News and Knowledge

No Falls Week: Bradford builder sentenced after fatal fall of asylum seeker

The No Falls Foundation, a UK-based charity, is launching its annual No Falls Week campaign to promote safety working at heights.   The foundation is dedicated to preventing falls from heights and helping those affected by life-changing consequences, as the most frequent cause of fatal accidents involving construction workers continues to be working from heights.…

Military bomb disposal officer blames explosives for his bladder cancer

David Young, a former staff sergeant in the British Army during the 1970s, has revealed that exposure to hazardous explosives during his service led to his bladder cancer diagnosis.   He claims that he handled highly toxic materials, including nitrobenzene, without proper personal protective equipment (PPE), significantly increasing his cancer risk.     The extent…

Accidents at Work: Company and director sentenced for putting workers at risk

A roofing firm has been fined and its director has been handed a suspended prison sentence after the lives of workers were put at risk during a renovation in Surrey.   Weather Master Roofing Limited and company director Jack Avanzo, also known as Jack Avenzo, were sentenced at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Monday following a…

MoD admits it ‘did not do enough’ after soldier dies during training exercise

The Ministry of Defence has been handed a sanction by the Health and Safety Executive after a reservist died during a training exercise in North Yorkshire.   Staff Sergeant John McKelvie, 51, died in hospital after the Jackal he was driving rolled down a hill and overturned during an off-roading exercise at Catterick Training Area…

Company fined £40,000 after explosion at factory

A chemical factory has been fined following an explosion at its factory in the Scottish Borders.   The blast at Rathburn Chemicals in Walkerburn on 10 January 2020 resulted in a laboratory, which was part of the factory, being demolished.     According to the Health and Safety Executive, it was likely caused by excessive…

Balfour Beatty sentenced and fined after worker falls from height

Construction company Balfour Beatty has been sentenced after a 62-year-old worker fell 10 metres to the ground and died during the assembly of a new university facility.   The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the fall and prosecuted Balfour Beatty, with the firm fined £285,000 on Monday 16th of September.     The incident…

Council fined after worker loses finger at school

A local authority has been fined and sentenced after a school worker lost his finger while preparing wood for a design and technology lesson.   Adi Soday, a technician at The Forest School in Horsham, lost his right index finger when it was sliced off by a circular bench saw on 13 June 2022.  …

Company fined after delivery driver electrocuted in lorry

A company has been fined £30,000 after a delivery driver suffered a fatal accident at work.   Father-of-four Levi Alleyne (known as ‘Chunky’) lost his life whilst he delivered crushed concrete to a construction site on Swallowfield Road, Reading, on 16 November 2020.  The devastating incident occurred when the crane arm on Mr Alleyne’s delivery lorry…

TV star shares details of ‘life-changing’ horror farm accident

TV star and Paralympian Samantha Kinghorn has shared details of the life-changing accident she suffered on her family’s farm when she was just 14 years old.   The sports star and BBC Countryfile TV presenter spoke to OK! Magazine to highlight the horror of the farm accident, which left her thinking she was going to…

Company fined £200k after electrical explosion left worker with serious burns

A company has been fined more than £200,000 after an electrical explosion caused a worker to suffer serious burns, a broken arm and fractured ribs.   The incident occurred at Copper Hill industrial estate in Lincolnshire in July 2021 when a worker was tasked with moving heavy-duty electrical wires, with a metal crowbar on an…