The HSE have published their 2016 strategy document, Helping Britain Work Well with six strategic themes and have had a Board restructure with an interim chair being appointed to head the 7 board members.
Recent enforcement action has been taken by the HSE to the following building companies with regards to working at height and asbestos health and safety working breaches.
Asbestos
A roofing company disturbed asbestos at a Primary School. They were found to have failed to monitor and identify the substance as key staff had not been asbestos awareness trained. They were fined £20,000 with £1,737 costs under the CDM regulations 2007.
A building company was fined £267 plus £1765 costs under the Control of Asbestos Regs 2012 for exposing the public to asbestos when carrying out a garage conversion into a bedroom in a private house. The garage collapsed with a roof potentially containing asbestos and this was put into rubbish bags.
Working at Height
A company was fined £14,000 with costs of £6919 under the Working at Height Regulations 2005 after a 16 year old worker fell through a roof skylight and cracked 3 vertebrae due to poor supervision and training.
A company were fined £153,000 after a worker from Ashford was injured installing solar panels in a private house in Kent. He crashed through an outbuilding to a swimming through roof lights. The worker had used a scaffold tower, ladder and safety harness but had not been instructed properly on how to use these or formally trained.
