Welcome to the latest edition of Construction Infonet.
Construction Infonet is a free eBulletin from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to provide a regular update on health and safety issues for all in the construction industry.
HSE has launched a new microsite called: ‘London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – the health and safety learning legacy’.
The site contains short, informative case studies of good practice and an HSE inspector talks about her work at the Aquatics centre.
Please feel free to link to this site from your webpages
HSE is currently investigating a number of fatal and serious accidents where operators have become trapped between the guardrails or other equipment on the platform and adjacent obstructions.
Anyone engaged in the supply or use of MEWPS should familiarise themselves with the guidance and act on its recommendations.
See Safety Notice for full details
In February 2010 a young child was killed and a woman injured when a lamp column fell on them. The lamp column fell outside the boundary of a site where street works were taking place.
Information concerning non-standard lamp column root design should be obtained and shared by all parties designing and carrying out the works;
Work carried out in the vicinity of non-standard root lamp columns should be planned, discussed and agreed with the relevant authority.
Excavation works in the vicinity of lamp columns must not compromise column stability. The nature of any unidentified or unusual object encountered should be ascertained before any action is taken to disturb or modify it.
See Safety Notice for full details
APS in conjunction with HSE is pleased to announce its first National Project of the Year Award.
The Awards initiative is intended as a showpiece for excellence in Design and Construction Health and Safety Risk Management.
The Awards will be presented at the APS Annual Convention Dinner on 15th September 2010.
For information, entry requirements and an entry form please visit the APS website
HSE guidance to Inspectors now publically available
SIM No. 05/2010/03 – Visibility for operators of telehandlers provides information on the visibility requirements for the operator of common types of telehandlers and describes the measures required in order to comply with the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
Read details of some recent HSE prosecutions and enforcement action in the construction sector and find sources of relevant advice.
- An East Riding farm company, R.J Baker & Co Ltd, was fined £3,000 for misusing a telehandler and allowing a worker to plunge three metres from an unsafe grain bucket.
The 57 year old employee was clearing guttering on a farm building when the incident occurred, switching from a ladder to a telehandler to access a hard to reach section. A colleague operated the machine and attached a grain bucket for him to stand in. However, as the bucket was raised the operator inadvertently tilted it downwards and tipped the worker out.
Worker shatters leg in telehandler plunge
6 July 2010- A Carmarthenshire roofing company has been prosecuted after a teenage worker fell three metres through a fragile roof, breaking his arm.
Apprentice Shaun Jacob, 18, was removing the ridge from a metal sheet roof when a sheet he was standing on buckled, causing him to fall to the ground below. The HSE investigation found that Mr Jacob had no training in using roof ladders, and his supervisor also had no health and safety training.
15 July 2010– A Grantham firm has been fined £6,600 after one of its workers fell more than six metres to the ground - suffering five cracked vertebra, a broken pelvis and serious internal injuries.
The worker was employed by The Cedars Steeplejack (Midlands) Ltd, to remove bird debris and clean the bell chamber at The Church of St Peter, Lenton in Lincolnshire. The HSE investigation showed that two workers had gained access to the spire of the church via the staircase and set out scaffolding planks to stand on to carry out the work. The planks had been laid on rotten floor boards, which gave way.
– Self-employed contractor Stephen Martin fell from the roofline of a domestic two-storey property when the scaffold beneath him swung open like a trapdoor. He fractured ribs, small bones at the base of his back and also sustained head injuries in the fall.
The scaffolding was erected by Advanced Scaffolding (GB) Ltd. The installation was signed off by the company but HSE found it was not of suitable strength or rigidity for its intended purpose.
21 July 2010- A scaffolding contractor William Bedford, trading as B & J Scaffolding, from Teesside has been fined after a scaffold collapsed into a public street.
On the evening of 18 January 2008, 85 metres of the scaffold overturned in the wind and collapsed into the street. The HSE investigation showed that the scaffold was not adequately secured to the houses and was missing elements used to stabilise the structure.
New link added to HSE construction website
Top Tips for Architects - Constructing Excellence (South West)
Best Practice Guidance for MEWPs: Avoiding trapping / crushing injuries to people in the platform
New guidance published by the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) on behalf of the Strategic Forum Plant Safety Group.
Improve the health and safety of your business by attending a health and safety event near you. Places currently available at the following events
Plus many more events over the forthcoming year
Call 0845 300 9923 or visit RIDDOR - Report an incident
We issue eBulletins on a regular basis and would welcome your feedback and views as well as any suggestions/contributions for future articles.
Thank you to those who have provided feedback on the previous editions - we have tried to incorporate as many of the suggestions as possible.
Contact us - construction-manager@bulletins.hse.gov.uk
Social media
Javascript is required to use HSE website social media functionality.
Follow HSE on Twitter:
Follow @H_S_E