Dallas McMillan Glasgow Solicitors

An Aberdeenshire roofing boss has been fined after one of his workers was seriously injured when he fell five metres from the edge of a flat roof.

Mr McNeilly was throwing lead cut-offs onto the ground while standing on the flat roof when he either slipped or inadvertently stepped off the edge. He lost his balance and fell five metres to the ground, landing on his right side near a skip.

His right hip ball joint was severed from his thigh bone and a metal plate and four pins had to be inserted. He was in hospital for four days and was off work for 16 weeks. He has largely made a full recovery but still experiences pain in his hip.

Following the incident, an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that no scaffold platform with guard-rails and toe-boards or any other form of fall prevention equipment were in place to prevent falls either from the edges of the flat roof or at the edge of the lower porch roof.

The investigation also revealed that Mr Mackie had not been to the site that morning or in the three or four days prior to the incident and had not given any specific instructions about how to do the work.

At Aberdeen Sheriff Court the roofing boss was fined £15,000 after pleading guilty to breaching Regulation 4 of The Work at Height Regulations 2005.

In 2010/11, 38 people (both employees and self-employed) in Britain died and there were 3,177 serious injuries after work-related falls from height.

A review into the PiP breast implant scandal has found that, although the regulator acted appropriately and followed scientific and clinical advice, there is room for improvement and serious lessons must be learned.

Health Minister Lord Howe’s report into PiP breast implants has looked at whether the UK regulator – the MHRA – and the Department of Health acted appropriately both before and after information about the problems with these implants came to light.

The report states that the MHRA and the Department of Health must learn lessons so that they can continue to improve their approach to communicating with affected individuals and the general public, particularly around issues that cause such understandable anxiety. They must ensure that full, clear and accurate information is made available promptly in a way that is easily accessible and reflects the concerns that weigh so heavily on the lives of patients who are affected by doubts over the safety of specific medical devices.

The role of the MHRA is to monitor all incidents that are reported to it, make sure that these incidents are investigated fully and that any necessary action is taken. The evidence shows that the regulator did this but that improvements are needed in its communication and data collection and the whole European system and processes for gathering and analysing data where concerns arise.

Lessons need to be learnt by the MHRA, the Department of Health and the wider system so it can uncover problems early, be better placed to take robust action and provide clarity for the public should anything like this happen in the future.

An eleven-year-old girl has been awarded around £11 million in compensation for serious injuries she suffered at birth, reports the Guardian.

Milly Evans was born in Lincoln County Hospital. Her family claim that during labour her heart beat was not adequately monitored, and therefore medical staff did not notice quickly enough that she had an abnormal heart beat and was in distress. Milly was born with cerebral palsy and cannot speak. She will be dependent on care for the rest of her life.

According to the Guardian, the United Lincolnshire Hospital NHS Trust had admitted liability for Milly's injuries, but contested the level of damages being sought. An agreement has now been reached, and Milly will be paid a lump sum of £5.9 million and receive annual payments for the rest of her life, to help meet the costs of her ongoing care requirements.

The director of a building firm has been prosecuted after a self-employed contractor fell to his death through a fragile roof at an industrial building in Penryn.

Paul Gibbons was carrying out re-roofing work when he fell eight metres through a fragile part of the asbestos cement roof onto the floor below. He was taken to hospital but died of his injuries later that day.

An HSE investigation into the incident found that the company had failed to put adequate safety measures in place at the site despite the risks involved with working at height.

Truro Crown Court heard that the work had not been adequately planned and no safety nets or crash deck platforms had been provided to mitigate the effects of a fall.

HSE Inspector, Jon Harris, speaking after the hearing, said: "Mr Gibbons’ death could have been prevented if the work had been planned properly and industry standards, such as providing netting, had been applied. The risks of working at height are well-known and falls through fragile materials are the cause of one in five deaths in the construction industry."

A Preston steel firm has appeared in court after a working platform slid off the forks of a forklift truck and struck one of its employees.

The 50-year-old fractured a rib, and suffered muscle and back injuries when he was hit by the heavy metal platform. 

The company, which manufactures and supplies steel products, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after an investigation found the platform had not been secured to the forklift, and instead was just resting on the forks.

Preston Magistrates' Court was told the truck was being used to lift a pile of steel mesh when the platform slid off. No one was standing on the platform at the time, but the injured worker was on the ground nearby.

The company pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure the safety of its employees. It was fined £7,000 and ordered to pay £3,566 in prosecution costs.

According to the latest figures, nearly 4,000 people suffered a major injury while working in the manufacturing industry in Great Britain in 2010/11 and 27 lost their lives.

The government has been accused of hiding behind statistics, as workplace deaths are underestimated by more than 800%, trade union Unite has said.

The comments came in the run-up to International Workers' Memorial Day, which took place on Saturday 28th April. Unite has accused ministers of introducing ‘light touch’ health and safety regulations and called for an increase - not a decrease - in the number of inspectors and workplace inspections.

Unite’s general secretary Len McCluskey said: “Using the official statistics enables the government to suggest that UK health and safety is better than everywhere else, and provides an excuse, albeit a very thin excuse, for cutting the health and safety responsibilities of UK employers.

“This is a complete myth, since the real number of people killed in work-related incidents each year is probably closer to 1,400, over eight times the official Health and Safety Executive figure for 2011 of 171.”

In addition, at least 20,000 more women and men die every year - some estimates put this as high as 50,000 people - from occupational diseases, such as mesothellioma and cancers caused by negligent exposures at work to hazardous substances, such as asbestos, chemicals and dusts.

Unite is calling for:

• No reduction in the legal protection for workers on health and safety.
• Those who create risk must be held accountable.
• No freedom from inspections and an increase in inspector numbers.
• Recognition and support for the role that union safety representatives play.
• More action to prevent occupational diseases.

A breast implant register, more stringent checks and product traceability, and a pre-market authorisation system are among the measures proposed by the European Environment and Public Health Committee to prevent a recurrence of the PIP defective breast implants case. The resolution was passed unanimously.

An estimated 400,000 implants made by the French manufacturer Poly Implant Prothèse have been sold worldwide. These implants were widely used in the UK, France, Spain and Germany. However, the number of women who have received them is unknown.

The resolution has called for "increased traceability of implanted medical devices", and for "increased coordination between Member States when it comes to reporting and warning about serious side effects or damage done" by these devices.

It also says that patients' associations, patient groups and health care professionals must be encouraged to report all adverse events and harmful effects of these devices without being hampered by a great deal of red tape.

The resolution asks the European Commission to introduce a pre-market authorisation system for certain medical devices and to do more to ensure patients are aware of breast implant risks.

MEPs have also called for the introduction of an implant recipient's passport, stating the implant's specific characteristics and its potential adverse effects, and the introduction of a breast implant register in each Member State. These registers should be interconnected and allow for the exchange of information when needed, for example in cases where important defects are detected in implants.

A system of collective redress should also be put in place to help patients obtain compensation when medical devices go wrong.

The British Safety Council (BSC) has launched its health and safety manifesto, 'Working Well', which sets out five steps to help improve workplace safety and reduce the number of work related injuries.

According to the BSC, there are still too many people being killed or injured at work. Figures quoted by the BSC show that there were 26,000 major injuries and 26.4 million working days lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury in Britain in 2010/11. Globally, around 2.2 million workers are killed each year.

Alex Botha, chief executive of the British Safety Council, said: “Our vision is that no-one should be killed, injured or made ill through work activities. Our goal is to bring together influential players, including politicians and opinion formers, to help focus on what we need to do make that vision a reality. Health and safety, when properly and sensibly managed, produces immense business, economic and social benefits.”

Tightening the law on the criminal liability of partnerships and reforming the law on unincorporated associations will be the dual focus of a recently launched UK Government consultation.
 
The Government is seeking views on proposals put forward by the Scottish Law Commission.
 
Reforming the criminal liability of partnerships in Scots law was suggested after the tragedy of the Rosepark nursing home fire in Lanarkshire in 2004 in which 14 residents lost their lives.
 
The case against the care home operators failed in the courts because of a loophole which prevented the prosecution of a partnership once it had been dissolved.
 
The proposed change would ensure all Scottish partnerships could be held to account if they commit crimes and prevent them escaping prosecution for potentially serious offences by dissolving.
 
The consultation will also look at a separate issue of attributing legal personality to non-profit making unincorporated associations where they meet certain statutory criteria.
 
Without this reform, a member of a charity, club or other unincorporated association could find themselves held personally liable for someone injured at an event it has organised, for an act for which they are not personally culpable, exposing them to personal financial risk.
 
The Commission's proposals would provide organisations with limited liability to ensure individual members or office-bearers could not be held personally liable for any damage or offence caused by the organisation as a whole.

The Consultation closes on 2nd July 2012.

The Health and Safety Executive has advised that the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 came into force on 6th April 2012, updating previous asbestos regulations to take account of the European Commission's view that the UK had not fully implemented the EU Directive on exposure to asbestos.

In practice the changes are fairly limited. They mean that some types of non-licensed work with asbestos now have additional requirements, i.e. notification of work, medical surveillance and record keeping. By April 2015, all workers/self employed doing notifiable non-licensed work with asbestos must be under health surveillance by a doctor. Workers who are already under health surveillance for licensed work need not have another medical examination for non-licensed work, but medicals for notifiable non-licensed work are not acceptable for those doing licensed work.

All other requirements remain unchanged, including:

• Persons responsible for maintenance of non-domestic premises have a 'duty to manage' the asbestos in them, to protect anyone using or working in the premises from the risks to health that exposure to asbestos causes.
• Before carrying out any building or maintenance work in premises, or on plant or equipment that might contain asbestos, it is necessary to identify where it is and its type and condition; assess the risks, and manage and control these risks.
• The requirements for licensed work remain the same: in the majority of cases, work with asbestos needs to be done by a licensed contractor. This work includes most asbestos removal, all work with sprayed asbestos coatings and asbestos lagging and most work with asbestos insulation and asbestos insulating board.

Contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive and licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.

A laboratory testing firm has been prosecuted after putting workers at its Tyneside premises at risk of exposure to asbestos.

An investigation was launched into the activities of Exova (UK) Limited following a complaint the company had not dealt with damaged asbestos at its site despite being recommended to do so on two previous occasions.

Newcastle Magistrates' Court heard the company's own accredited asbestos testing branch carried out a survey of the premises in October 2008. Damaged asbestos was identified by this branch in two separate areas of the site and the survey stated the damaged asbestos should be removed, repaired or sealed off.

A further survey was completed in February 2010 and again stated the previously identified damaged asbestos was still there and repeated its earlier recommendation.

HSE inspector Andrew Woodhall visited the site in July 2010 and found the recommendations of the two earlier surveys had still not been implemented and employees were continuing to access and work in areas where damaged asbestos was present. He then instigated enforcement action.

The company was fined a total of £36,000 (£12,000 for each offence) and ordered to pay £8,000 costs after it pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

Asbestos-related diseases are responsible for around 4,000 deaths a year. Working on or near damaged asbestos-containing materials or breathing in high levels of asbestos fibres could increase your chances of getting an asbestos-related disease.

An Established Engineering Business in Ayrshire is offered for Part or Full Sale.  The Company has been trading for 65 years and operates from a central location in Ayrshire close to good transport links for West/South and Central Scotland. Serving a wide variety of Customers including Defence, Local Authority, Environmental, Food Processing, Energy & Utilities, Rail, Transport, Construction and Retail.

The Business specialises in all types of Fabrications &  Welding, Conventional & CNC Machining, Pipework Installations, On Site Maintenance and  Structural Steelwork as well as Bespoke Architectural Fabrications.  The Business is also a Mild Steel, Stainless Steel and Aluminium Stockholder.

The Current owners are looking to sell the business in whole or part as a result of health issues affecting one of the Directors.  The Business has a strong reputation and has a definite potential for growth both amongst it’s existing customer base and a wider geographical area.  The employees have a wide range of skills and expertise which allows the Company to offer their Customers a turnkey service.  The Business currently employs 17 people and operates from 8am to 4.30pm Monday to Thursday, 8am – 3.30pm on a Friday and 8am – 12 noon on a Saturday.  The building is owned by the Business and there are no HP agreements in place for Plant & Machinery.

Turnover 2009 £941K (Profit £43K)    2010 £786K (Profit £72K)    2011 £622K (Profit £40K)

Property Valuation £185KAsking Price would be £550K for outright purchase or £350K for Share Transfer.

Please contact us for further information.

We act for Eighton Investments and have just completed the sale of Coul Shooting Estate in the Highlands which has been on the market through Ballantynes, Surveyors & Estate Agents, Perth with an asking price of £2,200,000.  If you wish to discuss with us any aspect of the sale of any Estate in Scotland, whether including shooting and fishing rights or otherwise then please do not hesitate to contact Forbes Leslie in the first instance who would be able to give advice on all legal aspects of any sale.  Alternatively, if you are considering purchasing an Estate in Scotland please do not hesitate to contact us for legal advice.

Children will be exposed to greater risk of harm if important safety measures for adventure activities in Scotland are watered down, a not-for-profit campaign group has warned.

Because the existing licensing regime in Great Britain is going to be abolished, the Scottish Government is considering whether to replace it either with new regulations, a voluntary accreditation scheme or a voluntary code of practice.

“In making this important decision, the Scottish Government needs to look back on the tragedy of Lyme Bay, in England, in 1993,” said David Bott, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.

“When we consider the deaths of those four teenage canoeists, it is difficult to see how anyone could consider it right to reduce these important safety measures.”

The impending abolition of the current licensing regime, which is run by the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority was recommended by the UK Government's Lord Young of Graffham, who, in his report Common Sense, Common Safety, referred to it as an unnecessary “cost and burden on business.”

Trade Unions have welcomed the landmark ruling by the Supreme Court which will affect many of the 2,500 people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year.

Mesothelioma is a terminal form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma has an unusually long gestation period, which can be in excess of 40 years between exposure to asbestos and manifestation of the disease.

Insurance companies had tried to argue that employer's liability policies only covered mesothelioma which manifested as a disease at some point during the relevant policy period. The Supreme Court has rejected these arguments, which would have denied compensation to victims of the terminal disease, and ruled that the insurers of an employer at the time of the exposure to asbestos should pay compensation.

In his judgment Lord Clarke concluded that: “The whole purpose of these policies was to insure employers against liability to their employees. That purpose would be frustrated if the insurers’ submissions on this point were accepted.”

Lord Phillips added that diseases are contracted when the process that leads to them is initiated as a result of wrongful exposure to the noxious substance that causes the disease.

The judgment went on to emphasise that these principles apply not only to mesothelioma but also to other industrial diseases.

As the clocks go forward Autoglass® and the road safety charity Brake are renewing calls for government to make it ‘Lighter Later’ by putting the clocks forward by an hour year-round.

This would mean fewer daylight hours ‘wasted’ in the early mornings when most people are asleep. The lighter evenings would mean reduced danger to pedestrians and cyclists in the dark afternoons and evenings through the winter months.

It’s estimated this would result in 80 fewer deaths and hundreds fewer serious injuries each year, preventing unnecessary suffering and saving the NHS £138 million annually.

Matthew Mycock, Autoglass® Managing Director commented:

“Low light means drivers struggle to clearly see objects and hazards, and it places cyclists and pedestrians at high risk.”

“Putting clocks forward an hour all year round, will save millions of pounds in emergency and medical costs and spare thousands of people the pain and anguish which comes from road crashes.”

An engineering and construction company has been fined £250,000 for safety failings after a surveyor was killed by a reversing lorry during work to widen the M25 near Dartford.

Richard Caddock was talking on a mobile phone and could not hear the approaching truck above the noise of nearby motorway traffic, when he was hit from behind in 2008.

The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted his employer Costain Limited for failing to ensure adequate precautions were in place to separate the movements of people and vehicles.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Mr Caddock had left a parked van and was walking northbound along a section of the central reservation closed off as part of a £65 million scheme to ease congestion between junctions 1b to 3.

As he talked on the phone, a tipper lorry delivering crushed stone entered the same section and reversed northbound. Mr Craddock had walked approximately 30m when the truck hit him.

The surveyor sustained multiple injuries as a result of being run over by the eight wheel vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Melvyn Stancliffe said:

"This was a terrible tragedy that could easily have been avoided had Costain Limited implemented basic safety precautions.

"The movement of people and vehicles on construction sites requires careful planning and effective control. It must be considered a critical part of transport management. This case highlights that a failure to be in control can have devastating consequences."

Donald Brydon, Chairman of Royal Mail Group, has announced the launch of an independent inquiry to be led by Sir Gordon Langley into the prevalence and consequences of attacks by dogs on postal workers in the UK, with the objective of making recommendations to address them.

There are between three and a half thousand and four thousand dog attacks on Royal Mail employees each year, resulting in injuries - many severe, - and considerable trauma. 

Despite significant organisational effort to control employee exposure, and an outstanding and ongoing campaign - Bite Back, led by the CWU - the number of attacks remains unacceptably high. The inquiry will look more widely than just at primary legislation and therefore will look beyond current proposed amendments to the Dangerous Dogs Act.

The inquiry will:

• seek to ascertain why so many employees are subject to dog attacks whilst delivering mail,
• consider the background and human consequences of continuing dog attacks on postmen and postwomen,
• consider existing relevant laws and regulations and the extent to which they are adequate and  enforced,
• consider any relevant actions taken by other employers in the UK or elsewhere, and
• make recommendations with a view to achieving a reduction in attacks.

A countryside management firm has been sentenced over the death of a father-of-four in Barrow-in-Furness, who was struck by a piece of metal that flew off a strimmer at high speed.

Tony Robinson died after a link from a chain, spinning at around 300 miles an hour on a petrol strimmer, became detached and struck him on the back of the neck, causing fatal injuries.

Mr Robinson, a self-employed contractor, had been hired to help clear undergrowth at the site during the construction of the new Waterfront business park. He was using a chainsaw to cut back the overgrown vegetation, with another worker using the strimmer on a nearby bank.

The chain attachment had been added to the strimmer so it could be used for more heavy-duty work. But the HSE investigation found ThreeShires had not properly considered the risks of using the attachment, and had allowed Mr Robinson to work close to where the strimmer was being operated.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure the safety of workers and was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £10,000 in prosecution costs.

HSE issued a Safety Alert following Mr Robinson's death, warning that there was a risk of death or serious injury from the use of the strimmer attachment.

It also served an immediate Prohibition Notice against the sole importer of the chain attachments in the UK, which resulted in a nationwide ban on the sale or supply of the product.

The attachment has now also been banned across Europe, after HSE alerted the European Commission to the issue.

Road users across Scotland are being urged to raise their awareness of motorcycles, as the approach of spring sees more and more bikers out and about.

A campaign has been organised by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland to make all motorists, pedestrians and motorcyclists themselves more aware of the risks associated with this popular mode of travel and leisure pursuit.

Superintendent Alan Duncan who is the head of Road Policing for Lothian and Borders Police, and the ACPOS lead for National Campaigns said:

“Year -on-year there is still a disproportionate number of motorcycles involved in collisions and unfortunately these often result in serious injury for those involved.

“Motorcyclists and their passengers are more vulnerable to injury than other vehicle users and I would urge all road users to be aware of motorcycles. Just remember that motorcycles can be less visible than other vehicles. Motorcyclists need to appreciate and be aware of changing road conditions at all times, and the fact that their personal skill level may have deteriorated over the winter months.”