HEALTH, HAZARDS AND AGE

Not dead yet We all have different strengths and weaknesses, young and old. And properly designed work should be safe and healthy whoever is doing it. So why are older workers told they are no longer up to the job? Hazards magazine, number 96, October/December 2006

Too young to die A young worker is seriously injured every 40 minutes and killed every four weeks. These workers aren’t “accident prone” or careless, they are inexperienced. When they are hurt, it means not enough was done to protect them. Hazards magazine, number 95, July/September 2006

Young workers
Hazards' young workers' health safety webpage

Older workers
Hazards' older workers health and safety webpage

Work and health Tens of thousands of people die each year of work-related ill-health. Millions suffer as a result of their jobs. Hazards work and health pages

Health and safety and aging workers, US SOEH February 2009 conference resources. NIOSH update • Society for Occupational and Environmental Health conference report [pdf] and video highlights

Britain: Pork pie maker fined after two workers lose fingers
Pork Farms Ltd has been fined £800,000 after two young workers lost fingers just weeks apart at two Nottingham bakeries. In the first incident a 22 year old had to have a finger amputated after their hand became trapped when trying to unblock a conveyor. In the second incident a 19 year old suffered simlar injuries after his finger came into the rotating shaft on a conveyor.
HSE news release
Hazards news, 18 March 2024

USA: Death of 16 year old at sawmill highlights rise of child labour
Michael Schuls, 16, died tragically at a Wisconsin sawmill when he became trapped in machinery.The company Florence Hardwood is facing penalties for employing underage workers and operating dangerous machinery.The incident coincides with a surge in violations across the country.
The Guardian
Hazards news 28 November 2023

Britain: Mother’s grief after only son killed working for egg firm
A mother has spoken about her grief after her only child was killed while working at ‘Sunrise Eggs’ in Loughborough. Nineteen-year-old Ben Spencer had only been working for Sunrise Poultry Farms for two weeks when he was crushed between a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) and a wall on 12 April 2021. Sunrise Poultry Farms pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 17 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and was ordered to pay a fine of £233,000 plus costs of £8,841 at a hearing at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on 22 November 2023.
HSE news
Hazards news, 22 November 2023

Britain: Tory plans to increase pension age slammed
Unite and the NPC have joined forces to demand the Tories rule out an attack on the state pension. Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham said: “I’m in no doubt that Rishi Sunak and co are hell bent on raising the state pension age if they win the next general election,” adding: “That’s why we intend to expose the Prime Minister’s cruel plan to make people work until they drop. In a country as wealthy as ours we can afford to retire with dignity.”
Unite news release
Hazards news, 27 June 2023

Britain: Young worker’s injury caught on camera
CCTV footage of the moment a young worker’s arm was caught in a machine, breaking it in two places, has been released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). A 60m lathe started as the 22-year-old recent recruit at Gates Engineering and Services UK Limited, which was fined £200,000 plus £3,653.70 costs, had reached to retrieve rubber material that had fallen from the machine, which then caught his arm.
HSE news release.
Hazards news, 24 May 2023

Britain: State pension decision is ‘no cause for celebration’
The government’s announcement that a rise in the state pension age to 68 will not be brought forward still leaves worrying questions for workers, the TUC has said. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “The promise of yet another review after the next election is a worry for workers - it looks like the government just wants to keep asking the same question until it gets the answer it wants.”
DWP news release. The Guardian.
Hazards, 5 April 2023

Britain: Ministers put off state pension age change
Ministers have reportedly delayed plans to bring forward a rise in the state pension age. State pensions are currently payable at age 66, but this was due to rise to 68 after 2044.
Financial Times. The Guardian.
Hazards news, 29 March 2023

Britain: Young workers told to take asbestos ‘seriously’
Millennials, gen Z workers and other younger people who work as plumbers, electricians, and in other trades need to take the risk of asbestos much more seriously, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned. The workplace regulator has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of the risks associated with the cancer-causing fibre.
HSE news release and Asbestos and You campaign.
Hazards news, 15 March 2023

USA: States look to roll back child labour laws
Some US states are looking to relax child labour protections to help employers meet staffing shortages. Legislators in Iowa and Minnesota introduced bills in January to loosen child labour law regulations around age and workplace safety protections in some of the country’s most dangerous workplaces.
Washington Post. The Guardian.
Hazards news, 15 February 2023

Britain: Sickness leaving over 50s unable to work
More than 1.6 million adults aged 50 and over are unable to work because of long-term sickness, according to the most detailed analysis yet of official data for this age group. The number has increased 20 per cent, or by 270,000 in three years, according to an analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures by Rest Less, a group that advocate for over fifties.
The Guardian. Morning Star.
Hazards news, 1 February 2023

Britain: Older workers not returning after ill-health
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show economic inactivity due to long-term sickness has increased most among 50- to 64-year-olds outside the capital since the Covid pandemic. Rates of economic inactivity – when working-age adults are neither employed nor looking for a job – have ballooned since the health emergency spread to Britain nearly three years ago, in an exodus from the workforce fuelled by rising ill-health and older workers retiring early.
The Guardian.
Hazards news, 10 January 2023

Britain: Pension age plan fails sick and injured workers
The UK government is failing to take account of workers being forced out of their profession due to ill-health and injury, as it prepares to increase the state pension age, research by the union Unite has revealed. A review of the state pension age is expected to report in early 2023.
Unite news release.
Hazards news, 10 January 2023

Britain: Ill-health driving many out of work before retirement
Hundreds of thousands of older workers are retiring early and “consigned to poverty” due to ill-health, the TUC has said. A new report published by the union body shows that 1 in 8 (12 per cent) men and women are forced to stop working before state pension age due to ill-health or disability.  The report – Extending working lives: how to support older workers – finds that more than half a million (534,876) workers aged 60 to 65 have had to leave the workplace due to medical reasons.
TUC news release and report, Extending working lives: how to support older workers, March 2021. Risks 989.
Hazards news, 16 March 2021

Peru: Teens electrocuted at McDonald's
The beverage machine which killed the two teenage workers in a McDonald’s restaurant in Peru was known to be faulty, the franchise’s general manager has admitted. Alexandra Porras, 18, and Carlos Gabriel Campo, 19, were electrocuted while cleaning the kitchen at the fast food outlet in Lima on 15 December 2019.
IUF news release. The Mirror. Risks 929.
Hazards news, 11 January 2020

Britain: Older workers bear the brunt of night working growth
Older workers are represented disproportionately in Britain’s growing army of night workers, a new TUC analysis has found. The analysis of official data shows that 3.25 million people - more than 1 in 9
TUC news release and related release. The health and safety of older workers, TUC guide, 2014. More on older workers and health and safety. The Guardian. Risks 921.
Hazards news, 2 November 2019

Britain: Workers fear the sack for reporting sexual harassment
One in four young women are scared they will be sacked if they report sexual harassment at work, a study has found. The research by Young Women’s Trust found that just 6 per cent of young women who had been sexually harassed at work reported the misconduct.
Young Women’s Trust news release. The Independent. Risks 920.
Hazards news, 26 October 2019

Britain: Tory centre would work you to death
A think tank headed by former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has been condemned for suggesting that the state pension age (SPA) should be raised to 75. Latest official figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show in the UK in 2015 to 2017, “healthy life expectancy (HLE) at birth was 63.1 years for males and for females was 63.6 years,” but this masks a wide disparity between the richest and poorest areas, with ONS noting: “HLE at birth across local authority areas of the UK varies by 21.5 years for females and 15.8 years for males in 2015 to 2017.”
Morning Star. The Independent.
Ageing confidently – Supporting an ageing workforce, CSJ, August 2019. ONS figures on healthy life expectancy. Risks 911.
Hazards news, 24 August 2019

Britain: GMB alarm over 'dangerous' ambulance retirement age
Ambulance workers and paramedics protested outside the Department of Health on 16 July over plans to force them to continue working until they are 68. Their union GMB said if the policy is enforced, ambulance workers will be in poorer health than the patients they are treating - and lives will be under threat.
GMB news release. Morning Star. Risks 906.
Hazards news, 20 July 2019

Britain: Apprentice slips into gastropub’s deep-fat fryer
A Michelin-starred gastropub has been prosecuted after an apprentice fell into a deep-fat fryer and severely scalded his foot. The 18-year-old had been told to clean an extractor fan at The Cross in Kenilworth when his foot slipped and fell into the fryer, which was running at roughly 180°C.
Warwick District Council news release. Kenilworth Weekly News. The Caterer. Risks 866.
Hazards news, 15 September 2018

Global: ILO accused of bad taste in partnering with McDonald’s
The UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) has been criticised by unions after welcoming ‘exploiter’ fast food giant McDonald’s as a partner in its Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth. In a 22 August news release that has since been removed from the ILO newsroom webpages, the ILO noted: “McDonald’s ties up with the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth,” adding: “Leading quick-service restaurant brand joins 43 partners who have pledged to reduce barriers to decent employment for youth while boosting access to decent work around the globe.”
IUF news release. Hazards Campaign news release.
ILO Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth and Decent Jobs for Youth partners. BFAWU McBurned campaign. Risks 864.
Hazards news, 1 September 2018

USA: Government wants to get teens in hazardous jobs
The US Labor Department (DoL) plans to unwind decades-old youth labour protections by allowing teenagers to work longer hours in some of the nation’s most hazardous workplace conditions. The DoL will propose relaxing current rules - known as Hazardous Occupations Orders (HOs) - that prohibit 16- and 17-year-old apprentices and student learners from receiving extended, supervised training in certain dangerous jobs, according to two well-placed two sources, said Bloomberg Law.
Bloomberg Law. Child Labor Coalition. Risks 850.
Hazards news, 26 May 2018

Britain: Mother dismayed at son’s ‘accidental death’ verdict
The mother of a young man who was killed in a faulty lift while working in a Swansea pub says she is “totally disillusioned” with the inquest system after a verdict of “accidental death” was recorded. Bar worker Cyran Stewart, 20, was injured while working at a Walkabout pub in Swansea on 24 February 2014, dying in hospital four days later.
FACK news release. Morning Star. Risks 835.
Hazards news, 3 February 2018

Britain: Firm fined £450,000 after teen killed at work
A company has been fined £450,000 after admitting criminal safety failings following the death of a teenage worker. Manchester Crown Court heard how Ben Pallier-Singleton, 19, had been driving a forklift truck at Chinley-based Vinyl Compounds Ltd on 10 February 2015, without adequate training, across uneven ground and in an area which was not properly lit, in an area known to employees as the ‘graveyard’.
HSE news release. Buxton Advertiser. Risks 816
Hazards news, 9 September 2017

Britain: Pension age hike slammed by unions
The Conservative government’s announcement that the state pension age will rise to 68 seven years early has been condemned by unions, who warn some won’t survive their jobs that long. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “In large parts of the country, the state pension age will be higher than healthy life expectancy.”
TUC news release. Unite news release. NASUWT news release. BBC News Online.
Office for National Statistics data on healthy life expectancies. Risks 810
Hazards news, 29 July 2017

Britain: Concern at working time abuses at Parseq
Young people employed at a Sunderland call centre are being required to work longer shifts with fewer breaks than are required by law, a union has charged. GMB, the union for workers at the Parseq call centre on Doxford Park, is calling on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the conciliation service Acas to conduct an audit into the company’s application of the Working Time Regulations.
GMB news release. Risks 803
Hazards news, 10 June 2017

Britain: Child labour exploitation referrals surge
The number of children feared to be victims of labour exploitation in the UK has risen by more than 60 per cent in the past year, an analysis of government statistics has revealed. There were 1,575 referrals for labour exploitation in 2016, among whom 1,107 were adults and a record 468 were children – marking a significant 63 per cent increase.
Kroll news release. The independent and related earlier story.
National Crime Agency National Referral Mechanism statistics. Risks 802
Hazards news, 3 June 2017

Britain: Electrician gets community service after young worker’s fall
A Birmingham electrician has been ordered to carry out unpaid work in the community after his trainee fell three and a half metres through a plasterboard ceiling. Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard that the apprentice electrician, Soheil Afrapour, spent 23 days in hospital after suffering head injuries.
HSE news release. Risks 796
Hazards news, 22 April 2017

Britain: Farming firm fined after owner’s son drowns in grain
A family owned Norfolk farming company has been fined after the owner’s son died at its grain storage facility. Norwich Crown Court heard that on 9 July 2014, 21-year-old Arthur Mason took turns with 16-year-old Jamie Legg to clean inside grain bins at Hall Farm, Fincham, near Kings Lynn, run by Maurice Mason Ltd. guidance is freely available from HSE and other organisations.”
HSE news release. Norfolk Eastern Daily Press. BBC News Online. Risks 792.
Hazards news, 18 March 2017

Britain: Council fined after sander removes schoolboy’s finger
Islington Borough Council has received a six figure fine after a schoolboy’s finger was cut off by a sander. Southwark Crown Court heard that on 25 March 2014, the 12-year-old was in a design and technology class when his left hand was trapped between the shape he was sanding and the sanding belt, leading to his middle finger had to be amputated down to knuckle.
HSE news release. Islington Gazette. Risks 790.
Hazards news, 4 March 2017

Britain: Teen injured on first day at work
A Newcastle under Lyme based industrial equipment supplier has been fined after a work experience teenager was seriously injured on their first day of work. Stafford Crown Court heard how during the unloading of a heavy electrical panel from the back of a lorry at Radwell International Limited, the panel fell, trapping him on the ground across the forks of the forklift truck.
HSE news release. Risks 780
Hazards news, 10 December 2016

Britain: Delayed retirement leads to rising ill-health job loss 
Around one in eight (12 per cent) workers is forced to stop working before state pension age due to ill-health or disability, according to TUC research. ‘Postponing the pension: are we all working longer?’ finds that nearly half a million (436,000) workers who are within five years of state pension age have had to leave the workplace for medical reasons.
TUC news release and report, Postponing the pension: are we all working longer? TUC Touchstone blog. Morning Star. BBC News Online. Risks 767.
Hazards news, 10 September 2016

Britain: UCATT vindicated on the dangers of later retirement
Repeated warning from UCATT that workers in construction trades would not be fit to do physically demanding work to a delayed retirement age have been proved correct, the union says. The union said the report confirmed ‘desk bound politicians’ are ‘spectacularly’ out of touch, ‘ignoring the fact that a lifetime of construction work cannot be sustained into old age.’
UCATT news release. Risks 767.
Hazards news, 10 September 2016

Britain: Distillery blaze left 21-year-old worker engulfed in flames
A distillery in the West Midlands has been fined after a young employee with only six months’ experience on the job was engulfed in flames in a fire that destroyed a warehouse and its contents. Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how highly flammable ethyl acetate was being transferred from a bulk storage tank into an intermediate bulk container when the 21-year-old Alcohol Limited employee was engulfed in flames.
HSE news release. Express and Star. Risks 765.
Hazards news, 27 August 2016.

Britain: Apprentice needed skin grafts after touching power line
A Scottish stonemasonry company been fined after an apprentice stonemason was seriously injured from contact with an overhead power line. Perth Sheriff Court heard how 20-year-old apprentice Rodd McFarlane was working for T&M Stonemasonry when he came into contact with overhead 240 volt electricity power lines.
HSE news release. Construction Enquirer. Risks 756.
Hazards news, 25 June 2016

Britain: Teenage apprentice loses finger on rotary press
The owner of a Leamington Spa business that manufactures specialist adhesive tape for industrial applications has been fined after a teenage apprentice lost his finger on a rotary die press. James Fussell, trading as Tecman Speciality Materials, pleaded guilty to a criminal breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £6,000 with £1,754 costs.
HSE news release and work equipment webpages. Risks 748.
Hazards news, 30 April 2016.

Britain: Worker suffered cement burns on first day
Building products manufacturer Stressline Limited has been fined after an agency worker suffered serious cement burns on his first day of work. Leicester Magistrates’ Court heard how the inexperienced 21-year-old – on his first day of full-time employment – was exposed to alkaline cement slurry while standing in a drainage pit.
HSE news release and cement hazards factsheet. Risks 735.
Hazards news, 23 January 2016

Britain: Man escapes jail after apprentice dies in fire
A gas supplier whose workshop fire escape was padlocked shut, resulting in the death of an apprentice in a fire, has been given a suspended jail term. Poorly trained teen Jarrad Swan died after becoming trapped in Steve Adams' workshop when an oxygen bottle he was trying to fill exploded.
Kent Police news release. Thanet Gazette. ITV News. Risks 734.
Hazards news, 16 January 2016

USA: Tobacco farms are no place for teens
The US government and tobacco companies are failing to protect teenage children from hazardous work in tobacco farming, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. A new 72-page report from the group, ‘Teens of the tobacco fields: Child labor in United States tobacco farming,’ documents the harm caused to 16- and 17-year-olds who work long hours as hired labourers on US tobacco farms, exposed to nicotine, toxic pesticides, and extreme heat.
HRW news release, video and full report, Teens of the tobacco fields: Child labor in United States tobacco farming. Risks 732.
Hazards news, 12 December 2015

Britain: Pet food firm fined for teen’s serious injuries
A Nottinghamshire pet food company has been fined after a teenage worker was seriously injured when a forklift truck he shouldn’t have been allowed to drive overturned. The teen, whose name has not been released, had been employed for just two weeks as a factory operative at the Retford site of Alpha Feeds Limited, which has now changed its name to Grove Pet Foods Limited.
HSE news release. Risks 731
Hazards news, 5 December 2015

Britain: Serco fined £200,000 for teen deckhand death
Serco Ltd has been fined £200,000 over the death of a teenage deckhand who fell from a River Thames ferry. Ben Woollacott, 19, died in 2011 after being dragged from the Woolwich Ferry while mooring ropes were being untied.
London Evening Standard. Gravesend Reporter. BBC News Online. Risks 726
Hazards news, 31 October 2015.

Britain: Teen agency worker lost a finger in machine
A Hampshire metal manufacturing company has been fined for criminal safety offences after a teenage agency worker suffered an injury to his hand which led to the amputation of a finger. Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard how on 6 October 2014, an 18-year-old agency worker at Independent Ductwork Limited of Basingstoke was operating a three-roll machine when his gloved fingers were drawn into the rollers.
HSE news release and machinery safety webpages. Risks 722.
Hazards news, 3 October 2015

Britain: Teen worker disfigured by unguarded machine
A Glasgow manufacturer of foam plastics and rubber materials has been fined after admitting criminal safety failing that left a teenage worker permanently disfigured. Glasgow Sheriff Court was told that on 28 January 2013 a 19-year-old employee of Paulamar Company Ltd was seriously injured while feeding foam sheets into an adhesive backing machine that had no safety guardings.
HSE news release. Risks 718
Hazards news, 5 September 2015

Britain: Schoolboy dies from work placement injuries
A schoolboy on work placement has died in Aberdeenshire. Michael McLean, 17, was found unconscious at Denholm Oilfield Services in Inverurie on 14 August. He had suffered a broken neck, two punctured lungs and damage to his back and leg; a week later, on 20 August, his life-support machine was switched off at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
BBC News Online. Risks 717.
Hazards news, 29 August 2015

Britain: Protecting apprentices in the workplace
The jailing of an employer this month for the criminal negligence that led to the death of 16-year-old engineering apprentice Cameron Minshull highlights the need for greater protection of young people at work, the TUC has said. Matthew Creagh, of TUC’s Unionlearn research and strategy team, indicated the employer, the training provider who placed Cameron with the firm and the government had all failed the teenager.
TUC Stronger Unions blog. FACK news release. The Mirror. Risks 712.
Hazards news, 25 July 2015

Britain: Untrained teen breaks back as dumper tips
A specialist tree contractor has been fined after a skip loading dumper overturned, severely injuring a teenage worker. The 19-year-old Oak View Tree Specialists Limited employee had received only a few minutes training on the use of the dumper truck, had no driving licence and was not wearing a safety belt when the vehicle overturned.
HSE news release. Construction Enquirer. Risks 711
Hazards news, 18 July 2015

Britain: Man jailed over death of teen apprentice
A businessman has been jailed for eight months following the death of a teenager who became trapped in a factory lathe while on a government-funded apprenticeship. Cameron Minshull, 16, was dragged into the steel cutting machine after the oversized overalls he’d been issued became caught, causing “catastrophic and lethal” injuries to his head and face, Manchester Crown Court heard.
CPS news release. FACK news release. Manchester Evening News. BBC News Online. ITV News. The Mirror. Express and Star. Risks 711
Hazards news, 18 July 2015

Britain: Window firm fined after teen loses four digits
A poorly supervised teenage carpenter had his thumb and three fingers severed while working with an industrial saw, a court has been told. Hammersmith Magistrates heard that, on 11 October 2013, Maple Windows Co Ltd employee George Warren Heath, who was 19 at the time, was cutting a small piece of uPVC using a powered saw.
HSE News Online. Construction Enquirer. Risks 710
Hazards news, 11 July 2015

Britain: FBU launches pensions legal challenge
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is to mount a legal challenge over what it says are unfair pension arrangements for its members. The union says under new arrangements introduced on 1 April, firefighters are expected to ride fire engines, run with heavy fire hoses and carry people out of burning buildings until they are 60, up from the previous retirement age of 55; If they are can’t cope with all the physical demands of the job due to the natural decline in fitness with age, they have to take a reduced pension.
FBU news release. Risks 710
Hazards news, 11 July 2015

Britain: Work experience turns out to be painful
A Maidstone company specialising in supplying agricultural machinery and motor vehicles has been fined after a teenager on paid work experience nearly lost the tips of his fingers in unguarded machinery. The injured young person, who was employed by Haynes Brothers Ltd, had been told to work alongside an experienced engineer to carry out a pre-delivery inspection of a new combine header unit at a company site in Great Chart, Ashford, Kent, when the incident happened on 16 July 2013.
HSE news release. Kent Online. Maidstone and Medway News. Risks 706.
Hazards news, 13 June 2015

Britain: Wood job leaves teen with severe hand injuries
A timber mouldings manufacturer in Rochdale has been fined after a young apprentice lost two fingers off his right hand while working on machinery. The 16-year-old was an apprentice with Dresser Mouldings (Rochdale) Limited and was working alongside an experienced colleague on a moulding machine when the incident happened on 23 July 2014.
HSE news release and machinery maintenance webpages. Risks 706
Hazards news, 13 June 2015

Britain: Recycler guilty over young worker’s smashed arm
A Rotherham recycling firm has been sentenced after a 25-year-old worker had his arm broken in three places when it was drawn into unguarded machinery. Ryan Jackson also suffered a cracked shoulder blade and had a radial nerve shredded to the bone in the incident at the metal recycling company CF Booth Ltd on 4 December 2013.
HSE news release. Risks 706.
Hazards news, 13 June 2015

Britain: Concern about the impact of working longer
Trades unions need to campaign for proper research into the impact of working longer according to physiotherapist Fiona Hall, with particular attention paid to the effect on women and people with disabilities. Addressing the TUC’s disabled workers conference in London, she said the increased state pension age means that employees will be obliged to work into their late 60s or even longer before they can afford to retire.
CSP news report. Risks 704
Hazards news, 30 May 2015

Britain: Forfar firm fined after teen agency worker injured
A metal galvanising company has been sentenced after a teenage agency worker suffered serious leg injuries when a half-tonne A-frame slipped and fell onto him from a forklift truck. Robert Ramsey, 19, had been working at Forfar Galvanisers Ltd’s premises in Forfar for four months when the incident happened on 20 November 2013.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages. Risks 695
Hazards news, 21 March 2015

Britain: Young employee loses his toes
A Kent engineering firm has been fined after a 20-year-old worker had three toes chopped off on one foot and every toe broken on the other when a metal sheet landed on his feet. Anton Hunter, an engineer with G&P Machine Shop Ltd in Queensborough, was helping a colleague unload a delivery of fabricated steel sheets at a nearby site when a 700kg sheet became dislodged from a magnet and fell directly on his feet.
HSE news release. Risks 695
Hazards news, 21 March 2015

Britain: Young worker crushed by a two-tonne frame
Cumbrian engineering firm Tweddle Fabrications Ltd has been fined £12,000 after a worker suffered severe injuries when he was struck by a metal frame, weighing nearly two tonnes. The 21-year-old from Carlisle, who has asked not to be named, sustained multiple cuts and fractures to his left foot and leg, and has still been unable to return to work almost a year on from the incident.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages. Risks 693
Hazards news, 7 March 2015

Britain: Young worker dies on first day at work
A 20-year-old man died on his first day at work for a new company when the four-tonne dumper he was driving toppled over a bank and crushed him. Daniel Whiston, from Dulverton, was allowed to drive the dumper, which had a number of serious defects, before it overturned down the embankment at Sweetings Farm, near Tiverton, on 27 October 2009.
HSE news release and construction webpages. BBC News Online. Construction Enquirer. Risks 685.
Hazards news, 10 January 2015

Britain: Teen severely injured in laundry machine
A Shropshire laundry company has been prosecuted for serious criminal safety breaches after a teenage worker suffered severe injuries when he became trapped in machinery. Matthew Brown, 19, from Telford, suffered leg and spinal injuries when trying to retrieve an item of clothing from an industrial laundry machine at Cleantex Ltd in Telford on 22 October 2013.
HSE news release and machinery safety webpages • Shropshire Star • BBC News Online • Risks 682
Hazards news, 29 November 2014

Britain: Young worker crushed to death by forklift
A North Lanarkshire employer has been fined for criminal safety failings that led to a worker being killed after he was thrown from a forklift truck and crushed. David Westwater, 22, had only been working for Basil Pinkney, in his small scaffold refurbishment business in Coatbridge, for two weeks before the incident happened on 28 August 2012.
HSE news release and transport webpages • Risks 678
Hazards news, 1 November 2014

Britain: Choice is the key for older workers
A 50 per cent increase in people aged 65 and over in the workforce by 2030 means employers should recognise the real value of their experience – but it is crucial older workers are not compelled to stay in work, a health and safety study has found. Researchers from Brunel University, whose work was funded by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), cited earlier studies showing people in their 60s had fewer accidents and injuries than younger colleagues, suggesting that education and experience might help them judge situations better.
Brunel University news release and full report • Risks 671
Hazards news, 13 September 2014

Britain: Firefighters to strike over ‘vicious’ pension attacks
Firefighters in England and Wales are set to strike on eight consecutive days this month, saying that the government’s “vicious” proposals on firefighters’ pensions are unacceptable, unworkable and unrealistic. The strikes, due to start on 14 July, are the union FBU’s response to government moves that they say would see firefighters paying more, working longer and receiving less.
FBU news release • Risks 662
Hazards news, 12 July 2014

Britain: Fire service action continues over pensions
Firefighters in England and Wales are to continue a series of walk outs over attacks on their pensions after the government confirmed it intends to implement a new scheme without further negotiations. The plans include shifting the pension age from 55 to 60, a move the union FBU says is not tenable in a safety critical and physically demanding job.
FBU news release • Risks 658
Hazards news, 14 June 2014

Britain: Teen apprentice severely injured at fabric firm
A fabric company in Macclesfield has been fined after a teenage apprentice suffered severe injuries when his left arm was dragged around a machine roller. The 18-year-old from Buxton had been trying to remove a crease from a roll of silk at Medaax Ltd in Langley when his finger became caught, pulling him in up to his armpit.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 657
Hazards news, 7 June 2014

Britain: Site workers can’t work until they drop
Construction workers need more support from the pension system, instead of being forced to work longer in physically demanding work, site union UCATT has said. The union’s conference heard delegates condemn government plans to raise the retirement age as high as 70, saying it would see them dropping dead on building sites.
Morning Star • Risks 655
Hazards news, 24 May 2014

Britain: Firefighters campaign for pensions justice
Increasing the retirement age for firefighters from 55 to 60 is an unjust, untenable and unhealthy move, unions have said. Firefighters’ union FBU and the TUC say further industrial action in the fire service is the inevitable outcome of government intransigence on the issue.
FBU news release • TUC news release • Risks 653
Hazards news, 10 May 2014

Britain: Chiefs told firefighters face the sack for aging
Fire chiefs have been warned firefighters forced to work extra years could face the sack just because they were getting older. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) says the majority of firefighters over the age of 55 would fail the fitness tests to continue frontline work to a new pension age of 60, but had little chance of finding more appropriate alternative work in the service.
FBU news release • Risks 650
Hazards news, 12 April 2014

Britain: Keeping work safe for workers of all ages
There is a higher proportion of older people in Britain’s workforce now than at any time in recent history. The TUC says this means we need workplace approaches that take account of the real needs of older workers, while discounting unfounded assumptions about what an older worker may and may not be able to do.
TUC briefing and full report, The health and safety of older workers, April 2014 • Risks 649
Hazards news, 5 April 2014

Britain: Life-changing injuries hamper trainee vet’s ambitions
A Shropshire horse breeder has been prosecuted for safety failings after a student suffered severe leg and pelvic injuries when she was felled by four straw bales on her last day of work experience. Emily Dawson, a 20-year-old veterinary student, was on placement at leading independent stud farm, RL Matson & Son of Whitchurch, run by partner Edward Matson.
HSE news release and guide on safe working with hay and straw bales • Shropshire Star • Risks 647
Hazards news, 22 March 2014

Britain: Boss abandoned teenage waitress half-blinded by chemicals
A restaurant owner has been fined after a member of his staff was splashed in the face with a caustic chemical. Initially, the incident – which happened at Huffers Cafe, Sudbury, in September 2012 – was not reported to authorities. The employee, 16-year-old Chelsea Stafford, was left half blinded on the street outside, given £20 to get a taxi and had to call her mother for assistance.
Babergh District Council news release • Suffolk Free Press • Environmental Health News • Risks 647
Hazards news, 22 March 2014

Britain: Safety concern about ‘work experience’ apprenticeship
An officially endorsed construction apprenticeship scheme which has advertised a position that would require the successful candidate to undertake arduous unpaid work experience at height presents serious safety concerns, the union UCATT has warned. The union says its officials were told Evolve Apprenticeships had advertised for an apprentice who would initially have to complete two weeks of unpaid work experience and be required to work at heights and carry and lift heavy loads.
UCATT news release • Risks 641
Hazards news, 8 February 2014

Britain: Firm ‘will never be forgiven’ for apprentice’s death
A Sunderland-based marine engineering firm has been sentenced for criminal safety failings after a teenage apprentice was crushed and killed by a piece of machinery weighing almost a tonne. Jason Burden, 19, from South Shields, was in his fourth year as an apprentice engineer at Tyne Slipway & Engineering Co Ltd (TSECL) at South Dock when a 970kg tunnel thruster from a ship overturned and landed on top of him.
HSE news release and safe maintenance webpage • Sunderland Echo • Shields Gazette • BBC News Online • Hazards dockwork feature • Risks 639
Hazards news, 25 January 2014

Britain: George Osborne wants your pension
The Chancellor’s December 2013 budget delivered a crumb of safety comfort but accompanied it with some devastating news for your prospects of ever living to see your pension. It is the government’s plans for a staged increase in the state pension age to 70, which would mean the average Glaswegian man might expect to be able to claim it for just over a year.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Autumn Statement 2013 • Risks 637
Hazards news, 11 January 2014

Britain: Government says you must work until you drop
The later retirement date announced by the Chancellor in last week’s Autumn statement might be of little significance to the wealthy, but it could see many others receive little or nothing of their state pension entitlement, the TUC has warned. The union body was commenting on the plans announced in the Commons by George Osborne to push back the state pension age to 68 by the mid-2030s, with further increases after that.
Autumn Statement 2013 • TUC news release and state pension divide research • BBC News Online • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

Britain: Unions slam state pension push back
Unions have said expecting people to carry on longer in arduous work before they qualify for a state pension will be bad news for workers and services. The Autumn statement also includes a further £84m cut to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the government ministry responsible for the Health and Safety Executive’s budget.
UNISON news release • UCATT news release • PCS news release • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

Britain: Schoolgirl dragged by scarf into a lathe
A Scottish council has been fined £48,000 for criminal health and safety breaches after schoolgirl was dragged into a lathe by her scarf. Nadine Craig, who was 14 at the time, was pulled into the machine in November 2007 and freed by fellow pupils – she received 40 stitches to a wound in her neck and it was six months before she returned to Galashiels Academy.
The Scotsman • Herald Scotland • BBC News Online • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Britain: Strike vote over firefighter pensions plan
Firefighters are to vote on strike action over an ‘unworkable’ pension scheme proposal they say could lead to thousands facing the sack as they get older. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) decision to hold a strike vote after almost two years of negotiations was prompted when Westminster set a 12 July deadline for firefighters to accept the government proposals — or face imposition of the changes.
FBU news release • Firefighters' pension scheme: proposed final agreement, DCLG, July 2013 • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Germany: Fears about lasting until retirement age
Only 42 per cent of workers in Germany believe they will be up to working in their current job until retirement age. The findings of union federation DGB’s ‘Decent work’ index are based on survey responses from 4,895 employees from across the country. ETUI news report • Risks 611
Hazards news, 29 June 2013

Britain: Employees fret about doing the job when old
UK workers facing a later retirement age fear not being up to the job physically or mentally, new polling for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) has found. Just over six in 10 (61 per cent) workers polled were concerned about being too tired to continue normal hours when asked to imagine that they had to work into old age, the physios’ union says.
CSP news release • Risks 610
Hazards news,22 June 2013

Britain: Teen hospitalised by textile firm
A textile company has been prosecuted for criminal safety offences after a 1.5 tonne pallet toppled on to a teenage worker, trapping him by the legs. Halifax Magistrates heard that the 18-year-old warehouse worker suffered a broken leg in the incident at THS Industrial Textiles Ltd in Elland on 16 March 2011.
HSE news release and safe lifting guidance • Risks 603
Hazards news, 4 May 2013

Britain: Work experience teen scarred by toxic cocktail
Vehicle repair company Motorhouse 2000 Ltd has been fined after a 16 year-old on work experience, Bret Thomas, suffered burns when toxic paint stripper splashed into his eyes and face. The toxic cocktail was capable of causing problems ranging from asphyxiation, to brain damage and bone rot. 
HSE news release • Risks 598
Hazards news, 23 March 2013

Britain: Pensions move will hurt firefighters
The majority of firefighters could face the sack as the get older, as a result of government plans to extend their working lives but only retain those who meet an unrealistic fitness standard.
FBU news release and model letter to MPs • Risks 596
Hazards news, 9 March 2013

Britain: Farmer fined following teen’s quad bike death
A farmer on Dartmoor failed to properly maintain a quad bike which was later involved in a collision that caused the death of a teenage apprentice. Plymouth Crown Court heard that 17-year-old Phillip Nyhan was riding the quad given him to use at Runnage Farm, on Dartmoor when he was in collision with a car on a minor road near Postbridge on 7 June 2007.
HSE news release and quad bikes webpage • Plymouth Herald • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

Britain: Teen death exposes government contempt
A teenage apprentice was killed in an horrific workplace incident just a week after David Cameron had claimed safety protection of young workers was “very, very bad news”. On 10 January, Cameron Minshull was trapped in an industrial metal lathe at Zaffar Engineering UK in Bury.
Daily Mail • The Telegraph • FACK news release • BFAWU news report • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

Britain: Too young to retire, too ill to work
Disability and poor health are preventing nearly half a million people approaching retirement from working, according to a TUC analysis of official labour market data. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “While more people are working past their state pension age, often as the only way to get a decent retirement income, a far greater number of older people are unable to work due to ill-health or because they are trapped in long-term unemployment.”
TUC news release and Touchstone blog • Risks 572
Hazards news, 8 September 2012

USA: Child labour rife on farms
Children are being hurt, brutalised and poisoned toiling for long hours on US farms, an investigation has found. Introducing an NBC News multi-part investigative series, ‘Children in the field: American kids pick your food’, the channel’s anchorwoman said: “They are too young to drive, work in an office, or even a local fast food joint, but thousands of them work long hours in brutal conditions to make sure we eat well, and on the cheap.”
Children in the field: American kids pick your food, NBC News • The Pump Handle • US National Library of Medicine on green tobacco sickness • Risks 569
Hazards news, 18 August 2012

Britain: Asbestos job exposed work experience teen
A teenager on work experience was part of a construction team exposed to asbestos during a botched removal job at a top public school. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Sherborne School and Peter Eldridge, the director of the company responsible for the refurbishment project, after an investigation found they had failed to identify and prevent the risk of asbestos exposure at the school.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 565
Hazards news, 21 July 2012

Britain: Two directors fined after teen’s death
A Northumberland firm and its father-and-son directors have been fined after a teenage worker died following a fall from a barn roof. Jamie Lee Duddin, 18, and another Scotts of Whittington Ltd employee were carrying out repairs to the roof lights of the barn at Heddon Low Farm at Heddon on the Wall when the incident occurred on 23 July 2010. HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 565
Hazards news, 21 July 2012

Britain: Teens ‘narrowly escaped death’ at work
A Derbyshire manufacturing firm and its director have been fined after two teenage agency workers ‘narrowly escaped death’ in a fall from a platform above a heap of supermarket trolleys. Derby Crown Court heard that the two 18-year-olds were helping to put scrapped trolleys into a skip using a makeshift lifting platform designed by Storetec Limited director Brian Crossan to fit a forklift truck.
HSE news release • Derby Telegraph • Risks 561
Hazards news, 23 June 2012

Britain: Nordex UK fined after teen’s wind farm death
A wind turbine manufacturer has been fined £26,000 after admitting criminal safety failings at a site where a teenage worker fell 100ft to his death. Basilio Brazao, 19, from Brazil, died instantly when he fell down the shaft of a wind turbine at the Earlsburn wind farm near Fintry, Stirlingshire.
BBC News Online • Risks 561
Hazards news, 23 June 2012

Britain: Apprentice abuses must end, says UCATT
The government must take urgent action to stop safety and other abuses of apprenticeship schemes, the construction union UCATT has said. The union was commenting after “serious safety concerns” were revealed in a BBC Panorama investigation broadcast earlier this month.
UCATT news release • The Great Apprentice Scandal, Panorama, BBC, 2 April 2012 • Risks 552
Hazards news, 21 April 2012

Britain: Surge in older workers doing unpaid overtime
The proportion of employees in their late 50s and early 60s working unpaid overtime has increased sharply in the last decade - despite a fall in unpaid hours for the rest of the workforce. A new TUC analysis of official figures shows across the UK around one in five workers (5.3 million people) put in an average of 7.2 hours of unpaid overtime per week last year, worth around £5,300 a year per person - and a record £29.2 billion to the economy.
TUC news release • The Guardian • Work Your Proper Hours Day • Risks 545
Hazards news, 3 March 2012

Britain: Bus crush apprentice needed plastic surgery
One of South Yorkshire's main bus operators has been fined after a teenage apprentice was trapped under a 14 tonne bus when its air suspension failed. Ben Burgin, who was 17 at the time, needed restorative plastic surgery to his nose and eye socket following the incident at Stagecoach Yorkshire's garage in Wakefield Road, Barnsley, on 7 September 2009.
HSE news release • Risks 536
Hazards news, 17 December 2011

Britain: Companies fined after worker breaks back
Anson Packaging Ltd and Cambs Compressor Engineering Ltd have fined after a 24-year-old worker broke his back in a fall from a roof void. Anthony Strong, a pipe fitter employed by subcontractor Cambs Compressor Engineering Ltd at the time, suffered fractures to his spine, skull and ribs.
HSE news release • Risks 536
Hazards news, 17 December 2011

USA: Newt calls for child labour in schools
 Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has announced he wants to “get rid of unionised janitors” and hire poor kids to clean the schools in low income neighbourhoods. Gingrich suggested that putting scrubbing brushes and floor sanders in the hands of kids and firing school maintenance workers would “lift up the poorest neighborhoods.”
AFL-CIO Now blog and related story • Politico • AFSCME online action page “to tell Newt he’s out of his mind” and related video about the Newt Gingrich plan • Risks 534
Hazards news, 3 December 2011

Britain: Government axes apprenticeship safety measure
The government says it is to end apprenticeship health and safety measures that “go beyond” the legal minimum and that were introduced after a spate of deaths in 2003. Business secretary Vince Cable told an Association of Colleges conference that from the start of 2012, training providers and employers offering apprenticeships will no longer have to comply with any requirements that go ‘above and beyond’ health and safety legislation.
Vince Cable’s speech, 17 November 2011 • Unite news release • SHP Online • TUC’s 2005 safety reps’ guide to health and safety on apprenticeships and young workers health and safety webpages • Autumn statement documents and statement • Risks 534
Hazards news, 3 December 2011

Britain: Massive blade cuts off three fingers
A Rochdale engineering firm has been fined for criminal safety breaches after an unsupervised young worker had three fingers cut off by an industrial saw. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) brought the prosecution against Adelaide Engineering Company Ltd after the 21-year-old from Bury, whose name has not been released, lost parts of three fingers on his left hand.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 534
Hazards news, 3 December 2011

Britain: Company fined after man dies in machine
A firm which admitted criminal safety failures over the death of a worker at its Slough factory has been fined £200,000. Mitesh Prashar, 24, was killed while operating machinery on a night shift for Manchester-based company Duco International Ltd.
HSE news release • BBC News Online • Print Week • Risks 523
Hazards news, 17 September 2011

Britain: Garage worker killed by exploding drum
A garage has been fined after an employee was fatally injured when a metal oil drum exploded. Martyn Massie, 23, was cutting a drum that had previously stored used engine oil at the premises of Pitmachie Garage Ltd, in Insch, Scotland.
HSE news release • Risks 523
Hazards news, 17 September 2011

Britain: Boss pays for teen’s lost fingers
A partner in a Somerset firm has been fined after 18-year-old employee Kyle Bishop lost four fingers while working on a milling machine. Nigel Ashley of precision engineering firm Ashley's of Yeovil, appeared at the town’s Magistrates Court in a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
HSE news release • Risks 522
Hazards news, 10 September 2011

Britain: Poorly trained teen severs hand
A teenage novice severed part of his hand while operating a vertical panel saw on which he had received little training. Lewis Maker, who was 18-years-old at the time of the incident, was using the panel saw to cut a piece of board, when his hand got dragged into the blade and the top half was cut off.
HSE news release and woodworking machinery webpages • Risks 513
Hazards news, 9 July 2011

Britain: Employers are failing older workers
Older employees are missing out of training and most say employers are failing to make the adjustments necessary to help them do their jobs, according to a new survey. However, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found workers of the age of 65 also reported better physical and mental health than their younger colleagues.
CIPD news release • Risks 511
Hazards news, 25 June 2011

Britain: Risks stacked against new workers
Workers are as likely to suffer a reportable injury in the first six months at a workplace as during the whole of the rest of their working life, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned. The safety watchdog says a number of factors contribute to the excess risk, including lack of experience at or familiarity with the job and workplace.
HSE ‘new to the job’ guide • Risks 515
Hazards news, 11 June 2011

Europe: Working longer requires better working
The improvement of working conditions throughout a worker’s career is “a necessary condition” to enable workers to continue to work for as long as possible, a European think tank has concluded. The Dublin-based European Union research body Eurofound says the issue is of crucial importance as working lives are extended and the population ages.
Health and work: A difficult relationship [pdf] • Risks 499
Hazards news, 26 March 2011

Britain: Teenage trainee injured in meat mincer
A Brighton meat processing company has been fined after a 16-year-old trainee severely injured his arm in a meat mincer. The teen's employer, Malpass Direct Ltd, was prosecuted by The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for not properly supervising him at its Brighton Meat Market premises.
HSE news release • Risks 495
Hazards news, 26 February 2011

Britain: Site teen suffers horrific burns to legs
O'Keefe Construction Ltd has been fined after a teenager suffered horrific burns to his legs at its depot in Sevenoaks, Kent. The 18-year-old employee, who asked not to be named, was spray painting a lighting tower when thinners some on his trousers and caught fire.
HSE news release and explosive atmospheres webpages • Risks 495
Hazards news, 26 February 2011

Britain: Teen worker loses fingers on first day at work
A Walsall metal company has been prosecuted after a teenage worker lost parts of two fingers on his first day at work. The 19-year-old, who did not wish to be named, had only started work three hours earlier for Goscote-based JKL Industrial Services Ltd, when his hand became trapped in a power press.
HSE news release • Birmingham Mail • Risks 490
Hazards news, 22 January 2011

Britain: Default retirement age is retired
The default retirement age of 65 is to be phased out later this year. The government announcement received mixed responses, with some welcoming the measure while others warned that it would mean “work till you drop” for the poorest in society, while research published this week by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) dismissed concerns about possible health and safety risks related to working when older.
BIS news release • NPC news release • UCATT news release • TUC news release • Morning Star • An update of the literature on age and employment, HSE research report RR832, January 2011. Hazards age webpages
Hazards news 22 January 2011

Britain: Hard up firm escapes teen burns fine
A West Midlands company has admitted failing to protect its employees after two teenage workers suffered chemical burns – but the firm has been spared a fine because it is broke. Fretus Ltd was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £4,500 costs.
Coventry Telegraph • SHP Online • Risks 482
Hazards news, 13 November 2010

Britain: Plastics firm seriously injured teen worker
A Lancashire plastics company has appeared in court after a teenage apprentice suffered serious injuries when his arm was dragged into a machine. The worker, who asked not be named, dislocated his left shoulder and broke his arm on 6 May 2008 while working at General All Purpose (GAP) Plastic's Blackburn factory.
HSE news release • Risks 479
Hazards news, 23 October 2010

Britain: Firm fined after teen is injured in fall
A Croydon company has been fined after a teenage worker suffered multiple fractures and internal injuries when he fell through a rooflight. Lewis Edwards, 17, from Sidcup, had only been at STP Solutions Ltd a few weeks when the incident happened.
HSE news release and fall webpages • Risks 474
Hazards news, 18 September 2010

Britain: Family issues safety plea after ‘avoidable tragedy’
The devastated parents of a young engineer killed when a falling digger bucket struck him on the head have urged the construction industry to learn vital lessons from his tragic death. The call from the distraught family of Mark Handford came after a coroner's jury recorded a verdict of accidental death into the incident which claimed the life of the 22-year-old just over a year ago.
Irwin Mitchell Solicitors news release • Risks 474
Hazards nerws, 18 September 2010

Britain: Pensions move will hurt manual workers
Manual workers will suffer serious disadvantage as a result of an upward shift in the retirement age, UCATT has warned. The construction union was commenting after new figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed manual workers were more than twice as likely as professional workers to die before they reach 65 years of age.
UCATT news release • Office for National Statistics • Risks 472
Hazards news, 4 September 2010

USA: Retirement dilemma for manual workers
As governments look to reduce the pensions bill by delaying retirement, manual workers could be faced with jobs they can no longer physically manage while not being eligible for a retirement pension. This is the conclusion of a US Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) study which looked at the prospects for older workers in occupations characterised by physically demanding or difficult work.
Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) news release • Hard work? Patterns in physically demanding labor among older workers, Hye Jin Rho, CEPR, August 2010 [pdf] • Risks 471
Hazards news, 17 July 2010

Britain: Roofing firm fined £2,000 after teen’s plunge
A roofing company has been prosecuted after a teenage worker fell three metres through a fragile roof, breaking his arm. Apprentice Shaun Jacob, 18, was removing the ridge from a metal sheet roof when a sheet he was standing on buckled and he fell to the ground.
HSE news release • Risks 465
Hazards news, 17 July 2010

Britain: Unions slam ‘work until you drop’ move
Unions have condemned government proposals to raise the retirement age, which could leave former workers in some of the poorest parts of the country receiving less than two years pension on average before they die. UCATT general secretary Alan Ritchie said: “By increasing the retirement age the ConDems are effectively forcing many construction workers to work until they drop.”
DWP news release • When should the state pension age increase to 66? – A Call for Evidence • GMB news release • UCATT news release • UNISON news release • TUC news release • Risks 463
Hazards news, 3 June 2010

USA: Roofers face work-related early retirement
A combination of poor health and musculoskeletal disorders is forcing roofers into early retirement, a new study has found. The study of 979 roofers between the ages of 40 and 59 found that 10 per cent left the roofing trade within a year, and of those leaving, 60 per cent left their job due to chronic pain, work-related musculoskeletal disorders and poor health.
CPWR news release [pdf] • Risks 463
Hazards news, 3 June 2010

USA: Young workers at risks
Younger workers in the US are twice as likely as their older counterparts to be treated in hospital emergency departments for work-related injuries, official research has shown. On average each year from 1998 to 2007, about 800,000 workers 15 to 24 years of age were treated in emergency departments and nearly 600 died from work-related injuries.
NIOSH science blog • Risks 445
Hazards news, 8 May 2010

Britain: ‘Just’ jail term for teen’s site death
 A builder whose negligence led to the death of a 15-year-old boy has failed in a challenge against his jail term at London's Court of Appeal. Colin Holtom admitted the manslaughter of Adam Gosling at the Old Bailey in July 2009 and was sentenced to three years in prison, with appeal court judges agreeing that although long, the sentence was “justifiably severe.”
Essex Chronicle • Risks 454
Hazards news, 1 May 2010

Britain: One in three interns are exploited at work
Amidst fears that one in three interns is being exploited through unpaid work, the TUC has launched a new website aimed at helping these young people find out more about their rights at work. The TUC website www.rightsforinterns.org.uk, which includes a health and safety section, is part of the union body’s Next Generation campaign which aims to secure a better deal for young people at work.
TUC news release, Rights for Interns website and ‘The interns’ video clip • NUJ news release • The Guardian • Risks 450
Hazards news, 3 April 2010

Britain: Young worker crushed to death
A construction company has been fined after a young employee had his head crushed at a site in Gloucestershire. Macob Administration Limited, based in Bridgend, Wales, was charged by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after 23-year-old Lance Taylor was killed on a Gloucester construction site on 11 February 2005.
HSE news release • Risks 440
Hazards news, 23 January 2010

Australia: Older workers need jobs on site
There should be quotas of “mature-age” workers introduced on major government building projects in recognition of the gruelling and job threatening effect physical work can have over a working lifetime, the Australian construction union CFMEU has said. The union says good use could be made of older workers skills in “recycling and sustainability” and other less physical jobs.
Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Risks 428
Hazards news, 17 October 2009

Britain: Apprentice suffers severe falls injury
A Glasgow construction company has been convicted of criminal safety offences after an apprentice joiner was severely injured. The 20-year-old worker fell nearly four metres through an opening in the floor after the loose sheet of plywood which had been placed over the opening gave way. 
HSE news release • Risks 424
Hazards news, 19 September 2009

Britain: Work experience shouldn’t hurt you
Schools are being told to make sure full health and safety checks are carried out before pupils head out on work experience, following the prosecution of a Stafford company after a teenager on placement suffered burns. Deansfield High School in Wolverhampton employed Making Learning Work Ltd to locate extended work experience placements for 32 pupils, at a cost of £650 each.
HSE news release • Risks 423
Hazards news , 12 September 2009

Canada: Risks raised for young with dyslexia
Young people with dyslexia may be at greater risk of getting hurt on the job, according to a new study from the Toronto-based Institute for Work and Health (IWH). “The early indicators are that dyslexia contributes to higher injury rates among young workers,” said IWH’s Dr Curtis Breslin, who led the study.
IWH news release • F Curtis Breslin and Jason D Pole. Work injury risk among young people with learning disabilities and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Canada, American Journal of Public Health, volume 99, number 8, pages 1423-1430, 2009 [abstract] • Risks 420
Hazards news, 22 August 2009

Britain: Injured teen had warned of forklift faults
A Derbyshire haulage firm has been fined £27,000 after a teenager nearly lost an arm when a faulty forklift truck crashed. A court heard that mechanic Martyn Coope, who was just 17 at the time of the incident in 2007, was at the controls of the vehicle, although he had not been trained to operate it.
Derby Evening Telegraph • Nottingham Evening Post • HSE’s rebranded young people at work webpages • HSE young people at work podcast • Risks 417
Hazards news, 1 August 2009

Britain: Pupil suffers horrific burns on placement
A schoolboy has undergone a series of skin grafts after suffering horrific burns while on work experience. Jonathan Bonner, aged 15, was on a placement at windows firm Castlefield Works when he suffered 25 to 30 per cent burns.
Bury Times • Risks 417
Hazards news, 1 August 2009

Britain: Builder guilty of teen’s work death
A builder has admitted the manslaughter of a 15-year-old boy who was crushed to death as he was left unsupervised to prop up a falling wall. Essex teenager Adam Gosling died from head injuries while working on a five-bedroom house in Hadley Wood, north London, in April 2007.
HSE news release • FACK news release • Risks 415
Hazards news, 18 July 2009

Britain: Fine for pupil’s fireball injury
A Sleaford motor business has been fined after a youth on work experience was hit in the chest by a fireball. Year 11 student Jamie Fenn-Smith was on a work experience placement at the garage when he was hit by the fireball, which melted the plastic print of his t-shirt onto his skin.
HSE news release • Sleaford Standard • Risks 397
Hazards news, 14 March 2009

Britain: Director fined after teenager’s death
A company director has been fined more than £7,000 at Nottingham Crown Court for health and safety breaches after an apprentice died at his workshop. Christopher John Pridmore, 32, was also ordered to pay £2,500 costs after admitted breaching the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
HSE news release • Nottingham Evening Post • BBC News Online • Risks 396
Hazards news, 7 March 2009

Britain: Unite ‘appalled’ by teen injury fine
Print union Unite has said it is dismayed at a “derisory” £12,000 penalty imposed on a Blackburn firm after a young worker was injured. East Lancashire Box Company was fined at Hyndburn Magistrates Court for safety offences that saw a 16-year-old’s fingers crushed.
HSE news release • Print Week • Risks 393
Hazards news, 14 February 2009

Canada: Video nasties miss the point
Hard-hitting and sometimes gruesome videos are being used in a Canadian province in a drive to cut injuries to young workers. But unions and safety experts in Alberta have warned the initiative misses the point, blaming “unengaged” and “unmotivated” workers for their injuries, rather than unsafe and poorly supervised work.
Vue Weekly • Bloody Lucky campaign • Risks 383
Hazards news 22 November 2008

Britain: The price of teen’s life at work - £7k
An Altrincham firm has been fined £7,000 for safety offences that led to the death of a teenage apprentice. S Cartwright & Sons (Coachbuilders) was prosecuted after 16-year-old Ashley Saunders sustained fatal injuries when he fell through a fragile roof whilst retrieving a football during a lunchtime kick-about on 7 February 2006.
Risks 363
Hazards news, 5 July 2008

Britain: MP calls for end to young worker deaths
An MP is calling for a course on basic health and safety awareness to be built into the National Curriculum. Labour MP Michael Clapham, the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health, raised his concerns at a House of Commons seminar to highlight the perils facing young workers.
IOSH news release • Risks 362
Hazards news, 28 June 2008

Britain: Waitrose fined for teen’s crushed arm
Supermarket chain Waitrose has been fined £25,000 after a teenage worker had his arm crushed in a machine at a Birmingham store. The 17-year-old broke both bones in his arm and was trapped in the machine for an hour and a half, Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard.
Birmingham City Council news release • Birmingham Post • Risks 360
Hazards news, 14 June 2008

Britain: Injury destroys young worker’s dream
A construction site injury has crushed the dreams of a Barnsley man who has lost the opportunity to play semi-professional football. James Smith was 20 and working as a steel fixer for Century Reinforcement Services when he was injured in 2004.
Irwin Mitchell news release • Risks 347
Hazards news, 15 March 2008

France: Gruelling work linked to early retirement
Older manual workers in France are more likely to retire early or be registered economically inactive than the workforce as a whole, with their tough jobs and poor health identified as a key reason why. French employment ministry researchers explored the link between the hardships of work and early departure from the workforce using the findings of a 2003 national health survey.
ETUI-REHS report summary • Risks 342
Hazards news, 9 February 2008

Britain: Age effects need more attention
The relationship between work and the health of older male workers is receiving too little attention, a new report has concluded. ‘Older men, work and health’, a report published by TAEN - The Age and Employment Network - and Help the Aged examines the role work plays in the lives and identity of men and the impact this has on their health, both in and out of work.
Older men, work and health: Reviewing the evidence, Gillian Granville and Maria Evandrou, Centre for Research on Ageing, University of Southampton, January 2008 [pdf] • Hazards older workers webpages • Risks 340
Hazards news, 26 January 2008

Britain: Young workers told to ‘speak out’
Students taking on seasonal jobs over the Christmas break have been warned to speak out against safety shy bosses, following a 50 per cent increase in young worker deaths over the past year. Denise Kitchener, chief executive of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) said students should “speak up and stay safe,” so that deaths and injuries can be avoided.
APIL news release [pdf]
Hazards news, 22 December 2007

Britain: Guilty verdict on teen scaffolder death
Site supervisor David Swindells Jr has been found guilty of safety offences that contributed to the death of a teenage scaffolder. Steven Burke died aged 17 in January 2003 when a sub-standard scaffold collapsed - his employer 3D Scaffolding Ltd, main contractor Mowlem plc and RAM Services Ltd had earlier pleaded guilty to related safety offences.
FACK news release • Hazards young workers’ webpages
Hazards news, 1 December 2007

Britain: Schools safety probe after lathe injury
A safety review has started at all secondary schools in the in Scotland’s Borders area after a teenage girl became entangled in a lathe. Nadine Craig, a 14-year-old pupil at Galashiels Academy, required hospital treatment for the neck injuries she received when her scarf was caught in the machine and will be scarred for life as a result.
Daily Record • BBC News Online
Hazards news, 1 December 2007

Britain: Butcher fined again for teen mincer horror
A butcher's shop and its manager have been fined for an accident in which 15-year-old Sam Ashworth lost part of his arm in a mincing machine. The prosecution followed earlier fines for child labour offences.
BBC News Online • Hazards young workers webpages
Hazards news, 3 November 2007

Britain: Job dream fades as teen loses fingers
Car-mad Sheffield teen Wade Savage may have to abandon his hopes of becoming a mechanic after losing three fingers whilst working at a holiday job. The 16-year-old was injured at Holdsworth Packaging Ltd, where his work involved running general errands and assembling cardboard boxes and where his hand was dragged into a machine.
Sheffield Star • Hazards young workers webpages
Hazards news, 6 October 2007

Britain: Young farmworker killed by power lines
Young workers are continuing to face deadly risks while working. Farmworker Edward Andrew Pybus, 21, died after being electrocuted when the combine harvester he was driving clipped power lines.
Northern Echo • Hazards young workers’ webpages
Hazards news, 18 August 2007

Britain: Firm fined £2,600 after teen injures spine
A joinery firm has been convicted of safety offences after apprentice Brett Lawden, 19, fell through an unprotected stairwell on a building site. Cumbrian firm K and M Joinery Ltd was fined £2,600 and ordered to pay £1,395 costs by magistrates at Penrith after pleading guilty to a breach of the work at height regulations
HSE news release • Hazards young workers news and resources
Hazards news, 30 June 2007

Britain: Safety rules change urged after teen death
An MP wants changes in health and safety rules on building sites after two companies were fined following the electrocution death of a 19-year-old. Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llwyd said lessons should be learned from the death of Miall Roberts three years ago; the teenager was killed in 2004 by 11,000 volts of electricity while laying concrete foundations, when a boom hit an overhead cable.
HSE news release • BBC News Online
Hazards news, 23 June 2007

Britain: Butcher fined after schoolboy loses arm
The owners and manager of a butcher’s shop where a 15-year-old boy lost his arm have been fined for illegally employing a child. Sam Ashworth’s arm became trapped in a mincer at Fitton’s butchers where he was employed as a Saturday worker.
Oldham Chronicle • Hazards young workers news and resources
Hazards news , 16 June 2007

Britain: Young worker in ladder fall horror
A teenage worker fell 20 feet to his death from a ladder which a health and safety inspector described as the worst he had ever seen. Peter Evans, aged 18, fell head first onto a concrete patio and died the next day from extensive head injuries.
The Bolton News • Hazards young workers news and resources
Hazards news, 26 May 2007

Britain: Butcher fined after teen is burned
A family butcher has been fined £2,000 for health and safety breaches after a teenage employee suffered severe burns to his feet. Philip Woolgar, who was 17 at the time, received second degree burns when meat cooking equipment inside Piggotts Family Butchers in Biggleswade was knocked over spilling boiling hot water on to his feet.
Risks 297, 10 March 2007

Global: Dangerous and fast work puts youths at risk
Exposure to work hazards and a frenetic job pace increases the likelihood of injury among adolescent and young adult workers, a new scientific review suggests. Canadian researchers found the work setting also appears to play a role in predicting the risk of injury, with food service and construction industry jobs topping the list of hazardous employment in this group.
Risks 292, 3 February 2007 • Hazards young workers webpages

France: Union calls day of action on demanding work
The long-term wear and tear caused by work must be addressed by employers, the French trade union body CFDT has said. Over three years ago, a new pensions law in France gave employers just three years to reach agreement with unions on measures to deal with the health impact of the cumulative hazardous job exposures that wear out workers - however, the talks have stalled, leading CFDT general secretary François Chérèque to call for physically wearing work to be made a “national cause”.
Risks 291, 27 January 2007

Britain: Teenage apprentice crushed to death
A teenager has been crushed to death at work. Apprentice plumber Michael Scott, 18, died after the accident at Anderson Plumbing and Heating Services in Aberdeen.
Risks 288, 23 December 2006

Australia: Call to tailor safety laws for young workers
A children's watchdog in Australia has called for a change in workplace health and safety laws after a study found four in every 10 employees aged 16 or under had been injured at work. “Specific consideration” should be given in law to the health and safety of workers under 18, the New South Wales (NSW) Commissioner for Children and Young People, Gillian Calvert, reported in recommendations on children at work tabled in the state parliament on 13 December.
Risks 287, 16 December 2006

Britain: Firm fined £100,000 after worker, 21, is killed
A Chorley company has been fined £100,000 after pleading guilty to three criminal charges brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the “entirely preventable” death of an employee. Pin Croft Dyeing and Printing Co Limited was also ordered to pay the £18,895 costs of the case which followed the death of 21-year-old Daryl Wayne Lloyd in a tow tractor incident.
Risks 285, 2 December 2006

Britain: Uninsured boss fined £11,500 after teen injury
A company owner who did not have the legally required injury insurance has been told to pay up £11,500 in fines, costs and compensation after a teenage mechanic was injured. Andrew Richardson was found guilty of not having Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance after 17-year-old mechanic Yana Jones, who he paid £3 an hour, suffered injuries to her left leg resulting in a hospital stay and permanent scarring.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006

Britain: One in three workers fear being unfit for work by 60
Over one third of UK workers believe they could be unable to do their job at 60, according to new statistics. A report in Hazards magazine shows that in just six years the UK has slipped from being number one in the European league table for the proportion of workers who are confident they will be up to their current job when aged 60, to sixth.
Risks 284, 25 November 2006

Britain: Government not doing enough for older workers
The government should set itself more challenging employment targets if it is to successfully cope with demographic trends and an ageing workforce, older workers’ campaign TAEN has said. TAEN says the government’s ‘Health, Work and Wellbeing’ agenda must be seen to address the 50+ workforce “because the extension of working life requires action on well adapted workplaces, occupational health and the reduction of ill-health as a reason for early retirement.”
Risks 283, 18 November 2006

Britain: Work injury forces octagenarian’s retirement
A Sheffield octogenarian has had to give up work after sustaining a serious workplace injury. John Moffatt, 80, received a £5,000 out-of-court settlement from his former employer after suffering the shoulder injury at work in January 2005.
Risks 283, 18 November 2006

Britain: HSE and young people at work
The Health and Safety Executive has produced new “young people at work” webpages. HSE says that inexperience and others factors mean workplace novices – and that frequently means young workers - are at a far higher risk of workplace injury.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006

Britain: New safety qualification for young people
A new qualification has been designed to improve young people’s understanding of safe working when taking part in work experience. Last week the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), in partnership with the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), British Safety Council Awards (BSC Awards) and ENTO, unveiled the new workplace hazard awareness course and qualification.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006

Britain: Site firm fined after teen injured in fall
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned construction firms of the dangers of working even at relatively low heights after a teenage worker suffered multiple fractures when he fell from the open edge of a first floor working platform. Lotus Construction Limited of Otley, West Yorkshire, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £1,143 and compensation totalling £500, for failing to provide an edge protection barrier would could have prevented 17-year-old sub-contractor Richard Green from falling.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006

Britain: Older women’s workplace health “neglected”
Too little is known about the work and health of older women, according to a new report. ‘Older women, work and health’, a research paper jointly commissioned by Help the Aged and TAEN – The Age and Employment Network - shows that few studies have explored the links between the work and health of older women despite their increased participation in the labour market.
Risks 282, 11 November 2006

Britain: Boss fined for teen injuries
The boss of a young worker who suffered horrific injuries when he fell through a roof on a building site has been hit with a £10,000 fine. Stephen Edkins, 19, shattered his wrist and needed plates inserted into his jaw and cheek after the warehouse roof collapsed in September.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006

Britain: Campaigns aim to protect young workers
Young workers should be protected in the workplace was the message of events nationwide this week.
Risks 280, 28 October 2006

Global: UN zero violence call for working children
A new report by the United Nations says there must be zero tolerance of violence against working children. ILO’s Frans Roselaers, a member of the team that produced the report, said violence has not been given much attention by programmes against child labour.
Risks 279, 21 October 2006

Britain: Death firm evades defective product rap
A firm that supplied defective equipment which failed causing a workplace death has escaped prosecution because it is no longer trading. HSE enquiries to Interpol established the firm, Johannesburg-based McKinnon Chain, was no longer in business.
Risks 278, 14 October 2006

Britain: Hunt says age discrimination is a work health issue
Safety minister Lord Hunt has called for support for a new law barring age discrimination in the workplace. He said there were proven health benefits of being in work and stressed the legislation will ensure that older workers are not denied the opportunity to increase their life expectancy while minimising the risks of depression, obesity and poverty.
Risks 277, 7 October 2006

Britain: Young worker was unlawfully killed
A young factory worker was crushed to death after vital safety equipment was switched off on a stone cutting machine, a Hampshire inquest has heard. The Southampton Coroners Court inquest followed a court case in August, when company boss Michael Shaw was found guilty of the manslaughter of David Bail, 22, but escaped with a two-year suspended sentence.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006

Britain: Teenage squaddie crushed to death
A 19-year-old soldier has been crushed to death at a base in Wiltshire as he took part in a military exercise. Private Michael Minns was performing a check on an eight-wheeled military vehicle with another soldier at the base in Ludgershall. Wiltshire Police say the tragedy is being treated as an “industrial accident”.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006

Britain: Police probe into young worker electrocution
Police and safety experts are investigating how a scaffolder was electrocuted while working on a London council estate. Father-of-two Ralph Kennedy, 24, died on 15 September after touching a live light fitting. Mr Kennedy’s relatives said they had not been allowed to see the site’s accident log.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006

Britain: Boy, seven, dies in farm tragedy
A seven-year-old Devon boy has been crushed to death under machinery on his family’s farm. Lewis Brook died under a roller attached to a tractor believed to have been operated by a family member at Mount Pleasant Farm near Winkleigh.
Risks 276, 30 September 2006

Britain: Action plans to keep young workers safe
The TUC is stepping up its campaign to protect young people in the workplace. A new TUC guide, published ahead of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work’s ‘Safe Start’ themed Euro safety week in October, says: “As a safety representative, you can help protect any young workers in your workplace.”
Risks 276, 30 September 2006 • Young workers – a guide for safety representatives [pdf] • Hazards young workers news and resources

Britain: Firm fined £20,000 after young worker fatality
A firm in has been fined £20,000 after a young employee was crushed to death. Barkston Plastics Forming, of Westhoughton, near Bolton, appeared last week before magistrates in Trafford following the death of 22-year-old Philip Ashcroft.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006

Britain: Teenage victims of forklift peril
Evidence that dangerous machines and teenage workers do not mix have been demonstrated in three separate safety prosecutions this month. Poorly trained and supervised teenagers have been injured or prosecuted.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006

Britain: Saturday job boy loses arm in mincer
Surgeons had to amputate a teenager's arm in a butcher's shop after it became trapped in a mincer. Sam Ashworth, 15, was stuck in the machine for two hours at the business where he had a Saturday job.
Risks 275, 23 September 2006 • TUC and European Agency 23-28 October European Week 2006 webpages

Britain: Teen gets payout for work finger injury
A Sheffield teenager has received an out-of-court settlement of over £2,000 after sustaining a crush injury to his right middle finger leaving him with permanent injuries. Luke Peace, 19, suffered his injuries in April 2005 whilst employed as a junior clerk by Transtar International Freight Forwarders.
Risks 274, 16 September 2006

Britain: New call for young worker protection
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has warned that 1,500 workers under the age of 19 are badly injured and five killed every year through poor training and induction when starting work. Launching its ‘Wiseup2work’ campaign last week, safety professionals’ organisation IOSH said the initiative was necessary because “far more needs to be done to protect our young people when they are starting work, apprenticeships or work experience.”
Risks 273, 9 September 2006

USA: One in six working teens injured
One in six working teenagers has been injured at work, a US study suggests. “The findings clearly indicate that work-related injuries among youth are a significant health problem,” said Kristina Zierold, an assistant professor of family medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and lead author of the study.
Kristina M Zierold, Henry A Anderson. Severe injury and the need for improved safety training among working teens, American Journal of Health Behavior, volume 30, number 5, pages 525-532, September/October 2006 [abstract – pdf].
Risks 272, 2 September 2006

Britain: Young worker dies in fairground accident
A teenager has been killed while working at a fairground in Eyemouth, Scotland. James Laidler, 17, from near Morpeth, was crushed under a carriage while working at the fair.
Risks 272, 2 September 2006

Britain: Student job leads to flattened thumbs
A Sheffield student has had both his thumbs crushed during a part-time construction job. Neil Goodchild, 22, received an out-of-court settlement of £6,250 after sustaining severe crushing injuries to both his thumbs leaving him with residual numbness.
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006

Britain: Scottish and Welsh youngsters need protection
Union organisations in Scotland and Wales have backed the TUC campaign for action on young worker safety. Ian Tasker, safety officer with the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), said: “There is a mistaken perception that injuries suffered by younger workers are as a result of clowning around but this is purely a smokescreen to cover the inadequate training being given to young people embarking on their careers.”
Risks 269, 12 August 2006

Britain: Don't let your first job be your last
Nearly 4,500 young people were seriously injured or killed at work last year, over 20 per cent more than five years ago, according to a new report from the TUC-backed Hazards magazine. The report marked the launch of a TUC campaign to protect young people at work.
Risks 269, 12 August 2006

Britain: Firm fined after teen loses three fingers
A teenage construction worker laying concrete on the new Wembley Stadium site lost three fingers after his employer removed safety guards from a machine. Ian Goom, trading as Aztec Screeding, of Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £3,028 costs at the City of London Magistrates Court.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006

Global: ILO launches child labour web movie
The International Labour Office (ILO) has launched a new online movie on the plight of more than 200 million child labourers worldwide. ILO says improvements are achievable, with a recent ILO report saying the number of child labourers worldwide fell by 11 per cent between 2000 and 2004, from 246 million to 218 million.
Risks 267, 29 July 2006