A delivery driver has broken his back in an accident at work.

The incident happened to Mr Colin Ball when he was making a delivery to Recticel Limited of Alfreton, Derbyshire. Mr Ball was dropping off a consignment of insulation board at the company’s Stoke on Trent warehouse. While performing this operation, a separate warehouse stack toppled onto him, causing fractures of the spine. He also suffered a serious head injury.

Recticel were prosecuted for breaking the Health and Safety at Work Act in regards to protecting persons not in their employment from unacceptable safety risks. They pleaded guilty and were fined £6,238.

The multi-national firm, which employs 11,000 people in over a hundred manufacturing locations worldwide, were reminded by a Health and Safety Executive inspector of the need to protect workers visiting their sites. Safe systems of work in warehouses should ensure that there are no risks of stacked materials toppling over and causing injury, as was the case with this accident.

The number of accidents suffered by farm workers in the UK has risen despite previous improvements in safety.

The Health and Safety Executive has released figures relating to the period between April 2009 and March 2010. They reveal that 640 serious injuries were suffered by workers on farms during the last year. This has risen from 599 for the equivalent period the year before. A major injury is classed as one which causes such injuries as amputations, head injuries or broken bones. The number of fatal accidents also rose from 25 to 38.

The figures mean that statistically agriculture is the most dangerous industry to work in. Fatal accidents are at the lowest recorded yearly level (152), which makes the rise amongst farm workers the more surprising. A spokesperson for the HSE stated that they will continue to work with the farming community to help reduce the number of accidents occurring on British farms.

It is unclear whether the increase in injuries has resulted in an increase in farm accident compensation claims.

A man has suffered a personal injury to his wrist after his glove became entangled in a drill he was using at work.

Lee Baker was working for Elmatic Ltd of Cardiff when the accident occurred back in March last year. He was asked to drill holes in metal boxes, and while positioning one of the components, his glove became entangled with the drill and broke his wrist in two places. The injury was so severe that he had to have metal plates inserted to ensure strength in the bones.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that Mr Baker did not normally work on the drill and had had no training on how to use it safely. They also found that the drill was not fitted with a suitable safety guard. The HSE had taken action against the company previously in 2002 and 2009 due to unguarded drills, and decided to prosecute the firm.

Elmatic Ltd pleaded guilty to breaking the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, and were fined £8,000 at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court.

Two hand injuries suffered by workers during the same year have resulted in a printing firm being fined.

The two men had been working for Wyndeham Heron Ltd during the course of last year when the personal injury causing accidents happened. In March, Paul Howard tried to clear a paper jam in the firms’ machinery and ended up with a fractured thumb. Then in November, Mark Frost was trying to fix a problem with the drive belts on a conveyor, when his hand was dragged between the belts and his fingers were crushed.

The incidents were investigated by the Health and Safety Executive, which found a lack of training, supervision and safe working methods to deal with problems correctly.

The HSE prosecuted the firm for breaking the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The company pleaded guilty and was fined a total for both accidents of £25,000 and made to pay legal costs.

A HSE inspector stated afterwards that as printing presses were dangerous pieces of equipment, clear procedures need to be put in place to deal safely with problems such as paper jams or mechanical failure.

New statistics for the period of April 2009 to March 2010 have revealed a reduction in the number of work injuries.

The figures have been released by the Health and Safety Executive, and are summarised below:

- Accidents at work fell from 105,261 a year to 95,369
- Fatal accidents at work fell from 179 to 152
- Accidents at work which caused serious injury fell from 27,894 to 26,061

Despite these reductions a staggering 28.5 million working days are lost due to injury and work caused ill-health every year. This averages out at 1.2 days per worker.

The Health and Safety Executive continues to try and reduce the number of injured workers in the UK by taking action against employers who do not fully follow health and safety laws. The HSE made 1,025 successful prosecutions last year against the most serious offenders.

Those people who are still unfortunate enough to suffer injury or illness at work through no fault of their own, can make compensation claims against their employers to seek damages.

Britain does however remain one of the safest places to work in the EU, with one of the lowest accident rates.

A pizza firm has been fined after putting workers at risk of a fall from height accident.

Capri Foods Ltd from Housnlow failed to act on an Improvement Notice by the Health and Safety Executive about a risk to workers. This was in relation to a doorway which was four metres off the ground and was used to load and unload forklift trucks which operated in the yard outside. The doorway was kept open even when not in use, and there was no form of railings, barrier or guards used. This meant there was nothing to stop an employer falling a considerable distance to the concrete floor below.

A HSE inspector warned about the doorway on the 29th July 2009 and served an Improvement Notice for the company to make changes by the beginning of November 2009. However, when an inspection was made in December it was discovered that no changes had been made.

The firm was prosecuted for breaking the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Work at Height Regulations. They pleaded guilty and were fined £15,000.

Fall from height accidents are still one of the biggest causes of serious injuries in UK workplaces every year.

Two companies have been fined after a man was killed during a tragic accident at work.

Peter Walton was working on the construction of three new office blocks when the accident occurred back in May 2006. He suffered a fatal fall when an unsecured scaffolding board he was working on gave way. He spent five weeks in hospital being treated for his injuries, but unfortunately passed away.

Howorth Scaffolding Services Ltd and Glenmill Group (Developments) Ltd were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive in regards to the accident. They pleaded guilty to breaking the Health and Safety at Work Act and were fined £13,793 and £1 respectively. The fines reflected the financial situations of the companies.

The HSE inspector stated that both companies contributed to Mr Walton’s tragic death through not following proper safety procedures, in regards to installing correctly and checking scaffolding before use.

Falls from height are one of the biggest dangers to the UK workforce, and Mr Walton’s widow stated after the decision that she hoped what happened to Peter will make people realise the importance of health and safety laws and following correct procedures.

A friend of the family offering to help out in a workshop has resulted in an accident at work occurring.

Julie Thackray offered to help out at her friend Graham Salter’s business during a particularly busy period, despite having never performed such work before. Mr Salter did work at a workshop modifying parts on extractor fans.

Ms Thackray was operating a milling machine when her glove became caught in the chuck. This resulted in her fracturing and lacerating her arm. Luckily the glove ripped apart and she was able to get her arm free before she suffered an even more serious injury.

The Health and Safety Executive investigated the accident and found that the machine had been programmed to run continuously, and Ms Thackray asked to reach in and out of the milling machine to replace parts while it was running. Although she had been warned about hair and clothes getting caught in the machine, she had not been warned that gloves could also get caught. Safety guards for the machine were also down.

Mr Slater pleaded guilty to breaking the Health and Safety Act in regards to preventing access to dangerous machinery parts and was fined £4,000.

A man has suffered a work injury in a conveyor belt accident at work.

The unnamed 60 year old worker was employed by Smurfit Kappa UK Ltd at the time of the incident back in September last year. He was at the recycling firms Preston warehouse putting waste cardboard onto a metal conveyor belt. Unbeknown to him, a slowly reversing van went into him and forced him onto the metal conveyor belt.

He suffered broken ribs in the accident, but a Health and Safety Executive inspector stated that his injuries could easily have been much worse, if the van had been going faster or he had been forced into a baling machine.

The firm was prosecuted by the HSE for breaking workplace regulations, in regards to not providing barriers or marked areas to separate vehicles and pedestrians. This was despite the fact that vehicles regularly entered the site to deliver waste materials. The company was fined £5,000 and made to pay legal costs.

There are on average 6000 serious injuries suffered in workplaces around the UK each year caused by moving vehicles. Unfortunately, around 61 of these prove fatal.

A young apprentice was seriously hurt in a work accident at a plastics factory in Blackburn.

The unnamed worker was just 17 at the time of the accident in May 2008. He was operating a machine at General All Purpose Plastic’s factory in Blackburn when the incident occurred. The machine he was operating was involved in the process of making decorative panels for doors, but unfortunately had jammed.

While attempting to clear the jam, the apprentice’s arm was dragged in between two rollers. His arm was broken and his shoulder was dislocated. He is still feeling the effects of the accident some two years later, as he has not fully regained the use of his hand.

The Health and Safety Executive investigated the accident and decided to prosecute the company. They proved that there was a lack of fixed guards which would have prevented access to dangerous parts of the machine.

The company pleaded guilty to breaking the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court, and received a fine of £1,000. They were also made to pay legal costs for the prosecution.