Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd facing prosecution

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has notified Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd (DRDL) that it will commence legal proceedings against the company for offences under Regulation 8 of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.

The charge relates to an incident that occurred on 19 September 2018 involving a crane at the Devonport 9 Dock facility. During a lifting operation to disassemble a stack of test weights, the weights became detached and fell towards a worker, narrowly missing him.

The ONR has stressed that this was a conventional health and safety incident and there were no radiological consequences. It was also made clear that no one was injured in the incident, which is reported to have happened at 9 Dock where HMS Vanguard has been berthed since 2015.

The decision to prosecute follows an ONR investigation into the incident, which is the UK’s independent nuclear safety regulator.

Proceedings are scheduled to commence at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on 23 July 2019.

A spokesperson for ONR said: “For legal reasons we are unable to comment further on the details of the case as it is now the subject of active court proceedings.

“We will post updates on our website and social media channels as this case progresses.”

Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders

In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.

Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.

Listen now!