A Cumbrian specialty chemical producer has been fined £120,000 and ordered to pay £5,155 costs following an incident where a ladder being used for the inspection of a steam leak at height failed and the employee standing on it fell to the ground. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had failed to ensure that work at height was properly planned and managed. The company also failed to ensure that equipment provided for use at height was inspected at regular intervals and was fit for use

A Merseyside port operating company has been fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,593 after a worker was struck by a load falling from two fork lift truck (FLT). An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found no suitable risk assessment relating to the hazards arising from loading bundles of rebar onto reversing flatbed trailers had been carried out. The tandem FLT lifting operation carried out was also not properly planned, supervised or carried out in a safe manner.

A construction company was fined £1,000,000 and ordered to pay costs of £108,502 after a worker was struck by an excavator and was killed. One of the company’s employees was given a six-month custodial sentence, suspended for twelve months and ordered to pay costs of £15,000.  On the night of 2nd March 2014, the deceased was crushed against a concrete wall by a tool mounted on an excavator. Another worker nearly suffered the same fate. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found the construction company failed to ensure the safety, so far as is reasonably practicable, of its employees and of others who were not their employees working on the site. The investigation also that the site supervisor, who was operating the excavator at the time, failed to take reasonable care for other persons on site at the time.