Four suspects charged over Mayfair Crush Death of Amanda Telfer

 

Amanda TelferImage copyrightOther
Image captionAmanda Telfer was killed in Mayfair three years ago

Four people and three companies have been charged over the death of a woman who was crushed when a half-tonne window frame fell on her.

Amanda Telfer, 44, was killed when the 13ft-by-13ft window fell on her as she walked past a building in Mayfair, central London, in August 2012.

Three people are accused of manslaughter by gross negligence.

The criminal charges following an investigation by the Met Police and the Health and Safety Executive.

Members of the public lifted the frame off Ms Telfer, a lawyer, and tried to resuscitate her after the incident in Hanover Street, on 30 August 2012.

Court date

Ms Telfer, who worked for legal firm Keystone Law and was a volunteer for human rights charity Reprieve, died shortly afterwards.

The three accused of manslaughter by gross negligence, who are also accused of breaching general duty at work, are:

  • Damian Lakin-Hall, 48, of Portsmouth Road, Cobham, Surrey
  • Claire Gordon, 35, of Ashby Crescent, Leeds
  • Kelvin Adsett - also known as Kelvin Schultz - a 63-year-old from New Road, Slough, Berkshire

Steve Rogers, 61, of Sheering Mill Lane in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, is accused of breaching general duty at work.

Three companies will also appear in court for their alleged role in the death of Ms Telfer.

IS Europe, of Slough, Berkshire, Westgreen Construction, of Richmond, south-west London, and Drawn Metal, of Leeds, are accused of being employers who have breached a general duty of care to an employee and breaching a general duty of care to a non-employee.

They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 9 September.


Family Home Gutted by Fire Caused By Hairdryer

A hairdryer left on is believed to have caused a serious blaze which has badly damaged a family’s home on Hook Rise North in Tolworth last night.

Fire investigators say early indications are that a hairdryer had been left on when the electricity cut out. The hairdryer then came back to life once the electricity meter had been recharged. The fire started in the bedroom and the occupant was alerted to the fire when a passer by noticed flames coming from the window.

There are a number of fire safety messages the Brigade would like to highlight following Friday’s fire:

• People tried to tackle the fire themselves but were beaten back by heat and smoke. If you have a fire in your home; get out, stay out and call 999 immediately. Never tackle it yourself, always leave it to the professionals.
• It appears that there were no working smoke alarms in the property. Smoke alarms are vital as they give you an early warning should a fire happen in your home. Make sure you have at least one on every level of your home and regularly test it.
• Remember to turn heat producing electrical appliances off at the plug when you’ve finished with them.

Two men were treated for smoke inhalation by London Ambulance Service crews and taken to hospital as a precaution.

The Brigade was called at 1931and the fire was under control by 2009. Four fire engines and 21 firefighters and officers from New Malden, Surbiton, Kingston and one from Surrey Fire and Rescue Service.

Fire Caused by E-Cigarettes increase in the UK

The Local Government Association (LGA) has warned about the increment of fires caused by the misuse of e-cigarette and has urged to this device manufacturers to place greater emphasis on their warning campaigns about their risks.

Fire services have detected a significant increase of fire incidents caused by e-cigarette in the last two years, during which fires have gone up from 8 in 2012 to 43 in 2013 and 62 so far this year.

 

Incidents occur once every week

 

According to the Local Association, firefighters answer at least one call weekly regarding e-cigarette incidents, a substitute for tobacco which works with nicotine vapour and is used in the UK by 2,1 million people.

One of the main fire causes is the use of inadequate battery chargers for these devices, which usually get burnt or explode. For that reason, the Local Government Association wants e-cigarette manufacturers to include labels on the device that illustrate clearly the main risks of it.

Councillor Jeremy Hilton, head of LGA fire services committee, pointed that fire related to e-cigarette misuse “The spiralling upward trend of fires connected with e-cigarettes is a major cause for concern and much more needs to be done to combat it”.

Mr Hilton warned that a new increase of these incidents is expected as more smokers decide to start using e-cigarette. He also claimed the need of manufacturers including clear, prominent and graphic warnings that clarify users the risks of charging their e-cigarettes with incompatible chargers.

Photo courtesy of www.ecigclick.co.uk

Care Home Owner Fined for For Fire Safety Failings

A Paignton care home owner has been fined £19,500 and was ordered to pay £5,497 costs for 'very, very serious offences'.

The owner of St Andrew's Lodge, John Davis, pleaded guilty to four charges of breaching the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 on 28 July. Magistrates at Torquay Magistrates' Court heard that the failures had occurred over a long period of time and that the potential for loss of life at the premises was a very real risk.

Indeed, the premises were in such a bad state of repair that a locksmith working on an exit door opening onto the external fire escape staircase put his foot through the stairwell and almost fell three storeys through the collapsing landing.

After receiving a complaint from the locksmith Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service officers inspected the premises on 22 July 2014, and served a Prohibition Notice on the premises restricting certain areas from use. They serious fire safety failures they found included:

  • external fire escape in a state of near collapse due to a lack of maintenance
  • fire doors damaged or with missing self-closing devices
  • evidence of uncontrolled smoking in the premises
  • damaged electrical items
  • holes in the fire compartmentation
  • electrical fuse boards in the means of escape unprotected by fire resistant material
  • no suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment for the premises and occupants.
  • In mitigation, Davis said that the failures had been corrected.

The charges brought were failure to provide adequate general fire precautions at St Andrew's Lodge, and a suitable and sufficient fire assessment for the premises; in addition to failure to ensure that relevant people were able to safely evacuate the premises in the event of a fire occurring, and to ensure that the premises, its equipment, devices and facilities were properly maintained.

Fire at the Shard, London caused by oven in Chinese Restaurant

Around 100 customers were evacuated from the Shard after an oven fire broke out in a 33rd-floor restaurant on 4 August.

London Fire Brigade was called to the floor, which hosts Chinese restaurant Hutong, at around 11am after a fire started in the kitchen. Seven fire appliances and 35 firefighters attended the scene in Southwark, south London, but found that the sprinkler system triggered by the small oven fire had put it out.

No injuries were reported among diners and staff who were evacuated from restaurants on levels 31, 32 and 33 of London’s tallest building (at 306m). After being forced to evacuate the building, visitor Katie Buckley tweeted: 'Just had to walk 245m down stairs because there was a fire alarm at the Shard and all the lifts were broken’. 

The rest of the building on St Thomas Street was unaffected. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Managers at Hutong, which offers a signature menu at £68 per person, tweeted that the restaurant will be closed until further notice.

This was the second fire at the Shard in just four days – firefighters were called to a blaze at 6.50pm on 1 August. Station manager Matt Burrows, who was at the scene on 4 August, commented: 'The building's sprinkler system did its job and suppressed the fire in its early stages, which prevented any serious damage.

'This incident highlights the clear benefits of sprinklers to businesses and we would urge all companies to install them. As well as being potentially life saving devices, sprinklers and other fire suppression systems help with business continuity by minimising disruption and allowing businesses to get back to normal as soon as possible.'

Fire Door Safety Week 14th - 20th September 2015

About Fire Door Safety Week

A door’s a door’s a door, right? No, a fire door is an engineered safety device.

Fire doors are a crucial part of the passive fire protection of every commercial, public and multiple occupancy building.  They save lives and property.

There are about 3 million new fire doors bought and installed every year in the UK, the vast majority made from timber. Fire doors are often the first line of defence in a fire and their correct specification, maintenance and management can be the difference between life and death for building occupants. However, they remain a significant area of neglect, often the first thing to be downgraded on a specification and mismanaged throughout their service life, propped open, damaged and badly maintained. Consequently, we have created Fire Door Safety Week:

  • To raise awareness of the critical role of fire doors, drawing attention to specific issues such as poor installation and maintenance.
  • To encourage building owners and users to check the operation and condition of their fire doors and to report those that aren’t satisfactory.
  • To link together the initiatives of many organisations with common interests in the fire door and passive fire protection industries.
  • To engage and educate people, helping the whole building industry and every property owner to understand the correct specification, supply, installation, operation, inspection and maintenance of fire doors.

Does Your Staff Use Personal Cars to Carry out Company Business? If So This Article Is Essential Reading.

Most business managers, corporate safety managers, and risk managers are aware of the liability exposures associated with company vehicles. But did you know your company could be held liable for crashes involving your employees driving their own cars on company business?

Whether your employees routinely drive personal vehicles on company business or only occasionally do so, liability may arise from an accident caused by one of those employees. If your company permits or requires employees to use their personal vehicles on company business, be sure to incorporate the following elements and guidelines into your program:

Insurance coverage: Require that employees driving their personal vehicles on company business maintain minimum levels of their own automobile liability insurance. These should be determined based upon your state’s requirements and your company’s appetite for assuming liability. Be sure to consult your insurer, agent, or broker for minimum or recommended limits. Keep in mind state minimum levels tend to be low and may not provide your company with sufficient protection. Require employees to annually provide a certificate of insurance or a copy of the policy declarations page that indicates the period of coverage as well as the employee’s limits of liability. Maintain a copy of what they provide to verify the minimum limits are met. Be sure to ask for a new copy when the policy renews.

Vehicle use agreement: Every employee driving a personal vehicle on company business, even if only infrequently, should sign an agreement stating that he or she will follow all company policies and procedures while driving.

Vehicle inspection: Regularly inspect the condition of all personally owned vehicles used to conduct company business. Unsafe or poorly maintained vehicles represent a significant exposure to your organization. Advise employees to repair any unsafe conditions; otherwise, do not permit them to use these vehicles for business purposes.

Additionally, all company vehicle programs should also include clear policies outlining driver qualification, safe driving expectations, approved vehicle types, testing and training, crash reporting, and requirements for use of any vehicle on company business.

Whether employees are picking up office supplies on the way to work or driving to an off-site meeting, following formal guidelines for the use of personal vehicles can help minimize the risk of on-the-road accidents and protect your business.

For further advice on your statutory obligations contact Hayley Burgess today!

A Guide to Managing Work Related Road Safety for Northern Ireland Employers

Up to a third of all road traffic incidents may involve somebody who is driving as part of their work at the time (TRL)

Health and safety law applies to work activities on the road and it is an employer’s responsibility to manage the risks to drivers. Effective management of work-related road safety helps reduce risk, no matter what size your organisation is. It could also result in:

• fewer injuries to drivers;
• reduced risk of work-related ill health;

• reduced stress and improved morale. 

Employer will find this e-booklet produced by the HSENI a very useful tool for ensuring they are meeting their legal obligations. 

http://www.hseni.gov.uk/driving_at_work_e-booklet.pdf

For advice on ensuring your company is managing the risks to drivers, contact Hayley today.

Support Farm Safety Week - Don't Learn Safety By Accident!!!

The Farm Safety Partnership (FSP) is calling on everyone involved in farming to get behind the third annual Farm Safety Week - 6 to 10 July 2015.

The safety drive is supported by health and safety organisations from Northern Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, and aims to cut the toll of accidents which gives agriculture the poorest record of any occupation in the UK and Ireland. In Northern Ireland alone, there have been 100 confirmed farming deaths since the year 2000 to the end of May 2015.

Each day of Farm Safety Week will highlight themed practical advice and guidance for farmers. They will be encouraged to take five minutes to assess safety around particular routine jobs, so that they don’t learn safety by accident.

The daily farm safety themes for Northern Ireland are as follows:

  • Monday – Falls (from height)
  • Tuesday - Machinery (for example, PTO shafts)
  • Wednesday – Slurry 
  • Thursday - Crush injuries
  • Friday - Child safety

The week will also feature powerful farm accident survivor stories from each of the regions. 

Urging the farming community to get behind the latest safety drive, Chairman of the FSP George Lucas said:

“While I appreciate that farming activity is at full capacity over these busy summer months, there is still no excuse to ignore safety. By doing so, farmers put themselves, their workers and their families at risk. 

“Safety must never be an afterthought and by taking just a few minutes to think about the job ahead, preventable accidents can be easily avoided. 

“On behalf of the partnership I would also like to thank the survivors who bravely told their stories to help others stay safe by learning from their painful experiences – please listen.” 

Organisations supporting this year’s Farm Safety Week include, the Farm Safety Foundation, Farm Safety Partnerships, the Health & Safety Executive, Health & Safety Executive for Northern Ireland and the Health & Safety Authority, Ireland.

Since the year 2000 to end of May 2015 there have been 100 confirmed farming deaths in Northern Ireland relating to the following causes. 

Slurry – 11
Animals – 24
Falls (from height) – 19
Equipment – 39
Other – 7

To find out more about the Farm Safety Partnership’s ongoing ‘Stop and Think SAFE’ campaign, or general farming health and safety issues in Northern Ireland, please contact the HSENI helpline on: 0800 0320 121 or visit: www.hseni.gov.uk/farmsafe

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