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On the 30^th June 2015 a 42 year-old unnamed employee was working nearby a trailer on a Buchan Concrete Solutions’ Drakelow site in Burton-on-Trent. He was working next to where concrete blocks were being moved when tragedy struck.

Another worker was in the process of moving some wooden struts that were supporting the concrete blocks. One of the extremely heavy concrete blocks became dislodged and fell off a forklift truck and onto the 42 year old employee.

Although the concrete block thankfully missed his head, it did crush one of his legs. With the sheer weight of the concrete block, the man’s foot was severely crushed beyond repair, and was later amputated.
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The Health and Safety Executive have concluded their investigations into a horrific incident that saw a 61 year-old man set on fire whilst working on site.

Mr Steven Brown was working on installing a new set of traffic lights in Chester city centre by first moving a traffic light pole. He was using a pneumatic drill to break up the concrete when he hit an 11,000 volt cable. This gave him a huge electric shock and sparked a serious fire that engulfed the man in flames. Mr Brown suffered severe burns all over his hands, arms, legs, abdomen and face.

His injuries were so severe that he had to put in an induced coma for two weeks.
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Employers are legally responsible for employee safety and must do all they can to prevent employees from being injured in the workplace.

A seal and label producing company based in Kent was fined after a worker injured his hand in a printing press. Maidstone Crown Court heard that an employee of Fuji Seal Europe Ltd (FSE) was cleaning a blade on a printing press when his hand was drawn into the machine.

The employee suffered severe injuries; namely fractures and skin loss to fingers on his right hand which required a titanium fixture for his middle finger.
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Thanet District Council in Kent have been fined a quarter of a million pounds after an employee was diagnosed with Hard Arm Vibration (HAV) Syndrome.

The council was also found to have breached their Health and Safety obligations through various omissions, and the Health and Safety Executive made investigations into how Thanet District Council operated, and identified numerous concerns.
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Cristal Pigment UK Limited (formerly known as Millennium Inorganic Chemicals) in Stallingborough, North East of Lincolnshire, was found guilty for breaching their legal duties when one of their workers died after being exposed to a toxic chemical cloud. Another worker suffered permanent lung damage from the exposure as well.

Cristal Pigment is part of a global company that makes titanium dioxide as an inexpensive white pigment. However, the European Chemicals Agency has recently hinted that it will be classing the chemical as a respiratory carcinogen as it is suspected to cause cancer. This was just a small clue as to how dangerous the chemical can be.
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Amtek Aluminium Castings (Whitham) Limited was given a fine for health and safety failings after an employee injured his hand using a rotary drilling machine at work. Mr Andrew Gibson was drilling a hole in a cast when his glove got caught in the spinning motor and his hand was pulled into the drill, according to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reports.

The drill had ripped apart the glove and injured Mr Gibson’s hand before he managed to hit the emergency stop button. An ambulance crew attended to his injury before he was taken to hospital for further treatment, where he required skin grafts for his hand.
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An asbestos removal supervisor has been fined and sentenced for exposing his team members to deadly asbestos fibres.

Alan Burdett was a supervisor for Asbestos Decontamination Services Limited in Birmingham and was engaged in large scale asbestos ceiling removal of Raleigh House in Stockport. Mr Burdett led a team during licensed asbestos removal works on a day-to-day basis.
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Site manager and worker ordered to pay seven thousand pounds in fines and costs

This story serves as an important reminder that employers have a duty of care to their employees for their health and safety.

Reports from the HSE confirmed that 27-year-old Ryan Musgrave suffered serious injuries when he was struck by a concrete skip on the construction site he worked on in South London. As a result of the incident, the HSE investigated accordingly.
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According to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics, slips, trips and falls are the most common injuries at work, accounting for over a third of all major work injuries.

Slip incidents are also one of the most common types of accidents giving rise to a claim for personal injury. The question of compensation depends on whether the third party was negligent in preventing the slip.
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Your employer has a legal duty to provide you with a safe workplace where all dangers are removed where possible. Where the hazards pose a risk to employees and cannot be removed (perhaps because it’s a part of the nature of the work), employers must do all they can to provide protection for the employee, and this is where Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) comes in.
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