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Contractor fined £1.25 million after residents exposed to carbon monoxide fumes

Palmers Solicitors Business News, Health and safety, Library
Contractor fined £1.25 million after residents exposed to carbon monoxide fumes

A subsidiary of UK housing contractor Willmott Dixon has been ordered to pay close to £1.5 million in fines and costs after residents were exposed to carbon monoxide (CO) fumes.

Aylesbury Crown Court heard how, back in December 2014 a number of gas installations at Hamilton House in Wolverton, were found to be either dangerous or at risk following the report of a smell of gas by one of the residents.

When gas engineers arrived at the building, they realised the seriousness of the situation and reported the incident under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations).

An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that Willmott Partnership Homes Ltd built the flats several years before the incident and in 2014 some remedial was work needed to be carried out on an external wall.

During the demolition and reconstruction of the wall, many live flues of gas boilers were removed damaged and blocked, exposing the residents to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Willmott Partnership Homes LTD as the principal contractor had not ensured that an adequate system of work was in place to manage the risks associated with working around the live flues.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and has been fined £1.25 million and ordered to pay cost of £23,972.33.

HSE inspector Stephen Faulkner said: “Risks from gas installations, including those related to carbon monoxide need to be managed by all during refurbishment.”

“This incident could have been avoided if the company had implemented a safe isolation system for the live boilers.”

In a statement Willmott Dixon, said: “We are disappointed that on this particular occasion we fell short of our exceptionally high standards of health and safety, especially given that our record is among the very best in the industry.”

“We have extensively reviewed our practices and procedures to ensure this type of incident never happens again and since it took place in 2014, there has been no repetition in over 500 construction projects completed in the past four years.”

Jeremy Sirrell a partner at Palmers said: “This fine highlights the importance of implementing specific health and safety policies at your place of work.

“Wilmott Dixon were lucky that the issue was spotted early before the residents’ health was severely impacted”.

For help and advice on all aspects of health and safety law including putting in place strategies to protect your workforce, please contact us.

Construction firm fined £1.25 million after gas leaks

Palmers Solicitors Business News, Health and safety, Library
Construction firm fined £1.25 million after gas leaks

A subsidiary of UK housing contractor Willmott Dixon has been ordered to pay close to £1.5 million in fines and costs after residents were exposed to carbon monoxide (CO) fumes.

Aylesbury Crown Court heard how on 11 December 2014 at Hamilton House in Wolverton, a number of gas installations were found to be either dangerous or at risk following the report of a smell of gas by one of the residents.

When gas engineers arrived at the building, they realised the seriousness of the situation and reported the incident under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations).

An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that Willmott Partnership Homes Ltd built the flats several years before the incident and in 2014 some remedial was work needed to be carried out on an external wall. During the demolition and reconstruction of the wall, many live flues of gas boilers were removed damaged and blocked, exposing the residents to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Willmott Partnership Homes LTD as the principal contractor had not ensured that an adequate system of work was in place to manage the risks associated with working around the live flues.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and has been fined £1.25 million and ordered to pay cost of £23,972.33.

HSE inspector Stephen Faulkner said: “Risks from gas installations, including those related to carbon monoxide need to be managed by all during refurbishment.”

“This incident could have been avoided if the company had implemented a safe isolation system for the live boilers.”

In a statement Willmott Dixon, said: “We are disappointed that on this particular occasion we fell short of our exceptionally high standards of health and safety, especially given that our record is among the very best in the industry.”

“We have extensively reviewed our practices and procedures to ensure this type of incident never happens again and since it took place in 2014, there has been no repetition in over 500 construction projects completed in the past four years.”

Jeremy Sirrell a partner at Palmers said: “This fine highlights the importance of implementing specific health and safety policies at your place of work.

“Wilmott Dixon were lucky that the issue was spotted early before the residents health was severely impacted”.

For help and advice on all aspects of health and safety law including putting in place strategies to protect your workforce, please contact us today.

Sawmill fined after employee loses leg

Palmers Solicitors Business News, Employment Law Business, Employment Law Individual, Health and safety, Library
Sawmill fined after employee loses leg

A sawmill, where machinery caused a worker to lose the lower half of his leg, has been fined £400,000.

The incident occurred in 2016 at A & J Scott’s in Northumberland, after a worker tried to clear a blockage on the feed of a lumber edger. He climbed onto the machine, which uses saws to straighten and smooth rough lumber, and found himself caught up in the moving parts. This caused him to be thrown forwards and his leg was cut off below the knee by a saw blade.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the accident and found the sawmill had not taken the preventative measures necessary to ensure access to the machine’s dangerous moving parts was prohibited.

The HSE investigation also found that those who worked at height were not safeguarded while operating the machine and there was nothing to stop workers climbing onto it while it was connected to a power supply.

The company pleaded guilty to the charge levelled against it – that of breaching regulation 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act – and fined £400,000. It was also ordered to pay costs of £3,392.

It was not the first time A & J Scott had received a fine following a workplace accident. In 2014, the sawmill was found to have breached the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, after an unguarded log-saw blade sliced off an employee’s fingers. For this it was fined £4,000.

Commenting on the latest case, HSE inspector Paul Wilson said: “Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers.

“Had this been done then this worker would not have received life changing injuries.”

Samantha Randall, a Palmers Solicitor and employment law expert, said: “Health and Safety laws are there for a reason and no matter how many times someone goes on about how it is ‘health and safety gone mad’, it is tragic events such as this that remind us how important these rules actually are.

“Had health and safety been taken a little more seriously at the sawmill involved in this case, then not only could this terrible accident have been avoided, but the worker in question would not have suffered such a catastrophic and life changing injury.”

There are heavy fines for businesses that fail to follow health and safety regulations. To ensure your business is compliant and avoid a financial penalty, contact our health and safety department today.

Vulnerable patients denied NHS care – documentary reveals

Palmers Solicitors Business News, Health and safety, Library
Vulnerable patients denied NHS care – documentary reveals

NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are incorrectly refusing to meet the cost of care for a significant number of people as a result of their ignoring medical opinions – according to a recent BBC documentary.

Under current national regulations, the NHS is responsible for covering the cost of long-term support and care if a person is deemed to have a ‘primary health need’.

However, revelations by the BBC’s Inside Out East programme suggest that medical opinions are being ignored when taking into account whether people should receive NHS funding for their care.

The programme’s makers found that although every CCG in England should follow the same criteria, in practice there were significant differences in the percentage of people who are refused funding following assessment for continuing health care (CHC) funding.

Between July 2016 and July 2017, Birmingham South and Central CCG rejected 75 per cent of its new CHC assessments, Manchester CCG turned down only 17 per cent of assessments, while Tameside and Glossop CCG only rejected 5 per cent of those assessed.

The documentary featured the accounts of three health workers, who each claimed that an assessor organisation discounted medical views, leading to some people being denied NHS care.

One health worker claimed: “There has been bullying at the meetings – attempts to ridicule people who are there who have a professional opinion.

“They ignored what professionals have said and changed what professionals have said. The concern is that this puts patients at risk.”

Following the revelations, the former health minister, Norman Lamb, MP, said: “[This] regional disparity amounts to an injustice between individuals with the same conditions which can’t begin to be justified.”

Lee McClellan, a Partner with Palmers who specialises in legal issues relating to the care of older clients, said: “Whilst the allegations made – including the bullying of professionals involved in the process – are shocking, the difficulty in obtaining CHC funding sadly comes as no surprise to those of us who regularly have to deal with a complex and often unfair assessment system for the provision of care for elderly and vulnerable patients.

“Applying CHC funding is a veritable minefield. To be frank, it is not in the interests of the CCG for anyone to be awarded CHC funding, as their budgets are constantly under pressure. We have also recently seen an increased number of cases where CCGs have withdrawn funding for care which they had previously been paying.”

The process of applying for CHC is a difficult one. There is an initial assessment of a person’s health needs and a checklist is completed. The second stage is a more detailed assessment with the level of a person’s health needs being judged against set criteria in 12 different areas.

To receive CHC funding a patient needs to be assessed as having a primary health need. In some instances this is clearly indicated by a person having the highest possible level of need within several of the assessed areas, but in most cases the position is not as clear cut.

“Anyone who is faced with a CHC funding assessment meeting or who has been turned down for the funding should consider seeking specialist legal help to ensure that they are properly represented,” said Lee.

“If an outcome goes against you, we can advise on whether an appeal would be worthwhile, as a refusal of CHC funding may not necessarily be the end of the road. We have had significant success in appealing against decisions to refuse funding”

For help and advice on all aspects of legal advice involving older client care issues, including CHC funding, please contact us.

Ignore enforcement safety notices at your peril

Palmers Solicitors Business News, Health and safety
Ignore enforcement safety notices at your peril

A company which ignored the warnings of a health and safety inspector has been handed fines totalling £90,000 by a Crown Court judge.

Construction firm Hatchmere Park Ltd from Grantham, pleaded guilty to eight health and safety compliance breaches after ignoring previous warnings that it was breaking regulations.

Exeter Crown Court heard how Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors had visited one of the firm’s construction sites in Torbay, after being alerted by the local authority that unsafe construction work was taking place.

A council official had noticed that residents were being put at risk as walls up to four and a half metres in height were being constructed next to existing homes, with nothing in place to prevent falls from happening.

An investigation by the HSE and Torbay Council found multiple safety failings. There was overall a failure to take reasonable steps to manage the construction work without risk to the health and safety of both workers and residents.

However, the company compounded the initial breaches by failing to comply with improvement notices served by both the HSE and Torbay Council, relating to site security including the fencing, perimeter and signs that identify the construction site.

In addition to the £90,000 fine, the company was ordered to pay costs of £25,000.

Speaking after the hearing HSE inspector Helena Allum said: “This company has a history of failing to comply with Health and Safety enforcement notices, in this case putting residents, some vulnerable, at risk of an accident which was not acceptable.”

Lara Murray, an Associate and health and safety specialist with Palmers said: “This case highlights the fact that companies cannot afford to ignore HSE enforcement notices. A failure to act on such notices not only risks a hefty fine but also endangers the lives of workers and members of the public.”

For advice and support on health and safety compliance and producing up to date and effective risk assessments for your business, please contact us.

Review highlights the value of LPAs

Palmers Solicitors Health and safety, Library
Review highlights the value of LPAs

Around 100,000 people with conditions such as dementia were detained in hospitals and care homes last year without the proper checks being carried out, the Law Commission has revealed.

Under current laws, those who lack mental capacity can be detained when it is deemed to be in their best interests. Various checks should be carried out as part of ‘Deprivation of Liberty’, to ensure the powers are being lawfully used.

Difficulties have arisen following a landmark legal case in 2014, which widened the definition of those who could be subjected to a Deprivation of Liberty and has left local authorities struggling to keep up with the associated administration. As a consequence, 100,000 people did not receive proper authorisation in 2016.

Acknowledging there was a problem, the Department of Health had asked the Law Commission to investigate and recommend changes in the way the system operates.

Now, the Commission has advised ministers to introduce sweeping changes to protect vulnerable people.

Law Commissioner Nicolas Paines QC said: “It’s not right that people with dementia and learning disabilities are being denied their freedoms unlawfully. There are unnecessary costs and backlogs at every turn, and all too often family members are left without the support they need.

“The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were designed at a time when considerably fewer people were considered deprived of their liberty. Now they are failing those they were set up to protect. The current system needs to be scrapped and replaced right away.

“We know there are enormous pressures on health and adult social care at the moment and our reforms will not only mean that everyone is given the protections they need, but could also deliver a saving to the taxpayer.  That’s cash that can then be directly reinvested to support those most in need.”

Tim Steele, a Private Client Partner at Palmers, said: “Reports of this kind are a reminder to all of us that there can be no guarantee that we will always retain the mental capacity to make our own decisions and should prompt consideration over whether to put in place Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) for health and welfare and / or property and financial issues.

LPAs allow you to appoint someone you trust to manage your affairs in the event that you lose mental capacity at some point in future. Ordinarily people will appoint a close relative or friend to fulfil the role of attorney.

“With an LPA in place you will have peace of mind that you have appointed an attorney who can make decisions for you in relation to a wide range of issues should the need arise.”

For advice on the process for making a Lasting Power of Attorney, please contact us.

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