Food and Drink
    • Sector: Fire Risk Management
    • Education
    • Construction
    • Sector: Aviation and Aerospace
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Categories
  • Topics
  • Management
  • Human factors
  • Older workers
Work at height
Work equipment
Construction
Education
News

Fall bag plunge causes scaffolding pole injuries

Open-access content Tuesday 1st May 2018
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Fall bag plunge causes scaffolding pole injuries

The 61-year-old employee had been asked to remove fall bags from the first floor of Sandal Endowed Primary School in Wakefield, West Yorkshire when the incident occurred on 26 August 2014.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the bags, which are used to minimise the risk of injury if someone falls, were too bulky to fit safely down the stairs, so the worker carried the large bags on to the roof and threw them over the edge. One of the bags became caught on the edge protection, dislodging it and taking both the worker and the fall protection equipment over the edge.

The George Hurst & Sons employee fell about 2 m and landed on the unprotected end of a scaffolding pole. He sustained broken ribs and internal injuries and later had to have part of his bowel removed due to infection.

The HSE found that employees had been exposed to the fall risk because the company had not put in place fall protection measures which met the British standard. This requires guard-rails, toe-boards, barriers and similar collective means of protection to be securely installed so that they can't be displaced.

George Hurst & Sons of Don Pottery Yard, Rowms Lane, Swinton, South Yorkshire pleaded guilty to breaching s 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The company, which has gone into administration, has been fined £1.

You may also be interested in...

 HSENI pledges to cut high-hazard industry deaths

Wednesday 11th April 2018
The target is part of the HSENI’s new draft corporate plan for 2018-2023, a consultation for which was launched last week.
Open-access content

 Unsupervised worker fell 2 m during roof replacement

Monday 30th April 2018
Window and door fitter Stuart Barnes, which had been contracted to undertake the roof replacement work, was fined £8,000 for failing to plan it safely. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that 27-year-old Luke Maslen was working on the garage roof when the incident occurred at Courtlands in Portland, Dorset on 5 January 2016. The fragile structure gave way and he fell almost 2 m, sustaining a serious fracture to his upper spine.
Open-access content
Mountbatten Leisure Centre | Image credit: © Barry Shimmon (cc-by-sa/2.0)

 Construction trio nets £526,500 penalty for failure to plan work at height

Thursday 3rd May 2018
Wessex Building Services was the main contractor on site at Mountbatten Leisure Centre when the Wessex Insulation employee was installing insulation to new ventilation ductwork on the leisure centre’s roof on 17 December 2015. The worker fell through the fragile structure and sustained six fractures to his back. He has since made a full recovery.
Open-access content
© iStock/ ved007

 NZ govt launches ten-year strategy to achieve ‘world class’ OSH status

Tuesday 8th May 2018
The country’s level of work-related harm remains high by international standards, particularly in comparison with Australia and the UK, and the government’s ambition is to decrease rates to “world class health and safety levels”. New Zealand’s fatal work-related injury rate per 100,000 workers rose from 2.3 in 2015 to 2.6 in 2016 compared with Australia which declined from 1.8 to 1.5. The UK’s fatal work-related injury rate in 2015 was 0.8 per 100,000 workers.
Open-access content
Image credit: HSE. The captive key to the weigh bin area

 Spare keys let staff bypass interlocks and led to £660k fine

Friday 11th May 2018
Precast concrete products manufacturer CPM Group was fined £660,000 after 43-year-old fitter Jeffery Baulf was fatally crushed when the conveyor started moving as he was carrying out maintenance work at the company’s plant in Frome, Somerset on 3 October 2016.
Open-access content
HSE. The area where Paul Welstead fell through the fragile roof

 Construction giant fined £900k for painter’s station roof fall

Friday 20th April 2018
Paul Welstead, who had been subcontracted from a third company, DRH, was carrying out remedial painting works when he fell around 3 m through a suspended ceiling into a waiting room at East Croydon railway station on 7 January 2015.Croydon Crown Court heard on 18 April that the companies had agreed a £12m contract with Network Rail to undertake the replacement of station floor surfaces, canopy roofs and cladding.
Open-access content
Topics
Older workers
Work at height
Work equipment
Construction
Education
News
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Health and Safety Improvement Manager

Leeds
£35000 - £50000 per annum
Reference
5452992

SHEQ Systems Advisor

Up to £40000.00 per annum + Car Allowance
Reference
5452988

Senior Health and Safety Manager

Reading
Up to £65000.00 per annum + Great Car Allowance & Benefits
Reference
5452983
See all jobs »

Sign up for regular e-alerts

Receive the latest news and features, free to your inbox

Sign up

Subscribe to IOSH magazine

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
IOSH Covers
​
FOLLOW US
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel +44 (0)20 7880 6200
​

IOSH

About IOSH
Become a member
IOSH Events
MyIOSH

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to IOSH magazine
Write for IOSH magazine

IOSH Magazine

Health
Safety
Management
Skills
IOSH Jobs

© 2023 IOSH • IOSH is not responsible for the content of external sites

ioshmagazine.com and IOSH Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ