Four miners died when Gleision Colliery in South Wales flooded in 2011. The mine manager Malcolm Fyfield faces four counts of gross negligence manslaughter and the mine owner MNS Mining faces four counts of corporate manslaughter over the incident. A retaining wall failed, flooding the mine with over 500,000 gallons of water within three minutes. A major rescue operation was launched but the miners' bodies were only recovered the next day. The Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was sufficient evidence to charge Fyfield and MNS Mining.
1. Visit our website at www.iirsm.org March 2013
PROSECUTION p3
Hydrocarbon leak shuts down
up to 27 North Sea oil fields
INTERNATIONAL p10
Hoover Dam cited by OSHA
Accommodation fire kills 13
New mental illness standard
What women know p12
Two members tell us
the importance of
female professionals
IIRSM NEWS p6
The Institute welcomes a new
director to staff
Corporate manslaughter
Gleision owner charged
with corporate killing
The manager and owner of
Gleision Colliery in south Wales
have been charged with criminal
offences over the deaths of four
miners in September 2011.
Malcolm Fyfield, the mine manager,
faces four counts of gross negligence
manslaughter and MNS Mining has
been charged four counts of corporate
manslaughter.
Miners Philip Hill, 44, Charles Breslin,
62, David Powell, 50, and Garry Jenkins,
39, died when water flooded the colliery;
the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
estimated that more than half a million
gallons of water entered the mine within
about three minutes after a retaining wall
failed. Fyfield was severely injured in the
incident but managed to escape through
an old mine shaft.
A major rescue operation was
launched after the incident as it was
hoped that the experienced miners could
have found an air pocket in the shafts.
The bodies were recovered on the second
day of the operation.
Gleision Colliery, brought into
operation in 1993, was a small drift
mine on the banks of the river Tawe.
It operated from a
horizontal coal seam
rather than a traditional
vertical shaft.
Malcolm McHaffie,
deputy head of special
crime at the CPS,
said: “[We have] now
carefully considered
all the available
evidence in this case,
including detailed
expert evidence. We
have concluded that
there is sufficient
evidence for a realistic
prospect of conviction
and that it is in the public interest to
charge mine manager Malcolm Fyfield
with four counts of gross negligence
manslaughter. MNS Mining has also been
summonsed for four counts of corporate
manslaughter.”
Transport
Freight co fined £300k
over driver’s death
Nightfreight has been prosecuted by the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a
worker was fatally run over by a lorry.
Russell Homer was coupling a tractor
unit to a trailer when his vehicle moved
off. He was crushed against a stationary
vehicle and died at the scene from a
serious chest injury.
The HSE found that Nightfreight
drivers coupled up vehicles without
following the company’s rules and were
not applying the handbrake to the tractor
unit or turning off the engine.
HSE inspector Judith McNulty-Green
said: “[The incident] happened because
of a poor and dangerous practice that the
company was aware of but did nothing
to stop. Appropriate controls should also
have been in place to ensure vehicles did
not roll away.”
Nightfreight (GB) pleaded guilty to
breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the
Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974. It
was fined £300,000 with costs of £26,000.
Four minder died when Gleision Colliery in South Wales flooded
RexFeatures
3. news 29 council employees
diagnosed with HAVS p5
news DWP to launch sickness
advisory service p5
Offshore
Cormorant
Alpha leak
shuts down
North Sea
oil fields
A hydrocarbon leak on a North Sea oil
platform has forced the closure of a
major pipeline system supplying one
tenth of the UK’s oil.
Up to 27 oil fields have been affected by
the closure. Oil Gas UK said the system
handles about 90,000 barrels per day,
with daily lost production worth about $10
(£6.3) million.
Cormorant Alpha was shut down
when hydrocarbons were detected inside
a leg of the platform. Taqa Bratani,
operator of platform, said that 92 of 159
workers onboard were evacuated and
three specialists came aboard to help
resolve the incident.
Other platforms involved in the shut
down include: The Dunlin, Thistle,
Northern Producer, Murchison, North
Alwyn, Tern, Eider and North Cormorant.
On 17 January, Taqa said: “Cormorant
Alpha production remains closed while
evaluations and work on the platform leg
continues.
“The hydrocarbons released are fully
contained within the Cormorant Alpha
platform leg, and there has been no leak to
the external environment.
“Work so far has mitigated the release
and plans are being assessed for the repair
of the affected line, which is not connected
to the Brent pipeline system.”
Scottish enterprise minister Fergus
Ewing said: “The Scottish government,
including Marine Scotland, are monitoring
this situation closely. The Health and
Safety Executive are investigating and will
determine when the pipeline system can
be opened again subject to any relevant
safety measures being put in place.”
Cormorant Alpha is 32 miles from
Peterhead, Scotland and 94 miles from
Lerwick in the Shetland Islands.
Up to 27 oil fields closed
92 employees evacuated
Textile co fined for PUWER failings
Flamproofings has been ordered to pay
£9,600 after an employee was injured by a
large rotating roller.
The worker’s clothes became
entangled in the machine and he was
dragged around it breaking his ribs.
The firm pleaded guilty to breaching
Regulation 11(1) of the Provision and Use of
Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
Workers exposed to toxic chemicals
A chemical company has been prosecuted
after exposing workers to toxic chemicals.
An HSE investigation found that
workers manually poured hazardous
substances into containers ready for
despatch to customers.
Endeavour Speciality Chemicals
pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations
6(1), and 7(1) of the Control of Substances
Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. It
was fined £15,000 with costs of £5,000.
InBrief
Gardener receives six-month
suspended prison sentence
A landscape gardener has been
prosecuted by the HSE after a worker
was killed by a falling gate post.
Leeson Lavender was helping Eden
Maddocks install a large oak post at
a residential property in Keele, near
Newcastle-under-Lyme. The two men
were standing on the trailer which
had been used to transport the post.
When they started to manoeuvre it to
a pre-dug hole the trailer shifted and
Lavender and the post fell out.
Lavender hit his head on the ground
before being struck by the post. He
later died from his injuries.
The HSE found that Maddocks had
successfully used this method of work
at other times. However, this time the
oak post was larger and heavier than he
had been used to.
HSE inspector Lindsay Hope
said: “Mr Maddocks had obviously
considered the potential stability issues
and had taken some precautions in
an attempt to reduce the risks of the
post overbalancing. Sadly, he didn’t do
enough and Leeson Lavender paid with
his life.”
Eden Maddocks pleaded guilty to
breaching Section 2(1) of the Health
and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974. He
was given a six-month prison sentence
suspended for 12 months, and 180
hours’ unpaid community service.
Safe systems of work
The Brent oil field shut down costs about $10 million a day in lost production
Worker struck by gate post
Had previously used the same method of work
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
News Prosecutions
3
4. international Worker wellness
programmes in the US p11
Work equipment
Worker’s hair ripped
out by conveyor
A hanger manufacturer has been fined
£60,000 after a worker became entangled
in a conveyor.
Kelly Nield, an agency worker, was
sorting clothes hangers on a conveyor
when her scarf and hair became caught
in the chain and sprocket drive. As she
tried to free herself from the mechanism,
her left hand was also dragged in. Nield
sustained serious throat injuries, lost a
substantial part of her hair and fractured
a finger.
Prosecutor Simon Parrington said
there was no emergency stop button
on the line, so Nield was unable to save
herself. A colleague eventually pushed the
main “off” button some distance away.
An HSE investigation found Mainetti
had fitted a guard to the conveyor but
it did not fully enclose the dangerous
moving parts. The Executive also said
that the company’s risk assessment failed
to identify the dangers of entanglement
in conveyors.
Mold Crown Court was told that Nield
had been provided with some training but
it did not cover the dangers of working
with conveyors. Judge Niclas Parry called
it “an accident waiting to happen”.
Simon Antrobus, defending, said
Mainetti’s managing director and senior
officials wished to publicly apologise to
Miss Nield for her injuries.
HSE inspector David Wynne said:
“There are well-known risks associated
with working with conveyor belts. It
is vital, therefore, that the risks are
fully assessed and guarding provided
to prevent access to any moving parts.
Where appropriate, emergency stop
controls should be installed in readily
accessible places.”
Mainetti (UK) pleaded guilty to
breaching Regulations 9, 11 and 16 of the
Provision and Use of Work Equipment
Regulations 1998 and Regulation 3 of
the Management of Health at Safety at
Work Regulations 1999. It was fined a
total of £60,000 and ordered to pay costs
of £21,668.
Training did not cover dangers of conveyors
Mainetti was ordered to pay £81,000
Kelly Nield’s hair became entangled in a hanger conveyor
Most deaths are
in uninspected
sectors, says
researcher
A new report published in Hazards
magazine has found that the majority
(53 per cent) of workplace fatalities
happened in sectors officially excluded
from unannounced Health and Safety
Executive inspections.
Research conducted by Rory O’Neill,
professor of occupational health policy
at the University of Stirling and editor
of Hazards, found that from April 2011
to 31 October 2012, of the 258 fatalities
in workplaces regulated by the HSE,
137 were in uninspected sectors. There
were 104 (40 per cent) deaths in sectors
still subject to unannounced preventive
inspections and 17 (six per cent) in
sectors where the inspection situation
is unclear.
Uninspected sectors include
agriculture, docks, electrical
engineering
and generation,
healthcare, plastics,
printing, quarries,
road haulage and
fabricated metal
products.
In 2011, a round
of government
funding cuts saw
HSE staff drop from 3,702 employees
in April 2010 to 2,889 in June 2012.
The reduction in the level of inspection
was part of the Department for Work
and Pensions’ March 2011 “Good
health and safety, good for everyone”
review.
O’Neill said: “It is not just proactive
inspections that have dropped. The
chances of HSE investigating why a
body got to be mangled at work has
dropped by 40 per cent in five years,
according to official figures obtained by
Hazards. Just one in 20 major injuries
is now investigated.”
258 deaths in 2011/12
53% in uninspected sectors
Regulation
“There was no emergency stop
button on the line so Nield was
unable to save herself from
becoming entangled”
Rory O’Neill
You can read the full report at: www.
hazards.org/votetodie/lowlife.htm
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
News Prosecutions
4
5. institute news
IIRSM blog posts p6
cradle to grave
The sinking of Ocean Ranger p14
Live cabling was hanging from wall
A plastics manufacturer has been fined
£10,000 after an HSE inspection found
dangerous electrical fittings at its
production site in Suffolk.
HSE inspectors found live 400 volt
cabling hanging off the wall, a broken
socket with live 400 volt cabling coiled
on the floor and fused spurs and
electric switches hanging off single-core
cabling, leaving the live 230 volt wiring
inside exposed.
Techplas pleading guilty to breaching
Regulation 4 of the Electricity at Work
Regulations 1989. As well as the fine,
the company was ordered to pay £5,930
in costs.
Worker’s hand crushed in
unguarded machine
A paper manufacturer has been
prosecuted by the HSE after a worker
was injured while trying to clean a
paper coating machine.
The HSE told Cheltenham
Magistrates’ Court that the machine
guards were removed during cleaning,
sometimes several times a day. The
Executive said that this system of work
was unsafe and exposed employees to
unnecessary injury risk.
Cotek Papers pleaded guilty to
breaching Section 2(1) of the Health
and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974. It
was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay
£1,483 in costs.
InBriefSickness absence
DWP to launch sickness
advisory service
The Department for Work and Pensions
(DWP) has announced that an independent
assessment and advisory service will be set
up aimed at getting people on long-term
sick leave back to work.
The service, which is expected to be
running in 2014, will provide bespoke,
independent advice for cases of sickness
absence lasting more than four weeks.
The DWP said that one million employees
experience one or more spells of long-term
absence each year.
Minister for welfare reform Lord Freud
said: “Long-term sickness absence is a
burden to business, to the taxpayer and to
the thousands of people who get trapped
on benefits when they could actually work.
So for the first time, all employers, big or
small, will have access to a service that
offers the early support they need to keep
people in work and fulfil their aspirations.
Ministers said that the scheme would
save employers up to £160 million a
year in statutory sick pay and increase
economic output by up to £900 million
a year.
Service available from 2014
Will provide bespoke advice for companies
Freud announced the launch of the service
Risk assessment
Worker struck
by steel girder
A steel company has been prosecuted by
the HSE after a worker was struck by a
large steel girder.
The worker was struck in the lower
back as the girder moved towards him on
powered rollers.
HSE inspector Denise Fotheringham
said: “This incident was the result of
Sherling Steel’s long-term neglect of their
responsibilities toward the safety of their
workforce.”
Sherling Steel UK pleaded guilty to
breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and
Safety at Work, etc Act 1974 and Regulation
3(1)(a) of the Management of Health and
Safety at Work Regulations 1999. It was
fined £20,000 with £7,356 in costs.
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
has been prosecuted by the HSE after
29 employees were diagnosed with
hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
Workers’ duties included grass,
hedge and tree cutting, primarily
using vibrating equipment. The HSE
investigation found that the council
had not properly assessed the risks
the workers faced when using such
equipment or implemented suitable
Council fined for
vibration failings
vibration
control measures, such as limiting
exposure to the tools or providing
alternatives.
Hand arm vibration syndrome results
in poor grip, numbness, tingling and
acute sensitivity to cold resulting in pain.
HSE inspector Christina Goddard
said: “The council should have limited
the amount of time workers spent
using vibrating equipment or provided
alternative tools. If appropriate action
had been taken then the workers’
condition could have been prevented.”
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations
5(1) and 6(1) of the Control of Vibration
at Work Regulations 2005. It was fined
£25,000 and ordered to pay £9,417 in costs.
29 workers diagnosed with HAVS
Council did not properly assess risks
Ordered to pay £34,000
£34,417
The borough
council was
ordered to pay
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
News Prosecutions
5
6. Institute News
In January, Phillip Pearson joined IIRSM
in the new role of deputy chief executive;
he is also responsible for membership and
new business development activities.
Phillip has almost 20 years of
experience working for a range of high-
profile professional bodies. Most recently
he was group director for learning and
member services at the Royal Institution
of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), where he
was responsible for the global delivery of
training, conferences and member services.
Prior to the RICS Phillip worked as head
of member services for the Chartered
Institute of Taxation (CIOT), where he was
responsible for the strategic lead on all
membership and branch activities.
Over the coming months Phillip will
meet as many members and employers as
possible to understand their requirements
and will look at ways the Institute can
meet those needs in a modern and
effective way. He says it is vital that IIRSM
Work at
height forum
Appointments Committee
Keep up to date
www.iirsm.org/news_and_consultations
Phillip Pearson joined us in January
Event
continues to collaborate with other bodies
and organisations to truly reflect the
needs and wishes of its members at all
levels and welcomes the opportunity to
discuss this further.
Health and Wellbeing at Work
IIRSM will be exhibiting at Health
and Wellbeing at Work 2013 on 5 and
6 March at the NEC in Birmingham.
This event aims to improve the health
and wellbeing of work-aged people.
Visitors can choose from 20 pick and
mix conference programmes profiling
national and local innovations and
pioneering best practice ideas to take
back health in the workplace.
Don’t miss the safety, accident
prevention and risk management
programme, chaired by IIRSM’s Keith
Scott with sessions including:
l The future of health and safety
regulation
l Accident reporting and investigation
l Lessons learnt from the Olympics
l Advanced influencing theories and
behavioural safety
l Lone workers
l Dynamic risk assessment
l Shiftwork and fatigue – Buncefield
case study
l Fatigue, sleep and falling asleep at
the wheel.
There will also be a wealth of new
products and services with over 150
exhibiting organisations. IIRSM will be
on stand 41. IIRSM’s new director and
deputy chief executive Phillip Pearson
will be around on both days so feel free to
come and say hello.
You can find out more information and
book online at: www.healthatwork2013.
co.uk
Phillip Pearson joins as deputy chief executive
20 years’ experience in professional bodies
Takes place on 5-6 March in Birmingham
IIRSM will be exhibiting on stand 41
New director joins IIRSM
As a result of the changes to the RIDDOR
incident reporting requirements
introduced last year, the Access Industry
Forum (AIF) has established a working
party to search for the ‘holy grail’ of zero
accidents resulting from falls from height.
The campaign was launched at the
Health and Safety at Work Exhibition
and Conference at the NEC in 2012. The
working party is chaired by Neil Tomlinson
of the AIF and comprises of the major
professional bodies, including PASMA,
IIRSM, IOSH, the British Safety Council
and RoSPA.
IIRSM is represented by director of
policy and research, Barry Holt, and
Honourable Fellow Professor Simon French
of Warwick University.
Event
TUC lecture
Barry Holt, director of policy and research,
has been invited to deliver a lecture for
the TUC College in Lewisham, London.
The lecture will be aimed at union safety
representatives and will cover subjects
including the risks associated with
nanomaterials, corporate manslaughter
and the deregulation of health and safety.
The topic of nanomaterials is important
because it is one where the pressure to
develop applications for the substances,
together with the fact that properties are
not fully understood, can both contribute
to a misperception of the risks involved.
Blog
Child Labour
“The ILO recently revealed
the result of its study into forced
labour across the globe; 20.9
million are people trapped in jobs
into which they were coerced, or
deceived.” Find out what Brian
Nimick has to say at: www.iirsm.
org/blog/230113
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
6
7. IIRSM’s Coat of Arms awarded from Her Majesty’s College of Arms in 1984
IIRSM was originally granted its Coat of Arms from Her Majesty’s College of Arms in 1984.
The Latin words “Ubique-Protegimus” translates into “We provide protection everywhere”.
The use of arms spread in the Middle Ages from individuals to corporate bodies such
as cities, towns and abbeys. On 10 March 1439 William Bruges, Garter King of Arms,
granted arms to the Worshipful Company of Drapers, a London guild. Grants have
been made continuously since then to livery companies, merchant companies, civic
bodies, charities and hospitals. More recently, banking, shipping, insurance and other
commercial companies have been given the right to bear arms.
In 2007 IIRSM was awarded a revised edition of its Coat of Arms.
IIRSM Coat of Arms
upcoming events
www.iirsm.org/events
You can find out more information
and book online at: www.
healthandsafetyevents.co.uk
IIRSM exhibiting at the Health and Safety
South conference in 2012
Event
Takes place on 12-13 March in Surrey
IIRSM will be exhibiting on stand 48
Health and Safety South conference
IIRSM will be exhibiting at Health and
Safety South on 12 and 13 March at
Sandown Racecourse in Esher. This
event is free to attend and offers a
good mix of conference sessions and
exhibitors. This year’s free talks include:
l Current developments on the reform
agenda
l The key issues currently affecting the
construction sector
l The health and safety professional as
a business partner
l A legal update from Mark Tyler of
Salutaris Legal
Publication
Risk Led Safety: Evidence-
Driven Management
Risk Led Safety, Evidence-Driven
Management by Chris Jerman and
Duncan Spencer uses plain and simple
language to explain what the law
requires managers and health and safety
professionals to do. In it you will find
fresh ideas that will enable you to:
l Use the arguments of reasonableness
more effectively
l Identify precisely which risk assessments
you need and which you don’t
l Avoid common mistakes when risk
assessing
l Develop a risk management system
through defining which risks are the
most significant
l Develop a pragmatic approach to risk
management and control
l Engage employees, managers and
board members and encourage them
all to be responsive
l Implement any necessary changes in
the workplace.
Professor Ragnar Löfstedt said of
the book: “It should be essential reading
for anyone active
in the health
and safety area, be they practitioners,
politicians or other concerned
stakeholders.”
This is a no-nonsense book by health
and safety practitioners who have learned
their craft from doing it.
You can find out more about the book at
www.iirsm.org/products/risk_led_safety_
handbook. It is also available to pre-order
from www.amazon.co.uk by searching
for risk led safety.
l Using auditor training to achieve
certification to OHSAS 18001
l Productivity and “comfort at work”:
contradictory or complementary?
l Directors in the dock – could
it be you? from Chris Green at
Weightmans LLP.
IIRSM will be exhibiting on stand 48.
Please come and say hello to our new
director, Phillip Pearson.
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
Institute News
7
8. Members’ Pages
If you are looking for advice, call the health and safety information helpline with your questions on
+44 (0)1296 678 465 or email iirsmhelpline@alcumusgroup.com for information on any health and
safety related topic. Here are just a few of your recent queries.
Fire safety
I’ve been searching for the
Regulatory Reform Fire Order
Guidance for Factories and
Warehouses but the government
seems to have changed its website
and I can’t find it anywhere. Do you
know if this is still in circulation?
The website for the Department for
Communities and Local Government
(DCLG) was replaced on 15 November
and the documents associated with the
department, including the fire safety
guides, have been moved. The new
website for the DCLG (www.gov.uk/dclg)
hosts the guidance document at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/
fire-safety-risk-assessment-factories-and-
warehouses
Asbestos
A recent survey has found asbestos
within a duct running the length
of the nave in our church. The
asbestos is lagging around heating
pipes and in the boiler house.
No work is planned in either of
these areas but the warden has
asked whether they should have
an air test for asbestos fibres. The
cost to remove the asbestos is
prohibitive at this stage and, since
no work is to be done relating to
these areas, there seems no reason
to remove it. Is this right?
Based on this limited information we
think that air monitoring would not be
necessary for reassurance purposes.
The asbestos present in the lagging
should not, through normal work practices,
be routinely disturbed. Lagging is usually
enclosed by a hard covering which will
enclose the asbestos, thereby eliminating
the potential for airborne fibres. If the
lagging becomes loose and friable or the
outer covering is damaged asbestos fibres
could easily become airborne and steps
should be taken to reduce the chances of
this occurring.
As long as the asbestos is in good
condition, we would suggest that it is
suitably managed rather than removed.
Although not directly applicable to a
church, the principles of the Control
of Asbestos Regulations 2012 can be
followed as best practice.
Public services
Is there any legislation or guidance
on health and safety in children’s
nurseries?
The nursery staff will be covered by the
usual requirements of workplace health
and safety legislation. The general duty
under the Health and Safety at Work, etc
Act 1974 will apply to ensure the health,
safety and welfare of employees and
others (for example, the children) who
may be affected by the work activities.
The children in the nursery will fall
under the Early Years Foundation Stage
(EYFS) and Ofsted, the governing bodies
responsible for health, safety and welfare
of the children. The EYFS covers children
up to five years of age.
You can find the early years framework
at: www.education.gov.uk/publications/
eOrderingDownload/EYFS%20
Statutory%20Framework.pdf
Ofsted also has a factsheet for risk
assessments involving child care at:
www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/
factsheet-childcare-requirements-for-risk-
assessments
Legionnaires’ Disease
I’m working with an animal rescue
centre and have been asked about
Legionnaires’ disease. There are a
number of outbuildings that have
cold water supplies, a treatment
room that has hot and cold
water and an electric shower for
washing animals. Can you advise
on the legal position in respect of
Legionnaires’ disease?
The water systems described are
generally considered to be low risk, with
the exception of the shower which may
pose a slightly higher risk depending on
its use.
Legionella bacteria within water
systems pose a threat to human health
only when they are in an aerosol form
and can be inhaled. Some people, such
as the young, elderly, and those with
underlying health conditions are more
susceptible to developing legionellosis.
QAs The animal rescue centre will need,
at the very least, a risk assessment which
demonstrates that it has adequately assessed
the risk to staff, visitors and others.
You can find a brief guide on legislative
requirements for the centre at: www.hse.
gov.uk/pubns/indg458.pdf
A more detailed guide can be found at:
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l8.htm
Chemicals and COSHH
I would like some advice on the
Pollutant Release and Transfer
Registers. More of our foundry
customers are using chromite sand
with our products. What are the
requirements of the Registers in
relation to the use and disposal of
the sand?
In terms of usage you would need a
Control of Substances Hazardous to
Health (COSHH) assessment to ensure
adequate controls are in place for safe
use and exposure for chromite sand. The
disposal information will be stipulated
on the manufacturer’s material safety
data sheet which should be provided free
of charge upon purchase of the product.
The European Pollutant Release and
Transfer Register (http://prtr.ec.europa.
eu) states the release threshold per year
for chromium-based compounds. It also
lists disposal facilities within a specified
location at: http://prtr.ec.europa.eu/
FacilityLevels.aspx
Work at height
I am looking for information
in relation to fixed ladder
installations. What is the
maximum height I can travel up a
fixed vertical ladder to access bulk
bag stands, silos etc? Also, is it
possible to change round bar rungs
to grip rungs?
In its Construction Work at Height FAQs,
the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
says: “There is no maximum height for
using a ladder. However, where a ladder
rises 9 metres or more above its base,
landing areas or rest platforms should
be provided at suitable intervals.”
British Standard BS 4211:2005
(http://shop.bsigroup.com/ProductDetai
l/?pid=0000000000302194170) outlines
the requirements for ladder rungs. If
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
8
9. the rungs fulfil these requirements they
should be acceptable.
A risk assessment should also be
carried out for the work.
Safe systems of work
Can you direct me to the legislation
or guidance document which
specifies when you should update a
material safety data sheet (MSDS)?
There is no statutory review period for
revising an MSDS. Safety data sheets
used to be required by the Chemicals
(Hazard Information and Packaging
for Supply) Regulations 2009. This
requirement now appears in the
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation
and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)
legislation.
According to REACH, you need to
update your data sheets under these four
conditions:
l As soon as new hazard information
or information that may affect the
risk management measures becomes
available
l When a substance or mixture
is classified according to the
Classification, Labelling and Packaging
(CLP) Regulation
l Once an authorisation under REACH is
granted or refused
l Once a restriction under REACH has
been imposed.
Training
We employ a number of in-house
ITSSAR-accredited Forklift
Instructors whose licences are
held by the company. ITSSAR
(which normally accredits the
training) has just informed us
that it does not accredit internal
courses for temporary workers
since the instructor licences are not
freelance, but internally owned.
A number of temporary
workers have been trained on our
full, refresher or conversation
courses. One worker, John
Smith, has a counterbalance
licence; we recently put him
through a conversion course to
drive a reach forklift. ITSSAR
will not stand over this reach
licence because the operator
was contracted to a recruitment
agency. Smith was trained in
accordance with the Approved
Code of Practice.
Is he still licensed to operate
the reach truck? Can he continue
to operate it under the terms and
conditions of his employment in
my organisation? Does he need to
re-sit the test through an external
forklift training company to have
it accredited?
If the temporary worker was trained by
competent instructors, who work to the
standard set by ITSSAR, the operator
would be licensed to use the reach truck.
The certificate offered after accredited
training isn’t necessarily a “licence”
to use reach trucks, but a certificate
acknowledging the training.
If you want employees to use the
reach truck without attending a course
that is officially ITSSAR-accredited, you
may add to your health and safety policy
a statement that temporary workers
operating reach trucks have to be trained
to the standard set by ITSSAR. Employers
should keep records of all training given
to individuals, including conversion
and refresher training, and of their
performance in associated tests.
The HSE document ‘Rider-operated
Lift Trucks: Operator training’ (www.
hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l117.pdf) may
provide further guidance.
Transport
Is it legal to transport an electric
forklift in the back of a 17-tonne
curtain-sided lorry? If so, does
it need to be secured or could it
simply be driven on and off?
The Department for Transport has a
Code of Practice on the Safety of Loads
on Vehicles. It describes how to secure
a forklift truck safely on a back of a
lorry and details the types of restraints
that would be adequate in preventing
movement of the forklift truck. You
can find the information on page 82 of
the document at: www.lexisurl.com/
vehicle-loads
Since the HSE has provided specifics
on securing forklift trucks, and as long
as it is undertaken in a safe manner,
the movement of lift trucks as you have
described is permissible.
Noise
What is acceptable environmental
workplace noise during night
shifts? What would be considered
excessive?
The British Standard for residential noise
is ‘BS 4142 – Method for rating industrial
noise affecting mixed residential and
industrial areas’. Environmental health
officers refer to background noise
when investigating complaints and this
document will help you make a decision
on whether complaints are likely. You
can find the document at: www.lexisurl.
com/BS-4142
Further afield, The World Health
Organisation recommends an annual
average night noise exposure not
exceeding 40 decibels (dB). You might
also want to refer to the Environmental
Noise Directive 2002/49/EC which has no
quantitative goal for noise reduction, but
sets out an ongoing programme of noise
mapping and action planning aimed at
preventing or reducing noise exposure
and preserving environmental noise
quality where it is currently good. You can
see the directive at: http://ec.europa.eu/
environment/noise/directive.htm
Next month’s question
Would you consider
implementing a worker
wellness programme in
your company?
Have your say in our opinion poll,
by visiting www.iirsm.org
62%
Yes
34%
No
4%
No, but we would like to
Opinion poll
Question
Does your company use apprentices?
The opinion corner is designed to gauge exactly what our members are
thinking on current issues in the industry. If you have a question you would
like us to ask members, please email: caitlin.dalton@lexisnexis.co.uk
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
Members’ Pages
9
10. International News
Russia
Four dead in
Siberian mine fire
Four people have been killed and four are
missing after an accident at a coal mine in
western Siberia.
Local authorities said the miners had
died from smoke inhalation, but they were
unsure of the source of the smoke.
A further 69 workers were able to
escape the mine in the Kuznetsk Basin,
which is one of the largest coal mining
areas in the world, covering 27,000
square miles.
Rescue efforts have been hampered by
high methane levels in the mine.
China
Vice premier urges
safety reform
Chinese vice premier Zhang Dejiang has
said that more efforts should be taken to
reduce workplace accidents.
Zhang said that, although the number
of fatalities in the workplace had dropped
by 29 per cent in the past five years, there
were still many “grave” problems facing
workplace safety.
The vice premier also urged more timely
and accurate reporting of accidents, as
well as updated accident investigation and
handling procedures.
USA
Hoover Dam cited
for serious failings
The Hoover Dam Hydroelectric Power
Plant in Nevada has been cited by
the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), which found 50
alleged serious and eight repeat violations.
The serious safety violations include fall
and electrical hazards, a lack of required
guards on machinery, inadequate personal
protective equipment, lead contamination
and potential exposure to chromium.
Ken Atha, from OSHA, said: “We are
concerned to have found this number of
serious safety and health violations at the
Hoover Dam plant.”
Turkey
Gas leak at Black
Sea coal site
A gas leak at a coal mine in northern
Turkey has killed five workers and two
others are missing, presumed dead.
Burhan Inan, head of Turkey’s mining
authority, said rescuers had recovered the
bodies of five miners and rescued a sixth
from the mine in Zonguldak province. He
also said that there was a rescue mission
to find the two missing miners who are
believed to have been trapped beneath
coal dust.
UAE
Two fatalities in
tanker blast
An explosion at a mechnical workshop
has killed two workers and blown the
roof off a building.
The migrant workers may have been
cleaning the tanker when it ignited.
A local worker said: “The whole roof
of the workshop was blown up due to
the impact of the explosion. We are all
surprised how this happened. Most of
us believe it must have been gas in the
empty tanker that caused the accident.”
Canada
New standard for
managing mental
illness
A new voluntary standard for
psychological health and safety has been
launched by Canadian labour minister
Lisa Raitt.
The standard “provides a framework
to create and continually improve
a psychologically healthy and safe
workplace”.
Ken Georgetti, president of the
Canadian Labour Congress, said: “I think
(the standard) is a great start to take
away that stigma [of mental illnesses],
let people acknowledge their problem
and then deal with them without fear
of repercussion.”
India
Worker buried
in mudslide
A construction worker died after he was
trapped in a mud slip at a building site
near Bangalore in southern India.
A co-worker who saw the incident
said: “A building adjacent to the
basement pit was demolished and the
mud became loose. We climbed down
the pit and were trying to build a support
wall with iron rods to hold the mud. As
we were laying the rods, a portion of the
wall collapsed.”
The local police have registered a case
of negligence against the owner of the
building and the building contractor.
Bahrain
Accommodation
fire kills 13
A fire, which swept through a three-
storey building in Bahrain has killed 13
migrant workers.
The roof of the crowded
accommodation block in Al Manama
collapsed on top of several workers and
injured one of the rescuers.
In 2006, a fire in an accommodation
block in Gudhaibiya killed 16 workers
and provoked calls to ensure better
safety-compliant accommodation for
foreign workers.
New Zealand
Port worker
crushed by forklift
The Ministry of Business, Innovation
and Employment has launched an
investigation into the death of a worker
at Centre Port in Wellington.
The 47-year-old worker was carrying
out a warehouse packing operation when
he was crushed between a forklift and
containers of pulp.
Centre Port chief executive Blair
O’Keeffe said: “Our primary concern is to
provide support to his family and to staff
who have been deeply affected by the loss
of their close colleague.”
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
10
11. GET INVOLVED Is there a country you would like us to focus on in a future issue?
Email the editor: Caitlin Dalton, at: caitlin.dalton@lexisnexis.co.uk or call +44 (0)20 8662 2019.
Worker wellness
We look across the Atlantic to
recent research on the financial
benefits of health and wellness
programmes.
I
n January the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released
information on a cross-departmental government
programme (www.hse.gov.uk/hwwb) to improve the
health and wellbeing of people of working age. Health and
wellness schemes have been part of the US workplace since
the turn of the millennium; Harvard University now has
results on the first wave of programmes.
The growth of wellness programmes in the US has been
high. In 2006, 19 per cent of companies with 500 or more
workers reported offering wellness programmes, while a survey
of large manufacturing employers in 2008 reported that 77 per
cent offered some form of health and wellness programme.
The programmes vary in size and form. Many require
proactive health surveillance on the part of the employee. For
example, Connecticut state (government) employees under
40 years old must take a free physical every three years or pay
$100 (£63) more each month for their insurance. Those over 50
take a physical every year. Employees also receive additional
screenings including immunisations, vision tests, colonoscopies
amd mammograms. Those with chronic health problems
(asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol,
diabetes) must talk to a counsellor every six months and pick up
any prescribed medicines at no cost.
Trade unions had predicted that about half of employees
would join the programme, but more than 99 per cent of people
participated, with only 178 out of 45,000 union employees
not enlisting.
Research report ‘Workplace wellness programs can generate
savings’, by Katherine Baicker, David Cutler and Zirui Song,
analysed the results of 32 wellness programmes.
More than 90 per cent of employee wellness programmes
studied were implemented in large companies with more
than 1,000 employees. A quarter of these had more than
10,000 workers. Companies in the study spanned sectors
including financial services, manufacturing, public services,
telecommunications, energy and pharmaceuticals.
The most frequently used method of programme delivery
(used in 80 per cent of the programmes) was the health risk
assessment, a survey that gathers baseline self-reported health
data from the employee, which is used by the employer to
tailor the intervention. Assessments are commonly used with
a clinical screening of risk factors, including blood pressure,
cholesterol, and body mass index.
Other common wellness intervention mechanisms include the
provision of self-help education materials, individual counselling
or on-site group health activities led by trained staff. The most
common focus of programmes were obesity and smoking.
The analysis used an average hourly wage rate of $20.49
(£12.90) to calculate absentee costs. The average programme
savings across the studies was $294 (£185) per employee per
year while programme costs were $132 (£83) per employee
per year; this equates to an average return on investment (ROI)
of 3.27.
Savings to medical costs are perhaps more relevant to
employers in the US where more than 60 per cent of Americans
have medical coverage through their employers. Averaging
across all programmes, health interventions produced $358
(£226) in savings through reduced health costs per employee
per year, while costing the employer $144 (£91) per employee
per year. This represents an average ROI of 3.37.
The authors stated: “The studies included extend through
only a limited time window. This is important because wellness
programme costs are likely to be frontloaded, while health
benefits are likely to accumulate gradually. Therefore, to the
extent that program costs decrease over time and benefits
increase over time, we may be understating the true ROI.”
There are still conflicting opinions about workplace wellness
programmes. For example, is it reasonable to penalise an
employee for failing to quit smoking when the worker uses it
as an escape from a stressful work environment? This analysis
has found that “large employers adopting wellness programs
see substantial positive returns, even within the first few years
after adoption.”
Many employee wellness programmes require proactive health surveillance
including immunisations, blood pressure checks and vision tests
“The average programme cost was $132 per
employee per year; company savings were $294.
This represents a return on investment of 3.37.”
Further information
You can read the full report at: www.lexisurl.
com/wellness
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
USA
11
12. What women know
We talk to members Nisa Carey and Emma Jones about the role of
women working in the field of health and safety.
A
recent survey conducted by Health and Safety at Work
magazine (HSW) found that there was a gender pay
gap of nearly 25 per cent between male and female
professionals in 2012. As career paths diversify and a new wave
of graduates joins the profession, how do women fit in?
You don’t have to look far to see women at the top of the game.
Judith Hackitt, Teresa Budworth and Frances O’Grady show the
impact women currently have on the health and safety profession.
However, women have been involved in industry for more than a
hundred years with the first two female factory inspectors appointed
in 1893. During the industrial revolution women were credited with
at least assisting in the development of the cotton gin, the Davenport
electric motor, the Jacquard loom and various sewing machines.
Many women now join the industry because a previous
career has led them to health and safety, for example in facilities
management, office management or medicine. This was true for
Emma Jones, a senior consultant for Alcumus, who started in
administration; she supported a health and safety manager who
trained her up into an assistant. She was sponsored through the
IOSH Managing Safely course and her NEBOSH general certificate.
Although it wasn’t a career she could have foreseen for herself, she
said the “challenge appealed more than secretarial or admin roles”.
Nisa Carey, corporate senior health and safety adviser at the
Ministry of Justice, decided to leave nursing and go into health
and safety. She worked as an accident and emergency nurse before
becoming a health and safety practitioner 15 years ago. Her first
career helped inform a move into safety. “While working for a
large hospital in the UAE I dealt with a plane crash in Abu Dhabi”,
she decided to work to prevent incidents rather than picking up
“Health and safety is about
protecting people; it’s not just
risk assessments”
– Nisa Carey
Male health and safety
managers were paid on
average £40,000 to £42,499.
For women it was between
£37,500 and £39,999.
Women make
up 4.5 per cent
of Members
and just 0.3 per
cent Fellows
and Specialist
Fellows.
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
Women in safety
12
13. the pieces. This move was reinforced when in Trinidad she met a
safety practitioner who had fallen down an uncovered manhole
during a festival celebration. After treatment in the emergency
room, he told Nisa more about the profession.
Both women emphasise the importance of balancing education
– in Emma’s case NVQs and in Nisa’s higher education – and
practical, hands-on experience.
Nisa started her BSc in Occupational Health and Safety in
1997, and was drawn to a course at London South Bank University
because it had an industrial placement; her time in disaster
management had shown her the importance of experience. After
gaining nearly 10 years’ experience at HM Prison Service, Waltham
Forest College and Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, Nisa rejoined
formal education and completed her MSc in Occupational and
Environmental Health and Safety Management in 2008.
After qualifying, much of Emma’s technical experience came
while working at an electrical and mechanical contractor. She spent
three years as its health, safety and quality manager and, although
it took a while, the electricians started to go to her with queries.
She says she “tries not to be a lecturer, but to be persuasive, offering
practical solutions rather than just reading off legislation”.
Nisa agrees that a mix of practical experience and academic
strength has helped her career: “It’s about protecting people not just
risk assessments.” She says her leadership style is based on “the art of
listening”. Nisa also plays an active role in mentoring her team at the
Ministry of Justice and is part of IOSH’s Mentoring Committee. When
she spoke to students at Waltham Forest College about working in
health and safety, the chief executive said that the students had really
related to her. Being able to talk to other practitioners, contractors
and workers is a skill she believes many women bring to the table.
Both women said that there is little difference in their day-
to-day work compared with male colleagues, even in high-risk
industries. When it comes to senior leadership Nisa firmly
believes there is a glass ceiling. According to her dissertation,
entitled “Perceived career aspirations of genders in the civil
service: to assess whether the health and safety profession is
male dominated”, there are more female health and safety
workers in the civil service in junior positions but, as you reach
senior executive officer grade, the numbers switch. Her research
found that there are no female safety professionals in senior
management in the civil service.
This invisible barrier in seniority is also reflected in Fellowships
at IIRSM. Women make up 4.5 per cent of Members and just 0.3
per cent Fellows and Specialist Fellows. According to the 2012
HSW salary survey (www.healthandsafetyatwork.com/hsw/pay-
survey-2012), male health and safety officers were paid on average
between £27,500 and £29,999, and women fell a band below at
£25,000 to £27,499. For those who make it to more senior levels the
disparity still exists; male health and safety managers are paid on
average £40,000 to £42,499; for women it was between £37,500
and £39,999.
While there are overtures of uniting women in industry in
the UK, there are more interest groups in the US. The American
Society for Safety Engineers runs a Women in Safety Engineering
(WISE) interest group, and has a specialist annual conference and a
scholarship endowment. WISE (www.asse.org/practicespecialties/
wise/index.php) aims to foster relationships and mentor women
into greater knowledge and high-levels of qualifications.
UK organisations that aim to support women in science,
engineering and technology professions include The National
Association of Women in Construction (www.nawic.co.uk) which
has a policy of education and networking. The annual Women of the
Future Awards (www.awards.womenofthefuture.co.uk) sponsored
by Shell has a science and technology stream. The 2012 winner was
a mechanical engineer from Arup, a global consulting firm.
In her dissertation, Nisa lists five recommendations to break
the barriers preventing women in the civil service reaching senior
management:
l train managers to understand about flexible working policies
l use of groups to focus on the understanding and importance
of health and safety
l create higher grade positions, where merited, to make a
larger impact on senior management and health and safety
l men to take on their fair share of parental responsibilities by
breaking cultural norms
l focus on competency and experience rather than specialism
when recruiting the suitable health and safety professionals,
which can be either male or female.
Both Emma and Nisa feel that being women helps them do
their jobs – they are often more inclusive than male colleagues and
their ability to listen, look at larger business goals and persuade
reaches workers when others can’t. Emma’s words of advice for
women looking to get into health and safety are: “If you can do the
job as well as anyone else it doesn’t matter. Don’t try too hard to fit
in too quickly, your work will earn you respect”.
“I try to be persuasive, offering
practical solutions – not just
reading off legislation”
– Emma Jones
Male health and safety officers
were paid on average between
£27,500 and £29,999. Women
were paid on average between
£25,000 to £27,499.
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
Women in safety
13
14. Cradle to grave
David L. Russell MIIRSM shares his experience of the
sinking of the offshore drilling rig Ocean Ranger.
I
missed the first chopper to Ocean Ranger because ODECO
forgot to call me. I was joining the company as a roustabout
(maintenance worker) on the world’s largest semi-
submersible drilling rig. I was more concerned about being
the butt of jokes as a Newfie (Newfoundlander) than I was
about the work.
Working conditions were pretty stressful on the drill floor.
After one argument a roughneck poured a gallon of white paint
over a driller’s head. There were a million stories like this on
Ocean Ranger, including one night where Jimmy Counts, the
drilling superintendant, was so badly beaten up he didn’t come
out of his room for two weeks. But no one paid any attention to
our cries for help.
By 1981 I had been promoted to materialsman (the person
responsible for materials sent to and from the rig). When
the rig changed registration from Panamanian to the US
Coast Guard I got permission to keep one of the life rings
as a souvenir. Other workers heard what was going on and
took rings for themselves without asking. Someone had to be
the scapegoat for the situation and so I was demoted back to
roustabout. The worker who took my place as materialsman
was the first worker we buried after the sinking. His wife was
three months’ pregnant with their first child.
After working on the rig for some months it was easy to
see and feel whether the rig was level; looking at the horizon
would always tell us whether it was listing [leaning] to one
side. During the early morning hours of 8 February I was
working with the welder installing a new forward fibreglass
lifeboat; we had just started work when there was a continuous
clanging noise as the drill pipes rolled in their racks on deck
striking each other. I looked towards the horizon; we were
listing far too much to the port side. Kent Thompson, our senior
toolpusher, came outside to see for himself.
Kent called the captain to find out what the problem was. He
discovered that the rig had been taking on water on the port
side but the captain forgot to de-ballast the starboard side to
keep it level. Furious and scared, Kent told the captain in no
uncertain terms to stay away from the ballast control room for
the rest of his hitch. The emergency alarm sounded and we all
went to the lifeboats. Eighteen months on the rig and that was
the first and only time I ever looked inside the lifeboats. I never
did sit inside one.
Jimmy and the ODECO safety man from Louisiana happened
to be on the rig and held a safety meeting. The safety man was
speaking to us all in the recreation room when Jimmy poked
his head through the doorway and said: “Y’all remember this
rig can’t sink.” He turned his head and was gone. A week later
so was the rig.
It has taken me years to put everything in perspective and
come to grips on what happened that fateful night. On the night
shift of 15 February there should have been two men working
in the ballast control room in the starboard leg; an American
ballast control supervisor and a local Newfoundland trainee.
The weather outside had turned into a howling North Atlantic
winter storm. Howling winds of over 100 mph, blowing snow
and up to 85-foot-high seas hit the rig; waves were passing
over the deck. At 18:00 the ballast control room porthole broke
allowing a tremendous amount of salt water to rush into the
ballast control room. Beneath the broken porthole was the
ballast control board with hundreds of red and green ID lights
for all the various sea chests and vessels in the pontoons.
The flood was not reported to the ODECO or Mobil Oil
office in town because rig management thought that they
could handle the problem. The salt water was cleaned up on
the ballast control board and the floors. Things onboard were
peaceful for a while.
At 21:00 the ID lights on the ballast control board started
flicking on and off and changing colours. The red lights were
switching to green and the green lights changing to red.
The operator on duty assumed the lights were signalling the
opening and closing of the tanks, sea chests and vessels in the
pontoons. Red ID lights were for closed positions and green for
open. The operator started returning the lights to their original
status on the control panel. By pressing the ID lights, he was
unknowingly opening and closing the sea chests below deck
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
Offshore safety
14
15. water could not reach out and clutch the arms of rescuers. We
lost 84 friends, fathers, husbands, sons, grandfathers, brothers.
When I heard a news broadcast saying that Ocean Ranger
had stability problems I drove to the ODECO office and found
colleagues already there. Jimmy Counts had flown to the rig
at 02:00 after hearing the scale of the disaster. When he got
back to the office he went directly upstairs without saying a
word. We were then asked to leave the office. At 03:00 on 15
February 1982 the lights of the rig could still be seen, at 03:20
they were gone.
Both ODECO and Mobil Oil management were aware of the
workers’ treatment on the rig, which was commonly known as
the “Ocean Danger”, but everyone turned a blind eye. The little
things that went unchecked – communication, the treatment of
workers, minor maintenance, emergency planning – escalated
into big things.
When teaching and guiding young, often inexperienced
workers it is difficult to convince them that company and
government safety procedures and policies are written in the
blood of those who, often unnecessarly, paid with their lives.
The Ocean Ranger
The Ocean Ranger was a semi-submersible mobile
offshore drilling unit (MODU) owned by Ocean Drilling
and Exploration Company (ODECO) of Houston, Texas
and drilling for Mobil Oil Canada. Built in 1976 in
Hiroshima, Japan, the rig operated off Alaska and
Ireland before taking position in Canada.
It was drilling an exploration well off the coast of
Newfoundland when it developed a severe port list.
Two hours after an initial mayday call, the rig sank
between 03:07 and 03:13 on 15 February 1982. All 84
crew members died.
The United States Coast Guard Marine Board of
Investigation found that a large wave broke a port
light on the rig which allowed the ingress of sea water
into the ballast control room. The ballast control panel
appears to have malfunctioned and several valves in
the ballast control system opened. The rig developed
a forward list and sea water continued to floor various
areas of the unit. Although the crew attempted to
operate the ballast control system, detailed instructions
and trained personnel were not available. The
consequent loss of buoyancy caused the rig to capsize.
A Canadian Royal Commission spent two
years investigating the disaster. It concluded
that Ocean Ranger had construction and design
flaws, particularly in the ballast control room.
The crew lacked proper safety training, survival
suits and equipment. It also found that inspection
and regulation by United States and Canadian
government agencies were ineffective.
which resulted in the severe list to port. If the compartments
had been left as they were, the rig would have ridden out the
fateful storm.
The weather conditions were deteriorating and the radio
operator finally broadcast an SOS signal that was picked up by
neighbouring rigs and supply boats. The Mobil Oil company
man called his boss in town and Kent called ODECO notifiying
it of the impending disaster. By this time it was almost too late
to save the rig.
The 22 workers on the rig who were still awake went to the
rear lifeboat. Once they were seated inside, the davit lowering
mechanism was released. The front davit failed to release
and the lifeboat hung there for a second, supported by the sea
conditions and the rear davit hook. When the lifeboat dropped,
the davit hook was ripped from the front of the lifeboat leaving
a gaping hole. The damaged lifeboat motored around the port
side of the sinking rig into the waves and came alongside a
supply boat sent to rescue workers. They were unable to make
successful contact because the rescue vessel was made of steel
and the lifeboat of fibreglass.
After a desperate attempt to reach the supply vessel, the
lifeboat overturned and everyone aboard was lost. There were
no survival suits and only a few helicopter immersion suits on
the rig, so most workers went into the frigid waters dressed only
in jeans and T-shirts. Hypothermia soon set in and those in the
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
Offshore safety
15
16. Member’s Profile If you would like to take part in our member’s profile page,
please email caitlin.dalton@lexisnexis.co.uk
How did your career start?
In 1969 I started a 40-year career
with the Ministry of Defence as a
technician apprentice at Devonport
Royal Dockyard. After a number
of engineering positions I moved
into project management, working
initially on submarine and surface ship
underwater weapons and sensors.
How did you become involved in
health and safety?
System safety did not have a particularly
high profile when I started working on
defence projects. There was no such
thing as dedicated safety engineers or, to
a certain extent, safety cases. Any safety-
oriented activities were conducted by
the project officer or manager so it was
almost by default that I became involved
with safety.
What do you get out of your job?
I enjoy the satisfaction of seeing a project
from the initial consultation, working
through hazard assessment processes,
on to the production of the safety case
and the follow-on activities of periodical
reviews and updates.
What’s the most memorable
experience you’ve had in your
career?
I’ve had many memorable (and some not so
memorable) experiences. One that stands
out is attempting to describe the safety case
process to a prominent medical equipment
manufacturer. The item in discussion was
being produced to aid wound treatment
at Bastion Hospital in Helmand province,
Afghanistan. It required a full safety
assessment. When asked what safety cases
the company had previously prepared on
other equipment, the project manager
simply replied that they usually supplied
this item in a box, but a safety case could be
supplied if required!
What’s the biggest challenge facing
the health and safety profession?
Systems safety as a whole. We need to
get more engineers involved in this very
narrow, but increasingly important, subject.
Would you like to see any legislative
changes?
I would like to see safety standards for
the main engineering areas of safety
– defence, aerospace, nuclear, rail,
marine – more aligned under a national
engineering management structure.
What issues can you see coming up
in your sector?
The defence and aerospace industries
continually push the frontiers of design
and science, so keeping up in the system-
safety discipline is a tough challenge.
What’s the most challenging
problem you’ve had to overcome?
Trying to make a 16-tonne helicopter fit
safely into a frigate. It was like trying to
put a quart into a pint pot.
What’s the best piece of advice
you’ve ever been given?
The instructor who taught me when I was
a naive apprentice said no matter what, get
your trade behind you, there’ll always be
a need for engineers. Now, some 44 years
later, I can see his point of view and would
say the same applies today.
Where do you see yourself in five
years’ time?
I should be retired, but I’d like to think I’d
still have a wealth of expertise to pass on, so
I’d hope to still keep my hand in on defence-
oriented projects.
Job title
Senior systems safety engineer,
Messier-Dowty (SAFRAN Group)
Qualifications
HNC+ endorsements in naval
architecture, various system safety
qualifications
CV
2010–2012: Safety engineer on
Merlin helicopters
2009–2010: Safety manager for
medical equipment
2008–2009: Systems safety
engineer for weapons systems
1969–2008: Various positions,
Ministry of Defence
Eric Griffiths SIIRSM
IIRSM, as a collective membership body of health and
safety individuals, promotes networking through regional
branches whether they are in the UK or other countries.
With members in more than 70 countries, we believe
in providing recognition, information, support and
enhancement worldwide.
But we can’t do this alone – and this is where you come
in. By setting up or joining a regional branch in your
area, or country, you will be maximising the potential
for communication of local knowledge and information
sharing. Branches serve as a platform for health and
safety professionals, and specialists alike, to meet on a
regular basis to discuss the issues relevant to them which
have an impact on their daily lives, professionally, locally
and regionally. Make a difference by setting up or joining
a regional branch.
If you would like to set up or join a local branch, log in
to the members’ area of our website, at www.iirsm.org to
search for local groups and the procedure for creating a
new branch.
For any enquiries regarding branches, please email
branches@iirsm.org
IIRSM branches
www.iirsm.org
march 2013
16
![Visit our website at www.iirsm.org March 2013
PROSECUTION p3
Hydrocarbon leak shuts down
up to 27 North Sea oil fields
INTERNATIONAL p10
Hoover Dam cited by OSHA
Accommodation fire kills 13
New mental illness standard
What women know p12
Two members tell us
the importance of
female professionals
IIRSM NEWS p6
The Institute welcomes a new
director to staff
Corporate manslaughter
Gleision owner charged
with corporate killing
The manager and owner of
Gleision Colliery in south Wales
have been charged with criminal
offences over the deaths of four
miners in September 2011.
Malcolm Fyfield, the mine manager,
faces four counts of gross negligence
manslaughter and MNS Mining has
been charged four counts of corporate
manslaughter.
Miners Philip Hill, 44, Charles Breslin,
62, David Powell, 50, and Garry Jenkins,
39, died when water flooded the colliery;
the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
estimated that more than half a million
gallons of water entered the mine within
about three minutes after a retaining wall
failed. Fyfield was severely injured in the
incident but managed to escape through
an old mine shaft.
A major rescue operation was
launched after the incident as it was
hoped that the experienced miners could
have found an air pocket in the shafts.
The bodies were recovered on the second
day of the operation.
Gleision Colliery, brought into
operation in 1993, was a small drift
mine on the banks of the river Tawe.
It operated from a
horizontal coal seam
rather than a traditional
vertical shaft.
Malcolm McHaffie,
deputy head of special
crime at the CPS,
said: “[We have] now
carefully considered
all the available
evidence in this case,
including detailed
expert evidence. We
have concluded that
there is sufficient
evidence for a realistic
prospect of conviction
and that it is in the public interest to
charge mine manager Malcolm Fyfield
with four counts of gross negligence
manslaughter. MNS Mining has also been
summonsed for four counts of corporate
manslaughter.”
Transport
Freight co fined £300k
over driver’s death
Nightfreight has been prosecuted by the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a
worker was fatally run over by a lorry.
Russell Homer was coupling a tractor
unit to a trailer when his vehicle moved
off. He was crushed against a stationary
vehicle and died at the scene from a
serious chest injury.
The HSE found that Nightfreight
drivers coupled up vehicles without
following the company’s rules and were
not applying the handbrake to the tractor
unit or turning off the engine.
HSE inspector Judith McNulty-Green
said: “[The incident] happened because
of a poor and dangerous practice that the
company was aware of but did nothing
to stop. Appropriate controls should also
have been in place to ensure vehicles did
not roll away.”
Nightfreight (GB) pleaded guilty to
breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the
Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974. It
was fined £300,000 with costs of £26,000.
Four minder died when Gleision Colliery in South Wales flooded
RexFeatures](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/10200267-da1a-4d61-b6c0-0972783f400d-160430082044/85/IIRSM_March2013_lowres-1-320.jpg)
