What can we learn from Health & Safety Cases?

Reading my IOSH Magazine, always highlights the sheer volume of cases going on where people have been injured, or even killed.

It happens much more than we realise.

This month I thought it would be good to highlight some of those cases and what we can learn from them.

Case 1

Worker strangled by hoodie in roller door accident

Can you even imagine getting that phone call to say your partner has died at work, due to strangulation.

In this case a experienced mechanic was repairing a roller door. His hoodie got caught on a torsion spring and wound round, choking him.

A colleague ran to his aid and managed to cut off his top, but by this point he had already suffered a brain hemorrhage.

What’s the lesson?

Clear policies that are carried through into behavioural culture.

A risk assessment should highlight the dangers of loose clothing during mechanical works. Policies should enforce the banning, and business leaders and managers should ensure there are relevant checks carried out.

Something so seemingly simple led to a lost life. A family left behind, a business fined £165,000, but also having to live with the responsibility and memory of this event. That is something that doesn’t go away.

Case 2

Firms fined after teen worker exposed to Asbestos

A 16 year old.

Working for a joinery and building company working on an outbuilding breaking up cement sheets from a roof.

No survey of the property had been carried out, therefore it had not been identified that Asbestos was present in the cement. Asbestos cement and other asbestos containing materials were widely used in buildings and equipment prior to the 1980’s as Asbestos has strong heat resistant properties. It wasn’t formally banned from use until 1999, but it is widely known that garages, outbuildings and many industrial buildings contain some form of asbestos. Usually in cement (roofing and guttering), floor tiles, piping insulation or within older industrial ovens such as furnaces.

A building demolition comes under the CDM (Construction (Design and Management) Regulations where pre-construction information is expected to ensure that the health and safety risks on a construction site are assessed and managed.

There were 2 companies involved, both being fined. Hopefully the future will not hold any signs of lung disease related to asbestos for this worker. However asbestos related diseases often take many years to develop.

Case 3

11 year old girl drowns at friend’s birthday party

Sometimes it’s incredibly hard to read these cases, let alone write about them.

Something that could have been entirely avoided had proper emergency procedures been in place.

Liquid Leisure who operated various water based activities across the UK failed to observe a young girl drowning. A (17 year old) lifeguard on duty noticed that the girl had been submerged but visibility was poor as the inflatable water course was being used in an old quarry.

The lifeguard asked visitors to help look but could not find her. Some of the visitors suggested the girl had left the water so the search was stopped and the water activities continued.

It wasn’t until 15 minutes later that an alarm was raised as the girl was notably missing. Staff did not know how to respond. The lifeguard had not received specific training. The water was four and a half metres deep. No buoyancy aids were in use.

The girl was found 2 hours later.

The importance of risk assessment is one factor. But the importance of information, training and practice is really highlighted here, and in many other cases.

It is so important to ensure emergency procedures are well known and well practised. It could literally save lives.

If you are unsure about any aspect of safety in your business, please get in touch.

You can find the full IOSH Magazine articles here:

Case 1 - https://www.ioshmagazine.com/2024/07/02/worker-strangled-hoodie-roller-door-accident

Case 2 - https://www.ioshmagazine.com/2024/06/28/firms-fined-after-teen-worker-was-exposed-asbestos?utm_source=related-content-bullet-list

Case 3 - https://www.ioshmagazine.com/2024/06/25/liquid-leisure-fined-ps80000-health-and-safety-failures-after-child-drowned-birthday?utm_source=related-content-bullet-list