Info-sharing initiative
Employers are being encouraged to do more to share information to prevent accidents. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has revamped its Safety Bulletin system which warns about problems with equipment, process, procedures and substances that may lead to injury. Bulletins are now available automatically via e-mail, text message or RSS feed, and on the website. The HSE has called on firms to commit to sharing information more effectively when sending out their own alerts.
£5,000 fine for injury
A building firm has been fined £5,000 after a worker was injured and trapped for more than two hours when the trench he was in collapsed. Vickers Construction, of Eaglescliffe, Darlington, was also ordered to pay costs of more than £3,000 after being prosecuted over the incident that happened in 2008.
£3,500 fine over injury
An accident in which a worker was buried alive in an excavation collapse has led to a Cambridgeshire groundwork contractor being fined £3,500. The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted Anthony Hill for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, as well as the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. He was also ordered to pay costs of £2,000 over the incident in 2007. The employee was rescued alive.
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£15,000 forklift fine
A lorry-trailer building company in Trafford has been fined after a worker was crushed by more than two tons of metal. The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted S Cartwright and Sons (Coachbuilders) following the incident in 2008 when the metal fell on the worker from the forks of a forklift truck. The company was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay more than £18,000 costs.
