New figures published of fatally injured construction workers

New official statistics published today show the number of workers killed in the construction industry last year has increased.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has released provisional data for the year April 2010 to March 2011, which shows the number of workers killed was 50, an increase on the previous year, when 41 died.

Philip White, HSE's Chief Construction Inspector, said:

"The construction industry continues to see more deaths than any other industrial sector. We must not lose sight of the fact that 50 construction workers failed to come home last year, and that will have devastated those they leave behind. 

"The increase in fatalities is extremely disappointing. However, figures for a single year should not be viewed in isolation. Numbers and rates of fatal injuries in construction have seen an overall downward trend in the last five years.

 

"HSE will continue to work to reduce the number of fatal accidents, however, it is ultimately the responsibility of those who create health and safety risks to control them and prevent people being killed and injured.

"The majority of deaths continue to be on small construction sites. Big construction companies have shown steady improvements over the last decade, and we want to see smaller firms take a similar lead. This is not about money, it's about mindset - planning jobs properly, thinking before you act and taking basic steps to protect yourself and your friends."

The rate of fatal injury has increased to 2.4 per 100,000 workers compared to 1.9 per 100,000 workers in 2009/10. This compares to an average rate of 2.8 for the previous five years.

Notes to editors:

1.    The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to prevent death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk

2.    During 2010/11 there were three incidents at Great Yarmouth, Leicester and Suffolk caused by structural collapse, which led to eight workers dying.

3.    Further information on workplace statistics can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/statistics

4.    The average rate of fatal injury over the last five years has been 2.8 per 100, 000 workers

5.    In each of the last five years, the number of fatal injuries has been:

·         2009/10 - 41 workers died - finalised figures

·         2008/09 - 52 workers died

·         2007/08 - 72 workers died

·         2006/07 - 79 workers died

·         2005/06 - 60 workers died

6.    The reporting of health and safety incidents at work is a statutory requirement, set out under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). A reportable incident includes: a death or major injury; any accident which does not result in major injury, but the injured person still has to take three or more days off their normal work to recover; a work related disease; a member of the public being injured as a result of work related activity and taken to hospital for treatment; or a dangerous occurrence, which does not result in a serious injury, but could have done.

7.    The figures for 2010/11 are provisional. They will be finalised in June 2012 following any necessary adjustments arising from investigations, in which new facts can emerge about whether the accident was work-related. The delay of a year in finalising the figures allows for such matters to be fully resolved in the light of formal interviews with all relevant witnesses, forensic investigation and coroners' rulings.

8.    This year is the first year HSE has adopted the revised SIC 2007 classification codes. More information is available on HSE Website http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/developments/news/sic2007.htm

Outfitted with tracking device, 'Clark' released into Indian River Lagoon

JENSEN BEACH — A group of about 200 children, campers and adults wished safe travels, but not goodbye, to Clark, a juvenile loggerhead sea turtle who lived at the Environmental Studies Center for nearly two years and was released into the Indian River Lagoon on Wednesday afternoon.

Clark is the first turtle to be released from the center who was fitted with three tags — two that include a satellite transmitter attached to the shell (GPS Tracker) with special glue and an internal tag, like a microchip the size of a piece of rice, in the left front flipper. The transmitter sends a signal to a satellite that beams the information back to earth, allowing Clark's location to be viewed on a map on the Internet, said Rick Herren, board vice president of Inwater Reseach Group in Jensen Beach, which donated the transmitter and the time to affix them to Clark.

"He went like he was on a mission," said ESC teacher Charlie Carr, who helped Herren carry Clark into the water. "I'm going to miss him."

To follow Clark's adventures, go to http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?tag_id=108706&full=1&lang.

Two firms given big fines for power-station fatality

Energy firm RWE npower and construction giant AMEC Group Ltd must pay £510,000 in fines and costs after a maintenance worker fell to his death at a power station in South Wales.

Agency worker Christopher Booker was working at RWE npower’s Aberthaw Power Station in the Vale of Glamorgan, when the incident took place on 10 June 2007. AMEC Group had been contracted to place gates inside the pit of a water-cooling system to prevent sea water from entering the cavity while workers carried out renovations on the pit. The work was part of a multi-million pound project at the facility to reduce hazardous emissions from the plant. Mr Booker was part of a team of nine workers, which had been called in to carry out grinding work to provide an effective seal of the pit.

In order to install the gates, sections of the floor gratings at the top of the pit had been removed, but no edge protection was placed around the openings. As daylight faded, lights were directed towards those doing the grinding work, which left the floor gratings at the top of the pit in near darkness. Mr Booker climbed up a ladder to the top of the pit and, as he stepped on to the gratings, he fell  12m down one of the openings and suffered fatal chest injuries.

The HSE’s investigation found that no precautions had been taken to prevent workers from accessing the openings on the platform. HSE inspector, Caroline Bird, explained that the incident could have been avoided if scaffold barriers and edge protection had been erected around the opening.

Inspector Bird said: “This tragic case highlights the consequences of failing to do something as simple as adding protection to an opening in a walkway.

"Inadequate planning and a poor choice of safety control measures meant that a very obvious hazard remained.”

RWE npower plc appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on 3 June and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £250,000 and ordered to pay £30,000 in costs.

AMEC Group Ltd appeared at the same hearing and pleaded guilty to reg. 11(1) of the MHSWR 1999 and was fined £200,000 plus £30,000 in costs.

The court heard that RWE npower was prosecuted for a previous incident at the same facility, which took place in February 2007. A contractor was injured while removing a valve system on the station’s general compressed air system because the air supply was not safely and securely isolated. The firm pleaded guilty to s3(1) of the HSWA 1974 and was fined £8000.

AMEC Group also had a previous related conviction, having been fined £150,000 in September 2005 following a fall-from-height fatality at an oil rig in the North Sea.

Following the joint sentencing over the pit fatality, inspector Bird said: “Both companies had a duty of care to Mr Booker that they failed to meet – with catastrophic consequences. This awful incident could so easily have been prevented had the correct safety measures been taken.

“Employers have a duty to manage the risk of falls from height, including providing protection around the edge of openings. It is completely unacceptable that this sort of risk was not managed."

AMEC Group released a statement after the hearing, which said: “We would like to express our deepest sympathy to Mr Booker’s family for their sad loss. We pleaded guilty and cooperated fully with the investigation throughout. Health and safety are of the highest priority for us, and no loss of life and no injury are acceptable. We have made sure that lessons learned from this tragic event have been taken on board and will continue to do so.”

Four workers killed in explosion at crude oil refinery

Four workers were killed in an explosion at an oil refinery which rocked nearby homes and generated a huge fireball seen by frightened residents.

The explosion at the Chevron refinery in Pembroke Dock in South-West Wales yesterday is believed to have occurred when two petrol tankers collided inside the refinery, killing both the drivers.

Police this morning confirmed two other workers also died in the blast but it is not known who they were or what jobs they had. Officers are in the process of breaking the news to their families before more details are released.

Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan said: 'I am deeply saddened by the news and send my condolences to the families and colleagues of those who have tragically lost their lives.

'Our thoughts are also with the injured. We've been in contact with Chevron and Milford Haven Port Authority and have been asked to be kept fully informed about the investigation into this tragic event. It is essential to understand how this tragedy occurred.'

Phil Horne, whose home in Milford Haven overlooks the refinery from across an estuary, said: ‘I heard an explosion, turned around and saw a large fireball disappearing into the sky. It went about halfway up the chimney stack of the refinery.’

Milford Haven resident Owen Warrell, 27, said: ‘I was in the house and the house shook, it was like someone had slammed the door quite hard, and I went outside and saw a huge plume of smoke.
‘Within about 20 minutes the smoke had stopped. I feel sad about the loss of lives.’

Micky Evans, 50, of Pembroke Dock, said: ‘It was quite a big blast - anyone standing nearby would not have stood a chance. It is tragic that people have lost their lives.’

A spokesman for the Milford Haven Coastguard, which is based across a stretch of water from the refinery, said: ‘There was a bang and there was smoke billowing.’
The Welsh Ambulance Service confirmed that paramedics had dealt with casualties at the scene and the air ambulance was deployed.

A spokesman said that the heat of the flames made it difficult to immediately ascertain how many people had been injured.

Mid and West Wales Fire Service sent 10 fire engines to the giant Chevron plant. They worked alongside the refinery’s own team of fire fighters to quell the blaze. 
Dyfed Powys Police were also at the scene.

Chevron spokesman Sean Comey said last night: ‘At 18.20 local time on 2 June 2011 an incident occurred at the Pembroke Refinery. Emergency services were called and responded immediately and remain on the scene.

‘The fire has been extinguished.  We are taking appropriate action to respond to the situation. We are still in the process of accounting for all personnel.’
A spokeswoman for Irish Ferries, which runs a passenger service between Pembroke and Rosslare, said their services had not been affected.

The refinery owned by the US energy company Chevron opened in 1964 and covers an area of 550 acres alongside the Milford Haven waterway.

It employs 1,400 people and can process up to 210,000 barrels of crude oil a day, producing millions of litres of fuel.

According to the Chevron website, the Pembroke Dock refinery specialises in processing heavy, lower quality crudes for distribution throughout the UK and to overseas markets, including the United States.

It is one of the largest manufacturers in northwest Europe. In March 2011, Chevron announced an agreement to sell the refinery to the Texan oil company Valero Energy for £458 million and another £611 million for assets including Chevron’s petrol stations in the UK and Ireland.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393668/Chevron-refinery-explosion-4-workers-killed-petrol-tankers-crash.html#ixzz1OCtet6Kd

Sonim previews rugged phone in U.K. for lone worker safety

Sonim Technologies, global providers of rugged phones, recently announced a preview of the Sonim XP3340 Sentinel mobile phone, a lone worker safety solution that the company says provides users with the longest GPS tracking time of any mobile phone. Designed especially for security guards, FM personnel and traffic wardens, the XP3340 Sentinel will help keep remote workers safe while in isolated and hazardous environments.

The leading U.K. providers of lone worker solutions and monitoring services: Argyll, Guardian24, Peoplesafe, Professional Witness, SafeLinQ will offer an end-to-end safety solution with the XP3340 Sentinel that also includes an emergency response call center. The phone will be available starting from July 2011 to the U.K. security and FM sector though the partners above.

The Sonim XP3340 Sentinel mobile phone adds a higher resolution screen, longer battery life, and several additional lone worker capabilities to the features of its successful predecessor, the XP3

The XP3340 Sentinel offers a higher resolution screen, longer battery life, and several additional lone worker capabilities than the previous edition. The phone enhances safety by enabling calls under the worst conditions, with strong antenna performance, the "industry's longest" talk time of 20 to 24 hours and 800 hours of standby time, an active noise-canceling microphone, loud audio, and the advanced man-down accelerometer technology first seen in the Sonim XP3 Sentinel.

Sonim says the phone also meets the device requirements of British Standard BS8484 for Lone Worker Devices and Monitoring Stations and surpasses the U.K. military specifications for durability and water resistance. Sonim's U.K. partners have used these capabilities to ensure the complete solution meets and exceeds the duty-of-care requirements under U.K. law, toughened in 2008 with the Corporate Manslaughter Act.

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