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.
The London 2012 construction project has had an exemplary health and safety record to date. HSE is publishing a series of research reports designed to share with construction companies of all sizes the good practice and lessons learned.
The first report, Leadership and worker involvement on the Olympic Park, sets out how project leaders engaged with the supply chain to develop a more collaborative, challenging and learning culture. They created an environment where workers felt comfortable raising health and safety issues and could participate in solving problems.
And talking about the benefits of leadership and worker involvement… have you tried out the Leadership and Worker Involvement Toolkit yet?
The toolkit contains many interesting ways to assess how you are doing and how to build worker involvement into the everyday running of your business/site.
HSE’s Construction Industry Advisory Committee (CONIAC) will be holding an open meeting on Wednesday 16 November in London. If you would like to attend the meeting please follow the link below to register your interest. Please note seats are limited in number.
Read details of some recent HSE prosecutions and enforcement action in the construction sector and find sources of relevant advice.
19 October 2011 – A man from Louth has been fined after a joiner broke his leg falling from scaffolding in the town.
Self-employed Mario Mazzarella was working on scaffolding built for him by Panther Scaffolding at the Helal Restaurant on Mercer Row in Louth on 9 November 2009, when a bus collided with the structure that had been built out over the road, causing him to fall more than four metres to the ground. Passengers on the bus were unharmed.
Andrew Mark Judge, trading as Panther Scaffolding, was prosecuted by HSE for failing to ensure that the workers, who erected the scaffolding the day before, worked in a safe way and that the finished scaffolding was a safe structure for its user and vehicles moving through the town. He was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £3,739 costs.
27 September 2011 – Marks and Spencer plc has been fined £1 Million for putting members of the public, staff and construction workers at risk of exposure to asbestos-containing materials during the refurbishment of two stores in Reading and Bournemouth. They were also ordered to pay costs of £600,000.
Three contractors were also fined - PA Realisations Ltd being fined £200, and Styles & Wood Limited being fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £40,000, all for breaches that took place at the Marks and Spencer plc store in Broad Street, Reading. Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay costs of £75,000, for breaches that took place at the Marks and Spencer plc store in Commercial Road, Bournemouth.
6 October 2011 - A building contractor from South East London has been fined for running a construction site which led to workers being exposed to asbestos-containing materials.
Fadil Adil, of Bromley, was prosecuted by HSE for the way work was carried out on a construction site he was overseeing. The project involved the demolition of a building which had a restaurant on the ground floor and flats above. Asbestos insulating boards in the restaurant's ceiling were broken up during the demolition using sledgehammers and hand-operated breakers, meaning three workers could have been exposed to asbestos fibres.
The HSE investigation found that the defendant did not have a licence to work with asbestos, nor was he trained in construction management. At no point did the defendant carry out an asbestos survey, nor did he provide any guidance to the workmen regarding the presence of asbestos.
Fadil Adil pleaded guilty to breaching the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. He was fined £19,300 and ordered to pay costs of £7,654.
6 October 2011 – A builder from Stourbridge carried out gas work at four houses in Worcester despite not being Gas Safe registered.
James Raybould, trading as Jim Raybould Electrical, Plumbing and Building Services, offences were discovered when a registered gas engineer was called out and found that James Raybould had failed to fix a leak in a gas boiler he had earlier fitted. The Gas Safe Register checked four other properties where the gas work had been carried out and they found two of the fires Mr Raybould had fitted were immediately dangerous.
Mr Raybould pleaded guilty and was fined £1,330 and ordered to pay £1,170 costs.
11 October 2011 – Self-employed builder given a 240 hour community service order for unsafe gas work.
Kevin Graham was carrying out general building and plastering work in a domestic property. The owner of the property bought a gas fire, which Mr Graham offered to install as he said it was relatively easy to do and had done so in his own home. Mr Graham was not a Gas Safe registered engineer.
A Gas Safe Register Inspector visited the property and found that the fitting connecting the gas supply to the fire was loose, causing LPG to leak. The supply pipe had also been unsafely installed, the flue from the fire was not functioning properly and Mr Graham had left unsealed gaps within the builders opening of the fire. He had also left the gas fire unsecured to the fire surround, leaving it unstable and making it possible for fumes to escape further.
Improve the health and safety of your business by attending a health and safety event near you. Most of the events are FREE and all provide an opportunity to meet like-minded people, see interesting new equipment and get confidential advice.
Places are available at the following Working Well Together (WWT) events
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