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May/June 2023 issue

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Construction
News

*UPDATE* Travis Perkins fined £2 million after customer run over in car park

Open-access content Tuesday 10th May 2016
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

The loading bay in yellow was inaccessible as a lorry was parked in the space

On 9 November 2012, Mark John Porter, was loading planks of timber onto the roof of his Landrover at Travis Perkins' Milton Keynes store, when one of the cargo straps holding the timber snapped and he fell.

At the same time, a flatbed vehicle, was manoeuvering into space between Porter's vehicle and another lorry that was parked in the yard's loading area. Porter was run over by the lorry and died following crush injuries to his chest.

Amersham Crown Court heard that Porter was unable to load the timber in the designated loading and unloading area of the yard as a Travis Perkins' heavy goods vehicle (HGV) had parked there. An investigation by the environmental team at Milton Keynes council revealed that Travis Perkins habitually parked this vehicle in the space.

Travis Perkins pleaded guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The company had initially denied the a link between the offences and the death, leading to a Newton hearing, where submissions are made by both prosecution and defendants on plea and sentencing.

When applying the sentencing guidelines, Judge Justin Cole did not accept the defence's argument that this was a highly unusual set of circumstances. The investigation found there was a documented risk of stumbling or falling in the yard, particularly when loading and unloading and that collisions with HGVs were likely to cause serious injury or death.

The judge established Travis Perkin's culpability as medium, the harm level as category A (reflecting death or life-changing injury) and a harm likelihood category of 1 (high).

As aggravating factors he noted the company's previous conviction in 2006, when one of its workers was crushed between two vehicles at a yard in Oldham, Greater Manchester as well as the failure to use a banksman and provide supervision at the Milton Keynes premises. In mitigation the company put forward extensive workplace transport procedures, though the judge noted it was important not just to have them but to ensure they were implemented.

He also noted the guidelines' stipulation that a fine "must be sufficiently substantial to have a real economic impact which will bring home to both management and shareholders the need to comply with health and safety legislation."

Travis Perkins' turnover (£2bn) could have classified the company as a "very large" organisation - the guidelines say penalties above the normal ranges for large organisations may be applied in such cases. However the judge took into account the defece's mitigation and used the range for large organisations, which is between £800,000 and £3.25m. He set the fine near the top of the range, but discounted it to £2m, £1m for each count, in recognition of Travis Perkins' guilty plea at the first reasonable opportunity. The company was ordered to pay £114,813 in costs.

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Some of the wooden pallets were on uneven ground | Image credit: HSE

 HSE shut down incompetently managed site after block fall

Tuesday 10th May 2016
As we reported last month, Altin Homes was leading the construction works at a former petrol station in Altrincham. On 16 June 2014 a stack of building blocks collapsed and fell through timber hoarding onto Woodlands Road.A member of the public reported the incident to the police at 9.20pm. The police contacted the local authority which notified the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after deploying an emergency clean-up team.
Open-access content
© Roger Askew/REX/Shutterstock

 Unite secure £4m for remaining blacklisted workers

Monday 9th May 2016
Legal action was taken against 30 construction contractors who had funded a secret database to blacklist workers. The database, collated by the Consulting Association (TCA), contained details of workers’ trade union activities and past employment conduct, including those who had raised health and safety issues.Last week the UCATT and GMB unions and solicitors GCR announced that they had reached an out of court settlement for their affected members.
Open-access content

 Balfour Beatty halted all trench work after fatal excavation collapse

Thursday 12th May 2016
Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions (BBUS) was prosecuted after a worker was killed when a 2.4 m-deep unshored trench collapsed on him while he was laying cable ducting in Heysham, Lancaster for energy firm Dong Energy’s Walney offshore windfarm, located in the East Irish Sea.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©imageBROKER/REX/Shutterstock

 Trench death brings Balfour Beatty second seven-figure fine this year

Friday 6th May 2016
On 14 April 2010 a subcontractor, James Sim, was working in the 2.4 m-deep unshored trench, laying cable ducting for an offshore windfarm that was being built off the Lancashire coast. Sim was trapped in the trench when it collapsed on him. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Balfour Beatty failed to adequately assess the works or control the excavation.
Open-access content
Members of the ISO 45001 work group meeting in Trinidad in January 2015 to discuss the international standard.

 ISO 45001 suffers setback

Monday 16th May 2016
Participating members - the national standards bodies elected to work on the development of the draft international standard (DIS) - were balloted between 12 February and 12 May on whether to approve it.Seventy-one per cent voted in favour, with 28% against (1% abstained). For the DIS to have passed, two-thirds of members had to be in favour and less than a quarter against, taking into account abstentions.
Open-access content

 Blacklisted workers accept compensation from firms

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
Legal action was launched when it was revealed that the contractors including Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and Vinci had funded a secret system to blacklist workers. The database contained details of workers’ trade union activities and past employment conduct; some were cited for voicing concerns about health and safety while on sites.
Open-access content
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