Mr Jason Grindley was fined £2,000 with £1,000 costs at Sittingbourne Magistrates Court after admitting charges under the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996 and Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. He was supposed to carry out a safety check before access steps were installed, but failed to do so. As a result, his colleagues drove a spike through a 33Kv cable and were lucky to avoid serious injury. In addition to failing to look for the cable, Mr Grindley misled the staff he was in charge of by telling them that the check had been carried out.

On 29 July, London-based development company Cherren III was fined £75,000 for a breach of safety legislation that led a heating engineer to fall to his death. Mark Butler, from Woking, was measuring up for an installation when he fell a distance of around 2.4 metres from an unguarded platform. Cherren, the principal contractor, had not carried out a risk assessment for the area where the sub-contractor was asked to work.

The House of Lords has overturned the Court of Appeal’s verdict in the case of Barber -v- Somerset County Council, reinstating the original judgment that found in favour of the employee. The case concerned a teacher who suffered a breakdown and took early retirement, following his return to work after stress-related absence.

Significant points arising from the decision, and which set a precedent for future cases, are: the employer starts to assume liability as soon as he becomes aware of a problem; complaints about work pressure must be investigated; lack of funds are not an acceptable reason for failing to provide assistance; there is an obligation to provide help at least in the short term; absences caused by stress or depression must be investigated; the employer is expected to be aware of, and to follow, any published official guidance.

Clients who have not included an examination of the possible effects of stress in their risk assessments are invited to contact PHSC for further advice.

Statistics show that 235 people were killed at the workplace in 2003/04, representing a 4% increase year-on-year. Health and Safety Commission chairman, Bill Callaghan, has called for action from all sectors to try and address the causes. The figure is, however, distorted by the Morecambe Bay incident in which 21 people died when harvesting cockles.

Falls from a height continue to represent the greatest problem, accounting for 67 deaths. The authorities are hoping that the new Work at Height Regulations (see PHSC newsletter No.4) will help reduce the toll. After people falling, being struck by a falling object or hit by a moving vehicle were the next most common causes of death.

According to figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), fire damage claims from UK businesses in 2003 exceeded £1.1bn. This is the highest level for 12 years, and represents 60% of all commercial claim payouts. A spokesman from grant Thornton, who analysed the ABI statistics, warned that “Companies who are tempted to cut back on their risk management budget do so at great risk to their business”. After fire, theft was the next highest loss at 17% of all claims.

Those of you who have not yet budgeted for PHSC to help with fire risk assessments or training, might like to reconsider following that advice!

Thank you to all clients who took the time to join us on our stand at the recent Managing Health and Safety Exhibition in Earls Court.

A special thank you to those who took part in the conker competition! We were pleased to note that most contestants heeded the suitable and sufficient risk assessment that was undertaken on their behalf and donned the hard-hats, safety goggles, masks and gloves provided.

The picture shows the series winner, Stuart Letley, Managing Director of RSA, on the right with his “4-er”, defeating Simon Hook of Rivo.