Dallas McMillan's Blog

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 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.”

Two former businessmen have been sentenced by an Italian court to 16 years in jail for negligence that contributed to the asbestos related deaths of over 2,000 people, reports the Scotsman.

Stephan Schmidheiny, from Switzerland, was the former owner of Swiss construction firm Eternit, and Jean Louis Marie Ghislain De Cartier De Marchienne, from Belgium, was a former executive and shareholder. They were charged with deliberately failing to implement measures to prevent damage from asbestos exposure at the firm's fibre cement making plants in Italy.

The trial began in December 2009, and since then has heard evidence linking 2,100 deaths to exposure to asbestos fibres at the plants.

The court also awarded financial compensation to over 6,300 victims or family members of people who died or became ill as a result of asbestos exposure while working at the factories.

A construction company and its managing director have been sentenced after a father-of-two was crushed to death when a crane overturned in Liverpool.

Richard Mark Thornton, 46, from Longridge near Preston, died when a 50-tonne crane toppled over while moving a steel column in March 2007.

Mr Thornton's employer and the managing director of the company were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for failing to make sure the work was planned and carried out safely.

Liverpool Crown Court heard the crane had been used to lift the six-tonne steel column when it was nearly 18 metres away, taking it well outside its safe lifting capacity for that distance.

The HSE investigation found the crane had not been properly maintained and the external alarm could not be heard by those working nearby. The override switches were also faulty, including the switch that prevented the crane lifting loads beyond its capacity.

The managing director was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £18,478 in prosecution costs. 

Mr Thornton was one of 79 construction workers to be killed while at work in Great Britain in 2006/7. There were also nearly 4,500 major injuries reported to HSE.