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March/April 2023 issue

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News

Flawed work system led Alton Towers operator to £5m fine

Open-access content Tuesday 27th September 2016
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

The theme park originally blamed human error for the accident on 2 June 2015. But during sentencing at Stafford Crown Court today Judge Michael Chambers QC said this was not the case, the Press Association has reported. The judge added that the accident could have been avoided if the company had a risk assessment and a suitable written system for dealing with ride faults.

He said: "The defendant now accepts the prosecution case that the underlying fault was an absence of a structured and considered system, not that of individuals' efforts, doing their best within a flawed system."

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) also concluded that the accident was avoidable. Bernard Thorogood, prosecuting, said engineers had not received the Smiler ride's instruction manual, which states that the rollercoaster should not be operated if wind speeds exceeded 34 mph. According to the regulator, a "near-gale" (45 mph winds) on the day of the crash may have prevented the test carriage clearing one of the ride's 14 loops.

Shortly before the accident the test carriage was sent round the rollercoaster and came to a stop midway, unseen by staff. The computer system halted the ride but engineers believed this to be an error and manually overrode the control system before sending a full car of 16 people along the track and into its path. The court was told that an engineer "felt pressure" to return the Smiler into service.

The prosecution compared the impact of the crash, which left two people needing leg amputations and three others with life-changing injuries, to a 90 mph car accident.

The HSE's found no fault with the track, the cars, or the control system that keeps the cars apart from each other during operation. It said the root cause of the accident was a lack of detailed, robust arrangements for making safety critical decisions. The whole system, from training through to fixing faults, was not strong enough to stop a series of errors by staff when working with people on the ride, it added.

Alton Towers has instituted 30 changes since the crash to improve safety of the roller coaster, which reopened in March. The ride is now closed if winds reach 35mph and access has been improved.

In April, Merlin Attractions pleaded guilty to breaching s 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. The £5m penalty is third in the ranking of safety fines, after the £15m for Transco for failings that led to the Larkhall gas explosion that killed four people in 1999 and Balfour Beatty Rail Infrastructure Services' £7.5m for failures contributing to the Hatfield rail crash in 2000. Merlin must also pay costs of £69,955.

Neil Craig, head of operations for the HSE in the Midlands, said: "This avoidable incident happened because Merlin failed to put in place systems to allow engineers to work safely on the ride while it was running. This made it all too easy for a whole series of unchecked mistakes, not just one push of a button, to result in tragic consequences.

"Since the incident Alton Towers have made improvements to the ride and its safety protocols, and the lessons learned have been shared industry wide."

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 Ejector seat maker faces prosecution over death of Red Arrows pilot

Tuesday 27th September 2016
Flt Lt Sean Cunningham, 35, was carrying out pre-flight checks of his Hawk TMk1 XX177 jet while stationary on the Royal Air Force Scampton airbase in Lincolnshire. But the ejector seat accidentally fired, sending the pilot into the air. The parachute did not deploy and he fell to the ground still in his seat. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has told Martin Baker Aircraft that it will be prosecuted over the incident on 8 November 2011.
Open-access content
The damaged carriage at the Health and Safety Laboratory | Image credit: HSE

 Alton Towers rollercoaster crash was ‘like 90 mph car accident’

Monday 26th September 2016
Alton Towers operator Merlin Entertainments attended Stafford Crown Court today (26 September) for the sentencing hearing for the June 2015 accident. Prosecutor Bernard Thorogood told the court the kinetic energy involved in the crash was equivalent to a “family car of 1.5 tonnes having collided at about 90 mph”.  Two people had their legs amputated and three others suffered life-changing injuries after two carriages collided on the 14-loop ride.
Open-access content
©iStock/PeskyMonkey

 Crown censure for MoD over death of 21-year-old soldier

Friday 30th September 2016
Fusilier Dean Griffiths, 21, died from a gunshot wound in the neck during a live training exercise at Lydd Ranges military firing range in Kent on 14 September 2011. The exercise required troops to enter a compound that had been designed to simulate the type of building they would encounter in Afghanistan. They were divided into two groups: an assault group to enter and secure the site, and a fire support group to provide cover.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©iStock/Emrah Turudu

 Parker Hannifin fined £1m for unplanned machine move

Wednesday 21st September 2016
Colin Reddish, 48, was working alone on 30 April 2015 at Parker Hannifin Manufacturing’s factory in Grantham, Lincolnshire, moving a large computer numerically controlled (CNC) milling machine. The machine had been placed on skates so that Reddish could use an angle grinder to cut and remove the bolts that had fixed it to the floor. As he was doing this, the machine toppled and killed him.
Open-access content
©Ed Webster - www.flickr.com/photos/ed_webster/

 Refiner ignored fatality-in-waiting warning

Thursday 15th September 2016
David Thomas was using the walkway to access an oil tanker on 5 March 2012 when it suddenly gave way. He fell 3.5 m over the side and his legs became tangled in loose cables. He sustained fractures to both legs and a dislocated knee. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told Swansea Crown Court that Valero had not carried out a sufficient risk assessment for the use of the access tower, with the result that the dangers of slack cables were not identified.
Open-access content

 Last body recovered from Didcot site

Monday 12th September 2016
The body of John Shaw from Rotherham was found underneath rubble on Friday and emergency services formed a guard of honour while it was removed from the site.“A joint Thames Valley Police and Health and Safety Executive investigation is ongoing to establish the circumstances of his death,” Thames Valley Police said in a statement.
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