Florondo

An employee of North Kent Shotblasting Ltd, situated at Northfleet in Kent, died on 20^th October 2006 while he was on duty, owing to gross negligence of the employer. The deceased, Nigel Harrison, was a spray painter with the company and he was painting a heavy metal plate close to 1000kg in weight when it fell on him and killed him on the spot. The company was negligent, as it did not check if the plate had been properly fastened.

The HSE immediately launched a criminal prosecution against the company for infringing section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The Maidstone Crown Court sentenced the company to pay monetary penalty of £150,000 and costs of suit amounting to £24,000.

Commenting on the case, HSE inspector David Fussell added that the company had totally failed to assess the risks and ensure safety of its employees. by exercising some caution and by having a safe system at work, the accident and the death could have been easily avoided.

It was found that in the absence of safety measures, workers of the company had to adopt their own ways and means to secure themselves against an accident. It was only after Prohibition and Improvement Notices were issued against the company that it undertook safety measures.

For anyone involved in major building, maintenance or refurbishment work compliance with Construction (Design and Management) Regulations is compulsory. To ensure organisations are aware of their health and safety obligations and remain compliant with the latest regulations, CDM training will enable companies to more effectively plan and manage projects and to identify and eliminate risks within the requirements of structure and fire safety (fire risk assessment) with which building work should comply.

Fussell also said that no employer should be allowed to endanger the lives of employees. He added that safety procedures have been known for a long time and that there is no reason why they should not be followed by employers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 9:02 am and is filed under Business Opportunities, Great Information + Tips, World Of Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.