Company and director sentenced for putting workers at risk
A roofing firm has been fined while its director has been handed a suspended prison sentence after putting the lives of workers at risk during a roof renovation in Surrey.
Weather Master Roofing Limited and company director Jack Avanzo, also known as Jack Avenzo, were sentenced at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Monday following a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The HSE investigation found workers were seen operating without any scaffolding or edge protection on the roof of a house on Flint Hill, Dorking, on 21 February 2023. This put the workers at risk of falling from height, while there were also no measures to mitigate a fall, with the likes of harnesses not being used. Workers were also observed using the lights from their phones and torches while working on the property at night.
Read more on the HSM website.
Retailer John Lewis fined £1.2 million after agency worker fell down warehouse steps with missing handrails
Retail giant John Lewis has been fined £1.2 million after an agency worker suffered serious injuries at one of its distribution centres.
The worker climbed a set of small steps to a conveyor belt at the Leicestershire site in February 2022. The steps didn’t have a handrail, and the headspace was confined. He fell and sustained a broken hip which required extensive surgery and resulted in long-term complications.
Milton Keynes City Council’s Environmental Health Team investigated the incident and determined the steps at the warehouse were unsafe and were an obvious and imminent risk. The city council served a prohibition notice on John Lewis to immediately prevent the use of steps without handrails across operational conveyor belts in the warehouse.
Visit the IOSH Magazine website for more on the incident.
Focus on worker protection, IOSH urges
This Human Rights Day, IOSH is reminding governments and businesses of the importance of protecting workers.
IOSH is particularly advocating for greater protections for women, people with disabilities, migrant workers, indigenous communities and those employed under non-standard contracts.
Dr Ivan Williams Jimenez, senior policy and public affairs manager at IOSH, said better protection of human rights must always include labour rights and occupational safety and health protections.
Read more about the statement on the HSM website.
Two in hospital after fair ride ‘drops to ground’
Two women have been taken to hospital after a fairground ride “failed and crashed” in Birmingham city centre.
West Midlands Fire Service said the ride had “dropped to ground level whilst in operation” in Centenary Square.
Images taken by the BBC show wires from at least two gondolas on the 55m tall City Flyer ride tangled up with each other.
Emergency services were called to the scene at 19:29 GMT on Thursday.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said the two women’s injuries were not thought to be serious but they were taken to Midland Metropolitan University Hospital.
Another 11 patients – nine women and three men – were assessed and discharged at the scene.
Learn more on the BBC website.
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