Child ran over by car while on school trip

An adventure activity and team building organisation has been fined after a child was hit by a car seriously injured whilst on a school trip.

Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard how, on Friday 31 March 2017, a group of teenage school children from Birmingham were participating in a walking expedition on the outskirts of Birmingham. The route being taken required the group and their adult supervisor to cross the busy A45 dual carriageway near Meriden, West Midlands, at around 4pm.

After waiting for a gap in the traffic some of the children started crossing the road when one of the pupils was struck by a car travelling in the outside lane. The 15-year-old suffered multiple fractures as a result of the collision.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Freax, the company responsible for the expedition had not planned the route to allow for safe passage across the dual carriageway. There were no specific traffic control measures in place at the crossing point used by the participants, and the company chose not to use a footbridge about 400 metres away as part of the expedition route.

Freax Limited of Nechells Park Road, Birmingham was found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £22,455.16 in costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Richard Littlefair said: “This case highlights the importance of planning for safety when organising such outdoor activities involving school children.

“Children should be allowed to take part in challenging activities, however there is a balance to be struck between protecting children from the most serious risks and allowing them to reap the benefits of participating.

“Companies should make sure that challenging activities are managed in a sensible and proportionate way so that children are not exposed to unnecessary risk of serious personal injury or death.’’

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It’s one of the furthest a client has asked us to travel but we will do anything to help. Mike at Faber Garage in York has the same attitude as he helps customers at the drop of a hat to get them back on the Road. What a great team.

This time it was for the incredibly popular Pitlane in Luton. Keep up the good work lads.

Harlow Motors have heard about recent small garage fires in the news and calls us for advice and to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment which should never be underestimated in a motor vehicle repair workshop.

For more information about a Fire Risk Assessment contact us today

A Ford main dealer has been criticised after workshop technicians forgot to properly re-fit a wheel on a customer’s car, The Sun has reported.

The customer had collected his wife’s car from Evans Halshaw in Wolverhampton where it was returned just two months after the dealership sold the car to have a new engine fitted.

After he smelt burning on his drive home, the customer jacked the car up only for the wheel to fall off.

He said: “The car was so smooth to drive, it was like a Rolls-Royce.

“But in fact I was in the Grim Reaper’s grasp.

“If I’d swerved suddenly or taken a tight corner the wheels would have come off.

“It was a death trap.”

None are yet unsure if the wheel nuts were loose and came off or where not put on in the first place.

The gentleman and his wife are now demanding a replacement car.

Evans Halshaw said: “We’ve offered a full apology and are investigating.”

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A mechanic who killed a pensioner while test driving a customer’s car he’d just fixed has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Russell Vines, who was 19 at the time of the incident, was taking the Honda Prelude “around the block” when he lost control and crashed into another car.

74-year-old Winstone Cotterell, who was in the other car with wife Janet, became trapped in his vehicle and later died in hospital.

Janet suffered serious injuries including fractures to her ribs, sternum and leg.
Death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs

Vines pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs and causing death while uninsured in February last year.

When Vines had a blood test six hours later he was found to have 1.1 part cannabis per litre of blood.

The court heard though it was not possible to back calculate his cannabis level he would have been significantly impaired to drive safely.

Charles Row, defending Vines, said: “He is genuinely sorry.

“He is full of remorse for what he has caused to this family.

“He accepts he was entirely at fault.

“A poor over-reaction caused the crash and the death of Mr Cotterell.

“There is no doubt remorse is genuine.”

Mr Row said his client was more interested in fixing cars than driving them and on the day in question was taking the Honda “around the block” after working on its radiator.

Vines accepted smoking cannabis the night before, but said he felt perfectly well when he drove.

An alloy wheel refurbishment company was sentenced after a 16-year-old apprentice worker was overcome by vapours from a chemical used in the stripping and cleaning of alloy wheels.

South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 12 December 2017, the employee of Wheelnut Ltd, entered an area of the company’s former premises in Swalwell, Newcastle upon Tyne, known as the “acid room”. The employee entered the room to retrieve alloy wheels from one of three barrels of a chemical substance containing Dichloromethane (DCM), Methanol and Hydrofluoric Acid used in the stripping process. He was subsequently found by a colleague slumped unconscious over a barrel.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found a risk assessment for the chemical wheel stripping process was not suitable or sufficient. Appropriate control measures should have included suitable exhaust ventilation in the room as well as respiratory protective equipment (RPE) for the employees. RPE was provided but it was not maintained in an efficient or effective state. Several parts of it were damaged and the air feed to it from the compressor was not filtered correctly. The investigation found that on this occasion, and previously, the employee was not wearing the RPE when he entered the room. Employees were not provided with suitable and sufficient information, instruction, and training with regards to the risks involved with using the chemicals, particularly the risks involved with using DCM.

Wheelnut Ltd of Whickham Bank, Swalwell, Newcastle upon pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £32,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £1718.50.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Joy Craighead said: “A young worker suffered a potentially serious injury. Breathing in DCM vapour can produce narcotic effects and, at high concentrations, unconsciousness and death. In this instance, the boy made a full recovery, but it could have easily resulted in his death.”

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A grain store company has been fined following the death of a worker at its site in Linton, Cambridgeshire.

Peterborough Crown Court heard how on 27 July 2016 an employee of Camgrain Stores Ltd suffered fatal injuries after being struck by a lorry at the site. Mr. Edward Orlopp had left the control room to walk across the site and on leaving the building he walked in front of a moving lorry. The driver had checked his mirrors but he did not see the employee and moved forward fatally injuring the employee.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Camgrain Stores Ltd had failed to ensure that pedestrians and vehicles could move safely around the site and that they had not provided measures to prevent employees walking into areas where large vehicles are moving.

Camgrain Stores Ltd of London Road, Balsham pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company has been fined £180,000 and ordered to pay costs of £20,000.

After the hearing HSE inspector Stephen Faulkner said: “Being struck by vehicles is one of the most common causes of workplace fatal accidents. This was a tragic and wholly avoidable incident caused by failure of the host company to undertake a number of simple measures.”

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The latest annual figures for work-related deaths are published by Great Britain’s independent regulator for work-related health, safety and illness.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today published its latest work-related, fatality figures, reported to enforcing authorities for Great Britain in 2018/19.

The report (download full report here) highlights fatal injuries reported within the stated time period to both workers and members of the general public, impacted via a workplace accident.

The incidence of work-related fatality was 147, an increase of six from the previous year, but deemed within the range of natural variation rather than an indicative trend. Broadly speaking, fatalities remain at a fairly consistent level across recent years.

In terms of the employment sectors represented, Construction, Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing, and Manufacturing remain the most affected in terms of the highest number of fatality by count.

The most likely cause of a workplace death, by injury type, remains ‘Falls from height’, followed by ‘Struck by a moving vehicle’

For further information on avoiding fatalities then contact us today

Its great to be working with one of the busiest small garages in Coventry. Keep up the good work lads.