Father had to bury his son....

When we are training managers and company executives we ask the rhetorical question: Who is the most dangerous person at your plant(s)? It is the individual that who is not there yet. It is the contractor, visitor, supplier, trucker, etc. It is these individuals that aluminium plants have to be aware of and supervise while on their premises. Yes supervise. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted incident after incident where a contractor has been injured or killed. Here is a story from last year that emphasizes the importance of supervising outside contractors in our plants:

Two contractors have been fined following the death of a scaffolder who died after falling through a fragile factory roof.

The fatal incident took place at the aluminium foundry site in the United Kingdom nearly four years ago. A roof refurbishment project was under way and the employee was working on the corrugated asbestos cement roof to move and fit temporary scaffold guardrails. The local Crown Court heard how on in September 2015, the scaffolder was fatally injured after falling approximately 11.5 metres through the roof.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that a scaffolding company, failed to ensure the health and safety of his employees in relation to the work taking place on the fragile roof at the site.

The investigation also found that a roofing company, a contractor in overall control of the roof refurbishment project, failed to ensure that people not in its employment were not exposed to risks arising from work on the fragile roof. The roofing contractor owner/manager, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was handed a six month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He must also carry out 180 hours of unpaid community service and pay costs of £14,000.

The roofing contractor pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £41,125. The company must also pay costs of £33,000.

We argue within ourselves on the impact that our decision to remove personal information about workers involved incidents has to the readers. We fear that because of this omission the reader may not fully understand or contemplate the ramifications an incident can have. So now we decided to include another news article about this story and will comment afterwards.

The local Crown Court heard a fire at the foundry had caused extensive damage to the roof. The factory appointed (roofing contractor) to carry out the repairs. (An individual) was then appointed as sub-contractor to install the scaffolding. Prosecutor told the court that two risk assessments (by the individual appointed as sub-contractor) had submitted were “inadequate”.

Scaffolding was put up, but on a site visit it was noticed it didn’t extend as far as expected. Safety nets were not installed.

(The subcontractor) was asked to return to extend the scaffolding, which he did on September 19 with sons (son 1 and son 2) – when the fatal fall took place. (The subcontractor), had previously pleaded guilty to contravening section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, while the roofing contractor admitted contravening section 3(1) of the same law.

The H&SE said: “We have a situation where (roofing contractor) say (subcontractor) was reckless and carried out work in an unsafe way – but (roofing contractor) was supposed to be exercising some control.” Defending (roofing contractor), a lawyer, said: “The company was not anticipating the roof was going to be accessed and they (scaffolding subcontractor) were explicitly told not do so.”

(A lawyer), defending (the subcontractor), said: “His family life has been ripped apart by grief.”

(The scaffolding contractor) was handed a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.

We offer our sincere condolences on the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. We pray for the deceased worker’s father. We pray for the deceased worker’s brother. Both family members were at the scene when their son and brother fell through the roof and died.

We felt that the reader would view this fatal incident differently if they were given more details. That it was a father along with his two sons who were working as contractors at the aluminium foundry, and one of the sons fell to his death. The reader would understand the magnitude an incident can hold.

We recently told an audience that pain associated with losing a loved one in a workplace accident never goes away. That pain may lessen overtime but with every holiday, every birthday, every wedding, etc. The pain and sorrow come back greater than before because of their loss one.

So that is why every worker no matter your position in our industry needs to remember: Follow your training Never skip steps Never make assumptions No regrets (concept of looking out for your fellow worker)

From our experience one or a combination of the previous points were present in this horrific story of a father losing his son in our industry.

We pray everyday that our blog will be read and that these posts will plant a seed in each reader’s mind. That seed will grow and overtime will make them understand the importance that their own safety has to their family, friends, and coworkers. We also pray that these posts will be used to prevent recurrence. Because we can agree that this incident (as well as any incident) should never be repeated.

Please comment.