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Practice meets perfect
May/June 2023 issue

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News

Zoo fined for death of keeper mauled by tiger

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

On 24 May 2013 Sarah McClay was mauled to death by a tiger after it escaped through an unlocked gate and attacked her.

"The zoo failed to comply with expected standards in relation to risk assessing and proactively maintaining the door (especially the self-closing mechanism) which was the final line of defence between a keeper and tiger," said a spokesperson for Barrow Borough Council, which investigated the incidents.

The zoo also failed to sufficiently address the risks arising from a big cat escaping from the keeper's area into a public space.

On 18 July 2014 another of the zoo's employees sustained a broken bone after falling from a ladder while preparing food for the lions. The council said the zoo did not carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment for work at height. Zookeepers fed the lions by climbing up a ladder and putting meat on a pole 5 m above the ground.

At Preston Crown Court earlier this week the zoo, formerly the South Lakes Wild Animal Park, admitted breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act for the 2013 accident. It pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act and Regulation 3(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (for the lack of adequate risk assessment) for the incident in 2014. The company was fined £300,000 and £50,000 respectively.

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 *UPDATE* £1.75m fine for ScottishPower for neglecting faulty valve

Tuesday 7th June 2016
As we reported last week the employee was attempting to close the drain valve at Longannet Power Station in Alloa, when it opened unexpectedly, releasing high-pressure steam. He sustained burns to his chest and legs.The HSE found that though SPG was aware of the fault, it failed to ensure appropriate steps were taken to either repair the valve or take it out of use.
Open-access content
Image credit: ©Deadline News/REX/Shutterstock

 £1.75m fine for ScottishPower for neglecting faulty valve

Thursday 2nd June 2016
The employee sustained burns to his chest and legs on 12 October 2013 when he opened a faulty valve which emitted high pressure steam.  The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that SPG was aware of the fault but failed to ensure appropriate steps were taken to either repair the valve or take it out of use.  SPG was fined £1.75m after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Open-access content
©REX/Shutterstock

 BT engineers' ladder falls may have followed electric shocks

Tuesday 31st May 2016
Teesside Crown Court heard how the two BT Openreach engineers were working at the company’s Darlington Automatic Telephone Exchange. One of the engineers was installing a cable in a ceiling level cable tray to the main distribution frame – which connects equipment to cables – on the ground floor.  The engineer was standing on a stepladder reaching up to the cable tray which ran beside the lighting system. He fell off the ladder and was taken to hospital with serious head and back injuries.
Open-access content

 Apprentice burned by blowing power line

Thursday 23rd June 2016
Rodd McFarlane, 20, was carrying out repairs at Waulkmill Cottage in Perth and erected a tower scaffold for repointing work.  On 2 August 2012, McFarlane was on the scaffold when a gust of wind blew one of the 240v electricity power lines supplying the cottage. It brushed against his back and he instinctively turned and grabbed the live wire. The current made him unable to let go for a few seconds. He sustained burns to both hands, requiring graft surgery and a possible future amputation of one of his little fingers.
Open-access content

 Arm amputation followed ‘horrific incident’ at recycling plant

Friday 27th May 2016
The Nick Brookes Recycling employee was working on an infeed conveyor which transfers waste brought by skip wagons onto a picking line. On 8 August 2013 he was dragged into the conveyor and his right arm had to be amputated up to his shoulder. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told Chester Crown Court that the conveyor belt was in extremely poor condition, jammed frequently, and was not guarded. Workers were not sufficiently informed, trained or supervised.
Open-access content

 £94k penalty for energy co that exposed workers to explosion risk

Thursday 26th May 2016
The company’s main activity involved injecting natural gas into depleted underground oil reservoirs for storage. On 26 February 2014, during a maintenance operation, around 145 kg of natural gas was released into the atmosphere, along with some crude oil that spilled on to the concrete process area. The two employees who were carrying out the maintenance work were unharmed, however they were exposed to a risk of fire and explosion as the release formed a flammable gas cloud.
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