Building and Property

Construction sites in London are being put under the safety spotlight as part of an intensive inspection initiative aimed at reducing death, injury and ill health.

Up to 16 March, inspectors from HSE are visiting sites in London where refurbishment or repair works are being carried out. The campaign is part of a national month-long drive to improve standards in one of Britain’s most dangerous industries. The primary focus will be high-risk activity such as working at height and also ‘good order’, such as ensuring sites are clean and tidy with clear access routes.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has been fined for endangering people's health after carbon monoxide leaked from a gas boiler at a community centre.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the local authority after members of a bridge club using the Westlands Community Centre in Whitfield Avenue called the fire service to deal with a suspected gas leak.

A machine operator has won a multimillion-pound settlement after a work injury left him with brain damage.

Christopher Kaye, 57, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, will receive a lump sum of £1.75m, plus annual payments of £135,000 for life, his legal team said.

Mr Kaye was working on a construction site in Sheffield for a demolition company when he was hit in the face by machinery in October 2008

Shocked passengers saw a wheel fall off the plane they were travelling on shortly after take off, an accident report has revealed.

The terrified flyers watched as the large wheel became detached and plummeted to the ground on the journey from Exeter to Newcastle.
But cabin crew were not immediately aware of the potentially deadly mechanical error. Passenger did not inform staff on the plane either, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said.