Health and Safety News
A round up of recent topical news and advice from the HSE
NOTIFICATION OF CONVENTIONAL TOWER CRANES REGULATIONS 2010 The Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes Regulations 2010 comes into force on 6 April 2010. The Regulations require certain information about conventional tower cranes used on construction sites to be notified to HSE. HSE has produced guidance which explains the types of tower crane that need to be notified to HSE and the notification procedures. View the leaflet
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/indg437.htm?ebul=cons/jan10&cr=1 SIMPLE MISTAKES CAN SHATTER LIVES...YOUR ACTION COULD STOP THEM HAPPENING The Shattered Lives campaign returned on 1 February 2010, focusing on actions that employers can take to prevent slips, trips and falls at work. Visit the new campaign website to access new posters and case studies, STEP and the new WAIT toolkit. STEP is a slips and trips e-learning package. WAIT is for occasional users of access equipment who need help in deciding what access equipment to use for planned work at height. Visit the campaign website
http://www.hse.gov.uk/shatteredlives/?ebul=cons/jan10&cr=25 WORK AT HEIGHT In January this year a timber frame erection company was fined £16,000 after a worker fell five metres at a construction site. A self-employed timber frame erector subcontracted to the company, was working at height on a self-build project when he fell five metres to the bottom of an inadequately covered stairwell. He suffered multiple fractures, including his skull. http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2010/coi-se-0601.htm?ebul=cons/jan10&cr=5 ASBESTOS The HSE has initiated criminal proceedings against Marks and Spencer plc and four other companies for asbestos-related breaches during refurbishment work at shops in Reading, Bournemouth and Plymouth, where it is alleged that the companies failed to ensure that staff and members of the public were not exposed to risks from asbestos-containing materials. http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2010/coi-se-0201.htm?ebul=cons/jan10&cr=9 BUILDING COLLAPSE A Clothing importer in London has been fined £10,000 after pleading guilty to breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was also ordered to pay costs of £35,000 and ordered to pay £200 each, to four people who were in the building when it collapsed. No one was killed or injured in the collapse. Buildings on Commercial Road, Tower Hamlets, were undergoing construction works when the front elevation collapsed into the street. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that plans for the work had been drawn up by architects and structural consultants, however, The Managing Director of the clothing company was acting as the principal contractor and was being assisted by his teenage son. There was no construction phase plan and the architect was not aware that any work was being carried out on the first floor nor had the HSE had not been notified that any improvement work was taking place. More than 20 people, including the importers staff, were in the building when it collapsed and it was sheer luck that no one was seriously injured or killed. Large amounts of debris fell onto the pavement, including scaffolding, which fortunately fell against a lamppost preventing the bulk of the rubble landing on passers-by and on the road. The road was closed for several days while rescuers searched the rubble for any victims. http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2010/coi-ldn-0101.htm?ebul=cons/jan10&cr=16
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