Horticulture company fined after lorry driver suffers life changing injuries
A horticulture company has been fined £3,000 after a lorry driver suffered third degree burns on his body while making a delivery to a site in Essex.
The man had been delivering a load of hardcore aggregate to Plants Galore Horticulture Limited’s Eagle Nursery in Hamlet Hill, Roydon. His lorry had a tipper and grab arm and after tipping the load, struck 11kV overhead power lines which ran across the yard.
He exited the cab, believing he had struck a telephone cable, and in doing so received an electric shock while holding the handle of the door, when his feet touched the ground.
He suffered third degree burns on his body and required multiple skin grafts for injuries to his right forearm, right and left foot, and just above his right knee.
He also had exposed tendons in his right forearm and had amputations of the fourth and fifth toes on his left foot.
Read more on the SHP website.
No such thing as a stress-free lunch?
Just before you tucked into a work-day lunch, last week, we shared some stats on the eating habits of British workers and asked: “Do you regard a lunch break that takes you away from your desk or place of work as being essential to your health and wellbeing?”
The online poll was open on LinkedIn from 09-12 April and attracted 1,297 votes. A total 1,125 votes hit ‘Yes’ while 172 votes opted for ‘No’.
We were prompted by an article featured in The Conversation which showed 30 per cent of British workers eat at their desks, while 44 per cent eat alone. The highest rates in Europe, these findings were contrasted with the situation in France, which has a labour regulation that bans workers from eating lunch in the workplace. Bon appétit!
Well, it proved a popular talking point for Stress Awareness Month, a bit of a hot potato you might say; certainly, something for you all to chew over. Pulling in nearly 1,300 votes, the snap poll saw nearly 87 per cent of those who responded vote ‘Yes’.
And you came up with a full menu of comments on the matter.
For more on the poll results on the IOSH website.
Armorer sentenced in fatal shooting incident on film set
Armorer who passed a live gun to Alec Baldwin leading to a fatal shooting is jailed for 18 months.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, was found guilty in March of involuntary manslaughter after cinematographer Halnya Hutchins, 42, was fatally shot on the set of the film Rust in 2021.
The prison sentence, handed down by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer at a New Mexico court on Monday (15 April), is the maximum possible.
Prosecutors said Gutierrez-Reed failed to ensure the gun was only loaded with dummy rounds. Presented evidence suggested that Gutierrez-Reed was “sloppy” and “unprofessional”, which led to live ammunition making its way into the gun fired by Mr. Baldwin. Jurors were shown boxes the prosecution said contained live rounds interspersed with dummy ones.
Learn more on the SHP website.
Aviation company fined after worker death at Heathrow Airport
An aviation company has been fined £160,000 after a man, described by his family as a “legend”, was crushed to death at London Heathrow Airport during the unloading of baggage containers from an aircraft.
The man was working for Dnata Limited, a provider of ground handling and cargo services to major airlines, at Terminal 3 on 23 February 2022. He had arrived at the stand with a set of trailers to collect baggage containers which were being unloaded from the hold of an Emirates Airbus A380 aircraft which had just arrived from Dubai.
The man moved around one of the trailers and under a type of scissor lift known as a high-loader; a raised platform being used to bring the containers to ground level. At this time the high-loader operator lowered one of its two hydraulically operated platforms, which was holding two further containers to be collected, and it crushed the employee.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that the operators’ visibility of the area underneath the rear of the platform was almost completely obscured.
Visit the HSE website to read more.
To keep up to date with the latest health & safety news and advice, follow us on social media: