One of Britain and Ireland’s largest wood products suppliers has been convicted for the second time this year after workers were injured while maintaining and repairing conveyors.In the latest case, Balcas Timber was fined £50,000 after an employee was crushed to death at its sawmill in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. Maintenance fitter Michael Lukan died from injuries sustained on 31 May 2006 when a conveyor he was repairing started up and …

A valve failure that led to a dangerous petrol spill has cost a fuel storage operator nearly £70,000. The pool of fuel formed when the shut-off valve on a road tanker could not close because it was blocked with debris.The HSE prosecuted Vopak London Terminal BV for breaching the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH) after the tanker overflowed in July 2007 at its West Thurrock storage terminal, putting …

The Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG) has published its final report addressing the MIIB’s (Major Incident Investigation Board) recommendations from its report on the design and operation of fuel storage sites, commissioned in the wake of the Buncefield explosion and fire in 2005.The PSLG report, Safety and Environmental Standards for Fuel Storage Sites, is split into six parts offering guidance on the MIIB report’s 25 recommendations including systematic assessment of …

A roadworks contractor has been fined £65,000 after misplaced traffic cones led to a fatal motorway crash.Graham Campbell was driving north along the M6 in Lancashire just before midnight on 8 May 2004 when he hit an unlit contractor’s vehicle on the hard shoulder and suffered fatal injuries.Preston Crown Court heard Cumbrian Industrials had been carrying out maintenance work on the motorway but had not clearly demarcated the area with …

A group of Labour MPs is lobbying the government to exclude solicitors from a proposed scheme to compensate workers for asbestos-related pleural plaques.If the Damages (Asbestos-Related Conditions) Bill, which had a first reading in the House of Lords on 10 October 2009, is passed, it would treat some asbestos-related conditions as actionable personal injuries. This means people suffering from pleural plaques (a thickening of the lungs) or asbestosis could claim …

The HSE has criticised a food firm’s management for its poor leadership after a worker was crushed between 1000kg bags of rice and beans when a mezzanine floor fell down. KTC Edibles, which supplies major supermarkets with food oils and fats, failed to report the injury to employee Noshad Ali until eight months after it had happened at its 11-acre flagship site in the West Midlands.The HSE only heard about …

An electrical engineer has received £450,000 in compensation from his former employers following a four-metre fall which left him with shattered ankles.Keith Waring, who had been working for home improvement company Rhino, was up a ladder removing some cabling from the outside of a house when it came away and he lost his balance, falling four metres to the paved patio below.He landed on his feet, but the force of …

An international shipping company has been ordered to pay almost £20,000 in penalties after a contractor suffered fatal injuries when he fell through a fragile roof sheet.City of London Magistrates heard K-Line Logistics employed a group of workers to replace the lighting at its Feltham warehouse, but it failed to make sure they were competent for the job. As Richard Gibbs climbed on the roof to change the lights, a …

A massive fire that closed two motorways and sent chemical drums rocketing into the air has cost the UK’s largest waste company £240,000 after it pleaded guilty to offences under the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations.The fire started in an outdoor area used to store chemical drums at Veolia’s Red Scar Industrial Estate depot in Preston, Lancashire at around 6am on 2 July 2007. HSE inspectors believe the blaze …

An explosion that killed a pensioner has cost Severn Vale Housing Society and its contract plumber £66,500.Christine Goodall and her dog Kelly died in November 2007 when a disused boiler at her house in Nut Orchard End near Tewkesbury blew up. Her landlord Severn Vale, a non-profit association responsible for over 3000 houses, had employed Corgi-registered plumber Matthew Lee to decommission the Redfyre 4A Bacboiler in 1999. When Mrs Goodall …