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May/June 2023 issue

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*UPDATE* Two-year jail sentence for director follows MEWP failure fatality

Open-access content Tuesday 24th January 2017
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

Two-year jail sentence for director follows MEWP failure fatality

The mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) was owned by Craig Services and Access, which was managed by Donald Craig. He was found guilty of a charge under s 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work (HSW) Act at Airdrie Sheriff Court and sentenced on 6 January after a 16-day trial. Craig had denied the allegations.

His company was fined £61,000 for failing to ensure that operators were not exposed to the risk of injury or death, for failing to maintain the equipment, and for hiring out the cherry picker when it had not been certified as safe.

It was found guilty of three charges under ss 3 and 33(1)(a) of the HSW Act, reg 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, and reg 9(3)(a)(i) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations.

Another company, J M Access Solutions, which had been hired to carry out statutory thorough inspections, was found guilty of breaching ss 3 and 33(1)(a) of the HSW Act and fined £30,000. It had also pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The court was told that Gary Currie and Alexander Nisbet were working in the basket of the cherry picker, at a height of about 30 m, when the collapse happened on 20 June 2012 at Buchanan House, an office block in Port Dundas Road, Glasgow. Currie was removing netting from the building's facade and Nisbet was operating the platform.

The case was prosecuted by Scotland's Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The investigation found that the third boom section of the MEWP (known as main boom three) had buckled, crashing the basket to the ground, killing Currie and seriously injuring his colleague.

Sheriff Petra Collins said the company had been under an absolute duty to ensure the cherry picker was in good working order and that it was thoroughly inspected at least every six months.

J M Access Solutions was fined for its failure to carry out a systematic and detailed examination of the platform and its safety-critical parts.

The court was told of an earlier incident in Penicuik, Midlothian, on 17 May 2011 when the cherry picker's boom buckled while it was in use. On that occasion, the boom's fall was halted by the roof of a block of flats.

The failure of main boom three was never fully investigated after the incident, the court was told. CTE Spa, the representative of the cherry picker's manufacturer, had advised Craig Services to replace at least main boom three but the company chose instead to repair it. This information was relayed to CTE Spa by email on 10 February 2012. Sheriff Collins said Craig Services had neither a manufacturer's approval nor specification for the proposed repair.

Such was the damage to main boom three, it was clear that both a major repair and an extensive modification were needed, the court was told. However, the company's manager had instructed a firm of welders to carry out the repairs, stating that main boom three would be nested inside the second section of the boom.

As repairs proceeded, Craig assured the welder that the platform would be used only as a short-reach machine and would not be load bearing. Craig Services failed to modify the cherry picker to ensure main boom three did not bear loads.

Head of health and safety division at the Crown Office, Gary Aitken, said: "At the centre of this all was the decision to instruct the repair. It was a decision that left Currie and Nisbet exposed to an unacceptable risk."

HSE principal inspector Graeme McMinn added: "At the time of the accident, the MEWP had a catalogue of defects, some of which were safety-critical, demonstrating that Craig Services did not have an adequate proactive maintenance and reactive repair system in place within the company."

McMinn also said the competence and diligence of a thorough examiner was vital.

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 Two-year jail sentence for director follows MEWP failure fatality

Tuesday 10th January 2017
The company was also fined £61,000 for failing to ensure that those using the equipment were not exposed to the risk of injury or death, for failing to maintain the equipment and for hiring the cherry picker out when it had not been certified as safe. Another company, J M Access Solutions, which had been hired to carry out statutory thorough inspections was also fined £30,000 for failing to do so.
Open-access content

 Twice subcontracted roof job leads to CDM and WAH regs fines

Thursday 26th January 2017
Chelmsford Crown Court was told that Dengie Crops, which grows and produces alfalfa for animal feed, contracted agricultural and construction machinery supplier Ernest Doe & Sons to renew a roof at its premises in Asheldham, Essex. However, Ernest Doe did not have the appropriate experience to carry out the work and subcontracted it to Balsham Buildings, a structural steel fabricator and cladding contractor. Balsham decided how the project should be carried out and subcontracted the replacement again to Strong Clad.
Open-access content

 Contractor fell through unguarded floor hole

Monday 9th January 2017
The company was installing a mezzanine floor at a factory in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey when the incident occurred on 13 January 2015. The contractor was working on the floor when he stepped backwards and fell through a hole where a lift was due to be installed.
Open-access content

 Roofer handed ‘merciful sentence’ after hotel fire

Friday 10th February 2017
Roy Cross, the owner of Roofcraft, was repairing the roof of Mount Murray Hotel and Country Club’s accommodation block, which included replacing lead sheets with fibreglass in the roof valleys.   Cross and two of his employees had stripped some of the lead and were laying flammable fibreglass resin onto plywood sheets in the valley on 6 November 2013 when it started to rain. Work was halted for the day and the area was covered to keep it dry.
Open-access content
©iStock/AlexLMX

 Builder jailed for worker’s fatal fall

Monday 13th February 2017
Manchester Crown Court heard last week that the 45-year-old labourer had been carrying out repair work at Witney Mill, a warehouse in Manchester, when the incident occurred on 23 November 2013.Building contractor Saleem Hussain had been hired by the warehouse owner, who believed him to be competent, to carry out repair and maintenance work on the warehouse roof. Hussain then hired two workers to undertake the repairs.
Open-access content
A member of the public photographed Mullholland balancing 27 m above street level

 Suspended jail sentence for construction worker with 'staggering disregard for personal safety'

Tuesday 3rd January 2017
Manchester Magistrates’ Court was told that David Mullholland, a 25-year-old employee of a steel erection company, was working at height during a hotel development project in Manchester. On 21 January 2015 he climbed up the scaffolding to hammer some steel beams into position.A nearby worker took the photo of Mullholland from their office window and contacted the HSE. Inspectors went to the site and questioned him.
Open-access content
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