News

A County Down family which woke to find bulldozers demolishing the house next door will have to foot the bill for the damage caused to their Newcastle home because their insurance does not cover the incident. Dean and Caroline Richman are facing hefty repair bills because the action of the developer - who knocked down the property without planning permission - was deemed as deliberate, not criminal and is therefore not covered by their policy.

A spokeswoman from the Planning Service said while the developer had not acted illegally, planning permission was required under legislation. Despite repeated attempts, the Richmans have been unable to contact the developer and have spent the past few weeks dealing with builders and the relevant authorities to try and sort out the damage which could end up costing them thousands.

Since the incident the Newcastle community has rallied behind the Richmans and have organised a public meeting to voice their frustration over planning legislation which they feel benefits those who do wrong. The Planning Service and the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSE NI) are currently investigating the incident, and a spokesman from the HSE NI said their officers had visited the site already.

Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) SR 2007/291, the demolition or dismantling of a structure should be planned and carried out "in such a manner as to prevent danger or, where it is not practicable to prevent it, to reduce danger to as low a level as is reasonably practicable." It should also be recorded in writing before the work in question begins. However, the Richmans said they were not informed at any stage by the developer that they were planning to demolish the neighbouring property.

Marks and Spencer has been fined a total £31,113 after a worker lost part of their toe in a warehouse incident. Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court heard that Timothy Payne was using a goods-only scissor lift in March 2007. The rising lift trapped his left foot, crushing it, and the tip of his big toe had to be amputated.

The firm admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, and received the maximum fine possible. A total of £31,128 compensation was also agreed with the victim.

Environmental health officers from Milton Keynes Council visited the warehouse and discovered that "riding" the lift, which is designed only to lift goods, was common practice and management was aware of this failing. Magistrate chair Marie Brock said the company's risk assessment and signage was not good enough and that there had been a failure at local level to follow procedures.

A health and safety investigation has been launched after a 14-year old girl suffered burns over 70% of her body using an unstaffed tanning salon. Kirtsy McRae was put on a hospital drip after spending £4 for 19 minutes on a coin-operated sunbed this month. However, James Hadley, who owns Lextan, the salon in question, said he was operating within the law.

The girl, who was on half-term, originally put £1 into a sunbed at Lextan, but felt she was not tanned enough, so paid another £3 for a further 15 minutes. No-one was at the salon to prevent her from using the beds or stop her from using the booth for as long as she did. She left the salon in pain and was later taken to hospital where doctors told her she had suffered first degree burns, the lowest level of skin burn. She was put on a drip and given oxygen while doctors rehydrated her and administered painkillers.

Back home in Barry, Wales, the teenager took full responsibility for the fact that she should not have been in the salon because she was under 16, but argued that there should be more controls on who is using the salons. The girls mother, a health and safety officer, said she was able to identify the symptoms that her daughter was displaying and to recognise that she was suffering from superficial burns, heat stroke and going into shock. "Had I not had that knowledge I would have been absolutely terrified to see what she was going through."

The Health and Safety Executive advise under-16s not to use cosmetic tanning equipment and said further guidance would be published in March in response to public concerns about safety at tanning salons, especially those which are unstaffed.

For more information, see:

• Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010;
• Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010 (Wales) Regulations SI 2011/1130.

Seven people have been hurt after a safety bar apparently failed on a fairground ride. One woman was taken to hospital with back injuries and a man suffered a broken rib. In addition, four teenagers were also hurt, suffering whiplash and injuries to their necks when the bar hit them. More than 10 people were reported to have been on the Miami Trip ride at the time of the accident.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have launched an investigation following the incident in Oldham. Witnesses have told how the safety bar came "flying up" while they were on the ride. One of the people injured commented, "The safety bar came up three times. We were screaming for them to stop it, I thought I was going to die."

The fairground, called "Blackpool Comes to Oldham", is billed as Europe's biggest mobile fun park. It is located at Hollinwood Avenue until early March and is run by Jan de Koning Fun Fairs. Mr de Koning said both the safety bar locked and the ride stopped automatically. He also said it had undergone a safety check a week before the fair opened. "The safety of our patrons is paramount. The ride has been closed and we have called in the HSE and the ride manufacturer. No-one came out of the ride, I must stress that. We are not really sure what happened. We know a passenger hurt her back and we called an ambulance as a precaution."

The set of the new Harry Potter movie was closed this month, following a health and safety incident.

Leigh stuntman David Holmes was injured as he was working at height in an aerial sequence for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film. Mr Holmes, the stunt double for Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the title role, was admitted to hospital after receiving back injuries when he fell from a harness.

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that the organisation is conducting an investigation into the incident and some of the set will remain closed while this is carried out. The representative explained, "The set has been cordoned off and will not be used again until we have finished that part of our investigation."

Last month, the HSE issued a reminder of the health and safety issues concerned with working at height, pointing out that falls are the single biggest cause of fatalities in the industry.

For more information, see:

• Working at Height Regulations SI 2005/735;
• Working at Height Regulations (Northern Ireland) SR 2005/279.

Businesses and the Government need to do more to protect workers from repetitive strain injury (RSI), physiotherapists have said. Official figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show the rate of RSI has hardly changed in the past six years, with more than 200,000 sufferers a year in the UK. RSI covers a range of musculoskeletal problems in the upper limbs and neck.

As a result, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) wants employers to be compelled to provide occupational health services. In analysing the figures, they found that injuries were most common in building trades, health and social care and amongst factory workers. The group has estimated that RSI costs businesses £300 million a year in lost working time, sick pay and administration. Those affected take an average of 13 days off work each year, meaning that overall nearly three million working days are lost annually in the UK.

In 2007/08, 213,000 people in work had RSI problems that were caused or made worse by work, and of these 81,000 were new cases. This compared to 222,000 in 2001/02, of which 87,000 were new cases. Pauline Cole, an occupational health expert at the CSP said, "There has been little improvement despite the increasing focus on workplace health. Government and business need to do more to tackle the problem."

She has called for a statutory duty to be placed on employers to provide occupational health services and suggested that the Government offer tax relief to businesses to help them to do so.