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
  • Health
  • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
  • Ergonomics
Work equipment
Manufacturing and engineering
News

No lifting aids left production line staff with MSDs

Open-access content Friday 25th November 2016
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

No lifting aids left production line staff with MSDs

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said that, between 1 November 2013 and 7 January 2015, it received six reports of workers from Mahle Powertrain's Northampton factory that had been absent for more than seven days as a result of back injuries.

Birmingham Crown Court was told that one member of staff had been in hospital for seven days and off work for more than nine weeks.

More workers had suffered back problems but were not off sick for the seven days that would have triggered reports under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations.

The HSE's investigation found that employees stationed at one of two production lines in the Northampton plant had to manually lift engine parts that weighed between 14 and 21 kg hundreds of times during one shift.

Mechanical lifting aids were either not provided or were unsuitable, and the company had failed to provide training on how to operate them. There were no suitable manual handling assessments for the work.

Mahle Powertrain, which makes engine components for Audi and Jaguar Land Rover vehicles, pleaded guilty to breaching reg 4(1)(b) of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations for failing to take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of injury to those working on its production lines. It was fined £183,340 and ordered to pay £21,277 costs.

You may also be interested in...

Image credit: ©iStock/wellphoto

 Online tool highlights protection gaps in electronics industry

Wednesday 30th November 2016
The Chemical Challenge Gap Analysis shows the disparity between industry standards devised by the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), which comprises more than 100 electronics, retail, auto and toy companies, including Apple, Samsung Electronics and Foxconn, and those set by the GoodElectronics Network, the International Campaign for Responsible Technology (ICRT) and experts from civil society organisations (CSOs).
Open-access content
www.sc.qa

 New union inspection regime for Qatar World Cup sites

Thursday 17th November 2016
A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) and the Qatari Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy.The agreement, signed in the Qatari capital Doha, allows joint inspections of construction sites and workers’ accommodation from January. It covers World Cup projects built by companies headquartered in countries where BWI operates. These are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, India and Italy.
Open-access content
©iStock/Fertnig

 Aeronautics manufacturer fined for metalworking fluid exposure now ‘setting the standard’

Tuesday 6th December 2016
Aylesbury Crown Court was told that three computer numeric control (CNC) machine operators employed by Martin Baker were exposed to metalworking fluid for many years and developed a lung disease known as extrinsic allergic alveolitis (EAA) – an allergic reaction to breathing in mist and vapour from the fluid. Symptoms of the disease include coughing, shortness of breath and joint pain.
Open-access content

 BK franchisee pays £166,600 over worker’s oil scald

Tuesday 13th December 2016
KFG Quickserve employee Michael Firth was working in the fast food restaurant on Westgate Street when he spilled scalding hot oil on himself. The accident happened on 28 March 2015 while Firth was emptying oil from three fat fryers. The court heard that he decanted the hot oil into a metal bucket and carried it up some stairs to an outside disposal area. The bucket had no lid. Some of the oil spilled on to Firth’s feet and he dropped the container.
Open-access content
©iStock/jakatics

 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.
Open-access content

 MEWP skull fracture brought mech eng co to court

Thursday 27th October 2016
Cole Mechanical Services employee Geoffrey Hatton and his colleague were dismantling a compactor at a site in Wilmslow, Cheshire on 19 January last year, Minshull Street Crown Court was told. As the workers were removing cladding from the machine’s frame, a large piece of cladding came into contact with the MEWP, causing it to fall over.Hatton fractured his skull and two ribs, spent two months in hospital and has been unable to return to work.
Open-access content

Latest from News

web-morrison-shutterstock_1205515750.png

  Morrisons’ £3.5m fine is ‘a warning to all employers’, says council

Friday 24th March 2023
Morrisons supermarket has been fined £3.5 million for failing to ensure the health and safety of an epileptic employee who died after falling from a shop stairway.
Open-access content
jfc

 IOSH launches new five-year strategy

Tuesday 21st March 2023
IOSH launches its new five-year strategy this spring. It will build and act on the reshaped purpose and ambition gained during WORK 2022, which ran from 2017 to 2022.
Open-access content
web_Cranes-on-construction-site_credit_iStock-1352083784.jpg

 Risk & Compliance software provider collaborates with HSE and Costain to improve risk management on worksites

Friday 17th March 2023
A Belfast-based Risk & Compliance software provider has been collaborating with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and construction giant Costain as part of an ongoing project to unlock artificial intelligence’s (AI) potential in improving the management of risks on worksites.
Open-access content

Latest from Manufacturing and engineering

EcoOnline webinar

 Expert analysis of HSE stats in manufacturing

In this webinar, we will take a closer look at what the new stats mean compared to previous years with a focus on the topics of chemical management, permit to work and EHS in the manufacturing industry. Book your free place now and earn CPD points, too.
Open-access content
web_Nestle-USA-headquarters_credit_Ken-Wolter_shutterstock_331412864.png

 Exclusive interview: why Nestlé was fined £800,000 for repeat incidents

Wednesday 23rd November 2022
IOSH magazine spoke to HSE inspector Bill Gilroy about a serious accident at a Nestlé factory in Newcastle – an almost carbon copy of a previous incident at another of the confectionary firm’s factories.
Open-access content
web_New-cars-at-factory_credit_iStock-1320492982.jpg

 G4S: Vehicle for change

Friday 27th May 2022
The switch to electric vehicles is changing the risk landscape for car manufacturers. We found out how G4S is protecting assembly line workers and its first responders
Open-access content

Latest from Ergonomics

web_p31-33_Sitting-targets_CREDIT_shutterstock_2154444067.png

 The health risks associated with sedentarism

Thursday 1st September 2022
As evidence grows about the health risks associated with sedentarism, we look at the impact of sitting for too long and ask how workplaces can be made more active.
Open-access content
web_p74_Talking-Shop_Changed-forever_CREDIT_Shutterstock_1893590077.png

 Talking shop: Covid practices

Wednesday 2nd March 2022
Four industry leaders discuss how workplaces continue to change in the face of new and emerging risks after two years of the COVID pandemic.
Open-access content
web_hybrid-working-comp_credit_iStock-1180205322_1219750966 (1).png

 Teleworking report outlines measures to protect workers’ health

Tuesday 22nd February 2022
A joint report from two United Nations (UN) agencies includes measures that employers should put in place, including providing effective OSH support, so that workers’ health is adequately protected while they undertake teleworking.
Open-access content

Latest from Work equipment

One of the machine's two interlocks.jpg

 Ineffective control measures on industrial food mixer led to amputation and £858k fine

Thursday 12th January 2023
A Kent-based food production company has been fined £858,000 after a 26-year-old employee had to have his right arm surgically removed following an incident.
Open-access content
Web-iStock-937270176.jpg

 Chipboard manufacturer lands record £2.15m Scottish fine for fatal 90% burns

Tuesday 29th November 2022
Chipboard manufacturer Norbord Europe Limited has been fined £2.15m after a four-week trial held at Perth Sheriff Court in Scotland found that a series of failings at its Cowie site in Stirlingshire in July 2016 had led to an employee’s death.
Open-access content
P1000615.JPG

 Poor planning of floorspace led to worker’s burns death

Thursday 24th November 2022
We spoke to HSE Inspector Rose Leese-Weller about how failures in the earliest stages of planning a catering equipment cleaning facility’s shopfloor ultimately led to a worker fatality.
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Senior Health and Safety Manager

Reading
Up to £65000.00 per annum + Great Car Allowance & Benefits
Reference
5452983

Regional Health and Safety Advisor

Northampton
Up to £53000 per annum + Travel & Excellent Benefits
Reference
5452982

Global Health, Safety and Environment Director

Up to £150000 per annum + Excellent Benefits
Reference
5452980
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