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Practice meets perfect
May/June 2023 issue

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Manufacturing and engineering
News

*UPDATE* Whirlpool fatally missed potential for conflict between two maintenance tasks

Open-access content Thursday 20th April 2017
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

On 21 March 2015, Clive Dalley, 66, was moving a heat detector that formed part of the alarm system at Whirlpool's factory at Yate, near Bristol, where it makes tumble dryers.

Elsewhere in the factory, Whirlpool staff were working weekend overtime maintaining an overhead conveyor, which was suspended 6 m above the floor and used to carry components around the plant.

Dalley was standing on an elevating mobile platform between two of the carriage baskets suspended from the conveyor.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Matt Tyler told IOSH Magazine the maintenance workers could not see Dalley from the conveyor's control panel in the middle of the factory. They started the conveyor and one of the carriage baskets caught on the platform, toppling it. Dalley fell to the ground, sustaining fatal injuries.

Tyler said the maintenance was covered by a risk assessment and Dalley's work on the fire alarm was subject to a permit to work but both were inadequate. The risk assessment recognised the potential for interfering tasks, "but in this case the assessment didn't identify the conflicting tasks on the day".

The permit did not specify the location of Dalley's work.

Tyler said there was no effective means of communication between site management, supervisors, operators and the contractor.

The difference between the company's written protocols and what happened on the day of the accident was marked, he noted: "They were able to furnish us with extensive documentation that, had it been followed to the letter, would have led to measures that would have avoided the accident."

Whirlpool has since overhauled its procedures for managing contractors, work at height and use of elevating platforms. It now requires potentially conflicting tasks to be identified after a first meeting between a contractor and site management.

The company has now formalised the meetings of site staff before weekend overtime takes place.

"Details of any contractor activity must be submitted before that meeting takes place," said Tyler.

At Bristol Crown Court Whirlpool UK Appliances admitted breaching s 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Whirlpool's 2016 turnover of $20.7bn (£16.25bn) placed it far above the £50m threshold for a large organisation under the sentencing guidelines.

The judge set the starting point for the fine at £1.2m but reduced the penalty to reflect factors in the company's favour (see box). "The judge said they had every mitigating factor that was relevant," Tyler said.

In addition to the final penalty of £700,000 the company was ordered to pay costs of £11,466.

Application of the sentencing guidelines

Culpability:

Low

Seriousness of harm risked:

Level A

Likelihood of harm:

Low

Harm category:

3

Potential number exposed to risk:

1

Company turnover:

£20.7bn

Fine starting point:

£1.2m

Mitigation:

Early guilty plea, good safety record, full co-operation with investigation

Fine:

£700,000 plus £11,466 costs

You may also be interested in...

The dropped hydraulic turntable level of the preheater, which reveals a 75 cm opening. Image credit: HSA

 *UPDATE* Fatal limestone crush leaves Irish magnesium producer with £84k fine

Monday 15th May 2017
The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) investigation found that workers at Premier Periclase’s plant at Drogheda, County Louth should not have been allowed to climb onto the preheater’s turntable to break up the heavy overhead limestone blockages. The regulator also concluded that a suspended scaffold should have been erected in the preheater’s upper level to ensure workers were stationed above the blockages. Instead, a ladder had been used, which also presented a high fall risk.
Open-access content
© Copyright Jaggery and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

 Whirlpool fined £700k for fatal MEWP conveyor strike

Thursday 23rd March 2017
In March 2015, the 66-year-old contractor was installing fire detection equipment at Whirlpool’s factory at Yate, near Bristol (formerly owned by Indesit), where it manufactures tumble dryers. He was working at a height of 5 m when Whirlpool maintenance staff, unaware of his presence, started an overhead conveyor. The movement destabilised the MEWP, toppling it and dropping the contractor to the factory floor, fatally injuring him.The Health and Safety Executive found there was no supervision or controls to prevent the conflicting tasks being carried out.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©iSstockphotos/kynny

 South West Water sentenced over catchment operator's drowning

Monday 24th April 2017
Robert Geach, 54, was working on the sand filtration unit at the Falmouth Waste Water Treatment Works on 30 December 2013, Truro Crown Court was told, when he slipped and fell into the tank.South West Water dispatched a colleague to the site four and a half hours later, in response to its lone worker alert system. He found Geach floating face-down in the water.
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.
Open-access content
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 More than half of women say PPE prevents them doing their job

Friday 28th April 2017
 The UK’s national trade union centre has called on employers to avoid PPE suppliers that do not provide a range of sizes for both sexes, after only three in ten women (29%) told a 2016 survey that the PPE they wear at work has been specifically designed for them.
Open-access content
© Cultura/REX/Shutterstock

 European workers are losing influence on OSH management

Tuesday 11th April 2017
At the same time, the research identifies an increase in the use of management systems approaches to OSH as managers or specialists take on responsibility for safety and health management.The qualitative study builds on EU-OSHA’s second European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER-2).
Open-access content
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