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March/April 2023 issue

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Sector: Energy
News

Solar panel installer sustained spinal fracture in 5 m scaffold fall

Open-access content Thursday 7th June 2018
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Solar panel installer sustained spinal fracture in 5 m scaffold fall

Jhanade Ryan was installing solar panels on the roof of roofing and cladding sheeting manufacturer Firth Steels, when he slipped on the fragile surface in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, in December 2015.

The subcontracted roofer, who was working for solar power firm Centreco (UK), slid down to the edge protection and fell 5 m through scaffolding when the toe board snapped. He landed on a sub-station roof and sustained a spinal fracture, a broken coccyx and nerve damage. Ryan spent almost three months in hospital but has been left unable to work by impaired mobility.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that Oswestry Shropshire Scaffold had failed to erect the scaffold to a known industry standard or design.

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 require a scaffold to be assembled to a recognised standard configuration such as the National Access & Scaffolding Confederation's TG20 for tube and fitting scaffolds or similar guidance from manufacturers of system scaffolds. When this isn't possible, the erection should be designed by a competent person to ensure it will have adequate strength, rigidity and stability while it is erected, used and dismantled.

The HSE also identified roof lights on the fragile surfaces. It found that Centreco (UK) had failed to put in place effective measures to prevent workers from falling through fragile roofs.

Chorley, Lancashire-based Centreco (UK) pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act at Leeds Magistrates' Court on 6 June. The company has been fined £33,500 and must pay £945 in costs.

Oswestry Shropshire Scaffold also pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) of the HSW Act. The scaffolding company has been fined £28,800 and must pay the same costs.

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The worker fell down the baling machine's hopper into the compactor chamber

 Worker crushed in compactor had no safe method for clearing blockages

Friday 1st June 2018
RRS London was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court over the accident in Erith, south-east London, on 27 March 2017. The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) investigation found it was “most likely” the worker fell down the baling machine’s hopper and into the compactor chamber while clearing material that had blocked the hopper. “Falling into the chamber initiated the compaction sequence,” it said.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©iStock/stevenfoley

 Contractor pays £566,670 for line strike with no injury

Wednesday 30th May 2018
The driver was employed by Mick George, a company that supplies earth moving, demolition, skip hire and waste management services to the construction industry. On 9 March 2016 he was emptying a load of soil from the tipper at a construction site in Northampton.  He drove forward with the dump bed still raised and touched – or almost touched – the 33kV overhead power lines.
Open-access content
The spooler. Image credit: HSE

 Industrial cleaning worker acquitted over teenager’s spooler death

Tuesday 26th June 2018
Dean Reynolds, who had denied the charge, was acquitted after the jury at Aberdeen Sheriff Court returned a “not proven” majority verdict earlier this month following an eight-day trial.According to the Press & Journal, Reynolds had been accused of starting up the spooler while Michael McLean was inside preparing it for painting.
Open-access content

 Plastic injection moulder had no SSoW for clearing blockages

Tuesday 12th June 2018
The employee was trying to clear a blockage on a plastic injection moulding machine when the incident happened on 20 December 2016. The severity of his injuries caused him to miss three months off work.The Health and Safety Executive found that Brother Industries (UK) had no safe system of work for clearing a blockage on its machines.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©MoustacheGirl

 Effective return to work programmes after cancer are ‘essential’, says EU-OSHA

Friday 1st June 2018
The report is based on a recent study commissioned by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) that examined the issues faced by workers affected by cancer. Researchers said optimising the rehabilitation and return of those affected by cancer would improve their wellbeing and reduce the financial impacts of the disease on European businesses. They have recommended the development of new legislation that obliges all employers to offer return-to-work programmes for their employees.
Open-access content
© Joe Giddens/PA Wire/PA Images

 Bouncy castle death couple jailed for three years

Friday 15th June 2018
William and Shelby Thurston were overseeing several rides at Thurston’s Funfair in Harlow Town Park in Essex in March 2016 when Summer Grant died. The inflatable dome she was playing on blew into the air, was carried 300 m across the park and struck a tree. Summer died in hospital after sustaining multiple injuries to her head, neck and chest.Justice Garnham sentenced the couple each to three years in prison today at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Open-access content
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