News

The UK's landfill tax increased by £8 per tonne on 1 April 2011, making the cost of sending waste to landfill £56 per tonne.

In 2008, it was announced that the tax would increase by £8 per tonne per year until 2010. This date was later revised and 2014 is now the end date for any increases, by which time landfill tax will stand at £80 per tonne.

A Fife paper-making company has been hit with a penalty of £260,000 after failing to ensure the safety of one of its workers.

Thomas Sturrock, had been contracted to clean the roof of the premises owned by Tullis Russell. However, instead of using crawl boards to cross the fragile roof, Mr Sturrock and the other workers accessed the roof by stepping onto it.

The worker from Methil crashed through the roof and plunged more than 50 feet onto the concrete floor of the warehouse. An ambulance was called to the scene but the roofer was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of head injuries.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that Tullis Russell Papermakers had instructed the contractor who employed Mr Sturrock to clear 24.5 tons of vegetation from the fragile roof of the factory at Southfield Industrial Estate. However, pre-contract safety paperwork had not been filled-in and Tullis Russell had failed to control, monitor and review the way the work was taking place.

Tullis Russell Papermakers Ltd of Glenrothes, Fife, were fined after pleading guilty to breaching the duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to ensure the health and safety of everyone at their premises, whether working directly for them or not.

Following the case, HSE Inspector Mac Young said, "Thomas Sturrock might be alive today if simple safety measures had been put in place. If Tullis Russell had ensured the contractor's activities were monitored then it is possible the incident with Mr Sturrock may have been prevented."

For more information, see the:

• Work at Height Regulations SI 2005/735.

An Oldham company has been fined a total of £13,979 this month after it ignored two formal warnings, putting its workers' lives in danger from poorly maintained and dangerous electrics. Townfield Manufacturing Co Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after inspectors uncovered a series of cracked socket casings, exposed conductors and live wires on a visit to its premises in Mount Pleasant Street.

During the same visit on 15 December 2009, inspectors also found that staff were forced to work in gloves and coats because of the near-freezing conditions in the workshop, which had no heating system. The company, which manufactures kitchen equipment for takeaway restaurants, was served two improvement notices, requiring them to make the electrics safe and provide a reasonable working temperature. However, when the HSE returned on 17 February 2010, they found the wall sockets were still unsafe and the company had only provided workers with one stand alone heater, which had barely lifted the temperature.

Investigating HSE inspector Sarah Taylor said, "This is one of the worst cases of dangerous electrics I have ever seen. The employees at this firm were at serious risk of injury or even death. The temperature of the factory was also a serious issue. It is simply not acceptable to expect staff to work in conditions so cold that you can see your breath in the air. Improvement notices are not intended to serve as a suggestion. They need to be taken seriously and, if companies fail to comply with them, HSE will look to prosecute."

Around 1,000 electrical accidents are reported to the HSE every year, and around 25 people die of their injuries.

For more information, see the:

• Electricity at Work Regulations SI 1989/635;
• Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations SI 1992/3004.

A Country Antrim waste management company has been fined £60,000, and ordered to pay costs of £20,000 after the death of an employee at its landfill site in Mallusk in August 2008.

Although it was not possible to establish the exact cause of death of David Layland, an employee of Biffa Waste Services Ltd, the investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) revealed a number of unsafe practices that had been allowed to go on around the time of his last sighting.

At Belfast Crown Court, the waste management company responded to charges for breaching the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order SI 1978/1039, in relation to the failure to ensure the health and safety of its employees, by pleading guilty.

After the hearing, the HSENI's investigating inspector, Kevin Campbell, said: "Proper arrangements must always be in place where large vehicles operate in the vicinity of pedestrians.

Where vehicles and pedestrians share a traffic route or work area, there must be strictly controlled arrangements to ensure adequate separation at all times. This applies to all workplaces and is vital in circumstances where large vehicles operate."

In a statement following the ruling, Biffa made a reassurance that they had operated since 1991, and had no previous health and safety related convictions in Northern Ireland. Biffa also stated that the health and safety of their employees was of paramount importance to them.

A demolition firm has been fined £1,500, with costs of £10,000, after failing to manage and monitor asbestos removal work at a site in Nottinghamshire.

Yorkshire-based Libra Demolition Ltd was the principal contractor on a project to demolish buildings at the former Vesuvius works in Sandy Lane, Worksop, between 25 March and 22 August 2008.

A number of buildings on the site contained asbestos, the removal of which should be declared to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and carried out by a licensed asbestos contractor. During a joint HSE and Environment Agency prosecution, Worksop Magistrates' Court heard the buildings were demolished, but no records of the safe removal or disposal of the asbestos were found. In addition, the HSE received no notifications for its removal.

The discovery came to light when debris from the Vesuvius site was found at an unlicensed waste disposal site.

HSE inspector Ken Wilson said, "Libra Demolition was the principal contractor for the demolition project and had control of the site. It is completely unacceptable for any firm to disregard its responsibilities in this way. The firm neglected to manage and monitor the project so as to ensure the asbestos was removed safely under licensed conditions by a licensed contractor, and therefore failed in its legal obligations. The dangers of asbestos are well known and contractors should be aware that the HSE will not hesitate to take enforcement action against any firm that ignores the law in this way."

For more information, see the:

• Control of Asbestos Regulations SI 2006/2739.

Stunned grandmother, Betty Wilson, expressed her shock after a faulty blast at a quarry sent an enormous boulder smashing through her roof and into her shower.

Mrs Wilson feared she could have been killed if she had been in her bathroom at the time. She said, "The developers had told us they would be carrying out a controlled explosion near our house. But there was a huge blast, then I heard this almighty crash. My toilet was covered in shattered glass and rubble. And a large granite boulder was sitting there. Thank God I decided against having a shower at that time, or I would be dead".

Her home was one of five damaged when granite rocks were sent hurtling through the air. Several cars were also damaged following the blast at the site near Barrwood in Kilsyth, which was being cleared to make way for a housing development.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Construction company, Dawn Homes, said debris from the controlled explosion "exceeded the perimeter of the safety exclusion zone" and that it "regretted any inconvenience caused". Investigators from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are to visit the blast site.

Blasting is one of the most potentially dangerous operations in hard rock quarrying. There is the immediate risk associated with the storage, transport and handling of explosives, wider on-site risks associated with firing the shot itself, and secondary risks (as Mrs Wilson will no doubt confirm) such as flyrock going beyond the quarry boundary. It is essential that those involved understand how best to avoid or manage the risks.

The Quarries Regulations SI 1999/2024 require quarry operators to ensure that anyone working at a quarry should be competent to do so (or be under competent supervision if being trained). They clarify that competent means "a person with sufficient training, experience, knowledge and other qualities to enable them properly to undertake the duties assigned to them".