A manufacturer of shopping trolleys has been fined £320,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4016 after two men fell approximately three metres when a metal cage they were dismantling collapsed beneath them. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the work had not been properly planned, appropriately supervised, or carried out in a manner that was safe.  No consideration was given to whether dismantling the structure could be carried out without working at height or if the work was within the capabilities of the company’s employees.  None of the employees involved were trained in the assembly of scaffolding towers, and the injured man was not trained in working at height.

A Plymouth yacht maker has been fined £600,000 after an employee suffered life changing injuries when a staging platform, weighing approximately one tonne, toppled over and fell on top of him. An investigation by the HSE investigation found that there was a failure to assess the risks associated with moving staging platforms manually through the external yard. Had this been done, it would have identified the uneven ground as a hazard that required controlling. The risks could have been further eliminated by prohibiting the manual moving of the platforms and requiring any external movement to be carried out by forklift trucks.

A Gloucestershire cider manufacturer has been fined £1.4 Million. A van driver was killed when the end of a security barrier speared through the vehicle’s windshield and fatally crushed him. An HSE investigation into the incident found the company had installed the barrier a month earlier, and failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. The company also failed to implement a safe system of work to ensure the barrier could be secured safely when open and closed.

A roofing company has been fined a total of £881,000 after two workers were seriously injured during two separate incidents. An HSE principal inspector said: “Too many workers are injured or die every year as a result of falling through fragile rooflights without adequate fall prevention or protection measures in place. The law is clear about the measures needed to ensure safety when working on fragile roofs and there is a wide range of guidance available from HSE and the Construction industry on correct ways of working”