Lawford Kidd's Blog

A Glasgow-based construction firm has been fined following the death of a worker after he was crushed when a 1.6-tonne frame fell on him.

Daniel Hurley had been working with machinery near an area where the structural steelwork for a stair tower was being erected on the site. The Court heard that not long after the steel frame had been erected it began to tilt and fall towards Mr Hurley. Three of the anchor bolts that were supposed to support the structure came out of the ground, with the fourth being snapped in half.

Mr Hurley attempted to run away from the falling framework but was struck in the neck by the level of the structure. Despite receiving treatment at the scene, Mr Hurley died of his injuries.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS) have together urged farmers to review their safety measures and take extra care following an inquiry into the death of Lauder farmer, Jim Sharp.

Mr Sharp, who was 66, was tragically killed earlier this year in an accident at Newbigging Walls Farm, after he became entangled with a sweep auger in a grain silo.

A new approach to health and safety prosecutions has meant that employers who commit serious breaches of health and safety are now receiving much tougher penalties, according to a recent Government report.

Impact of Health and Safety Offences Act

The report covers the five years following the introduction of the Health and Safety Offences Act in 2009, which increased the maximum penalties the courts could impose for certain health and safety offences as a deterrent for would-be offenders.

In particular, the Act:

One in four call centre agents suffer voice problems because managers are failing to properly protect their health, a health and safety body has said.

A new study, commissioned by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) found that call handlers had suffered one or more of a range of ill-effects because of their work, including voice loss, sore throats and breathlessness.

Around one in ten were diagnosed with a voice problem, while a tenth said their work was now suffering because of the stress placed on their vocal cords. More than one in three call agents said that their voice was hoarse often or very often.