Diver safety: Finger severed in underwater incident

A company specialising in underwater civil engineering and commercial diving has been fined following an incident where a working diver was injured.

On 29 August 2017 a Northern Divers (Engineering) Ltd employee’s finger became trapped whilst fitting a cofferdam underwater at Immingham Port. The finger was severed.

The HSE’s investigation found the work was not properly planned, managed or conducted in a manner which protected the health and safety of all persons taking part in the project, thereby exposing employees to serious risk of entrapment and injury.

Northern Divers (Engineering) Ltd of Humber Place, Hull, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6 (1) of the Diving at Work Regulations 1997 in relation to the incident and was fined £12,000 with costs of £2,369.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Chris Booker said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices. Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”

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!