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In short: Roofer’s fall lands solar installer with £20k fine

Open-access content Tuesday 8th March 2016
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

The Clean Earth Energy worker was installing solar panels at Homeleigh Garden Centre. As he moved along the roof, the cement fibre sheeting he was walking on collapsed. He fell approximately 15ft and fractured several vertebrae.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched an investigation into the 15 August 2015 incident and found the work was not properly planned or appropriately supervised.

At Bodmin Magistrates' Court Clean Earth Energy was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,074 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4(1) which requires work at height to be properly planned, supervised and carried out.

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HSE

 Solar panel installer fined for work at height violations

Thursday 24th March 2016
The roof light was on a swimming pool outbuilding at a private home in Kent. The injured worker was part of a three man team replacing faulty solar panels that were installed by PV Solar in April 2011. He was carrying a panel along the roof and fell through one of the eight roof lights. The water in the swimming pool partly broke his fall but he hit the side and fractured his shin and spine.  The accident happened on 30 April 2013 but the 32-year-old was unable to return to work until January this year, and then on a part-time basis only.
Open-access content

 In short: HSE inspections in Scotland’s construction sector more than halved

Monday 7th March 2016
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the HSE by construction union UCATT revealed that 552 unannounced inspections took place in 2014/15. This is 55.7% less than the 1,248 inspections in 2012/13. UCATT said this decline took place as the sector was recovering from the recession and construction activity was increasing.
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The G-BXFI jet at Shoreham Airshow moments before it crashed | Image credit: ©Solent News/REX/Shutterstock

 Poor risk assessment contributed to Shoreham Airshow crash

Friday 11th March 2016
The report concludes that the organisers were unaware of the pilot’s display manoeuvres. It says the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) missed an opportunity to check the pilot’s competence.On 22 August 2015 pilot Andy Hill performed a stunt involving looping and rolling a Hawker Hunter (G-BXFI) jet. The aircraft failed to resume level flight after the manoeuvre and crashed into the A27 westbound carriageway. Eleven people were fatally injured and 16 were hurt. The aircraft was destroyed but Hill survived.
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©REX Shutterstock

 Didcot update: RWE to provide safe method of working plan

Monday 14th March 2016
One person was killed and five were injured when part of boiler house at the former Didcot A power station in Oxfordshire collapsed on 23 February. Three men are still missing. The joint statement said: “The site owners RWE have overall responsibilities for the safety of buildings and structure on their site. They must produce a plan for a safe method of working before the next stage of the recovery can begin. Once this is received and approved by HSE, emergency services are on hand to recover the missing men.
Open-access content

 Falcon fined £750,000 ten years on from Battersea collapse

Thursday 17th March 2016
The collapse happened in 2006 at a Barratt Homes development in Battersea. Crane driver Jonathan Cloke was in the cab as the jib fell 50 m on to Michael Alexa, a member of the public who was washing his car in a street beside the site. Both men died.Southwark Crown Court was told sections of the tower crane separated when 24 bolts failed due to metal fatigue.
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©iStock/NatBasil

 UCATT: Construction death convictions are too low

Friday 26th February 2016
The drop was revealed in answers to parliamentary questions tabled by Stephen Hepburn, Labour MP for Jarrow, by Justin Tomlinson MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Work and Pensions). UCATT said the fall in conviction rates is in spite of HSE findings that management failures caused or contributed to 70% of construction worker deaths. An internal audit previously carried out by the HSE estimated that prosecutions should occur following 60% of construction deaths.
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