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May/June 2023 issue

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*UPDATED* Builder ignored WAH, fire and confined space risk

Open-access content Friday 8th September 2017
From the archive:  Just so you know, this article is more than 3 years old.

*UPDATED* Builder ignored WAH, fire and confined space risk

*UPDATED* Builder ignored WAH, fire and confined space risk

North Somerset Magistrates' Court was told that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) took enforcement action against Ikon Construction after a member of the public alerted inspectors to poor standards on a site in Clevedon, north Somerset in May 2016.

HSE inspectors had previously found failures to plan and manage work on four of the company's other sites and had issued six notices of contravention and three prohibition notices. One site had been visited multiple times.

On 5 May 2016, a member of the public, who had noticed workers erecting timber frames for nine town houses at Marine Parade in Clevedon without fall protection, took photos and sent them to the HSE. Inspectors visited the site on 9 May and identified serious issues relating to work at height, plant, temporary works and fire safety.

The HSE found that the site was located next to the edge of a cliff. As well as failing to provide fall protection for workers on the house frames, Ikon Construction had fenced the cliff edge by simply leaning fencing panels against bushes beside the drop. The company had also used inadequate plastic barriers around the block and beam floors as edge protection.

The builders were using an excavator with one cracked and one missing wing mirror and the pedestrian walkway to the welfare facilities was directly behind the machinery.

One of the spoil heaps on the site had concrete blocks resting on the top of it. An additional spoil heap had an excavator sitting on it and was against a part-completed wall.

The excavations ran up to 2.3 m deep with no shoring and concrete beams had been placed beside the excavation face increasing the loading.

There were no temporary works procedures and the workers had not received any training.

Inspectors also found that the company had failed to carry out an off-site fire, explosion and risk assessment (FERA) for the houses.

Ikon Construction, of Clifton Road, Clifton, pleaded guilty to breaching regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 at an initial hearing at Bristol Magistrates' Court on 7 June. The company was sentenced at North Somerset Magistrates' Court on 24 August and was fined £145,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,191.

HSE inspector Kate Leftly told IOSH Magazine that District Judge Taylor determined the company's culpability as being at the top end of medium and the harm category was 2. The judge, she added, said that if each of the issues highlighted by the HSE was taken individually, the likelihood of harm could have been low but, put together, and considering there were 18 workers on-site, he moved the likelihood of harm up to medium and determined the seriousness of harm risked as level A.

Under the sentencing guidelines, Ikon Construction is classed as a medium organisation (£25m turnover), putting the starting point for the fine at £240,000. However, due to the seriousness of the charges, he started at £300,000 and increased the penalty 10% to £330,000 to reflect the previous warnings. This was reduced to £145,000 after the judge had factored in the company's early guilty plea, its full co-operation with the HSE, the fact that it had no previous convictions, that it had some procedures at the site and its cash flow and ability to pay. Ikon Construction had also taken steps to rectify the problems.

Leftly said that after her 9 May visit, the company implemented a temporary works procedure and provided training for all the workers. It brought in an engineering geologist to advise on the geotechnical risks and produce a controlled sequence to mitigate the risks, which included supporting the excavated face, removing loading on the spoil piles and excavation and ensuring the spoil was battered back to a gradient of not more than 38 degrees.

Ikon Construction also hired a fire engineer to carry out an off-site FERA, who recommended replacing the category A timber with B1 category timber to reduce the risk of fire spreading. This reduced the distance the timber frame development had to be from the neighbouring properties.

The fencing was moved 2 m from the cliff edge to prevent workers accessing the area and scaffolding was erected around the block and beam floors to provide suitable edge protection.

The company also removed the cabin used for welfare facilities from the site and introduced daily plant checks, which were documented by the subcontractors on site.

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Workers were at risk of falling up to 4 m through holes in the roof. Image credit: HSE

 Tip-off leads to developer’s £200k fine for CDM breaches

Thursday 31st August 2017
Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told on 30 August that a member of the public had raised concerns about conditions at the building site in Mitcham, south London and alerted the HSE. Inspectors had first visited Pitcairn Road in October 2016 and found that Selliah Sivaneswaran, owner of the property, had failed to appoint a principal contractor for the development, which involved the demolition of old flats and the construction of four one-bedroom flats and two-bedroom flats.
Open-access content

 *UPDATE* Developer lands £200k fine for CDM breaches

Tuesday 12th September 2017
In October 2016, a member of the public raised concerns about conditions at the building site in Mitcham, south London and alerted the HSE. HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers visited Pitcairn Road and found workers demolishing a two-storey block of flats in preparation for the construction of six flats.
Open-access content
The site was full of waste and debris, including loose gas cylinders. Image: HSE

 *UPDATE* Waste site owner jailed for repeat failings

Wednesday 13th September 2017
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) attended the site of Swansea-based waste disposal firm Crofty Point Metals on 9 July 2013 after being notified of a fire and gas cylinder explosions. The fire was the result of arson and followed two similar incidents.Swansea Crown Court was told on 23 August that the HSE had been contacted by South Wales Fire Service following the third incident at Crofty Point’s site on the Crofty Industrial Estate, Penclawydd, Swansea on 26 June 2013.
Open-access content
Image credit: HSE

 Joiner left paralysed after house builder failed to provide fall protection

Thursday 31st August 2017
Lincoln Magistrates’ Court was told on 25 August that the 60-year-old joiner was working on the first floor of a building in Grimsby, Lincolnshire when the incident occurred in December 2016. He was installing joists and flooring for Mager Homes and had stepped back after laying a floorboard when he missed his footing and fell through a gap between the joists to the ground floor.The joiner sustained broken vertebrae and was left paralysed from the chest down. He now uses a wheelchair and cannot return to his former trade.
Open-access content
HSE inspectors found the gate left open. Image credit: HSE

 Waste site owner jailed for repeat breaches

Wednesday 30th August 2017
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) first attended the site of Swansea-based waste disposal firm Crofty Point Metals in July 2013 after being notified of a fire and used gas cylinder explosions. The fire was the result of deliberate arson and followed two similar incidents.Swansea Crown Court was told last week that the HSE had been contacted by South Wales Fire Service on 9 July 2013 following the third incident at Crofty Point’s site on the Crofty Industrial Estate, Penclawydd, Swansea on 26 June 2013.
Open-access content
The construction site at Marine Parade in Clevedon, north Somerset. Image: HSE

 Builder ignored timber frame fire risk

Friday 25th August 2017
North Somerset Magistrates’ Court was told on 24 August that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had taken enforcement action against Ikon Construction over its failure to plan and manage work correctly at several sites before a member of the public alerted the HSE to the company’s activities on a site in Clevedon. The court was told that the HSE had issued several notices of contravention and prohibition notices covering temporary works, work at height, plant safety and fire assessment and control relating to timber frame developments but the company had failed to act.
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