A story published on the government website this week speaks about the Hundreds of employers who are now behind traineeships.

The government is urging even more to get involved in helping to unlock the potential of motivated young people who are not yet work ready.

Traineeships: help 16-23 year olds gain the vital work experience needed in order to get an apprenticeship or other jobs giving unemployed young people work preparation, training and work experience as well as English and maths qualifications.

Skills and Enterprise Minister, Matthew Hancock MP said: “We introduced traineeships to unlock the great potential of young people. Employers involved in the programme are now helping their trainees to develop the skills that are required in the workplace. They can then build on this and begin their career with an apprenticeship or other sustainable job.

“With National Apprenticeship Week starting next week (3-7 March 2014), there has never been a better time to start thinking about offering a traineeship or an apprenticeship.”

Funded projects are being delivered nationally, one project introduced in 2013 was The skills support for the workforce, which is backed by the ESF. The fund excists to support employers by upskilling the workforce.

Traineeships and apprenticeship programs aimed at the logistics industry are avilable through National Safety Training Services with the content tailored to the needs of the business and the individual.

Employers who want to find out how they can take on their first trainee and help develop talented young people with the practical skills for the workplace can access SSW (Skills support for the workforce) by calling 01482 644855

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This recently revised brief guide describes what employers need to do to protect their employees from falls from height. Falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries.

INDG401 describes what employers need to do to protect their employees from falls from height. Falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries. Work at height means work in any place where, if there were no precautions in place, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. Common causes are falls from ladders and through fragile roofs. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 aim to prevent death and injury from a fall from height.

A free digital Copy can be downloaded here http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg401.htm

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A logistics firm has been fined £250,000 after a worker was killed when he fell through a warehouse roof in Wythenshawe.

Michael Sweet, 48, from Stockport, was cleaning out the guttering at Aramex (UK) Ltd on the Ringway Trading Estate near Manchester Airport on 12 December 2011 when he stepped on a fragile panel and fell to the concrete floor below.

Aramex and Mr Sweet’s employer, roofing contractor Gary Edwards, were both prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found no safety measures had been put in place.

Manchester Crown Court heard Aramex had hired Mr Edwards to fix a leak when water began to drip into the warehouse and offices, as he had previously carried out work for the company. He arrived on site with Mr Sweet and they were asked to fix the leak and clean out the guttering.

Later that same day, Mr Sweet fell through the warehouse roof when he stepped on a clear roof panel, designed to let light into the warehouse. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

During an interview under caution, Mr Edwards admitted that the only safety equipment he had provided for cleaning the warehouse roof had been a pair of gloves.

Safety measures could have included placing boards over the fragile roof panels, using harnesses, erecting scaffolding or hiring a cherry picker. However, Mr Edwards failed to implement any of these or to carry out a risk assessment for the work.

The HSE investigation found Aramex had also ignored its own health and safety guidelines. The company failed to supervise the work or assess how it would be carried out, despite knowing the roof was fragile.

Aramex (UK) Ltd and Gary Edwards each pleaded guilty to single breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Aramex, of Heywood Distribution Park in Heywood, was fined £250,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £20,000. Gary Edwards, 55, of Silverdale Road in Gatley, received a four-month prison sentence suspended for one year, which means he will be sent to prison if he commits another offence in the next year.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Ian Betley said:

“Michael Sweet sadly lost his life because neither Aramex nor Gary Edwards put enough thought into his safety while working on a fragile warehouse roof.

“Mr Edwards had carried out work at the warehouse on several previous occasions and so knew the roof could be dangerous, but he failed to take any action to keep Michael safe.

“Aramex was also aware of the risks but simply left the two men to it, rather than carrying out its own assessment of how the work would be carried out and monitoring what was being done.

“Companies and individuals have a legal duty to ensure the safety of workers they employ or who carry out work for them. If Aramex and Mr Edwards had taken their responsibilities seriously then Michael’s life could have been saved.”

Information on preventing workplace falls in available at www.hse.gov.uk/falls.

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A scaffolder died when he fell eight metres through a fragile roof light while working on top of a chemical store at a creamery in Cornwall.

Two companies were today sentenced over the incident at Dairy Crest premises at Davidstow near Camelford on 4 November, 2008.

Truro Crown Court heard today that Michael Stone, 44, of Hartley, Plymouth, was erecting a scaffold at the premises when the incident happened.

The court heard self-employed Mr Stone was contracting for specialist fabrication firm Dartmeet Services which was contracted to creamery owners Dairy Crest to replace the roof on the chemical store.

The building had fragile rooflights but Mr Stone had not been made aware of this and no signs or markings were evident to indicate the danger. The HSE investigation found Mr Stone and his employees were not requested to sign in to gain access to the roof and no-one at the site checked his risk assessment for the work.

Mr Stone landed on a concrete floor when he fell, suffering multiple injuries. He died in hospital seven days later.

Dairy Crest Ltd was fined £75,000 and ordered to pay £20,000 costs for breaches of health and safety legislation in the case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The other defendant also in court for sentencing was the main contractor, Dartmeet Services, were fined £30,000 with £10,000 costs.

HSE Inspector, Barry Trudgian, said:

“This is yet another tragic fatality caused by working on a roof with fragile rooflights where the risks are well known. In this case, no-one involved took proper control to make Mr Stone aware of the issue.

“There should have been signs on the building indicating the presence of fragile rooflights and any work on the roof should have been subject to a thorough risk assessment and supervision.

“Simple, straightforward, common sense procedures could have saved Mr Stone’s life.”

Dartmeet Services Ltd of Union Street, Newton Abbot, Devon pleaded guilty to breaches of Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 4 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Dairy Crest Ltd of Esher, Surrey pleaded guilty to breaches of Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 9(3) (a) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Further information on working near rooflights can be found on the HSE website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/casestudies/rooflights.htm

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A self-employed building contractor from Chippenham has been fined for exposing workers to serious risk of injury after they were seen working on a barn roof with nothing to guard against a fall.

Ian Pitman, 56, exposed three workers to the risk of falling some eight metres from the roof but the dangers were spotted by a passing Inspector from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Swindon Magistrates’ Court heard today (27 Jan) that on 4 July 2013 the Inspector was passing a farm in Burton, Wiltshire, where a new barn was being erected. He saw the men installing roof sheets but without any means of preventing or mitigating a fall from the perimeter of the steel frame or from the leading edge of the roof sheets.

The Inspector issued an immediate Prohibition Notice preventing any further work at height until safety measures were put in place to protect the workers.

HSE’s subsequent investigation found that Ian Pitman had been contracted to build the barn and had employed the three workers, who do not wish to be identified, to assist with construction.

He had failed to ensure that protective measures, such as scaffold edge protection and safety netting, were in place to prevent or mitigate a fall from height, leaving the three men at risk of serious or fatal injury.

Ian Pitman, of Honeyknobb Hill, Kington St Michael, Chippenham, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £735 in costs after pleading guilty to a breach of the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Ian Whittles said:

“Ian Pitman neglected to implement basic safety measures to minimise the risks of falls, despite having been the subject of formal enforcement action by HSE on the inadequate planning of working at height on a previous occasion.

“The dangers of working at height are well known in the construction industry yet poor safety standards and lack of safeguards still exist among some contractors.

“For the last ten years or so there has been a significant increase in the number of incidents involving falls from the roofs agricultural buildings. This prosecution should serve as a reminder to all contractors to properly plan any work at height and make sure robust safety precautions are in place. All employers have a legal duty to manage safety and failing to do so can end in tragedy.”

Further information about working safely at height can be found on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls

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