Health and Safety Consultants

A tank fittings company has been convicted of health and safety breaches over the 2005 Buncefield oil depot explosion.

Motherwell Control Systems 2003 Ltd was convicted at St Albans Crown Court. The Hertfordshire depot exploded after a massive vapour cloud ignited when 250,000 litres of petrol leaked from one of its tanks.

More than 40 people were injured and many homes and businesses were destroyed in the explosion, which measured 2.4 on the Richter scale. 

Aston Villa Football Club has been fined after a worker was injured by a fall through a roof during the redevelopment of its training ground.

One of the contractors from Mechanical Cleansing Services Ltd was draining and cleaning fuel tanks on a roof during the demolition of an old building on the site when he fell three metres through a fragile rooflight. The incident left him with broken bones in both his heels and he was off work for more than six months.

Carol Southerdan HSE Inspector said: “Work at height can be very dangerous if not properly planned and although the victim’s injuries were severe, they could have been much worse.“If the internal ladder had been used, then this incident would not have happened. A simple conversation with the club was all it would have taken to arrange for the blocked ladder to be cleared. When working at height all workers must have adequate instruction, training and equipment. It is vital that risks are adequately assessed and managed before employees undertake tasks in hazardous locations. There was clear failure to warn the victim or his colleague of the dangerous condition of the roof or to provide safe access to the tank.”

American Airlines has been fined £70,000 after one of its workers had to have his leg amputated following an incident at Heathrow Airport.

Kulwant Bhara, 45, was preparing an aircraft at Terminal 3 at London Heathrow Airport when a 70-tonne ‘pushback tug’ used to move aircraft knocked him to the ground, running over his right leg.

Mr Bhara who has not been able to work since, said: “The incident has effectively turned my life upside down and has affected both myself and my family drastically in a number of different ways.”

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the ‘pushback tug’ did not have reversing lights or an audible reversing alarm.

John Crookes, an HSE Inspector, said: “Mr Bhara suffered injuries of a life changing nature, which were in part due to American Airlines failing to follow internal guidance requiring modification to pushback tugs. By failing to identify the problems with this tug over many years, the company fell well below the expected standard of safety management for a major international airline.”