A lorry-trailer building company in Trafford has been fined after a worker was crushed by more than two tonnes of metal.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted S Cartwright and Sons (Coachbuilders) Ltd following the incident in Broadheath near Altrincham. The company was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £18,315 towards the cost of the prosecution at Manchester Crown Court, Minshull Street, on Friday 5 March.
HSE inspectors are to launch an intensive inspection initiative aimed at stopping dangerous practices on building sites across Great Britain.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) wants to raise awareness of construction site risks and prevent unnecessary injuries and deaths.
Construction is one of Britain's most dangerous industries. During 2008/09, 53 workers died and 11 264 were injured, across Great Britain, while working in construction.
Some British schools are not meeting a legal duty to protect their pupils from potentially deadly asbestos, a snapshot survey of 16 schools suggests.
The report by the Asbestos Training and Consultancy Association said none of the 16 schools was meeting health and safety rules on managing the substance.
Teaching unions want a full audit of the danger from asbestos, which can cause a lethal form of cancer.
The government's policy is for schools to leave asbestos in place.
The substance should be managed rather than removed, it advises.
An international company that supplies food to all major UK supermarkets has been fined after a worker's hand was crushed in machinery.
Bakkavör Foods Ltd, which operates three subsidiaries in the UK, was fined £3000 and ordered to pay full costs of £2000 at Grantham Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to breaching regulation 11(3) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
A major UK construction company has been fined £185,000 after an Oldham worker suffered life-threatening injuries when he was run over by a reversing truck. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Carillion JM Ltd following the incident at the Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale on 11 November 2008. A Ford Transit truck was reversing on the construction site when it hit Michael Gresty. Carillion JM Ltd, of Birch Street in Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty to three health and safety offences at Manchester Crown Court on 12 February 2010.
Two demolition companies have today been fined a total of £115,000 after a labourer was killed by a falling steel prop.
Essex based John F Hunt Demolition Ltd and Bayoak Demo Ltd of London both pleaded guilty to Health and Safety breaches concerning the death of 29-year-old Rafał Przestrzelski in 2005. The Central Criminal Court, (Old Bailey) heard Mr Przestrzelski, 29, of Wood Green, London N22, was employed as a labourer by demolition sub-contactor Bayoak Demo Ltd.
A West Wales company has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a worker fell more than four feet at its factory in Llandysul.
Tregroes Waffle Bakery Ltd was fined £1,750 and ordered to pay £1,374 costs and at a court hearing at Llanelli Magistrates' Court on Monday. The prosecution follows an incident in which a worker fractured a rib when she fell from a structural girder which was being used as access for cleaning.
Falls from height are among the main causes of injury in the workplace, and it is essential for employers to manage the risks, says HSE.
A window manufacturer has been fined £10,000 after an employee had a finger sliced off at its Dudley factory.
M&M Windows Ltd, which has its head office in Droitwich Spa, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Section 1(1) of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. As well as the fine, Dudley Magistrates also ordered the company to pay £2,500 towards costs.
A refuse company has today been fined £130,000 after a worker was killed near Aylesbury when a 1,100-litre recycling bin fell on his head.
David Ives, 56 from High Wycombe, an employee of Veolia ES (UK) Ltd (formally known as Onyx UK Ltd) was collecting refuse outside a pub in Easington, near Aylesbury when the incident happened on 5 May 2004.
Aylesbury Crown Court heard that a recycling bin fell from the bin hoist on the recycling lorry and landed on Mr Ives' head, killing him.
A rush to beat the end of the stamp-duty concession saw a big rise in loans made to house buyers in December, says the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
There were 62,800 such loans, up by 23% from November and 90% higher than in December 2008.
The number of loans made to first-time buyers also jumped in December, by 26% from November, to 24,900, which was the largest number since November 2007.
The stamp duty threshold dropped back to £125,000 on 1 January.