Health and Safety

A timber specialist supplier has been fined for repeatedly failing to protect workers from dust exposure, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said. It revealed that manufacturing firm Timbercraft Windows & Doors Ltd had been fined £4,000 for three breaches over a 12-year period. According to the HSE’s investigators,…

A failure to look beyond historical statistics on construction product safety when regulating the market could lead to an “accumulation of deaths”, the government has been warned. A report commissioned by the Office for Product Safety and Standards, published on Monday (20 January), says that relying solely on incident data…

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a warning for companies installing stone worktops. In new guidance released this week (7 December), the watchdog told firms they must ensure suitable controls are in place to help protect against exposure to stone dust and prevent workers breathing in respirable crystalline…

A Fareham-based company has been fined £120,000 after a worker broke his leg while adjusting a solar panel on a house in Salisbury. The incident occurred on 16 December 2022, when a 23-year-old employee of EE Renewables Ltd fell approximately four metres from the roof of a home. According to…

Bam Nuttall has been fined £800,000 after the death of a 23-year-old at a windfarm site in Shetland. Liam MacDonald, from Tain in Rossshire, was killed while removing dried concrete from a skip at a site on Upper Kergord, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE statement…

A skip-hire firm and its contractor have been fined almost £30,000 after a gas explosion led to the evacuation of a Derbyshire village. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Elliott Kirk, a contractor working for Belper Skip Hire Ltd, struck the gas main with a mechanical post knocker while…

A construction firm’s director has received a suspended six-month jail sentence after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) uncovered failings to protect workers against falls from height. According to an HSE statement, staff working for roofing firm Weather Master Roofing were pictured repairing a roof in Dorking without scaffolding or…

Two newly published reports have called for more research into the fire-safety performance of volumetric modular construction. In a report commissioned by the government, researchers at Harlow Consulting and Edinburgh Napier University warn that there is no standard fire-test method that is directly applicable for volumetric construction. It says that…

A Surrey-based construction products and services provider has been fined more than £1m after a 24-year-old worker was crushed to death. Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services UK Ltd was given a £1.6m penalty at Brighton Magistrates’ Court this week, according to a statement from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).…

The government has announced plans to invest £140m to create 5,000 more construction apprenticeships in England. A joint statement from four Whitehall departments said “up to” 32 new Homebuilding Skills Hubs will be set up in areas that need more housing to train people in trades such as bricklayers, roofers,…