Top 5 Stories to Make You Stop and Think

Cutting corners can be attractive when in a rush to meet deadlines, but is the risk worth it? Even with legislation in place, time and time again there are instances in the news where health and safety has slipped through the net. The result of this has seen severe injuries, or worse yet – fatalities.

Our blog todays walk through five stories to hopefully help you stop and re-think the importance of health and safety.

1. Dangerous Exposure resulted in £398,000 fine…

JB Global failed to prevent hazardous exposure to substances (including solvents and wood dust) which posed serious health implications to workers who were repeatedly exposed to it.

An investigation was launched by the council’s compliance team in 2016 after a member of staff complained. Conditions were so awful, an immediate Prohibition Notice was deployed by council officers.

In court, the furniture firm pleaded guilty to breaching six health and safety regulations and failing to think of their employee’s welfare.

JB Global has had to fork out a huge sum due to their negligence in regard to risk assessments in the workplace. By failing to ensure the safety of their employees, they failed at being a responsible company. You can read more on the case here.

2. A life changing, brain injury...

A very sad and life changing story resulted in a worker being placed in an induced coma when struck by a forklift truck.

G-Tekt Europe Manufacturing Limited was found to have inadequate control over the high risks associated with workplace transport.

When companies hire workers, they are entrusted to provide settings which will allow them to do their job in a manner that is safe and low risk. This company failed in their responsibilities, this not only changed one man’s life, but his families lives – forever.

The article detailing this case can be found here. 

3. Landlord fire safety breach resulted in imprisonment…

Whilst responding to a fire, the fire and rescue services became aware of several fire safety breaches throughout a converted house.

Some examples found, included fire doors missing self-closers and smoke seals. It was also found that due to lack of maintenance, the kitchen door did not close properly and the kitchen’s fire alarm didn’t work.

Other shocking revelations found that the landlord hadn’t given tenants any means of escape, with no working emergency lighting either. Not only that, but fire extinguishers were out of test date, meaning that they were effectively useless against the blaze.

It was later found there was no evidence of any fire risk assessment having taken place.

This is a shocking case, with several worrying aspects – however just one of these would have resulted in a serious breach.

As a result of their negligence, the landlord received a fine for £50,000, nine months imprisonment suspended for two years and £22,861 worth of court charges.

The local news article from the events can be found here.

4. Tragic Death from falling steel post…shipping company fined.

A ship building and repair company has been fined after an employee was tragically killed. The incident occurred when a steel side-post, (weighing approximately 1800kg) fell and fatally struck the employee on the back of the head.

After investigation, it was clear that the business had failed to carry out the necessary risk assessment and had failed to implements safe systems of work. HSE discovered during their investigation that the steel side-post had not been secured properly.

Failure to supply their employees with the necessary instructions has resulted in the death of an innocent individual, which is the heaviest price to pay! They were also fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £15,000 of costs.

For more information on this case, it can be found here.

5.Repeated health and safety failings for construction company…

One would imagine that a single breach of health and safety would motivate a business to change the handling of their conduct, however, an investigation of a London building contractor found that this was not the case. Construction company, Urban Living Constructions, were found to have breached several regulations at more than one of their sites.

For example, it was discovered there were no edge protections in place to prevent falls. There were many other failings found, including insufficient measures in place to prevent the collapse of the sides of a large excavation.

Working within a construction site can be a dangerous vocation regardless, let alone when simple safety measures are not put in place.

The company were fined £50,000 for their irresponsible health and safety dealings. The press release of this case can be found here.

The consequences of inadequate health and safety, as seen in the examples above, are not worth the small gains of cutting corners. Not only do these companies risk their reputation, but also their bank balance, freedom (should imprisonment occur) and the livelihoods of their staff.

If you would like more advice and guidance on health and safety within the workplace, and to avoid the risk of tragic circumstances occurring within your business, contact Clive today.