Bridgwater roofing contractor put workers at risk, court told

5:57pm Tuesday 4th March 2014 in News By Newsdesk

A ROOFING contractor put the lives of workers at risk by failing to protect them from falls as they worked on a barn roof near Bridgwater, a court has heard.

Neil Popham, 50, was hired to build agricultural buildings at a farm in Over Stowey. During the construction in May 2013, a complaint was made to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) about the safety of workers during the roof installation.

As a result, a HSE inspector visited the site and her investigation led to the prosecution of Mr Popham at Taunton Magistrates Court on March 3, 2014.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Kate Leftly, said: Falls from height remain one of the most common reasons for injuries and fatalities at work, and it is fortunate that no-one was seriously injured or killed in this case.

It's crucial that employers make sure work is properly planned, appropriately supervised and that sufficient safety measures are put in place to protect staff.

The court was told that on the day of the inspector's visit, three workers were on top of a steel agricultural building installing roof sheets. The roof height varied from seven metres to nine metres.

The inspector found there was no edge protection to prevent anyone falling off the building and inadequate netting to mitigate the effects of any fall. The workers had accessed the roof using a ladder that was not tied to prevent it falling.

Mr Popham had received enforcement notices relating to safe working at height on previous jobs.

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Bridgwater roofing contractor put workers at risk, court told

Note: USA TODAY Sports' Paul White, via car, causeway, plane and rail, will eventually reach every major league camp this spring. Follow his exploits on Twitter - @PBJWhite - as he makes his way through the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues before imparting all you didn't know about every team right here.

Today: The Baltimore Orioles

***

Jonathan Schoop is over that shortstop thing.

After all, why bother?

He could be a starting second baseman in the major leagues any day now ?? make that should be ?? so you'd better practice the pronunciation. It's "scope."

The 22-year-old Curacao native would seem to be on a fast track to the big leagues with the Orioles except that he hangs in fast company and some of his best friends are wondering what's taking him so long.

Well, if guys like Manny Machado and Jurickson Profar would have just let Schoop keep playing shortstop.

Machado, with whom Schoop became tight coming through the Orioles system, debuted in Baltimore at 20 and the only thing that's stopped him since is the knee injury that prematurely ended his 2013 season but is looking less and less likely to keep him from the lineup on Opening Day or very shortly after.

Profar, with whom Schoop regularly hangs out and works out with back home, debuted with Texas at age 19 two seasons ago, was a Rangers part-timer last year and now will be the starting second baseman ?? like Schoop moving from his natural shortstop.

More here:
Camp confidential: Orioles bolster team with late additions

Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Calling the New York Mets a "marquee franchise," new players' union head Tony Clark is paying attention to the team's payroll.

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said he expects the team's payroll to be between $85 million and $88 million this season, which would be a slight decrease from its $90.9 million final figure last year.

Despite the additions of free agents Curtis Granderson, Bartolo Colon and Chris Young, the Mets have a payroll resembling that of a mid-market franchise. The Los Angeles Dodgers' payroll is over $225 million and the New York Yankees will top $200 million.

"Any time there are concerns or issues with any club related to certain habits or trends, we pay attention to it," Clark said after speaking with Mets players Tuesday during his tour of the 30 spring training camps. "New York is no different than any other club, from the standpoint of appreciating what's paid in payroll and how clubs may be functioning in general, related to improving the group they have on the field."

More Mets: Curtis Granderson hit two home runs and Zack Wheeler pitched three scoreless innings in a 6-2 victory over Houston. Granderson hit a two-run shot in the first and added a solo drive in the second. Wheeler struck out three and gave up two hits. He threw 40 pitches in his spring debut. Travis d'Arnaud got two hits for the Mets and Chris Young doubled and scored.

Yankees: Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez has rejoined the team as a minor-league spring training pitching instructor. He will be at the team's minor-league complex for the next few weeks.

Tigers: Ian Kinsler says an ESPN The Magazine story about him was "written for drama" and he says some critical comments attributed to him about the Rangers were taken out of context. In the ESPN story, Kinsler was quoted as saying he hopes his former team goes 0-162 this year. He also was quoted as calling Rangers general manager Jon Daniels a "sleazeball." Also, Andy Dirks is expected to miss three months due to a back problem that requires surgery.

Orioles: Two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana has agreed to a minor-league contract as he tries to come back from the second major operation on his left shoulder.

Red Sox: Right-hander Clay Buchholz made his Grapefruit League debut for Boston, going one inning, giving up a run on three hits and a walk with one strikeout in the team's 8-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Excerpt from:
Players' union paying attention to Mets' payroll

EDMOND Oklahoma ranks second nationally in the number of adults with a mental illness, according to the findings of a new study.

The study, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, defined a serious mental illness as any mental, behavioral or emotional disorder that causes substantial functional impairment such as significantly interfering with or limiting one or more major life activities. Examples might include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or clinical depression.

SAMHSA defines any mental illness as the presence of any mental, behavioral or emotional disorder in the past year that meets specific diagnostic criteria.

The study ranked Oklahoma second in the number of persons in both categories.

From both a public and private perspective, finding help for a mental health issue is rapidly turning into a crisis situation, said Oklahoma Mental Health Commissioner Terry White, a product of Edmond Public Schools.

White said more than 600,000 Oklahomans are directly impacted by mental illness. White said these individuals are parents, loved ones, friends, neighbors, co-workers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, clergy just about anyone from any profession or socioeconomic level.

Officials are feeling the impact of this increasing need for services in the public system as well as the private system, White said. With scarce resources more people are going without services at the exact time that more people need them, White said.

If not treated early, a mental illness may progress, resulting in negative consequences such as divorce, family fragmentation, child neglect or abuse, unemployment or reduced work productivity, more students dropping out of school, homelessness, crime and incarceration, accidental or premature death and homicide or suicide, White said.

Its creating a perfect storm with no letup in sight, White said.

People become more seriously ill when they are unable to access services early in the disease process, White said. The good news is mental illness can be treated and success rates are very high, White said.

Link:
Study: Oklahoma No. 2 in prevalence of mental illness

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