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March/April 2023 issue

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Construction
Manufacturing and engineering
News

‘Phoenix’ steel fabricator boss disqualified for evading fine

Open-access content Wednesday 27th June 2018
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

'Phoenix' steel fabricator boss disqualified for evading fine

Michael Allen, 64, was a director of Allen and Hunt Construction Engineers, a specialist manufacturer and builder of steel-framed structures based in Derbyshire.

In July 2014, a worker was using two homemade crawling boards to replace fibreboard roofing panels on a barn in Buxton when he fell 6 m, seriously injuring his head, hip and lung.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching ss 4(1), 7 and 9(2) of the Working at Height Regulations. It was fined £267,000 plus £7,750 costs at Derby Magistrates' Court in November 2016.

Allen and Hunt Construction Engineers went into liquidation one month later because it could not afford to pay the penalty, Allen told Insolvency Service investigators.

However, a follow-up investigation by the Insolvency Service found that Allen had established a new company three months after the accident, in October 2014. It focused solely on fabrication services and took on new clients, while the installation side of the business was wound down.

Allen and Hunt Construction Engineers would have been able to pay the fine imposed by the court had the fabrication contracts remained within the original company, the Insolvency Service said.

Effective from today (27 June), Allen is now banned from promoting, forming or managing a company for six years without the permission of the court.

Dave Elliott, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, said: "Michael Allen had a lack of regard for the workers, which unfortunately resulted in a horrific injury for one person.

"Directors who fail to adhere to health and safety regulations to protect their employees and then fail to pay the fine can expect to face the consequences of a period of disqualification."

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Tuesday 3rd July 2018
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 Supreme Court rules ‘self-employed’ Pimlico Plumber engineer was entitled to worker's rights

Friday 15th June 2018
The judgement upholds decisions by the Employment Tribunal, Employment Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal, which found plumber Gary Smith was engaged by the London firm as a “worker”, despite being described in his contract as an “independent contractor”. This means he is entitled to employment rights including sick pay, holidays and protection from discrimination.
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 Construction sector deal promotes offsite manufacturing for improved safety

Friday 13th July 2018
The agreement between the government and the construction sector focuses on innovation, arguing that digital techniques and offsite manufacture will improve the safety of buildings (see our feature Here’s one I prepared earlier).
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 Disqualified directors ignored regulators’ warnings about asbestos handling

Monday 16th July 2018
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 Effective return to work programmes after cancer are ‘essential’, says EU-OSHA

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 £175k fine after concrete pump caused brain trauma

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 Just six months to register for Building Safety Regulator, HSE warns

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 Welsh ambulance worker who caught Covid from patient died of an industrial disease, concludes coroner

Monday 27th March 2023
A coroner has concluded that an ambulance worker in Wales who caught Covid while attending to an infected patient died from an ‘industrial disease’.
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 Just six months to register for Building Safety Regulator, HSE warns

Monday 27th March 2023
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 Risk & Compliance software provider collaborates with HSE and Costain to improve risk management on worksites

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

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 G4S: Vehicle for change

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 Spring budget and occupational health

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