A matter of life and death: why businesses must check their bins
Every winter, as temperatures drop, some of Britain’s most vulnerable citizens seek shelter wherever they can find it. For rough sleepers, a large commercial waste bin might seem like temporary refuge from the cold. But this desperate act of survival can quickly become a death trap.
In May 2024, Vitalij Maceljuch, 36, climbed into a cardboard recycling bin behind a kitchen store in Chester seeking shelter. Hours later, the bin was collected and tipped into a waste lorry. Despite the driver following proper checking procedures (looking into the bin, calling out, and shaking it on the lorry’s forks), Mr Maceljuch was not discovered until his body was found on a conveyor belt at a recycling depot in Flintshire. The coroner concluded he died from severe head and neck injuries, likely caused by being crushed.
Read more on the HSE website.
Weak fertility support is hurting productivity
The Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) warns that not integrating reproductive health, including fertility, into workplace health frameworks is impacting workplace retention and undermining productivity.
This comes as the Budget highlights health-related inactivity as a major driver of the UK’s economic challenges. SOM says one overlooked contributor is the impact of reproductive health on employees’ ability to remain and perform at work.
Research from SOM and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) shows that nearly 1 in 5 employees undergoing fertility issues have considered leaving their jobs because they felt unsupported during treatment. Fewer than a third (30%) said they felt very or quite supported at work, and 24% had considered leaving their job following a lack of support related to pregnancy or baby loss.
For more on the research visit the HSM website.
Companies fined after apprentice fell from height installing CCTV
Two companies have been fined after an apprentice fell from height while installing CCTV in Weymouth.
The then 20-year-old electrical apprentice had been working for Tristan G Murless Limited at one of their sites at a commercial industrial estate at Lynch Lane on 13 July 2022. He had been using a makeshift crawling board when he fell around 11 feet through a fragile roof to the concrete floor below.
The incident took place on the roof of a lean-to attached to a main warehouse. The project involved the installation of electrical cables and conduit around the perimeter of the warehouse in readiness for the installation of CCTV. The man lost consciousness at some point prior to the arrival of the ambulance and could not feel his body. He was unable to walk temporarily after the incident and sustained injuries to his back, including muscular tissue damage which requires physiotherapy.
Learn more on the HSE website.
Delivery driver killed in forklift truck incident
The family of a much-loved man have spoken of his ‘horrific’ death at work following the prosecution of his employer.
Chris Keegan was killed on 20 November 2023 while working for Hessle Plant Ltd as a delivery driver at its main depot in Castleford, West Yorkshire. Chris’ widow Dianne said: “Chris was a wonderful, kind and generous man, who would do anything he could for anyone. He especially did anything he could for me.
“My heart is broken, and I will never get over losing my husband in such a horrific way. He never deserved to die in such tragic circumstances.”
Leeds Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr Keegan had been tasked with returning the forklift truck to a customer’s site in Sheffield following repair work to its transmission.
As he reversed the vehicle onto the trailer shortly after 6am, it fell from the side of the trailer bed. Mr Keegan was thrown from the seat and became trapped between the chassis of the forklift and a neighbouring trailer.
Read more about the incident on the HSM website.
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