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Practice meets perfect
May/June 2023 issue

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*UPDATE* Francis Crick Institute build fatality sees CMF fined £185k

Open-access content Friday 5th May 2017
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Richard Laco, 31, had been contracted by architectural metalwork specialist CMF to install six steel staircases at the biomedical research centre, which opened last year and where Laing O'Rourke was the principal contractor.

Each staircase was made up of between 50 and 60 pieces and CMF operatives had already successfully installed two of them (units A and F).

They had used eyebolts in order to securely attach slings around each section and connect it to a tower crane that lowered the components into the building. The workers had then then manually manoeuvred each section using taglines while an electric hoist lifted the units into position.

The workers had begun to erect the third staircase (unit D) on 6 November 2013. Unit D's dimensions were different from the previous two, and each section was much heavier.

During the installation of a wedge-shaped landing, the operatives had not attached the load to the slings. As the hoist moved it to a vertical position, the slings came away from the thinner edge. It fell between 2 m and 3 m and crushed Laco to death.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that CMF had failed to implement a safe system of work for fitting the staircase.

HSE inspector Stephen Farthing said: "The main area of concern was that [CMF] didn't have the slings physically attached to the landing. Unit D was a different shape and CMF should have revised its method statement to reflect this.

"CMF are not some rogue organisation. They had method statements, they had risk assessments and they had systems in place -- they just weren't specific enough for operatives to understand them. The operatives simply did what they thought was best. On the whole, Laing O'Rourke ran the site very well."

After the accident, CMF revised its method statements to provide its workers with clearer guidance and the three remaining staircases were installed without further incident.

CMF, whose construction portfolio includes the new Wembley Stadium, the O2 Arena, Lord's Cricket Ground, and terminals 1 and 5 at Heathrow Airport, pleaded guilty to a breach of s 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act at the earliest opportunity in the magistrates' court.

The company was fined £185,000 plus £20,606 costs at Southwark Crown Court last month after the judge determined that its culpability was high and the harm category was 1. Under the sentencing guidelines it is classed as a medium organisation (turnover of £17m), putting the starting point for the fine at £540,000. This was reduced once its early guilty plea and full cooperation with the HSE were accounted for.

In its health and safety policy statement, CMF notes: "It is the company's policy to ensure the health, safety and welfare of everyone engaged in, or affected by, its activities. In particular it emphasises the need to eliminate hazards before health is compromised and accidents occur."

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©David Parker / Associated Newspapers/REX/Shutterstock

 Door and window manufacturer fitted with £300k penalty for repeated handling injuries

Thursday 20th April 2017
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that there had been several previous injuries to Munster Joinery’s site workers as they unloaded and handled glazing units.Oxford Crown Court heard last week that in October 2013 the worker, Michael Jephcott, was part of a Munster team delivering and installing doors and windows at a large house building site in Cholsey Meadows, Fairmile, Oxfordshire.
Open-access content

 Quarter of a million pound penalty for roof void fall

Friday 5th May 2017
 The 49-year-old also sustained a fractured spleen and ribs in the 3.5 m fall. Bristol Magistrates’ Court was told that the victim had been contracted by Solarjen - formerly Paul O’Brien Solar Installations (SW) - to carry out work at Fairlawn School in Montpelier. However, the firm had not erected guardrails to prevent its employees falling through voids in the roof. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) also said it had failed to appropriately supervise the task.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©Bakkavor Foods Limited

 Bakkavor arm pays £2m for fatal bale fall

Tuesday 2nd May 2017
Jacek Adamowicz, 29, worked at Hitchen Foods, which is owned by Bakkavor Group. On 4 February 2015 he was sweeping the storage yard when a stack of plastic bales collapsed on top of him.   The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Bakkavor Foods had failed to plan how the bales should be safely stacked and stored, and had not provided formal training for employees who were responsible for carrying out the task.
Open-access content
© iStock/ChrisPole

 Two asbestos strikes bring £750k fine for refurb contractor

Wednesday 10th May 2017
Barroerock Construction was converting a nine-storey office building in Ashford, Kent into flats in 2013 when the HSE carried out a routine inspection as part of its refurbishment inspection campaigns.Canterbury Crown Court heard on 3 May that HSE inspectors had discovered that the company had failed to act on the findings of a refurbishment and demolition (R&D) survey, which identified asbestos in the building. As a result, 40 workers were exposed to the hazardous material during the project’s early demolition phase.
Open-access content
© iStock/KristinaVelickovic

 Australian glazier handed record fine for contractor’s 33 kV shock

Thursday 11th May 2017
Judge Scotting sentenced WGA Pty on 5 May after the court had heard how a contractor for the company sustained an electric shock while working on a window ledge at a residential apartment construction site in South Hurstville on 19 June 2014.
Open-access content

 Contractors let unprotected employees on snowy roof

Thursday 27th April 2017
MKM Fabrications was the principal contractor for the project on a factory building at Valley Mills. It subcontracted Clad-It to replace the northern-light roof structure with a composite roof. Members of the public saw the men working on the roof that had unguarded edges and reported it to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which launched an investigation.
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